Normal Dreamed 2 days ago | Comment | 192 words

I’ve made my relationship mistakes in the past. I’ve picked some people to be with who did not respect me. I was theirs all day everyday.

Only, I did not realize it.

Now, being with Annie, I see how a healthy relationship should work. I see how love should be. If I don’t see her for a weekend she doesn’t go to pieces and guilt trip me into feeling like a war criminal. If we don’t talk for a night, or much one night. It’s sad for both of us, but it’s not apocalyptic. It happens. We move past it and talk lots the next night.

In the past I’ve dreaded how much time I have to spend with someone. With her, I want to spend all the time I can because it’s so good.

It’s so good to be with someone (for nearly a year!!!) who makes me feel so good and I don’t have to change a single iota of my personality to please.

She loves me for me.

I love her for her.

I never feel like I can tell her enough how good she makes me feel and how wonderful life has been with her.

Team Fortress 2 Dreamed 9 days ago | Comment | 371 words

Night before last, I was delighted to see my friend Scott playing TF2. I was delighted as I’d been wanting to play it but not alone.

So I logged on, messaged him and soon we were shooting and healing our way through a cap the flag battle. At one point we were both Pyros and we were toasting the opposing team to a nice crispy golden brown.

It was short-lived but extraordinarily fun. After Scott left for the night I played a couple more rounds and a wonderful thing happened.

I came across a group of guys who were playing the game… for fun. They weren’t yelling at their teammates when we messed up. They weren’t cursing and screaming that we had misstepped.

They were laughing. And joking.

It was so refreshing to find that in a random game. At one point I was playing a Heavy with another guy and we just laid waste to a room of foes. We were standing back to back and defending out checkpoint to the death. And laughing hysterically as Scouts and Pyros would run towards us over and over and we’d mow them down.

We were eventually overrun, when we ran out of ammo.

After that match, I stayed with the same group and in the next match we were getting overrun so we decided to play a bit and all be Engineers and construct a vast array of turrents, spawn points, and healers.

Up until then, I never really understood how to play as an Engineer. And I didn’t ask for fear of the commonplace mocking of anyone who doesn’t know something in a game. But these guys were chill and we were helping each other out.

So I learned how to build and upgrade my turret, and good places to build them on the map.

And yes, once I placed a turrent backwards, facing a wall. Who knew they only had a 180 degree range?

TF2 was stupidly fun and as always, improved with a proper group of gamers who were out to have a good time, win or lose. We won some. We lost some. Eventually the hose quit the game and we were all flung back out to our corners of the Xbox Live.

But it was fun while it lasted.

The real hierarchy Dreamed 33 days ago | Comment | 467 words

This morning I took a call from a City Council member. She started the call already frustrated and quick to anger. The short story was she was using another Council member’s username/password to login (why is this when she has her own account? I’ve learned to stop asking sensical questions). I explained to her I could not reset another user’s password, only her own.

She informed me she didn’t have an account. I explained she did and I could reset her password but not his password. It’s a security issue. I can’t do it. I don’t want to lose my job.

At this point. she bellows, I am a city council member and I need access to my email!

I said Ma’am, I understand that but I am unable to reset his password for you.

She gets all huffy and puffy and tells me again she is very important I mean, she’s a City Council member. I should lose my job to do what she says. Clearly.

I told her either the person’s account she was using had to call me to get his password reset or she could use her own account and it would need to be setup since she is a remote user it would take a couple days. She vowed to call back and talk to someone else.

Little does she know there are only two of us.

And we sit next to each other.

To top it all off she’s one of those angry ignorant computer users. She has no idea what she’s doing and yells at me for making her feel dumb. I guess terms like “password” and “what is your full name” are too complex for her nontechnical brain.

So everything was my fault when she couldn’t type in the password correctly and kept locking the account out. And wouldn’t listen to me when I tried to explain that the laptop stores the login but the VPN does not so when it’s telling you the password is wrong, it’s wrong!

I don’t mind talking to people who lack computer skills. Just don’t get hostile with me as I try to help you fix what you need to do your job. I couldn’t care less if you can’t access your email or network all day, or even all week. It’s a job, not a religion.

Getting angry with the person trying to assist you will never get you anywhere. I am the IT tech. I am the one who can reset the passwords. Without me, she can’t get anything done.

Like I said to my boss, I’m a contractor so I really don’t care that you’re City Council! I could be out of here in another identical job elsewhere where I don’t get yelled at by self-important idiots.

This is what people fail to realize. They need me. I don’t need them.

Boogie Bunnies Dreamed 64 days ago | Comment | 268 words

While I am not the biggest gamer you’ll meet I do love my games. I love getting lost in another world. I love playing online with friends and battling or puzzling our way through missions and quests.

I am blessed to have an amazing girlfriend who also enjoys gaming. Everything from Peggle (where she is the rock star!) to Halo (which she played extensively with her sister). We are going to conquer some Katamari Damacy and Mario Kart this weekend when she gets here for the long weekend. There’s nothing like being able to game with someone and kiss them at the same time.

She is a hardcore puzzler and over the past few nights we’ve been playing Boogie Bunnies on the Xbox Live Arcade. We’ll start a voice chat session then play an hour or two of Boogie Bunnies before bed.

It’s the perfect mix of being able to talk but not having to hold a phone to our ears. It’s better than chatting because we have better conversations and our attention is on the conversation, instead of the 3453453 things to distract us on the internet or TV.

Boogie Bunnies is fun and light so it doesn’t require a ton of attention and concentration. It’s been the perfect game to unwind to before bed and get to spend time with my lovely girl who lives in Northern VA and I’m in Richmond.

I am so happy we found something we could play and chat and enjoy to unwind with in the evenings when we miss each other the most.

Thank you Boogie Bunnies for your colorful, dancing fun!

Wiigret? Dreamed 67 days ago | Comment | 418 words

2008-05-19

Nope. None.

I have had toddler-like joy playing with the Wii since it came home yesterday evening. I hooked it up first to the TV and then the projector so now I have 100” Wii-age with surround sound and no fear of anyone throwing anything through the “screen” since no TV is involved.

Megan and I are having stupid amounts of fun with it!

We’ve perused the news. IWeve gaped at the awesome weather interface. We’ve voted. Oh how we’ve voted. The Everybody Votes channel is sheer brilliance in my eyes. I have so muchfun voting then opening the results up to see the M/F or country breakdowns for the questions. We have bowled, golfed, boxed, baseballed and tennised to our hearts content.

I am on a mission for Mario Kart which is to be the first real game acquisition for the system. Brawl, Strikers and other Mario-like games can wait.

Mario Kart is my top priority!

This all being said, why can’t I buy Wii points? I tried tonight to spend $20 on some nice Wii points. Thank you Nintendo for making it a simple points conversion unlike Microsoft’s mathematic mess.

However, I couldn’t buy any points. I tried. Enterd my card info and address. Error message.

Error Code: 20809 There appears to be a temporary issue with the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Our technicians are currently working to resolve this problem. Please try your connection again later. If you have waited several hours and are still seeing this error code, please call 1-800-255-3700. Our representatives are available between 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Pacific Time, seven days a week.

I would love to give you my money. However, if you can’t take it then that’s fine. I’ll keep it. No River City Ransom, Internet Channel and Bubble Bobble for me tonight.

So I turned off the Wii and let it think about what it did. Then I flipped on the Xbox360 and played Boogie Bunnies with my girlfriend for the next few hours.

Wii, you were hard enough to find Now I can’t give you my money in exchange for games. Not to mention I can’t even find a copy of Mario Kart for the Wii anywhere. I shall keep trying.

Wii, I love you dearly but you try my patience somedays. This is why I held off getting one. I didn’t want a primary console with a poor game selection and hardly existent online gaming selection.

Do I have an ounce of regret about buying it?

Not one!

iPod Classic and Mac OS 10.3 can play nice! Dreamed 72 days ago | Comment | 61 words

I got my roommate’s iPod Classic working with her Mac tonight. It’s an aging 500MHz G4 from years ago. Still rock solid but won’t support Tiger/Leopard.

She got a 160GB iPod Classic for Christmas and has not been able to use it.

Tonight, we got it working!

Download Yamipod and follow these instructions..

I hope this helps someone else out there!

AnimaLOLs Dreamed 87 days ago | Comment | 78 words

A couple months ago, while awaiting the Dresden Dolls show to begin and wandering around a mall in Norfolk, VA I started compiling a list of animalols.

The basic rule was anything with an L in it is free game. Disqualifying LOLRaffe and LOLlasaurus Rex, and LOLctapus though I did get a good chuckle from them.

Without further adieu, here is that list.

WaLOLrus

SeaLOL

ELOLephant

VeLOLcaraptor

GLOLdfish

LOLion

LOLizard

TarantaLOL

KoaLOLa Bear

FLOLamingo

DoLOLphin

SquirreLOL

GerbiLOL

ButterfLOLy

MoLOLe

Sea GuLOL

GoriLOLla

LOLbester

PoLOLar Bear

And one bonus animal

The ROFLmoth

Praises Dreamed 96 days ago | Comment | 173 words

I have the absolute best girlfriend I could ever hope to have. She is the most perfect soulmate I have ever could have dreamed up. She is literally perfect, in every way.

We’re so similar it’s scary but endlessly fun. We have just as great a time exploring a park and gardens on a warm sunny day as we do snuggling and snacking in bed watching movies on a rainy weekend. Juno, Airplane!, Harold and Kumar go to White Castle and The Goonies to be exact.

We’ve been on long road trips with just ourselves and an ipod to keep us company and we were never once even in disagreement.

I never knew love could be this fun or this perfect. I’ve had friendships and relationships but nothing ever as strong and real as this. It’s been 8 months, and things have been just as bright as the day we met.

Annie in the flowers

I love Annie with all my heart.

Doomsday - Disease Rickrolling Dreamed 123 days ago | Comment | 334 words

Doomsday Official review in less than 140 characters: I R Serious movie. LOL Rickrolled U!

I just came from Doomsday. It hadn’t really been on my radar until my roommate texted, “want to go see a movie tonight?”

I did, so we did. We went to Short Pump (motto: Northern Virginia gridlock, without any of the cool stuff).

Doomsday opens much as 28 Days/Weeks/Months Later and Resident Evil does. Horrible disease quickly overruns country. Officials try to wall it off and it all goes wrong.

It’s a pretty good movie up to that point with a bit of super awesome technology that leads to many excellent scenes which I won’t give away here.

Then you get rickrolled! Right about the time we venture into Camelot and the Pythons of Monty take over the story and lead us through a bit of Gladiator, 300, and the Mad Max Thunderdome movies.

Then after that, the film makers decided to take the club scene from XXX and make that into half a movie. Then it becomes a car ad with some absolutely breathtaking cinematography. I laughed so hard through this entire movie. It’s certainly worth the money.

Granted, it’s not a must-see in the theater so you can rent or Netflix if you like. But it’s certainly worth watching.

I remember thinking about the time we hit the Lord of the Rings segment how the movie just stopped taking itself seriously, but it lulls you slowly from serious to ridiculous and it’s a lovely film once it does.

Some of the long, aerial car-driving-through-the-abandoned-country-with-perfectly-maintained-roads were a bit much but it doesn’t detract from a film that long ago stopped making total sense.

Doomsday is a very fun movie. Don’t go into it thinking it’s going to be a serious disease/zombie movie because it absolutely isn’t. Go into it looking to enjoy a fun ride through a beautiful countryside. And the Scottish accents. They’re lovely.

Who will like this movie?

Those looking for a fun movie that doesn’t take itself seriously.

Who will dislike this movie?

Zombie/disease/apocalypse/monster movie fans

Help Desk Satisfaction Dreamed 135 days ago | Comment [1] | 1322 words

Have you ever had a positive experience calling a help desk?

I am taking a job working at a help desk (with the goal being to use that as an in to advance back to Desktop Support or something more). During the interview, one of the questions brought up how the Help Desk solves about 55% of the issues called in. However, the satisfaction with the Help Desk is around 25-30%.

I was asked what I would to increase satisfaction with the help desk. I responded how I would bring my experience to the position so when people called in, they would get someone knowledgeable, helpful and able to bridge the gap between “tech speak” and “it’s broken” user speak.

They were satisfied.

Then I got to thinking after the interview, have I, as an advanced user / support monkey EVER had a positive experience with a help desk? Have I ever called the help desk anywhere… Dell, Honeywell, Unisys, GE and been satisfied with my experience? I couldn’t think of a single time.

Now, let’s think about this. I know what’s what. Usually when I call the help desk it’s for something I cannot accomplish on my own. I need parts (Dell’s HD) or I need something done which I lack the access to do (server access, password resets).

I get frustrated because the help desk is a barrier to accomplishment. In my eyes it’s mostly staffed by people who have little or no technical knowledge and need to be told exactly what you’re looking to do.

What is it like for the 60 year old call center worker, or the English-as-a-second language city worker? What about your own mother or father (assuming they’re not internet rock stars). How many time do they get frustrated with the computer not doing what it should do?

The problem with most help desks is there is zero focus on real customer service and support. The idea seems to be to filter people out as quickly as possible and if their situation cannot be resolved with the script given to read, then nothing can be done.

Someone calls in to the help desk already frustrated and looking for help. Instead of friendly, helpful service they’re asked to repeat their information two or three times. Asked to wait as the slower-than-molasses help desk person types in their information. Waits for the PC to load whatever it loads. Then, they can ask what the problem is. By this point you’re now made an already frustrated person wait longer. And become more frustrated.

Now is the part that matters. Does the problem get resolved? Does a password need to be reset? Is there some simple troubleshooting or setting modification to be tweaked to help this person out?

This is where most calls end in frustration. This is the part of the call where the help desk worker (I loathe to call them techs) can either provide a solution or not. It’s been my experience most of the time there is no solution to be had. Even for simple problems, like password resets or simple account changes.

The people at the help desk are not skilled and knowledgeable enough, nor are they willing to work outside their given script in some cases to get the issue resolved.

I have adopted a policy of continually calling a help desk until I can get what I want from them, usually on behalf of a flustered and irritated user who is fed up with the helpless desk.

It boggles my mind how little attention is seemingly paid to this first level of defense in technical support. Ideally, your help desk should be staffed by knowledgeable people who are able to troubleshoot and correct commonplace issues. These should never make it to “level 2” or a desktop support tech.

Now I’ve done a lot of complaining so far, here’s some ideas for improving the situation.

No, it’s not glamorous. No, it’s not going to be the most fun job in the world. But if you offer some money for the position, you’ll find skilled workers such as myself. I am making the move from desktop support to a help desk position. The money is better and it’s with an organization where the room for change and advancement is a real possibility. If you make the position attractive and sell it as the first line of IT defense, you’ll find your techs. Get people into the system who knows computers and are excited and willing to help. This will get your customers and employees talking about how good their help desk support experiences have been and soon you’ll have a world class help desk staffed by rock stars.

Make sure they understand computers. Make sure they’ve got a good grasp of Windows, Office and Internet Explorer basics. If not, train them. Make free classes available to them or mandatory. Make sure they’re up on the latest software versions your company uses. This goes hand in hand with finding good people from the start. Some of us love technology and keep up on the latest and greatest. However, if you offer classes on what your company uses specifically it will help everyone better serve that customer base.

Stop sending call centers to India. You’ve doubly exacerbated your issue. Now, you have unskilled, script-reading help desk employees who are now much harder to understand. There have been many, many times I’ve had to call the help desk on behalf of older users especially ones who are hard of hearing because they cannot understand the help desk. At all.

Skimping on this level of support does nothing but breed bad feeling towards your company. Your customers or employees have paid for your product or service. At least treat them like someone who helps you stay in business. Your customers will go elsewhere quicker than you can say “help desk” so start treating them like first class citizens, not an annoyance.

Wikis. Word Docs. Message Boards. I don’t care how you do it but meet with your team and decide what works best for them. Once you have a good system in place, this may require some trial-and-error until you find the right one, encourage people to use it. Make documentation writing and updating fun. Offer incentives for those who add to the pile. Offer perks or little prizes to make it fun. You’ll soon find that you’ll have a nice compendium of commons problems, basic troubleshooting steps, simple installation, lists of software for certain tools and where to find them like spyware and anti-virus.

Don’t look now, but you’ve just built a knowledge base worthy of any world class organization. This will only help you. Instead of sitting around thinking, “now I know I’ve seen this error before, but I can’t recall how to fix it” you can go to the knowledge base and look it up.

You’ll be faster and correct more problems at step 1 instead of having to create a ticket for a desktop tech. You’ll educate your workforce at the same time you’re helping them. Remember, if you help your help desk, they’ll be able to better aid the rest of the organization.

I will be joining a help desk in a little under a week with my new job. It will be an interested change to go from single-handedly supporting 150-400 users to working on a team supporting 5,000 remotely.

I think a lot about how IT support is mostly customer service, with computers. That’s so often overlooked in the IT community. Yes, we’re a bunch of geeks who love our toys and machines. However, you still need to make your customer happy. You need to be able to translate geek speak into words your mother can understand.

I’m sure you have other ideas and solution. Or perhaps I’m totally off my rocker. Tell me in the comments!