Blunders at work

So I've decided that I'm going to post a few of the biggest "Are you kidding me?" type things I've done at work. I'll update from time to time as it's inevitable that there will always be more to come.


I had one request to come look at one of the phones. They had replaced the headset because it was sounding fuzzy and now that they had replaced it weren't getting any sound at all. I tested the speaker and got a dial tone on both lines with no problem. With a brand new headset it had to be the connection. On the back of the phone there are two plugs with pictures by them. One with a handset and one with a headset. They were plugged into one labeled AUX on the other side of the phone.


We had gotten a request saying that someones laptop wasn't turning on. They brought it in and sure enough nothing would turn on. On pulling out the battery I discovered water and lots of it. Upon asking if it had gotten wet the reply came: "Does that look like the problem?"


I had gotten a request for one of the lovely cubes saying that it wasn't working. I tend to put off requests for these, and after putting it off as long as possible I headed down to see what the issue could be this time. Upon looking at the thing I discovered EVERYTHING had been unplugged (Power, monitors, everything. Genius Point!). I plugged everything back in turned it on and advised that they leave things plugged in.


There was an issue with one of the printers not wanting to change printing trays. After looking around we found that it only occurred in Microsoft Word. After looking around some more we confirmed that it was a Word issue and that Microsoft had officially claimed it as well. I had told the person that had asked us to look into it that it was a Word issue. One of my coworkers had told him the same thing. The person called the printer service company and had them send a tech guy out to look at it. After all this I get an email back stating: "I spoke with [tech guy], a senior tech from [printer place] and he confirmed that the weirdness going on is a Word issue, not a printer or driver issue." Does it really take three (or four if you count an official statement from Microsoft) opinions to convince you that we already told you that?

Natalie VS Cutco

Our little story begins while I was at work. I was helping drag a load of drinks up the stairs at work and as I'm carrying 30 pounds of soda up the stairs my phone starts ringing. Judging by the ringtone I knew it was Natalie (Hi sweetie, I love you, can you please pick up the phone?). I make it to where I'm lugging the drinks and throw them on the table. Of course by then I miss the call by mere seconds. So I call her back and it goes straight to voice mail. At this point I'm assuming because I'm trying to call her and she is trying to call me we are really working the system and neither phone is ringing. Finally I get something on the phone but I can't understand anything. At first I thought she was talking to someone else in the background because it sounds kinda muffled and I can't understand anything. Being outside in the wind didn't help any either (I had walked back outside by this time). Finally I gathered that something was wrong because I couldn't understand a whole lot of what Natalie was trying to say. I got cut......bleeding.....won't stop. So like any sensible person would do I walked into my office announced that I would be back after saving my wife from bleeding to death and drove like a bat out of hell.

I get to our apartment and run inside. As I walk in Natalie is on the phone and sounds calm. She gets off the phone and walks me through what happened. She was trying to cut a roll for my lunch that she was going to bring to me. She ended up cutting the tip of her finger and well you can see from the picture the results of said cut. I told her that the good news was that she was going to live. I didn't think it was to terrible (aside from the blood all over the sink and the cool new red polka dots on parts of the carpet), but decided it'd still be a good idea to head to instacare (go go gadget insurance!). We pile into the car and away we go. I promise I never got above 80 but I felt pretty freakin' cool flying around a 30 MPH curve at 65-70ish (Natalie was trying not to toss her cookies). After cutting off and unsuspecting soul in a Toyota Camry we eventually made it to instacare. The picture above was taken there. They got her situated and after evaluating the situation decided they would go ahead and give her a tetanus shot and a couple stitches. So with a stab in the hand to numb it and a stab in the arm for the tetanus they sewed her up and away we went. We went and got lunch at crown burger after such a hair raising experience, and I brought her to work with me the rest of the day. She drew this on my whiteboard at work:

Morale of the story: If you have Cutco knives keep your fingers out of the line of the blade.

Cube Wars

This little unit is what we affectionately call a cube. It is a poor excuse of a computer that they use in one of the labs at work. I admit the idea of the silly things is kinda cool. It's small. It only takes up a few inches of space on a desk. The rats nest of cables that seem to be growing out of these things is terrible but other than that the idea in and of itself is kinda cool. On the flip side something that doesn't work isn't worth having. These little buggers are a pain in my butt. Last month I worked on these good for nothing suckers almost everyday. One day I was considering whether a hacksaw, sledgehammer, or death by fire would be appropriate for one of these miserable contraptions when I had an apostrophe (epiphany). Lightning struck my brain (and it didn't hurt). I got to looking at the thing and realized: How much power is this thing getting? It's using the equivalent of a laptop power supply. I look at the power cable to find that it's getting 65 watts of power. Ok. I start doing the math of the many things plugged into it demanding power verses the power it is able to give. The answer was very much in the negative numbers.

So with a stroke of genius I was able to recommend getting some powered USB hubs for the 5,000 watts of power needed (I'm obviously exaggerating but that's really not that far off as to what demands verses ability to provide was). They got the things I plugged them in and heard nothing more for about a month.

So yesterday I get an email wanting me to come look at the silly thing again because it's not working. I put it off a few hours just delaying the inevitable, but I eventually go and look at the thing. It doesn't work? That is an NSS (No $#!+ Sherlock!) statement! When I get there the monitor is unplugged, almost everything is unplugged, and the external hard drive (because the internal one wasn't big enough for windows) containing windows was unplugged. Gee I wonder why the worthless thing doesn't turn on?! I plug everything back in and away it went. Everything worked. These are scientists using the computer but I definitely wouldn't recommend they try and diagnose their own IT problems. Today I get to add MORE things to the silly cubes. (4 printers to be precise.) They do have the powered USB ports so it shouldn't be a problem anymore.

The Check's in the Mail.

So a few months ago when I was looking for a job I was sending my resume out like crazy to postings on KSL and a few other places. There was one posting that replied back asking for my name and address and they would send me what I needed to get started. I figured it wasn't my social security number so ok. I sent them my name and mailing address and the next thing they sent me was an attachment the I needed to sign as well as a sheet that had a VERY vague rundown of what I was supposed to do. The wheels start turning in my head as I begin to wonder: They don't seem to care where I am. They are supposedly based out of SLC and I'm 300 miles away. How am I supposed to work for them if I'm not even in the same valley? They mentioned benefits but never said what they were. I'm supposed to buy my own software to use? Who does that? These and a few more are rolling around in my head so I email back and tell them I want more info before I sign ANYTHING. He sends me a number that looks odd. I Google it and find it's a land line in Connecticut? Things aren't matching up. I email him back and ask if they are based out of Connecticut or what? The reply was that they are not. The number was to someone with "A wealth of information" who could assist me with my questions. Why would I call long distance for something that is supposed to be at least in the same state? I don't think so. So I asked my questions and got more vague answers. One thing they did answer clearly was that I would be paid by cashiers check. Who does that? There are plenty of scams with those no thank you. I couldn't quite figure out the angle they were working with but none the less I knew there had to be a crocodile lurking in the water somewhere and that's enough to make me look elsewhere. They asked if I wanted to proceed and I told them no.

Well we took off for the weekend and when we came back there was a package on our doorstep from New Jersey (see above). I look up the address on Google (Google and I are pretty tight by now) and it turns out to be a legit address and a legit business but I've never done anything to deserve anything from them. I open the package and out comes a cashier's check for $3,680.00.

Looking at the addresses on here the check is from a legit credit union with a legit address in Texas, but it's from someone in Arizona? I now have three different addresses with a handful of different names and nothing seems to be lining up right. The only thing I could figure this check came from was the bunch of hosers that offered me the "job". I may be crazy, but I'm no fool. There is no way I'm gonna cash this thing.

My Job

So I thought I'd just blabber for a little bit about my job. First thing I'd like to say is that I LOVE it. It's been quite a change to get paid to do something I enjoy for a change. Right now I'm still trying to figure out what's going on and exactly what it is I'm supposed to be doing sometimes but all in all it's been things I enjoy doing. Fixing computers and just different things here and there and maintaining things. It's the first job I've ever had that my opinion seems to be taken seriously much less actually followed sometimes. (Guess that degree is finally accounting for SOMETHING). I might even be creating the logo and website for the company. (The one that's there now is kinda sad to tell you the truth.) I'm no whiz at websites but I'm fairly confident that I could make something that at least looks decent(Stay tuned on that one.) I have my own desk. I've never had a work space before. I think it's cool anyway. I think I work with some of the coolest people ever. I actually feel appreciated and like I do something around the place that makes a difference. (Not that I wasn't at other jobs, but they were all the same daily grind and really easily replaced). I look forward to getting things figured out and helping out.

Background Music

So I've decided that life would be so much better if I had a symphony to follow me around in my life and play the appropriate music when it was called for. We've all watched a good movie or two and honestly it's the music that makes half the movie. When something is exciting you get some thunderous bass and a quick beat. When it's sad you get the sad slow music. I'd like to have the music and use it for guidance. If it sounded freaky I'd know NOT to go in that room. I don't need anything strangling me or eating my face. Life just seems so anticlimactic sometimes. You feel like you've done something good during the day but there is no music to let you know that. You go do something crazy there's no AC/DC following you around singing "Back in Black". Maybe when life flashes before our eyes that will be added. There has to be some editing somewhere. I've watched home movies before and they can only be so entertaining for so long. Think how much sappier things would be if you went on a date and there was a mini orchestra to back you up? Wouldn't that be epic? I wouldn't want anything following me around as I'm doing something stupid or wrong. I don't want Sir Robin's minstrels following me around, just once I think it'd be cool to have something come on cue.

Behold! The Blessings!

So today was one of those days that I just don't even really know what to say. I feel like I've been spinning my wheels going nowhere for the past month. I've been applying for jobs day after day to no avail. I burn gas going to a job that I love but doesn't pay anything but experience, which is dandy other than I kinda need money to live. Money just keeps bleeding out of the accounts and I feel like I'm on a sinking ship. Today all of that changed. I had sent in my application to a company called IT Sources. I had missed a call from them and they left a message saying they would like to interview me. From my other couple of interviews one drilled me pretty good and made me feel retarded and the other one I felt went well but then they dropped off the face of the earth and even when I walked into the building I couldn't get ahold of anyone. So what's one more? I called them back the next morning and left a message for the same person that called me. I called them back around noon and got ahold of the person that called me. I talked to her for a bit and then scheduled an interview for the following morning (today).This morning I went to the interview and felt like it went really well. I had listed Dale as a reference. He is the one over me for my internship and as of about 7PM tonight is my mom's husband :) He called me a little later in the day and told me that they had called him and that they were trying to decide between me and one other guy.

The rest of the day I was holding on to my phone like my life depended on it. For those of you who know me well know I NEVER do that because I don't care for the phone generally. I was looking at the clock every few minutes. I knew they were making a decision today and that they closed at 5PM. So as it neared 5 I was constantly looking at the clock. Every time it rang I would look and it was either my mom or Dale requesting assistance. I was driving home and lo and behold it rang and it was a number that wasn't in my phone. I answered and heard the voice of the guy that interviewed me. Glory be and hallelujah! I got the job. I started crying on the phone but was able to maintain my voice as if I was alright by some miracle. I finally found a job with some epically awesome benefits. Full benefits and then some. After 90 days I've the chance for my first upgrade and raise. I'm so bloody excited I don't even know what to do with myself. Now we can finally look around for a place to stay and support ourselves. On top of that my mom got married to an awesome guy. It's a nice change to have a good day and feel relief and happiness rather than feeling like we're going down with the money boat. There were a lot of prayers said over the past little while and I'm ecstatic that they were answered better than I expected. I start Monday and I can't wait. It'll be nice to work doing something I love rather than something I enjoy for awhile and then end up hating the last little while I'm there. The best part being I can get paid for it too! :D It's been a 1 Nephi 11:17 day :)

The Blue Streak Takes a Hit....The Second Verse.

So the Blue Streak (My Honda Civic Si) took another hit this week. I blame it on the construction. I was rolling along the other day at the usual Provo speeds (25 - 30 MPH above the speed limit) When I happened upon a wonderful hole. I heard a loud BANG! but didn't see any parts flying so I went on my merry way. (I don't want to sound like I beat my car to death. It's my ride and I love it to death and protect it what I can) A few days later I got out of the car and looked at the left rear wheel and noticed it was slightly lower than the rest of the car. By slightly I mean like 6 inches or so. The poor thing looked like it was a tripod. I looked at the tire and noted that it only cleared the body of the car by oh say half a centimeter or so. None the less I figured I could make it back to my mom's with it. So I called my mom to figure out where her mechanic was and got an appointment with them. Looking around I noticed there was a visual difference between the left and right springs and figured the left strut was broken. I was wondering when this had occurred when the little crunch from the other day came to mind. I made it back alright but I'm sure I got some interesting looks. I rolled in and had my wife pick me up. 24 hours and $956.11 later I had a car again. It was dang near three bills for the two backs struts alone. Then they monkied with the height and it needed an oil change and an alignment. Then there was the oil sensor that was leaking oil. They replaced that for me for a mere $70. Dump all the labor on top of that and you get the pile of cash for a total that I mentioned earlier. Dang I wish I had a job. The savings took a hit too. I should be good to go for a little while though now. It's higher than it's ever been. It's where the average car is and that means the tires will wear evenly now rather than just on the inside so they'll last longer. I just hope nothing else costs that much until we can actually afford it and have income!

I'm a BSer!

Well I gradumawaited yesterday. I'm officially good enough at BSing that I got a degree out of it. What does it mean now? Well everyone asks me what I'm going to do now. Answer: Look for a job like I've been doing for the past couple of months. As stated in the previous entry the problem being experience so somehow I'll have to come up with something for that. I'll be moving up to Salt Lake to look around and Natalie will hang around at granny's place until I've got something that can pay bills. I now have a piece of paper stating that I've forked over enough cash and hung on long enough that I deserve something better than minimum wage!

Job Hunting

So I have decided that job hunting is not for the faint of heart. I have been applying for anything that I think I might be able to do as well as a few I'm unsure of just for the sake of it. Thus far I have had maybe three interviews and an attempt at scamming me. Having had a computer class on computer security and some personal experience as well as some advice on the parental side I was able to decipher the punks objectives. The most frustrating thing is that I have gone to school all my life in hopes of becoming something useful. I spend (or others spend) thousands of dollars to go to college taking hours and hours of classes in hopes of making themselves worth more in the workplace. Being one of those I figured that maybe I'd be a little better for the job hunt right? Well the more I learn the less I know. I learn more in my classes but the more I interview the more I wonder if I ever really knew what the heck I was doing in the first place. Computers are my passion and as frustrating as they can be I love it when they work as they are intended. It's annoying when I'm in an interview and they ask me what the doohicky by the NFS with the RN is and how it broke and the command system client ate a virus and downloaded all my bank funds into some bank in Ireland with an impossible bank account while all the paint is peeling off my walls because there was an attachment that opened(No, none of that is supposed to make sense). Most places I can follow what's going on. Heck I even knew what good ol' Mark Zuckerberg was talking about on The Social Network when he was talking about the servers. I quote from the Novel Dracula from Van Helsing when he said "We learn from our failures, not our successes." The more I interview the more I think I'm narrowing down on something I might actually be able to do. The other thing is that most jobs want you to have experience, but they aren't willing to give it to you. So a sucker like me that's worked with computers a lot but never had to professionally is outta luck. I didn't expect to get hired the first placed I applied at but I didn't expect to be totally clueless in an interview either. I know I don't know everything but I thought I'd at least know SOMETHING after getting a flippin' Bachelor's degree. What use is a silly degree if you still don't know anything? I seem to know just enough to get into an interview or two, but not enough to get a job. So until the day I find one me and my trusty keyboard will be filling out application after application. I've almost got everything memorized that needs to be on any application ever. They are still annoying to fill out however as I've gone through enough of them that I'm sick of putting my name and address over and over again. I guess I'll find the right job eventually it's just getting there that is a pain in the butt.

Things I've learned from working at Domino's

Tippers wanted - For the most part people do tip, but on occasion (more than I'd like) there is at least one a shift that doesn't. Most times it's college students that haven't had the tipping 101 class in college. Usually they are weekly if not daily customers and to lazy to walk the block to Domino's and pick it up themselves. I myself tip very liberally especially after working for next to nothing and depending on tips to support my family. The thing that rips my shorts is when I deliver to a major multi million dollar corporation and as if to give me a kick to the groin for a tip purposefully take the time to write the zero's on the tip line. It's one thing to leave it blank and possibly use the excuse of forgetting, or even putting a line which is more like a slap to the face. The zero's are the ultimate insult then they smile as they hand you the receipt. As if smiling while someone kicks you in the crotch makes it better. I know they have money and they know they have money. Chump change is too good for the likes of a lowly delivery driver I suppose. There are some addresses you see that you get excited to deliver to because you know they tip well and if nothing else they are fun to deliver to. On the other hand you have the addresses pop up that you hope you don't have to deal with because....well they are less than ideal to deliver to.

Even simple jobs have slackers - As a driver I think the hardest thing that I'm asked to do is to do a few dishes in the store. If I'm opening driver I prep a few things for the day, or as a closing driver I mop the floors and do a few dishes. Yeah, I know, real hard labor. Yet without fail there is always someone that decides that isn't something that applies to them. As an opening driver you have something like a seven hour shift. You MIGHT have four hours worth of deliveries on a busy day. It takes maybe an hour do prep the stuff needed if everything is empty and to do the dishes. Yes we get maybe five bucks an hour but this isn't exactly brain surgery either. A five year old could do this job if they could they drive. Then again I've met some five year olds that are more intelligent than most people.

Like any job there are things that drive you crazy and things you like about it. I for one turned down being a manager simply because I like being able to leave the store when it's busy and get away from the stress and just relax while I drive. Also because on the occasion that someone is irate and I don't want to deal with them I simply refer them to the manager to deal with. Sadly enough I also make more than any manager even on my bad tipping days. I'm looking forward to having a real job with benefits, but there are little things in any job that make it at least semi enjoyable.

Snoopy

I've always loved Snoopy. Out of all the characters of anything I've ever seen or read Snoopy remains my favorite. I don't know that I could just pinpoint one specific reason other than he just rocks. What other dog in the history of the world sleeps on top of his doghouse? He flies his house as an airplane and occasionally goes by Joe Cool when wearing shades. Woodstock is one of his best friends. I've never understood a word he says (cause I don't know how to translate |||| |||| |||||||| |||| into english) but he's always not to far off from Snoopy. Snoopy has a fun family. What other family of dogs has a band?

The one on the drums is Andy, the pink bow is Belle, Rover is the one with the steel guitar, Snoopy is front and center, Spike is the skinny one on the violin, Olaf is the one with the hat, Molly is behind him, and marbles is the spotted one. Snoopy was originally adopted by a little girl living in an apartment, but due to there being no pets allowed he was taken back to the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm where he was adopted by Charlie Brown for five dollars. I'd say that was an epic buy. Snoopy's brothers and sisters aren't mentioned very much. I was only aware of Spike for a long time. He lives in the desert somewhere inside of a cactus. The rest of them seem to at least live in a house somewhere.

Snoopy chasing after the Red Baron

This is probably my favorite picture of Snoopy that I've seen.

This is one that I've modified a little so the sunglasses look like those of Vash the Stampede off of an anime called Trigun.

So Snoopy has been a thing of mine ever since I can remember. I still have the Snoopy pillow that my mom got for me when I was four or so. It's has many a stitch to repair it but it's still around. My desktop wallpapers sport at least one picture of snoopy if not more. I use Snoopy as most of my pictures on accounts where you can put one. Mostly cause I don't care to have a ton of me floating all over the internet. With all that said in summery I will conclude that I love Snoopy.

Bloggin'

Alrighty then, so I broke down and actually started a blog. I guess the idea behind doing something like this for me is to let some of you in a little more on my personality and the likeness. In general unless you know me very well I'm an NOT a very open person as far as letting my voice be heard goes. I keep a majority of thoughts and ideas to myself (Much to my wife's frustration) and as a result am pretty much a hermit. So I'm hoping as I throw stuff on here (however random it may be) that it may give others a glimpse of me.