Stories like this make me wonder why I'm not employed. It is like corporate IT across America decided they would rather have idiots managing their IT infrastructure. 

Tue Feb 01 2022 17:34:44 EST from Nurb432

So our networking people are unable to figure out an IP that goes along with a DNS entry.  " we need the IP address, not the server name".

Is it time to retire yet? Idiots. 

I worked for a non-it company once where its destruction was deliberate. 

Long story behind it, but there was a point of failure they were trying to reach, to push out the partner.  They underestimated the determination of said partner, and by the time they did finally bail, it was too late to save it and went under.

So a slight update on my VDI quest:

Turns out its NOT my people who are either butt-heads or incompetent morons. Something about changes Microsoft made late last year prevents any NEW pool to be accessed externally. Existing pools still can.   Since mine was just created, i didn't get grandfathered, in effect.

Our team who manages it, are not happy either as its caused all sorts of headaches for them. 

I did mange to get it to work via VPN + a regular RDP client ( even on my chromebook ).  So if I dont ever shut the VDI desktop down and only log off, i can at least use my Linux box. We also have web access to vmwareVDI sessions its our 'privileged access' desktops, for special admin work, with even more limited apps, so in theory i could web to that, then RDP back out if they ever pull VPN access from non-shop controlled computers ( there are rumors ). So i guess not all is lost, and its still better than dealing with locally installed windows every day.

Official mandate handed down today from the top of the mountain: A maximum of 2 days WFH per week, if your job duties support it.

That is what i have been doing since we went back. They better be making others start coming in too. There were plenty of people that never came back. Unequal polices, that better stop now that there is a directive. 

Aside from losing 2 + hours a day in driving, and getting up earlier 3 days a week, gas is freaking expensive and only going up ( i heard rumors of $7 a gallon by end of summer + 1970's style shortages )

My wife has pretty much established, by numbers, that productivity actually IMPROVED when they shifted to WFH... other incidents, like HR issues, have dropped significantly - and Covid cases at work keep spreading with members who have returned from WFH to the office. 


But - the CEO and COO still feel this vague, unformed sense of, "but we're probably getting ripped off because we can't have supervisors looking over their shoulder throughout the entire workday!" 

It is this weird, irrational, "even if the numbers are telling us we're getting better productivity, I *feel* like we could squeeze even MORE out of them if we were standing there whipping them to produce more," response. 

I think at the top level - there is a huge desire to simply make subordinates "bend the knee," and do things to assert dominance.

Why are you making them do this? 

"So that they know I *can*..." 

It applies to so many more things than just WFH policies - and it is universal across human endeavors - and probably holds back our progress as a species more than any other single one thing in our nature. 

Thu Feb 17 2022 16:40:46 EST from Nurb432

Official mandate handed down today from the top of the mountain: A maximum of 2 days WFH per week, if your job duties support it.

That is what i have been doing since we went back. They better be making others start coming in too. There were plenty of people that never came back. Unequal polices, that better stop now that there is a directive. 

Aside from losing 2 + hours a day in driving, and getting up earlier 3 days a week, gas is freaking expensive and only going up ( i heard rumors of $7 a gallon by end of summer + 1970's style shortages )

For many of us, we also showed we did far better at home.  Of course not all jobs support not being in office, and of course some people 'need' the in-office interaction to stay focused. But, in general our agency was already moving towards hybrid before everything went haywire. My group was doing 1 day a week, a few others 2 or 3, and one was discussing full time at home.

Problem is the people that run this show here are trapped in the 50s and dont feel you are being productive unless you are strapped to your chair in a sea of desks, and be watched by your supervisor.

So an 'anonymous employee survey' came out.  I thought id look at it just for fun.

They ask your orientation 3 different ways. and every 3rd question had the term 'inclusion' in it. ( various forms )   How about "do you like it here, and do you do a good job" who the f-cares what you are or identify as? Its all this forced categorization and recognition nonsense that causes rifts and issues for people who are different. Just let everyone be who they are, judge them on their actions..

Then at the end they asked you to pick your manager and rate him. ya, that will be honest.   Once a few years ago they did that and people were honest, that most of management sucked.  Everyone paid the price. " never again will we be honest" was the sentiment. 

2020 actually saved my job in a strange way. I hate people, i hate being around them. People at office are dumb asses and i was over it, and had started looking for another place to work.

Being home for nearly a year, changed my outlook as far less stress, more time in my pocket ( even tho i worked more.. ) etc.  I could just 'do my gig' and not be bothered. 

Going back to the office was dreadful. Thankfully it was  only 3 days.  And with most else still out, it wasn't *terrible* i just wasn't fond of it.    But if everyone comes back. i give myself 6 moths and ill be filing for retirement and go find another place to work.  Would love to find a way to work for DNR or something... out in the woods on my own.  I miss being on the road doing network stuff, but at my age now, and with responsible ( and pets ) that isn't realistic 

Sure, i agree some people need that in-person interaction, but not all of us do. The stress you get from not being there, just remember we get stress from not being home. That person that you are now talking to in the office may actual dread being there and is just putting on a front to appear sociable and like everyone else.  ( and doing that all day, wears you out, really it does )

Man. typos. Sorry folks. Doing too many things at once. I. Need. To. Slow. Down.

Aaaand because we have people that dont know what they are doing, all my 'service accounts' used for my automated processes were wiped from Azure around 2:30..  thanks folks. 

outlook wont load.   put in a call.

tech emails me

really?

LMAO. 

Do you run local Exchange? If you're running OWS or have OWA on your local Exchange server, even if your local Outlook client won't load, you should be able to use the web client to read his e-mail. ;) 

Wed Feb 23 2022 12:05:46 EST from Nurb432

outlook wont load.   put in a call.

tech emails me

 

really?

ya owa    just the idea of what he did was nuts. 

lol 

so said tech got a hold of me, logged in remote and after 2 hours gave up " i cant get it either, i need to talk to someone"  ( tier 3 ). This was around lunch. 3 pm rolls around, i shut down and head home.  Get home around 430 and teams messages waiting from tier 3  "ok, i got in and did stuff ( paraphrasing ) and rebooting now"

Um...  

I get it... But... maybe he was showing respect that he figured you were already checking OWA in the absence of access to your local client. More likely, he just didn't think it through - but I'd usually throw a life-vest to a desktop support guy who did this to himself. 

Thu Feb 24 2022 12:43:46 EST from Nurb432

ya owa    just the idea of what he did was nuts. 

Oh, they can put it back in the bottle here, by decree. Or even enacting a law. Remember who i work for.