In ur server room, fixin ur emalez

[andygates]

Well now, there's a thing.  Next week I'm the mail guy.  The other two main mail guys are off, and so is the demi-mail girl.  The team-leader go-to guy is off for half the week too.  We have a gazillion mail users local and remote, and I'm the new guy.  Real "So X, just how is our mail set up?" and "Hey Y, what are the sending limits again?" levels of newness. 

I don't actually mind carrying the thing.  Baptism-by-fire is a kinky sort of geek adrenaline sport and nothing trains a chap up better than some long hard days in the saddle.  But I'm appalled that such an important service, with so many things to go wrong and so many quirks and wrinkles, is being left to the new guy alone.  That's unprofessional to our users, and that does piss me off.

Comments

[thudthwacker.livejournal.com]

Wow, not cool. Around here, they don't like it when fings and I take off a day at the same time, as we're the two guys with the most UNIX experience. We would never take off an entire week at the same time. Surely, with 4 people who can do the job, they could have worked out something with less than a half-week overlap rather than dumping it on you.

[andygates.livejournal.com]

Yes. But frankly, bossman is half useless and half pussy. Being split across three physical offices doesn't help.

Well, only 24 calls in my queue when I left. If I survive the weekend, next week could be fun.

[thudthwacker.livejournal.com]

Yes. But frankly, bossman is half useless and half pussy. Being split across three physical offices doesn't help.

Ugh. Well, I wish you the best of luck with your Mailherd work next week. And, should you slam into problems which have anything to do with Sendmail, Postfix, or SunOne Messenging Server, give a yell. I'm not a wizard myself (accolyte perhaps), but my cohort fings is, and we're both happy to offer what assistance we can when friends are in distress.

[andygates.livejournal.com]

Exchange all the way.

I find prayer works well...

[xeeny.livejournal.com]

Speaking from personal experience of the last few months: you need to raise things like this with the team (not just your manager). Not in an aggressive way (which is not as hard as it seems), just come up with a suggestion for improvement. If you don't have them already, organise weekly or monthly team meetings, where you can discuss this sort of thing. And an online forum / chat-room so you can 'virtually' be in the same room. A team wiki is also damn useful.

Managers need managing - most first level managers are promoted because they have skills for their former job and not their current one. Lots of praise when they do things well, positive suggestions when they don't. (I've started a weekly email of what I did, what I'm gonna do, and problems / suggestions. If something isn't cleared up, its just copied and pasted into the following week. Eventually it get through.)

In just three months, this has worked a lot better than I had expected. It
This has worked a lot, lot better than I had hoped. We're making changes and progress. This might seem ultra-keen and ultra-diplomatic, but basically it makes work a better place to be, which makes me happy. And avoids the 'chip-on-the-shoulder / everything is shit' syndrome.

[andygates.livejournal.com]

We're working on it. This time, there's me left. Last time, everyone was out at the same time and we literally just hoped no wheels fell off. So things are improving - ish.

[arabis.livejournal.com]

I'm just amazed that both main mail guys are allowed to be on annual leave at the same time. It seems pretty unprofessional to me.

[andygates.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't even try to book leave like that. I'm sure by Thursday my phlegmatic acceptance will be translated into frazzled bile and an entry into our "hanging offenses" whiteboad!