08/27/2012:
8:36: The first phone call comes in. This call wakes me up, so I don’t answer it right, but instead prepare to start getting out of bed.
8:38: The second call comes in. Oh boy today is going to be a long day with the hurricane forecasted to come in tomorrow. Time for me to get out of bed and get a move on.
8:50: I return the first call. The call was from a client updating their emergency contact list. Besides my office and my cell phone they are asking if there are any other numbers that they can reach me at for after the storm.
8:57: I return the third call I get on my cell phone while I am on the phone with client 1. It is the Dell Technician letting me know he would be repairing the Server today, and wanted to know how long was I available today for the server repair. I told him I had a key to the building, so it didn’t matter what time it was, I would meet him at the office to repair the server, and would stay with him until it was repaired.
9:15: I return the second call. This client cannot get online. They had the IPS at their house yesterday and they are getting internet to the house, but the computer can’t get online. I walk the client through the process of using system restore to restore their computer to a week ago, 08/20/2012. We wait about 10 minutes while the computer restarts and then he is able to get online. I log into his computer and make sure he can browse the internet and check his email.
9:45: I am done with those issues.
9:54: I return a fourth phone call that came in while I was on the phone with client 2. They wanted to know the status of their backup and preparations for the storm. I log into their server and check their backup, everything is running fine. They have a huge addition and turn over of files every week. So everything up until the recent files are backed up. The recent files range from 250MB to 5GB, so they do take some time to backup offsite.
9:56: While I am on the phone with client 3, client 4 calls and wants to know when cans she get her laptop back. This laptop was brought in last weeks and is waiting for parts. I may have a power adapter that she can use at the office, but I won’t know if I do until I get there, so I put off returning this call till I get to the office.
9:58: I return client 5’s phone call that called me while I was on the phone with client 3. They also want to know what preparations to take with their computers and server, and also wants to make a credit card payment with me while I am on the phone.
10:15: I can finally go get a quick shower so that I can head to the office. I shave my face and clean my electric razor completely with some soap and water.
10:15: I jump into the shower.
10:25: I jump out of the shower.
10:30: I get ready to leave, thinking of everything I have to do for the day.
10:45: Client 2 calls me back and can’t connect again. I get on my computer and able to see his computer remotely. I log in and he realizes that he does have the internet again.
10:50: I am out of the house, and off, on my way to the office.
11:00: I get to the office.
11:05: Client 6 emails me for their access information to their email and remote online access to their phone account, call logs, voicemails etc through the VOIP system that I set up for them.
11:15: I find a spare power adapter that I have in the office, and power up the laptop with it to make sure it works with no issues. I leave it plugged in for a little to make sure the battery charges and it is usable.
11:25: I email back client 6 with the information requested.
11:30: I start attempting to repair the media computer that pumps the techno music through the office 24/7. It has been down since Friday. I have been streaming the music on my office computer but its not hooked into the surround sound system throughout the office, so I need to get the music back up throughout the office, and not just through my office. I work on this a little bit, but don’t have time to complete it.
11:45: I call client 4 and let them know that I found a power supply that she can borrow until I get the battery and power supply in on Wed or Thursday, whenever they are going to deliver it because of the storm.
12:00: Client 4 arrives and picks up her laptop.
12:05: I call the Dell technician back up to check on the status of the parts. He says that FedEx has one of the shipments, but there is a second shipment that he is waiting on from FedEx. FedEx says it should be on the truck that just arrived according to the scanner reports, but he will need to wait to it is actually scanned when it is unloaded. I tell him that is fine, and just for him to call me when he gets an update, he tells me he will.
12:30: I get a call from a third party vendor for client 1 checking on their backup before the storm. I log into the server and go through all the preparations with the third party vendor to check that it is satisfactory with them.
12:53: Client 7 wants to know about the status of their server repair, I let them know that I am waiting for a call back from the Technician but it will be done today, even if I have to come after hours and let him in to do it.
1:00: The mail gets here. I enter in the payments, do some administration work, and need to get over to the bank now to make a deposit.
1:30: I leave the office to make the deposit and pick up something to eat.
1:32: I drive through the bank and make the deposit, now off to McDonalds.
1:40: I arrive at McDonalds. I go inside because it is quicker and the line is wrapped around the building. I am in and out before 3 cars are able to go through the ordering process.
1:50: I am back at my office. Yummy, 2 McDoubles for my tummy.
2:05: I am done eating and drinking my red Hawaiian Punch that I have in the singles packets at my office that I just mix in a cup at the water cooler.
2:33: The Dell Technician calls me up and he has the parts, he is enroute the Client 7’s office. I tell him I will head over there then too and meet him there.
2:40: I call back Client 7 and let him know that I am heading over to his office to meet with the Dell Technician to get the server back up and running.
3:00: I get to Client 7’s office. I disconnect the server, take it out the closet, set it up for the Dell Technician to replace the parts.
3:20: The Dell technician gets to work changing out the parts.
4:00: The Dell technician is done changing out the parts. Time to put it back in the closet and starts his power up tests and asset tag changes.
4:05: I get an email from Client 8 for internet connectivity through a Satellite connection. They cannot connect when they hook it up. They have 3 internet connections. a DS3, a T1, and a Satellite connection. The Satellite connection needs to work properly to get internet if the DS3 and T1 are knocked out during the storm. As long as they have a Satellite dish, they will have internet connectivity. I reply to the email that I am on site with another client and I will get to them when I can.
4:10: The dell technician is done with the server. Everything seems to be working fine. He is going to pack up his stuff while I start to get the server back up and functioning.
4:12: My dad calls me for a storm update, since he has been on his mail route all day. I tell him that I haven’t seen too much, but it hasn’t really strengthened and the path hasn’t really changed. He says he is on his way home and will check the internet when he gets home. I tell him that I am at a client’s location finishing up a few things, and he knows exactly where I am at and what I am doing and let’s me go.
4:17: I get a call from Client 1. They are having issues shutting down a computer before leaving for the storm. I tell them to just turn off the monitors and cover the computer and I will connect to it remotely when I can and perform a clean shut down so that they can leave.
4:20: I am waiting for the server to time out its scripts because it is failing to start up its services because it doesn’t have a network connection anymore because the nic card that was in use isn’t available anymore and it doesn’t have an IP until I can log in and update this info. I have to do this onsite because without an IP, the computers locally can’t talk to it, it can’t get on the internet, and I can’t access it remotely. So I sit and wait.
4:27: I get a email from Client 9 wanting me to show them how to send emails from their yahoo account they are having problems sending emails. I reply back asking if he changed his password and security questions yet because his account was recently hacked, and I recommended he did that then. If he didn’t yahoo could have locked his account from sending additional emails till that is done. I also requested his username and password so that I could log in for him and look around and change the password and security questions myself if needbe.
4:30: I start putting in a few lines of code changing settings on the routers for Client 7. The first round of changes doesn’t correct anything, blah I will have to look at this when I get home.
4:50: I know exactly why the router changes didn’t work, I forgot to add one line of code. I reconnect into Client 7’s routers and make the change and email Client 7 to test out the changes. They take a while to get back to me because the changes worked and they were testing out the speed.
5:00: I am finally able to get into the server. I set the IPs, check the DHCP Scope, and DNS Server. I then log into their CRM on the local machine. All those work. I then unplug the network switch and plug the switch back in forcing the computers to drop their network connections and reconnect again using the server as their DHCP server and correctly talking again. I then go to the different computers and check that the CRM works on them as well it does. I then show client 6 that the CRM is back and up and the data intact. He likes what he sees. He test logging in himself. I am done here. Time to head on home.
5:30: I get in my van. I take Louisiana to Washington to Earhart Expressway to get back to Metairie. I am not going back I-10, because when I was on my way to Client 6’s office, the traffic on the I-10 was backed up from where I got on at Causeway, all the way to the superdome which is over 5 miles and I am not sitting in 5 miles of traffic to get back home. The regular streets will get me there quicker.
5:55: I get home. My dad is finishing up a few things around the house. The generator is in the backyard. It hasn’t been run in over 2 years, and its time to test it out.
6:00: We do a few pulls, and can’t get it started. I have a feeling that it isn’t getting gas. We do a few more pulls, check the gas shut offs and they are all on. We check the sparkplug, everything is good.
7:00: Still working on it. I finally take apart the screw to the bottom of carburetor and there is no gas flow. I take apart the gas line and I do get a steady stream of gas, so its not the line. I knock the sediment cup off the bottom of the carburetor and I get gas flowing, so I put it back together. Problem is the gas doesn’t stop flowing after putting the screw back into the bottom of the carburetor. It is flowing out though the air filter. I take apart the carburetor and find a stuck floater. I shut off the gas valve. The floater is sticky, and the sediment cup is stick and gunky. I get my dad to get me some rubbing alcohol and paper towel. I clean out the bottom of the sediment cup so it is nice and shiny again. I then take more rubbing alcohol and paper towel and clean off the sticky floater until it is no longer sticky and moves freely again. I put the carburetor back together and screw in the bolt on the bottom. I then pump the primer bulb a few times. My dad gives it a few pulls and nothing. I give it a few more pulls and it wants to start more and more with each pull. So the engine is slowly getting there. With 4 more pulls the generator humms to life. It is running rough without a load which is normal. I connect my air compressor to the generator and turn it on for a load and the generator kicks up and runs smoothly with a load on it. I let the load run for 2-3 minutes, and then take the load back off and let it run for 2-3 minutes without a load before shutting it down.
8:00: The generator is ready to go. I help my dad screw one board to the back room. We also move the generator to the shed since it is higher off the ground along with the chain saw. For the most part the basic preparations are done.
8:30: We are done. I bring in 2 Pizzas from the back freezer and my mom throws them in the oven while we finish picking up a few things.
8:45: I shut down the computer for client 1 cleanly.
9:00: I am on the computer checking some emails and the latest forecast.
9:15: The pizza is ready. We dive right in. MMM Good.
9:45: Done eating pizza, back on the computer.
10:15: I jump into the shower again.
10:25: I am out the shower.
11:10: I am laying in bed. I am tired, a long day, time for me to go to sleep. I catch up this blog and then I put the computer up…
11:59: Goodnight!
