CafeChatNoir

Totally on top of my game today - got in a few minutes early and it was just as good a day until I left. Lots of good softball calls, and a couple suck ones, however, all but one is closed. WOOT!

– The client that didn’t like the way one function behaves. Heck, we’re not thrilled with it either, but ya gotta deal. We offer to hook him up w/ one of our consultants if this is going to be causing him heavy duty time problems. He says he isn’t going to pay for a “design flaw.” No skin off my nose, buddy, feel free to do it manually.

– The client asking about error messages in obscure module X. I know the reason for one error and not the other. I go snag super-guru and ask him. Relay answers w/mention that I have consulted w/senior staff on this, close call. Get email back that there is “no way” they will use the fix suggested, and they want to talk “directly to the senior person” about this. Pass info to super-guru, apologize profusely for the name dropping and pray that she isn’t a total bitch to him. (She had been so nice on the phone…)

– The client who I have been working with since Thursday or Friday building a custom format. Now, lots of folks get tripped up building these - it’s not the easiest thing in the world. However, most of our clients have format that are maybe 4 or 5 lines long, with maybe 100 sub-lines. We can usually figure out where they’ve gone wrong. As of Friday she had over 1500 sub-lines. I tried to pawn her off on data consulting after she wanted to know if she could upload it (no) or wildcard it (no) and it’s getting a little ridiculous. As of this afternoon, she couldn’t call the frigging format from the database anymore. So, at last check in, I sent her stuff so she could call *all* the formats so I can see if it is even still there. As it is, I don’t know how on earth she expects us to be able to analyze it, and if it is above 2000 lines when I see it again, I am going to make a request to my manager that we send this sucker to consulting.

But other than those, was a very good day.

and the cats are nervous… Because I am doing my every other Sunday whirling dervish thing around the house getting everything picked up for the cleaning service to come in tomorrow.

The very good part is that it forces me to get things picked up. The very bad thing is that every muscle in my body is absolutely SCREAMING at me. From - yes - bowling. HTF is it possible that the muscles you move to go bowling never, EVER get used for anything else?? Fortunately, all I have left is the dishes, and that doesn’t require a whole lot of motion.

OK, enough slacking. Off to tackle the dishes…

Yesterday was too full. :-D

First a wedding - ceremony was wonderful, the bride was gorgeous, the parents were beaming, all just beautiful. I could have passed on the reception - I **hate** sit down receptions. Got stuck at a table w/ a woman who was the most vacuuous person I have ever met. She literally made my head hurt. She caught the boquet - I passed on that after watching her tell the maid of honor she couldn’t participate since the MOH was engaged and dingbat didn’t want any competition. I am amazed she didn’t punch someone. The kicker was getting the three single guys that were there out on the floor for the garter toss - I have never seen such gazelle like leaping to get AWAY.

The three gals at my table were also in very intense discussion over who should go home w/ the centerpieces. Personally, I’m not big on lifting things from banquet halls, and I am not sure why they cared, since they all had to get on an airplane in less than 24 hours anyway. As it turns out, the father of the bride delivered two of them to my mom this morning and one is now mine. Ha.

Then we went to the auction at the Star Tannery Volunteer Fire House. It is out in the sticks, took forever to find it, since we didn’t bring the directions along, and I apparently hallucinated seeing the town name elsewhere. But we finally found it. Sadly, didn’t win the ATV raffle. (He’d signed up for it at the ShenCo Fair and that’s how we found out about the auction.)

Most eclectic collection of stuff you’ve ever seen. Gift certificates donated by local merchants, cases of soda, plants from the local nurseries, boxes of books, a 5′ tall dancing Santa, and Model A and Model T Fords. I got:
– white Mum. $9 - took me about 7 tries to finally get one
– Flat backed basket that can be hung on a wall filled w/ silk flowers — $9
– Box of vases (way more than I expected in it!) $1

And the crowning acheivement - An IBM Selectric Typewriter for $1. I still use typewriters. I HATE the typewriters that are available today - all plastic and they suck. This one doesn’t have the correction feature, but that’s OK. It’s a nice SOLID metal electric typewriter and IT WORKS! I’m going to have to take it in to get it cleaned and greased/tuned up and grab a few extra ribbons, but it is terrific.

Definitely got way more than $20 worth of entertainment, that is for sure. Hope the fire department got a good take - they got somewhere between 7 and 8K for the Fords alone.

I haven’t been bowling in ages and tonight confirmed that I have equal parts genetic material from mom & dad. Mom’s side being the part that bowls a LOT better after a few beers, and Dad’s side being the one that can get sports injuries while bowling. I think I pulled both hamstrings, and I ripped off part of my thumbnail. But I beat at least once. :)

I have two cats here that are completely sacked out - one on the floor of the office and one in the hallway. Belly up, eyes closed, and I am just waiting for the snoring to start.

I am on schedule for Saturday support now. Runs about once every 3 months, you just have the beeper for 6 hours. (During busy season, it will be more often, and in the office, but that’s only Jan - Mar.) So, Nov 22, I’ll be sitting here at my desk from 9 to 3 praying that the beeper doesn’t go off. Cause if it does, I’m screwed.

It’s been a long damn week. Today was the last day of payroll training - we’ve had homework of sorts, which none of us have done, so I’ve brought it home and finished it up here this evening. We also have a bunch of practical exercises we have to do, but those all require the software, so I’ll probably be going in early or staying a bit late over the next week to work on them in the office, or maybe I’ll dial in after work or something. It’s getting a lot harder to be able to just work the training stuff during shift - we’re contributing enough now that we can’t quite just ignore calls for a couple of hours a day.

Today was decent enough though. Did have one client that is just killing me with one call - I’ve been hunting up down and sideways for an answer for him, get him one - he doesn’t like it and tells me “Gee, it just seems like a workaround.” I took a bit of joy in telling him that he was the only client that was trying to do it “his way”, which was basically the *wrong* way.

Perhaps prematurely - the call of the week:

Me: OK, the problem you’re encountering has been reported as a bug, and you’re now on the list for notification as soon as the fix is available.
Client: Great, we’ll need that by next Wednesday!

I think I hurt myself trying not to laugh.

I mananged to drag my butt downstairs and grab a beer, some chicken wings and string cheese. Yes, I really am a girl, my fridge just looks like a bachelor lives here.

Today was rough at work, and I wasn’t the only one feeling it. TPIC’s comment was, “This Day Sucks.” I overslept to start off the day, but by the time I got in, I was feeling fine about it - slowed down, stopped and got coffee, realized that breaking my ankle on the way out the door wouldn’t do anyone a damn bit of good.

Got a call from one of my coworkers on a call I did last week about what I should have done - no problem there, the more information I can get the better - except that I worked with her on the call at the time, and did what she had recommended at the time. She convienently forgot that part of it all. Tweaked me no end. If you’re going to give me bad information, at least admit it when you call with the correction.

On to more calls. We sent out stuff that had major function and design changes, and had bugs in it. Support gets to be the first line of “this doesn’t work” and “WTF is this? It wasn’t here before we installed the patch!” Fun with that.

Training. A wonderful break. A bunch of it has to do w/ the aforementioned release. At least we know what we learned/guessed on the fly was right.

Back to calls. Receive a voice mail from someone’s IT department. “We installed the patch like you said, now we can’t get into the screen at all.” Small panic enures as I double and triple check that I directed them to the right version. Get user on the phone - all is well - dumbass in IT renamed the file. Once he named it back to what it was, it worked. He is still having the issue he initially called about, but at least he can get into the screen to see that it’s still broken.

A setup call that even our most seasoned vet said “Send it to consulting”. Gladly.

Informing a client that the issue they are having has been identified as a bug, they’re in the bug queue now and we’ll get the update out to them as soon as it’s available. Her response, “Well, we’ll need it by next Wednesday…” I think I hurt myself supressing the laughter.

Left with somewhere between 4 and 6 calls still in my name.

I am dog tired and it is time for bed.

Wisconsin in the news:

Snakehead fish found in Wisconsin

And, does this mean no more Polka Masses?

No Clapping, Dancing at Mass, Vatican to Warn

http://forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comments.pl?IDLink=656212

(safe for work)

I am just a walking zombie tonight. Stopped at the grocery store to get some dinner on the way home, and at the moment, there is pretty much a snowballs chance in hell that I am going to actually get my butt downstairs to eat before I just give up and crash.

One of my oh so long and painful calls ended this morning with a very nice email from the client saying it worked and thanking me profusely for it. I forwarded it to one of our managers, who had provided me with the key piece of insight I needed to get it fixed, thanking her so much for her help on it. She then forwarded it to my manager, who then forwarded to heaven knows who, and then it showed back up in my email box from the VP of Client Services with a nice note.

I warned the managers they would probably be getting a different email saying I was the meanest person ever for not reconciling the billing files for one of our other clients, LOL. I spent three days with him on his bill from hell, and today the emails started. I just kept replying over and over in new and different ways that he had to just sit down and reconcile the damn thing and there was no “easy” way to do it. Tick & tie, buddy…It sucks to be you.

The calls I get seem to keep getting harder and more complicated, which is good cause I learn, but bad, cause damn they take so long to close.

So, we did cube rearranging this morning here at the office. I’m now one cube away from the window. :) In all the years I’ve worked, I’ve never really had any personal stuff at the office. I gotta get some pictures in here so I don’t look like such a freak.

We’ve decided that due to the generous size of my cube, one side will serve nicely as a bar area. Going to go for the tiki lounge/island theme I think…

I’m just that tired already…

My call counts have sucked the past 4 days, some from being in training, some from only being in the office half a day on Friday and not much more on Thursday, but mainly from having some calls from hell that have just sucked up ALL my time. The good news is that I got rid of two that had gone on too long today, and one that I should be able to send to the developers as a bug tomorrow and a fourth that I have been working on for a week and a half that I hope goes away soon - we’ve run out of ideas.

I just got off the phone w/ Wells Fargo and E*Loan - seems E*Loan sent the wrong balance to Wells Fargo when they bought the loan. Wells Fargo tried to tell me that the balance on my loan represented what WF had paid for it and it didn’t matter what the actual loan balance really was. I explained to her that whatever WF paid for the loan, it could not have any impact on my balance. She told me there was nothing they could do. So, on to E*Loan. They are cheerfully sending the corrected amount and I should see it in my WF balance within 7 to 10 days.

Then it was PFCU - I should be seeing the amount that was overpaid on the HELOC after the refinance in my checking account in the next 24 to 48 hours. WOOT!

So, after spending all day on the phone, I got to spend a good chunk of my evening on the phone, too.

Lulu the Kangaroo Saves Farmer

Lulu, a partially blind pet kangaroo, is cuddled with its owner Len Richards after she was was hailed a hero Monday after helping rescue Richards who suffered serious head injuries when he was hit by a falling branch, Morwell in Gippsland, southeast Australia, Monday, Sept. 22, 2003. The eastern gray kangaroo stood guard over Richards’ unconscious body Sunday and ‘barked like a dog’ to get help. (AP Photo/News Ltd,Trevor Pinder)

The weekend was not anywhere near long enough…

Haunsy, a dachshund, pulls his own float while marching in the 46th Annual German-American Steuben Parade, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2003 on Fifth Avenue in New York. The parade is part of the celebration of German-American friendship week and recognizes the significant contributions of German-Americans to the development of the United States. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/030920/168/5c5qq.html

According to Fairfax County Water Authority you can drink the water again!

That I really need to get my own digital camera…

The choker and bracelet were made w/ beads from my grandmother (except the tiny blue-grey ones) and the pearls are the ones my mom bough in HK about 20 years ago and never got around to stringing.

Went flying with Kaiti today. I got to be her very first passenger. Tons of fun. I will admit to getting scared just before landing - you have to slow down so you don’t just go flying off the other end of the runway. This makes perfect sense, the logical side of my brain is having absolutely no problems with it. The not quite as logical side of my brain said, “Damn, I sure hope forward momentum wins out over gravity until we get to the runway!!” It’s a really weird floaty feeling when you slow down like that - kind of like hitting the top of a rollercoaster.

But very fun.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/969061.asp?0cv=CA01&cp1=1

ARLINGTON, Va., Sept. 19
As the winds from Hurricane Isabel swept over Arlington National Cemetery, the soldiers who guard the Tomb of the Unknowns were given - for the first time in history - permission to abandon their posts and seek shelter. “They told us that. But that’s not what’s going to happen,” said Sgt. Christopher Holmes, standing vigil on overnight duty. “That’s never an option for us. It went in one ear and right out the other.”

I scrubbed, I exfoliated, I double-soaped my hair and shaved my legs. Yeah, it’s nice to have power & water back.

No water and no power for short periods is really just an inconveience. I can’t get too upset about it. I had food I could eat cold, water set aside to drink, and a big ol’ box of handi-wipes for cleaning. (Sure, it’s not the optimal method of de-grunging, but it works in a pinch.) If I got to the point where I needed to boil water and still didn’t have power, I would have figured something out.

But, WOW, it’s nice to take a hot shower. :)

OK, so I slept through Hurricane Isabel. :)

From what I have seen, I’d say it was comprable to having a very strong Nor’easter come through. Property damage doesn’t seem to be too bad, biggest problems now being power outages and water problems. My power was out for somewhere between 24 and 36 hours, and I am really surprised I have it back already.

Thursday Metro closed at 11AM - good call for general safety. Basically, they didn’t want to take a chance on someone getting blown off one of the platforms into the tracks. Can’t fault them for that. Because of that, the government closed as well - folks would have to turn around and go home as soon as they got into the office. We went to work. Around 3 PM, they sent us home, support dialed in and we kept working. The drive home wasn’t too bad, but there was a fair amount of crap flying around, which I will fully admit makes me nervous. After finishing work, went over to ’s to try and teach him accounting, ended up watching QEFTSG and drinking beer. Power then went out around 9 PM.

Headed home, slept in the dining room. Sounds silly, but my bedroom is at the back of the house and that is where all the trees are. If one came down, it would hit the bedroom, so I didn’t really want to be there if it happened. Cats were smart and stuck close by all night. Set the little battery alarm clock for 6 AM, hit the snooze button when it went off, and then slept right through it until 8:30 AM. Still no power.

Now, at that point, I look at my watch and realize that I should either be at the office, or dialed in - and I am neither. Quickly call in, tell my boss I overslept. She laughed and said, “You must not have power!” I couldn’t lie, told her I had even set the travel alarm and just slept through the darn thing. She informs me that they have power, coffee & donuts in the office. Well, I am on my way!! Almost jumped in the shower and remembered that no power + electric hot water heater = no hot water. Feeling very smart - I remember we have showers in the gym at the office, I’ll do that at lunch.

Get to the office, and we have gotten around the boil water alert through the fact that we know the coffee makers hold 3 pots worth of filtered water that would have been in there before the pump stations went down Thursday night. So we have hot coffee, donuts, power, and we’re working. At this point, I am just looking forward to my lunchtime shower! Then, at 5 til noon, they throw us out of the office - no water pressure. So much for my shower. Now - most of us don’t have power at home, but support isn’t closing. Customers are directed to call the emergency beeper, which goes to our boss and she’ll route calls out to us. Fortunately, most of our customers must have decided that their problems weren’t that bad, as I only got one call all afternoon. It was a nice afternoon - spent most of the time working on a bracelet and necklace. Bracelet is done, necklace is about 98% done. I’ll get pics and post them at some point soon.

Mom called around 5 to let me know that they had announced on the radio that the water was back, but it would take about a day to come back to full pressure and there was the boil alert. Good thing she did, since I didn’t have the radio on.

A little after 5, came and rescued me and we headed for Hopsfrog Tavern - God Bless the owner who decided that if they had power, they would be OPEN. Plastic cups, silverware and plates, and no sodas or ice, but they had cold beer and hot food. Sure, I had all my “fine to eat cold” food, but it sure would have been nice to have a Coleman camp stove to at least be able to heat stuff up. (No camp stove, no gas grill, none of that good stuff, and friggin electric stove. Bah.) So, a hot reuben was good eatin’.

Slept elsewhere last evening, with the promise of a hot shower this morning. Unfortunately, there was only about 3 minutes worth of hot water in the system. Don’t know what that’s all about since where I stayed never lost power and has a gas hot water heater anyway. Ah well, at least I got rinsed off, but I am still looking like 9 miles of bad road. Called home, got the answering maching - POWER!

So, I am home, with hot coffee and internet access again. My DSL went down on Thursday and hasn’t come back yet, so I am dialed in. It’s slow, but it works. Got to get in touch w/ the ISP to find out if it is a line problem or a modem problem or something else…

We’re on a boil water alert until Tuesday, which isn’t bad since I have power again and can boil water. They had been suggesting on the radio putting a pot of water on the grill if you didn’t have power, but, I don’t have one of those… But, I have several pitchers of water sitting on my counter that I filled up on Wednesday, so I am good to go for a while.

I have to say, I am really surprised I have power back. The outage in our neighborhood was relatively small and contained. If you went out to the main road to our development, the first traffic light in either direction was out and then everything beyond had power. The less people affected, the lower you go on the list for restoration of power. The power company goes for the most bang for the buck when getting people back up and running, which makes sense to me, I just figured we were too small a group to get it back so soon. Props to Virginia Power for bringing in an additional 7,000 people to work the storm from other states. Pepco, on the other hand, is telling people they may be without power for up to a week, and they have run out of dry ice. (Seems their dry ice supplier in Baltimore lost power…)

Now, I just need to figure out if I have enough hot water for a real shower. Figure the power has been back on for at least 2 hours - would that be enough time to heat up the water that was in the hot water heater?

A motorist braves flooded Highway 12 thru Kitty Hawk, North Carolina as Hurricane Isabel hits land. Isabel lashed the US East Coast killing three people as winds and floods forced the evacuation of more than 300,000, grounded flights at 19 airports and shut down the US government(AFP/Paul J. Richards)