Thursday's Tale

When I woke up Thursday morning, it had snowed and inch or two. But, it was that light, “fluffy” stuff. Besides, it’s supposed to get up to 36 degrees today so it all should fade away.

Work today was hard! I mean “grunt work” hard. It started out in the old data center to discuss this weekend’s various moves (this will be the final step to move the data center to its new location, while leaving connectivity at this building). Now, I don’t know if you are familiar with a data center, but there’s no places to sit down. So, while all the techies went over the task list and actually did some of it, installing my new little UPS in the rack (the two big UPS’s and the generator will be relocated to the new data center), tracing down fiber connections, etc. I stood there. And stood there…

About 10:00 AM, I excused myself to check on the Suite Y IDF. The Admins had said they cleaned it out, but they said that about Suite Z’s IDF. We had a recycling company come in today for some old computer gear, and if there was anything left, now would be the time to pitch it.

So, the Admins lied, like they did about Suite Z. Or, maybe I should say “misspoke.” What they meant was, “we took out all the new switches, UPS’s, firewalls, etc, that were in boxes.” Now, the landlord is doing a walkthrough Friday morning and his interpretation of cleaned out means “empty and swept!” I worked in Facilities for years and I know!

So, I spent a good 20 minutes finding some sort of cart (I finally stole one from the Fab shop) and then lugging three old, heavy UPS’s, six boxes of batteries for them (it’s the batteries that make them so heavy) and two monitors out to the recyclers.

Then I started on the remaining stuff. Unlike Suite Z (which was just trash), I could see stuff that was worthwhile (at least to my semi-untrained eye). So, I had to sort through it. I ended up with three boxes of good stuff (tons of patch cables, phone handsets, a whole box of CAT5e wire, a spool of cross connect wire (for phones), etc. The rest went into boxes and a large garbage can on a pallet I got and put outside the shop door. Again, this is a cleaned-out area with no chairs and my legs started throbbing.

By then it was 11:30, so I went home for lunch. I made a ham and Swiss cheese sandwich, but this time I fried the ham, first. I lay on the bed to rest my legs and took an hour off.

I brought back a broom and dustpan from home and swept out the IDF. I had waited all morning for a return call from the guy whose asset tag said he owned the little TV with a built in VHS tape, but never got a call back. So, I decided to pitch it. I put it on the cart and walked the 1/4 mile to where the recyclers were and found they had already gone!

So, I walked the 1/4 mile back, loaded up my trunk and went to work at my new building.

My boss asked me why I’d come there at 1:30 PM when I have a meeting at Jake’s building at 3:00 PM. I told him I wanted to check my voicemail and email. I’ve been out of touch too long!

So, I answered a bunch of stuff, set up a WebEx meeting for 8:30 AM Friday and tried to unwind. But, it didn’t work. I had an email from Facilities saying there was still stuff in the B50 Suite Z IDF. WTF? I cleaned that out myself!?! But there was (I blame that on Facilities, who left the door open for the landlord). My boss said it wasn’t my job to clean the IDF’s out. I said, “Whose responsibility was it?” He said he didn’t know, but it shouldn’t be the Project Manager. I said I agree, but it was my responsibility to make sure it was done. So, I did it.

I went to my meeting at B03, but didn’t see Jake (he’d left early). I dropped off all the stuff I’d saved and then went into a 45 minute meeting on my new project.

Even though it was late, I ended up at B50 again. I had to check out Suite Z’s IDF. Sure enough, somebody put more crap in there (they left it open for the landlord). I took it all and set it out on the trash pallet. I left there about 5:15 PM (on a day where I was supposed to only work until 4:00).

I checked the weather when I got home. We are supposed to get another 3-5 inches of snow tonight. I’m with Amy, I am sick of this sh*t!

I was going to sweep the water out of the garage floor, but realized the car was still dripping. So, I decided to do it tomorrow morning.

I warmed up the linguini with clam sauce for dinner. Then, about 9:00 PM (my legs and knees still throbbing) I went to bed.