System Administrator Appreciation Day 446
jcookeman writes "Today is System Administrator Appreciation Day: 'a special day, once a year, to acknowledge the worthiness and appreciation of the person occupying the role, especially as it is often this person who really keeps the wheels of your company turning.' Congratulations to all who keep the electrons of our global networks flowing properly!"
Congrats! (Score:5, Funny)
Kiss My Admin Ass! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Congrats! (Score:3, Funny)
How was last night's cricket game?
Re:Congrats! (Score:2)
Re:Congrats! (Score:4, Funny)
Are you kidding me? (Score:5, Funny)
(I kid, I kid!)
Re:Are you kidding me? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Are you kidding me? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Are you kidding me? (Score:4, Funny)
Old sysadmin wisdom: Never GREP a BISON by the INODE.
Re:Are you kidding me? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Are you kidding me? (Score:5, Funny)
1. Make sure the developer doesn't have root/admin on his workstation.
2. Randomly block ports on the network and call it a security precaution.
3. Generate and openly discuss reports on web usage.
4. Put a 14" 60Hz monitor on every desk.
5. Require an act of the CEO to get a RAM upgrade.
6. Expire passwords after every login.
etc...
Where's my present? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Where's my present? (Score:2)
Re:Where's my present? (Score:2)
Re:Where's my present? (Score:2)
Re:Where's my present? (Score:5, Funny)
Pulp Administrator, With apologies to QT and SLJ
Do you read assembly language, Brad? There's a few lines of Code I've got memorized
EBIDIC 9D5:
"The path of the Network Administrator is beset upon all sides by the inequities of the ignorant hacker and the tyranny of jackass users.
Blessed is he who, in the name of file retention and network security, shepherds the newbie through the darkness of the Internet.
For he is truly his users administrator and the finder of lost files.
And I will strike down upon keys with great vengance and furious deletion those who would attempt to poison and destroy my network.
And you will know I am root when I lay my lockout upon thee."
I been typin' that shit for years.
And if you read it, it meant your ass.
I never really gave much thought about what it meant 'till just now.
I just thought it was just some cold-blooded shit to IM to user before I locked his ass out of the network.
But I saw some shit this mornin' made me think twice.
Now I'm thinkin', it could mean you're the jackass user.
And I'm the Administrator.
And Mr. PalmPilot here, he's the shepherd protecting my Administrator account in the darkness of the Internet.
Or it could be, you're the Administrator, and I'm the shepherd, and it's the Internet that's an ignorant jackass.
I'd like that.
But that shit ain't the truth.
The truth is...
(he levels the PalmPilot and speaks deliberately)
You're the weak
And I am the tyranny of jackass users.
But I'm tryin' Brad, I'm tryin' real hard, to be a shepherd.
Happy SAD day (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Happy SAD day (Score:2)
Things like that help give context to a person who otherwise doesn't know. Saying "Happy SAD" to a person doesn't really provide any meaningful information about whats going on. "Happy SAD Day" at least lets the person know that its some sort of holiday. It also forms a complete sentence
Re:Happy SAD day (Score:2)
Mine's "NIC card".
Is This Like Secretaries' Day? (Score:2)
Re:Is This Like Secretaries' Day? (Score:2)
1. Sysadmin
2. Secretary
3. ???
4. I don't think "profit!" goes here, but it's something good I bet
Warning:really offensive (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Is This Like Secretaries' Day? (Score:5, Funny)
Sysadmins don't like flowers (Score:2, Funny)
Blocked! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Blocked! (Score:4, Funny)
Too bad... (Score:4, Insightful)
We need a service... (Score:2)
The only "day" I can remember is Avogadro's day because 6.02 x 10^23 was DRILLED into my skull by my high school chem teacher.
Maybe all these "days" could be posted in advance or turned into a Hallmark card or something. I can't remember them all!
Re:We need a service... (Score:3, Interesting)
Shockingly enough, Hallmark [hallmark.com] provides a "reminder" service. As Homer would say "Mmmm....capitalism". Of course, you have to give them your e-mail address, but hey, that's the price you pay.
re: we need a service... (Score:2, Insightful)
i'm not saying admins, bosses & secretaries don't deserve a special day set aside to recognize the ways in which they're helpful (hopefully!) and are appreciated: they do. what i'm saying is that isn't this really true of everybody, though, regardless of job title of responsibilit
Re: we need a service... (Score:4, Funny)
AHHHHHH!!!! It's a consultant!! Bring out the water cannons!!!
Re: we need a service... (Score:4, Informative)
She said "Every day is Children's Day, you little shit!" and smacked me upside the head.
Re:We need a service... (Score:2)
And by the way.. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:And by the way.. (Score:2)
You owe me a cup of coffee!
Re:And by the way.. (Score:2)
I wear a Hawaiian shirt and jeans every Friday.
So far, no one else has gotten the joke.
Re:And by the way.. (Score:3, Funny)
Mmhm. And I'm the Pope. (Score:2, Funny)
Looks kinda like my younger sisters Geocities site.
Re:Mmhm. And I'm the Pope. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Mmhm. And I'm the Pope. (Score:2)
Heck, I'm amazed they even used colors. I half expected it to look a lot like the Lynx website [browser.org].
Thanks, administrators! (Score:5, Insightful)
I've been lucky in that every company that I've worked at has had very professional and very knowledgeable system administrators. I know there are a lot of system administrators on this site. I'd like to take this opportunity to say Thank you.
I'll be sure to kick the ethernet cable out of the wall and "forget" my password just for them.
Re:Thanks, administrators! (Score:3, Interesting)
Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie (Score:2)
No appreciation from me.... (Score:3, Funny)
Happy S-A-D to me! (Score:5, Funny)
Thats just great (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Thats just great (Score:5, Insightful)
Because they are traditionally the touchiest and thinnest-skinned groups within any corporation?
Re:Thats just great (Score:4, Funny)
I take offense to that.
Revenge of the Nerds 4? (Score:2)
Sadly, this day reminds me that you're only worth the amount of money you can produce.
Re:Thats just great (Score:5, Insightful)
Sysadmins have one of the most thankless jobs in the world.
I only administrate my own home network. If I am at home, I am ON the network. if there are network problems, I am always the first to know.
Yet, I have my own phone line, and as soon as there is any hint of trouble with the network, my phone starts ringing. Maybe sysadmins are a touchy bunch, but you know what? 100% uptime is impossible. And anything less than that makes you the complaint department. It is nice to know that at least one day out of the year, there will be some people who think "ya know, he couldn't have prevented that DDoS attack, but hey, he did what he could to defend against it."
My whole point is that the sysadmin often looks like the bad guy, simply for delivering the messages, and in spite of all his hard work... well, let me put it this way. My ISP (Comcast) works well *most* of the time. Quite coincidentally, I had connectivity problems for ~20 minutes this morning. Did i think "Goddamn those motherfuckers?" You bet your bippies I did. Because I, like anybody else, do not appreciate it when things stop working. On the shoulders of a good administrator lies the weight of the world. He's not perfect. And nobody likes when stuff breaks. And when he fixes it, nobody cares. They're still pissed off that it was broken at all.
So... are we really touchy? maybe. Maybe we just hate it when people click "OK" on every goddamned popup window, javascript dialog window, or banner ad that happens to resemble a windows dialog window (just like my dad), and then act like it is *my* fault for fucking up his machine.
Re:Thats just great (Score:4, Funny)
Your dad resembles a dialogue box?
Re:Thats just great (Score:4, Funny)
I've been dealing with that kind of attitude towards the IT department for 3 years now.
Two and a half weeks ago I was offered a position that gave me a 50% pay increase, a plethora of kick-ass benefits, and all at a place that does commercial IT support. Two weeks ago today I turned in my two-week notice, so that on Systems Administrator Appreciation Day, I would be having the last laugh!
No, because (Score:5, Insightful)
So it's just a nice way to remember the people that make it easy and efficient to do your job. Now maybe yours don't, but if you work in an environment where the servers are reliable, systems work smoothly, etc, then you have sysadmins who are doing their job well.
Re:Thats just great (Score:4, Insightful)
However, your opinion that secretaries are touchy and thin-skinned only shows that your concept of "secretary" comes from 60s sitcoms. Get real. A secretary is the person you go to when you actually want something done. Not talked about endlessly in meetings or pointed to some large bureaucratic process, but just done, now. They certainly have thicker skins than developers.
Re:Thats just great (Score:2)
Re:Thats just great (Score:2)
Sysadmins, on the other hand, seem to attract negative attention because YOU screwed up.
Re:Thats just great (Score:2)
Systems admins come under a lot of flak because they do not realise their own power , we control the systems and the network and anyone who disobeys us will have file permission problems , web sites blocked and will wake up with decapitated printer heads on their bed.
But then I am a Dark lord of the Sys
.
.
Re:Thats just great (Score:5, Insightful)
Ok, I'm over-egging it slightly, but offhand I can't think of many other occupations where every essential system the company uses is under your purview and where one mistake can hose whole sections of the company and lose man-weeks of working time.
Sysadmins probably have the least-recognised job in the company - when they're doing their jobs well you never even notice they're there, and the only time you notice their existence is when something goes wrong. And when it does all the blame generally falls on the sysadmin for not preventing it (no matter how stupid, unlikely or unforeseeable "it" is).
I should probably point out I haven't done a lot of sysadminning for several years, but I remember vividly the irritation caused by idiot managers and clueless users ("Yeah. Uh, I deleted my Program Files directory, and when I ran Excel it had an error, and it mentioned Windows, so I deleted my Windows folder, and now it keeps on giving errors... Oh, and I have a presentation to finish for 16:00").
I also remember the incredibly frustrating attitude many users seemed to have - that you were there solely for their convenience, rather than to maintain the system that keeps the entire company running.
Sysadmins, I salute you.
Footnotes:
[1] Obviously this depends on the size and complexity of the network (and how well you've got it set up), but in general I think "sysadminning" is harder than (say) "accounts", in terms of diversity of skills required and sheer amount of time you have to spend teaching yourself new things every week.
[2] Although everyone who's ever worked in an office appreciates it, there's a reason Dilbert works in IT. Whether it's because the underlings' jobs are so obscurely technical, or because IT just attracts managers who are fuckwits, the PHB-quotient in IT is easily ten times any other discipline in the company.
Re:Thats just great (Score:3, Insightful)
no kidding. (Score:2)
I'm all for it (Score:2)
You either appreciate me with some donuts or trinkets or I 0WN3R your ass.
Blocked by Websense! (Score:2)
This is why I don't like web filtering!
Except of course, (Score:2)
Kidding.
Yes, let' (Score:2)
Same reason why I don't give a crap about either Mother's day, or Father's day (besides it being created to fill up for the holiday-less periods of the year, so people end up spending their money)
DUPE! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:DUPE! (Score:5, Interesting)
Duplicates? No problem for a system administrator...
Hmrph (Score:2)
Relevant UserFriendly strips: (Score:5, Insightful)
We need another day... (Score:5, Funny)
Me, jealous? Hell yeah. Last week I had to try to recover some data from a dead machine by taking the hard drive out and sticking it in the fridge. Without having the correct size screwdriver, so I had to fudge around with my Swiss army knife and a pair of mini-pliers. (They're a bit bitey.)
I wouldn't have minded too much but when I sent an email round asking staff not to disturb the extra-large ice-pop in the freezer, I made a reference to MacGyver and got two dozen emails back in the space of five minutes asking what the f*ck I was talking about or claiming to be too young to know what the f*ck i was talking about.
Come on. I deserve cake too, don't I?
Re:We need another day... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:We need another day... (Score:5, Funny)
I'd celebrate but... (Score:2)
Re:I'd celebrate but... (Score:2)
Whoohoo, I rock! (Score:5, Funny)
System Adminiistrator Day is for Gambling (Score:3, Funny)
Who the {bleep} cares (Score:2, Insightful)
The only "appreciation day" I give two shits about is pay day. Everything else is touchy-feely, new age pablum.
Re:Who the {bleep} cares (Score:2)
Tom
System Administrator Appreciation Day (Score:2, Funny)
Thankfully there's no profit motive behind this... (Score:2)
http://www.sysadminday.com/Gifts.htm [sysadminday.com]
I'm waiting patiently for Web Developer Day. Petroleum Transfer Technician Day was last Tuesday.
...and as a show of appreciation (Score:5, Funny)
gifts (Score:3, Funny)
additions:
Beer (good stuff, not colored water)
Scotch (that's single malt, not something you'd mix, and older than 12years please)
Woo! (Score:2)
The way it should be celebrated... (Score:2, Funny)
"Happy System Administrator Appreciation Day!"
"Happy what?"
"Happy System Administrator Appreciation Day..."
"You're making that up, aren't you?"
"No, I'm not." *deletes user's account*
Hope be with ye,
Cyan
Here's My Appreciation (Score:2)
Fuck 'em.
It's a job. Do it or get the fuck out.
And if you're not being paid what you're worth (or you THINK you're worth), find another job.
And if you're NOT worth what you're being paid, get the fuck out.
PC BS (Score:2)
Where's my retention bonus? (Score:2)
2/3 of our 'business unit' has quit since the Parent company bought us. The parent company took away router management responsibilities from us a couple of months ago, and we've had a ton of outages since.
The techs at the parent company like to mess with our router without asking or warning anybody, there's never an audit trail of who did what, and no
We call it "pay day" where I come from... (Score:2)
Come on, all you operations types: don't act whiny and expect Your Special Day - just be indispensible and be glad every time direct deposit works correctly.
The problem is... (Score:2)
The resolution will be a wildcard DNS entry that redirects all internal traffic to this slashdot article.
In celebration of this most wonderful day (Score:2)
Who cares! (Score:2)
Getta Load of Them Gift Suggestions! (Score:2)
No one besides me even knows its sysadmin day, I guess I could throw myself a party and buy a 42" plasma and PSP... but then I'd need a second job to pay the bills.
But oh, how everyone took the webmaster out on webmaster day and the laughs and levity that ensued. OK time to down the mail server and the ATM circuits...@##~@K
I'm appreciative (Score:4, Funny)
The Sysadmin Price List (Score:5, Funny)
an admin I use to know... (Score:4, Interesting)
Our small company had to restructure it's in-house networks to accomodate a whole bunch of new equipment. It was a mess for a while (unreachable mail servers, backup systems not functioning, etc) but our tireless admin worked 10+ hours a day and weekends for 2 weeks straight. After everything was settled, some of us guys decided to take him out for lunch in appreciation of all his hard work... but not just any restaurant, this was a sort of strip club (albeit tame compared to others) that served lunch during the work week. Anyways, the lunch went well but apperantly one of the secretaries told his wife. Their marriage had been shaky for a while and in 3 months time he was deep into divorce proceedings. From what I hear, it was a pretty messy one, including losing out custody of their kid. Shortly afterwards he had to move because of financial problems. He had also been accused, at one point, of stealing some equipment so he didn't leave on very good terms.
So Tom, whereever you are now, in whatever river-side van, happy System Administrators Day!
If the admins do the job right.... (Score:3, Funny)
Kind of a two edged sword when budget time comes around. That's why it is always good to have a network traffic generator connected to the network that can be switched on and off easily.
From the admins... (Score:3, Funny)
We're down at the local alehouse where they have 150 beers on tap, sampling our favorites out on the deck. It's a balmy 70'F, perfect outdoor eating weather. May I suggest starting with a pitcher of Hoegaarden, then moving on to Blue Moon, then Spaten Optimator, and finishing with a solid Beamish Oatmeal stout? (This is, of course, assuming you must return to the office today, which many of us will not.) Those of us who aren't into beer are enjoying a few fine martinis and daquiris, shooting the breeze over what backup solution to use next year or what new tech gadgets are on the market.
If you want to show your system administrator some love, all you need do is read his emails to the company when they are sent out, and actually respond to them. That's it. That will make most of us deliriously happy, not just today, but any day.
Tech gadgets are nice, but it's rather embarassing for you to buy them for us... we don't let our parents shop gadgets for us, and it's best you don't try either. Gift certificates are king. It's a rare geek who understands what his fellow geeks need.
Re:electrons don't flow (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Budwiser ad.. (Score:2)
Re:uh yeah..... (Score:2)