Ever fff...mess up in work so bad its embarassing

Truncheon Rouge · 21-02-2013 11:20AM

tbh wrote: »

The year is 2008, the city...Montevideo. I'm at the end of an upgrade thats been going on for 12 hours, and which started two hours after getting off a 14 hour overnight flight. In short, I'm. Tired, hungry and hot. The last thing I have to do is dump four databases hosted on four machines named server1, server2 etc. I open securecrt, create a session, dump the database, all good. I then copy my session but rename it host2 and dump the next database. All good, and I proceed to db3 and 4. We then delete the databases and switch everything on - it doesnt work. Troubleshoot for about two hours, its now about 7am and the call is made to rollback. Its then I discover that I didnt change the hostname in my copied sessions, only the session name. So I've dumped db1 four times and lost db2 3 and 4. I ask the customer if they have backups but they only have one, and its the useless data. The scrip to recover the old data takes eight hours.

Imagine how popular I was when I told them

You can be pretty sure that everyone who thanks this post (if anyone) works in IT

Im not in IT but ouch, that sounded like a kick in the brain balls.

Worst bit in all these events is when you put it all together and your face just goes... :eek:

In that moment its like a first person view incoming mortar scene from a war film. no sound. everything moving slow. work colleagues silently screaming. lol

21-02-2013 11:26AM

I may not be good at maths, but I do know that A+B doesn't equal C. I r learnding.

Cake Man · 21-02-2013 11:29AM

A friend who worked with me in a supermarket a few years ago was packing Haagen Dazs ice cream in his first few days. The freezers were fairly full so he brought the full combi/cage back....to the fridge instead of the freezer.
About 800 euro worth of slush in tubs found the next morning, we ripped the p!ss outa him for that one for years after.

CrazyRabbit · 21-02-2013 11:43AM

I'm a programmer. I don't make mistakes.

People just don't use my software in the way it works. Stupid users.

seamus · 21-02-2013 11:51AM

I think everyone who has ever worked with databases has run a "DELETE FROM" command without a clause at some point. I did it twice before I developed the habit of writing the clause first and then the rest of the statement.

antodeco wrote: »

Working for one of the largest radio stations in Ireland about 12 years ago and I had to get something from the server room....

Wasn't me, but I worked briefly in an Irish supermarket chain's HQ;

The devs had obtained the access code to the server room and would frequently go in and out to log onto servers and reboot them (WTF). On more than one occasion they pulled out network cables and power cables belonging to other servers while "troubleshooting" issues with their development servers.

On another occasion a technician arrived in to fix a faulty AC unit in the server room. One of the server admins (so he has no excuse) showed him into the server room and went looking for the AC units. Finds a huge metal cabinet 8 feet long and four feet high, thinks, "This must be it, I'll just switch it off so you can start working on it", and presses the big red button. Boom, UPS has been switched off and every single server in the room dies simultaneously. Fun afternoon cleaning that one up.
They changed the code on the door after that so only 4 of us had access to the room.

Not a mess up, but as an example of my Grandad's craziness my Mum used to always relay one of his stories from work that he would bang on about. He was an ESB technician sometime in 50s (probably not called ESB at the time). Power was basically lost to all of Dublin for several hours. They had half the company out checking connections and relays, replacing bits left and right and centre and having no luck. So someone fetched my Grandad to ask him to take a look. And ten minutes after coming on the scene, standing in a dark corridor with a torch, he points it up at a switch on the wall, flicks the switch and presto, the grid lights back up again.

My Mum used to always laugh at that - "Wasn't he a silly old sod, always making up incredible stories". It was only when we grew up and 3 of started working in technology that we told her that it's probably the most plausible story he had told, that kind of crap happens all the time.

Seachmall · 21-02-2013 12:02PM

How come any time there's one of these threads it gets filled with I.T. stories?

Some might be lead to believe that I.T. departments are filled with somewhat incompetent individuals. And of course that's complete and utter bul... no, wait, yeah, that sounds about right.

cantdecide · 21-02-2013 12:05PM

Seachmall wrote: »

How come any time there's one of these threads it gets filled with I.T. stories?

I got ya, buddy...

I once spilled about €200 of diesel all over our yard while trying to fill a fork-lift. It took about 10 mins to fill so I went to make a five second call instead of standing there waiting. I got delayed and completely forgot about the fork-lift:o When I returned, the MD (who had a dickie ticker and only showed up for a few hours a week at that stage) was standing in the yard with a look on his face that just said 'you fcuking idiot':o

So FL+DSL=MD

tbh · 21-02-2013 12:07PM

My grandad once took a break from work to smoke a pipe and inadvertently started one of the biggest gorse fires ever seen in Wicklow. When he saw what was happening, he legged it.

Plot twist: he was a guard.

--Kaiser-- · 21-02-2013 12:07PM

Wat

kylith · 21-02-2013 12:11PM

Cake Man wrote: »

A friend who worked with me in a supermarket a few years ago was packing Haagen Dazs ice cream in his first few days. The freezers were fairly full so he brought the full combi/cage back....to the fridge instead of the freezer.
About 800 euro worth of slush in tubs found the next morning, we ripped the p!ss outa him for that one for years after.

Did something similar once; completely forgot about a trolley full of frozen pizzas after I was emergency paged to the tills. Thankfully I wasn't made pay for them.

silvine · 21-02-2013 12:18PM

My manager asked me to change a number of mistakes in an important report including some basic arithmetic. I got my maths wrong and the report went to print.

They fired me several weeks later.

21-02-2013 12:18PM

IrishExpat wrote: »

Not embarrassing, but not smart.

Back in 2010, while working in an English school in Spain. Was in no mood to teach the set material and it got on to me ranting on (along with the students) how the classroom method is horrible for learning a language and spelling out 101 ways to learn faster and more efficiently at home, using online tools etc

6 of them opted for the independent learning, asked for the balance on the rest of their course and just never came back. The boss could never figure out why, and I didn't go out of my way to explain.

Jesus, thinking back, keyword here is 'tact'.

I've changed my opinion since then on the whole learning process and courses etc, but yeah, bad move.

Similar thing happened in a school where I worked. New teacher came in, just finished his CELTA, really cocky, thought he knew it all. He was in the room next to mine and I could hear him telling the students how rubbish the textbook was and what a waste of time classroom learning was and how he'd learned Spanish from reading a dictionary (??) and using flash cards at home.

After the class, 9 out of the 10 students went to reception and said they wouldn't be back (everyone got a free first class to see if they liked it). The Director of Studies told the new teacher he was no longer needed as he had no students (the one remaining guy was moved to my class). The teacher was really confused about why they all left. I just said, 'you do realise you just talked yourself out of your job there?' He genuinely didn't seem to get the link!

BASHIR · 21-02-2013 12:22PM

Worked in McDonalds years ago as a teen. Made about 8 to ten orders of the chicken sandwhich and sent them out. But instead of chicken they were hash browns. The bag there both in looks the exact same and so do they. Got roared at for a full minute but couldnt stop laughing. Had one for lunch then and it was good.

TOMP · 21-02-2013 12:25PM

What about the guy who caused the cockup in Ulster Bank IT last year? Is he still working for them?

pickarooney · 21-02-2013 12:43PM

I turned the tap the wrong way on an 8-tonne vat of vla (yocky Dutch custardy stuff) and went downstairs to switch on the machine. Cue eight thousand litres of thick dairy gloop gushing out of the vat, covering the floor, running down the steps and into the manager's office. People were drowning in vla and screaming for my head. All of Holland went without breakfast the next day.

Boombastic · 21-02-2013 12:46PM

Vla..nom, nom

I would have cleaned that up with a spoon

Fluorescence · 21-02-2013 12:53PM

My first time ever closing up at night and I forgot to turn the hotwell off before I left. I dumped the washed cutlery for the next morning in there, and all the handles melted and congealed to the bottom of the hotwell. It took two hours solid scrubbing the next day to get it all off

Ever since, I've always checked the hotwell is turned off 3 or 4 times before closing, as well as putting the cutlery in a heat-proof container :pac:

IrishExpat · 21-02-2013 01:04PM

Lillianna Gifted Teflon wrote: »

Similar thing happened in a school where I worked. New teacher came in, just finished his CELTA, really cocky, thought he knew it all. He was in the room next to mine and I could hear him telling the students how rubbish the textbook was and what a waste of time classroom learning was and how he'd learned Spanish from reading a dictionary (??) and using flash cards at home.

After the class, 9 out of the 10 students went to reception and said they wouldn't be back (everyone got a free first class to see if they liked it). The Director of Studies told the new teacher he was no longer needed as he had no students (the one remaining guy was moved to my class). The teacher was really confused about why they all left. I just said, 'you do realise you just talked yourself out of your job there?' He genuinely didn't seem to get the link!

To be young(er) again.

I've worked with a 'lot' of language teachers over the last few years, and there's a fairly consistent 50/50 split on the classroom versus independent learning preference.

And I can guarantee you that every teacher - at some point - has convinced themselves they have discovered 'the' method to learn/teach, and this does lead to cockiness.

The trick is to treat (private) language schools as a business first, education second. You're not an educator, per se, but a service provider. When I say this, I'm not referring to teaching children, as I have no experience there. I mean University level, adults and professionals.

I've copped on a bit since then, I like to think.

21-02-2013 01:22PM

IrishExpat wrote: »

To be young(er) again.

I've worked with a 'lot' of language teachers over the last few years, and there's a fairly consistent 50/50 split on the classroom versus independent learning preference.

And I can guarantee you that every teacher - at some point - has convinced themselves they have discovered 'the' method to learn/teach, and this does lead to cockiness.

The trick is to treat (private) language schools as a business first, education second. You're not an educator, per se, but a service provider. When I say this, I'm not referring to teaching children, as I have no experience there. I mean University level, adults and professionals.

I've copped on a bit since then, I like to think.

I'm amazed by how many people don't get that. Even my last DOS didn't really get it. It's a business. If the students are happy with the service, they'll come back.

I don't know that every teacher thinks they've discovered 'the' method. I always tell the students what works for me, but there is no one method that works for everyone, IMO. I always push independent learning, but obviously as something they should do as well as attending classes.

IrishExpat · 21-02-2013 01:29PM

Lillianna Gifted Teflon wrote: »

I'm amazed by how many people don't get that. Even my last DOS didn't really get it. It's a business. If the students are happy with the service, they'll come back.

I don't know that every teacher thinks they've discovered 'the' method. I always tell the students what works for me, but there is no one method that works for everyone, IMO. I always push independent learning, but obviously as something they should do as well as attending classes.

I've worked with some absolute cowboys, to say the least, so maybe it's not the same across the board.

One teacher had to be continuously transferred to different schools in the city (they had a chain) after sleeping with practically every (female) students that he could.

Another was a bar promoter on the side, and used his classes as a long sales-pitch, even handing out the cards with weekend drink offers. He didn't last long.

The stories I could tell ...

JonathanAnon · 21-02-2013 01:33PM

Truncheon Rouge wrote: »

Boss: A+B=C. Me:ok ..A=C
Boss: no no A+B=C. Me: right sorry, A=B
One week later.
Boss: Sit down here, You got A right, you add B and you get C.
Me: not a problem A+B=C
This week A+A=W

Yeah we used to have the same every week when I worked for United Alegbra Services LTD (aka abcdefg.ie)... One week, I swear there were four of us looking at the board when there on the board it read x+y+z = t !!!! How we laughed about it after..

Antar Bolaeisk · 21-02-2013 01:40PM

I once put the horses into the mixer instead of the cows...

Well, not really.

I did accidentally start an 18s film for a kids club show. Saw the 18 cert on the screen and legged it back up-stairs to stop it before anything unsuitable appeared, thankfully it was one of those films with the credits first! I've never run so fast in my life.

I've obviously done plenty of the usual IT mistakes as well but thankfully have managed to recover from them all pretty quickly so far.

monkeysnapper · 21-02-2013 01:46PM

I was on a plane once and was invited into the cockpit , I said oh yes please, then proceeded to take me to the back of the plane . Nothing was the same since .

Ever fff...mess up in work so bad its embarassing

Comments