****note this should have been posted on 4/25 but BLOGGER was having problems****

First and foremost! I've started the "bitch board" so any of you that feel like talking back about what is going on at work, that is the place to do it. You should be able to join the board by finding it and go from there. If you can't get in, then e-mail me and I'll send you the invite, which is the easy way to go too!

Wasssup here? Not much, over the past 2 days I built 4 workstations, 3 SQL servers, and 1 (regular) server. Mind you I did them all from an image and installed the SQl server software extra. That was fun. Now I'm rebuilding a web-server which is pretty easy. Then I had to deliver all of those bastards, needless to say, I'm pretty sore right now from "totin' and liftin' "! Although I did do a lot today, I also helped out our local asset manager by organizing his room and cleaning up (tying up cables) mice and keyboards. Loads of fun, but at least I feel like I'm being used to my full extent.

Today, I made a new friend, Howie. Howie is my new victim, I love playing with his head. He's alot like Mr. ScubaT (you know who I'm talking about), he came from a helpdesk and he's so shiny new he squeaks when he walks. The perfect toy! He was rolling the cart down the hall and I hear CRASH and then he comes around the corner all nervous looking. He was bringing a computer back and it tipped over. I had to pick on him a little about that. THEN he tried to cover it up (he broke the NIC somehow) when he asked the tech lead for help. Too funny!

Besides that, nothing much going on, just getting set for the weekend. I'm staying here and my family is coming up for my birthday. Hopefully we'll here something tomorrow about the whole Dejuan caper!

Later!

Well, not much today. Yesterday they had a bomb scare here, so everyone got a half day since it happened at 11am and they didn't re-open the building until 6pm.

Speaking of bombs, I opened up a board on Yahoo where we can discuss the impending shaft "they" are calling the transition. Go here or send me an e-mail and I'll send you an invite to make it easier!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/transitionvictims

So Mr Steve came by and explained how we have to start doing our finaces for a week or two while "they" get their collective heads out of their collective asses and get us some credit cards and expense reports. You know, the novelty has quickly worn off of this whole thing. I don't feel like I'm being utilized correctly, The workload (IMHO) doesn't merit having us here (unless something big is going to happen really soon), and I miss the family. Now I'm going to have to jump through hoops and depend on someone else, which leaves me feeling like I'm bad because I won't carry $650 of debt for a week at a time so I can help the company. People knew we were out here on this TDY and still no one has answers about when we are getting our stuff. All I can do is count on other people to make sure it is being followed up on. As if they don't have enough to do, the 4 of use on this TDY are a blip on the screen and then it's not even a big blip. I think we 4 should just say screw it and come home until we get it all straightened out. Something tells me it would happen a lot faster that way. Either that or they would "find" some EDS people who aren't getting dinked to come and fill our spots.

This whole transistion thing is such a clusterfuck that I'm amazed they are even trying it. I think it would be better if it wasn't rushed, but they are and it is going to be bad. Trust me on this one! Maybe not the whole thing, but there are going to be major pitfalls. Anyone want to make book on how many will NOT sign? I'm saying 5 minimum. I've got a feeling about that number!

I'm done. I wanna go home, I wanna go back to the tower and relax at my desk. Later!

Wow, talk about a good time! I left work at 2:30 to get a jump on traffic and the lines at the airport. Ooops, jack knifed trailer on 95, slow traffic, It was like I never left an hour early. Then once I get to the gate, me and Mr Tom decided to do the cocktail & sandwich thing. We find that when we get back to the gate, the flight has been delayed 2 hours AND moved to another gate. Long story short, instead of getting home by 9ish, I get home at 11:15pm. I stopped and thought about it, if I would have left work and DROVE home, I would have gotten there about the same time, maybe sooner.



Remember - I'm back in Roch-cha-cha this week so don't expect an update!

Hmm...I guess I consider myself a dork!

It appears that after a phone call this morning, I missed calling in to a conference call yesterday. I had the days messed up in my head. Me? Mentallly confused? There's a news flash right? Anyway, yesterday's post wouldn't have been like that if I would have been paying attention to the DATES! Thank you to my "immediate superior" for calling me and asking why I missed the phone call yesterday. That's too bad, because I know I would have fell off my chair giggling.

I'm really looking forward to "our" lunch next week since it will be good to see everyone again. Especially now that we are one big happy family AGAIN! I know that some people might think of me as that one "special" reletive that everyone seems to have, but hey, you gotta love me!

I've had people writing me about how to get to this site, because people are talking about it. I've even been told that my boss's boss may be viewing this. If so, then Throw yo' hands in the air!

So today I'm taking a little abuse from the "guys" down here, because yesterday I did something really dumb. I moved a printer from one location to another. Long story short, the port on the hub was bad, so we moved it to a new port. Now the fluke says it's working but the printer won't ping. Of course we have three people involved, me, one of the "guys" and the tech lead. Needless to say the tech lead asks the magical question, is it plugged in? Well, it was, but not in the right spot! I had been finger the holes in the back (rather then spinning it around AND LOOKING), and found the one that "felt" right. I plugged it in and heard a "click" so I thought I was good. Did you know that you can plug (and I use the term plug verry loosely, more like wedge) a RJ45 cable into the appletalk port on JetDirect card? Yeah...that's me, I'm a dork. So now the abuse begins!

Gotta go....need coffee!

Uhh...how do I say this?

WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON IN ROCHESTER????

Yeah, I think that just about sums it up. So I'm sure Mr. (someone who is my immediate superior), is thinking that this fat man either has a crystal ball or knows where the leak is. Well it's niether, I can read the evironment, after all I did say it last week.

It was a quiet day here, with the bi-weekly team meeting. We (me and Mr. Dick) got some "props" shouted out for our most excellent work. Besides that, it's just ticket after ticket!

Later...I gotta have a beer!

ALERT!! ALERT!! HOT RUMOR!!!

Dig this! You may have seen an org announcement come through concerning our buddy Mr. Skip. Seems he is stepping down because of personal problems? The personal problem is the chunk of ASS he is missing from NOT TELLING (as in keeping it a secret - assuming that they knew) the execs at the big "X" about our little transmogrification. Can you say "I'm a mushroom farmer too!" I knew you could! Seems they found out the from an article someone saw in E-week!

I'll go you one better - speaking of mushrooms, there are 3(?) other contracts that are involved who know NOTHING! Dick, squat, bumpkiss, (add your own term here)! They will be finding out the day of the townhall. All they know is that an important announcement is going to be made. Blindsided? I don't think so, but I know they don't have the inside track to the info that we do.

Someone better invest in some cast iron undies, cause folks will be looking to rip off a chunk o' Ass!

I got to get a tylenol - my head hurts from giggling!

Alrighty then! Needless to say, once again we ran out of IP addresses!! I was really worked up over this because I had 3 separate people come up and tell me that need to make sure that I release the IP after I finish "imaging" a machine. Yeah, that's how close to the edge they are. Needless to say I went batshit right after that (along with one or two other SAs) and wrote to Mr. Eugene for help on how to explain to these Server FUCKS how you configure this properly. Now I only say this cause I got several lines of bullshit when I told them they should change the lease expiration to less days. Whatever!

Now I realize I have talked alot of shit about this place, but let me tell you the neat stuff. First of all, the WHOLE network is 100Mb (even between the buildings) and it is fast. Second, they run Windows 2000 on all the desktops (although most servers are still NT 4). The image they install vis'a'vis "Ghost" is very stable and quick (even though it pulls over the network). Fourth, they have some pretty nice perks like the automatic hot drink machines (two per floor). These a like mini-vending machines for coffee, cocoa, tea. Not to mention the water /ice machine combo (the industrial kind). The place is in a Tech developement area which means the traffic is not bad and the parking is great (3 story parking garage next to the main building). I noticed that a certian "VirusScan" company is next door.

Well, there, I gave them the respect that they deserve for the good stuff. On the other hand they have now been able to sit at their desks a little more lately. I actually got commented to (from one of them) about how we are "all over the tickets." I said it's nothing special, I do this everyday and my queue is always being worked. I've also been showing them the merits of closing non-contacting customers. No reply - no work! They are learning, but it's taking some time.

Hasta la vista!

Well, it's friday, and I know I didn't do an entry yesterday. Sorry, I get tired just like everyone else. I've actually been working about 46+ hours a week. I get in at 7:30 and don't leave until 6pm. I actually have found that some of the customers are staying that late.

Gossip update!!! I've heard that the "deal" is done. The date of transmogrification will be April 30! Can't tell you where I heard it and I won't mention any names, but I believe it's true.

It will be interesting to see what happens, just from the point of traveling back and forth. I mean if "Ed" wants his American Express back, he will most likely just cancel the thing. So that means that "DeJuan" will have to give me one becuase there is no way I'm paying this out of my pocket. Which means I'd be back at the "X" real soon.

What's been going on here? I've been watching Ms Pat put handle bars on some of the server guy's asses. She gets on one them and is like a rabid pitbull on crack! They piss and moan because they just don't understand why they have to have a "standard" for the servers. Don't even get her started on the naming convention for the tapes, I heard her talking about that trying to make her case, and it's cool, because she has the power of a manager when she starts making her "suggestions" and what not.

Only about another 45 minutes and I'll be climbing into the car for a ride back to the airport to go home to Rochester. Am I happy? Oh yeah, I miss my family (wife, kid, and cats). Gonna have to upgrade the ticket to get the business class and the two free drinks!

Later Gators!

Well today, we did what were supposed to do CLOSE FUCKING TICKETS! I know, no need for profanity, but finally after almost a week and half they got me and the guys IDs for the ticket system. So today, I closed 7 tickets. (Now doing the R-E-S-P-E-C-T dance).

How ya like me NOW? No longer just the funny little fat man eh? What's that? I can't hear you over the TICKETS I'M SLAMMING SHUT!

I know... that's not nice, but sometimes these guys get a little whiney, just like us, but when we whine we are usually working too. I'm not sure what is going on with the leadership / mentor roles, but it really gets wierd. Especially when someone starts talking about "aged cases" and how they have some tickets over 4 weeks old because the customer is too busy for them to do whatever work they need done.

WHAT? You heard right, 2 calls, and hold for us. Here they keep it open until the customer says "I'm done." Unbelievable, me and Mr. Dick had a good little conversation and then the whining started. I told them straight up that they have to go to their manager. Open door some of the CDEs and tell them what a crock that is and how the customer "abuses" it, thus causing them to have bad metrics. That was greeted by mumbles and confused looks.

Their "team/tech lead" is a good guy, but I don't think that the rest of the team respects what he has to say, either that or he was going on about the same thing again. They walked away, going to get water or whatever, while he was trying to get their input. Wacked man...really was. After a couple of minutes it was just me and Mr. Dick talking to him trying to figure numbers with him.

Oh well.... Let's see what tomorrow brings....

I'm making like a baby....I'm heading out! (Thanks Nelson!)

Ok, so what happened today?

MORE OF THE FUCKING SAME! Sorry, just a little bent because of the reaming I just got from Ticketbasterd (Ticketmaster). That is going to be a Daily Bitch because a mention in the Bitch log won't do it justice.

So we went to an "all-hands" meeting yesterday that lasted 2.5 hours. Quite the dog and pony show. All the new people were there from other "accounts" because all the original people got "moved" when the account exploded. There was a huge slideshow presentation that had alot of the same stuff we do (ie their call time & resolution). These guys have 8 hours to close an 02 type ticket. Must be freaking nice, but they are pissed. All I can do is shake my head. I heard it said before. This place is exactly where "X" was 5 years ago. Most all the customer hate thier "support contractors" for one reason or another. The big boss stood up yesterday and told them to "get the fuck over it (I'm paraphrasing) because we are going to work HAND IN HAND with them to make this work!" That's what he said, what I heard was...we signed the contract and right now it would hurt our ass a lot if we tried to bust out of this, to the tune of 70 million, is what I heard.

So after 2.5 of sitting there, my ass hurt it so much, it didn't fall asleep, it slipped into a coma. Looks like I might have an ID for the ticket system real soon. Ooohh and I got voicemail today! Hoo-freaking-ray!

Peace out Beeeyyyaaattch!

Ok, so needless to say, it's Saturday and I'm in Erie for Easter. Not much going to happen today. Although while we were at the mother-in-laws, the S-I-L stopped by with her SO in tow. He didn't say much to me. Never does. It's been a major sticking point with me that this dork talks shit about my abilities even though I do it everyday all day long. Not to mention that I've cleaned up after him twice.

See what bothers me, is that he's a postman who considers himself a computer tech. I mean he builds systems and what not, so I guess that makes him such right? Me? I'm opening up my new restaurant, Chez Artie, next week. I mean, I can cook so by his logic, I can be a chef (with no formal training either). Now I'm been making sure he knows where I'm going and where I've been. If you get my drift. Let's see, has the postal service ever sent him on a TDY for his knowledge of computers? Maybe but HIGHLY doubtful because he's a POST MAN!! He's a MAILMAN! Every time I see him it totally pisses me off that this DICK considers himself my EQUAL. Uh right....

Oh yeah...checking FuckedCompany.com and looks like an EDS poster has struck again, this time posting Dickie's latest memo. Go see by clicking on the link on the right or go here: http://www.fuckedcompany.com/extras/eds2_email.cfm .

Later! Happy Easter!

Ok, so now I'm at home. A bit about the flight.... It was about 3:30 and one of the guys I'm working with asks me what time I'm leaving. I told him 7pm, and he says 7pm? Looks at his watch and then says LEAVE NOW! Then he turns to his friends and starts talking about my flight and drive so then they start almost chanting LEAVE NOW...trust us...LEAVE NOW!

Alright....so they might have been right about that. It took me about an hour or so to get back to the airport, and then about 1.5 hours to get my ticket and get through security. The longest part was getting my ticket NOT getting through security. Sooo I got some dinner from the Roy Rogers, and then waited for my flight. Now herer's the cool part, I was standing there and I started talking to this guy (as we watched this rather large breasted woman with a tube top come off the previous flight) and he is telling me about how crowded the flight looked and how you can upgrade to business class (which is basically bigger seats and such) for only $25. Needless to say, I did it. Got to get on the plane first and then the best part FREE DRINK VOUCHERS!! You get the idea (only 2 free drinks though)

Ok now about the work. I'm home today (Good Friday) and needless to say that it has been a week their and I have done very little work. I have NO ID to get onto the ticketing system. NONE of the SAs there have taken the time to "mentor" or basically take charge of getting us some tickets to do. How freaking bad is that. This place needs some work. I already made up my first week list and have debated giving this to Mr. Steve.

Oh yeah, remember happy hour? Fucking Assholes! Not really their fault, but Mr Dick was following one of the people to the place and I was going to follow him, so I didn't print off a mapquest to the place. Well I came out one exit and they came out another and after waiting 5 minutes they took off. I waited another 5 and then called Dick on the cell, he told me how to get there. Here's the problem, once I got there 45 minutes later, no one was there. I waited for a bit and then went home (hotel). Next day they tell me that no one gets there until 7 (even though it was said that it started at 5:30). Dorks! You would think that someone would have said something.

Oh well...next time.

Okay, so we just had an all hands meeting. Not sure how to classify who was there, but apparently it was the same as if Ms. Angie (wink wink) had a meeting with everyone. At least it seemed that way. They had the pictel going with DC, NYC, & Conneticut with a couple of smaller groups on the speaker phone. Went about the same way our meetins do.

I have to say that I heard a couple of problems we have dealt with and I'm going to feel like a hero kind of when I start handing out the answers on what we did. For instance, the backups are taking way to long because of Virus Scan running in the background. They are trying to get the script working in Arcserve. Hmm... sounds familiar, this looks like a call to Mr Chris to find out the exact answer!

Ok, I don't have the answers myself, but isn't the mark of a good technician to know where the answers are if he/she doesn't have them?

It's looking like that Mr. Roy and Mr. Bruce are going to be the lucky ones to go downtown (or so Mr. Dick says). I thought there was going to be an interview process first, but I guess someone made the decision.

Did a couple of installs - fun fun! I'm ready for my first contact with the customer! Of course the one I'm doing craps out and won't connect to the domain AND won't pull an IP. After screwing with it for 20 min (and doing everything that the local "guys" we decide that it has to be the image since you can connect the old machine and it works fine. FUCK! It's like that time at the spring dance and your first big date. Your all nervous because you asked Mary Lou Rottencrotch to the dance and she said yes. You look good, she looks good and then the moment she leans over to kiss you and you yak all over the front of her....

Before you ask, no I didn't whip chunks on the customer, but I might as well have. It's just the way I felt. But wait, there's more! We get back to the desk and the "local guys" start playing 20 questions like I might not know what I'm doing. I'll give that too them, but while I'm 'splaining about the IP one of them says "they are prolly out of IPs in the DHCP..." What in the BLUE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? How can you run out of IPs? How long is your lease? 7 Days. 7 DAYS? Wow, no wonder you are having connection problems.

Breathe... just breathe ..

Happy is hour is coming quickly, I need a smoke.

Dork!

Ok, first of all I know I'm a day behind so I'll do my best to try and keep up. Just use your imagination and pretend it's yesterday.

So as today ends, we've learned how to use the ticketing system. Remember Remedy from like 4 years ago? I know where it went to retire, and believe me, it has NOT gotten better with age. These guys are getting screwed by the metrics (which is what the customer lives by down here), but at the same time, it's there own fault. See we had a meeting with the customer escalation manager Ms. Michelle (same kind of position as Ms. Eileen - you guys know who I'm talking about) and all she does is try to prove to the customer what kind of problems they are seeing. At the same time she also is the customer liason, which means anytime the execs have a problem she has to face the music there. Annnyywayyy, she gaves the straight poop on what we are facing with our new co-workers and customers. Our co-workers are of two types, transition or new.

The transition guys came over then the new company (you know who) came in and I mean like 500 or so transitioned. Now these guys have a small problem relating to there former co-workers in the fact that they know who the problem people are and try to service them like before. That doesn't work because the remainders / stay behinds know they don't have to put up with shoddy service because of the contract claus. This claus basically says, if we meet LOS every month, you give US 500K bonus, if we don't then we pay YOU 500K. Needless to say, it's fun to watch.

Have to run. We are having a team meeting.

Ok, I'm here and the first thing they have us doing is helping some client manager person install a macro to 30 or so machines. Lots of fun, but I'm a little confused so far. Still waiting to see what is going to happen after lunch. Ass is still sore from the anal probe I got at the airport when I made the mistake of saying "those M-16s you guys are carrying are the bomb!" Went downhill really fast from there. They seemed really touchy for some reason.....

On the other hand the "guys" here are really approachable ( read: glad to see us). It appears as we only got half the story. Might be the owner of the contract (wink wink) might be close to losing the contract. It is definately a case of too much work vs. not enough "guys" especially since they just lost 2 to layoffs. Mario (one of the "guys") explained a lot that seemed to have gotten lost in the story that was told my Mr. Bill. Customer handling skills here seemed to require a lot time spent on your knees (figuratively speaking) or you end up with a nasty report to your manager. I believe it has a lot to do with the "ratio" that they have, not to mention how touchy the client base appears to be. Written procedures seem to be a lost art down here also contributing to some of the problem. You should have seen there face when I explained about our special "team" that closes tickets using remote tools, all over the country.

Our newest charcter in the story is Ms. Laura, who is their leader, she is going to interview us after lunch and see who has the right mindset(?) to be sent downtown.

Speaking of bombs, I casually mentioned about a outsourcing thing happening in Rochester. Seems they have never heard of this. Looks like there will be some "bar meetings" while some stuff gets explained.

Ok, so I tried to add a couple of links, you can see I added a couple of my favorites. If you can thing of any others, then send me an e-mail at acrego1@rochester.rr.com

I'm trying to get the changes right on this. Trying to find good one.

Ok...It's Sunday, and I'm packed. Looks like I'm ready to travel. Kind of excited about this, plus they have Good Friday off so I get a 3 day weekend for Easter.

More on Monday!

Ok, so we had the meeting on Monday with Mr. Bill and talk about things and how we are representing the best of EDS, and then Mr. Steve came in gave us the "cream of the crop" spiel and made us all feel warm and fuzzy. By that time my head was so big, I had trouble getting out of the room.

Looks promising, we get to fly down, and we get $30 for meals per day! Although right now I'm being kind of told that I might be riding down to DC with one of the other "volunteers." Uh, I don't think so. That's about 7 hours (as the crow flies) with someone I barely know. I'll pay the airfare out of my pocket - screw that! Let's think about it for a minute, first it is a 7 hour ride, but that means we would have to leave Sunday which means 1 less day of my weekend. Second, IT'S A 7 HOUR RIDE! I don't even understand why you would even want to take your own car. Seems really silly.

Gotta run - More in a bit!

I've just set this up and I'm wondering what it will look like. Gave up trying to get it working from my own site, so screw it. FDWI so it has ads, oh well.

Monday is big meeting with Mr. Bill. Well get our charge cards and phone cards. This should be interesting. First let me try and set the rules:
1) I'll try not to use last names (protect the innocent and me from assholes)
2) I will tell you straight up just how bad this "contract" is.
3) I make the rules.

There, I think we are ready. I'm supposed to leave a week from this monday. I might post comments from my meeting tomorrow.