Payback at work

pham0329

xirtlook wrote: »

I'm always calling out the network engineers when making cables.

"if you dont get it on the first try, I'm taking your job".

(im not a network engineer yet)

The last time I actually made a cable, was when I was wiring my house. I probably wouldn't be able to make one without the diagram sitting in front of me. Why spend time measuring, cutting, crimping when I can grab one off of the shelves?

xirtlook

yeah, just about the only time we make ends, is when we're trying to make our datacenters/labs look cleaner so we shorten the cables.

the one time during work, during reconstruction, they accidently cut some of our cables, so I had to re-terminate the ends. it was that or re-running the wires.

advanex1

I'm in the Army... I've never used pre-made cable. It takes around 30-45 seconds to make a cable and it's quite a bit cheaper with the bulk that we use it in. I've done 3 full CP moves since I've been in Iraq this time and it's over 50 users each time.. gets pretty quick after a while Can wire a building for 50 (2 machines each, 2 phones each), patch cables and all.. that's only me doing it. I don't mind this aspect of the job, building up really gives me confidence in being able to setup a shop from the ground up. You guys probably have more experience though.

I do like the small cable though, smallest one I've seen thus far.

xirtlook

damn 45seconds? you're the man. It takes me 2-3minutes. then again my tools are limited lol.

arwes

There's a manager here with an abrasive personality, and it's her first management position. I don't do payback, because it'll just go back & forth and I really don't want that. She's berated me in front of my boss for a good minute before he finally told her he can manage his own employee (can't remember what it was, but I did screw up on something but she kept railing on me about it), and made various snide remarks when one of her employees has a problem. One that I remember was an issue with getting an insurance carrier site to load quotes correctly on someone's machine, and she remarked that since I don't know how to fix it she could just take it over to the PC repair place next door. Or when we had a power issue on the rack which knocked a terminal server offline (and my Spiceworks machine). Priority was to get the server online, then worry with Spiceworks. After her smoke break she asked if I got her remote employee online, to which I said that I did. She then said "I sent you an email (actually our Spiceworks email address) about her being down but you never bothered to reply back to me." I politely replied that the Spiceworks machine was down, which is why I didn't get a help ticket.

I made a point to bring all this up during my yearly review, and our HR manager agreed to move me to an office on the other side of the building to keep me out of her warpath. She actually snapped at me in front of the HR manager while I was trying to fix an issue on her laptop. Apparently I'm not the only one having issues with her, as several of her employees quit or transferred soon after she was promoted. I'll move offices after the first of the year, and let her self destruct all on her own.

advanex1

Xirtlook,

I use a gerber and a crimper, that's all. I'm only that fast because of all the practice I've had on them.

apr911

advanex1 wrote: »

Xirtlook,

I use a gerber and a crimper, that's all. I'm only that fast because of all the practice I've had on them.

If you can really make cables in 45 seconds than kudos to you. What do your ends look like? Do they look like store bought cables with the twisted pairs only exposed as far as necessary to get them seated in the correct groove or does the wires extend out the back side of the RJ-45?

Im a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to what my cables look like and I generally try not to make my own cables too often preferring the quality of pre-made cables. It generally takes me a few minutes (lets say 4) to make a cable. At that rate I can make 15 cables an hour. Assuming an error rate of 0 and a raw materials cost of 0 (reams of cable may be cheaper but they and the jacks still cost something) it is cheaper to make my own cables than purchase pre-made cables.

But when you add the cost of materials and an error rate however small, the cost to make those 15 cables (hourly wage + materials) is about equal to what pre-made bulk cables would cost.