One week to go and there’s so much to do.
We got the 1 TB hard drives that were holding up a couple of projects and I mounted them in the server. There seems to be a new problem with the server hardware because it’s only seeing that there are two drives when there are actually three, despite my attempts to figure out why and work around the problem. Larry will help me tomorrow morning but that’s another delay of a day.
Never ask for an opinion from only two people. You’re guaranteed to get three opinions or need a tie breaker. I realized that the seven network switches I just installed were not only running two different software versions but that neither version was the latest. I downloaded the update and then asked if I should do the updating in the middle of the afternoon or after working hours. Larry’s personality is to shoot first and ask questions later. Since I’ve been here, he’s made decisions to changes the network that would impact the users without informing the users. No surprise that Larry said I should go ahead right away. Phyllis, on the other hand, is ultra-conservative and would prefer I make no changes at all … at least while she’s around.
So I compromised… I updated all the switches (successfully, I might add) after business hours. This was the right decision. I just needed to be patient.
If you’ve not been in a third world country, you won’t realize how automated everything in the US is. This is particularly true in the area of construction. I haven’t seen a single power hand tool. I’ve not seen any mechanized road equipment. The renovation project here at the center, to turn former offices back into apartments, is being totally done by hand. There are lots of laborers chipping and scrapping away with hand tools. Lots of banging.
The roads here are bad, even the paved ones. A couple of weeks ago I’m convinced we drove by the only road crew in Kenya. Rather than all sorts of mechanical equipment to lay down new hardtop and pack it down, there was simply a flatbed truck piled up with hot patch, two guys shoveling it onto the road, two guys moving it to the spot and a couple of guys packing it down.
Sometimes I feel like the ditch digger, taking so long to get items on the list done. I need to trust God’s timing and have more patience.
We got the 1 TB hard drives that were holding up a couple of projects and I mounted them in the server. There seems to be a new problem with the server hardware because it’s only seeing that there are two drives when there are actually three, despite my attempts to figure out why and work around the problem. Larry will help me tomorrow morning but that’s another delay of a day.
Never ask for an opinion from only two people. You’re guaranteed to get three opinions or need a tie breaker. I realized that the seven network switches I just installed were not only running two different software versions but that neither version was the latest. I downloaded the update and then asked if I should do the updating in the middle of the afternoon or after working hours. Larry’s personality is to shoot first and ask questions later. Since I’ve been here, he’s made decisions to changes the network that would impact the users without informing the users. No surprise that Larry said I should go ahead right away. Phyllis, on the other hand, is ultra-conservative and would prefer I make no changes at all … at least while she’s around.
So I compromised… I updated all the switches (successfully, I might add) after business hours. This was the right decision. I just needed to be patient.
If you’ve not been in a third world country, you won’t realize how automated everything in the US is. This is particularly true in the area of construction. I haven’t seen a single power hand tool. I’ve not seen any mechanized road equipment. The renovation project here at the center, to turn former offices back into apartments, is being totally done by hand. There are lots of laborers chipping and scrapping away with hand tools. Lots of banging.
The roads here are bad, even the paved ones. A couple of weeks ago I’m convinced we drove by the only road crew in Kenya. Rather than all sorts of mechanical equipment to lay down new hardtop and pack it down, there was simply a flatbed truck piled up with hot patch, two guys shoveling it onto the road, two guys moving it to the spot and a couple of guys packing it down.
There was a need to add a drainage channel in an area that used to be frequently crossed by foot traffic, when going to/from the old office. Now that the building is vacant, they assigned some poor laborer to break the concrete with a hammer and chisel. Four days later, it’s now a smoothed concrete ditch. It could have been done in less than two days with a pneumatic hammer.
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