Any of you guys here in IT field?

[skate323k137]

Too many times they do stuff by hand instead of writing scripts to automate things.

Linux sysadmin here, with a focus on security related projects and issues. I work for a web hosting company, very similar to what 8bit described. We own 3 of our own data centers, do managed hosting, colocation, etc. If I didn't script things to automate mundane tasks, I would never finish anything. I always say, "you don't pay a sysadmin to do repetitive tasks, you pay them to script repetitive tasks."

[fastbilly1]

I always say, "you don't pay a sysadmin to do repetitive tasks, you pay them to script repetitive tasks."

A buddy of mine right out of college took a job with a DOD contractor. He was a brilliant programmer and liked to stick it to the system, so after his walkthrough of the building and explanation of what they needed him to do, they sat him down at his desk and left him. When his supervisor came back in four hours he was sitting there playing Quake II. The supervisor was furious and told him to start packing his things. He logged off the server, turned around and handed the guy six reams of printed paper. When the supervisor asked what it was, he responded "that is my job for the next six months already completed. The printer at your desk will have the updates printed every morning at 845 so they will be cooled by the time you get to your desk, and the reports will be emailed out every day at 1500 to the distro which I can update from via textmessage if need be. Due to clause (something or another), you cannot fire me due to lack of work since it is completed and I am guaranteed six months employment here." So he turned back to his game. The supervisor just left. The next day he had a closed door meeting with some big wigs from the DOD and after six months of playing Quake II on the job, he moved on to working on things he cant talk about.

[pakopako]

I always say, "you don't pay a sysadmin to do repetitive tasks, you pay them to script repetitive tasks."

A buddy of mine right out of college took a job with a DOD contractor.... Due to clause (something or another), "you cannot fire me due to lack of work since it is completed and I am guaranteed six months employment here." So he turned back to his game. The supervisor just left. The next day he had a closed door meeting with some big wigs from the DOD and after six months of playing Quake II on the job, he moved on to working on things he cant talk about.

Getting that clause was brilliant

[aaron]

i'm an LSP for the Finance and Administration division of a local university. mostly desktop support. basically i install windows and perform flash updates all day.

[Jimmy Yakapucci]

My current job is a bit of a mixed bag. Depending on which desk I am working, I monitor anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand servers and the comms between them. Since I work midnight shift, I have some access to the servers if there are problems so that we can resolves some of the more mundane problems without calling in a system administrator. However, they don't like us messing with the databases too much.

In my previous position I did all sorts of stuff such as building PCs, installing and troubleshooting all sorts of hardware, and programming some stuff. They even gave me pretty much free reign on our little part of the network. As long as I kept the network diagram and IP lists up to date it was my kingdom. If I had any local problems that I couldn't fix, they would help me. I miss those days. At least in my current job, I am beginning to do more hands on work.

[Blu]

A buddy of mine right out of college took a job with a DOD contractor...The next day he had a closed door meeting with some big wigs from the DOD and after six months of playing Quake II on the job, he moved on to working on things he cant talk about.

I found your friend's biography, this is him right?

[AppleQueso]

A buddy of mine right out of college took a job with a DOD contractor...The next day he had a closed door meeting with some big wigs from the DOD and after six months of playing Quake II on the job, he moved on to working on things he cant talk about.

I found your friend's biography, this is him right?

Are you an otaku too?

[fastbilly1]

A buddy of mine right out of college took a job with a DOD contractor...The next day he had a closed door meeting with some big wigs from the DOD and after six months of playing Quake II on the job, he moved on to working on things he cant talk about.

I found your friend's biography, this is him right?

Nah Blu. But if you dont believe me you can ask Ack, he knows the guy too.

[Razzmatazz]

I'm a Database Administrator, but end up doing more admin stuff than database a lot of the time. Mostly as I'm the first point of contact for alumni at a university. So I deal with updating a database that holds 170,000 records, whether it be requests for transcripts, access to online services or processing press, I gotta log it. Also run reports, import from other databases and find myself always "data cleansing". My SQL was mostly forgotten since leaving university but I've learnt some useful techniques for updating data in the short time I've been in this position.
I've always hated databases, especially Access, but enjoy using SQL and spreadsheets of data are my guilty pleasure.

[marurun]

I did IT support at a university for 3.5 years right out of college (after doing helpdesk and y2k patching as an undergrad at a different institution), then moved on to a private contractor serving another institution. Then I went back to school to become a librarian because the support crap was burning me out. Now I'm still trying to break into the library biz, working part time at a university with the least communicative IT department I've ever seen.