Naughty list

Yeah, well - somebody is on the naughty list this year.  According to the telco when all was said and done they blamed it on beavers (or groundhogs).

"It appears that either a ground hog or a beaver has dug holes and chewed the cable."

Whatever. Over 30 hours again.

I don't usually speak of the TV shows that I watch but I just have to rant about this one.  Really, Patrick? Do you really think that Red J0hn is dead? Why the hell didn't you drag him into the lake and drown him to make certain?  You know that he would find a way to fake dying in a choke hold.

Gawd. It still isn't over. He will re-surface and torture all of us again. And we all know that woman from the chapel followed you and will go and resuscitate him.  Gawd!

Okay, rant over.

I'm ranting today

It is getting ridiculous. The is the sixteenth time our school district's fiber has been down this year. Yes, part of it is my organization's fault. We do have a fail-over (another telco) but not those in my area code. My area code contains about 10 school districts. We have been trying for months to get this area code over on to the fail over telco but we are caught up in red tape with the state. Arrgghh!

The schools are LIVID.  And we have been trying for months to get rid of this telco altogether. We had to wait until our five year contract expired first. Then it is red tape with the state. The state is married to this telco. The telco monolith is not a stupid empire.

Another fiber cut. I am trying to educate myself on what happens when the fiber gets cut out in the field. We have to drag information out of the telco as to what happened. They do not give up any information willingly. This time the cut is in a manhole.

This cut happened yesterday about 1:00 p.m. On a Sunday. It is in a manhole somewhere. Who in the hell was working on a Sunday? And in a manhole? And get this! The latest report is that the technicians had to leave the manhole for safety reasons.

What? Is there some sort of mutant alligator down there? Did the Monday morning showers and flushes of  the sewer systems threaten to wash one of them away? I don't know! We don't even get details like "where" this manhole is.

One tech at a vocational school expressed his frustration to my manager. He has several people coming this morning to do some testing at his location. Some are driving 2 1/2 hours (not certain I believe this, but okay).  He needs to call them and let them know there is no Internet before they get on the road. Well, as of 7 o'clock this morning - still nothing.

This same area lost connectivity for about 36 hours a week ago today. It is not pretty out there. Most understand it is not my fault. They need to vent their frustration on somebody since the home office is 60 miles away (and they rarely - if ever) answer their telephones. The anger and frustration just loses something when you leave a voice mail.

So, I get it. I always answer my phone. I can't tell you how many times I get "I know you can't do anything about it, but I call you because at least you answer your telephone."

Anyway, here was an interesting read on fiber cuts. Two that affected me and schools in my area are listed in March 2012. And I lifted the photo above. I can only imagine having to take that equipment down into a man hole in below freezing weather where sewer is running around your ankles. Or, can they bring the cable up and out of the manhole and repair it? Sheesh. I don't know. How in the hell did it get cut down there? What the hell are people putting down into their sewer systems? We never really get the entire story and are left wondering.

http://www.ecessa.com/coverage/internet-outages-happen-every-day/

The green link light

The green link light can be a beautiful thing. This will (hopefully) be the final post about this valley fiasco.

The new cable/module came to my house at 10:30. I went home to retrieve it.

The valley tech told me they were running the cable that day.

I drove out at 3:30 as scheduled and placed fiber ends on both devices. Nothing. Nada. I called the telco. He said he needed about thirty minutes to re-build the connection.

Okay.

After twenty minutes the telco called. Nothing. All black. No lights.

After about ten minutes of minor panic, the telco trying this and trying that, my co-worker (former manager) had the bright idea for me to pull the larger fiber cable module apart and switch the two plugs. (Transmit and Receive).

I did that, plugged it back into the interface...and - voila! Green light.

Blessed relief.

All was well.

What an ordeal.

I hope this valley school gets all the bandwidth that they need and then some.

Now, the next phase gets juicier, too.

Since I had to spend so much time on this project, my filter emergencies have escalated.

Ugly things are being said - it is the same two techs (one is this valley tech) about how unhappy they are with our organization's service and how we never listen to them.

Oh my.

Now, my supervisor is coming to visit a superintendent today.

The tech wrote a scathing e-mail to my manager and it went beyond slamming my filter this time. This time if slammed their overall service. Note:  the tech praises me, says this rant is not about me and my work is fantastic. It is the appliance (filter) that is the problem - not me. Hmmm.

Now it's time for my superiors to fight. These techs have badgered me for two years and I got nothing. But now he has crossed a line. He has slammed their behavior and their territory.

Sigh. It's gonna get ugly folks.

But, I am moving on to brighter things to post about.

My family picnic is this Saturday. Am I thrilled?

I AM!

Chin UP!

...continued from yesterday (and the day before).

I found this picture and I just had to at least use it at some point during this epic tale. :)

During all of this back and forth with the cable and the valley school, I had other things that are falling behind. We were hit with a massive mess this year. My filter had issues and the tickets were coming fast and furious.

A few techs take to the distribution lists (all point bulletin) to complain about the filter and this valley tech takes this day to pipe up and slam my filter yet again. He has cried for two years that he wants another filter. I took  a vote at one conference and the majority said to keep the present one.

Back to the cable. I take the cable back to my office. Seems I was out of (phone) range as my home office was trying to reach me before I left because they wanted me to leave the cable there. Their research had dug up a module that they can order and we can still use this LC/LC cable.

Too late. I was back to my office before I saw the message.

I told my co-worker (former manager) and my current manager I would contact the valley tech to see if he wanted me to run the cable BACK out to him or just bring it on Monday when the module would arrive.

He said he wanted it that afternoon so that his maintenance guy could run it very early Monday morning.

I took the cable out and all the way I am thinking to myself "Just pretend like you did not even read his slam on the filter".  Chin UP! Chin UP! And I did just that. I was in such a good mood. I chatted with the secretary. We laughed and told a few stories back and forth. (After hours - school students and most staff long gone).

Then I took the cable back to the valley tech. I smiled sweetly at him and asked him if he wanted me to come Monday as soon as I got the module or wait until after school hours at 3:30. He said 3:30. I said "You got it!" I smiled even more and went back to the main office. I chatted with the secretary a bit more, then told her I did not want to waste any more of her time - and I went home. Secretaries are very busy.

My co-worker (former manager) told me that the shipment was being overnight-ed to my (home) address on Saturday. He sent me a copy of the order by e-mail. (He did not send the Fed Ex tracking number). I scanned over the message (making sure they had my home address correct) and closed the e-mail.

I was busy on Saturday. I was busy here and busy there. I had a party that evening. I got home at 10:30 p.m. and looked on my front porch and in my mail box. Nothing.

I double-checked Sunday morning when it was daylight. No package, no note.

I e-mailed my co-worker (former manager) and my current manager that no shipment had arrived. By any chance did they have a Fed Ex tracking number?

By this time I was certainly hoping they had not expected me to stay home and sign for anything. I knew I had a busy Saturday and I would certainly have remembered them asking me to do that or at least mentioning that it would need a signature.

A little later I got their e-mail. According to the Fed Ex tracking number it was sitting in Indianapolis IN. Ah, well. Nothing I could have done, then. I had not missed the shipment.

I did send another e-mail and said that I really did not need the part until 3:30 on Monday. Because the valley tech refuses to take the Internet down until then.

I just realized I forgot a big part to this story.

The valley tech told me my home office told him he had to wait until I returned from vacation before he could do this switch over. I returned from vacation on Tuesday the 20th and was given the orders to go to the valley school on Thursday the 22nd.

That ticked me off. I am the first to volunteer to go out of my district and help the others. Nobody could bother themselves to come out to my area and cover while I was on vacation.

I was shocked and I told the valley tech that. He said he knew that everybody deserves a vacation but was a bit surprised that we were "allowed" to take them when schools start. He was very upset because he said if they had sent somebody to cover me then they could have discovered the "mistake" a week or so ago and could have started the steps to correct it while I was on vacation.

I imagine a rule will be created. No extended vacations the second half of August. They did this about fifteen years ago. I am guessing they will try to enforce it again.

Here is another interesting tidbit. This valley tech is a big guy. Not tall. Just very, very big.I am portly. I have mentioned this before. I am not slim. Not even close.

My current manager said to me over the phone "Tell (as he mentioned valley tech by name) to get his FAT ASS up on a ladder and run the cable." Of course he was "kidding". He really didn't want me to tell the guy that. Sheesh. At least I hope not.

It was our mistake that this was all screwed up and my current manager was saying this. AND I am heavy. What does he think or say about me?

Stay tuned. I am so far behind now in work, and I have two vacation days scheduled for the end of this week and two after the Labor day holiday. All approved months ago.

Just for the record. I can climb a ladder. (I clean out my own gutters.) I can run cable. I may make people nervous (being so big and up on a ladder) and I may not smell the best after I begin to sweat but I am agile. My back will hurt but I can do it if the job needs me to. I just take more Advil.

So...what will this week bring? Will Peruby get to take her vacation at the end of the week? Will Peruby solve the major filter problem before she takes more time off? Will Peruby get three more schools on fiber this week? Will Peruby get her objectives and Professional Development goals all written up before the end of the week?

We shall see...

Discouraged

....continued from yesterday.  Still - very long post ahead.

Discouraged. Okay, that is the word I will describe for the techs FIRST reaction to this news. Here is the type of cable that will need to be run over 200 feet between pieces of equipment. (We had not measured it yet by foot, but he had an idea of how long - it is his building).

Except the picture depicts a cable that is not near long enough.

An hour of this tech calling the telco and my former co-worker ensued. I spoke with both to tell them what I saw. We are using my personal cell phone (the one that work provided for us six years ago is total crap).  I do have my work's phone number included in "My family plan" so the minutes I spend speaking with that number (regardless of the extension) are unlimited.

On and on it went.

At one point my co-worker (this is the honest to God's truth) told me that the valley tech will have to run a cable between the room where the electricity comes into the building and the wiring closet. He asks me a couple more questions about the gbic fiber ends on the telco side. I start explaining to him that they were the big kind. He wasn't following me. (The gbic module he gave me for OUR equipment was the little mini gbic). He got confused.

At one point I said to him "the fiber cable that the tech will run between the room where the electricity comes into the building and our wiring closet. He said (and I am not lying) "Who told you to do that? The telco?" 

My eyes popped open in disbelief. I said "You just did!"

He said "No, I didn't."

That is when I knew I was going to be talking in circles with this over-worked co-worker. He was panicking because he knew he had messed up and he was trying to get his ass out of hot water. Needless to say my co-worker (former manager) said "I am in a meeting, I will have to think about this and call you back!"  He realized that he was digging himself into deeper hot water.

Like I said, after an hour the valley tech and I were measuring the distance between rooms with our feet. My co-worker (former manager) finally conceded (to the valley tech - not me) that he would over-night a 300 foot multi mode fiber cable LC/LC to my office and I would run it out as soon as I got my paws on it.

Note the LC/LC. Ugh.

The tech was not real happy with the fact that he and his maintenance team had to run the cable over the ceiling etc.. And school had just started. By the time I left that day - this valley tech looked pretty much like this:

I will back track a little bit. Forgive me for rambling on and on - but this blog is really therapy for me. I can't imagine anybody reading this and trying to make sense out of it. Sheesh!

This valley tech (as I mentioned before) is my nemesis. He has disapproved of almost everything I have ever done. He prefers to work with my "male" co-workers. He will tolerate me and we get a long really well sometimes, but a lot of times,  he does not even acknowledge me and always has something smart ass to say about the organization's filter system (which I manager). 

You are going to have to forgive me for this next paragraph. Try to remember I am only human. But I laughed. I laughed and laughed about this. I know. I know. It may sound horrible when you think of the cost and the extra work some will have to do - but I was there to see the "what comes around goes around" scenario.

One aspect of this story tickles me because my co-worker (former manager) has a chip on his shoulder about losing his management position. Okay - who wouldn't? That is understandable. But the way he handles it (to myself and my co-worker in another city) is he will get fed up with something and just throw some of his work he has done for years (with no documentation of how to perform it) at us and tell us, here - you guys take care of this from now on.

Now, the first few times he did this - my co-worker and I tried our best to take care of it. We were all on the same work level now, right? It was our school district and this "former" manager should not have to do it anymore since he was now considered a regular worker just like us, right?

We were so stupid. We struggled, we tried. Really we did. Then our co-worker (former manager) went ahead and did the job himself a few days later without telling us! It was maddening.

I can go into more detail - but you get the idea.

So, I laughed. I laughed at his fiasco. I laughed at the valley tech who gives me a hard time. They were both panicking and I was going home to my wonderful home with my wonderful dogs. It was sheer icing on the cake.

Ahhh. Is that wrong of me? To feel that way?  Maybe a little.

Yuk, yuk, yuk.

But it gets better. Oh, it get SO much better. (For me, that is).

I get the cable at about 10 o'clock as promised. I am in such a good mood. I have about four pressing help desk tickets I was working on between my start time 8 o'clock and when the package came. I finished them the best that I could. Yes, I did. While that orange 300 foot multi mode LC/LC fiber cable sat wrapped up in a box at my feet.

Sigh. I called the valley tech to tell him I had received the cable and was on my way.

I. took. my. sweet. time.

Yes, I did. I stopped to get gas. My tank alert light was glowing.

I smiled at everyone. I drove like the world's safest little old lady on the streets.

The valley tech called my home office wondering where I was.

They called my personal cell phone, but I don't answer when I am driving. I keep my phone on my dash (it has a rubber cover and does not slide off - uh, very often LOL!) and I could see who was calling and I laughed and laughed.

Did I say Screw you?  Why no, I did not. I used the "F" word. Yes, I did. I really did. And then I laughed.

I got there at 11:30. He was anxious to see me.

My co-worker recalled what I had said about the gbic module on the telco end being "big" and he told me to check the ends to ensure they would work before they ran the cable.

The valley tech must have talked to him because when I arrived, he knew it was not going to work. It wasn't.

The equipment the telco had put in was using a larger gbic module. I had tried to tell my co-worker (former manager) this the evening before. Oh - another thing. We have to do the switch over after hours because the valley tech refuses to pull the Internet down during regular school hours.

Now the tech looks like this:

Oh, you KNOW I am having a field day with the pictures I found on the Internet. Yeah, baby.

Did I laugh. Not in front of the valley tech.

He handed me back the fiber cable and said "I may as well give this back - it won't do me any good."  I said "It will probably sit in my office for the next ten years."

Who in the world ever needs a 300 foot multi mode fiber cable? We didn't even know they pre-made them that long. It would have been even worse (funnier) if they had pulled the cable and discovered that the distance weakened the signal or something. No, no it wouldn't. Because then I would feel bad for the maintenance man that had to go to all that work and pull the cable. I had nothing against him.

I made the remark "Now, I have a $300 dollar Halloween wreath."

Always throw in  humor to defuse a tense situation. That is my motto. It worked to a certain extent.

My valley tech did chuckle at something I said. I told him he was handling things pretty well for what was happening.

He said "Oh, I am ready to explode. I am just trying hard to remain professional."

He had admitted that none of this was my fault because I did apologize to him for this mess.

To be continued...

Oops to the nth degree

This post may be a long one. Depends on time and how much emotion I can purge out through this miracle of miracles "the keyboard".

The incident I am about to post is work related. I am going to try to keep things as inconspicuous as possible.

I will call this tech/school my valley nemesis. I have posted about this tech before here  and here.

Big breath. Okay.

This valley district tech has determined that his school needs three hundred Mb/s of bandwidth. Most of my schools run on 100. A handful are moving to 200 this year. I know that may not register with some of you but just an idea. Most have 100, he wants 300.

That is okay. It is do-able.

My co-worker (who used to be my manager and was demoted) set up the order. He used to do all of this as a manager and now he still does this work. Since I was hired in 1995, the home office techs rarely have to go to a school in my area any longer. Note that this co-worker (former manager) still gets the same pay because they cannot take money away in our system. I bet they can if they really want to, I'm just stating the fact about him and his role.

He has not been to this valley district in years. Years and years. To move to 300 Mb/s this valley school needs to switch from an rj45 cable to a gBic module. If you worked with your Internet equipment you may be familiar with the rj45 cable. It is the big clip cable that looks like the old phone cables (actually the phone cables are rj11) but are bigger. If you do not have wireless, they are the patch cables that connect your PC or laptop to the Internet modem/router or a switch/hub.

The factory-made ones are very nice with their moulding that covers the clip so it does not catch on stuff and snap off. My hand made ones are not nearly as pretty and most all the clips have been snapped off. LOL!  Here was my cabling bible for years.  (For anyone who crimped cables, sing it with me!  Each three syllables:


Orange/white, orange,
green/white, blue,
blue/white, green,
brown/white, brown!


UGH!

My fingers began cramping up with sympathy pains just writing this from my nightmarish memories.

To move to 300Mb/s they need to convert to THIS type of cabling. Fiber optics.

 

I won't go into single mode and multi-mode here. Now, at the time I was told to go to this school and perform this switch over, I had no idea what lay ahead for me. I knew the configuration of our equipment. I figured the rj45 cable would plug into the gBic module with an rj45 interface (hole in layman's terms). I really thought it would look like this:

 

I would go to the school, simply unplug the rj45 cable from one interface (port or hole - whatever you want to call it) and plug it into the new "fiber" interface. The hole where I would insert the above pictured module. When I plugged it in I noticed the module had a  fiber interface on it and not an rj45. I looked at the tech (if you read the links I displayed above, you will know that this guy is not amicable). 

I asked him if the telco had pulled fiber to this room. He looked at me incredulously. "No."  I said perhaps I brought the wrong gBic module. My co-worker (former manager) had handed me six in little brown boxes but never told me that they were different. I had assumed they were all the same. There was no writing on ANY of the boxes. I sighed thinking I would have to fly back to my office and look at the four I left there (I had brought two. I did think ahead enough in case one was D.O.A.).  They were both gBic modules for fiber.

The tech called my co-worker (former manager) and asked him about the module he had given me. This is where it started to turn sour. This co-worker (former manager) was in a meeting. He has been given the duties of moving their home office into a new building. The amount of work this entails is enormous. He has stated several times that he does not feel he is qualified to perform this job. Yet, he is still doing it. In some situations you do it the best you can. His stress level is beyond enormous.

My co-worker (former manager) told this school valley tech that it HAD to be fiber optics. Now, at this very moment the tech and I did not know the distance between this wiring closet we were currently standing in and the electrical room of the building. We measured it with our feet (walking and counting) later and discovered it was about 230 feet away. 

In other words my co-worker (former manager) was telling this valley tech that they needed a fiber cable run from the electricity room to our wiring closet for this to work. My co-worker (former manager) since he had not been in that building in years did not realize that the telco equipment was that far away from our equipment.

Now you see where the Oops comes in.

To be continued....

Shaking our heads

The above photo is lifted from the Internets. It is not the school construction site I visited yesterday. But, this is pretty much what a construction site looks like when a new school building is being built. If you have never visited one, you can probably imagine the mess.

So I go there yesterday morning to meet with the School tech and the telco (telephone company) that is supplying the fiber. The telco arrives with no hard hat and open toed shoes and she did not bring any equipment. Then she asks us if the fiber has been installed. Really? Your organization is supplying the fiber and you don't know?

The tech can provide her with a hard hat, but there is nothing we can do about the shoes. She is not permitted on the property.

I saw later that the room was not near ready for any equipment, but she didn't bring it anyway.

This left the school tech and I shaking our heads. WTH? She just drove out here for a joy ride? The tech and I had another meeting and she gave me a tour of the building and I at least was able to see where our equipment would go even if they are not ready for us.

It just reaffirms my yesterday post about some organizations and their business practices.

Seriously

I have worked with telcos (slang for telephone companies) for almost 20 years. Now, I am working with fiber optic organizations. I am serious when I tell you this. Telco workers always had to come back to finish the job. They never did a complete installation in one trip. There was always "I need a part, I'll have to come back tomorrow (or next week)".   It was to pad their hours. It had to be. Every single time the tech would pull this. It was not always the same tech.

I can remember one tech bragging on a Wednesday that he already had his forty hour week in. He said (with pride and glee in his voice) - everything from here to the end of the week is overtime! He almost sang it.

I am curious to see how fiber optic techs handle such installations for fiber. I am meeting a tech at a school today. This is my first time working with this company. I hope they don't waste my time or the school personnel time (all tax payer money) with their greed.

Glass, light and speed

So many of my schools are in a rural setting. They do not get cable television let alone fiber to their buildings. The state tried to establish a way to give them what the big (money-rich) schools could get. Somebody, somewhere believes that each child should get an equal education and opportunity.

We all know that is hogwash. If a child goes to a big school in the city, they are amazed at how little the rural school has to offer. And now it is more of an issue than ever. Funding cuts.

When it comes down to fixing the roof of the building or repairing the buses that transport the children, there is no money left over for renovating the building to accommodate fiber optics. Buildings built in 1908 do not have the electrical structure we need today to run all the electronics.

The students sit and wait while the teacher struggles to get their technology working. What worked fine for her class yesterday the teacher cannot get to work today. Without the projector or the video unit the class cannot get the benefit of the lesson plan.

Epic fail.

And before you go and say "Go back to the way we did it with books and paper and pencils" - please remember it is the school staff's duty to prepare our children to survive in "today's" world. They will be faced with scads of electronic devices and social networking and shared devices. They will not be reading a book or writing on a piece of paper with a pencil (unless they want to). They are going to need to know how to get a task done and at lightning speed.

The above photo is fused silica the inner core of fiber optics. Glass is technology's best friend. Advil is mine.

Just what am I supposed to say?

You know, after 16 years of working with schools I probably have said it all. I didn't say I've seen it all or heard it all. I pretty much have said it all.

Let's just get that out of the way. I hate to sweat.

Picture it. A little tiny, dinky town. The elementary is still functioning. Barely. To the west is an Amish county with little to no electricity in their schools. Not much Internet need there. To the North is the wide world of Ohio Industry. The schools are getting along pretty well there. To the South - elementary buildings are closing and the school district is combining into a campus environment. To the East - little city schools - still managing to barely hold their own.

This elementary will probably close next year or the next. No money is being shoveled into it. Their Internet connection is down. I am fighting with the telco. They say it is my equipment, I say it isn't. I swap out my equipment - twice. In that hot, dirty, dark, and tiny wiring closet that I am so used to seeing in every tiny, dinky elementary in rural Ohio.

Sigh. I am no longer 35 years old. I am 51. I am older. I am premenopausal. Is that a word? Hell if I know. Hell if I care. I am hot. I am grouchy. I am getting a headache.The sweat literally pours off my head and into my face. I have no idea where it comes from. It is like I conjure it up out of nowhere. Is it menopause? Ladies? My sisters tell me of night sweats but they don't have this soaking sweat that I seem to experience during the daytime. I do not have night sweats.

Then I look like pure S.H.I.T. My hair is plastered to my head. My face is soaked with moisture. My glasses are steamed up (I have only worn glasses all the time the past year; so I am not completely knowledgeable about how to maintain them while it is raining or while I am sweating profusely). My clothes are sticking to me.

Anyway. The tiny, dark closet is just off the teachers lounge. They come in for lunch. I get the usual. "Are you going to FIX us?"  "Are we still down?"  Here's a tip. If I am still there and you don't see me packing my equipment up - you are STILL down! That question irks me. 

Sorry. It has been SIXTEEN years of the same questions. The same circumstances. Me fighting the telco. For the record I have been wrong a few times. For the record - the telco has been wrong 90% of the time. I swap out my equipment. Twice. Still down.

The secretary comes back. "Are we going to be up today?"  Gee, let's see. Maybe. I am not sure if I have sweated (Yes, blogger I looked this word up in dictionary.com) enough in this dark, hot, dirty closet. I think I'll  keep you down a little bit longer because THAT'S HOW I AM! I AM A MEAN BITCH AND I  HATE ALL OF YOU! And I just love, love, love being in this dirty little closet with no air conditioning - no Internet connection - no cell phone service. It is like the sweat box in prison, I would imagine. Except I have to think and try to troubleshoot. I can't sleep or zone out. No, I have to work. Thank you, but please let me stay in here another hour!

But no........

I smile and tell her that I have done the best that I can do. I have swapped out my equipment twice, but that the equipment is pretty old. She asked me why their tiny little elementary were not getting the new equipment after I explained to her that all other districts were going to fiber. She said they were supposed to get broadband in the area. I smiled weakly at her. I asked her if this little town had cable television. She said "No." Sigh. I said "Then you probably won't have fiber any time soon."

I did say "Is there industry that supports education around here?" She said "Yes" and named a business. I said "Contact them and see if they will put fiber in for you." It was a cheap shot and I knew she would probably not call them, but at least I had a suggestion instead of shrugging my shoulders and saying "You are S.O.L."

She left. What happened to the lottery money that education was supposed to get? I found out by reading the following URL's:

http://www.wlwt.com/money/27667257/detail.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/09/17/cbsnews_investigates/main3269456.shtml

Thank-you lying politicians. Thank-you Mr. Greed.

I painfully do what I am supposed to do and instead of making a beeline for my car and A/C I stop in at the office to sign out properly. I am handed a mercy ticket. The secretary has stepped away from her desk. I quickly sign out and slip out the front door to the sanctuary of my car.

And the wikipedia article on state lottery had one mention of education - it was in their slogan. No mention of school funding. Surprised? Yeah, me too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_Lottery

And you know what? While I am totally disgusted, let me mention a movie. "Brooklyn's Finest."  If there is anything I hate more than sweating, it is watching R Gere in a sex scene. For the love of God man - give it up! Stop it!

God, Cindy -four years? Really?!

Frustration

What can really drive me mad is the following issue. I will drive 45 miles one way. My organization pays me close to the national average for mileage. I get to the school and set up. I have to call a third party to work with me because they installed the IP telephones at the school and I have to make my configuration work along side of his.

This guy has a three hour window. That is all he can give me because he is busy, too.

There are delays getting the first school done (as always). He and I finally have success with the first school and I tell him I will call him within the hour. That will give me time to drive to the second school, set up my equipment, install the fiber switch and configure the switch.

I get to the other school. In my haste, I promptly forget the switch in the trunk of my car and have to walk back outside to get it. I get to the wiring closet. Locked.

I sit all my heavy equipment down and go to the office. Up 3 flights of stairs. The secretary is not at all pleased to see me.

The first words out of her mouth "You aren't going to take us down, are you!? I don't have my IEP's done!" As far as I know they were supposed to be finished last week, but that is not my concern.

I told her I have to take them down, I only have a certain amount of time. (They were notified the day before that I was coming). She looks completely disgusted with me. I tell her the wiring closet is locked and I need in there.

She snaps back "The janitor is the only one who has the key and he is at lunch!"

Sigh.

There is another lady in the office. She is the speech therapist and she uses that room from time to time for her therapy. She said "I have a key to that room." 

I follow her downstairs (ignoring the icy glare from the secretary) and the nice speech therapist lets me into the room.

I set up my equipment. By this time the clock is running out. It is stifling hot in there. I pull the laptop out (It takes no less than 18 minutes to boot). I get the fiber switch out of the box (there is no room in this tiny little closet and there is no light where I need it.)

I look for the screws to mount the brackets and cannot find them. Exasperated, I dump everything out of my satchel onto a table. Tangled cables, screw drivers, ink pens, screws, papers, two quarters and a nickel come flying out and scatter all over the tiny room.

The speech therapist beats a  hasty retreat out. I don't blame her.

Sweat is pouring off of my head and into my face. My glasses become steamed and foggy. The sweat literally drips onto the equipment. Is it menopause? Is it frustration? Is it too hot? All three, I don't know!

I do not have the physical force to get the switch into the wiring rack. Years of the rack sitting in this tiny closet causes the sides to bow somewhat. There is dirt everywhere. And no light.

The tech lady finally comes into the room. I complain about the light and the rack. She asks if I want her to turn on the lice lamp. For some bizarre reason schools seem to always store their lice lamps in the closet where I work.

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I can only imagine how hot this magnified lamp will make me and I tell her no thanks.

She did come in handy to force the rack wider apart. She used her leg and foot to push one side. She said it was a yoga move! It worked like a charm! YAY!

I got the switch into the rack. I sat down at my laptop which had finally boot up and wiping the sweat off my forehead, and as fast as I could began to configure the switch.

I called the third party company. I have to use my own cell phone because the one that work has issued to us is flimsy, cheap and totally useless out in the field as far as getting a signal is concerned.

I made it in time. We worked together and got that school switched over to fiber and afterwards, more relaxed now I began picking all the pieces and parts that had flown out of my satchel.

I was so worried that I would have to drive back out to the school another day causing the taxpayers so much more money because of a secretary with a burr up her ass.  That is about fifty dollars for each drive out there. Plus my lunch and the fact that I would be absent from the office or another school that might need me on that day. It just gets old after a while.

What really burns me is that this fiber was supposed to be installed in the summer and we could work in the schools (albeit it would be hot) on our time without the schools being in session. But, no. The company that installs the fiber (for who knows what reason - I will never know) could not get their act together or they just put us on the back burner and drug their feet.

One school is still waiting on the company that installs the fiber to get a permit that will allow them to pull the fiber across the Interstate. I know this entails getting a crew out there to stop traffic and direct it around them while they work. Both side of the Interstate. Good grief! The order was placed in March. You think they could have arranged this stuff by now.

Sometimes my biggest obstacle is getting co-operation from the school staff. Most of the time I am very pleasant, bright and cheery. I charm the pants off of them. Sometimes I have a black cloud over my head and sparks are shooting out of my eyes.

My back hurts.

Attestation

We all have days at work that are stressful. I have been having a very stressful month. One thing after another. I don't care to elaborate much but you know how it goes. Work that was supposed to have been done (by another company) in the summer was not complete until last week. This delays me doing my part. When it is my turn to go out into the school and install equipment I am dealing with two hot items. The first is the school is angry because I have to take them off line. No time is a good time to do this unless I want to work a shift that runs from 4 p.m. to midnight. Uh, no thanks! 

Nothing goes as planned. There are snags here and there and it delays everything and everybody. You are trying to contact people on the other side of the network via your own personal cell phone because work's cell phone gets no signal out in my rural area. Fortunately for me I get 12 people in my circle. I put work's number as one of them. As soon as I am ready on my end - my co-worker has left for lunch on the other end. Sigh.

The second hot item is "MY" primary job (taking care of the filter) is having major issues currently and I really need to focus on that. I have school districts angry that this job is not done, I have school districts angry that the other job is not done. 

To complicate matters we have one technician away at a training session this week. One technician had a death in the family and has to take half the week off. Another tech has serious diabetes issues and I hate to ask him to drive too far (seriously, this worries me because I really like this guy and I am so concerned - he has had an ambulance called more times than I can count). 

That leaves me and one more technician. This last tech is the office joke. He cannot handle stress. Case in point - it has been so hectic this week - he is taking two personal days the rest of the week. Today and tomorrow. That is with two other techs out of the office and he gets away with taking two personal days out of the blue. I will never understand management. Some of us get written up for pulling a stunt like this and others - they just look the other way. 

This is the same tech who panics if he is farther away from the office than 10 miles. He goes into full panic mode. I have never seen anything like it. If he has to drive away from his office and it is not towards his house - he begins pacing, sweating and rambling. He rambles "I have to be out of here by 1:30!"  He will not work over one minute unless absolutely forced to. Most of us just shrug him off as fairly useless. This is the tech who used to manage the filter before me.

The above photo is one of the wiring closets I was in this week. I do not like to see a cable hanging loose. Where does it belong? Something like this can cause a "loop" in the network and bring the entire network crashing to it's knees. I have known well-meaning janitors to see a loose cable and plug it into the nearest wall jack. Sheer havoc.

It seems as though the week is winding down, though. The major "hot" issues appear to be on a simmer and low boil. Schools are still not real happy but now I can try to focus on my filter issues again. Then again, I have six more fiber switches to install. I know that the phone companies will finish those all at the same time, also. We wait on them and when they are finished - all hell breaks loose. My manager goes into panic mode and shouts "Get those switches out to the schools and install them!"  I know why. It is because we started charging the schools back in the summer when the fiber was supposed to be installed. Believe it or not.

Oh, hell. I forgot about the title to this post. Attestation. Since I was busy at another district out of county my co-worker (the one with diabetes) had to help a school in my area. After the ordeal I was speaking to him on the phone. I had a really bad day and I was not mincing words. He said to me "This tech, is he a nice guy?"  I paused (barely) and spat out "He's an asshole!"  My co-worker sighed and said "Thank-you! That is the impression I got, too." Attestation.

I got sidetracked

I am still researching the malware issue. I do not like to talk about something unless I do my research first.

I got sidetracked anyway. Today I got a call from a school. The tech person thinks they have a fiber connection problem. I asked her if she would take one of the questionable fiber cable and plug it into a working transceiver. She said she knew nothing about fiber and wouldn't touch it.

For the record - the equipment I am responsible for is working fine. I am not responsible for this schools' fiber optic cable connection. She got huffy with me. As they tend to do when the pressure is on. She lost her help and school starts in one week. She is under pressure.

Sigh. I know I will have to drive the thirty miles one way to plug the cable in and test it. A huge waste of tax payers money if you ask me. If it does not work in the "good" transceiver then she is going to have to call in professional fiber optic workers to replace it.

The cable she will have to unplug is the round ones pictured above. You slide the silver cover down and turn it so that the notch slips off. There is no "electrical" bite or danger. As long as you don't look into the beam of light coming from the other end.

I know my manager will send me out there. Meanwhile, my work is falling behind. Stupid storms!

Blueish

That's it! After the rain today I am getting my camera and my daughter's and going out and shooting some new pictures. I am tired of this same old stuff. All I had on this memory card was hydrangea, blurred photos of my pets and a few pics of fully ripe tomatoes and huge sweet onions. Plus about 40 pics of my daughter (she was attempting to get a new facebook pose).

After a lazy week-end, I awoke this morning to very painful eyes. Before I looked at the clock as I lay there after wakening, my eyes still closed, I thought to myself "Is it supposed to rain today?" Because both of my eyeballs hurt like the dickens.

I rolled out of bed. About the 3rd thing I do is take some Advil. Opening the door to let the first varmint outside to do his business I see and smell the rain. You know what? It is an hour later and my eyes still hurt! Blast it. I hate it when the medicine does not work.

I've got the summertime blues. Even though there is a lot going on almost every week-end, we have not been on a real vacation in a couple of years. I think the last trip was to Cincinnati in April of 2007? Yes, I just checked. Sigh. The reunion is a couple of nights away and I guess that will suffice as a vacation again this year. The dogs will have to go to the vet's office for that week-end. The fish and the cats will be on self-feeders.

In pain

The Hibiscus syriacus has caused me immense pain the last 24 hours.

I awoke yesterday starting out just fine. Walked the dogs, drank some coffee, read some blogs, hopped in the shower. Well, I don't hop anymore - it's more like slide or glide in. I was almost done when I reached up to rinse off my razor in the shower and "slam" I was hit with a twinge in my right shoulder blade.

I immediately stopped what I was doing and waited for the twinge to subside. It did not. It got much, much worse. I manged to get out of the shower and drape a towel over my hair and get my robe on.

I was still hoping that this "twinge" would go away. With each step it became more evident that I had a problem. A debilitating problem. I began to curse under my breath.

I tried to continue, but had to wake my daughter up to comb my hair. By the time she was done I could barely walk. She helped me to the t.v. chair (laying flat was not an option) and began stacking pillows up around me. I had already taken the ibuprofen.

I could not get comfortable. Every breath caused a stabbing sensation in my right lung. She surmised that I had a collapsed lung. I pooh-poohed that suggestion and just hoped it was not a fast case of pleurisy. I have manged to keep that ailment away for some years now.

Warning: Movie spoiler alert! Skip next two paragraphs.

I called the doctor at 7:30, they could get me in at 11 a.m. To pass the time I asked my daughter to put in the movie "Avatar". Since the drug store was out of rented copies, I just bought one. I have heard so many good things about it. I fell asleep during the movie. If you have not seen it, I will tell you this. If you have seen "Fern Gully", "Spirit", "Surrogates" and any movie out there that has depicted how the white man literally bulldozed the native Americans - roll them into one movie and you have "Avatar."

Fern Gully carries the message of how the white man wants to destroy the habitat and does not care about the people or critters who live there. Spirit is a narrated story of a free spirit (parts of Avatar are narrated the same way). Surrogates gives us the scenario where a human goes to sleep and his brain is transported into another creature and he/she walks around feeling and experiencing life as that other creature. Please forgive me if I say I didn't care for the movie.

This movie is long. It helped to pass the time until my appointment. One good thing. At least I had my shower over with. I manged to get dressed (after a double dose of ibuprofen) and my daughter drove me to the doctor's office.

She (the doctor) examined me and determined it was my right rhomboid muscle. There is more to the injury than just the shower. I have decided to begin chopping up (or down) my hibiscus syriacus that has appeared to be taking over the back side of my garage and (if I don't get a grip on it soon) will begin to take over the back side of my house.

The previous evening I went through a frenzy of chopping these dastardly bushes down. I had my clippers and I was seriously angry (or frustrated). Two things contributed to the anger/frustration. It was raining that day. My boxer would not do his "business". The sissy marshmallow would not leave the back porch unless I pushed him off. If I waited on the porch he just hung his head low and stood in the rain giving me those sad eyes.

So, I grabbed the clippers and in the pouring rain began chopping bushes. This at least made him walk around a little bit. He was still being stubborn.

Warning! Movie spoiler alert. Skip the next three paragraphs.

Now, the second thing that made me angry (more frustrated). The movie "The Lovely Bones". Oh my. My daughter and her friend wanted to see it because they had read the book in school. It is the story of a 13-year-old girl who gets raped and murdered by a man that lives in her neighborhood. Through the movie the girl is caught between worlds. In the between world she narrates certain events. She tells of all the young girls this serial killer has raped and murdered throughout his life. In her "between world" all the little girls come together and meet - they are all sweet and happy to see one another. But it hit home. This one man was responsible for almost a dozen lives lost.

Therein lies the anger and frustration. I could not watch the rape scene so I went outside. (My daughter paused the movie to wait until I returned - uh gee, thanks.) Anyway, they didn't show much - it is rated PG-13.

The killer looked very familiar and I finally guessed what actor he was. The girl was just fantastic. I had seen her in "The Atonement". All this with the help of imdb.com. My favorite movie site.

So, the clipping of the bushes (while angry) probably is the real culprit to my rhomboid muscle strain. That and possibly sitting at my computer desk for long periods of time.

I got some muscle relaxers. Blech! I hate those things. They give me a headache that will not respond to ibuprofen and made me feel very restless. I slept about an hour after taking one, and it did take care of the pain, but overall - I'll just stick with ibuprofen.

So today begins my second day off from work. I cannot drive a car. I cannot turn my head. I was supposed to meet my manger at some of my schools yesterday so the fiber optics company could scope out where and how they were going to set up their fiber connection. Drat. This is why I cursed under my breath. My manager didn't know where the wiring closets were. I'm sure they found their way but darn it all! I really needed to be there.

I can get comfortable in my t.v. chair with a heating pad and about 3 large pillows, 1 travel pillow and my neck pillow. I cannot live without my U-shaped neck pillow.

Now, I have been at the computer too long and it is starting to hurt. Ciao - until next time.

What a mess

I don't like to clean gutters

I don't have a fear of heights. Well, maybe I do. But not six or eight feet off the ground. I don't fear that. I really need to clean my gutters so I guess I'll get the ladder out this week-end. This is my patio during the rainstorm. That's where my daughter and I spent the evening Wednesday watching the storm. Sirens were blaring all over town, but we stayed put.

My neighbor asked me if I wanted him to clean out my gutters? The really bad one was on the side of the house where he could see it. That does it! I'm going to figure out some way to reach that side and clean it. I may have to buy a new ladder. I am considering sitting my 6 ft ladder on a table to reach. Sigh. I know. I won't do it. Dammit.

It was very nice of him to offer, but you have to know me. It was an insult to me. It made me feel inadequate. I thanked him profusely and his offer still stands, but I cannot ask for help from anybody. He said "I work for beer!" I laughed.

I am going to watch very closely. When he leaves (hopefully for a golf outing) I am going to get up there and clean them out. What a mess.

I have a horrible case of plantar fasciitis in my left foot. It came about from doing so much work the week before the graduation party. It flared up and has not let up since. My days have been sheer misery. Hot, sweaty, grimy and in pain. I am certainly not getting the Miss Congeniality award this week.