What’s on your mind?

[0388631]

You talk about the cost of teams, but isn’t it free with office 365? That’s what we use at work.

Not sure of the specific language but there's limits. We're not on O365 either. We're on volume licensing. Prices got hiked up but when you purchase in bulk you can get your rep to slash the total billing price. It's a write off either way. O365 may make sense for us in future if we build out a third office and push our employee count towards 400 over several years

We delayed upgrading all the computers en masse because W10 works on them, albeit a special version that's stripped down and sold to business customers by Microsoft. Right now even if we ordered around 320-350 SFF towers, we probably wouldn't see them until next fall unless we went through a middle man and bought older gear sold as new because it's still new. OEMs are swamped with orders which aren't aided by chip shortages.

Increased RAM and imaging to SSD on each system, with the mechanical drives as secondary, sped things up nicely. Everything is dirt cheap in the B2B space now and it made sense. We'll probably be ordering Ryzen systems in fall of 2020 or spring 2021. Intels are slower and offer up poor value and are going to be useless for several years. We did consider Apple because what we use is brand agnostic, but Apple has some of the worst B2B sales and tech support in the industry. Plus what they offer up is terribly slow.

We may go with a third-wave OEM like Puget Systems, but I'm not sure if I want to give up convenience for that. It's simple to call the traditional OEMs and get same day component replacement or tower replacement without much worry.

I myself am looking to build next year. It's a bit strange going back to AMD.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Not sure of the specific language but there's limits. We're not on O365 either. We're on volume licensing. Prices got hiked up but when you purchase in bulk you can get your rep to slash the total billing price. It's a write off either way. O365 may make sense for us in future if we build out a third office and push our employee count towards 400 over several years

We delayed upgrading all the computers en masse because W10 works on them, albeit a special version that's stripped down and sold to business customers by Microsoft. Right now even if we ordered around 320-350 SFF towers, we probably wouldn't see them until next fall unless we went through a middle man and bought older gear sold as new because it's still new. OEMs are swamped with orders which aren't aided by chip shortages.

Increased RAM and imaging to SSD on each system, with the mechanical drives as secondary, sped things up nicely. Everything is dirt cheap in the B2B space now and it made sense. We'll probably be ordering Ryzen systems in fall of 2020 or spring 2021. Intels are slower and offer up poor value and are going to be useless for several years. We did consider Apple because what we use is brand agnostic, but Apple has some of the worst B2B sales and tech support in the industry. Plus what they offer up is terribly slow.

We may go with a third-wave OEM like Puget Systems, but I'm not sure if I want to give up convenience for that. It's simple to call the traditional OEMs and get same day component replacement or tower replacement without much worry.

I myself am looking to build next year. It's a bit strange going back to AMD.

We are a smaller company. Maybe 50 seats. About 50/50 split Mac and PC.
Our IT manager is very anti Mac.

 

[kazmac]

All good thanks. Sorry the dogs are playing up. Will you be off work for the week?

No, just today and tomorrow. I suspect she’ll be sleeping most of tomorrow.

I will have to take time when she is home, am still waiting to hear if I change my hours again.

Right now, we are waiting for mom’s friend to pick us up.

Best of luck to you both; even if it routine surgery (and this is more than routine), one is still upset and stressed until it is over; and then comes a different type of stress, dealing with a convalescent, someone who can be cantankerous and demanding and difficult at times.

My father was an excellent patient, and did exactly as he had been instructed, taking the sensible view that even if he didn't like it, following orders and instructions would aid his recovery. However, until her dementia became more pronounced (when her essentially decent character became evident) my mother had been a difficult enough patient some of the time.

That is great that your dad Understood this.

Thanks. mom is nervous*, but I am remaining calm.

*I am letting her tidy up in the kitchen.

Anyway, I am sure I will log in again while in the hospital waiting room, so I hope everyone else will have a good day.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

No, just today and tomorrow. I suspect she’ll be sleeping most of tomorrow.

I will have to take time when she is home, am still waiting to hear if I change my hours again.

Right now, we are waiting for mom’s friend to pick us up.



That is great that your dad Understood this.

Thanks. mom is nervous*, but I am remaining calm.

*I am letting her tidy up in the kitchen.

Anyway, I am sure I will log in again while in the hospital waiting room, so I hope everyone else will have a good day.

The other thing about my father, as a patient, was that, as long as his wishes were accommodated in the big things - and, for him, as for my mother, the big thing was staying at home, or being able to stay at home for as long as was possible - he had the wit to be able to compromise on everything else. That, in turn, made caring for him a lot easier.

The very best of luck today, both for yourself and for your mother.

 

[Apple fanboy]

No, just today and tomorrow. I suspect she’ll be sleeping most of tomorrow.

I will have to take time when she is home, am still waiting to hear if I change my hours again.

Right now, we are waiting for mom’s friend to pick us up.



That is great that your dad Understood this.

Thanks. mom is nervous*, but I am remaining calm.

*I am letting her tidy up in the kitchen.

Anyway, I am sure I will log in again while in the hospital waiting room, so I hope everyone else will have a good day.

Hope it all goes well. Thinking of you.

 

[Clix Pix]

Kazmac, after the surgery will your mother go temporarily to a rehab facility for a short time, or will she head straight home?

 

[kazmac]

Kazmac, after the surgery will your mother go temporarily to a rehab facility for a short time, or will she head straight home?

Rehab. ?

She's in surgery now.

Thanks everyone.?

 

[Apple fanboy]

Rehab. ?

She's in surgery now.

Thanks everyone.?

?

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Rehab. ?

She's in surgery now.

Thanks everyone.?

Fingers crossed; best of luck to your mother, and do be kind to yourself and take care of yourself both now, and while your mother is recovering from her surgery and recuperating generally.

 

[decafjava]

Take care of yourself too, @kazmac it is certainly a stressful time-but I am sure it will be fine.

 

[0388631]

Very mild sore throat that's coming and going. So far so good. Heard someone call out to their dog today at the store. One of those certified animals for the disabled. Veruca was its name. Odd choice.

 

[decafjava]

Gorgeous vista this morning on the train. The Jura mountains were all white and frosted. Too bad this is the only nice day forecast this week. Bleh.

 

[D.T.]

Veruca was its name. Odd choice.

They're probably a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the TV show)

I had a come-and-go cold for like 2 weeks, never got very bad (like maybe a 5 out of 10), but never really went away either ...

Rehab. ?

She's in surgery now.

Thanks everyone.?

Hope things turned out as expected - can't reinforce her doing the PT/OT as directed enough

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Very mild sore throat that's coming and going. So far so good. Heard someone call out to their dog today at the store. One of those certified animals for the disabled. Veruca was its name. Odd choice.

A friend of my mother's had a large dog (a guard dog, a Rottweiler cross if memory serves, for his business) who went by the name of Satan.

 

[kazmac]

Hi everyone,

Mom made it through the surgery. She is doing well considering. Going to visit her again shortly.

Thanks so much for your good wishes and kind words.

Hope you all have a great day.

?

 

[JayMysterio]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1204367598101639169

Y'know, it's strange but I never thought of that. ?
[automerge]1575986832[/automerge]

They're probably a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the TV show)

Or the band. Or Willy Wonka.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Hi everyone,

Mom made it through the surgery. She is doing well considering. Going to visit her again shortly.

Thanks so much for your good wishes and kind words.

Hope you all have a great day.

?

Fantastic news and delighted to hear it.

Best wishes and the best of luck to you both.

 

[decafjava]

Hi everyone,

Mom made it through the surgery. She is doing well considering. Going to visit her again shortly.

Thanks so much for your good wishes and kind words.

Hope you all have a great day.

?

Happy to read this, you have a great day too!

 

[D.T.]

Or the band. Or Willy Wonka.

Well, the Veruca in BtVS is a [female] werewolf, so it sort of makes sense

 

[Clix Pix]

Hi everyone,

Mom made it through the surgery. She is doing well considering. Going to visit her again shortly.

Thanks so much for your good wishes and kind words.

Hope you all have a great day.

?

Good to hear this news!!! I'm glad for your mother, and for you.....!

 

[LizKat]

Why does it take 90 minutes, for Ford to perform an oil change and a tyre rotation?

LOL bc how else can they justify the price.

On the other hand the last time I did those things for myself it took me three hours, so... I know for a fact they're handier than I will ever be at those particular tasks.

 

[Raid]

Karma is on my mind a lot recently. But unlike many situations I wanted to highlight some good karma (and do a little promotion for my Dad's efforts to do the right thing).

Ok a little background. My Dad has been an Alfa Romeo enthusiast since the early 50's (well before I was around BTW! ).
A long time ago he took on probably the biggest project of his hobby by restoring a 1969 Alfa Romeo Spider Junior. He's not a mechanic by trade or schooling, but with the help of some fellow Alfa enthusiasts he was able to see his dream come to fruition, with far more wrench twisting than wallet opening.

One big helper in all of this was a man named Tony. He himself had restored a 1970, 1750cc Spider in the 80's and when my Dad hit a major road block, Tony sacrificed his next project car (a junior like my dads) and 'sold' those pieces to him for what my dad would call essentially giving them away. My dad has always been very grateful of that act of generosity over the next quarter century.

However time took more of a toll on Tony in the past 25 years that followed. He died leaving an ailing widow to deal with a myriad of 'rusty gold' parts... and of course that 1750 round tail spider.

My Dad has sold off all the parts now and made sure Tony's wife got a fair price for the goods, now though after giving the 1750 a good going over it's now up on auction over at bring a trailer.com

If you know of anyone who is looking for such a vintage beauty send them this link. We want to cast the widest net possible to bring in the most we can for his widow. My dad isn't getting a cent out of this, just trying to repay some car guy karma.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Hi everyone,

Mom made it through the surgery. She is doing well considering. Going to visit her again shortly.

Thanks so much for your good wishes and kind words.

Hope you all have a great day.

?

Great news! Hope the recovery is quick for her, and not too much work and stress for you.

 

[LizKat]

A friend of my mother's had a large dog (a guard dog, a Rottweiler cross if memory serves, for his business) who went by the name of Satan.

yah when I read zen's post I flashed back to when I asked my sister's father-in-law the name of his sweet cat who was at that moment sitting placidly on the guy's lap in the late September sun...

"Her name?" He smoothed down her fur as she stretched her head up for what came next which was a fond rubbing behind the ears. "Killer".

Right. Killer. Found out later she had a rep for riding any hapless stray dog back down the driveway...

 

[kazmac]

Thanks again for the kind words.

We saw mom (She was happy to see us) and probably won't know when she'll be transported to rehab until later this week.

It's going to snow overnight, so I am just grateful that surgery was yesterday.

I wish everyone a nice night.

?