Avast ye scurvy dogs!! Arrrrrr!
Yep, you guess it, Matey! It's International Talk Like a Pirate Day! My first clue was reading UserFriendly this morning and discovering that it you waited a bit, the strip changed and all the dialogue was in Pirate-Speak. hee hee!
I was a good wench and found my Pirate Name. I shall henceforth be known as Cap'n Mary Kidd. ARRRRRR!
Knit Like a Pirate!
Surprisingly, there is such a website as knitlikeapirate.com, which features a couple of knitted pirate hats in various styles. Oddly enough, there are several other pirate related knitting websites. I'm going to have to knit myself the booty bag. I think this is one instance in which one's bag could and, perhaps, should make one's booty look big.
Today's Commuting Adventure!
I am pleased to note that there really wasn't much adventure today. I left the house a bit late this morning and then discovered that the excess moisture inside my car had condensed on the inside of the windows, so I had to wait for the defroster to burn that off. Today I picked up some DampRid and I left my windows open at work so evaporation could take place. (Yes, I remembered to close them when I got home.)
Adventures at work!
Still no spinach-related E. coli cases, which is fine by me.
Got more software installed. Wouldn't you think, as a sys admin, that the incoming person for a job might have the same IT requirements in terms of software and database access as their predecessor? Seems rather sensible/logical, doesn't it? That logical process doesn't seem to have happened. I'm having to ask for each and every thing and to justify it as well. The good news is that one of my bosses had a chat with the director and he's a bit annoyed that I haven't been able to do much work yet because of the IT snafus. I've been advised to expect things to get sorted out fairly quickly now.
I got my pager today, a month after I started this job. I guess it's a good thing we haven't had any outbreaks or other disasters, cuz work wouldn't have been able to get hold of me. I guess the aforementioned logic of getting resources from the past to the present also failed to transfer my predecessor's pager to me.
I've obviously been spoiled by the quality of sys admin work done by Don at 00Webworks and the rest of the geek gang (Michael, Wayne, Mitch). Heck, even the beleagured CITES crew managed to get things done more effectively and they've only got 35K undergrad users, 15K grad student users and then all the faculty and staff to mess with, plus a hundred computer labs.
Philosophizing....
I think my expectations in this instance may be too high. Tom the Hispasian said that would be my downfall, although it's also one of the best things about me. I expect the best out of myself every day. The only person I have to be better than is the person I was yesterday. Every day I strive to do a better job than I have done before. Learn more, do more, stretch more. Faster, stronger, taller, better. Sometimes that is accomplished by working harder. Sometimes that is accomplished by working less and relaxing more. Just don't relax too much. Remember: If you're resting on your laurels, you're wearing them on the wrong end.
When it comes to computer-based and technology expectations, my primary problem is that I started out as an Apple user (way back when in 1980), then moved to Macs in the 1990s. I learned to expect computers to WORK and to work reliably. I also learned that it's not rocket science to get them to cooperate. It's not like Windows machines and the blue screens of death. Macs just go about their job in a quirky, amusing, happy sort of way. They don't have to show you all the details of how they do it, they just get it done. Windows machines are more adversarial and definitely higher maintenance if they don't get their daily mocha and nap time (re-boots). With that said, I can wrangle a Windows box to do pretty much whatever I want it to do. I'm just hamstrung right now by not being allowed to have ANY admin privilieges on my own personal work box. I have to get someone else to fix everythihng and anything and that's where the trouble is. Today I couldn't look at data I need to do QA on because MS Office Web Components isn't installed. And I can't fix that myself. I had to try very hard to not beat my head on the keyboard when the error came up. And I lost another half day to waiting for a software install. Maybe I'll get it by tomorrow afternoon. I'm not very good with having to "hurry up and wait". Not very good at all.... I absolutely *hate* wasting time when I have things I could be doing.
Tomorrow's Fun!
I get to catch a bucket load of moquitoes!!! W00t! I hope the gate at Site B isn't locked. I'm not really keen on walking 3/4 of a mile through a hunting area while wearing a backpack aspirator The heaviest part of the aspirator is the motorcycle battery that powers it, but it's built on a backpack frame and it's really bulky for short folks like me. It kinda looks like the Ghostbuster packs. Ray used to start reciting lines from the Ghostbuster movies when he was using it.
I was a good wench and found my Pirate Name. I shall henceforth be known as Cap'n Mary Kidd. ARRRRRR!
Knit Like a Pirate!
Surprisingly, there is such a website as knitlikeapirate.com, which features a couple of knitted pirate hats in various styles. Oddly enough, there are several other pirate related knitting websites. I'm going to have to knit myself the booty bag. I think this is one instance in which one's bag could and, perhaps, should make one's booty look big.
Today's Commuting Adventure!
I am pleased to note that there really wasn't much adventure today. I left the house a bit late this morning and then discovered that the excess moisture inside my car had condensed on the inside of the windows, so I had to wait for the defroster to burn that off. Today I picked up some DampRid and I left my windows open at work so evaporation could take place. (Yes, I remembered to close them when I got home.)
Adventures at work!
Still no spinach-related E. coli cases, which is fine by me.
Got more software installed. Wouldn't you think, as a sys admin, that the incoming person for a job might have the same IT requirements in terms of software and database access as their predecessor? Seems rather sensible/logical, doesn't it? That logical process doesn't seem to have happened. I'm having to ask for each and every thing and to justify it as well. The good news is that one of my bosses had a chat with the director and he's a bit annoyed that I haven't been able to do much work yet because of the IT snafus. I've been advised to expect things to get sorted out fairly quickly now.
I got my pager today, a month after I started this job. I guess it's a good thing we haven't had any outbreaks or other disasters, cuz work wouldn't have been able to get hold of me. I guess the aforementioned logic of getting resources from the past to the present also failed to transfer my predecessor's pager to me.
I've obviously been spoiled by the quality of sys admin work done by Don at 00Webworks and the rest of the geek gang (Michael, Wayne, Mitch). Heck, even the beleagured CITES crew managed to get things done more effectively and they've only got 35K undergrad users, 15K grad student users and then all the faculty and staff to mess with, plus a hundred computer labs.
Philosophizing....
I think my expectations in this instance may be too high. Tom the Hispasian said that would be my downfall, although it's also one of the best things about me. I expect the best out of myself every day. The only person I have to be better than is the person I was yesterday. Every day I strive to do a better job than I have done before. Learn more, do more, stretch more. Faster, stronger, taller, better. Sometimes that is accomplished by working harder. Sometimes that is accomplished by working less and relaxing more. Just don't relax too much. Remember: If you're resting on your laurels, you're wearing them on the wrong end.
When it comes to computer-based and technology expectations, my primary problem is that I started out as an Apple user (way back when in 1980), then moved to Macs in the 1990s. I learned to expect computers to WORK and to work reliably. I also learned that it's not rocket science to get them to cooperate. It's not like Windows machines and the blue screens of death. Macs just go about their job in a quirky, amusing, happy sort of way. They don't have to show you all the details of how they do it, they just get it done. Windows machines are more adversarial and definitely higher maintenance if they don't get their daily mocha and nap time (re-boots). With that said, I can wrangle a Windows box to do pretty much whatever I want it to do. I'm just hamstrung right now by not being allowed to have ANY admin privilieges on my own personal work box. I have to get someone else to fix everythihng and anything and that's where the trouble is. Today I couldn't look at data I need to do QA on because MS Office Web Components isn't installed. And I can't fix that myself. I had to try very hard to not beat my head on the keyboard when the error came up. And I lost another half day to waiting for a software install. Maybe I'll get it by tomorrow afternoon. I'm not very good with having to "hurry up and wait". Not very good at all.... I absolutely *hate* wasting time when I have things I could be doing.
Tomorrow's Fun!
I get to catch a bucket load of moquitoes!!! W00t! I hope the gate at Site B isn't locked. I'm not really keen on walking 3/4 of a mile through a hunting area while wearing a backpack aspirator The heaviest part of the aspirator is the motorcycle battery that powers it, but it's built on a backpack frame and it's really bulky for short folks like me. It kinda looks like the Ghostbuster packs. Ray used to start reciting lines from the Ghostbuster movies when he was using it.
Comments