Work called

[CaptTom]

I still get an occasional text message from a system I worked on. For years it kept failing, and the fix was to come in (or connect remotely), usually in the middle of the night, and check a number of different things before figuring out which one to re-boot.

When the guy who did that left, and I got stuck supporting that system, the first thing I did was to automate the process so it resolved on it's own. But, ever curious, I added a step to let me know what was happening.

I could ask someone to change that code, but why bother. No-one else cares now that the problem resolves itself, and some day that system will be replaced.

I left on good terms. In a way, I'm still being paid by the company (my pension.) I'd be happy to help out if asked. But for some reason, a wall goes up when someone retires. They just won't ask. Unless I stop by for a visit. Then I get all the questions they've been saving

 

[tmm99]

No off-hour issue for 6 months? Either you worked for a company with a stable environment, or you had tons of people on the on call roster... I would have gotten a call in the first month after I retired if it were my company. In fact, within one month after my retirement, I got a couple of automatic calls when the data center's power switched to the backup power.

 

[Koolau]

Living on HST I used to get a fair number of early morning calls. I finally convinced most folks that I was 6 hours different than they were and those calls are now infrequent. Of course, since I kept my old number/AC, I occasionally get a wrong number. The tip-off is that the caller usually asks "WHOSISS!?"

 

[InTheSticks]

No off-hour issue for 6 months? Either you worked for a company with a stable environment, or you had tons of people on the on call roster... I would have gotten a call in the first month after I retired if it were my company. In fact, within one month after my retirement, I got a couple of automatic calls when the data center's power switched to the backup power.

There was one person on call for the week. If they did not return the page/text, then the tech would start on the call list. I was third on the list. So, yeah fairly stable.

I sent a text to my old boss the next morning and the list got cleaned up. I have heard from a few of my former co-workers. We had a good time with it.

But still, I'm so glad that I don't have to do that any more.

 

[tmm99]

But still, I'm so glad that I don't have to do that any more.

I can so relate! I was on call 24x7, and the only time I could get total relief was when I was on vacation out of the cell phone range. I don't know how I used to and could live like that. I still tend to keep my cell phone on my hip even now. Crazy, I know.

 

[kcowan]

Hey, five years later, my former research institution still has a webpage with my biography, photo, research profile and obsolete contact details. .

I had a direct dial line that was often confused with the number for a high profile CEO in town. I started saying "I'm sorry but Mr Bigshot does not work here anymore." If asked where he went I said "I'm not permitted to say."

The guy must have got a new number because the calls stopped within 2 weeks.

 

[MRG]

I can so relate! I was on call 24x7, and the only time I could get total relief was when I was on vacation out of the cell phone range. I don't know how I used to and could live like that. I still tend to keep my cell phone on my hip even now. Crazy, I know.

I can relate to this, not to the folks who got paid for calls, good for you.

24x7x365 and I expected to be woken up many times nightly.

It was more bizarre in the 90s when the CIO had me on speed dial. My vacation(this was the day before) was canceled by his administration assistant and I was presented tickets to the UK!

Then there's the time he sent me to SA with the instructions being "every client down there's AFU, come back when they're happy".

Yeah this is better.

 

[Chuckanut]

I had a direct dial line that was often confused with the number for a high profile CEO in town. I started saying "I'm sorry but Mr Bigshot does not work here anymore." If asked where he went I said "I'm not permitted to say."

The guy must have got a new number because the calls stopped within 2 weeks.

A former acquaitance swears this is a true story.

A local big company published their yearly phone list for all employees (The old days when phone lists were on paper) . Unfortunately, they accidentally listed his home phone number as the number employees should call if they were calling in sick that day. Since many people started work as early as 6:00 AM, his phone started ringing at 4 in the morning with people calling in sick.

Repeated attempts to get the company to correct the mistake and reissue a new call list were in vain. So, finally he decided to play along: Caller, "This is Joe. I can't come in today I have a bad back." The acquaintance: "No problem Joe. Take as much time off as you need."

After a few weeks, the calls stopped.

 

[tmm99]

It was more bizarre in the 90s when the CIO had me on speed dial. My vacation(this was the day before) was canceled by his administration assistant and I was presented tickets to the UK!
.

Did they pay for cancellation of your vacation (airfare, hotel, your spouse's pay for cancellation of vacation, etc)? I would have been livid. I never traveled without my company laptop and my company cell phone, and they never made me cancel my vacations (I worked from home, hotels, or wherever I was anyways, so why bother? I didn't have to be physically there to do my work.)

 

[NavAir]

I just retired last week, and had the reverse problem. I worked at a University, and we are able to keep our .edu email account after retirement. I put in all the proper requests ahead of time, but on January 2, no mas! Took a few phone calls and emails (my other email) to resolve the issue. Turns out my administrator did't sign and forward the request...

I'll check it for a while, as I receive a lot of professional notifications on that account, plus after 23 years, it will take a while to migrate to my other email (and leave the SPAM behind).

Steve

 

[MRG]

Did they pay for cancellation of your vacation (airfare, hotel, your spouse's pay for cancellation of vacation, etc)? I would have been livid. I never traveled without my company laptop and my company cell phone, and they never made me cancel my vacations (I worked from home, hotels, or wherever I was anyways, so why bother? I didn't have to be physically there to do my work.)

The CIO and I had a heart to heart discussion when I came back. He gave me a 5K annual bump and covered all of our costs.

They(the customer) were attempting to do a performance benchmark. As I interviewed the folks who were executing the testing it was very clear they didn't have the knowledge or the technology to benchmark anything. Had I not been on the ground, those discussions wouldn't have been productive.

 

[tmm99]

The CIO and I had a heart to heart discussion when I came back. He gave me a 5K annual bump and covered all of our costs.

They(the customer) were attempting to do a performance benchmark. As I interviewed the folks who were executing the testing it was very clear they didn't have the knowledge or the technology to benchmark anything. Had I not been on the ground, those discussions wouldn't have been productive.

Good. Well if it was OK to you, then it's all good. Poor planning = poor management, but hey, we won't have to worry about that anymore, do we.


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