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Seriously?
Oct. 14th, 2011 08:29 amIt seems like every day I learn something new that makes me say "Seriously?"
Here is a real quote from this morning: "Unfortunately, lower-case ‘c' does come before upper-case 'A' on our database (followed by numbers). Also unfortunately, I have no control over this so it's a training issue."
What kind of raving lunatic decided to make his/her own alphabetization rules? And why in the heck are we using that guy's database?
This is not the only "training issue" in our new "more user-friendly" system we are creating. And guess who has to do this training? At least with obnoxious bureaucracy, we have reasons for the things we do. (Why do we make you bring in your marriage certificate to change your name instead of just trusting your driver's license or your Social Security card? Because we're paranoid. Why are we paranoid? Because sometimes people come in to change someone else's name to their own name so that it looks like they have a degree. See, that's an interesting story, and we look less like unreasonable jerks when I tell it.) I don't like when the only story I know makes me look more like an unreasonable jerk.
We have a severe problem dealing with simple laws of physics, mathematics, and now alphabetization around here, which is especially distressing in an educational institution. I'm dealing with unique numbers that aren't unique. Branching structures imposed on realities that are not branch-shaped. And now letters that don't equal themselves.
Edited to add: After bringing up the alphabetization issue in a meeting, one of the other attendees knew how to handle the situation. Something about making an all-cap version of the titles we are searching and aiming the search at that version but the resulting display at the mixed cap original version. Yea!
Here is a real quote from this morning: "Unfortunately, lower-case ‘c' does come before upper-case 'A' on our database (followed by numbers). Also unfortunately, I have no control over this so it's a training issue."
What kind of raving lunatic decided to make his/her own alphabetization rules? And why in the heck are we using that guy's database?
This is not the only "training issue" in our new "more user-friendly" system we are creating. And guess who has to do this training? At least with obnoxious bureaucracy, we have reasons for the things we do. (Why do we make you bring in your marriage certificate to change your name instead of just trusting your driver's license or your Social Security card? Because we're paranoid. Why are we paranoid? Because sometimes people come in to change someone else's name to their own name so that it looks like they have a degree. See, that's an interesting story, and we look less like unreasonable jerks when I tell it.) I don't like when the only story I know makes me look more like an unreasonable jerk.
We have a severe problem dealing with simple laws of physics, mathematics, and now alphabetization around here, which is especially distressing in an educational institution. I'm dealing with unique numbers that aren't unique. Branching structures imposed on realities that are not branch-shaped. And now letters that don't equal themselves.
Edited to add: After bringing up the alphabetization issue in a meeting, one of the other attendees knew how to handle the situation. Something about making an all-cap version of the titles we are searching and aiming the search at that version but the resulting display at the mixed cap original version. Yea!