Comments on: Fun times at work… https://habitablezone.com/2022/12/04/fun-times-at-work/ Fri, 03 Apr 2026 22:41:18 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: ER https://habitablezone.com/2022/12/04/fun-times-at-work/#comment-51318 ER Mon, 05 Dec 2022 05:37:03 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=98167#comment-51318 ...some eager beaver junior exec up the line decided all software used by my office needed to be thoroughly documented, that is, all details of its commercial acquisition, maintenance agreements, update logs, use records...the list went on and on, had to be recorded. Furthermore, all this metadata had to be entered into a special database the County had just purchased that stored all this information in a cross-referenced suite of files that could be interfaced with a master database that would eventually be able to include all this information used by every software user in the County, on every piece of software used by the County. Entering this data into the databases was done by specialized software that interfaced with the DBs, through specialized editors. If all this was not done by a specific date, all sorts of unpleasant consequences were predicted. Most of our work was done on legacy programs and obsolete systems that had been either cobbled together by now-retired workers or inherited from other departments and users over the years. My new requirements were, in a word, impossible to fulfill. But, I found the solution! I emailed back to the initiator of this project (CC'ing copies to everyone in both our chains of command) that since the software was new to me, and the task dependent on my learning it in so short a time, that I be provided with a copy of the new software's entry into the metadata log I was supposed to use. IOW, I wanted a copy of a completed document on an existing piece of software that I could use as a template when I started documenting my stuff. It was obvious that this new software tool had to be entered into the system itself, since it had just been purchased by the County and therefor its provenance must already be included in the system. Furthermore, since this logging system was so new, SURELY it had already been written up completely and correctly by someone intimately familiar with it. Needless to say, I never heard from the guy again. Old bureaucracies are frequently infected by ambitious young microbes like this, eager to build their careers by getting other people to do extra work. Fortunately, old bureaucrats tend to act like antibodies to these infections. …some eager beaver junior exec up the line decided all software used by my office needed to be thoroughly documented, that is, all details of its commercial acquisition, maintenance agreements, update logs, use records…the list went on and on, had to be recorded. Furthermore, all this metadata had to be entered into a special database the County had just purchased that stored all this information in a cross-referenced suite of files that could be interfaced with a master database that would eventually be able to include all this information used by every software user in the County, on every piece of software used by the County. Entering this data into the databases was done by specialized software that interfaced with the DBs, through specialized editors. If all this was not done by a specific date, all sorts of unpleasant consequences were predicted.

Most of our work was done on legacy programs and obsolete systems that had been either cobbled together by now-retired workers or inherited from other departments and users over the years. My new requirements were, in a word, impossible to fulfill. But, I found the solution! I emailed back to the initiator of this project (CC’ing copies to everyone in both our chains of command) that since the software was new to me, and the task dependent on my learning it in so short a time, that I be provided with a copy of the new software’s entry into the metadata log I was supposed to use. IOW, I wanted a copy of a completed document on an existing piece of software that I could use as a template when I started documenting my stuff. It was obvious that this new software tool had to be entered into the system itself, since it had just been purchased by the County and therefor its provenance must already be included in the system. Furthermore, since this logging system was so new, SURELY it had already been written up completely and correctly by someone intimately familiar with it.

Needless to say, I never heard from the guy again.

Old bureaucracies are frequently infected by ambitious young microbes like this, eager to build their careers by getting other people to do extra work. Fortunately, old bureaucrats tend to act like antibodies to these infections.

]]> By: podrock https://habitablezone.com/2022/12/04/fun-times-at-work/#comment-51317 podrock Mon, 05 Dec 2022 03:07:33 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=98167#comment-51317 Nice. Nice.

]]> By: RL https://habitablezone.com/2022/12/04/fun-times-at-work/#comment-51315 RL Sun, 04 Dec 2022 23:18:46 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=98167#comment-51315 At Sandia National Lab there was a small fire as the result of soldering work... nothing serious, no real damage no injury... as a result everyone had to stop soldering until they had been inspected, taken a 'HOT WORK' training course and been issued a 'HOT WORK' permit... This was NOT received well, and essentially brought many programs to a halt as they had to stop work until they were in compliance with the new rules. Some of the people affected had soldered components for nuclear bombs... they did not need a nanny. So I wrote up this memo modeled after the soldering memo in response... <img src="https://www.habitablezone.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/coffee-memo.jpg" alt="" /> At Sandia National Lab there was a small fire as the result of soldering work… nothing serious, no real damage no injury… as a result everyone had to stop soldering until they had been inspected, taken a ‘HOT WORK’ training course and been issued a ‘HOT WORK’ permit…

This was NOT received well, and essentially brought many programs to a halt as they had to stop work until they were in compliance with the new rules. Some of the people affected had soldered components for nuclear bombs… they did not need a nanny.

So I wrote up this memo modeled after the soldering memo in response…

]]> By: RL https://habitablezone.com/2022/12/04/fun-times-at-work/#comment-51314 RL Sun, 04 Dec 2022 22:22:28 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=98167#comment-51314 This was my first real video using Blender... back when I had more hair, and a lot more weight. I sent it out to the team saying that NASA wanted a back-up plan in case the laser communications failed to work on the LADEE mission, and this was the proposal... <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KUjUApc8Do" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KUjUApc8Do</a> This was my first real video using Blender… back when I had more hair, and a lot more weight.

I sent it out to the team saying that NASA wanted a back-up plan in case the laser communications failed to work on the LADEE mission, and this was the proposal…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KUjUApc8Do

]]> By: podrock https://habitablezone.com/2022/12/04/fun-times-at-work/#comment-51313 podrock Sun, 04 Dec 2022 22:00:27 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=98167#comment-51313 Pretty funny, RL. Pretty funny, RL.

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