Trapped in an inescapeable hell of being "That IT guy" and TRWTF



  • Technically I don't do IT anymore, which is odd, I got a job at this company because I wrote them some software and they loved it so naturally I expected they would take me on in that role... either dev or sysadmin. Instead they gave me some testing job because it was a gap that needed filling and I still do software jobs on the side for little extras here and there, which is working out as there is talk of giving me the dev job I'm obviously best suited for.

    Anyway, whatever my current job is it definitely isn't general Mr Fix-It IT guy who re-installs screwed up XP machines.

    Over a month ago one of the machines I'm using gives me a random BSOD and corrupts its own file system, so I pull out the files I want of the drive, give it a quick drive/memory check and just run the manufacturers restore-to-factory install. It works but then it won't install any updates, I've already done more than I really should so I give it to the actual IT guy, tell him what is going on and say "The hardware checks out, but something is stopping it from installing updates plus I guess you'll want to put your antivirus on and join it to the domain again."

    A month later I still haven't got the machine back and one of the management says "Just sort it out yourself will you."

    So I do, I scrounge around a bit and discover that the permissions on the WINDOWS directory are all screwed up so that not even Administrators or SYSTEM have permission to write in there, which is why it won't update or service pack.

    I sort out the permissions, service pack goes on, back on track!

    So guys what is TRWTF?

    The fact I bothered to try and re-install it myself in the first place?

    The fact I gave up and handed it back to the actual IT guy, "If you want a job doing properly..."?

    The fact that it took him a month of head scratching to achieve nothing and I ended up HAVING to do it myself?

    The fact that the manufacturers recovery setup seems to leave the machine in a half working but unpatchable state?

    The fact I give enough of a shit about any of the above to bother ranting it when I was pretty convinced I'd gotten to the stage of working in technology where I was prepared to just let everything slide and look forward to that 6pm gin&tonic?

    Other: ____________________ (please specify).



  • @EncoreSpod said:

    So guys what is TRWTF?
     

    Well, the obvious answer is -- you used the wrong install disk ... with this that wouldn't have happened. And you could've tested all the buggy (famous, but well-tested) software by ID. If someone comes asking, well, of course you've got to test the hardware, right?

    That the manufacturer recovery thingie doesn't really work is expected (at least by me, although I've heard anecdotes of really useful media, too).

     



  • @EncoreSpod said:

    So guys what is TRWTF? The fact I bothered to try and re-install it myself in the first place?

     

    Yup, because this:@EncoreSpod said:

    Technically I don't do IT anymore

    and this:@EncoreSpod said:

    I give it to the actual IT guy

    - you already stated it wasn't your position, and that there is someone there to do it.. and yet you want ahead and did it anyway.

    @EncoreSpod said:

    The fact I gave up and handed it back to the actual IT guy, "If you want a job doing properly..."?

    If you want the job doing properly, then hand it over to the appropriately-skilled individual. If they can't do it properly, then that's the fault of whoever employed them. You doing it yourself is simply going to conceal that fact.

    @EncoreSpod said:

    The fact that it took him a month of head scratching to achieve nothing and I ended up HAVING to do it myself?

    Did you investigate why it's taking so long? You're making out that he's incompetant, but it could simply be he's overworked and your issue wasn't flagged up with the appropriate priority.

    @EncoreSpod said:

    A month later I still haven't got the machine back and one of the management says "Just sort it out yourself will you."

    That tells me that the under-resourcing issue (or lack of capability of their IT guy) is not only known but also accepted and not recognised as anything important. Then again, if you're being paid megabucks to so some hardware jiggery-pokery, win all around.

     

     



  • @EncoreSpod said:

    Other: ____________________ (please specify).

    The Real WTF....

    You thought you were an IT guy before this.

    Thing is, now you are just jaded enough to be one.  Welcome to the club.



  • Yeah, the fact you did it yourself -- unless you've dealt with this IT guy before, and he's proven to be about as useful as the restore disk.


    I had an applications admin brick a very large server like this. Install, patch, install db to exact specs from vendor, run vendor scripts, turn over to applications admin. He decided that he didn't want anyone to have access to his data. So he removes "Domain Admins" and "System" from the permissions of the entire box. Then complains that he can't do anything. He reboots the box, and ... it boots. Gets to the 'log yourself in' screen. Nothing. Apparently, when you remove "system" permissions from c:*.* ... the system can't read its own password files.


    If you're done being the IT guy, stop being the IT guy. Fix little shit, like "permissions on this tool are screwed, it'll take 5 minutes." Install patches. But BSOD, system won't come up, yeah, hand it over. Get a loaner, get your boss to make their boss crack the whip.



  • @KattMan said:

    @EncoreSpod said:

    Other: ____________________ (please specify).

    The Real WTF....

    You thought you were an IT guy before this.

    Thing is, now you are just jaded enough to be one.  Welcome to the club.

    There is no need to be bitter. Embrace the Mordac philosophy!

    Mordac is the man


  • @tweek said:

    Get a loaner, get your boss to make their boss crack the whip.

    Apparently you've never actually worked anywhere in the real world.



  • @El_Heffe said:

    Argh! Is there a doctor in the house? The poor little lemon is choking on its own torso!



  • @El_Heffe said:

    @tweek said:

    Get a loaner, get your boss to make their boss crack the whip.

    Apparently you've never actually worked anywhere in the real world.




    No, I've just worked in places where my value to the company in dollars was more than the IT guy's, and where my boss actually backs me up when needed. Not every manager is a clueless PHB. Just ... 90% of them.


Log in to reply