Hi. I'm jon.404, a Unix/Linux/Database/Openstack/Kubernetes Administrator, AWS/GCP/Azure Engineer, mathematics enthusiast, and amateur philosopher. This is where I rant about that which upsets me, laugh about that which amuses me, and jabber about that which holds my interest most: *nix.
My life is chaos (and I love it)
Posted 10-24-2011 at 09:53 AM by rocket357
First up, this isn't one of those "woe is me" blog posts. My life is chaotic...and I love it. It's hectic, yes, but I operate best in "panic mode". haha. Probably some quirk that carried over from my years in the military. I dunno.
I put in my two week notice where I work because I accepted an offer from Rackspace Hosting, so my current company has been on me to document all of the in's and out's of the stuff I built while I was the Database Administrator here. Having to document everything is a result of two issues: 1) The company runs in "hero" mode, and 2) Not actively documenting stuff *while* I was building it. First one is definitely not my fault, the second one...well, I'm guilty. (Note to self: don't do that again).
"Hero" mode is simple: One guy knows how to do a particular job, and he's the only one who knows. (This suggests that the job description is too specific, or perhaps there isn't enough cross-training (as is the case here), or perhaps there is a "capabilities" issue, such as Mr. Hero being the only one smart enough (or willing) to do a particular job). For whatever reason, where I work relies heavily on me as the database "hero", and now it's time to pay for years of running this way. I have to document all manners of stuff, including SQL Server 2000 scripts I wrote what seems like forever ago. It's interesting to read my work from so long ago that I don't remember writing it. My comments are always so...so...so..."unenlightening"? "Abrasive"? "Sarcastic"? I should #TODO that and get it fixed...or at least cut down on the profanity.
On top of that, I'm getting ready to move, and my wife broke her foot 10 days ago. I'm putting down hardwood flooring in about 60% of my house to get it ready for sale (so, regardless of having professional movers come in, I *still* have to "move" everything in the house anyways). I have what feels like 1,700 people calling me, from realtors to moving companies, and I can't remember a single name for some reason. It feels like I'm an amnesia victim who's continually being introduced to people "I should know".
Aaarrrggghhh...I'm on call for my last whole week at my current job, and a new version was rolled into the "auto-upgrader" (a machine that rose from the sulphur-laden fumes of the underworld to make IT's life a living hell here with broken upgrades and 3 AM pages to fix something that was working beautifully for months, but is broken now because the upgrader machine is too stupid to handle common problems).
If you can't tell, I'm not fond of the upgrader (or its creator).
I'm pretty fond of sleep, though...but it appears I'll be saying farewell to that friend for a while. It makes me question whether or not this job change is the right thing to do in terms of my sanity (it's the right thing to do for a) my finances b) my kid's education c) my wife's sanity d) everything else, except for perhaps the summer heat...San Antonio, Texas, is **hot** during the summer).
I just have to hang on for dear life until November 14th. And the only way I'll be able to do that is by taking everything one "baby step" at a time.
Document code during the day, lay flooring at night, and answer the phone/consult with movers/realtors/coordinators/etc...when they call. Sounds easy, right? Just a few more weeks.
This is soooooo worth it. Rackspace, here I come.
I put in my two week notice where I work because I accepted an offer from Rackspace Hosting, so my current company has been on me to document all of the in's and out's of the stuff I built while I was the Database Administrator here. Having to document everything is a result of two issues: 1) The company runs in "hero" mode, and 2) Not actively documenting stuff *while* I was building it. First one is definitely not my fault, the second one...well, I'm guilty. (Note to self: don't do that again).
"Hero" mode is simple: One guy knows how to do a particular job, and he's the only one who knows. (This suggests that the job description is too specific, or perhaps there isn't enough cross-training (as is the case here), or perhaps there is a "capabilities" issue, such as Mr. Hero being the only one smart enough (or willing) to do a particular job). For whatever reason, where I work relies heavily on me as the database "hero", and now it's time to pay for years of running this way. I have to document all manners of stuff, including SQL Server 2000 scripts I wrote what seems like forever ago. It's interesting to read my work from so long ago that I don't remember writing it. My comments are always so...so...so..."unenlightening"? "Abrasive"? "Sarcastic"? I should #TODO that and get it fixed...or at least cut down on the profanity.
On top of that, I'm getting ready to move, and my wife broke her foot 10 days ago. I'm putting down hardwood flooring in about 60% of my house to get it ready for sale (so, regardless of having professional movers come in, I *still* have to "move" everything in the house anyways). I have what feels like 1,700 people calling me, from realtors to moving companies, and I can't remember a single name for some reason. It feels like I'm an amnesia victim who's continually being introduced to people "I should know".
Aaarrrggghhh...I'm on call for my last whole week at my current job, and a new version was rolled into the "auto-upgrader" (a machine that rose from the sulphur-laden fumes of the underworld to make IT's life a living hell here with broken upgrades and 3 AM pages to fix something that was working beautifully for months, but is broken now because the upgrader machine is too stupid to handle common problems).
If you can't tell, I'm not fond of the upgrader (or its creator).
I'm pretty fond of sleep, though...but it appears I'll be saying farewell to that friend for a while. It makes me question whether or not this job change is the right thing to do in terms of my sanity (it's the right thing to do for a) my finances b) my kid's education c) my wife's sanity d) everything else, except for perhaps the summer heat...San Antonio, Texas, is **hot** during the summer).
I just have to hang on for dear life until November 14th. And the only way I'll be able to do that is by taking everything one "baby step" at a time.
Document code during the day, lay flooring at night, and answer the phone/consult with movers/realtors/coordinators/etc...when they call. Sounds easy, right? Just a few more weeks.
This is soooooo worth it. Rackspace, here I come.
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