Weekend (and more) Update

This is really an update spanning the past week or so. Between not feeling much inspiration to write and getting busier at work (which I'll expand on more soon) I haven't written much, so I thought I'd catch everyone up a little.

Before I do, though, I'd like to welcome reader number 25 to the fold. I know that's a mere pittance for most of you, but reaching the quarter century mark of people who admit to reading my blog (though I apologize for, again, the lack of writing lately) is a big deal for me. So welcome, Jimbo, and thanks for following.

I haven't called out new followers before, but please don't take offense; I appreciate all of you, even the anonymous readers among you! If you have a blog, it is my intent to have you in my blog roll. If you aren't please let me know so I can correct that.

On to the updates.

Since early February we've been working on replacing our antiquated PBX phone system with a new VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) system at work. The Project Manager is lucky that he is in Houston, because there have been many times that I would have possibly punched him if he were local. However, through all the problems with getting him to communicate and follow through on his promised actions, we finally had everything in place (or so I thought) to do the switchover last weekend.

I think I wrote about this before, and mentioned how I was just going to be there for the installation to babysit, provide information, and open doors when needed because an experienced, knowledgable crew was actually going to be doing all the work. Well, not so much. One guy was sent, and though he was experienced with removing and replacing the hardware (which was really a big help), he didn't know beans about the connections and how everything worked together. So I wound up working far harder, both physically and mentally, than I'd thought I would.

We got started last Saturday about 8 a.m. and it became immediately apparent that the lack of communication from the PM was going to be a big wrench in the works. He sent a "diagram" of what was to be connected where that I couldn't make heads or tails out of because 1) his "diagram" didn't include any images, 2) he used non-standard abbreviations with no explanation or key, and 3) despite his repeatedly saying "everything you currently have will come out and all new equipment will be put in place" there was equipment that was indeed staying. After a half hour of me having to prod the PM for additional explanation, I finally understood what was going to be needed and we were ready to go. (The contractor later said if I hadn't known enough about networking to ask the right questions, he would have been lost and the job would have taken much longer.)

Eight hours later, he and I finished all the on-site hardware setup (replacing switches, installing voice routers, placing phones and connecting them, etc.) I'd been keeping the PM informed of our progress, and he repeatedly said as soon as we were done that Verizon would be ready to provision the trunks to point to the new PRIs (I think that's the right terminology; I know networking but not phone systems.) This led me to believe that someone at Verizon was on stand-by, waiting for the go ahead. In fact, the PM had not talked with Verizon at all about the timing of the provisioning, assuming all he'd have to do is call and it would get done. On a Saturday. Yea.

Two hours later (we had to wait around so that we could do testing once the switchover had occured) the PM tells me that he can't get anybody at Verizon who can do it, and that we'd have to wait until Monday evening. I told him that was unacceptable, as the whole point of doing the work on the weekend was to avoid as many issues as possible during the working days. He promised to continue working on it (again, I was still thinking at this point that he'd arranged everything and that Verizon was dropping the ball) and that I would come in on Sunday to test when it was done. He was going to let me know one way or another Sunday morning so I'd know if I needed to come in.

Of course I didn't hear a peep from him Sunday despite my sending two texts asking what the status was. It was bad enough that we weren't doing the work, but it infuriates me when somebody acts as though MY time is unimportant!

Monday was a stressful day of trying to get the PM to follow through on anything he said he was going to do, and me having to contact him well after the time when he said he would contact me. I won't go into it all, but suffice it to say that the better part of this week was spent on this. He finally forwarded me a copy of the email the Verizon rep sent him showing his order for the provisioning had been placed that day (!!!!) and that they would get around to doing the provisioning on Friday!  Fortunately the old phone system was still in place and usable or we would have been in a big pickle. They actually completed the order early Friday morning, so everything was working by the time I got into work on Friday. Except for a few hiccups and tweaks needed, it's a good phone system and seems to be working fine.

Now for the good parts of the week:

• The ten hours I spent on Saturday made for a great paycheck this week as it gave me almost 14 hours overtime for the pay period.
• My boss put me in for a reward through our recognition program for the work I'd done keeping the project on track(ish) and putting in the time and effort on Saturday to get it in place. The award was at a level that gave me 2500 points that we can redeem for different items or gift cards. Redeeming the points for gift cards would net me a little over $110.
• My boss's boss had to approve the recognition, and in doing so made glowing remarks about me ("it doesn't surprise me at all that you were instrumental in getting this project done" etc.) The money is nice, but I was beaming the whole day because of the praise and recognition.
• Later the same day I found out about the award, my boss gave me my payroll letter informing me of my pay raise: 3.5%, which isn't too shabby. I knew the base raise (what most people would get) was 3%, with managers' discretion on giving more to higher performers. So more than the money, knowing I rated a little higher than average was nice.
• And on purely personal notes, we got the niece moved out this weekend! I love her, and she's a good kid overall, but dammit it'll be good to have our house back to ourselves. And I'm sure she'll be happy to have her privacy too. 
• The wife and I finished our weight-loss boot camp Thursday. I didn't lose as many pounds as I wanted to over the six weeks (7 lbs) but I did lose about an inch and a half both from my waist and my hips, which isn't much but is a start. I'm going to start taking some of the cardio-based group classes (they're free) to keep myself going and see if those help.
• The weather was nice enough on Tuesday and Wednesday for me to ride the bike to work. I didn't know how much I really missed riding until I got on the road. Even though the interstate I have to travel is a hazardous mess of inattentive drivers and truck drivers who couldn't care less that other people are on the road, it was pure joy for me to be scooting along on Spock. (It's a Kawasaki Vulcan 900; of course I call him Spock.) The distance isn't enough to really test the new seat, but it's comfortable and I think it will make a difference on longer rides.

It's Sunday morning now (I started this on Saturday). We got the niece moved out with little trouble yesterday. She'd been doing a good job of getting her stuff packed up over the past few weeks, and Friday night we loaded up her car and our Trailblazer (she did most of the loading, but we helped some.) We left here around 9:30 and got to her new place, and we were done by 10:15. I told her I wish we'd only have that much stuff when the wife and I eventually move!

The wife and I had teased each other all week, and most of yesterday, about how we'd celebrate the first night of her being gone. Of course nothing happened yesterday; I guess she wasn't feeling it and I didn't push much either. (I grilled us some steaks and baked some taters, so we were both feeling a little too full I think.) We watched a movie together (Ted) and she followed the local team's away game on her computer while I got mildly drunk.

Today we'll have some errands to run, and I get to mow the lawn for the first time this season. It won't take too long, and I'll enjoy the exercise as long as the temperature gets up in the 60s like it's supposed to. If it's not too windy, maybe the wife and I will suit up this afternoon for a short, local ride. I'll definitely have a cigar later, overlooking my freshly mowed lawn.

How were your weekends?