October 10, 1990
Dear Everyone:
The last thing I did last Friday, at the end of a
12 hour day, was to order myself a new PC.
For good measure, I ordered one for “Carla Doran”, too.
Actually, it was “Carla” who sort of precipitated
the whole thing. Of all of
us in Records Management, “Carla” and “Melanie” are the only ones who
don’t have a PC, or at least a mainframe terminal on their desks.
Naturally, they feel left out.
Whenever they need to use one, they either have to invade someone
else’s work area or use the “free” PC at an unoccupied work station
tucked away in the corner of “Carla”/”Jane”/”Rowena’s” office.
Which, of course, is a hassle for all concerned.
Last year, “Ashley” put money into this year’s
budget for two new PC’s.
“Robin Cameron” (now “Robin Parson”, she married some upper executive
recently) took the money out of the budget; we couldn’t afford them.
“Ashley” went back and talked her into putting the money back in.
However, he sort of
forgot to tell any of us.
About a month, or so ago, at a Staff meeting,
“Carla” groused about the fact that she still doesn’t have a PC and when
are they going to put it in the budget?
“Ashley” said the money was already in the budget and had been
all year. I missed this
particular meeting as I was testing with “Eugene” in CITC in
“Pleasanton”; but “Kevin” told me later that “Carla” went completely
through the roof – quite a sight when you consider that we’re on the 13th
floor of a 40 story building.
“Ashley” responded to this the way he responds to
any crisis: He delegated it.
To me. Actually, he
handed some notes from when he ordered
his new PC, which he got last year, to “Alma” to give to me because
he was going out of town. So
when I got in Monday morning, “Alma” gave them to me to order the PC’s.
Once I’d deciphered his notes, it seemed pretty simple.
In fact, the only reason “Ashley” hadn’t done it all year was
that he hadn’t got around to it.
Because PC equipment is constantly being upgraded,
you want to know what the latest version is.
For this I went to “Cindy” in PC support, a very nice lady who
has helped me out a number of times.
Together, we went through “Ashley’s” list, finding the latest
names for all of the equipment and software that we needed.
Then it was a simple matter to send a PROFS note to
the PC Order people. PROFS
is the PRofessional OFfice System, a program developed by IBM.
Anyone in Company who has an id on PROFS can send a “Note” to
anyone else who has a PROFS id.
And more and more, orders are being done electronically.
If you want a PC, you order it through PROFS.
If you want to sign up for a class, same thing.
Every time you send a PROFS Note, unless you tell
it otherwise, the computer puts a copy in your “Note Log”.
Some people just keep sending out Notes until they get a notice
from PROFS that their “Note Log” is getting too large for PROFS to
handle and they say, “What’s a Note Log?”
More sophisticated users file their notes by subject, instructing
the computer to file the note in a special log.
For instance, any notes I send or receive that have to do with
“Public
Manipulation” go into the “Public Log”.
CITC “Cognitive Resources” notes go into “CITCCR Log”.
Then, when I need to find a note again, instead of going through
a miscellaneous “Note Log”, I only have to figure out which of 97 other
logs I filed it in. Simple.
So, I sent a note to the PC people and they sent a
note back that they had a special going:
A “pre-configured package” that can be delivered within 3 days of
their getting the signed order.
The package consisted of the basic IBM PS/2 55X with selected
software. Any other
software, you added onto the bottom of the form.
This was too easy.
“Alma” wanted to know how much the PC would be without the
software, thinking she’d charge the PC to one budget and the software to
another. Then “Ashley” got
back from his trip and wanted to know if the “Dell” was cheaper.
Apparently the “Dell” is an IBM PC clone.
So I kept PROFSing notes back and forth with the PC people
(“PROFSing” has become a verb around here) and asking “Cindy” lots of
questions until “Alma” and “Ashley” decided to go ahead and order the
Dell PC equipment and get the software separately.
So what happened?
While we were stumbling around trying to make a decision
(honestly, I’ve bought cars and a condominium with less time spent on
comparison pricing), IBM and Dell got into a price war.
Now the Dell also comes with a “pre-configured package” very
similar to the IBM one. Who
says it doesn’t pay to procrastinate?
Now, you may
have noticed that I already have a PC, so why do I need a new one?
As soon as all this new equipment arrives, we are (which is to
say, I am) going to play musical PC’s.
“Carla” gets one of the new Dells.
I get the other.
“Rowena” gets a new monitor (she refuses to use her WordPerfect until
she gets a color monitor).
“Alma’s” terminal gets switched to the one at the “unoccupied” work
station. The PC from the
“unoccupied” work station goes to “Kevin”.
“Kevin’s” goes to “Melanie” and all will be right with the world.
Think of it as a variation on the old nursery
rhyme:
Ring around the Rosey,
Pockets full of PC’s,
Software, software,
All fall down.
In other news…
I am not, repeat not going to the Bahamas.
Company International Oil Co (CIOC) sold the refinery there and
they want a Records Management person to fly to the Bahamas with them to
make sure they box up all the records correctly (they’ve offered to pay
all expenses). When I heard
“Alma” mention it, the first thing that entered my head was:
“Don’t pick me. The
last thing I need right now is an all expenses paid trip to the
Caribbean.”
I’m too busy with the Billing System mess.
More about that another time.
Love, as always,
Pete
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