I try not to. I really really do. I really try to rely on no one and be totally independent.
Ever so often, I’m forced to rely on some other people, and it’s rarely a positive experience.
For example over the last 24 hours I had to exchange emails and talk on the phone with two Tech Support (TS) for our LMS’ issues.
Issue #1 via email
Me: Hey ever since doing our upgrade, we’re noticing these error (describes 4 types of errors). Could it be because we need to reapply this patch (describes patch)
TS: Please send complete logs for us to troubleshoot.
Me: All right here are the logs you requested. Can you let me know if reaplying that patch would do the trick? The 4 files in the patch are a perfect match with the 4 types of error we’re getting.
TS: I’ve checked the logs and it appears that you are experiencing a JMS issue which is causing general issues with application functionality. In the first instance, I would suggest that you confirm that no network changes have been made that would affect multicast communication between the nodes. Secondly, I’d advise you to check Domain/config/config.xml on your admin node with the cluster shut down. In config.xml you will notice a <migratable-target> entry for each managed node. Within there, each node’s <user-preferred-server> entry should point to itself (that is, that ManagedNodeA should have a user-preferred-server of ManagedNodeA). If these are not correct, you can adjust them to the correct values, and then restart each node in sequence after touching REFRESH in the Domain directory. If these aren’t successful, then we can run a multicast test to confirm connectivity between the nodes, but the above are the most common causes of this type of issue.
Me: Yeah, hi again. We just reapplied the patch and it works now.
Issue #2 via email and phone
Me: Hi, we just updated our LMS to the latest version, and one of our servers refuses to update. The error message is saying that the latest update has already been installed (paste error message). Is there a way to bypass the database check while doing the application server only update? or a series of manual steps to perform this upgrade?
TS: There was not a phone number to contact you.Are you install the HF or 8.0.2?I assume the DB has been upgraded and you are doing a application only install? How many nodes do you have and how many have been upgraded?
Me: (Sends email back with phone number and answer to all questions)
Drrrrrrrrrrrring!
TS: Hi this is TS. So you’re saying you can’t start the application because of a version mismatch?
Me: Yes.
TS: But the install logs shows that you installed the latest version?
Me: Yes.
TS: When you start the install what happens?
Me: It says “already installed and can’t be installed multiple times” (Shows the process through WebEx).
TS: That’s weird.
Me: …
TS: So can you restart the install one more time?
(goes through the steps again. Same error.)
TS: That’s weird. Just for kicks, can you run it again?
(goes through the steps again. Same error.)
Here’s the best part of that conversation:
Me: I have my assistant here, and he’s very tall.
I should really have a post about my assistant, I refer to him as the Tall Guy because, well he’s really tall.
Weekend in numbers:
Hours worked over the last 48 hours: 30
Hours spend on generator power: 8
Hours spend on the phone with tech support: 1
Emails exchanged with tech support: 13
Helpful suggestions in these emails: 2
Of these helpful suggestions, how many were made by us: 2
Cups of coffee drank: 1
Stairs climbed up: 373
Stairs climbed down: 497
Beer and other alcohol beverages consumed: 0
Number of people using our services 35,000
Number of hunappy people at this point: 3
Satisfaction rate: 99.99998%
Typos in this post: 3
People killed in the process: 0
Anyways, that’s the end of the update tales for a little while. Now excuse me while I go knock on wood, drink some alcohol and plan for some well-deserved time off.
+++++
So what about you? Do you rely on other people?
Only when asked to by the people that rely on me
AKA : the boss!
Well, you’re going better than five nines with respect to happiness.
The bit about your assistant being tall cracked me up.
delmer recently blogged I Win Again!
I second what Delmer said – hilarious!
If I relied on other people nothing would get done.
Short answer: no.
Sybil Law recently blogged Been Caught Stealin’…
If you would like to rely on me, please feel free to do so. I’m great at looking up flight information. Of course, I may wind up having an error and you might possibly wind up somewhere other than your true destination. I mean, Chicago sounds so much like ::insert place I think is in Mexico but it really isn’t and I can’t remember the name of it here::.
I’m sure you can see how that error could possibly occur and, therefore, would not be overly angry at me.
Sheila (Charm School Reject) recently blogged buzzzzzzzzzzzz
I rely on people who have earned my trust. My husband, MBTD, his wife… and a few close friends. And if they don’t match up, I try not to take it personally. Everyone has their crap to deal with, you know? A failure to meet my expectations is not necessarily an act of attack or disrespect. With most other people (particularly anyone with the name “Tech Support” in their job title), though, my expectations are fairly low.
Faiqa recently blogged The Fairest One of All
At my old job we had a say that described those situations perfectly: ‘Why could you make things simple when they can be complicated?’
Looks like ‘The rock’ words still applies today …
Aaiiggghhhh your Tech People are related to ours… HATE them! I try to figure out the stuff myself most of the time and that works much better…
Everytime I talk to one of them on the phone I just wanna reach thru, put my hand around their neck, drag them thru and kill them… Seriously…
DutchBitch recently blogged Tow the Fucker!
I’ve had similar experiences. I even had a generator-power time and I didn’t sleep for 35+ hours.
http://whall.org/blog/2006/09/14/rats/
Oh you want a bonus for clicking? How about a nice picture of the rat/possum that crawled up into our 1200A power main? I mean, what’s left of it.
whall recently blogged *MAYBE* I CAN!
@Patrek: It trickles down, right?
@Delmer: He is really tall.
@Sybil Law: Amen.
@SheilaCSR: Me angry at you? Never!
@Faiqa: Trust and Tech Support are not friends.
@Captzapo: Indeed. Don’t get me started about my old programmer…
@DutchBitch: We joked that they probably picked them off the street, had them shower and gave them a headset and a stack of flash cards.
@Whall: That rat thing looks tasty.