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Looking For Quacks In The Pavement

  • Thanks again, Veritas. Thanks for nothing.

    Once again, Backup Exec is biting me in the ass, figuratively speaking. My main fileserver is running under an abend condition caused by the “agent” software that allows me to get comprehensive backups from that server. During my attempt to upgrade the agent I ran into an annoying problem: The installer insisted that I close the agent software before doing the upgrade, but I’d already done so. I even called the “stop” procedure again just to be sure. No such luck. The same problem came up when I tried to upgrade the email server’s agent, so it’s not just a fluke thing with one machine.

    So let’s see… right now I can’t reliably run a backup on either server until I can reboot them both and install the new software. When will that be happening? Not during business hours, I can assure you. This means I get to come back later tonight and go through this whole install procedure again.

    It’s not quite how I wanted to spend the night before my personal holiday off, but I’m not always given much say in the matter, am I?

  • Color me bashful.

    I experienced something unusual this afternoon: During the off-site department heads’ shindig, I received heartfelt compliments from a couple of important personages I work with/for. The gist is that my efforts to improve the quality of my communication and interpersonal skills over the last couple of years hasn’t gone unnoticed.

    Wow. I didn’t even think I was doing that good of a job at it, really. Apparently a few of my coworkers do. Suddenly I feel a lot better about my job performance; much of the impression I leave on people involves the professional attitude with which I do my job rather than the technical skills I bring to bear, after all. That’s just a fact of human nature. It’s immensely gratifying (and reassuring) to know that I’m making noticeable improvement.

    There’s hope for me yet, perhaps.

  • Don’t blame me. I didn’t ask for a winter wonderland.

    The weather folks have been telling us for days to expect freezing rain. Instead, what’s falling right now is good old-fashioned snow… mixed in with freezing rain and occasional bits of hail. Oh, and the wind is blowing with gusts up to 50 mph, just to make things just that wee bit more fun.

    Color me unthrilled.

    I expect tomorrow to be a very interesting day. Did I mention that we’re supposed to have an off-site department heads meeting tomorrow afternoon? Hmm, what are the odds on that taking place? For that matter, what are the odds we’ll have more than half of the staff show up at all? I wager the odds on my getting to stay home are far slimmer. Yay.

  • Impossible To Shop For

    Sweet mother of the gods. How hard is it to blow fifty bucks?

    It took me most of an hour at Fred Meyer this evening to figure out how to spend my annual holiday bonus from my ever-so-generous employers. Do I buy the wireless “G” card for the laptop, even though I already have a wireless “B” card that does almost everything I need? Do I buy a webcam, even though I haven’t used a webcam at home since Blogathon? Do I get a game, even though I already have two games I’m juggling what little gaming time I have to fit in? Do I buy a couple of DVDs, even though there’s nothing on the Fred Meyer shelves that remotely appeals to me? (They lack anime, completely.) Do I buy a sound card, even though the only machines that could most benefit from a newer card are equipped with LiveDrive devices that Creative doesn’t provide connectors for on the cards available to choose from?

    I finally settled on a no-name DVD burner, even though I already have one in the A/V rig. This gives me the ability to install games on the gaming rig that come on DVD-ROM, as well as the ability to watch DVD movies on the computer that’s equipped with 5.1 speakers and happens to have its screen facing the bed. It cost me another $30 out-of-pocket, but still that’s not too shabby, all things considered.

    Man. I didn’t have this much trouble picking out presents for everybody else, so what gives, eh?

  • I’m a big fan of tidiness. Really.

    I’m taking a moment to catch my breath and rest my feet, here in my office, and as I look around I am once again struck by how annoying all of this clutter is. I may not be the most organized human ever to grace the surface of the planet, but I’m also not terribly fond of messy spaces. Every so often I’m able to perform upkeep on my immediate working space, but most of the time I simply lack the time and/or energy.

    Let’s see…

    • Three sets of writing utensils
    • Two sticky pads
    • Two stacks of “important” printouts
    • One stack of old hard drives
    • One stack of computer cards (one video, one network, one sound: the old “holy trinity” of the hand-built PC)
    • Five baggies containing random computer-related paraphernalia (such as: screws, cords, connectors)
    • One PCI slot cover
    • One PS/2-to-USB converter
    • Two sets of keyboard/wristrest/mouse/speakers
    • Three monitors
    • One flashlight
    • One stack of KVM gear
    • One paper clip

    That’s just what’s on the surface of my desk. I won’t bore you with the contents of the shelves, or what’s on top of the filing cabinet, let alone what’s inside the filing cabinet, or what’s piled up alongside both doors to my tiny office. Did I mention there’s a workbench in the server room with its own drawers and shelving?

    I think, sometimes, that what I need isn’t a technical lackey but rather an administrative assistant…

  • Done, with ten days to spare.

    This year is my most successful year of holiday shopping yet. Yea verily, I am indeed finished with all of my holiday shopping as of today. I can now lean back and enjoy the next nine days secure in the knowledge that I have no more crowds to brave, bargains to hunt, or expenses to incur. There’s even a good chance that people will actually like what I bought them.

    Not too shabby for a scatterbrained procrastinator like yours truly, is it?

    (It bears pointing out that the vast bulk of this year’s holiday presents were selected, assembled and wrapped up by one particular very awesome lady. Some gifts required my personal touch, however, and oddly enough I actually came through with some good selections. I’m so proud of me. Heh.)

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