The grass is always greener...

Well, I now know my DSL line is fixed. This knowledge is based on the quality and variety of trouble today.

I started a Monavie regimen recommended by my sister. It seems she has taken up selling and distributing this high-priced snake-oil. Some people claim it helps what ails them, so what the hell, I'll give a try to a couple bottles (sample + supportive purchase). The main high-profile ingredient is a juice made from the fruit of the acai palm which is native to Brazil. Suppose to be exotic and rare. Only problem is Brazilians have been drinking this stuff for decades, costs them 25 cents for 16 pounds, and the mixture is known as 'poor mans juice'. I'm thinking I'll be lucky if this drink is only useless.

Went rushing out to the car, a bit later start then I wanted. Found some miscreant from the condo association security group had tagged my car with one of those impossible-to-remove violation stickers. Right on the drivers window - great. But the cause of the sticker was what threw me. It wasn't because I was parked 'illegally', not because I had parked wrong, not because the car hasn't been washed in over 8 months, not because the bumper-sticker was political from the last presidential election (and for the loser). No, the cause of the sticker was, get this, because the office didn't have current info on the license plate! Bloody freaking hell, people! Who gives a rat ass! I'm a long-time resident-owner with the proper sticker and gate remote. Guess I need to fix the paint gun and go on some midnight raids on the security crew. A couple face shots each should do it (ok, so no need of the paint gun).

I finally get to work and the only good thing happening that the direct manager has taken time off. Yet he still calls not five minutes after I get in. Gotta backup a storage cabinet so it can be powered-down on Monday. Right. Only two live dev boxes using it and another couple systems that used to reside there but they need a backup just in case they need to be put back into use. Only problem is those last couple systems are now devoted to another purpose so attaching to the old drives for a backup is not an option. So, email boss asking for projects to move storage for live dev boxes then use last backups of offline systems as a good permanent backup. No answer, of course.

I had to reset a server in the main systems room, no remote access so off I trudge. The system isn't wired into the usual dumb terminal but into a kvm and – tada – a non-functional lcd panel. Turns out the panel wasn't exactly non-function, only the backlight was non-functional. One fumble later and the entire panel was non-functional. No replacements available, so a vga monitor was used. Had to be perched atop the server rack as no other space available. Rebooted the server and...no network. That filled another two hours – tracing underfloor cabling and switches then OS reconfigs until the network came back. Time is set to GMT, but the system isn't even dev so I'll leave that to another request.

Got sucked into another storage project later in the day. Upgrading firmware on storage units for production and high-profile dev boxes. Since I'm normally awake and working late, I'm used to keep the team on track and marginally lucid. Didn't exactly work that way but at least the systems came back and processes started as usual. Guess I should be happy that I'm not on-call. There is always tomorrow to discover what broke.

When I was a programmer I wanted to be a sysadmin. Now that I'm a sysadmin I think I should have stayed in programming. Yep. the grass is always greener...