Yes, of course we can 'just' do that.

The BBQ Pit
1

You want some new Data acquisition kits? No problem, I’ll just get a few more of the same ones we bought last ti…

Oh, you want some different ones, OK, why do you…

Ah! theyre better are they, but you see the software we run on ours wont…

Oh, the salesman told you our software would just ‘squirt’ across and run on the new machines, did he? Well, I think that is unlikely, given that he doesn’t know anything about it and they are a different architecture, OS and…

I see, there’s a proprietary language for them, well, that should only take me a few short weeks to pick up, then we can…

You want it this week?

<silence>

OK, look, why don’t we just get some more of the ones we already have; they are still available and we know they work and we know our software will run and we won’t have to train anyone to…

Oh, the new ones have an IR port, and we can ‘just’ send the data straight back to the office through a mobile phone, yes, you’re right - let’s do it, you know I’m sure it really is every bit as simple as you say, after all, you’ve read a glossy sales brochure, I’m just the guy who works on them, no, we won’t even need a modem to receive the data at this end, I’ll just get the tooth fairy to burn it on a CD for me and leave it under my sodding pillow!

Or shall we do it the right way?

2

When I was in the motorcycle parts biz, I had a guy who wanted to put a Harley wide-glide on a Goldwing frame. And he wanted me to cross ref the parts.

“Why can’t we just press in the steering stem in the triple clamp?”

Well, maybe you can. I sure ain’t gonna try. Even if you do, you have steering stops and brake hardware to consider.

“Why can’t we just use the original front wheel and brakes?”

Well, don’t you see a little problem with mounting this stuff?

“Why can’t we just use spacers?”

And on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on…

Because you CAN’T!!!

How is Rap like Porn? Both are better with the sound turned off.

3

Darn Progressive customers…

4

Thanks, jayjay. Up until your post, I hadn’t understood a single word of this thread. To continue the theme…

I’ve got a designer coming in, and he wants some scrollers for the show. The last place he mounted this had M-Faders as part of the inventory, but I don’t even have Chroma-Q’s. Also, the last theatre had all Source 4 gear and Strand dimmers and a strand console. I have old 360Q’s and an ETC dimming system. And somehow, I’m supposed to just load his show into my system (which can’t read Strand info) and pull 15 scrollers out of my ass.

grumble grumble

5

That’s gotta hurt…

6

Eh, after the 12 of them, you’re pretty numb.

7

I’m soooo glad I worked in service before doing sales work-it cured me of any temptation to fib, fudge, or do anything else beginning with f.

When I worked doing bank equipment installations, we went out with the documents supplied by the salesman. They referred to a “street level straight-in access.”

Three steps were found.

When I called to bitch him out, he whined, “It’s only three steps.”

I responded, “and the safe is only 3000 pounds.”

8

Touche.:stuck_out_tongue:

9

Mangetout, Please don’t get up the pole. I haven’t read all your rap; I reckon this isn’t a “pick up the boiling kettle, grasshopper” post and I hope you’re not offended by my input, but

That’s a frickin’ cool job you’ve got there! I would LOVE an opportunity to work under those conditions with that kind of a manager under those time constraints! Honestly. It’s fascinating and intriguing to me – just wait 'til you’ve got the new Bluetooth boxes. Your whole life will be so much easier and it can provide your process management with an incredible amount of automation you would never believe.

But I know, back in the land of practicality, you have a process to run and tech support issues to manage and flat hardware to troubleshoot.

I’d do: custom javascript app on my phone (unless my company prohibits soft hacks) or downloadable app for the PDA, grab the stuff from the DA box (proprietary, but supported through the ceiling by the vendor and since you’re gonna be yoked to it, the sky’s probably the limit), SMS, or simple mail back to my IMail, etc., et alia (dependent on your Mail Server – Exchange?) and a simple DSN into my home database or hive.

Disclaimer: But then, our DA is structured and robust, for a multiple-discipline old-school engineering firm across many disparate clients; I don’t know if your process needs all these gimmicks…

You’re the hero and plumb ready for the next big thing.

Just know there’s at least one guy out here who digs your job. I envy you.

10

My head hurts

11

It is a fairly cool job, I’ll admit that, but the problem (and I suppose that’s why they pay me so much to sort it out) is that the way complex requests are presented as “can’t we ‘just’”, when in reality, ‘just’ means me crawling on the floor routing cables all day, or sweating over a piece of code so that the brand new equipment (that we’ve never seen before and just arrived this morning) can be deployed in time for the user to take home with him today (“didn’t I mention I’m working a half-day today and I need it by 12:30? Sorry!”).

The whole thing is so damn complex anyway - feels like I’m singlehandedly trying to drag the whole company technologically forward into the late 1980s (nevermind what we could do with today’s technology).

12

Sounds like my job too. People who have no grasp of the mechanics of the tools and systems we use make “simple requests” that take 20 hours of work, then they wonder why we get upset and change their minds and want it put back the old way