Time to button up, folks. See ya!

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

Well, it's been fun, informative, humbling and challenging all at once cyber-loitering in this forum with everyone. But the fact is, time grows short, there is still much to do, and I am not going to have the opportunity to visit here for most of the remaining 51 days left before the world wide kick-off.

As a final dump of information from an IT consultant, here is all of what I can legally give you.

Testing is winding down at the Multi-national Chemical Co. that I am contracted to. Testing consisted of the time machine approach. Recreate the environment in the test bed and roll the dates forward. The envoronments that I supported were "Wintel", Novell and UNIX. Oracle was the RDBMS of choice. In most cases the applications that were tested also had loads of applications that they interacted with. No simulation of interaction with outside entities were preformed. Three bugs were found and corrected on software that was vendor certified as compliant. Not too bad. We run about 60 peices of software on those platforms. Although a mandate from upper management was handed down to the various departments to complete testing no additional time was allocated for this testing and many mid-level managers did as little as possible just so they could check their "Testing Complete" box. The ability of application experts to devise valid tests is questionable, as some of the "experts" literally counldn't find the CDROM drives on the workstations or preformed stunts like trying to roll forward to next year while still running with a thirty day license. I found this to be discouraging. Clients of mine that I kept in touch with have experienced Y2K failures. Notably, when one previous client attempted to test a conntection to a MAJOR BANK the systems crashed at both ends. The test with the MAJOR BANK would not even have been preformed if not for the insistance, at the risk of her job God Bless her, of a former co-worker who was an employee of the past client. The problem took four weeks to resolve. The previous client also narrowly averted a "nines" bug and it was only avoided because the client was mergered with another company that used the same software. As I said, I make a living fixing things that regular staff can't. Normally this is not a matter of a lack of technical expertise at the technician level, but the failure of management to understand the issues involved in IT. This allows for things like IT managers coming from HR backgrounds because some imbecile thinks that if you can manage one division you can somehow manage another that does something completely different. And if you're an IT manager who was technical and try to push against the collective ignorance of YOUR manager and his circle, you may very well end up being an unemployed low level management grunt. In any case, the people who know what to do and have the sand to stick by their guns rarely seem to get to the top. This is why I consider Dilbert(R) to be a trade journal.

I doubt very much that we will get away with any thing less than a depression. I don't think that the lights will go out, but that's got more to do with my belief that utilities are a live preformance every day. They don't have a billing cycle to hide a glitch in like the IT end of a billing dept. might. The power is either on or it is not. So I make the assumtion that they have to have their ducks in a row most of the time. Perhaps that train of thought is too binary. I do know that if they do drop the ball I can live with out them for quite some time, whether or not the disruption is local or nation-wide. That makes me feel better.

To all the technicians who are hammering out bugs of all types everyday at all hours on all systems to make some steak-head of a manager look good, Here's to you! God bless you! I know you guys and gals are worth more than the 3% raise you might get, late and not retroactive at that. To the truck drivers who have to beat the clock or die trying to compete with capatalisms ugly brother Greed, Here's to you too. And try not to run me off the road next time. To the the Air traffic controllers who have to spend whole shifts playing "Don't connect the dots" on faulty equipment, one for you as well.

And to the people on this forum who have been kind, courteous, caring, informative and willing to help in any way they could, Thank You very much for every thing. I won't say that I'll miss you, because I will be reading through from time to time, but I will regret not being able to brows through every day. Good Luck to you all, and God Bless you.

Oh Hell, I'll miss you!

Watch six and keep your...



-- eyes_open (best@wishes.not), November 10, 1999

Answers

Hey good luck eyes, and Godspeed! Hope you 're all right next year! I hope you come back a few times before next year!

-- Crono (Crono@timesend.com), November 10, 1999.

God bless, god speed, and check six!

Sincerely, Stan Faryna

-- Stan Faryna (faryna@groupmail.com), November 10, 1999.


Eyes,

Best of luck to you in what may very well be a very wild ride.

As time grows short, I do believe that more and more of us will fall by the side, as the dial gets turned up more where we each work. I know that where I am, the switch has really just been flipped to on. Sad but true.

Enjoyed your writings, and keep the spirit. Godspeed!

-- (cannot-say@this.time), November 10, 1999.


I got your six anytime you want or need man, with knives, guns or fists...

Take care Brother and see you on the other side...

Its been an honor...

-- Billy Boy (Rakkasan@Yahoo.com), November 10, 1999.


eyes_open,

I'll miss you. Please stay safe and well and do check in from time to time. Especially if you have information : )

Mike

====================================================================

-- Michael Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), November 10, 1999.



Depression eh? Oh well, best of luck to you. Take care!

-- Marsha Sykes (MSykes@court.co.macon.il.us), November 10, 1999.

Yeah...Yeah... we've heard this line before. Why even bother saying goodbye? Heard that from Mumsie and Paula recently and both are back.

Why not just disappear and when you feel like returning....do it?

-- (BeenThere@heardThat.com), November 10, 1999.


Eyes_open -

Thank you for your input! Best of luck to you too.

-- Gregg (g.abbott@starting-point.com), November 10, 1999.


Good luck eyes_open! Thanks for your contributions, I've always enjoyed your company and never questioned your integrity or opinions. There is little left to discuss, but far too much to do.

From another PL (partial lurker).

-- Will continue (farming@home.com), November 10, 1999.


Thanks, Eyes, for your thoughtful contributions. Let's just hope we've all been a little goofy -- and that things won't get as bad as it looks.....

-- Anita Evangelista (ale@townsqr.com), November 10, 1999.


Good luck in your efforts eyes_open!

-- Brian (imager@home.com), November 10, 1999.

Thanks eyes. Good luck!

-- a (a@a.a), November 10, 1999.

Eyes:

I really appreciate the effort you've put into keeping us all informed. I'll miss your posts.

Hope to hear from you again soon....

-- Dennis (djolson@cherco.net), November 10, 1999.


Take care.

Be well.

Thanks for helping us keep *our* eyes open.

-- Wilferd (WilferdW@aol.com), November 10, 1999.


God Bless you and yours, take care, and good luck.

-- Nikoli Krushev (doomsday@y2000.com), November 10, 1999.


Thank you, eyes, for your many informative posts. Wishing you and yours great good fortune as the adventure unfolds.

-- Faith Weaver (suzsolutions@yahoo.com), November 10, 1999.

eyes, drop by soon. Go with God.

-- Mara (MaraWayne@aol.com), November 10, 1999.

Godspeed. See ya on the other side!

-- FLAME AWAY (BLehman202@aol.com), November 10, 1999.

Oh, no, EO--not you too? Will you check in please?

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), November 10, 1999.

These are the best of times, and the worst of times........... Oh hell, I will miss you too!!!! ;-) Take care eyes*****but please pop-in when time permits.

-- ihategoodbyes (karlacalif@aol.com), November 10, 1999.

Thanks for all your good data and communication, Eyes Open. Keep the faith. Godspeed,

-- Pinkrock (aphotonboy@aol.com), November 10, 1999.

"Keep Your Eyes Open": it's funny, but seeing your handle repeated on posts has put me in mind of that good advice at important moments in recent months. Thanks.

-- silver ion (ag3@interlog.com), November 10, 1999.

Far out, man...

-- Randolph (dinosaur@williams-net.com), November 10, 1999.

Good luck!!! Take care.

-- King of Spain (madrid@aol.cum), November 10, 1999.

eyes open--

Well, I've resisted until now saying hasta luego to any of the posters that have had a mind to sign off. But I regret not having given them proper credit for the help they've given me. So pardner, thanks, and end well my friend. If there's ever anything I can offer, let me know. If I can , then you've got it.

Hope to see you at Rendezvous!

Respectfully Michael

-- Michael (mikeymac@uswest.net), November 10, 1999.


I have to add my thanks too, I've learned a lot from you.

Best of luck to you. I know you'll check six and keep your eyes opened, so keep on keeping on.

BTW, I hope your sign-off "best@wishes.NOT" was a simple typo and not a slip of the pen ;-)

-- Chris (#$%^&@pond.com), November 10, 1999.


Eyes --

Good luck. Illegitimati Non Carborundum! And don't feel too bad about that client. Y'all are better off than where I work, and we're light years ahead of the competition. (Will be able to claim 'We aren't as broken as those guys!')

0-0

-- just another (anohter@engineer.com), November 10, 1999.


Prep well... and lurk in again.

Also join us for the rollover party! Should be a "fun" time.

Peace and blessings... to you and yours.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), November 10, 1999.


I have always enjoyed your posts and will miss seeing them.

God Bless. God Speed.

Y'all come back now, Y'hear?

Sincerely,

Ynott

-- Ynott (Ynott@incorruptible.com), November 11, 1999.


SYOTS

Y'all know where to find me

C

-- Chuck, a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), November 11, 1999.


errrrrr

Half a bleedin week and I need re-trainin'

should read :

SYOTOS

Y'all know where to find me.

C

-- Chuck, a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), November 11, 1999.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ