Many thanks for all the prayers, mojo, voodoo, and hoodoo offered yesterday -- it worked -- it wasn’t NEARLY as bad as I was anticipating (Teh Mangler™ actually stepped up and concentrated on the job for a change).
I did get yelled at for going to the restroom though. Not kidding.
Yesterday’s craziness is all about the build -- and there’s two databases and three different products that have to be loaded and built. My boss-boss does the builds, Teh Mangler™ had to manage the checks & balances and the actual print portion.
We-ell…
The first build attempt was on the fairly new build machine and failed.
Boss-boss freaks (he’s also pulling the trigger early because he wants to leave CA today for the last time, not tomorrow).
It’s not the data -- there’s nothing we missed that’d make it hang.
Teh Mangler™ pulls out the old build machine that’s been under a desk for a year, boss-boss runs the US build -- it works. The only thing we can figure is having not been plugged in, it hadn’t been subject to Micro$oft Office Updates and the InstallShield tool was still the old version.
Go to build Canada. Fail.
Boss-boss freaks again.
It’s in between the fail and the workaround build that I figure is a good time to run off to the restroom.
Nooooo….
Since I didn’t answer the IM in less than a femtosecond, boss-boss calls, “Where the hell were you, g-ddamn it?!?!” (as I’m pulling up my jeans and holding the phone against an ear) “Jeebus, d00d, I had to use the restroom!” “Yeah, well, I *need* you to be able to do this NOW.”
Trust me, he’s not living this one down for YEARS. I’m going to make a nice, conspicuous, scroll-y, fluorish-y certificate suitable for hanging on the wall. 😉
And on top of all this…
We were supposed to pick up his wife in College Station at the airport last night. While at Sam’sClub, I check her flight on my phone. All’s well -- she’s a few minutes out of DFW.
Check it again at Harbor Freight, and it now says she’s in Austin. W.T.F?
Long story short, Mr. X dropped me at the house and then proceed on to Austin to go get her.
Criminy, what week.
I enjoyed reading your stories about management Fatwa and Mac. It also made me sad that large businesses can’t manage to maintain that lack of micro-management and actually *work*.
Happy Friday, Gerbil Nation!
Good morning, TeX! It’s wonderful to see you this morning! Thanks for the coffee! Help! My exclamation point is stuck!
I’m glad things went better than anticipated -- I’d love to see the scroll-y thing when completed.
We have a ‘minimum day’ at school today, to make up for the extra hours we put in for Report Card Night. Why wasn’t minimum day immediately after Report Card Night, you ask? Well, you see, we have a very active Model United Nations program and every year hold a large MUN conference on campus. It normally falls on the weekend after Report Card Night and the kids spend the extra time on minimum day getting ready for the conference. Since the schedule didn’t work out that way, the MUN advisers convinced admin to move the minimum day to accommodate their schedule.
It’s finally farking Friday; teh yay!
Hai, TeX and Paddy!
TeX --
Very glad that your day wasn’t nearly so bad as you’d anticipated yesterday; much obliged for teh update. Hope that Mr. X successfully retrieved Mrs. Boss-Boss; WTF re the airport mixup??!?
Also, props for using the word “femtosecond”; heh! Hope teh scroll-y certificate of snark/shame suitably commemorates the occasion. 😉
As re my “management” experiences: I nearly always hired based on “gut instinct”, which generally worked very well for me. Having capable, motivated and dependable subordinates allowed me to treat them as I’ve always preferred my bosses treat me.
Which is, in a nutshell: once I understand and am capable of doing my job, GTFO the way, let me do it and trust me to alert you of any issues on a timely basis. Ditto any ways I can do it more efficiently. And if you have a problem -- real or perceived -- with my performance, FFS talk to me.
Making the work environment as fun as possible while remaining “professional” is something else I’ve always appreciated as a subordinate or manager. (Which tends to have a very salutary effect on productivity…)
That having been said, I’m glad i was raised with a good work ethic; mostly by fatherly example. And I think that having a morning paper route when I was thirteen taught me a lot about running a small business.
Well, you see, we have a very active Model United Nations program…
Which, one hopes, is somewhat less dysfunctional, corrupt and pernicious than the genuine item.
Hope everyone has a swell day; BBL to kill the thread.
Good Morning EveryGerbillyBody!
Many thanks for all the prayers, mojo, voodoo, and hoodoo offered yesterday -- it worked -- it wasn’t NEARLY as bad as I was anticipating (Teh Mangler™ actually stepped up and concentrated on the job for a change).
I did get yelled at for going to the restroom though.
Not kidding.
Yesterday’s craziness is all about the build -- and there’s two databases and three different products that have to be loaded and built. My boss-boss does the builds, Teh Mangler™ had to manage the checks & balances and the actual print portion.
We-ell…
The first build attempt was on the fairly new build machine and failed.
Boss-boss freaks (he’s also pulling the trigger early because he wants to leave CA today for the last time, not tomorrow).
It’s not the data -- there’s nothing we missed that’d make it hang.
Teh Mangler™ pulls out the old build machine that’s been under a desk for a year, boss-boss runs the US build -- it works. The only thing we can figure is having not been plugged in, it hadn’t been subject to Micro$oft Office Updates and the InstallShield tool was still the old version.
Go to build Canada. Fail.
Boss-boss freaks again.
It’s in between the fail and the workaround build that I figure is a good time to run off to the restroom.
Nooooo….
Since I didn’t answer the IM in less than a femtosecond, boss-boss calls, “Where the hell were you, g-ddamn it?!?!” (as I’m pulling up my jeans and holding the phone against an ear) “Jeebus, d00d, I had to use the restroom!” “Yeah, well, I *need* you to be able to do this NOW.”
Trust me, he’s not living this one down for YEARS. I’m going to make a nice, conspicuous, scroll-y, fluorish-y certificate suitable for hanging on the wall. 😉
And on top of all this…
We were supposed to pick up his wife in College Station at the airport last night. While at Sam’sClub, I check her flight on my phone. All’s well -- she’s a few minutes out of DFW.
Check it again at Harbor Freight, and it now says she’s in Austin. W.T.F?
Long story short, Mr. X dropped me at the house and then proceed on to Austin to go get her.
Criminy, what week.
I enjoyed reading your stories about management Fatwa and Mac. It also made me sad that large businesses can’t manage to maintain that lack of micro-management and actually *work*.
My manners. See Brenda’s dryer.
Coffee anyone?
Happy Friday, Gerbil Nation!
Good morning, TeX! It’s wonderful to see you this morning! Thanks for the coffee! Help! My exclamation point is stuck!
I’m glad things went better than anticipated -- I’d love to see the scroll-y thing when completed.
We have a ‘minimum day’ at school today, to make up for the extra hours we put in for Report Card Night. Why wasn’t minimum day immediately after Report Card Night, you ask? Well, you see, we have a very active Model United Nations program and every year hold a large MUN conference on campus. It normally falls on the weekend after Report Card Night and the kids spend the extra time on minimum day getting ready for the conference. Since the schedule didn’t work out that way, the MUN advisers convinced admin to move the minimum day to accommodate their schedule.
It’s finally farking Friday; teh yay!
Hai, TeX and Paddy!
TeX --
Very glad that your day wasn’t nearly so bad as you’d anticipated yesterday; much obliged for teh update. Hope that Mr. X successfully retrieved Mrs. Boss-Boss; WTF re the airport mixup??!?
Also, props for using the word “femtosecond”; heh! Hope teh scroll-y certificate of snark/shame suitably commemorates the occasion. 😉
As re my “management” experiences: I nearly always hired based on “gut instinct”, which generally worked very well for me. Having capable, motivated and dependable subordinates allowed me to treat them as I’ve always preferred my bosses treat me.
Which is, in a nutshell: once I understand and am capable of doing my job, GTFO the way, let me do it and trust me to alert you of any issues on a timely basis. Ditto any ways I can do it more efficiently. And if you have a problem -- real or perceived -- with my performance, FFS talk to me.
Making the work environment as fun as possible while remaining “professional” is something else I’ve always appreciated as a subordinate or manager. (Which tends to have a very salutary effect on productivity…)
That having been said, I’m glad i was raised with a good work ethic; mostly by fatherly example. And I think that having a morning paper route when I was thirteen taught me a lot about running a small business.
Which, one hopes, is somewhat less dysfunctional, corrupt and pernicious than the genuine item.
Hope everyone has a swell day; BBL to kill the thread.
TeX, thinking of you:
Hi, Jerry; heh!
Hope all’s well in Bountiful.
Srsly. How silly is that?! And I’ve got *documented* proof. He ain’t getting away from this one. EVAR.
We’re saved!!111!!
Naughty!
I saved it.
A-ha!
(As my Daddy taught me, “If it’s funny, it’s funny.”)
Maaaaan…when the writing’s good, this meme never gets old:
Dad would have enjoyed the hell out of it.
*Sniff*