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it's just another day on the job
Nov. 14th, 2008 06:24 pmI must share a d'awwww from this morning. We have an email system for setting up mailing groups. In order to do things with it, you send emails like this:
Now, one of our PAs, who is a lovely woman but occasionally technologically illiterate, has just met this system. I'd given her a very abbreviated training session with it, and I was sure she had the basics down pat. Still, I had that inkling that she wasn't quite sure... so I asked a friendly mail admin to keep an eye on the system for me. About half an hour later, he called me over, wearing a big grin.
She'd sent an email as follows:
I also managed to permanently delete someone's data. I do feel somewhat shit about this, but in my defense, it was stuff stored on his desktop, which users are explicitly told is not backed up, under any circumstances (technically untrue, as we have server-based roaming profiles), and his profile was screwed on the local machine, hadn't backed up to the server, and I deleted it. He was, to put it mildly, pissed.
And the excellent new young bloke who was put on a trial period, after the complete and utter fail that was the hiring of newGirl*, may not have his contract extended due to budget cuts. He is competent, quick, well liked, did I mention competent? confident, learning well, an absolute pleasure to talk to, approachable, COMPETENT, and it will be an absolute disaster if we can't keep him on because there are not enough fucking staff already.
I'm going to my boss on Monday, demanding to know if the rumours are true, and if they are...
Oh, who am I kidding. I'll ask, yes, but then I'll keep my head down and my mouth shut like always because I need to keep my goddamn job. There are redundancies and cutbacks and things left right and center.
Stupid economy.
* in her defense, she is learning, just slowly sometimes, and I do like her as a person; I just wish we'd never hired her, because, well, see previous rants
TO: admin@thegroupsystem.company.cometc etc etc. The mail server picks them up, processes them, creates/deletes/changes groups, and in about five minutes you get a "YOUR REQUEST HAS BEEN PROCESSED" auto-response back.
SUBJECT: change mygroupname
BODY:
add name@company.com
delete name@company.com
Now, one of our PAs, who is a lovely woman but occasionally technologically illiterate, has just met this system. I'd given her a very abbreviated training session with it, and I was sure she had the basics down pat. Still, I had that inkling that she wasn't quite sure... so I asked a friendly mail admin to keep an eye on the system for me. About half an hour later, he called me over, wearing a big grin.
She'd sent an email as follows:
TO: admin@thegroupsystem.company.comI then had the immensely amusing job of ringing her back, explaining that these emails are automagically processed by servers, not by human beings; and thus there is actually no need to be polite.
SUBJECT: change mygroupname (please)
BODY:
Administrator should be name@company.com
Please:
add name@company.com
Also please:
delete name@company.com
Thanks
Signature.
I also managed to permanently delete someone's data. I do feel somewhat shit about this, but in my defense, it was stuff stored on his desktop, which users are explicitly told is not backed up, under any circumstances (technically untrue, as we have server-based roaming profiles), and his profile was screwed on the local machine, hadn't backed up to the server, and I deleted it. He was, to put it mildly, pissed.
And the excellent new young bloke who was put on a trial period, after the complete and utter fail that was the hiring of newGirl*, may not have his contract extended due to budget cuts. He is competent, quick, well liked, did I mention competent? confident, learning well, an absolute pleasure to talk to, approachable, COMPETENT, and it will be an absolute disaster if we can't keep him on because there are not enough fucking staff already.
I'm going to my boss on Monday, demanding to know if the rumours are true, and if they are...
Oh, who am I kidding. I'll ask, yes, but then I'll keep my head down and my mouth shut like always because I need to keep my goddamn job. There are redundancies and cutbacks and things left right and center.
Stupid economy.
* in her defense, she is learning, just slowly sometimes, and I do like her as a person; I just wish we'd never hired her, because, well, see previous rants
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