Month: May 2021

Don’t be

Posted on by backuphill

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There’s a holiday on Monday, in the US at least. It’s Memorial Day, for those who have somehow lost track of time or are just that uninformed.

So, don’t be…don’t be that jackwagon that has a hard time remembering what the day is for.

Don’t be that person who mistakes Memorial Day for Veteran’s Day. Memorial Day is set aside to honor the people who have DIED in the service of our country – specifically the military. It isn’t a day to honor people who have served in the military – that’s Veteran’s Day.

Oh, and while you consume beer, bbq, lounge at the beach or lake, or just generally do whatever the heck you want…how about you take a second and remember that the freedoms you are enjoying is because someone sacrificed their life for you (either recently or all the way back to the founding of our country).

I know it is hard to fathom that someone gave their all, everything they had, for you but it’s the truth.

I know it is hard to fathom considering the government and people who have no business telling you what you can and can’t do in your life right now because of some pandemic, but it’s the truth.

Don’t be a the person who forgets what was given and what is going to be given up if you don’t push back against changes being forced upon us today.

Don’t be the person who lets the sacrifices of those who have gone before us be for nothing because we let the fear of a virus consume us.

Just don’t be.

How about “No”?

Posted on by backuphill

There is at least one in everyone’s life. There is at least one in everyone’s working sphere. There is always one. They are exhausting, annoying, and their success in getting to “Yes” is a rarity.

That person who won’t take “No” for an answer.

Good grief, I wanna shove an ice pick into my ear as deep as it will go and then wiggle it around like I am trying to make round cookie balls.

I jut got off the phone with a client who, no matter how many times I explained the limitations of the software and no matter how many times I explained the exact same info in a different way, she still wouldn’t accept that she couldn’t bend the software to her will.

She even suggested that maybe the people who made the software could program what she wanted into the software.

OK, that might have been a viable (and costly) answer in the past, but the software developers are focused on the new version of the software and aren’t taking requests for the current software even if the client pays for it.

Instead of adapting to the way it works and educating the people who use it (or are expected to use it), she just wants it to work the way she wants it to work.

OK, lady, we’ll get on it just for you.

No, not really. Stop asking already.

I am the fourth person you have talked to about this. We have pushed the software as far and as close to what you want, but there is a limit and our answers are all the same.

NO

We can’t do any more for you.

NO

NO

Got it?

Anyone else have a person that just take “NO” for an answer?

Thoughts?

Posted on by backuphill

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Haven’t a one. Zip. Nada. Nil. Zero.

You?

I share mine, when I have them.

Seems only fair that you share yours, if you have them.

How about a trade?

I’ll tell you what I think about them once I have a thought.

The instructions

Posted on by backuphill

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Stop trying to take the easy way out. By easy way, I mean the one where you have someone else do it for you.

Nearly everything you buy these days, nearly everything you work with these days, nearly EVERYTHING has some kind of “User Guide, “User Manual,” “Setup Guide,” “Assembly Instructions,” “Directions for Use,” etc.

Seriously. Have you opened a box of anything and not found at least some documentation with directions or instructions of some sort – either right there on the paper or directions to find them online? So there is honestly no excuse for not knowing what to do, how to use it, or how to set it up.

Unfortunately, society has become a bunch of “anti-instructionists.” (Yes, I made that up, but I can’t think of anything else to call it.)

It used to be that the cliché was that men were notorious for not reading the instructions and just jumping right in to figure it out (even if it meant taking something apart multiple times to get it right). That cliché has been turned on it’s head as, apparently, all people are just too lazy to read/learn/discover/follow directions. So many people are just willing to have someone else do it for them (or, to put it more bluntly – DEMAND you do it for them).

I know I am a little bit on the unusual side, since I do in fact take time to read the documentation included with a product, or posted online. I don’t always read them AT the moment of unboxing but I do eventually get to it. It depends on the level of complexity involved. I have even read the manuals that came with my car (hey, I like knowing about all the features that I may or may not use!). So, I do go through the trouble to learn about something. Sometimes it is trial and error and sometimes it is because I actually put effort into it and did it the right way.

Work lately…work lately is a bunch of people who don’t bother to read the documentation the software owner puts out. They don’t read all the supplemental documentation we create to further assist in use of the software. Hell, they don’t even watch the video we produce to give them visual aid in using the software. Instead, they just call use and take the easy way out – they want us to do it for them.

It’s frustrating that day after day after day people call and ask the exact same questions they asked three days ago, or 24 hours ago, or 6 weeks ago. Seriously, people, it’s part of YOUR job. Learn it. Read it. Discover it. Work in it and work at it. You aren’t going to have a crutch all the damn time.

OK.

Deep breath.

I guess my rant is over.

What type of person are you? Do you read the instructions and learn or do you completely ignore them and rely on someone else to do it for you? Do you follow directions to do things correctly or do you just make it up as you go and hope for good results?

What type of person are you?

What’s your take?

Posted on by backuphill

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OK, so here’s a different question for you. What would you do if given advice by someone with questionable personal demonstration of advice given?

Let’s say for instance:

  • Do you take driving advice from someone who has dents and scratches all over their vehicle?
  • Do you take construction advice from someone who has a house that is falling apart?
  • Do you take weight management advice from a doctor who has a weight problem themselves?
  • Do you take cooking advice from someone who can’t find a job in a restaurant?
  • Do you take fishing suggestions from someone who can’t catch a fish?
  • Do you take writing advice from someone who can’t write?

I think you get the point.

What do you do with advice from someone who doesn’t seem to put said advice to practice in their own lives?

Do you dismiss the advice outright? Do you take it into account and go your own way? Do you follow it and hope you didn’t get set on the wrong path?

Is there any reason to take advice from someone who appears to not take their own advice?

Drop your thoughts in the comments. I am looking forward to a lively discussion!

Drag on

Posted on by backuphill

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Or draggin’. Dragging.

Today. Is. Dragging. On. On. On.

Good grief.

It all started with an alarm that told me to get outta bed. Like most week days. Like most work days. The mistake was I listened.

The weather has turned sloppy. It’s cool and freary.

The software is hung up. It is slow as molasses today. Dragging, dragging, dragging.

This would be a better day just left to do nothing. Well, at least nothing of consequence.

It’s an uphill, uphill battle today.

How about a reset?

I’ll just go back to bed and try again tomorrow.

Friday vibes

Posted on by backuphill

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It’s Friday.

It’s sunny.

It’s been a long week.

Friday vibes got me wishing I was anyplace other than working…well, I guess anyplace is maybe a tad of an overstatement. So, how about someplace I’d rather be…

Can I get an amen on that?

Who has the power to give me permission to just bail on work and get the weekend started? Anyone? Anyone?

Time is moving so slowly…and watching that clock doesn’t make it go any faster….

Take my money

Posted on by backuphill

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Every had something you really, really, really wanted to buy but couldn’t because they can’t keep it in stock? I am sure you probably have, so that is kind of a silly question.

To throw a whole twist to the situation is that it is only available online, which is more convenient than having to go into the store to check the inventory but it still causes an issue because there is no way to find out when it is back in stock. Like, there is no way to sign up for a notification when it is in fact back in stock. That’s seems weird because, ya know, technology…but it just isn’t an option for this retailer.

I do have some information that it will be restocked “at the end of May,” so there is that to go on. It was also previously not showing up on the website when it was out of stock the first time, but now it is again. That leads me to believe that it could be stocked at any time. So, now I am reduced to checking every hour to see if it pops up.

A similar item was in stock, then out of stock, then magically appeared as in stock, only to be out of stock less than 6 hours later. It wasn’t what I really wanted, but seriously debated the purchase as it was close and did I want to risk waiting for the other one I really wanted? I decided to wait. Which might pay off, but the waiting is excruciating.

I just want to give them my money. Why do they refuse to take it? Hell, I’ll even pre-order it, but they won’t even accept that either.

So, I am left to checking the website….OFTEN…in hopes that it suddenly appears in stock.

Frustrating and exciting at the same time. Know what I mean?

You’ve been duped

Posted on by backuphill

This shouldn’t come to you as a shock, but you’ve been duped into thinking you need to wear a mask outdoors (if you are actually one of those wearing a mask outdoors) and it’s created a whole spectrum of baseless fears.

Of course, if you have little critical thinking skills or have used that skill very little as of late then this probably is a shock. If you have been wearing a mask while you do nearly any activity out of doors, well, you’re an idiot.

There was never any science behind the idea that you needed to wear a mask out of doors, but the CDC (Center for Disease Control) told you something different. That info, as it turns out and was highly suspect to begin with, was completely off base. They don’t even track whether there was ever any outdoor transmission here in Washington. (oh, btw, that guy in the top pic is the WA governor – who says he relies on science…that doesn’t exist).

“I’m sure it’s possible for transmission to occur outdoors in the right circumstances,” Dr. Aaron Richterman of the University of Pennsylvania told me, “but if we had to put a number on it, I would say much less than 1 percent.”

NYT article linked above

The “right circumstances” the doctor above is referring to, are listed by another doctor in the article above. Basically those “right circumstances” are “crowded places or close conversation.” Less than 1%? Really?? Weird how we were all mislead to think it was 10%, which is already a small number and caused irrational few for people all over the place.

Since the truth is out and science, apparently, isn’t all it is chocked up to be, throw caution to the wind (literally).

STOP WEARING A MASK OUTDOORS!

There is no need, unless of course you just want to continue to prove you’re an idiot.

Riddle me this

Posted on by backuphill

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Are vaccination cards really that necessary? We don’t need them and don’t get them when people get the flu shot. So, I feel like the push to get a vaccination card doesn’t take into account one medical fact – if you had Covid, you don’t need a vaccine.

At least that is what we have been told about how natural immunity and our bodies work.

We have always been told for years and years and years that when you get sick with something, your body’s immune system kicks into gear to fight it and builds immunity to it on it’s own. The next time your body encounters the sickness you either are less likely to get it because of immunity or your body has already established antibodies and the sickness is less severe each and every time you get it thereafter. Eventually, you become immune to it altogether (at least until it mutates).

Does this not apply to Covid?

If you have had Covid, your body went into it’s natural cycle of building immunity to it. Your body fought the sickness and it won. Congrats! You now have naturally built immunity to it. That isn’t to say that you can’t get it again, but that your body is now less susceptible to it. If this is the case, them why would you need to get a vaccine?

As such, I believe someone has forgotten to ask the question about those who have already had Covid – if someone already has had it, then there is no need for a vaccine. If there is no need for a vaccine, then there is no need for a vaccination card. If no vaccination card, then you will be discriminated against when trying to do activities you have done all your life…

Yeah, that makes sense.

The whole vaccine card thing wreaks of control.

So, riddle me this, what about those who have had Covid and don’t need to get a vaccine but need a vaccine card to participate in society? What do we do about that?