You Know You're Screwed...



  • ... when the company accountant apparently knows more about computers than the IT guys. This one comes via my father, the aforementioned accountant for some quango down in Cornwall. Whilst he was on leave, someone in IT contacted my dad's immediate superior complaining that they were having trouble establishing VPNs from another site. (I don't know what they were establishing VPNs for at the time, but suspect it'll for make a post in itself if I ever find out.) They reckoned the problem was a too-slow connection, which needed to be upgraded from £500 a month broadband to £3000 a month DSL. Questions said boss failed to ask at this point apparently included:

    • "What's a Virtual Private Network do, and how often do you need to do it?" (Answer: Unless you're a helpdesk technician, probably not very often.)
    • "How certain are you that this will work?"(Answer: For one thing, people have been doing this since the days when 56k was a high-end connection.)
    • "The accountant's on leave; maybe I should hold off on making a decision until he gets back and we can look at the numbers?" (Answer: Apart from the fact that in this case said accountant doubled as CTO/DBA/cable installer at his previous job, it's probably a good idea to seek the counsel of the one guy in the company who might know how much money you have before committing oneself.)
    I need hardly add that the first my dad heard of this was when he found the bill in his in-tray two days later. Predictably, the VPN problem remained unsolved. I'm starting to understand why he's decided to switch careers and become a psychotherapist.


  • @Jake Grey said:

    ... in this case said accountant doubled as CTO/DBA/cable installer at his previous job ...

    Half CTO, half DBA, and half cable installer?

     



  • @NullAndVoid said:

    Half CTO, half DBA, and half cable installer?

    Hell if I know. It was a tiny not-for-profit with about fifty people on that particular site and an extremely tight budget, and routine IT stuff got done by anyone with even a modicum of relevant knowledge and nothing more important to do at the time. The cable installation thing was a one-off, though; the guy who designed their offices -and if there's an equivalent of TDWTF for architects, he's probably made the front page several times- forgot to include them at the planning stage, and the money that might have gone on a professional install was used to fund the malpractice lawsuit so my father and a few others rolled up their sleeves and did it themselves.



  • Quango?



  • @mrprogguy said:

    Quango?

     

     

    Pointless, money-wasting over-staffed Government department that really doesn't do anything, e.g. the Banana Measurement Authority, or the Dry Cleaners Ombudsman.



  • @valerion said:

    Pointless, money-wasting over-staffed Government department that really doesn't do anything, e.g. the Banana Measurement Authority, or the Dry Cleaners Ombudsman.
     

    oh, you mean like the ministry of silly walks ?



  • @Nelle said:

    @valerion said:

    Pointless, money-wasting over-staffed Government department that really doesn't do anything, e.g. the Banana Measurement Authority, or the Dry Cleaners Ombudsman.
     

    oh, you mean like the ministry of silly walks ?

    Yes, except Quangos are pointless.

    QUasi-Autonomous Non Governmental Organisation, BTW.



  • @NullAndVoid said:

    @Jake Grey said:

    ... in this case said accountant doubled as CTO/DBA/cable installer at his previous job ...

    Half CTO, half DBA, and half cable installer?

     

    Because you have to give 150% of yourself to the company!!!



  • @Jake Grey said:

    "What's a Virtual Private Network do, and how often do you need to do it?" (Answer: Unless you're a helpdesk technician, probably not very often.)
     

    Why do you think the helpdesk guy is the only person who would ever need to access the company's network remotely?  I'm a developer and I work from home all the time.



  • @Jake Grey said:

    -and if there's an equivalent of TDWTF for architects, he's probably made the front page several times-

    There's [url]http://www.kunstler.com/eyesore.html[/url]



  • @dcardani said:

    @Jake Grey said:

    -and if there's an equivalent of TDWTF for architects, he's probably made the front page several times-

    There's http://www.kunstler.com/eyesore.html

    That site also scores highly on the WTF scale.  EVERY SINGLE LINK in the whole site has Target="_blank" so everything you click on opens in a new window.  I can't work out what has generated it - it's not MS Word.



  • @Qwerty said:

    I can't work out what has generated [eyesore site] - it's not MS Word.

    Looks hand made IMO. Everything is under-case except one DIV, it's laid-out for easy editing, no excess tags.



  • @Qwerty said:

    That site also scores highly on the WTF scale.  EVERY SINGLE LINK in the whole site has Target="_blank" so everything you click on opens in a new window.  I can't work out what has generated it - it's not MS Word.

     

    The rant on how tatoos aren't part of "civilized society" and how tattoo parlors should be in dirty back alleys or something is pretty WTF too. 



  • @burntfuse said:

    The rant on how tatoos aren't part of "civilized society" and how tattoo parlors should be in dirty back alleys or something is pretty WTF too.

    Tattoos are for cannibals, sailors, and whores. The same applies to ear piercing, hair trimming, face painting, clothing, and all other forms of physical adornment.



  • @NullAndVoid said:

    @burntfuse said:
    The rant on how tatoos aren't part of "civilized society" and how tattoo parlors should be in dirty back alleys or something is pretty WTF too.

    Tattoos are for cannibals, sailors, and whores. The same applies to ear piercing, hair trimming, face painting, clothing, and all other forms of physical adornment.

    Agreed.  I tried to convince my neighbours of this too, but they threatened to call the police if I didn't put my pants back on.



  • @NullAndVoid said:

    Tattoos are for cannibals, sailors, and whores. The same applies to ear piercing, hair trimming, face painting, clothing, and all other forms of physical adornment.

    @Pitchshifter said:

    Each generation has a statement they want to call their own.  Tattoos? Piercings? Those are for moms and dads.  What you want to is spend your allowance on is Devil horn implants, Elephand Man head, designer tails, third leg, fourth leg -- everyone a hermaphrodite



  • @Nelle said:

    @valerion said:

    Pointless, money-wasting over-staffed Government department that really doesn't do anything, e.g. the Banana Measurement Authority, or the Dry Cleaners Ombudsman.
     

    oh, you mean like the ministry of silly walks ?

     

    No, the Ministry of Silly Walks is down the hall.  This is abuse.

     

    MP mashup FTW



  • @NullAndVoid said:

    @Jake Grey said:

    ... in this case said accountant doubled as CTO/DBA/cable installer at his previous job ...

    Half CTO, half DBA, and half cable installer?
     

    Also, psychotherapist.


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