The HP boys are back in force today. There are currently four of them crowded around the one server keyboard in the cramped and overly hot switch room. I guess it's software installation day, and they need four of them to get it right. Rumours were confirmed yesterday that one of the main uses of the behemoth is to run MS Exchange. When it's up and running we will then all be given smaller mailboxes than we currently have hosted by a single under-the-desk box, owing to some strange ruling from on high.

Tested my new DVD player last night after spending all of 30 seconds plugging it in. It performed without fault on everything I tested it with, i.e. region 2 DVD video disc, region 1 DVD video disc and MP3 files on a self burnt CDR. The only criticism would be that the tracklisting for the MP3 player only lists the DOS filename, i.e. only 8 characters, which for me equates to three useful characters. What I see for my disks is two digit track number, one hyphen, first three characters of track title followed by "~1" - it's not ideal, but at least it plays them (and actually displays more than a CD Audio disc would display). I'm happy with it.

The HP server is now installed in the switch room, just on the other side of a flimsy partition behind me, and it is annoyingly noisy. I, unfortunately missed the process of getting it through the door, so I'm not quite sure how they did it.

<victor>I don't believe it</victor> An interview candidate has turned up. Second one in two days with no notice given to us. Time to see if he is any good...

Sitting on my desk when I walked into the office was a large box with "DVD" written upon it. I want to go home now.

Latest e-mail just in from our technical services department: "As from today 192 Directory enquires has been blocked. If you wish to find a number please use the URL provided. If you don't have internet access please contact reception and they will obtain the number for you. http://www.bt.co.uk/phonenetuk/"

Given that we are constantly on international calls to our clients I very much doubt this measure will have any measurable affect on our costs. The mind boggles it really does.

I have just orderd a DVD player - it should arrive tomorrow. It is cheap and cheerful, seemed to have good reviews, is of course multi-region (both automatic or manual), plays MP3s and can cope with CDR discs. Specificationwise it seems fine for what I want. It doesn't have a surround sound decoder built in, but I don't the equipment to play surround sound on yet, so it wasn't much of an issue. It'll be nice to play my MP3s on something other than a set of PC multimedia speakers or through headphones.

The server building saga continue: The large beige monolith is still standing in the middle of the room, surrounded by cardboard boxes and wooden pallets. No sign yet of the HP boys, so presumably they think their task is done. Now, if I remember correctly from when the rack was delivered it was too tall (or wide; I'm not actually sure) to fit through the door to the switch room. Now that it's full of heavy equipment I would hazaard a guess that it's still too tall, but that proving it will be considerably more difficult. I wonder where they will leave it... It's too big to fit under my desk, so clearly I can't adopt it.

M also commented on the postman issue. Apparently (and I never knew this) postmen aren't allowed to continue carrying letters around when they have wrong address or they have passed the given address earlier on their round.

(M seems quite happy to use my blog as his... but I don't really have a problem with that, so his feedback will continue to be blogged here)

This translation of the salary discussion letter just in from M (who has stated that would like to be refered to as such, rather than just 'a reader'):

Please don't tell the bloke who is sat across the office and doing the same job as you that we gave you more money because you asked first whilst the pot was still full.

A much more honest approach, I think, actually stating the reason behind the 'request' rather than just being a 'dictat from on high'. Now why couldn't they have said that in the first place?

The HP boys, at the end of day two of their installation attempt, now appear to have all the equipment mounted in the rack, and have also fitted the sides and covers on the rack. Tomorrow I think they will try and plug cables in the back.

It's the time of year for pay rises around here, and in keeping with this we have just received the following mail:

Please can you all be aware that your salaries are currently private and should not be discussed with anyone else. If you wish to discuss you salary then please do so with myself, Xxxxxx, Yyyyy or Zzzz.

Cheers

Aaaaa Bbbbbbbb
Development Manager

Why is that mails like this make one immediately suspicious...?

The HP boys have now successfully managed to install the little slidey tray for the server's keyboard. The whole things could take all week at this rate.

Update on the new server: The boys from HP, in the form of a young "apprentice" and an old somewhat larger gentleman, arrived just after 09:00 this morning to begin work on the installation. This has so far involved opening all the boxes and going through a shipping manifest - a task made easier by the production of a "proper knife" at about 11:30. As of now they have managed to get as far as fitting one shelf to the rack mount. Trying to fit shelf number two is now proving difficult as the door of the rack doesn't quite allow access. It is quite amusing to watch - and at times like these I wish I had a web cam to share the experience properly.