The time my dispatcher thought we were experiencing a terrorist attack
Posted by Ndog4664@reddit | talesfromtechsupport | View on Reddit | 30 comments
A bonus story for today but going to be vague. won't get in trouble if im not but still probably a good thing if im vague.
So after some of the terrorist attacks in the early 2000, my company contracted a big aerospace company to build a system to automatically detect bio weapons. Said system is very expensive and requires a lot of maintenance and has multiple people monitoring it remotely.
One day my dispatcher received a call from a remote monitoring site saying that we need to check one of our machines because it's retesting a sample. My poor dispatcher interpreted this that it has detected something and being the only one on my shift trained for that system they called my cellphone directly. Dispatch doesn't know our cells because we have radios. So they got management to call me because no one wanted to talk about this over the radio. Was given direct orders to tell no one and go immediately to the machine. I arrive at the machine with everything running fine with no fault lights. So I logged in. The issue, a bad test tube. This machine has multiple so if it fails to get a "false" but also fails to get "positive" it will retest with a new tub. Nothing major, it just runs another test, the test do take awhile though so i got to sit and watch a screen. Did call dispatch back though and told them we are not under attack so they can calm down.was very over dramatic.
Cmd_Line_Commando@reddit
Had P1 incident today for one of our clients, running back up was causing performance issues for their staff and they wanted it cancelled. None of our normal escalation points were available, reached out to my mangler and described situation.
Nothing we could do but let the backup complete. Later mangler tells me thay I shouldn't panic and should remain calm.
Apparently talking fast while on two calls counts a panic.
Next time I will talk real slow.
Dixielandblues@reddit
'my mangler' - accidental on purpose?
bobk2@reddit
Yeah, that's a thing on Reddit. Mangler instead of manager. Heh.
Ndog4664@reddit (OP)
To be far, they aren't that smart, and talking slowly gives their brain more time to process. You're like a new Epyc CPU. They are a 15 year old celeron.
georgiomoorlord@reddit
We have some people at work who have 0 tech knowledge and ask us to do the plainly impossible.
Apprehensive_Food938@reddit
My stock answer to these requests is "We can do anything if you have the time and the money". Usually ends that conversation fairly quickly.
Ndog4664@reddit (OP)
Had 3 supervisors watching me as I replaced a 3 phase 208v motor. They all were asking if i could go faster while this motor is still too hot to touch. Another time, a coworker burned their hand on a bearing well over 200f. Literally our bosses job to keep them away, and they weren't. Maybe one tell I'll talk abou the boss i nicknamed "man child" due to his tantrums.
meitemark@reddit
"Hey Mr. Nagging boss, please touch that warm part for me. Yes, it was hothothot and it is painful. You can order me to touch it and do this faster, but you will be hearing lots of colorful language from lawyers and HR and unions for the next years. And you will all lose any bonuses for the next 10 years due to what the company have to pay me."
Ndog4664@reddit (OP)
Sadly, no one will protect you. You have to do it yourself. If something does seem hot, I use ipa and spray it. First is a visual way to see heat and to cool it off without causing more damage. I didn't know this till recently when i took a class on it. Metal is too reflective for thermal cameras/ ir guns to get a real reading. If you raise it emisivity it will get a truer reading. Paint or electrical tape are good options to do this with an above 90% emisivity.
Eliminateur@reddit
spraying with ipa, now that's interesting i had never considered it as the vapor is very flammable and if it's hot enough/electric arc nearby it could combust.
i will keep it in mind to test tooling temperature after an operation
Ndog4664@reddit (OP)
Ipa auto ignites at 400c, so it just depends on what you're doing. If it's a sealed bearing, i have no problem with that. PCBs I've never needed to do, but I've seen techs use it to find shorts in the pcb. Motors are a no for me. Definitely, if a motor is going bad, it's more likely to have some type of arcing inside.
ninthjhana@reddit
IPA’s flash point is 12C, though, which is the more important number by far.
kiltedturtle@reddit
Finally a good use for IPA beer. Smart, the extra sugars in a nice stout would caramelize.
Ndog4664@reddit (OP)
Does this apply if im hot??
kiltedturtle@reddit
Sure, but it may take two of them...
Ndog4664@reddit (OP)
Just to safe going with 6. You can never overdo it. It'll disappear anyways
kiltedturtle@reddit
Oh, so if going back, 1 maybe 2 depends on the machinery; but if it's shift end, then most certainly 6.
Ndog4664@reddit (OP)
Lubrication is very important . why not every hour. If my coworker can get away with crack, i think i can have my own sippy cup.
Stryker_One@reddit
Please hold these two wires together.
Stryker_One@reddit
You'll probably also need to start using smaller words.
Langager90@reddit
This comment just gave me a vision of a C-suite memo being passed around, urging everyone to save on data storage costs, by using shorter words in what they write.
Haven't seen it happen... yet.
tajsta@reddit
Lucky you, I was working for a tech company in Berlin during the 2016 Christmas market attack at Breitscheidplatz, and I got a call from our operations director saying we're not allowed to leave the building since it was pretty close to the attack location. That experience left everyone on edge for days.
therealblitz@reddit
"Mr. McKittrick, after very careful consideration, sir, I've come to the conclusion that your new defense system sucks"
McFestus@reddit
The Northrop-Grumman BDS system for detecting anthrax at USPS plants isn't secret, you don't need to be coy about it.
opschief0299@reddit
Keeping it on the down low was smart on their end. Imagine the stampede if it was broadcast on the radio sheesh
Ndog4664@reddit (OP)
True, and they system isn't there to protect employees. Just customers
TwinkyUnicorn@reddit
Doesn't that make you feel like a highly valued employee? 😂
Ndog4664@reddit (OP)
Let's just we won't know if we're exposed till 2 hours later.... we are totally not expendable
harrywwc@reddit
well... y'see - customers are a source of income, so they need to be protected. on the other hand, employees are an expense, and can be picked up a dime a dozen.
Ndog4664@reddit (OP)
Yes and no, the maintenance is very specialized and hard to get into because my company provides all the training. Maintenance is seen as such a knowledge pot that we aren't offered early retirement because they want us as long as possible. Every other employee can get those offers, though. New people cost less, so they are always trying to get rid of senior staff/operators