The Vent and Rant Thread

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Gawd what a Monday! It actually started last night, around 10PM when my own router lost it's little mind. I'm betting someone tried to get in and failed, but the router was overdue for a firmware upgrade anyway.

Reset back to factory defaults, remove from any network, log in, update firmware, reboot, log in, restore settings file. FAIL!

The idiots don't support settings files across firmware versions. WTF?! Hello, idiots, that's the single most common scenario for restoring settings! Sigh.

So, slowly and patiently, rebuild the configuration on the router. Started working on the router at 6AM, finished by about 9:30 AM. Saved the configuration, not that I think it will help the next time! But everything appears to be working, for the moment.

Oh, except that IE 11 (and IE10) REFUSE to connect to it, since the cert isn't for the internal IP address my LAN uses. What WERE the idiots at MS thinking? Yes, I know, my router's web page doesn't have a valid cert. It's INSIDE MY NETWORK, let me connect to it you morons! Fortunately, both Chrome and Firefox work just fine. Both warn me of dire consequences should I choose to connect to this web site, but then let me do it.

In the middle of all this, three different users managed to lock themselves out of their machines. ALL claim they got no warning that their passwords were about to expire (Phhhtt!). (ever tried to reset a password on a remote domain from the RDP client on your iPhone? Since that was the only thing that had internet connectivity until I got the router back up.)

Now, one of the support guys has decided that he needs his desktop restored, since something he did totally wonked everything. Sigh. I wasn't even supposed to be working today!

ETA: I logged in to his machine, and his desktop had 68 GB of files on his desktop, including RUNNING VIRTUAL MACHINES for goodness sake. On his desktop! And he wonders why he was having problems? Really. There ought to be a LAW.

Talisker. Lots and lots of Talisker.

Sounds like you need to make the law. Put those that are obvious idiots to the back of the queue. Not always possible I know.

Still a few stupid questions (ie. what did you do immediately prior to when it happened, did you follow the instructions carefully, has anyone else access to this computer, did you at least try to fix it yourself), even when you know the answers, can sometimes make people more manageable. It is not the simple things they do, it is the blind assumption that you will fix things for them without even a thank you in many cases that I find annoying.

Helen

[WT Sharpe]

WOW! 1.2 GB is on my desktop, and I thought that was a lot!

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

WOW! 1.2 GB is on my desktop, and I thought that was a lot!

Pats self on back self-righteously. Only 58M on desktop. Everything else is neatly filed in a folder somewhere. It may be on my mac, but by george, it's not on the *desktop* !

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

Pats self on back self-righteously. Only 58M on desktop. Everything else is neatly filed in a folder somewhere. It may be on my mac, but by george, it's not on the *desktop* !

Yeah, I have precisely ONE "file" on my desktop. I have a boatload of program shortcuts, but files? Nyet. Nix, Nein, no. I already have enough issues with moving hundreds of millions of bytes of data every day (I fully expect a truck to pull up one day from the local phone company to whack me in fury), without cluttering up the desktop in addition to that.

(My REAL desktop, mind you...well, that's another story. As I once tweeted to Liz Castro, my desk/office looks like Hobbits on crack came through here on a quest for the One Ring...)

Hitch

[kindlekitten]

There are imprints of big furry feet?

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

There are imprints of big furry feet?

Oh, yes. And crap on the floor that has been pushed there by big furry feet, and big butts, and heads, throughout the day. (Or, the working-from-the-house part of the day) until clean-up detail. I have to move Zep often, as he has "creep;" he'll lay on the right-hand-side of the desk, and his noggin will creep-creep-creep over toward the keyboard, until his head is "typing" on my number-pad. I've lost track of all the emails I've had to FIX due to a giant list of

+
+
+
+
+
+
.....

showing up in them. ;-) Attached are Zep with his HP 12C "pillow," a face shot, and Storm at the Office Overwatch. ;-)

Hitch

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

WOW! 1.2 GB is on my desktop, and I thought that was a lot!

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

Pats self on back self-righteously. Only 58M on desktop. Everything else is neatly filed in a folder somewhere. It may be on my mac, but by george, it's not on the *desktop* !

Originally Posted by Hitch

Yeah, I have precisely ONE "file" on my desktop. I have a boatload of program shortcuts, but files? Nyet. Nix, Nein, no. I already have enough issues with moving hundreds of millions of bytes of data every day (I fully expect a truck to pull up one day from the local phone company to whack me in fury), without cluttering up the desktop in addition to that.

(My REAL desktop, mind you...well, that's another story. As I once tweeted to Liz Castro, my desk/office looks like Hobbits on crack came through here on a quest for the One Ring...)

Hitch

I just checked and found most of my desktop clutter—1.2 Gig—is taken up by an Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 folder. I have no idea why it installed itself there. There was also an Apple Pages app on my PC desktop. Why, I've no idea, but it was an older version and I deleted it.

[CRussel]

I've got about 9MB on my desktop. And that much only because I keep a couple of "scratch files" there to quickly make notes or to use as a copy/paste midpoint when I have multiple things to paste into an app.

In fairness to the (l)user, he was almost as horrified as I was when I explained why he might be having a problem. But still!

Sigh. And today, I just shot myself in the bloody foot. Did something that will take a trip to the office to undo. And I feel totally S T U P I D.

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Oh, yes. And crap on the floor that has been pushed there by big furry feet, and big butts, and heads, throughout the day. (Or, the working-from-the-house part of the day) until clean-up detail. I have to move Zep often, as he has "creep;" he'll lay on the right-hand-side of the desk, and his noggin will creep-creep-creep over toward the keyboard, until his head is "typing" on my number-pad. I've lost track of all the emails I've had to FIX due to a giant list of

+
+
+
+
+
+
.....

showing up in them. ;-) Attached are Zep with his HP 12C "pillow," a face shot, and Storm at the Office Overwatch. ;-)

Hitch

Your photos of Zep made me think of my mothers wee doggie. An elderly poodle who is still full of vim and vinegar.
My mother is by choice, in a home and the people who sort of adopted her wee doggie, were going to put him down because they were taking a vacation.
This is just the nicest dog imaginable, who hasn't had an easy life and while he may pop off any minute does not need putting down for pain or misery.

Tried to get them to ship the dog out at my expense, but for some reason they would rather have him killed. Eventually convinced them to put him in a kennel which cost me $971. Obviously they don't hate the dog, but what are these people thinking.
The Maritimes.

Helen

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

Your photos of Zep made me think of my mothers wee doggie. An elderly poodle who is still full of vim and vinegar.
My mother is by choice, in a home and the people who sort of adopted her wee doggie, were going to put him down because they were taking a vacation.
This is just the nicest dog imaginable, who hasn't had an easy life and while he may pop off any minute does not need putting down for pain or misery.

Tried to get them to ship the dog out at my expense, but for some reason they would rather have him killed. Eventually convinced them to put him in a kennel which cost me $971. Obviously they don't hate the dog, but what are these people thinking.
The Maritimes.

Helen

Arggghhh. Time to rehome that dog!!!

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

Your photos of Zep made me think of my mothers wee doggie. An elderly poodle who is still full of vim and vinegar.
My mother is by choice, in a home and the people who sort of adopted her wee doggie, were going to put him down because they were taking a vacation.
This is just the nicest dog imaginable, who hasn't had an easy life and while he may pop off any minute does not need putting down for pain or misery.

Tried to get them to ship the dog out at my expense, but for some reason they would rather have him killed. Eventually convinced them to put him in a kennel which cost me $971. Obviously they don't hate the dog, but what are these people thinking.
The Maritimes.

Helen

Speaking of the devils...they are both here, waiting, waiting, not-so-patiently-waiting for their nightly revelry. I run around the house like a fruit loop, dragging various and sundry toys of string and fling and suchlike, and they chase me and each other. {sigh}. Ah, for the good old days when I lived someplace where a cat could actually go OUTSIDE!!! But they have fun.

I'm surprised that they were actually going to whack the wee doggie, and good on you for your...extraordinary expenditure to keep him alive (says the broad who once spent THOUSANDS on chemo for a puddy-tat...). They didn't have a FRIEND who could take care of a teeny weeny dog? Sheesh. Some of us are just pet-nutty, that's all there is to it. The best kind of people, OBVIOUSLY, but still...and I still don't get it--why not ship him TO you?

Hitch

[poohbear_nc]

Speaking of the devils...they are both here, waiting, waiting, not-so-patiently-waiting for their nightly revelry. I run around the house like a fruit loop, dragging various and sundry toys of string and fling and suchlike, and they chase me and each other.

Have you been filming my house? We have "mouse on a string" for Sammie and Goldie, "feather on a string" for Stella, the "dancing red dot of death" for Sammie and Stella, bouncy balls to play soccer in the kitchen, topped off EVERY night by hockey with Stella using ice chips on the kitchen floor. I do NOT ever want to look under the stove!

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Speaking of the devils...they are both here, waiting, waiting, not-so-patiently-waiting for their nightly revelry. I run around the house like a fruit loop, dragging various and sundry toys of string and fling and suchlike, and they chase me and each other. {sigh}. Ah, for the good old days when I lived someplace where a cat could actually go OUTSIDE!!! But they have fun.

I'm surprised that they were actually going to whack the wee doggie, and good on you for your...extraordinary expenditure to keep him alive (says the broad who once spent THOUSANDS on chemo for a puddy-tat...). They didn't have a FRIEND who could take care of a teeny weeny dog? Sheesh. Some of us are just pet-nutty, that's all there is to it. The best kind of people, OBVIOUSLY, but still...and I still don't get it--why not ship him TO you?

Hitch

I don't get it either. Some sort of power trip I think. Not sure what type. Lots of people would have taken care of the doggie for $500 or even free I am sure. They thought (so they said) that the dog would have not been given his heartworm pills regularly by these people.
I said to them, even if the dog dies (not likely) due to this is he any deader than if you murder him? Harsh words but true.

I don't begrudge the money although I am pretty thrifty, I do begrudge the fact that I may have to be nice to these people to hopefully ensure the dogs existence while he is able to enjoy it.

Helen

[wodin]

Well, I finally have a bona fide rant; when flying home from the SF Bay area out of Oakland Sunday the plane took off and proceeded to 34,000 feet and suddenly began turning around. The pilot announced that there was a problem and we were returning to Oakland, except Oakland was socked in so we went to San Jose instead.

After we finally landed in SJ, they told us that the co-pilot's windshield had shattered and that they would either replace it or send another plane. They ended up sending another plane, 14 hours later.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

Have you been filming my house? We have "mouse on a string" for Sammie and Goldie, "feather on a string" for Stella, the "dancing red dot of death" for Sammie and Stella, bouncy balls to play soccer in the kitchen, topped off EVERY night by hockey with Stella using ice chips on the kitchen floor. I do NOT ever want to look under the stove!

OMG! It's a cat thing. We have mousies on a string (and ratties), feathers on strings of all shapes and sizes, we are definitely "dancing red dot of death" fans (Zepper goes nuts for it), and we have a love of foil balls. Yes, I know, but aluminum foil BALLS. I haven't ever tried ice chip hockey pucks...hmmm. I never want to look under my stove, either. With or without cats, as if that latter state would ever exist.

Helen said:

I said to them, even if the dog dies (not likely) due to this is he any deader than if you murder him? Harsh words but true.

Indeed. I mean, it's almost laughably bad logic--the dog will be deader than Julius Caesar if the dog-sitter neglects him, so...hey, let's make SURE! Duh.

From Wodin, on the west coast....

After we finally landed in SJ, they told us that the co-pilot's windshield had shattered and that they would either replace it or send another plane. They ended up sending another plane, 14 hours later.

OK, that definitely wins in the ranty front, and deservedly so. But 14 hours? Yikes. Did anyone else here see the TV news that covered the Chinese Air Rage pandemic? Yowza.

Hitch