Tag: HP

Decided to share a light-hearted memory.  I’m listening to the Who’s Boris the Spider.

Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy is a favorite.

In addition to listening to the vinyl we had it on 45.

The memory.

While working for HP I attended a class in Corvallis Oregon, the training focused on a new network router that would manage loads in different time zones. 

Follow the sun where as one region is going to sleep another is waking up.

The servers would take the load off the networks.

Spreading the load makes for better and more consistent performance.

There were two classes ongoing in separate rooms.  I wound up in a room full of HPers from Canada.  We clicked and had a lot of fun working through the labs.

The instructor who was a very cool guy from San Diego would come over to see what we were laughing about.

We finished the labs early so asked if it was okay that we went to lunch.  

Comeraderie and Fun Stories.

While eating in the cafeteria we exchanged amusing stories on various topics.  One was spiders – who was and wasn’t afraid of them.

I’m not but shared a funny anecdote where several aunts saw a little one and went shrieking after which my grandmother said, “Oh for heaven’s sakes you’re afraid of that little thing?” then took care of it.  

I’m chuckling remembering how they scrambled over each other in an effort to get away from where it was sitting on the wall.

One of the guys told a story that had us laughing.

Though we were all very sympathetic to someone being afraid like that.

He got home from work to find his front door wide open.  As he walked into the house he called out to his wife.

No answer.

He walked around the house becoming more alarmed as he couldn’t find his wife and she wasn’t answering his calls.  

Then he got to the bedroom.

His wife was standing on the bed staring at the top of the bedroom doorway.  He walked in, turned to see what she was staring at.

A small house spider.

Turning back he asked if that was the problem.

He knew she was afraid of spiders but had never seen her like that.

She didn’t say anything though he saw the slightest nod.  After taking care of the spider his wife went rushing past.  

To the bathroom.

Apparently she was convinced that if she went through the bdroom door to get to the bathroom the spider would fall the moment she was beneath it and land on her.

Back to Class is Back to Fun.

The second and last day of the training went pretty much like the first with the Canadians and me having a blast working through the labs.

Which increased in difficulty throughout the class.

When the instructor came over toward the end of the second day I assumed it was just to see what we were laughing about.  

A Spoonful of Sugar …

Helps difficult labs go down.

Turns out the other class was seriously behind.  Not only that they were apparently complaining about how difficult the labs were.  When the instructor asked if we had any insight into the stark differences we searched for something to say.

None of us wanted to bad-mouth fellow HPers.

One of the Canadians made a comment about Canadians being good-natured.

Implying the other group came from a different region [of the US] and was likely culturally influenced.

The instructor looked at me and said, “You’re American aren’t you?”

I explained “Yes but I was born in Detroit and grew up in Michigan about 30 miles from the Canadian border.”  

I also supported global supply chain for the automotive industry so many Canadian companies were customers.

The fun rubs off.

I hope you are able to find fun moments in challenging situations.

Be well.