Nov 05
Congrats to our new President-elect.
Oct 25
After about two weeks to let the steam boil off without burning the pot (and creating a hostile work environment for those involved), everything’s semi-normal again. Thanks to TC, I can’t stay mad at people for too long, but I definitely let the water steam for a while. Here’s the story in 25 steps:
1. Whyze starts work at company.
2. Worker A, who’s in charge of the company’s database computer asks Whyze to do some field work in getting workstations at other sites to communicate with the database computer (IE, install the client) and to troubleshoot communications.
3. Whyze encounters problems within the database program and because his college degree deals with the operating system in which the database program is housed, he offers his help to fix it even though it is Worker A’s job. Worker A has full knowledge of how to fix what Whyze is fixing but is so swamped, Whyze offers to help relieve the load. REMEMBER THIS PART.
4. Whyze’s boss and associate warns Whyze of the implications involved in helping in such matters because it has happened to them before. Whyze says he has it under control because Whyze has vastly more knowledge in the operating system. (No arrogance there, it was acknowledged by Whyze’s boss).
5. The company sends Whyze to training in order to put him in charge of certain end-of-the-year reporting, meaning in addition to technical support, Whyze is actually on the database team now.
6. The end-of-the-year reporting that Whyze was put in charge of is delegated to the administrators of the company’s sites, so Whyze doesn’t have to do it anymore. Whyze is grateful because Whyze didn’t get an increase in pay or any other perks despite the new job duty and Whyze is using his personal notebook to do work for the company.
7. Whyze continues to do technical support for the database program and operating system functions for 4 more years.
8. Whyze is sent to more training for internal software support because Worker A is considering retirement and Whyze may take Worker A’s place.
9. Worker A retires and Worker B takes Worker A’s place instead of Whyze. Doesn’t bother Whyze because Whyze likes his current position and didn’t really want to sit a desk for 8 hours a day.
10. Worker B asks Whyze to do some of the technical work that he was once doing for Worker A. Worker B is new, so Whyze complies.
11. Worker B begins to ask Whyze to perform some of the tasks that a person in Worker B’s position should already know - especially since there was no fieldwork involved. The tasks are similar to a car repairman looking in the car’s manual trying to learn how to jumpstart a battery. Whyze spends hours showing Worker B the inner workings of the software and how the client-server applicatons work.
12. Worker B asks Whyze to perform a task that is beyond Whyze’s user authority (rights). So, Whyze sends e-mail to Worker B, Worker B’s boss, and Whyze’s boss asking for administrative rights to fix Worker B’s problem. The EXACT e-mail sent:
“Hi,
In order to further look into the printing issue we have with [device name], I’m going to need full-access rights (God-rights) to [software name]. I currently only have rights that only allow me to view devices and user profiles. I need to be able to modify them to remedy the issue.
Thanks,
[Whyze's real name]”
13. This is the EXACT e-mail sent to Whyze from Worker B:
“[Whyze's real name],
Use my ID - [Worker B's username], and temporary password xxxxxx, to make necessary updates.
Thanks,
[Worker B's real name]
14. Given the fact of #11, Whyze assumes that Worker B has no clue how to give a user administrative rights. Fortunately, Whyze knows how to give administrative rights, so Whyze goes in as Worker B and gives himself administrative rights.
15. Worker B goes to Whyze’s boss on Whyze’s day off and reports the malacious activity with the speculation that it was Whyze’s intent to hijack the system and steal social security numbers DESPITE the fact that because of the end-of-year reporting, Whyze had access to hundreds of social security numbers anyway. Whyze’s boss is pissed at Whyze.
ADDENDUM TO #12 learned after the fact: Whyze’s boss, Worker B, and Worker B’s boss had a conversation about Whyze’s access prior to the e-mail sent to Whyze without telling Whyze. If Whyze knew he was a secuirty risk, this entire issue would have ended with #12.
16. The president of the company, Whyze’s boss, and Worker B’s boss calls Whyze in and informs him of the infraction. Whyze has to talk his way into keeping his job. Whyze tells the president how he is doing Worker B’s job because in Worker A’s case, Worker A knew how to do everything but needed the workload eased whereas Whyze was under the assumption that Worker B knew nothing because of #11.
17. Worker B’s boss looks like they didn’t know that Whyze was doing Worker B’s job. They remain silent for the rest of the meeting.
18. Whyze’s boss throws him under the bus again by proclaiming that he knew nothing of what was going on and Whyze took advantage of his trust.
19. President decides to reprimand (write up) Whyze instead of firing him. Whyze loses his access to the operating system in question, Whyze loses his computer, and the company performs a software audit to make sure Whyze didn’t compromise security (despite the fact that Worker B gave Whyze HIS access - so at one point, Whyze had complete access using Worker B’s username). Whyze has chance to respond to write-up.
20. Responding to the response, Whyze’s boss was under the assumption that Whyze was sent to training for what Whyze was doing for Worker B. Whyze clarifies that all his training was delegated to administration in the outside sites and that the knowledge what Whyze was doing was completely brought in from college and the company gave absolutely no training for what Whyze was doing for Worker B.
21. Whyze’s boss looks like deer in headlights, but keeps composure by reiterating #4. Whyze’s boss reveals that there was conversation and even though Whyze was in center of conversation, he was left out of loop.
22. Whyze determines that there was a breakdown of communication from all sides, Whyze was the only one written up AND Whyze has to continue to help Worker B despite the fact that he won’t have a computer to do it on. Whyze is really pissed now.
23. Whyze speaks to no one involved in incident (namely Worker B and Worker B’s boss). Whyze comes to work with his head down, does his job, documents his work, and goes home. However, Whyze speaks gleefully to those not involved in incident, even if incident’s participants are right next to them. Whyze walks right past a speaking Worker B and speaks to receptionist.
24. Incident participants know Whyze is pissed. They try to make small talk, but is completely ignored by Whyze. Whyze only communicates with participants via writing and through Whyze’s boss.
25. After talking with President (and two weeks later), Whyze slowly gets over incident. Whyze realizes that its harder to be angry at people than it is to simply speak without going into great conversations. Whyze realizes that Karma’s vengenance is unrelenting and unmerciful - they will get what’s coming to them for what they did. President and Whyze’s boss tells Whyze of his importance to the business and vaguely state that mistakes were made:
Worker B’s Boss’ Mistake - Not knowing what was really going on until the incident.
Worker B’s Mistake - Not being more clear in the e-mail. Going to Whyze’s boss instead of going to Whyze for explanation of Whyze’s actions.
Whyze’s Boss’ Mistake - Leaving Whyze out of the loop in conversation concerning user rights.
President’s Mistake - Given the starving economy, I like my job so the President doesn’t make mistakes.
Whyze’s Mistake - Not seeking clarification on the e-mail.
Life will go on for Whyze.
Oct 06
It’s been a really shitty Monday let me tell you.
Let me get one thing straight. I love my job. I love what I do. But, some of the people I work with can be downright bulldogs. Let me give you the rundown of how a person can potentially get fired for doing his job. I’m substituting “Whyze” for my real name, of course.
…you know what? I’m upset. I’m frustrated. And, I’m tired. It has been fairly established that I’m nothing more than the camel trucking everyone across the desert because I have proved that I’m able to. I am at the bottom of the totem pole expected to do the work of the peak. I most certainly expected this to be in Corporate America (which is exactly why I have avoided it thus far), but not with this company. I was told that I should be grateful that I still have my job and am only punished with a reprimand.
Maybe the details of this incident will be revealed at a later time when cooler heads may prevail, but for now, if I speak on it any more than I have, I’m most certaintly going to say or do something that I’m going to fully regret later.
…raindrops keep falling on my head.
Oct 06
Whilst working on a client’s PC, I just so happened to eavesdrop on a chat she left open. She was chatting with a guy and told him, “I’m just a boring girl who likes to do puzzles.” Now, that wouldn’t concern me much if not for the fact that she shares the EXACT same name as the webmaster of a site who is literally one or two hours away from completing “Life”. With her line of work, she’s only available to work on it on the weekends - just like the puzzler. During the hurricanes (Gustav and the threat of Ike), she was coincidentally absent. Not mere coincidences, my friends.
I know I shouldn’t be completing this puzzle for the glory of others - especially since the last few posts of mine were complaining about the attention I was getting (or lack thereof). But, once, JUST ONCE would I have liked to be in the record books for something. I mean, the second tallest guy in the world doesn’t make the cut.
I will complete the puzzle anyway. But now, it’s less of “Whyze completing the world’s largest puzzle” and more of “I’m doing it because I paid 300 dollars for it and they won’t take it back.”
Sep 28
The previous post was incredibly selfish, I know. But, I will not apologize for it. Why?
The other day a co-worker of mine’s family member died. She was quite distraught over it, and one of the first things she said was “We never got to tell him how much he meant to us.”
Words cannot express the sheer force of will-power required for me not to say, “Well, why the hell not?!”
Look, I work at a thankless job. Hell, I have a thankless career. I mean, it’s not like I save lives or anything. I just make sure the damn comptuer is fast enough to minimize Spider Solitaire before the boss comes in and see to it that the users don’t give 50 dollars (and their credit card numbers) to Win Anti-Virus 2009.
I don’t expect “Thank You”s. But, is it really that selfish to take some time to myself and let everyone else stew in their own wants and needs? Start calling me to see how I’m doing - repeating that - to see how I’M doing. I tire of “How’s that son of yours doing?” and “Is your wife liking her new job?” and “How’s your dad?”. I basically have to answer for half of my living relatives before I can even get into how my day has been going and, by then, the conversation has shifted to “What do I need to make my Internet wireless?”
I’m happy to help when I can because when I pick up the phone to ask for help, I would like it in return, but if you only see me as a working mule, then I’m going to be a horse’s ass.
I do not apologize for that.
Sep 26
It’s mid-September, the birds are chirping, the sun is shining, the temperatures are a very comfortable 70s, the grass is nicely cut, I have a few bucks in my pocket, and all the bills are paid. Why am I wasting it on being droopy and semi-depressed? This site has almost become worse than those comment pages for bad As-seen-on-TV products: only post when something is wrong. But, not anymore. I want people to smile and laugh when they read my blog. I want them to say, “That guy is really feeling good”. Why do I want them to say that? Because I am feeling good. You, too can feel good with these little blue pills. Viva Viag…
* CHANGES CHANNEL
And now, we return to The World of Reality.
After a week of basking in the harsh realities of life, I know what the problem is.
This damn puzzle.
Don’t get me wrong. When I’m allowed to, I’m really enjoying it. I need to update to reflect the past day’s work, but I’d say I’m between 60 and 70% done. Yeah, 300+ pieces of clear blue sky and water can be that tricky. It is by far one of the best challenges I’ve ever encountered in a puzzle. After all, it is entitled “Life: The Greatest Challenge”.
Anyways, the problem. Since I’ve spent so much time on it, people are starting to realize how much of my time has been spent on them and now it feels as if we (the puzzle and I - yes, it has a life of its own) are suffering from attrition of everyone’s wants and needs. I still get calls for people wanting help with something and after telling them that I can’t come right over like they want, I hear a purposely overexaggerated “sigh” then an “okay” as if to say “That damn puzzle is getting more time than me”. And, that goes from my wife and kid all the way up to family and neighbors.
I’m seriously not trying to sound greedy or arrogant, but I need time for me sometimes and everyone else needs to just do things for themselves. I’ve finally picked a hobby that’s inexpensive and fun and people feel that my hobby should be them.
I’ve tried to keep an open mind about how people always call me with a favor to ask. I’ve always told myself, “Be grateful that they called you at all.” But, that mindset is fading quickly. Sometimes, I don’t mind people calling me and asking for help because I may know a lot, but I don’t know everything and I may have to pick up my phone one day and call them for some help, you know? But, when people call you just to ask you why you haven’t called them, it gets to be mentally tiring and frustrating. The only exception to this is my son.
Before my wife and I settled on a “equal time” schedule (which was my idea and here’s why), I came out of my dungeon of puzzling to play with my kid. His reaction almost brought tears to my eyes. When I got on the floor to play with him, he behaved as if I was a long-lost best friend who was in town for a couple of hours and he had to utilize what little time he had. This was evident by him running around not knowing which toy he wanted to pull out first hoping he wouldn’t pull out the wrong toy and ruin the playdate.
I don’t blame the puzzle for this. I have to blame myself. A late friend told me that prioritization is the most important process you can take in your life because it is at the top of the pyramid scheme of natural order. If you don’t have your priorities straight, then it’s like putting together a jigsaw puzzle from a big pile rather than from a sorted and organized pallet.
So, this time, rather than watch the boiling water until it runs dry and the anger disappears, my wife and I sat down, talked it out, and now I’ve assembled over 600 pieces in a day’s time (the part I’m working on is 6,000 pieces). Whenever I play with the kid till exhaustion, give her some quality time, and watch a couple of TV shows, she tells me “You’re going to go work on the puzzle now, right?” And, not in that snide, degrading sort of way, but in that you helped me get through 4 years of college by working two jobs you deserve this sort of way. She’s almost treating it like a kid who has to do his homework before he can play with his GameBoy. That’s a good thing. I need that type of motivation - especially from my wife.
I’m getting my energy back, my biological clock is pretty good (I can go to sleep around 10:30 and wake up at 6 without an alarm clock and won’t feel a bit tired - even my boss was surprised), and this priority thing - while it’s far easier said than done, once you get the ball rolling on it, you’ll find time on a Thursday afternoon to go wash your mother’s car, your father’s truck, and your mother’s sidewalks with the brand new pressure washer you got for your birthday.
This really needs to last. Seriously. It really needs to last.
Sep 14
Dunno what the hell it is, but it appears that a myriad of things that I normally scoff at is fiddling with my last bit of nerves. My wife asked me to remake another homemade marinade that turned out very well a few weeks ago and I made it out to be as if she was asking me to define the entire spectrum of quantum physics in 10 words or less. In addition to the 6-8 hours of sleep I get every night, I find myself taking 2-3 hour naps when I get home from work. Aside from a few text messages, my mother hasn’t called me since exploding on me over the phone a few weeks ago.
While I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a depression, it’s definitely a sudden lack of energy that’s snowballing into a lot of other things.
…raindrops keep falling on my head.
Aug 30
Call me a pessimist, but despite the fact that 90% of forecasters claim that Gustav will make landfall somewhere between central Louisiana and eastern Texas, something deep down inside is telling me that Mother Nature is purposely trying to put me at some sort of ease, then extract her cruel vengeance on me.
But, that’s not what’s keeping me awake at night right now. It’s the fact that I’m sitting here in Alabama with my mother-in-law while my mother is sitting back in Mississippi at home…alone. Sort of.
Not knowing that my wife planned this weekend way back in July, my mother is under the constant impression that we’re fleeing Gustav and leaving her alone despite the fact that there are at least four family houses she can go to (or they could come to her) if it gets bad enough. I wanted to stay at her side (as I did for Katrina, Dennis, and Ivan), and ride it out with her, but this was the only opportunity for my wife to see her mother for more than a day at a time until the next opportunity was to come in November.
Since getting married in 2000, I have always tried to avoid having to decide between my wife and my family. But, a sleepless night last night brought some clarity. For 8 years, my wife has chosen me over her family. Every Thanksgiving, every Independence Day, every Memorial Day, every Christmas, every New Year’s, we’ve always gathered together as husband and wife at MY family’s get togethers. Hell, even as boyfriend and girlfriend, she was at my side when I’ve asked her to accompany me to my family’s events with no visible objections.
Only a few days ago, I learned that she bypassed almost all invitations to her family’s events to be with me. And, it was not from her. I just put two and two together and thought to myself, “How many times have we visited HER family?” If I would have chosen to stay and ride this storm out with my mother, my wife would have not objected. So, I practically owed it to her to make this trip.
But, how do I explain this to my mother without getting the “putting her before me” speech?
In December of 2000 when I told my father that I planned on marrying my college sweetheart, the first thing he asked me was “Are you ready for this?” As I tried to explain our plan of getting a place to live, our income, etc, he basically said that he didn’t care about those details. What he meant was was I ready to put a woman of only 3 years ahead of all things when the time called for it?
“If your wife is sick and I need your help moving something, are you ready to sit by her side and bear my anger?”
He told me that the Playstation, the anime, the computers, and my family was to become second to the woman I plan on marrying. Although he wasn’t technically married, the three-hour talk was quite philosophical and engaging. If he were able to speak, he would have communicated this message to my mother already but, alas, there’s Fate deciding to scew me over once again.
It’s no big secret that I live in a mobile home with added-on rooms. So, whenever there’s some sort of severe weather, we flock to her house. I don’t mean to sound greedy, but would she be in her justifyable means to reject future invitations because of this? Would she be in the right to say, “You left me alone for that hurricane, so now I’m leaving you alone for this.”
With every day in this world being a blessing and with the stresses my mother is going through, I really don’t want her upset with me, but at the same time, my wife has shown unbelievable commitment to our marriage. Hell, while we were dating, I almost broke up with her because she was acting too much like a concubine.
I have made the decision to ask for forgiveness from my mother instead of my wife this time. It’s a dilemma that I had hoped I’d never have to encounter. Let’s hope by this time Wednesday, I’ll still have two families.
Aug 28
Whatever I did, I’m sorry. There, I apologized, so don’t send Gustav to my back door like you’re planning on doing. Why? Because a, I’m terrified of hurricanes, and b, my wife and I planned on going out of town for the holiday weekend (planned well before the hurricane even formed) and my mother is under the impression that we’re running away from the storm and is leaving her alone to ride the thing out herself.
Of course, after Katrina, I don’t want anybody to get hit with a hurricane, but once it enters the Gulf, someone has to take the bullet. I may sound ugly to an already ravaged coastline, but, better them than us.
However (there ALWAYS has to be a “however”), Fate hates me and practically makes me her bitch at will, so in the next couple of days, that path is going to shift right into Gulfport and turn me into a basketcase - just like Katrina did.
I’m sorry.
Aug 10
http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/08/09/obit.bernie.mac.ap/index.html
Bernie Mac - dead.
Can somebody hit the Reset button on the latest game called “Whyze 2008″?
