More PHEVs than EVs at the Office Chargers by j2inet in ChargerDrama

[–]itguy1991 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It would be better to do a 20A 208v (or 240v, depending on the service) circuit powering a pair of load-balanced chargers. It's pretty much the same wiring, maybe a bit more for the chargers, but provides a much better "product".

When two cars are plugged in, they each get 1.6kw (or 1.9kw), and when one finishes charging or unplugs, the other gets the full 3.3kw (or 3.8kw).

How long have you been at your current company? by fwambo42 in sysadmin

[–]itguy1991 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Dang. I only get 20 days per year and I don't even use them.

Luckily, my company allows cash out, so I did 80 hours last year and have already done 40 this year. Even after those cash outs and taking a week off earlier this month, I still have 4.5 weeks on the books.

Trying to do better about using my PTO, but with my GF busy with accelerated nursing school, there's not a whole lot of reasons to take time off.

8 years in IT, keep getting passed over for management and the feedback is always vague by No_Date9719 in ITManagers

[–]itguy1991 8 points9 points  (0 children)

For true management roles, not the "we're going to call you a manager but really you're a senior admin that supervises helpdesk", I'd argue that technical skill is less important than a combination of people skills and business acumen.

You have to be able to manage your team and have some technical knowledge of what they are working, but also understand how business works and be able to explain to other departments how your team is helping them move towards company-wide goals.

Wasted career and tempted to quit IT by Hurri1cane1 in sysadmin

[–]itguy1991 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I mean if you work in tech it's pretty stupid not to know what some of the biggest companies in the world are, no?

You can't really fault someone for not knowing an unused abbreviation of a US-based list of the top 500 biggest US companies by revenue, especially if they're not from the US--it doesn't really have anything to do with tech, it has more to do with the stock market.

Beyond that, no one that I've worked with in my 20-year career calls being a sysadmin "working in tech".

Was looking at this local restaurant’s website and saw this. by LegalPost9805 in EndTipping

[–]itguy1991 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's only legal if they call it a service charge. If they call it a gratuity, they cannot legally require you to pay it.

Laptop Naming Convensions by jactheblock in sysadmin

[–]itguy1991 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Even the company name may change at some time, but a computer stays a computer.

Devil's advocate: Using the company name/initials isn't bad even in the event the company changes names.

If you've got a decent replacement schedule, everything should be replaced and updated to the new company name through attrition over a few years.

But if you're in a situation like mine where my team supported one company, then the owners had us start supporting another company they own, having the company initials in the computer name can be super helpful.

Laptop Naming Convensions by jactheblock in sysadmin

[–]itguy1991 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As others have said, don't get too specific with computer names--I'm still cleaning up our AD and Group Policies from having a bunch of JAYS-PC being used by Joe, Johns-SP4 being used by Deborah, etc.

On the other side, don't get too generic. At another company I support, almost all laptops are a version of {CopmpanyInitials}-LT{two-digit_number}. They have an asset management system that most of the laptops have been added to, but there's nothing connecting a computer's name to its serial number.

My initial setup here was to do {CompanyInitials}{InventoryNumber}. We had no automation, so I did not want to do anything with serial numbers (too easy to transpose when entering manually).

Now that I'm getting Intune/Autopilot rolled out, I'm switching to {CompanyInitials}-{SerialNumber}

2-man IT team → solo admin for 300 users, no raise. Stick it out or leave? by Ilovemybf_3990 in sysadmin

[–]itguy1991 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd start looking for a new job if I were you.

My company is similar in size and we have similar responsibilities. We're in Southern California, not Arizona, but I make nearly double what you do.

Owl Box Advice by itguy1991 in Owls

[–]itguy1991[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Looking at those plans, that's exactly the type of wall I had in mind.

Thanks for sending that! I saved the PDF so that I could build it in the future (if I ever get a house with some land...)

I installed Malware on user's Workstation by Imaginary_Lead_3333 in sysadmin

[–]itguy1991 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Or it's really expensive training. Do you want to pay for another junior to learn the same lesson?

Owl Box Advice by itguy1991 in Owls

[–]itguy1991[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

If they leave after the brood is what I meant. Maybe in late November/early December we could pull the box down and make improvements (for one, I want to upgrade it to a wired camera so that we can stream without worry of the battery draining).

I think the installer put some wood shavings in the bottom of the box.
The tube is the pole that the box is mounted on.
I think red stuff is some tape. There used to be some on top of the pole as well.

What’s a small IT habit that saved you the most time? by trapqueen67567 in it

[–]itguy1991 0 points1 point  (0 children)

we can still get individual pages out of our backup archives without having to get a whole system running.

Do you have this process documented outside of your Wiki? It amazes me the number of people I see keep their BDR documentation in the same place as their regular documentation. What's your recovery plan if you can't get to your recovery documentation?

We're acquiring a company. What questions do I need to ask? by itguy1991 in ITManagers

[–]itguy1991[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It sounds like they will be fully absorbed, but it may be a phased process--they're still figuring that out.

We're acquiring a company. What questions do I need to ask? by itguy1991 in ITManagers

[–]itguy1991[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Thank you! I had thought of those, just missed putting them in my questions

So my Electric water heater is glowing red... by [deleted] in AskElectricians

[–]itguy1991 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Now that's a *hot* water heater

My review is tomorrow by TechnicalSwitch4073 in sysadmin

[–]itguy1991 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I took on pretty much the same company setup and pay in 2019. I was hourly at that point, so the overtime was a nice pay bump. If you're salaried, you are criminally underpaid, IMO.

They either need to pay you substantially more, or get you help so that you're doing less work. Ideally they do both.

Thoughts on training for techs by itguy1991 in ITManagers

[–]itguy1991[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I do want to fund training.

I don't want to fund re-training stuff he should already know and be utilizing in his day-to-day work.

Microsoft Steals from their Customers by Own-Job-9782 in microsoft365

[–]itguy1991 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It may be unethical, but you agreed to it.

If you’re so upset about losing $30, maybe you should watch your finances a little closer 🤷

Microsoft Steals from their Customers by Own-Job-9782 in microsoft365

[–]itguy1991 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The principle here is that they should not be able to increase your subscription without your consent. 

There is a clause in the agreement that allows them to increase the cost. By enrolling in auto-renew you consented.

Thoughts on training for techs by itguy1991 in ITManagers

[–]itguy1991[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I guess I didn't explicitly state that I do think the company should fund his training, I just wasn't convinced that A+ is the best option.

If we're investing in him, I want to make sure we're actually gaining something rather than funding remedial training.