Tuesday, February 27, 2007

I Am NOT A Happy Camper!


The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at and repair.
Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001), "Mostly Harmless"

Yes, something has gone horribly, terribly wrong. I am not happy. In fact, I am quite definitely pissed!


The computer guy at work has been switching over to a new server and upgrading some of our programs and network. Occasionally the Parish Manager will mention to me that he will be coming in after I leave for the day to do some work on the office computer system. Monday as I was getting ready to leave, she mentioned to me that he would be coming in to work on the system that evening. No big deal, right? I wish that was true.

I had no idea that he would be transferring all of my Excell and Word files over to the newer Microsoft Office program and the new server. EVERY one of my files were messed up! I have literally hundreds and hundreds of hours put into those files... especially the Excell spreadsheets for the financial reports and budget. In fact, I had already put numerous hours into the upcoming budget for this coming fiscal year. Half of my files have totally disappeared. Most of the other half are either so corrupted as to be unrepairable and useless, or have reverted to whatever they looked like in 2003! Computer guy cannot figure out what happened nor can he find my files. NONE of those files were backed up on the old server. Luckily, I have back up copies for the General ledger and Payroll programs on CDs. The settings for my reports were messed up, but I can deal with that easily.

I have older copies of a few of the files on my computer at home. But most of the bigger files I am having to redo from scratch. Had I known that he was transferring files, I would have backed up the important ones to a CD before he tried to transfer them. Some of the other staff members had no idea that he was coming and arrived at work today to find that they could not use their computers... they were told by the Parish Manager that it may be 2 to 3 weeks! I find that hard to believe. I would think that computer guy could get them access in a day or so. Since they didn't know what was being done, they did not back up their files to a CD or disk.

So, many of my upcoming nights at home will be spent rebuilding those Excell files. I don't have time to do my regular work and rebuild the files during my regular workday. Tonight I started working on the quarterly financial report which is 4 legal pages long. I am sooooooooooo delighted.








9 comments:

Jim said...

If you pretend it is a blog you are writing you can write those files back faster!
Best wishes on reconstructing them.
..

Rachel said...

Geesh, what a mess! Sounds like a new computer guy might be in order!

L said...

whoa! sounds like someone didn't know what he was doing! wow

Alisa said...

Oh gosh. If you haven't recovered your files already, I'd take your tower to a computer shop that has a recovery specialist. It would be worth the time and money.

I would literally DIE if that happened to my stuff. I have spreadsheets to track spreadsheets!

Anonymous said...

Is there a more horrible sinking feeling than this? I don't think so. Egads, woman, you should have both of them put on a pike!

Ron Southern said...

Who was this computer, Larry, Curley, or Moe? Who let him loose without a chaperone? Sounds very amateur to me. Good luck recuperating (in all senses).

possum said...

Tsk, Tsk, such naughty language! I will share with you a note I took from one of my 10th graders... "I am so pist I could scream...... " Hmmm, I thought, as he cringed and gathered his books waiting to be sent to the office... hmmmmm, pist isn't really a bad word now, is it? The boy also had a speech defect... "I'm in trouble, ain't I?" he asked. I just looked at him - you know THAT LOOK that some teachers have... "Shouldna said pift." How did I keep from laughing????? I crumpled the note, gave him the GLARE, and told him to never, ever do that again.
Pift has been a word in our house ever since... and that has been a long, long time! Getting pift off is a lot more fun than the other thing.................

Rhodent said...

Possum--Next time, If I am not toooo angry, I will definitely try getting pift off instead!

Mark, Ron, L, Alisa, Rachel--The "Larry/Curly/Moe" aka "Black Adder" computer guy is still on the job... can't wait to see what happens next!

Jim-- I have already redone quite a few of my files that I need to have for my current work as well as a few others. The rest will have to wait until I have need or time or both!

The Little Red Hen said...

Oh, lady, that is why I back up my OWN files every day even though I am the only one who touches my computer. I don't even trust myself not to screw it up.