Asking good questions is a learned trait, and asking bad questions
is not a modern phenomenon brought on by Google or Bing, especially
not Bing.
Want proof that this is an age old problem? Check out the January
1870 edition of the Manufacturer and Builder. On page 183 there’s a
12 point article wrapped in a likely fictional story about a guy named
John Smith
named Asking Questions
I’m back behind the keyboard after a month long sabbatical. Josh Waldron kept us going over at Iron Blogger, and I thank him for his service.
I have no excuse for letting my writing habit fall apart while I
burned some vacation time in Kansas City with home renovation work,
but the time was well spent. The first week was 100% physical labor
any time the sun was up, and I spent the following two weeks juggling
office time and physical labor. I can’t recall the last time that I
slept so well.
I much prefer the infamous 3:00 AM phone call to any 7:00 AM phone
call. I don’t particularly enjoy either, but I appreciate the gravity
of any situation that warrants a phone call at 3:00 AM.
7:00 AM phone calls are often prompted by something strange that
the early guy spots after getting in to the office long
before anyone else. Although the situation usually warrants
attention, it most often does not warrant waking anyone.
Three people on my team were called at 7:00 AM today because a
scheduled report didn’t run at the normal time because of heavy load
on our reporting server. Transactions were still processing. and the
report was eventually delivered. My team was up late last night doing
scheduled maintenance long after normal business hours to reduce
impact and provide a high level of customer service. We were all a
little perturbed to get wake up calls over a relatively minor issue
after a long night.
Some folks are night owls because they get their best work done at
night. Others are night owls because their work can only be done at
night. The early birds can keep their worms, I only ask that they
consider the night owl’s schedule before picking up the phone at 7:00 AM.
