[ale] RAID recovery

Geoffrey esoteric at 3times25.net
Fri Nov 11 15:41:40 EST 2005


Jim Popovitch wrote:
> Geoffrey wrote:
> 
>>Robert L. Harris wrote:
>>
>>>You have no idea :>
>>
>>Oh, but I think I do. :)   Back when I was working for AT&T, I worked 
>>with a fun group of pure geeks.  Anyway, you didn't dare leave your 
>>workstation without locking it, even for a cup of coffee, because when 
>>you got back, things just wouldn't work just right. :)
> 
> 
> Geoffrey, (note: I am not picking on you by saying this, as you did not 
> indicate above that you actually participated in that foolishness), I 
> think what you describe is just more fodder to frustrate a lot of people 
> who have spent years disgusted with the price they pay for the service 
> they get from telcos.  Clearly there were better things for your peers 
> to be doing than to be horsing around with their peers computers.  Sadly 
> AT&T has had to layoff a lot of good people over the years, perhaps if 
> their was less playing and more paying attention Ma Bell would be more 
> than just a division of SBC these days.

I think AT&T had bigger problems.  They made some critical errors and 
I'm not exactly sure they've known where they were going for about the 
last 10 years.  Since I left them, I've not had any idea what their 
direction was, or what they thought their business was.  Let's see, I'm 
not sure I've got the order right, but it's from memory:

Create cellular phone technology
Give away cellular phone technology
Buy NCR
Spin off NCR
Create your own aol/msn look alike
Get into the internet business
Get in the local phone service
Dump your aol/msn look alike
Buy cable company
Get into the cellular phone business
Get out of the internet business (dialup)
Get into the dsl business
Sell cable company
Get out of the local phone service
Sell cellular phone business

That being said, you would have to have known the group I worked with. 
The 'horseplay' was not wasted time, anymore then folks talking around 
the 'water cooler' or other such social issues in a work place.  They 
were all highly skilled and put in more then their share of hours.  It 
was a highly tense environment as we were supporting and creating time 
reporting/payroll systems that were used throughout the AT&T 
corporation.  We were on call 24/7 and had clients all over the country 
as well as in Mexico.

I'll admit, I was part of the foolishness.   Then again, I've often seen 
folks stop in the halls and spend 20 minutes talking about non-work 
related stuff.  Everyone needs their break, that's how we handled ours. 
  It was the best development group I have ever worked with.

-- 
Until later, Geoffrey



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