Many Fridays end early with bright sunlight and an adult beverage with friends at some friendly place where everyone knows your name, like the song. That was not where today was headed. Deadlines are due, and director emails asking you to perform some rituals to summon help for some computer and process problems came raining down. I know I am in for it when the Friday status meeting is friendly and pleasant, and all the issues have resolution dates of today are red-colored on the status report, and everyone is sure they will resolve by the afternoon. And it is your team that is solving the issues.
Alexander the Great knew the legend that the man who can untie the great Gordian Knot would rule. He took out his sword and cut it. He did not work with computers. My knot is made out of unbreakable procedures and multiple computer systems with so many owning teams it is congress-like. It was going to take a while to fix stuff.
The first issue was forwarded to me after being a week old. Within minutes I received multiple communications in multiple media that the problem needed my attention from various directors. A 403 is the worst possible error; it has its own web page, meaning access is forbidden. The email sent to me included a week of reply-all emails (?!) that showed that it was a refusal, 403, and was caused by some change in security (LDAP group deleted?!) or the grants on the views and tables being lost when the data was recreated due to some change not explained (when you rebuild a table you have to save the grants of access and re-grant them or 403 happen). The surprising answer to this was that we will have a meeting/workshop to fix the problem on Monday at 4. The problem moved to next week!
I was in meetings and trying to fix other issues while this was running. Friday was a bit more exciting than I had hoped. As I wrote above, I was thinking more of Billy Joel’s song like Piano Man than a Star Trek moment, “C’p’t’n, I am w’rking a f’st as I can.” I did not wear a red shirt today!
Next, the configuration (config) to use the software is missing and we need to be open for the business today to set-up the system! A quick phone conference and more panic. The users will not be able to configure the system as the missing config turns on what they need to do! It is like we wired the light switch but then installed a whiteboard over the switch. I copy the changes into a new fix and we get it put in. Sort of like moving the whiteboard. I add this to the build manual. Done! It is 5PM.
Before this, Evan comes over after returning from the coast. He comes in during the last panic. We get coffee at Insomnia Coffee with a nice baked good. Of course, I have my Nike computer, and I order in the last fix from the coffee shop for the system while drinking their excellent coffee. As I log back into Nike–my laptop had to load a security patch and reboot; Evan watches as I update the documents and send in the emails and update people on Slack and MS Teams (we are still using both).
There is no Billy Joel music, and the adult beverage is not what I wish for, but it helps to get the job done, “A medium coffee of your choice with cream.”
Friday night! I get home and make Susie eggs with cheddar cheese for dinner. I have reheated pasta last night’s Domino’s order. Evan heads out.
In the snail-mail, I received two gaming items. I got grab bags for the board game Concordia. I saw them on the BoardGameGeek website store. They let you put the random product tokens in a bag, saving time, and ensuring randomness. Excellent improvement.
I also received from www.hfminis.co.uk Scooby-Doo miniatures figures in Dungeons and Dragons scale, 28mm, and they sent a Shaggy miniature (Wolsey in their on-line catalog). They were out-of-stock of “Wolsey” when I ordered a few weeks ago, and so I had purchased a Post-Apocalyptic Wolsey (very well-armed Shaggy look with a fireman’s ax) and hoped I could rework it back to a normal looking Shaggy. Instead, I found a free item of a Shaggy (Wolsey) in the bag. A class act from Hassle Free Miniatures–they knew what I wanted and made more. I suspect they are selling more figures now that a new board game is out!
The crazy video game that I backed years ago, Darkest Dungeon, has gone cardboard! I backed the Kickstarter of the board game version as I like the miniatures’ look, and the Darkest Dungeon tiles will also have lots of other uses. I love the dark art and the voicing of the video game and looks great in a physical version. The Kickstarter is really rocking and has raised over a million dollars so far and is headed to two million! The number of items unlocking is constant. The number of miniatures at $150 pledge is unlocked is huge, a buck and a quarter a mini. Yes, more painting.
I bought a copy of the video game Darkest Dungeon, $29 for my Mac, and loved the game again; the voicing is a trip! The 2D video game art perfect!
I also backed the extension of Grand Hotel Austria, Let’s Waltz also on Kickstarter. The game is one of my favorites but you have to be into Eurogames to love it. You run a hotel and entice customers to stay in your hotel by serving them wine, coffee, cake, and strudel. You also have to support the government while filling rooms to get more bonuses. Now it looks like there is a dance floor for waltzing. So perfect for Austria. There is also an update to the original that I also will be acquiring.
And another crowdsourced game arrived this week, 1975, a Dungeon and Dragon 5E adventure. This is a rework of a lightly published adventure written for the original version of Dungeons and Dragons of 1975. I wanted to see what they would do as I like the style of the author. I have another one coming next month, The Halls of the Rainbow Mage, which I still have the original (for Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 or D20) and ran more than once way back in the early 2000s. It will be fun to run it again on a physical table someday after Covid-19.
And then the Cleopatra and the Society of Architects: Deluxe Edition should be here soon. This game is a rework of an out-of-print game where you assemble a temple in 3D for Cleopatra. The architect that do the best work without falling into corruption wins. I ordered the painted version. Yes–No painting! I again can use the pieces for other gaming, and since they are all painted, they are ready to use. I can’t wait for this one!
It is getting late and I should wrap this up. Often the writing of this blog is just fun and I am not sure I want to stop.
Today more than nine-hundred people are reported to have died from the virus. Today is also the highest new infection number for the USA. The third wave we feared begins.
I picked a song that could be a hymn, Mercy Now. We will need some mercy now.
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