Chalk this up to - Why do I bother

Discussion in 'Off Topic Area' started by Xue Sheng, Dec 7, 2018.

  1. Xue Sheng

    Xue Sheng All weight is underside

    Not a martial arts post but...

    I was asked to spec out laptops for another unit in my department. And since I am in IT and do that sort of thing it seemed like the logical thing to do.

    So I did. I gave them 4 possibilities based on their need (2 PC based and 2 Macs)

    They had another one in mind, that I specifically told them they did not want and told them why. Basically it would not take the beating.

    So they thanked me and then went and bought the laptops I told then not to buy. Now you may ask what they based this decision on...they were smaller (.2 inches) then were lighter (.3 pounds) and they were cooler looking.... so theses laptops will show up.... and I will have to configure them.... and then continually call the support folks as long as they are on warranty, to fix them and after the warranty is up I will be sending to surplus them because they will likely be dead....Now I told them to not to get i7 processors to since we are not a win10 shop and what we run will not run on an i7..... I'm willing to bet they got i7 processors...

    Nothing like spending hours on getting quotes, having to go to 3 meetings and then... being ignored because they "looked Cooler"

    I often wonder why do I bother in this job
     
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  2. Pretty In Pink

    Pretty In Pink Moved on MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Hahahahaha, that's brutal! Bad luck man.
     
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  3. Aegis

    Aegis River Guardian Admin Supporter

    Bill the other department for excess time wasted due to buying non-standard equipment contrary to recommendations. Spend the billed amount on your department's Christmas party. Send them photos with a thank you card.
     
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  4. Xue Sheng

    Xue Sheng All weight is underside

    Just found out they did not buy the printer that was speced out for them either.... and they don't really know what they bought..... can hardly wait to see what that is....
     
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  5. Xue Sheng

    Xue Sheng All weight is underside

    Wish I could...but its a government office.... so wasting my time is free of charge.
     
  6. Pretty In Pink

    Pretty In Pink Moved on MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Time to go private!
     
  7. Xue Sheng

    Xue Sheng All weight is underside

    To close to retirement to leave now. I just keep doing what I doing and when it breaks...I tell them that I told them not to buy it.
     
    axelb likes this.
  8. pgsmith

    pgsmith Valued dismemberer

    Because they pay you. That's why most of us trudge through our day jobs. :)
     
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  9. Xue Sheng

    Xue Sheng All weight is underside

    Oh sure bring logic and reality into it :D
     
    pgsmith likes this.
  10. Rand86

    Rand86 likes to butt heads

    Have you considered a practical demonstration involving said laptops and maybe a head or two?
     
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  11. Smitfire

    Smitfire Cactus Schlong

    Quite honestly I think people value expertise less and less these days.
    Information is more accessible to all (which is good in its way) but I think that's devalued genuine experience and made people feel like they could know as much as someone else if they just watched a few YouTube videos and had a go.
     
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  12. Mitch

    Mitch Lord Mitch of MAP Admin

    I'm not sure it's a new thing. Years ago I was involved in a project with a major UK bank. They had old but critical systems that only a couple of people understood, and had realised that they needed to spread knowledge of them or these systems would fail when these people moved on.

    As a contractor I came in with a previously tested methodology whereby I could sit with these folks and map their knowledge so it could be passed on. Not easy, needs buy-in, needs time, but possible.

    I presented this to a board-level meeting, explaining a little about how it would work, what the outcomes were likely to be, what the issues might be, etc. No flannel, just straightforward stuff.

    I then watched a board level guy stand up and say that it couldn't work, these systems were so embedded and esoteric that it was simply impossible for anyone to understand them, let alone pass them on.

    He didn't seem to realise that people already understood them, so it was not beyond human ability.

    It was not the first time I realised that the very top levels of management of multinationals can be populated by eedjits, and it wasn't the last, but it was the first time someone stood up in front of me and made such an obviously ludicrous statement. I had to be very measured in my response :)
     
  13. Dan Bian

    Dan Bian Neither Dan, nor Brian

    I deal with something similar every day.
    I work for a company that specialises in supplying and maintaining printers for companies, schools, charities, public sector etc

    I can literally spend hours matching requirements to specs, working out setup costs, cost per page etc only for the customer to go out and buying a piece of junk that isn't up to the job they need it for, but it was on special Asda for £24.99.
    Me: "That's not going to handle the 10k pages you're printings month"

    Customer: "oh.. but, it was cheaper than the £700 machine you quoted for"

    Me: "yes. Because the machine I quoted for can actually do the job you need it to."

    Customer: "oh. But why won't this one do the the job?"

    Me: "because it's a small desktop printer designed for light home use. Not industrial level printing - which is what you do in your company."

    It's frustrating.
     
    Xue Sheng likes this.
  14. Xue Sheng

    Xue Sheng All weight is underside

    Its not new that's for sure.go back about 15 years and I was at another gov office and they wanted a database for the data they needed to collect from schools. They wanted to go with Microsoft Access. I told them that was a bad idea since, at that time, greater than 30 users at one time trying to access your database would crash the databases and all of your data would be lost. Also the fact they had access to Oracle, because the department already had it, Access was a real bad choice. Guess what they chose and guess what happened. Hint: they did not go with Oracle.... and they seemed to have lost all the data.

    But did his dissuade them...nooooo they came up with some other overly complicated way of using a Access back end and front end that were different and the school had to send whatever side they had to the office I worked in and they had to run the proper code (VBA) to combine the 2 to get their data.... I left that office shortly after that
     
    Mitch likes this.
  15. Xue Sheng

    Xue Sheng All weight is underside

    I had a similar thing happen a few years back when the finance department decided to spec out and buy printers. I told them that what they were buying was cheaper because they were for home use, not enterprise. But what the heck did I know, I was only the guy that fixed their PC and printers and specced out everything IT prior to this. So they purchased the cheap printers. All those printers are long since dead now and I have enterprise level printers older than they would have been, if they had survived, that are still running
     
    Dan Bian likes this.
  16. axelb

    axelb Master of Office Chair Fu

    Oh my word, how many times have I seen this happen o_O

    I've been in IT professionally 18 years, and I expect it will carry on until I retire.
     
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  17. Xue Sheng

    Xue Sheng All weight is underside

    More IT strangeness
    • Ordered 10 PCs though the main IT office, I sent them specs, model and company..... I got 1 PC from am entirely different company...that we cannot use
    • Ordered 15 Laptops and cases though the main IT office, I sent them specs, model and company...actually got 15 of the right model, with cases.... but I also got 15 wireless mice, 15 monitors, 15 docking stations. 15 sound bars that I did not order.
    Both of these orders are over a year old and I just got them.... however based on warranty info, these have been sitting in a warehouse for a minimum of 9 months
     
    axelb likes this.
  18. Mitlov

    Mitlov Shiny

    I give people above for a living too (legal, not IT, but honestly a similar dynamic). Sometimes people take my advice. Sometimes they don't. I've learned not to take it personally, that it all pays the same.

    And in fact, there's some job security when people don't take my advice because it typically means they need more of my help going forward...
     
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  19. Smitfire

    Smitfire Cactus Schlong

    People are odd. Just before gradings I offer to help anyone at my tkd club (and parents) tie a nice knot in their belts.
    Looks neat, won't come undone easily and won't stick up in their faces or flick about.
    And yet I go to the next training session and see 10+ people with dodgy knots, untidy belts, belts falling off, etc.
    Free, helpful advice and people just aren't interested. When I first started martial arts I was an advice sponge. Couldn't get enough. Now people seem a bit...meh.
     
  20. Mushroom

    Mushroom De-powered to come back better than before.

    My job is littered with "why do I bother moments".

    Sometimes, I wanna quit but I put my job hat on and crack on. Then have a good moan and whinge when the hat comes off.
     
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