Aug 21 - Oz/Luke
Aug 21 - Oz/Luke
Author: mmooch
Chapter Summary: **Part of the 2016 LiveJournal’s Twisted Shorts FaD** challenge. Luke goes digital.
Crossover: Gilmore Girls
Rating: FR-13.
Word count: 1279
Challenge: for the livejournal 2016 August Fic-a-Day Challenge.
Timeline: season 4 BtVS; season 1 GG, during episode 13 (the Bangles concert one)
Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. Gilmore Girls belong to the WB, et al. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.
Luke’s
Oz had been working for Luke for several months now, and figured that it was time to bit the bullet and ask for a favor from his curmudgeonly employer. He waited until they were closing to bring it up. “Hey, Luke? I was wondering if you’d help me with a project I’ve been working on for the past year.”
Luke paused in his work and leaned back on the counter, then crossed his arms. “What’s the project?” If he had been working on it for a year, he must have started before he got to Stars Hollow.
“It’s an ordering system for small businesses. Mostly it’s software, but I want to add a hardware component to it,” Oz explained, realizing that he lost Luke when he mentioned hardware. “Um, the hardware would be wireless buttons tagged to specific ingredients/paper goods that you order. When you are running low on something in the store room, you press the button for that item as many times as you need to order. It gets uploaded to the ordering software in the office.
“The software tracks patterns in your ordering and if you over or under ordered during the same time period the previous year. The idea is to minimize spoilage and shortages, both of which can be expensive for businesses,” Oz finished, hoping that he didn’t freak Luke out too much.
“I don’t know…” Luke hesitated, “I’m not really big on technology. This sounds complicated.”
Oz got excited…for him anyway. “That’s why I want your help with this. The goal is to make it so user-friendly that a Luddite like you wouldn’t mind using it. Please?”
Luke felt himself wavering. Oz really never asked for anything from anyone, aside from the job when he first got there. That turned out pretty good, he had to admit. “Is it going to be expensive?” he asked. While he wanted to help, he wasn’t exactly flush with cash if it wasn’t an emergency - which this didn’t sound like one.
Holding up his hand in a placating gesture, Oz assured him, “It’s covered because you are the beta tester. I have a grant from a computer company for this project and if it works well, then it’s up to them how much they would charge. For you, the hardware would be free and I can negotiate the software fee to be minimal. It’s supposed to cost less than what it is saving you.”
“I would hope so,” Luke said sarcastically. He sighed in resignation. “And if it doesn’t work? Say I don’t like it, even if it does?”
“Then I’ll take it out,” Oz agreed. “There will be very little disruption to your storeroom setup.”
“I suppose we can give it a try for a while,” Luke said. “What do you need from me?”
“Just your books as far back as you have them so I can input the data into the software. Also, if you know where I can get a copy of the schedule of town festivals, that would help as well. After I’ve done that, then we’ll set up the buttons in the store room. The fact that you don’t change things often will be the biggest help.”
--------------------
As it turned out, Luke’s suppliers were more than happy to work with Oz for the chance to get Luke to join the 21st century. They gave Oz the format(s) they preferred to get their orders in - which happened work with the initial format Oz had decided on. He’d have to add more formats later, though.”
Oz hired a couple of the computer geeks from the high school to help him enter the past orders into a database. They were able to get everything from a decade’s worth paperwork entered in less than a month. It would have been faster, but he had work and they had school. Still, since Luke wasn’t in a rush to get this started, Oz wasn’t worried.
Oz had underestimated Luke’s aversion to change as there were only about two dozen variations over the years. Somehow he didn’t think that would be the case with other customers.
The initial ‘buttons’ were rather bulky and were more like thin calculators - with only a line of numbers and an enter button, plus a screen to confirm the amount desired. Oz labeled them so if they ever got knocked off or Luke decided he wanted a different method - like all the buttons on one of the walls - he’d still know which button went with which stock item. For the more technologically adept customers, they’d have a scanner to replace all the line buttons.
Then he set up the local area network and tested the range of communication. Obviously it was best in the store room, but it did work if the computer was upstairs or in the kitchen. Although if Luke ever put a computer in the kitchen, Oz would be calling Buffy because that would mean there was an apocalypse coming. Oz did need to put the line buttons for the refrigerated items on a board next to the door as the walk-in hampered the signal too much.
--------------------
Two months after his initial conversation with Luke, Oz was ready for it to go live. He used a lull to show Luke and Caesar how to implement it.
“So if I am running low on bananas, I just push this button?” Caesar asked excitedly. He looked like he wanted to push all the buttons.
“Yes, but Luke still has to approve the order before it goes to the vendors. I could add an auto-order function, but I thought he would like the control of approving it first,” Oz said. “The software will make suggestions if your order doesn’t match the predictive order it has determined for the same time period from previous years - which you can accept or ignore.
Luke nodded. “Thanks. That makes me feel better.”
Oz explained, mostly to Luke, but also to Caesar for the rare occasion that he had to order, “To actually place the order, you have three choices: first you can order from the list on the computer; second, you can print the list out and fax it in; third, you can email the list to the vendors. They said they prefer the second or third option as those have the least chance for error. I have step by step instructions with screenshots for everything.”
“Alright, let’s give it a try,” Luke said, wondering if it would be a pain in the ass or not.
--------------------
Luke would never admit it to Lorelai, but Oz’s system wasn’t nearly as big of headache as he feared it would be. In fact, it was spooky how accurate it was with its predictive orders. When there was a glitch, Oz fixed it quickly with minimal fuss.
His waste expenses were down to almost only those due to mistakes in cooking. His suppliers were happier with him and offered a discount - five percent - if he sent the orders electronically. The savings paid for the internet service he had to install.
And he hadn’t had to run out to Taylor’s for last minute groceries for three months now. Anything that minimized time spent with Taylor got his seal of approval.
Everything was running so well, that when Oz requested that he try the automated ordering for a month, Luke wasn’t nearly as hesitant to agree as he was in the beginning.
Needless to say that when Lorelai eventually found out, her head just about exploded.
She really went crazy when she found out the system was named after him. It was called the DANES program - Digital Acquisition to Neutralize Expense of Supplies.
A/N: I dig the idea of Oz doing some computer product design work and getting Luke to agree to be a guinea pig for him.
Author: mmooch
Chapter Summary: **Part of the 2016 LiveJournal’s Twisted Shorts FaD** challenge. Luke goes digital.
Crossover: Gilmore Girls
Rating: FR-13.
Word count: 1279
Challenge: for the livejournal 2016 August Fic-a-Day Challenge.
Timeline: season 4 BtVS; season 1 GG, during episode 13 (the Bangles concert one)
Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. Gilmore Girls belong to the WB, et al. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.
Luke’s
Oz had been working for Luke for several months now, and figured that it was time to bit the bullet and ask for a favor from his curmudgeonly employer. He waited until they were closing to bring it up. “Hey, Luke? I was wondering if you’d help me with a project I’ve been working on for the past year.”
Luke paused in his work and leaned back on the counter, then crossed his arms. “What’s the project?” If he had been working on it for a year, he must have started before he got to Stars Hollow.
“It’s an ordering system for small businesses. Mostly it’s software, but I want to add a hardware component to it,” Oz explained, realizing that he lost Luke when he mentioned hardware. “Um, the hardware would be wireless buttons tagged to specific ingredients/paper goods that you order. When you are running low on something in the store room, you press the button for that item as many times as you need to order. It gets uploaded to the ordering software in the office.
“The software tracks patterns in your ordering and if you over or under ordered during the same time period the previous year. The idea is to minimize spoilage and shortages, both of which can be expensive for businesses,” Oz finished, hoping that he didn’t freak Luke out too much.
“I don’t know…” Luke hesitated, “I’m not really big on technology. This sounds complicated.”
Oz got excited…for him anyway. “That’s why I want your help with this. The goal is to make it so user-friendly that a Luddite like you wouldn’t mind using it. Please?”
Luke felt himself wavering. Oz really never asked for anything from anyone, aside from the job when he first got there. That turned out pretty good, he had to admit. “Is it going to be expensive?” he asked. While he wanted to help, he wasn’t exactly flush with cash if it wasn’t an emergency - which this didn’t sound like one.
Holding up his hand in a placating gesture, Oz assured him, “It’s covered because you are the beta tester. I have a grant from a computer company for this project and if it works well, then it’s up to them how much they would charge. For you, the hardware would be free and I can negotiate the software fee to be minimal. It’s supposed to cost less than what it is saving you.”
“I would hope so,” Luke said sarcastically. He sighed in resignation. “And if it doesn’t work? Say I don’t like it, even if it does?”
“Then I’ll take it out,” Oz agreed. “There will be very little disruption to your storeroom setup.”
“I suppose we can give it a try for a while,” Luke said. “What do you need from me?”
“Just your books as far back as you have them so I can input the data into the software. Also, if you know where I can get a copy of the schedule of town festivals, that would help as well. After I’ve done that, then we’ll set up the buttons in the store room. The fact that you don’t change things often will be the biggest help.”
--------------------
As it turned out, Luke’s suppliers were more than happy to work with Oz for the chance to get Luke to join the 21st century. They gave Oz the format(s) they preferred to get their orders in - which happened work with the initial format Oz had decided on. He’d have to add more formats later, though.”
Oz hired a couple of the computer geeks from the high school to help him enter the past orders into a database. They were able to get everything from a decade’s worth paperwork entered in less than a month. It would have been faster, but he had work and they had school. Still, since Luke wasn’t in a rush to get this started, Oz wasn’t worried.
Oz had underestimated Luke’s aversion to change as there were only about two dozen variations over the years. Somehow he didn’t think that would be the case with other customers.
The initial ‘buttons’ were rather bulky and were more like thin calculators - with only a line of numbers and an enter button, plus a screen to confirm the amount desired. Oz labeled them so if they ever got knocked off or Luke decided he wanted a different method - like all the buttons on one of the walls - he’d still know which button went with which stock item. For the more technologically adept customers, they’d have a scanner to replace all the line buttons.
Then he set up the local area network and tested the range of communication. Obviously it was best in the store room, but it did work if the computer was upstairs or in the kitchen. Although if Luke ever put a computer in the kitchen, Oz would be calling Buffy because that would mean there was an apocalypse coming. Oz did need to put the line buttons for the refrigerated items on a board next to the door as the walk-in hampered the signal too much.
--------------------
Two months after his initial conversation with Luke, Oz was ready for it to go live. He used a lull to show Luke and Caesar how to implement it.
“So if I am running low on bananas, I just push this button?” Caesar asked excitedly. He looked like he wanted to push all the buttons.
“Yes, but Luke still has to approve the order before it goes to the vendors. I could add an auto-order function, but I thought he would like the control of approving it first,” Oz said. “The software will make suggestions if your order doesn’t match the predictive order it has determined for the same time period from previous years - which you can accept or ignore.
Luke nodded. “Thanks. That makes me feel better.”
Oz explained, mostly to Luke, but also to Caesar for the rare occasion that he had to order, “To actually place the order, you have three choices: first you can order from the list on the computer; second, you can print the list out and fax it in; third, you can email the list to the vendors. They said they prefer the second or third option as those have the least chance for error. I have step by step instructions with screenshots for everything.”
“Alright, let’s give it a try,” Luke said, wondering if it would be a pain in the ass or not.
--------------------
Luke would never admit it to Lorelai, but Oz’s system wasn’t nearly as big of headache as he feared it would be. In fact, it was spooky how accurate it was with its predictive orders. When there was a glitch, Oz fixed it quickly with minimal fuss.
His waste expenses were down to almost only those due to mistakes in cooking. His suppliers were happier with him and offered a discount - five percent - if he sent the orders electronically. The savings paid for the internet service he had to install.
And he hadn’t had to run out to Taylor’s for last minute groceries for three months now. Anything that minimized time spent with Taylor got his seal of approval.
Everything was running so well, that when Oz requested that he try the automated ordering for a month, Luke wasn’t nearly as hesitant to agree as he was in the beginning.
Needless to say that when Lorelai eventually found out, her head just about exploded.
She really went crazy when she found out the system was named after him. It was called the DANES program - Digital Acquisition to Neutralize Expense of Supplies.
A/N: I dig the idea of Oz doing some computer product design work and getting Luke to agree to be a guinea pig for him.