IWETHEY v. 0.3.0 | TODO
1,095 registered users | 0 active users | 0 LpH | Statistics
Login | Create New User
IWETHEY Banner

Welcome to IWETHEY!

New This is classic.
Here's a real email thread. I'm doing some sub-contract vb stuff and I've been helping a couple of newby MS Access users along the way. They were having trouble attaching tables. I found a doc'd bug on the problem that we were having and sent email to the CIO from one of the User's machines. Watch this.
[I replaced names to protect the guilty]

My email to CIO from User1's desk:
================================================================================
-----Original Message-----
From: \tUser1
Sent:\tThursday, February 20, 2003 1:56 PM
To:\tCIO
Subject: #name appears in data when trying to link tables using Microsoft Access.htm

Hello, Mike Moffitt again.\t

We have this problem and we need the APAR JR15737 applied ASAP (for User1 & User2).

If the attached page didn't get through to you, here is the link:

[link|http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21007930|http://www-1.ibm.com...s?uid=swg21007930]

================================================================================

AND HERE IS THE CIO'S RESPONSE IN ITS ENTIRETY

-----Original Message-----
From: \tCIO
Sent:\tThursday, February 20, 2003 4:32 PM
To:\tUser1
Subject:\tRE: #name appears in data when trying to link tables using Microsoft Access..htm

Need for specifics as to why we need this fix.

bcnu,
Mikem

Osama bin Laden's brother could fly in US airspace 9/15/01, but I had to wait for FBI and CIA background checks, 'nuff said?
New It's that "specifics" word.
He didn't understand at all what you asked for, only that you asked for it. Unfortunately, his next response was "well, there's not enough information" without admitting to himself that it is " ... information that I understand". So he responded as if it were a truly over-general request. Thus the incorrect request for "specifics".

I bet that if you were to challenge him on that he'd say "I didn't understand all that so I just ignored it".

But you knew all this already, don't you? :-)

Wade.

Is it enough to love
Is it enough to breathe
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed
 
Is it enough to die
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be Anything but Ordinary
Please

-- "Anything but Ordinary" by Avril Lavigne.

New I'll admit it was a terse email message, but...
the linked page describes in full detail the problem (that's why I said "We have this problem").

But, you already knew that, didn't you? :-)
bcnu,
Mikem

Osama bin Laden's brother could fly in US airspace 9/15/01, but I had to wait for FBI and CIA background checks, 'nuff said?
New Re: linked page describes in full detail the problem
Bzzzt! Use of pointer, an advanced programming construct not suitable for suit.
Alex

"No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session."\t-- Mark Twain
New You made some possibly errant assumptions. :-)
Specifically, that your CIO would know what linking a table meant in Access, what a table was or perhaps even what you were using Access for. Or that it was installed. Or possibly how to follow a URL from an email. :-)

Understand that I'm not necessarily defending him; I've been on the wrong end of this, too. Your CIO is clearly not suitable for the role if understanding your type of request is part of his job description.

Wade.

Is it enough to love
Is it enough to breathe
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed
 
Is it enough to die
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be Anything but Ordinary
Please

-- "Anything but Ordinary" by Avril Lavigne.

New Remember who you are talking to
when I worked for the IT Department we had to assume that managers and other Non-IT staff knew nothing about technology.

In that case I would have said:

"IBM has documented that if we apply this fix, it will make the '#Name' in our attached tables go away and be replaced with actual information that should be there. User1 and User2 need this fix and it should be applied as soon as possible to get back to normal operations."

You have to provide the link, which to him/her is technobabble, but if they can see that it says "download this file for a fix..." and you write to them at a 6th grade level as to why the problem exists as I did above, they might just understand you.


[link|http://pub75.ezboard.com/bantiiwethey|
New and improved, Chicken Delvits!]
New Could it be
that the CIO simply wanted to know how the problem affects the actual users? Do they end up with the app hung, GPF, incomplete data, missing data, misformatted data? Depending on how severe the user's problem is, I can see myself deciding not to apply the fix.
--

Inquiring minds want to scream.
     This is classic. - (mmoffitt) - (6)
         It's that "specifics" word. - (static) - (4)
             I'll admit it was a terse email message, but... - (mmoffitt) - (3)
                 Re: linked page describes in full detail the problem - (a6l6e6x)
                 You made some possibly errant assumptions. :-) - (static)
                 Remember who you are talking to - (orion)
         Could it be - (Arkadiy)

I didn't think that word took a modifier.
71 ms