May 17, 2000
Dear Everyone:
Things are still pretty busy at work.
We’ve finished the general training sessions for Users of the new
software, at least for now.
Although I have already received a request to go into San Francisco and
train a group there, it will have to wait until after my summons for
jury duty next
week.
One result of all this training is that people go
back to their offices all fired up to use the new system.
Then they forget at least part of what I taught them.
Rather than look at all the documentation I gave them, they just
call me. Lots of questions
coming in. Ditto requests
from new people who have heard of the system (or have a supervisor who’s
heard of it), and want access to it.
Keeping track of all these requests, and at what
level of completion each one is, has been especially difficult.
This was because we had to get the new Users entered into a
“Global Group”. The Group
has the rights that people need to access the system.
Problem was, this meant a call to the Help Desk (sometimes
referred to as “The Helpless Desk”).
We would need to note down the “Ticket Number” so we could track
the request and know when it was completed.
That was until this week.
My cohort, “Wilbur”, convinced someone in the Technical group
that it was in their best interest (not to mention ours) to let us
maintain our particular Global Group (there are two of them, actually,
but what do you care?). Now
that we can see who is, or isn’t, in the Global Group, it’s much easier
to keep track of people.
Plus I set up a database with check boxes to indicate if the new User
had been added to the right Global Group, added to the email
distribution list (for the ubiquitous Weekly Updates) and added to the
application.
This has helped considerably, although, as I
explained to a particularly impatient applicant, “You’re just one
snowflake in the middle of an
avalanche.”
(Wait for the Spring thaw.)
Speaking of Spring, we’ve been having a strangely
cool and damp one. It’s been
so cool that I’ve been forced to turn the little heater in the bedroom
back on in the mornings.
Usually, by this time of year, it’s been relegated to the closet until
Autumn. In California, it
isn’t “April showers that bring May flowers”.
That’s what
Home Depot is for. But even
in May, we’ve been having showers.
Even thundershowers.
Luckily, one thing I did get done before the Big
Trip to “Hobby” was finishing a new cover for my patio shade.
I found a bolt of 90”-wide, unbleached
muslin at the fabric
store and bought seven yards of it.
Cut that in half and sewed the halves together.
Then it was a case of trimming it down to a good size to go over
the frame. Getting the
fabric up and over the top of the frame without help was interesting.
I managed it with a mop handle and a lot of luck.
I had also attached ties at all the edges so I could fasten it to
the frame. However, it soon
became evident that the corners would also need to be securely fastened.
I think the safety pins in each corner add a nice touch.
So, when it rained last week, the patio was covered
at least in part. And the
muslin doesn’t seem inclined to fill up with water the way the old cover
did, possibly because it’s actually looser.
The rain just runs down the sides and drips onto the floor.
Perfectly acceptable.
In other news…
Safety is a big deal at work these days.
To encourage people to work safely, they hold a drawing each
quarter. This last quarter,
I won a $100 gift card at a record store.
I decided to use it to get some new
CD’s
to listen to when I’m working at my desk.
Have you tried to get the wrapper off a CD lately?
It’s next to impossible (which is next to
Schenectady).
For
roadside sobriety
tests, instead of making you walk in a straight line, they should just
hand you a CD and say, “If you can get the wrapper off, you must be
sober.”
Love, as always,
Pete
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