The Cellar - View Single Post - Insufficient Authority

JerryM · 10-19-2006, 07:54 PM

I thought the title was an open invitation for a first post. Having looked around a bit, I think I will enjoy visiting with this bunch (& perhaps add a bit of weight to the Texian/Southwest faction)

I've never been terribly impressed by verbal admonitions with no apparent teeth. This is probably due to having spent over twenty years in the U.S. Coast Guard, where I always knew exactly what the consequences would be if I failed to follow orders.

While working on my civilian job after I retired from the CG, I once knew an MIS person who had the ability to message all users of our mainframe from her desk in St. Louis. She felt that was too impersonal, so when she needed to do something that could be totally screwed if anyone were on the system, she would call me in Texas and ask me to contact all 25 users in our location and tell them to stay off the system. She could have sent a single system message and then disconnected all users at one time. I never managed to convince her that a simple disconnect is much more effective than a 3rd party message (which may or may not be delivered and recognized as important or authoritative).

Jerry Murdock

10-19-2006, 07:54 PM	#2
JerryM Writer of Writings Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Onalaska, Texas Posts: 14	. . New guy on board I thought the title was an open invitation for a first post. Having looked around a bit, I think I will enjoy visiting with this bunch (& perhaps add a bit of weight to the Texian/Southwest faction) I've never been terribly impressed by verbal admonitions with no apparent teeth. This is probably due to having spent over twenty years in the U.S. Coast Guard, where I always knew exactly what the consequences would be if I failed to follow orders. While working on my civilian job after I retired from the CG, I once knew an MIS person who had the ability to message all users of our mainframe from her desk in St. Louis. She felt that was too impersonal, so when she needed to do something that could be totally screwed if anyone were on the system, she would call me in Texas and ask me to contact all 25 users in our location and tell them to stay off the system. She could have sent a single system message and then disconnected all users at one time. I never managed to convince her that a simple disconnect is much more effective than a 3rd party message (which may or may not be delivered and recognized as important or authoritative). Jerry Murdock