Technology | Piss and Moan

Disconnect

Posted on October 23, 2019 by backuphill

Photo by P C on Pexels.com

Well, it’s been a trying 24 hours.

Roof leak – still dealing with that issue.

Yesterday, after working fine the day before, the internet decided it didn’t want send any data to our devices. It just plain pooped out, even though it was showing there was a WiFi signal. After more than an hour on the phone with a tech, I was going to have to go and exchange the modem and router for a new one.

Hard to work from home (telecommute) when the internet isn’t working.

Exchange is done and now I am back up and running.

Irritated. To say the least. But, at least it is getting better.

Refund

Posted on October 17, 2019 by backuphill

Photo by Jeff Weese on Pexels.com

I bought something online at the beginning of the month that needed to be sized before being purchased. Of course, I don’t want to buy something that doesn’t fit right off the bat so I was careful to follow instructions.

The instructions said to download the fitting guide and make sure to “print at 100%” so the fitting guide printed accurately. The fitting guide was a PDF on the company website. When you hit download you have a program that opens the PDF and then you print. Pretty simple process. At least it should be. There is no magic here.

So, the product arrives and I try it on. Doesn’t fit. It doesn’t fit!

I decide to compare the item I received to the fitting guide I printed off. It was obviously bigger than what I determined the size should be so where exactly did it fit on the sizing guide? ~~Interestingly~~ Frustratingly enough, the item was a full two sizes bigger than what I ordered. TWO!

Now, I take pictures of the fit and sizing guide with the item and what it should have been versus what it actually was. Then I contact the company and submit my request for a refund and to return the item.

The response is rather irritating. Yes, they will refund the money, but a “common mistake is that the sizing guide isn’t printed at 100%.” Oh, so you are going to blame the problem on the customer when all they did was download and print the guide you provided?

Is the PDF already at full size or not? It fit onto and filled an entire 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of paper so I don’t know how there could be any mistaking how it was printed. If the PDF isn’t already at full size, why put it up on your website as your fitting guide?

Sorry, but you lost a sale and any recommendation you might have gotten for the whole process even if it was a return. You can’t blame the customer for a problem you may be creating yourself.

Small dollar

Posted on October 16, 2019 by backuphill

Photo by Miguel Á. Padriñán on Pexels.com

Trying to sell your used stuff online is a challenge. I have talked about his before and the trials of unreliable people and people not following though, etc., etc., etc., …let’s just say I guess I like seeing the worst in humanity so I can complain about it. Glutton for punishment maybe?

Anyway, I have several items up for sale at the moment and they are only $5 items. Nothing big, nothing complicated and not looking to make bank.

Yesterday, I had someone contact me about one of those $5 items asking if I could meet him for a sale. If course, he wasn’t in my area and was a minimum of a 45 minute drive away.

Him: “Could you meet me in _________________?”

Me: “Sorry. That is at least 45 minutes away and I am not willing to travel for such a small dollar amount. If you are going to be in ____________________ in the next couple of days I would be happy to meet you.”

Him: “I can’t drive that far.”

Huh? Whatever. Seriously, dude? You’re gonna contact me over a $5 item and have me spend my time and money to bring it to you? Not happening.

These are rhetorical questions and I know the answers already, but “Are people really that stupid? Are people really so wrapped up in themselves that they don’t consider others and what they are asking?”

We are sunk. As a people, a human race, we are sunk.

Defrost

Posted on October 14, 2019 by backuphill

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Programmers for my car’s electronics got it wrong. Not sure what the thought behind it was, but it’s irritating nonetheless.

My 2018 Kia Niro has been a great car, but after having it a year now there are a few things that bothersome. They are probably small things, but you know when you spend that much money on things you want to make sure people have spent time on the little things because that’s what makes it stand apart from the others.

Well, there are two issues that both have to do with the way the Defrost functions work.

First, the defrost for the windshield has a weird setting. When the function is set to be used, the fan automatically comes on at Level 3, EVERY TIME you start the car and no matter where it was previously set. Thus, it starts blowing cold air the second the car starts. I am constantly turning down the fan. I do like to always have the fan running for air glow, but it would really be nice if it just stayed at the level I set it rather than resetting itself every dang time.

Finally, the Rear Defrost button does’t have an automatic turnoff timer. It just stays on and on and on, until you look down and see it is still on and turn it off. How stupid is that? I think every car I have own previously had an automatic timer on that function.

I was recently asked if I had found anything I didn’t like about the car. There are very many things I could name off. These were two that came up right off the top of my head.

DOH!

Posted on October 11, 2019 by backuphill

apple magic keyboard with numeric pad on table near wireless mouse

Photo by Josh Sorenson on Pexels.com

There are those clients who just don’t know what’s up and then there are those clients who are lucky to survive a day when left to their own devices…

You, of course, have heard of the typical IT calls where someone has to “check to see if it is plugged in” and to “turn it off and turn it back on” and “did you turn your computer monitor on?” You are smarter than that, right? I am sure you have never had to need that sort of tech support, right? You’re all beyond that now, right?

So, yesterday I took a call about the software we support not working. It was in my area of expertise and so I figured it was something the user was doing (or not doing) and that is why it wasn’t working the way they expected.

In this case, a teacher wasn’t able to get the software to record the grades being entered for a graded assignment. I called the client and shadowed them in my virtual meeting room. Below is the conversation:

Me: “What seems to be the problem? Can you show me what is happening?”

Client: “I know you can’t see this but I am pushing the numbers for 2 0 and nothing is happening.”

Me: “Are you using the numbers on the keyboard above the letters or does your keyboard have a 10-key pad?”

Client: “I am using the numbers on the side.”

Me: “Can you push the NUMLK key on your keyboard and try it again?”

Client: “Oh, huh, weird. I have never had to do that before.”

Me: “silence….as I roll my eyes and bite my tongue”

Me: “So everything is working like it should now? Glad I could help.”

Add that to the list of “I’ve seen it all” items.

Why is it that people have a hard time troubleshooting issues themselves? Is it that we can’t, won’t, or don’t because we always expect it to be someone else’s problem?

Chalk this one up as another head shaker…

Planning

Posted on September 27, 2019 by backuphill

Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com

So, I am doing a training today. Teaching teachers to use the software the should be using for grading students.

I am usually the type of guy who doesn’t mind someone pointing at something and say, “Do it.” I show up, and do it.

BUT, this morning is a bit different. I wasn’t a part of the planning of this and I found out yesterday there are all kinds of factors that could make this morning go very poorly.

First, this training was supposed to be to one district who requested the training. Somehow members of another district managed to get into the training. I think I nicely took care of that issue by letting them know that the training was indeed intended for a specific district and that they weren’t really invited.

Second, the registration website being used to sign participants up for the training says the training starts at 8:30am. My calendar says it starts at 9:00am. So which is it? OK, I am flexible and can go with the flow….except for the last thing…

Finally, there is a meeting scheduled in the room where the training is supposed to take place. The meeting is scheduled from 7:30-9:00am. Uh, that is a problem! Not only can I not set up and prepare for my training, but if the training is truly supposed to be at 8:30am what am I supposed to do with the people who show up on time for the training?

Yeah. This could turn into a CF real quick.

I know my stuff. I don’t have an issue working on the fly. Hell, I taught high school for 15 years. I can go with the flow with the best of them…but at least I had some control of my environment to some degree. In this case, I have little to none.

And on top of it all? I am wearing slacks on a Friday, which is supposed to be casual day at the office. Damn.

Annoyed

Posted on September 25, 2019 by backuphill

man sitting on black leather padded chair

Photo by Jason Appleton on Pexels.com

There are few things more irritating than playing whack-a-mole on news websites! I mean seriously, why does this have to be such an annoying thing?

OK, to be clear, I am talking about all of the pop-ups, over-sized headers, loud videos, video ads, etc. you get when you visit just about any sort of news site. Whether it is a tech website, an entertainment website, or something else, there are just about always two or three pop-ups that have to be closed to get a clear view of the page.

Annoying! I say. Annoying!

I use an ad blocker, but even that doesn’t get everything. Sometimes it isn’t a third party ad. Sometimes it is even the website sharing it’s own information about something else they would like you to look at. More annoyance.

Why is this necessary? Yes, of course, I know…they make money by clicks and crap like that. Some websites I have just stopped going to (they used to be good ones and I liked them) because I get tired of the same “dance of the pop-ups.” I like whack-a-mole, but not really that much.

All I can say to anyone who might be reading this – STOP IT! You are seriously damaging your name, brand, reputation, whatever by continuing this practice.

*This applies to blogs as well. If you have ads on your blog, make sure you aren’t turning off your readers by having stupid crap like described above.*

Chain letter

Posted on September 17, 2019 by backuphill

Photo by BLAXTAR ESSENTIALS on Pexels.com

Irritating trend continues to the electronic age.

I am sure you are well aware of them. They seem to be everywhere. Honestly, I never thought I would see them in social media and yet there they are. I have done my best to ignore them and just scroll past them.

But then a close family member posts one…and I have a hard time biting my tongue. The one from the family member was worded slightly differently and talked about it being a “social experiment” so “don’t do it if you aren’t going to participate or you’ll break the experiment.” You have likely seen a version of this somewhere in your feed (provided you have Facebook):

The last few years have taught me that when it is our time to leave this world no one can stop it. We have one life to live. The material things we invest in are left behind only to be discarded. Memories are important to me. I’m going to start a “reunion of friends and family”. The idea is to see who reads a post without a picture. If no one reads my post, this will be a very short experiment. But if you are reading this message, make a comment using a single word about how we met. After that, copy this message on your wall and I will also leave you a word. Please, don’t leave a word and then not bother doing it. Grateful beyond measure!

I don’t like chain letters. While this isn’t exactly a chain letter, the idea is the same. Do something for me and I’ll do something for you and it will keep going (thankfully there is no threat of death like some chain letters have, LOL)

I also don’t like desperate attempts to get people to comment on something or “see if people are paying attention” or “cleaning out my friends list” type posts. I guess I am a bit of a rebel and refuse to play the game. I have had people tag me in posts where they have to do something and then “tag 5 more people” so they have to do it. I refuse to do it.

Call me obstinate. Call me difficult. Call me a jerk. Call me whatever.

Anyone else severely dislike these things? What other “chain letter like” things do you see on social media that irritates you to no end?

Friday the 13th

Posted on September 13, 2019 by backuphill

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

WTH?

Almost noon and I am just getting to this thing. Bet you thought I wasn’t going to do it, right?

Friday. 13th. Full moon.

Stuff nightmares are made of. There must have been a solar flare last night or something because computer issues and software issues all morning long for clients. Either that or they have forgotten how their stuff works.

Either way it was crazy busy this morning. Hopefully we are in the eye of the storm right now and the backside will be better than the front.

Can I just go home already? I am ready to sit and drink.

Do you notice weird crap going on during days like this or do you think it is just a mental thing?

Survival mode

Posted on August 30, 2019 by backuphill

Photo by Francis Seura on Pexels.com

One day. Just make it through the day.

Friday before a long weekend. Will it be busy? The hope is that it won’t be because district employees will be taking advantage of their last long weekend of the summer. Alas, the hope had died on the vine…

We are already running and I don’t think we have hit the ground yet.

The flood of support tickets continues. At one point yesterday, I had six open support tickets and trying to support them all at the same time. Today, I already have two to start with. Hope this isn’t a sign of things to come.

Watch out people! The weekend is nearly upon us. Keep your head down today, enter survival mode, and make it through the day. Just one last push to weekend freedom!