Nickle And Dime Me
There's yet more headaches with the Meat Packer. I was supposed to go there today and deal with the soundbar and webcam on the TV in the conference room situation. Well, the CFO "forgot" about it completely and the bracket was never installed. If it didn't get installed, there's no point in me going.
Now I suppose I could have reminded him Monday, and this wouldn't have happened. I suppose I could have gone there today and recruited someone to help me with the project. But, I was told they would handle it. Just like they handled the mounting of the TV. I am not going to force myself into a situation that should be under control. Plus the added fact I just think this whole project is lame and stupid. But, I suppose this means I need to email the I.T. chick and tell her yet again the project is delayed. I am not sure the Slate and Co people will survive having to hold Teams meetings with their laptops.
Then after I inquired this morning about the bracket, the CFO comes back to me with the fact their ISP is up for renewal November 11th. Now weeks ago, maybe more than a month or two, the CFO emailed about their contract with their current provider, who he despises. And how it apparently costs $3K a month for their services, but only $180 a month for their ATT backup fiber line. This is of course a promotional deal, but he has no idea when it ends.
It is true their current provider does kind of suck, and we have the phones and backup trafficked through the ATT line. But, things are stable and working. He doesn't want to renew because of his personal vendetta and the cost. At the time of this initial convo, it didn't seem like a big deal to switch. Nothing much was happening.
Well, fast-forward to now. There's twenty cooks in the kitchen. They have this whole VPN tunnel thing they are testing. Supposedly they are transitioning to Office 365 in a month or so. They are testing their new software with a go-live date of April 1st. There is a ton going on. Maybe it is laziness on my part, but I just think it is the wrong time to be changing the ISP and having to change the external IP addresses on all these various things where it is set. Like the VPN tunnels we were just working on, their current SSL VPN. I don't know if it ties into their phone system at all or with the current, main software and their webpage. I am sure it would not be a monumental task, but just seems like unnecessary headaches right now.
Even the Boss agreed with me this morning that it just makes more sense to keep the current setup for now, get through all these major changes happening and worry about changing the ISP a year from now.
It isn't my decision though, nor is it the CFO's. It's all on my friend the Slate I.T. chick to decide. I emailed her this morning with the info, expressing my opinion that I think things should just stay how they are for now. I copied the CFO on the email because I feared if I didn't then she would CC him on the reply. Wouldn't you know it, that asshole replied to my email to her faster than I've ever seen him jump on anything to whine about the cost difference. I don't really even get it, because he is sick of these people and wants to retire, so who gives a fuck how much it costs *THEM*.
I don't know if it made a difference in the decision yet though, because this bitch has not responded to my email in over 5 hours. She's very "busy" and I have a feeling I won't get a response until 8:00 tonight. And I also feel she will decide against my opinion, simply to contradict me. I hope I am wrong, but my gut tells me otherwise. I suppose the outcome will show how much she is or isn't like Miss Managed.
Things will be cut close if they want this change though. This week is half over. Next week I am out Thursday and Friday, and I am not making a major network change right before I go on vacation. No fucking way. I have learned my lesson ten times over with that. Hell, things could be status quo and these bitches would be crying about issues when they know I am taking a day off.
We'd have to do it the first week in November. Then I'll have to deal with the "Ninja" guy again to redo the VPN tunnel settings, and then that other flouncy fruitcake from Slate and Co involved with that. It will change the VPN all the regular Meat Packer people use. The change is behind the scenes, but if it causes even one different pop-up to appear when they remote connect, they will all be freaking out about it. This is why I've spent years keeping them afloat by not making any changes, because they are all a bunch of hapless crybabies and it was easier for everyone, especially me, to just maintain the status quo.
I should have known I was living in a delusion the past several years when things were more or less calm at the Meat Packer. Their only purpose in my life was to serve as endless punishment, and I was lulled into a false sense of security about things. This sale to Slate and Co has made them as annoying as they were back in the first days of my dealing with them. And not even yet because of their own users, but because of all these morons involved with the new owners.
I am back feeling so frustrated that I didn't make better financial choices in my youth. Is my destiny to deal with these assholes until I die? I am feeling that old twitch to play the lottery again and pay my stupid tax.
Now I suppose I could have reminded him Monday, and this wouldn't have happened. I suppose I could have gone there today and recruited someone to help me with the project. But, I was told they would handle it. Just like they handled the mounting of the TV. I am not going to force myself into a situation that should be under control. Plus the added fact I just think this whole project is lame and stupid. But, I suppose this means I need to email the I.T. chick and tell her yet again the project is delayed. I am not sure the Slate and Co people will survive having to hold Teams meetings with their laptops.
Then after I inquired this morning about the bracket, the CFO comes back to me with the fact their ISP is up for renewal November 11th. Now weeks ago, maybe more than a month or two, the CFO emailed about their contract with their current provider, who he despises. And how it apparently costs $3K a month for their services, but only $180 a month for their ATT backup fiber line. This is of course a promotional deal, but he has no idea when it ends.
It is true their current provider does kind of suck, and we have the phones and backup trafficked through the ATT line. But, things are stable and working. He doesn't want to renew because of his personal vendetta and the cost. At the time of this initial convo, it didn't seem like a big deal to switch. Nothing much was happening.
Well, fast-forward to now. There's twenty cooks in the kitchen. They have this whole VPN tunnel thing they are testing. Supposedly they are transitioning to Office 365 in a month or so. They are testing their new software with a go-live date of April 1st. There is a ton going on. Maybe it is laziness on my part, but I just think it is the wrong time to be changing the ISP and having to change the external IP addresses on all these various things where it is set. Like the VPN tunnels we were just working on, their current SSL VPN. I don't know if it ties into their phone system at all or with the current, main software and their webpage. I am sure it would not be a monumental task, but just seems like unnecessary headaches right now.
Even the Boss agreed with me this morning that it just makes more sense to keep the current setup for now, get through all these major changes happening and worry about changing the ISP a year from now.
It isn't my decision though, nor is it the CFO's. It's all on my friend the Slate I.T. chick to decide. I emailed her this morning with the info, expressing my opinion that I think things should just stay how they are for now. I copied the CFO on the email because I feared if I didn't then she would CC him on the reply. Wouldn't you know it, that asshole replied to my email to her faster than I've ever seen him jump on anything to whine about the cost difference. I don't really even get it, because he is sick of these people and wants to retire, so who gives a fuck how much it costs *THEM*.
I don't know if it made a difference in the decision yet though, because this bitch has not responded to my email in over 5 hours. She's very "busy" and I have a feeling I won't get a response until 8:00 tonight. And I also feel she will decide against my opinion, simply to contradict me. I hope I am wrong, but my gut tells me otherwise. I suppose the outcome will show how much she is or isn't like Miss Managed.
Things will be cut close if they want this change though. This week is half over. Next week I am out Thursday and Friday, and I am not making a major network change right before I go on vacation. No fucking way. I have learned my lesson ten times over with that. Hell, things could be status quo and these bitches would be crying about issues when they know I am taking a day off.
We'd have to do it the first week in November. Then I'll have to deal with the "Ninja" guy again to redo the VPN tunnel settings, and then that other flouncy fruitcake from Slate and Co involved with that. It will change the VPN all the regular Meat Packer people use. The change is behind the scenes, but if it causes even one different pop-up to appear when they remote connect, they will all be freaking out about it. This is why I've spent years keeping them afloat by not making any changes, because they are all a bunch of hapless crybabies and it was easier for everyone, especially me, to just maintain the status quo.
I should have known I was living in a delusion the past several years when things were more or less calm at the Meat Packer. Their only purpose in my life was to serve as endless punishment, and I was lulled into a false sense of security about things. This sale to Slate and Co has made them as annoying as they were back in the first days of my dealing with them. And not even yet because of their own users, but because of all these morons involved with the new owners.
I am back feeling so frustrated that I didn't make better financial choices in my youth. Is my destiny to deal with these assholes until I die? I am feeling that old twitch to play the lottery again and pay my stupid tax.