new computer
i got a new work computer today. I had a special relationship with my old computer. My computer is pretty much my desk, since my work station moves from client to client. I don't have a picture of Julia or a certificate of training or even a mug to hold my pens at any of my desks... my computer is the closest thing I've got to a workstation. The old one was just getting way to slow though, it was time for a change. The processor ran at 100% capacity all day. The computer fan was louder than my idling car. It was so hot it made my hands sweat as I typed. And by the time it'd been on for 8 hours it took 2-3 minutes just to minimize a window, let alone open a pdf document. But God--and I know this is really pathetic--I LOVED the action on those keys. That was the best keyboard ever. Because I worked on it all day every day, I have a strong preference for the laptop keyboard over the desktop, but that particular laptop had a great keyboard. When people borrowed my computer they would even say so. I spilled so much food on that computer it was sickening. I couldn't even guess how many meals I had in front of that thing. After 3.5 years... I'd guess at least 700 lunches and dinners. I rarely cleaned it. It was pretty gross, kind of like repellant. I don't havea super-protective briefcase either, so when I put my bag down on a hard floor there is a hefty 'thunk' associated with the landing. Hey, if you're going to be my computer, you've got to be up to the challenge. Anyway, that's enough of a eulogy. Computer, you were good to me for a long time, but the last few months were all about you, you, you. Now you're replaced with a leaner, sexier model. I hope you make some second-hand shop very happy. Does anyone know where corporate computers go when they die?
Our computers have this crazy encryption thing so you can't just take the hard drive out, slap it in a new machine and ask it to work. That's so that if someone steals it, they can't get the data I've got and put me and my firm on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. Unfortunately, that meant the IT guy had to move all of my folders onto the server and then onto the new machine. Sounded like a drag and drop job to me, but he said some of my folder hierarchies are too long, and it would time out or give him an error message, so he had to move each folder one-by-one. It's a lot of information, and none of it is already on a central server or anything. I wondered why he couldn't drag and drop the folders that didn't give him the error message, but he made it sound like that was a stupid question. So the moral of the story (and the reason I started this post) is that I got to our downtown office at 9:00am expecting to leave at 11:00am with a new computer. Lunch came and went.. so did 1, then a call, then 2, then 3, then 4, another call, finally ready at 5:00pm. 9 hours. So much for making it out to the client.
I had brought some work to do, but not 9 hours worth. After doing the planned activities like checking my mailbox and meeting with some co-workers, I started cleaning out my desk, reading the slides from a training I didn't attend, browsing the office for candy on desks, call my wife (4 times)... and then from 4:20 to 4:50 I stopped pretending to work. I literally stared out the window for 30 minutes. Just sat and daydreamed. It was the most relaxing 30 minutes at work I"ve ever had.
Our computers have this crazy encryption thing so you can't just take the hard drive out, slap it in a new machine and ask it to work. That's so that if someone steals it, they can't get the data I've got and put me and my firm on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. Unfortunately, that meant the IT guy had to move all of my folders onto the server and then onto the new machine. Sounded like a drag and drop job to me, but he said some of my folder hierarchies are too long, and it would time out or give him an error message, so he had to move each folder one-by-one. It's a lot of information, and none of it is already on a central server or anything. I wondered why he couldn't drag and drop the folders that didn't give him the error message, but he made it sound like that was a stupid question. So the moral of the story (and the reason I started this post) is that I got to our downtown office at 9:00am expecting to leave at 11:00am with a new computer. Lunch came and went.. so did 1, then a call, then 2, then 3, then 4, another call, finally ready at 5:00pm. 9 hours. So much for making it out to the client.
I had brought some work to do, but not 9 hours worth. After doing the planned activities like checking my mailbox and meeting with some co-workers, I started cleaning out my desk, reading the slides from a training I didn't attend, browsing the office for candy on desks, call my wife (4 times)... and then from 4:20 to 4:50 I stopped pretending to work. I literally stared out the window for 30 minutes. Just sat and daydreamed. It was the most relaxing 30 minutes at work I"ve ever had.