It isn’t I.T.

Everyone seems to think that Information Technology (I.T.) departments want control of everything. Let me set the record straight, WE DON’T. The funny thing is that I.T. would be a lot happier in some ways, and in many cases, without so much control, believe me. Control is what the organizational leaders want. The control is being dictated to I.T. by the business leaders who are afraid of trade secrets getting out or law suits resulting from private information being leaked.

If I didn’t have to worry about securing your desktop and the data it accesses, I wouldn’t. I’d just provide a reliable network infrastructure for your data to travel on and leave you to worry about virus protection, application installations and hardware choices. What software you use is of no concern to me in that type of world – a world where I’m not responsible for making it all work together and be secure.

That introduces the other aspect of the I.T. world that is not our fault, but a function of the requirements placed upon us, security. People want things secure, but they don’t want to be responsible for securing it. We provide a solution that works, but that is too inconvenient for you. Guess what, security by definition is going to be inconvenient compared to an insecure option. You still put locks on your doors at home even though the extra step of unlocking it is required, don’t you? You don't care if your stuff is secure? Well guess what, your boss does. His boss told both our bosses how important security is and neither of us has a say (if we want to keep receiving a paycheck).

While I’m on the subject, let me tell you non-technical people something. What we do is not “easy.” We aren’t doing brain surgery, but at least a brain surgeon isn’t asked to change tools and patients in mid-operation like nothing ever happened and without prior notice, nor additional staff to help. Try driving a worn out sports car down a windy road as fast as you can while the road is being worked on; the people in the back seat are arguing over which music, what temperature and who has more space; the front passenger is directing you to a location they don’t know and have never been to before; and you're trying to keep an eye on that cup of hot coffee in the center console without a top on it. Now, on top of that, imagine that everyone in the car blames you for their uncomfortable situation, for not already being at the destination and for not having the latest, greatest car to ride in. Did I mention not one of them has a license to drive and that everyone is required to be there? That’s about how it is sometimes.

Instead of bad-mouthing I.T. staff for one hour of hassle to resolve your issue, thank them for 39+ hours of productive work without their involvement. Instead of complaining about your inability to do things the way you want, praise the fact that you can get your job done in a timely fashion. Instead of blaming I.T. for the failure of your computer, praise them for fixing it (or for bringing you a new one). Instead of griping about new technology, be glad you are kept up-to-date with the latest industry standards. It really isn’t that hard if you try (your results may vary).

Chippergate (part 2)

We went to the gas station just off I-81, at the Middletown exit to use the bathroom and figure out what to do next. They had some larger sized bags of Rt. 11 Chips on their shelves. That got me thinking…the local grocery store would probably have some bags. We called the brothers to let them know what was going on and asked the employee at the gas station where the closest grocery store was located. We were in luck because there was a large store only five miles north of our current location. We headed out, in search of bags of Rt. 11 chips.

We found bags of Rt. 11 Chips, many on sale, at Martin’s. They were all out of the lightly salted ones though. We stopped at a convenience store/gas station to see what they had and they had the lightly salted, but nothing more. We couldn’t find Yukon Gold or Mama Zuma’s – the main varieties we had been seeking. We decided to just go on without them. The mission was mostly accomplished, so we headed on up the road.

I was disappointed to not have my Mama Zuma’s, but I didn’t want to waste any more time looking for them. As we drove on we passed another Martin’s and decided to make one last attempt. They had the same products as the previous one and I left empty handed. We traveled on in hopes it wouldn’t be too late when we arrived in PA, and that the chips we did purchase would suffice for now.

Everything was fine and the chips were enjoyed by all. When we got back home I looked on the Rt. 11 Chips website out of curiosity. They did have directions on there to the Mount Jackson facility. Also, there was something else. There, at the bottom of the page, was a small note about Yukon Gold chips – the ones everyone wanted. Our search was in vain after all:

Our two longtime Yukon Gold growers dropped out this year and the Yukons that were available on the market just weren't chippable. We will have this figured out by next season, so please stand by and sorry about not being able to fill the Yukon yearnings out there...

If you’re curious about Rt. 11 chips, look on their site for a list of locations to buy their products. They are worth the occasional splurge. If you think you can handle them, I recommend the Mama Zuma’s. If spicy just isn't your thing, then any of the others are sure not to disappoint.

Chippergate (part 1)

We spent the week of, and weekend following New Year's in PA with the Lin family. As always, we enjoyed our time together. On the way up we learned a lesson about planning though. We were all set to make the extra detour to stop by Rt. 11 Chips. We didn’t plan it out though because we had been there before – it was pretty straight forward.

We drove up I-81 instead of Rt. 29 in anticipation of stopping for some tasty treats. We let all the Lin brothers know we would be stopping and would call for final orders once we arrived. All was going well and despite leaving the house later than planned we were still on track to make it to their facility in Middletown, VA well before closing time. Just to be sure we had Rich double check their hours online – it was looking good. Soon though, we would experience the great chip fiasco of 2009 (or chippergate).

We arrived at the facility where there were no signs and the posters previously adorning the building were nowhere to be found. A lone sheet of 8.5 x 11 inch paper was taped on the door of the main entrance. This wasn’t looking good, but I figured they just moved down the street a little ways. I ventured to the door to see what the paper said.

To my shock and dismay they had closed the Middletown, VA location completely. They had moved all operations to their “new state of the art chipping facility in Mount Jackson, VA.” Looking on the map confirmed what the paper said, Mount Jackson was 30 miles south. One major problem with that, we were traveling north. Making the drive back down I-81 would have added no less than an hour to our drive time. So, we decided to use the restroom and figure out what to do.