Informal Poll WAS RE: [geeks] Laid off blues

[Kris Kirby]

On Mon, 22 Oct 2001, Kurt Huhn wrote:
> The company  last worked for got *none* of their laptops back.  Not a single
> one.  I laughed so hard it hurt when I heard that.  Served 'em right.

I'm suddenly reminded of a dire incident I went through while working for
$ISP. We had this software that we could read the uptime left on the
UPSes, but we needed to download...

So we go grab the GM's laptop (which was the *company* laptop, but she
refused to let go of it) since it had a charged battery and attempted to
boot it and get on the 'net and get the software so we could check the
UPSs.

Eight minutes later, it had not yet finished loading all the fancy-ass
schemes and pretty-pointers, so we shut it down -- hard. Grabbed the
ex-tech laptop (a loner from another source, but kept clean for technical
/ installer use) [this fella had *no* batteries.] and plugged it into the
UPS and booted it -- in less than 30 seconds. Then found out that our
UPS's didn't like Joe Serial Cable. :(

It wouldn't have bothered me so much, but I told her *repeatedly* not to
customize that laptop; it was not her's, but the installer's and needed to
be that when we got some biz. The other laptop was supposed to leave
within a week to return to the person we had borrowed it from. It was only
luck that we even had it.

Next time, I'm installing a bigger LART.

-----
Kris Kirby, KE4AHR          | TGIFreeBSD... 'Nuff said.
<kris at nospam.catonic.net>   |
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"Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony."