Das Schwartz":31ti13i8 said:
And this is why women marry geeks, for our ability to make emergency repairs using nothing but spit, bailing wire, and duct tape.
what did you learn today?
- Thread starter chalex
- Start date
- Status
And this is why women marry geeks, for our ability to make emergency repairs using nothing but spit, bailing wire, and duct tape.
And here I thought my wife married me for my charm, wit, and pocketbook. You're ruining the institution for me.
I learned that a full weekend away from it all with my phone radio turned off and someone covering my clients is not enough to completely alleviate the stress symptoms and the growing ulcer in the pit of my stomach. Definitely better, but still there.
I'm taking three days of PTO starting Wednesday, which combined with the upcoming weekend will give me five days away. We'll see how that works out.
I'm taking three days of PTO starting Wednesday, which combined with the upcoming weekend will give me five days away. We'll see how that works out.
Uhlek":yfqvx7kx said:
Yeah, I've considered that, but I'm pretty sure the stress of not being able to support my family would introduce new levels of stress.
I'll figure this out one day, just not today. If nothing else, this type of shit provides me with a lot of motivation to start looking for ways to earn income in some other means than as an employee (or independent consultant) so that I don't have to deal with this kind of thing forever. I've got plenty of time to get, I'm only 34. I just have to focus on not letting this crap kill me between now and the time I gain some level of financial independence.
Actually, independent consultant isn't looking so bad right now. I did that for years and made twice the money for the same amount of trouble. I stopped doing that and elected to go with a full-time position as an employee when I started dating my now wife a couple of years ago, with the understanding that less work would equate to time to be able to spend with my family.
Somebody sure pulled the wool over my eyes! LOL. At this point, getting paid twice the money for the same amount of work is again starting to look very attractive. If I've got to put in all of these hours, it would at least be nice to be paid for all of them like I was in the past.
Code:
iptables -t nat -LOn some kernels, this will silently do nothing.
On some kernels, this will complain that conntrack isn't loaded.
On some kernels, this will automatically load the conntrack module, and start tracking connections.
If a box happens to meet the criteria for the third option, and handles enough traffic, you run out of conntrack space very rapidly. This leads to SSH failing. And if you haven't got IPMI/DRAC/ILO, $deity help you get the box back without rebooting (it can be done, but it's completely dependent on what network gear you have).
Uhlek":30fx2022 said:
Agreed. Now just happens to be an inconvenient time for me, as my wife and I are expecting our first little one in a few months, and then a few months after that we will be moving across the country. I've already got my transfer approved, so not having to worry about moving AND finding a new gig at the same time is going to be ideal.
And maybe moving into a different region will make things better, if I can get set up with a new group of clients to support. The manager of the PMs in the region I'm currently serving is where I feel most of my problems originate. Before a recent promotion to his current position, he was the PM for my biggest account, so I worked with him closely for the past 2.5 years. For one, I just don't agree with his methodology of supporting clients, which happens to be "Bend over and do anything they require to keep them happy." Additionally, he still has a "special" relationship with this particular client. I think he feels some level of attachment to them, and they have no problem with escalating their support issues directly up to him when they don't like the answers they get from the current PM or myself. Maybe moving out of this region and working on a new set of clients for which he has no involvement will help.
If it doesn't, I'll test the job market in my new region once things get settled down with the baby and the move.
Uhlek":1h3yixux said:
+++
I didn't start diligently looking for a better job until a combination of stress and simply being overloaded, overworked, and overwhelmed resulted in my termination from my last employer. I wish I'd had the ambition to made the jump sooner. No job is worth stressing over, and it's better to diligently look before things begin to go south. It sounds like you are on the right track, setting a goal date for improvement, but don't let the illusion of security in your current position keep you from sticking to that date. I skipped two years worth of "move on" objectives, and paid a price with my health and overall life satisfaction until I was finally forced to make the transition.
PsychoStreak
Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
Josh A.K.A CLF":l7txsol9 said:
You might be surprised about that.
While not having a job can and often does lead to lost sleep and depression, it's not the same kind of stress you get at work. I was in the same boat as KnightZero described about 11 years ago now. I should have left 6 months before I wound up leaving, but I was too stubborn to just 'give up'. Getting the idea into my head that leaving a bad situation was 'giving up' and not 'wising up', especially one that was giving me an ulcer (chewing fruit flavored Tums all day like they were candy) that I still take medicine for daily, was hard, but I was much better off for it.
Uhlek":lujk0wq3 said:
Looking, and more importantly knowing somebody. I dropped a 10 year career at one place in the middle of this recession to go work elsewhere because a better opportunity came up. Had I not been networking with the right people the opportunity may never have presented itself.
I learnt that trying to get the MD's approval to consider blades is easier if you just show pretty lights then dazzle him with fancy talk about fabrics and mezzanine cards. We're an MSP, and I kept using the words "enterprise", "best practice" and "improved efficiencies". I really need this hardware :/ We've got more servers than employees, not including the XD environment.
I think I might be getting an EMC NS120 and Dell M1000e + 4 blades to replace the aging mishmash of infrastructure I have right now (65 odd VMs across a DL360G5/DL380G5/PE2950III/R710, the newest processor is a 5506, the oldest is a 5130). Might be in 6 months, but something is better than nothing!!
What's really annoying, is that I actually care about the user experience; yet we're a damn MSP/Integrator. The guys should know what they're doing, so why do I still think "hm, need to extract more performance to help people out".
I think I might be getting an EMC NS120 and Dell M1000e + 4 blades to replace the aging mishmash of infrastructure I have right now (65 odd VMs across a DL360G5/DL380G5/PE2950III/R710, the newest processor is a 5506, the oldest is a 5130). Might be in 6 months, but something is better than nothing!!
What's really annoying, is that I actually care about the user experience; yet we're a damn MSP/Integrator. The guys should know what they're doing, so why do I still think "hm, need to extract more performance to help people out".
I learned that if you put off a critical server migration due to getting legal documents signed you will of course have ISP related down time with your new application.
I learned that if you move an application that relies on a remote database to a new server on a new IP, you should check the USERS priv table before banging your head for 8 hours trying to figure out why the new server doesn't behave like the old one. Nine times out of ten, it will be because there is no user@IP created. Fucking duh.
In one of many tasks, I have asked my team to come up with a color scheme for cabling our new datacenter.
Now its running into week 3 and what they have come back week has gone from bad to worse. Sigh.
Now its running into week 3 and what they have come back week has gone from bad to worse. Sigh.
PsychoStreak
Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
I learned (yet again) that Microsoft Premier Support's hold music is designed to make you kill yourself before speaking to someone. It even sounds like "And so now I'm siting here waiting to die."
Also, we have a GPO that is doing something it should not be able to do (prevent the audio service in Win7 from starting), none of the people who put it there have a clue how or why, and I have to fix it.
Also, we have a GPO that is doing something it should not be able to do (prevent the audio service in Win7 from starting), none of the people who put it there have a clue how or why, and I have to fix it.
PsychoStreak":2sw9epcm said:
Ever listen to Symantec's? Last time I was on hold for an hour it was about 2 minutes of music from one world locale, then 2 minutes of music from another, then another, then another. It was like some kind of even more torturous It's a Small World ride.
scorp508":25bbpae1 said:PsychoStreak":25bbpae1 said:
Ever listen to Symantec's? Last time I was on hold for an hour it was about 2 minutes of music from one world locale, then 2 minutes of music from another, then another, then another. It was like some kind of even more torturous It's a Small World ride.
Last time I called MS, they subjected me to Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You".
Id' have sworn blind that TIA-568-C.0 defined the colours for infrastructure cabling, but I can't find proof of that. I know I've read somewhere of a cable plant 'standard', but I'm damned if I can find it.Darthkim":2paavu10 said:
....that even with monthly reminders of "don't fall for the email phishing attempt", some user will fall for it. There's some who've been working more than 15 years on the job and still fall for it.
And then there's people who fall for the 419 scam after being warned repeatedly that it's not real.
Yeah, I know. Human nature. Deal with it (said to me). This is more ranty than anything else.
And of course, I get to deal with our email server getting blacklisted on a RBL due to selfsame user's stolen account which managed to pump out 63000+ spam messages in less than one day. Nice.
How did we find out? After the first 10000+ bounce messages trickled in, she decided to give us a call. And now we're blacklisted, I think because the coworker assigned to help her, didn't change her email password as suggested (I can't direct the dude, because I'm not his supervisor). And she didn't call us after the first 1000 or so, because she was embarrassed.
I'm going to talk with my manager about a policy/procedure for such incidents, that may include temporarily or permanently disabling an email account and forcing creation of a new email address/account and getting that approved at the HQ ORG for substitution of their email address.
I don't think that last bit will work I really really really want that particular job to go away. I've been able to push off management of SUPERMEGACORP multi-function devices to the dude now assigned to the job. Previously, I was still doing his work until I said "HA, it's official from the manager, so no more, no thank you, good night".
It's remarkable how my stress levels improved. My ulcer calmed down. And now it's starting to flare back up again. GAHAARGGHH.
And then there's people who fall for the 419 scam after being warned repeatedly that it's not real.
Yeah, I know. Human nature. Deal with it (said to me). This is more ranty than anything else.
And of course, I get to deal with our email server getting blacklisted on a RBL due to selfsame user's stolen account which managed to pump out 63000+ spam messages in less than one day. Nice.
How did we find out? After the first 10000+ bounce messages trickled in, she decided to give us a call. And now we're blacklisted, I think because the coworker assigned to help her, didn't change her email password as suggested (I can't direct the dude, because I'm not his supervisor). And she didn't call us after the first 1000 or so, because she was embarrassed.
I'm going to talk with my manager about a policy/procedure for such incidents, that may include temporarily or permanently disabling an email account and forcing creation of a new email address/account and getting that approved at the HQ ORG for substitution of their email address.
I don't think that last bit will work
I really really really want that particular job to go away. I've been able to push off management of SUPERMEGACORP multi-function devices to the dude now assigned to the job. Previously, I was still doing his work until I said "HA, it's official from the manager, so no more, no thank you, good night".It's remarkable how my stress levels improved. My ulcer calmed down. And now it's starting to flare back up again. GAHAARGGHH.
Danger Mouse":65oz1u7h said:
I feel like I'm spamming this thread a little; but I really want to buy you a drink. I curse, abuse and generally hate my job at times. Then I read one of your posts and go "hm, I really dont have it all that bad".
Come to Melbourne, Australia sometime. You, me and scorp can get drunk (I owe him a few too).
Anyone falling for this should be fired. They are grossly incompetent and gullible. They are not of the caliber of people you want making decisions in your company.
ronelson":159iwuy2 said:
This. Stupid people should not be tolerated. Especially when their stupidity causes us undue stress and lots of $$. Making a mistake is one thing... being stupid is a birthright.
PaveHawk-":2h5x1kc1 said:
PaveHawk,
thanks for the kind thoughts. If you only knew how truly bad it can get here at times, you'd be shocked. I only tell perhaps the best 10% of my stories. The other 90% are just beyond the pale.
So, why do I stay? Awesome medical/dental/retirement benefits. I've got 2 kids. It makes a huge difference. That and the hours are very flexible.
EDIT: oh and a big shout out to Yahoo, wherein most of our received spam originates
I get Yahoo spam in my personal gmail account from zombified and now spoofed accounts.
Beef Supreme
Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
I'll stretch this out a bit beyond "today."
I learned that no matter how uniform a CRM client install might be across the machines that will be using it, incredibly unique problems are still going to crop up. As for why RIM and MS haven't got together to create a BES/CRM plug-in to allow CRM to sync straight to the phone (and vice versa) without needing Outlook involved, I have no idea. That isn't even going into why my CRM-generated appointments are disappearing in my Outlook minutes after they are created, not to mention not going to be phone. CRM is bullshit.. seriously.
Also, DPM is a fine piece of work.. or at least less shitty that every other enterprise level backup solution. Yosemite Server Backup was useless and nothing but stress for me for the year+ we used it. DPM is better, but they lack a good way to get backups to offsite mediums. To have to drop $1300 or whatever for Firestreamer is BS of the highest degree.
At least come April 1, we're moving to a datacentre and backups are going to be included. Two locations, a 100Mbit connection between the office and the primary DC, and a couple 10Mbit connections between the primary DC and the secondary one that is about 600km away. It's going to be scary when the process starts when the ball gets rolling, but it's going to be glorious when it's done.
I learned that no matter how uniform a CRM client install might be across the machines that will be using it, incredibly unique problems are still going to crop up. As for why RIM and MS haven't got together to create a BES/CRM plug-in to allow CRM to sync straight to the phone (and vice versa) without needing Outlook involved, I have no idea. That isn't even going into why my CRM-generated appointments are disappearing in my Outlook minutes after they are created, not to mention not going to be phone. CRM is bullshit.. seriously.
Also, DPM is a fine piece of work.. or at least less shitty that every other enterprise level backup solution. Yosemite Server Backup was useless and nothing but stress for me for the year+ we used it. DPM is better, but they lack a good way to get backups to offsite mediums. To have to drop $1300 or whatever for Firestreamer is BS of the highest degree.
At least come April 1, we're moving to a datacentre and backups are going to be included. Two locations, a 100Mbit connection between the office and the primary DC, and a couple 10Mbit connections between the primary DC and the secondary one that is about 600km away. It's going to be scary when the process starts when the ball gets rolling, but it's going to be glorious when it's done.
FuKNGRuVN":3o909f20 said:
Have either of you worked in higher education? Are you saying you would expect ramifications or just that there should be?
That scheduling a maintenance window at 12:01 Sunday and the trusing the outsourcing company to perform said maintenance at the proper time is wishful thinking. So, in order to not look like an ass to the business, I'm forced to sober up and perform the maintenance myself.
Upon reflection, I will refrain from this course of action and break out the Clue Bat very early Monday morning. Why ensure my exposed ass is kicked, when I can put someone else's head in the way.
Upon reflection, I will refrain from this course of action and break out the Clue Bat very early Monday morning. Why ensure my exposed ass is kicked, when I can put someone else's head in the way.
Higher education has nothing to do with it. The answers are always no and yes, without regards for the type of business.
I haven't been in private sector for 8 years; I was really hoping some places (other than the obvious super-high security shops) DO have ramifications for falling for phishing scams?ronelson":2ot83elc said:
inferno77":vz0n8bfy said:
super high security shops have air gaps so they don't exist on the internet......
inferno77":3rdoaz2d said:
Ramifications other than having people make fun of them if they find out? No.
inferno77":98ocn2sm said:
I have. I expect ramifications... especially if a downtime costing several hours and $$$ occurs. However, more often than not, the blame is placed on someone else for that evil spam email making it to someone's inbox in the first place. And then usually, after a few months of stringent filters in play, someone else complains about not getting a "critical email from a vendor's external account", and the strings are loosened again. And then someone clicks on the 1 piece of spam that gets through. It's a fun little circle.
Life is a rollercoaster of ups and downs. IT is no different. I'm just tired of folks blaming ignorance and / or incompentance when it comes to their PC. If they don't know what they're doing, whether it's one of my domain admins or the receptionist, they shouldn't be fucking touching it.
YourConscience":h8gdi5iu said:
CRM apps are *still* doing this shit? I haven't touched any of them for a couple of years, thank god.
I remember a couple of CRM packages back in 1998-2002 time frame that used to sync all their data via packets in Outlook. The mobile users had to dial-in (ick), or if they were lucky enough to get a working VPN connection in a hotel they would have to sync via Outlook all the data they changed on their laptop as well as get the updates from the server. Just a horrible, horrible mechanism... Every week or two there would be at least 2 or 3 people whose sync was out of whack and we'd have to trigger a refresh, either because of a poor connection or because they disconnected too soon before the sync was done.
Then there was the time something truly bizarre happened and the CRM app went nuts, and spammed the Exchange server with 35,000+ sync messages. Fun indeed.
I got that tool with my netapp.Rick25":fifbsyg8 said:
it's handy, also, dandy. except when doing a ton of 1U's on top of one another, then it's back to the grunting and swearing and deperately looking for a carney to borrow his small hands for a moment.
bigmikebrooklyn":2rcm1no5 said:
Yep, BTDT. I had a blank 1U space for a while, until I found the right 1U server with mounting kit that would go in. That was an Apple XServe, BTW.
---
....that inevitably, the last thing you check because you assume noone would be dumb enough to mess it up, is that your email servers all have the wrong DNS settings.
Long long long story, but I'm terribly disappointed in the "person" who did that.
----
I'm also disappointed at the intern that got a job at one of our highly billed IT contractors. I've been covering for that person's mistakes, because I didn't want them to lose a golden opportunity. After trying to point that guy in the right direction and have him blow up at me and accuse me of threatening him???? WTFBBQLOL, I've been covering for the idiot:
-used a trojan infected flash drive on our new thin clients during setup
-when warned of it and having one of his drives cleaned with the advice to check his other drives, he went on using other infected flash drives for weeks on end
-when repeatedly screwing up the same simple things that he's been tasked to do, and then gets provided a checklist (again, which is supervisor approved and forwarded on to him) to use and still screws it up, then says the procedure is too hard and wants to check with his supervisor
And so forth and so on.
And at the end, he tops it off by threatening me to go to his supervisor. Um, moron, do you really really want to expose all the screwups I've been covering up for you? My only sin was apparently that when I reminded him about not taking extra work that hadn't been explicitly approved by his supervisor (which is the SOP his supervisor set up, with my full knowledge and that of my manager and my direct report and which he had acknowledged), he took it as a threat when he was about to engage in doing a lot of billable hours work without approval.
At the end, it dawned on him, that having a nasty verbal confrontation with me was a bad idea, given that he was there allegedly representing that company. That company would fire that guy on the spot if they only knew of half his screwups let alone how much time he spent screaming at the primary technical point of contact for a multimillion dollar contract.
It's okay though. I know a half dozen people off the top of my head that I could recommend to that company. I get the feeling that finding someone A+ certified with the ambition to move up, wouldn't be that hard in L.A.
Sample from the checklist:
-when installing new gear, always use the new power cable included with the new gear
-when installing new gear, always use a new surge protector, which has been provided with the new gear
-when installing new gear, inform the client of the final work done, including location/etc on a timely basis
-when installing new gear, try to use normal/rational ergonomic locations for keyboard/mouse/display/etc (IOW, don't make the person twist their body one way and the neck the other to use the damn workstation, because a pile of books was in the way!)
-when cleaning up the cables, don't use such force on the zipties, that you break the cables or don't use twist ties
- Status