Old Job

I mentioned that today was my two year anniversary of working at my current job.  Learning every minute too. I got a phone call this afternoon from a new person at my old employer. He asked me a question about one of the old systems that I used to support. He was very apologetic. He said he would make sure to loose my number. That's OK, as long as there is no abuse.

It would have been so cool to have an answer. The error they are getting is one of the errors that could mean all kinds of things. I worry that when they move the system, some unforeseen change in the way the system sits on the network will cause some seemingly unrelated problem, much like the one I found last night.

The fellow who called sounded very qualified. The trouble is, some of that equipment sounds older than he does. They are trying to move a VMS system (that should run shivers up your spine on it's own) to the next county. Then they want to plug it in to a much improved and upgraded network. I like that idea. The VMS system is circa 1992. Oh, and it was five years out of date when it was implemented.

Good luck.

He did mention that the powers that Be are looking at replacements for the old enough to drive system. They have been looking at that same software replacement since I can remember. I really hope it happens. I really hope the asset tracking path at the company gets an overhaul.

Honestly, I miss some of the folks over there where I used to work. There are some fine folks keeping that place going. The leaders have made some decisions that I would not have, but that is true anywhere.  I think I could work there again if push came to shove. Hopefully it doesn't. I prefer the atmosphere where I am now. The coffee is better too, Oh, and there are free sodas.

The little talk today did bring back memories. I thought about VMS and the servers that were used every day for two years without a reboot or error. I cannot match that today, on anything. Hell, my phone needs to be turned off and back on every couple of weeks. My DVD player has a black screen of death message that shows up on occasion. This world is entirely too crash tolerant.