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  3. What was the most awkward place you worked from?

What was the most awkward place you worked from?

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  • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

    http://www.commitstrip.com/en/2015/04/24/coders-coders-everywhere/[^]

    Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.

    S Offline
    S Offline
    Smart K8
    wrote on last edited by
    #6

    In my dream was the most awkward place. I woke up, wrote the code and it - to my surprise - really worked. :-D

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    • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

      http://www.commitstrip.com/en/2015/04/24/coders-coders-everywhere/[^]

      Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.

      M Offline
      M Offline
      Marc Clifton
      wrote on last edited by
      #7

      [edit] I'm taking "awkward" to mean uncomfortable, out of the ordinary, or just weird. [/edit] A couple interesting places. At a test range in Utah, outdoors with several cameras all watching a missile test from different angles. The video was recorded onto VCR, frame grabbed, then we manually marked the tip of the nosecone in each image, then the software gave (very imprecise) info as to velocity, acceleration, position, etc. Cold, windy, stupid. In a related "demo" of the system, China Lake CA. That was fun, got to see this airplane (can't remember the name of it now) with a huge wingspan that was going to circumnavigate the world, and got to bounce up and down on the wing of a 727 (while it was on the ground). Another interesting place -- Slidell Louisiana (or thereabouts) at a test facility for shuttle engines. A 104% power burn for 11 minutes with a camera pointing at the exhaust to detect hydrogen fires. In a related test, somewhere out in the middle of the mountains north of Santa Cruz CA, there's a NASA test facility. This one was for a 1/4 scale shuttle motor, where they were testing for hydrogen fires during an emergency shutdown. Took forever to find the place. It was the damnedest thing -- they had all these hydrogen sensors near the engine (so as not to get incinerated) and the video showed this massive hydrogen fire that snaked all around the hydrogen sensors but never actually touched one. Anyways, this was all done years ago, lugging Compaq "portable" computers around. But by far, the worst place was in a 120F degree freight car in San Bernardino CA. The freight car was one car out of several that housed the personnel and equipment for the now (thankfully) defunct MX Missile train. Marc

      Imperative to Functional Programming Succinctly Contributors Wanted for Higher Order Programming Project!

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      • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

        http://www.commitstrip.com/en/2015/04/24/coders-coders-everywhere/[^]

        Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.

        Sander RosselS Online
        Sander RosselS Online
        Sander Rossel
        wrote on last edited by
        #8

        In a car. Didn't work out though, the screaming passengers are pretty distracting :)

        Visit my blog at Sander's bits - Writing the code you need. Or read my articles at my CodeProject profile.

        Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. — Edsger W. Dijkstra

        Regards, Sander

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        • Sander RosselS Sander Rossel

          In a car. Didn't work out though, the screaming passengers are pretty distracting :)

          Visit my blog at Sander's bits - Writing the code you need. Or read my articles at my CodeProject profile.

          Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. — Edsger W. Dijkstra

          Regards, Sander

          S Offline
          S Offline
          Sascha Lefevre
          wrote on last edited by
          #9

          Sander Rossel wrote:

          Didn't work out though, the screaming passengers are pretty distracting

          You were also the driver? :laugh:

          If the brain were so simple we could understand it, we would be so simple we couldn't. — Lyall Watson

          Sander RosselS 1 Reply Last reply
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          • S Sascha Lefevre

            Sander Rossel wrote:

            Didn't work out though, the screaming passengers are pretty distracting

            You were also the driver? :laugh:

            If the brain were so simple we could understand it, we would be so simple we couldn't. — Lyall Watson

            Sander RosselS Online
            Sander RosselS Online
            Sander Rossel
            wrote on last edited by
            #10

            I have to admit this inspired me[^] :D

            Visit my blog at Sander's bits - Writing the code you need. Or read my articles at my CodeProject profile.

            Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. — Edsger W. Dijkstra

            Regards, Sander

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            • P PIEBALDconsult

              You go first.

              M Offline
              M Offline
              Mark_Wallace
              wrote on last edited by
              #11

              Nah. He can just say "Israel". That's way more awkward than Birmingham.

              I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

              D 1 Reply Last reply
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              • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

                http://www.commitstrip.com/en/2015/04/24/coders-coders-everywhere/[^]

                Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.

                M Offline
                M Offline
                Mycroft Holmes
                wrote on last edited by
                #12

                Karratha - 25 years ago, pimple on the arse of nowhere. Setting up a system to manage the maintenance of ore cars, hot, dirty, RED for Ghu's sake. Computers had to be enclosed to keep the bull dust out!. They do grow some great rock out there!

                Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH

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                • M Mark_Wallace

                  Nah. He can just say "Israel". That's way more awkward than Birmingham.

                  I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

                  D Offline
                  D Offline
                  Daniel Pfeffer
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #13

                  Mark_Wallace wrote:

                  He can just say "Israel". That's way more awkward than Birmingham.

                  Birmingham is a 'national disgrace' says Ofsted chief inspector[^] Compared to Birmingham, Israel is an Earthly Paradise! (Of course, that doesn't say much...)

                  If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill

                  M 1 Reply Last reply
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                  • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

                    http://www.commitstrip.com/en/2015/04/24/coders-coders-everywhere/[^]

                    Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.

                    D Offline
                    D Offline
                    Daniel Pfeffer
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #14

                    My worst experience isn't even in the running - at least it was in an office! My hat's off to anyone who has had to work in the conditions described in their messages.

                    If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill

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                    • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

                      http://www.commitstrip.com/en/2015/04/24/coders-coders-everywhere/[^]

                      Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.

                      R Offline
                      R Offline
                      RossMW
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #15

                      During my Cadetship many many years ago, we had to crawl along geothermal steam pipes to inspect the condition inside them. Worse part was going round a 90 degree corners and hoping you could get back. Long before computers!

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                      • P PIEBALDconsult

                        You go first.

                        Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Offline
                        Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Offline
                        Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #16

                        I think my is a Soapbox material...

                        Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.

                        "It never ceases to amaze me that a spacecraft launched in 1977 can be fixed remotely from Earth." ― Brian Cox

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                        • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

                          http://www.commitstrip.com/en/2015/04/24/coders-coders-everywhere/[^]

                          Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.

                          J Offline
                          J Offline
                          Joan M
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #17

                          Inside a -40ºC freezer of about 500 square meters and 8 meters high in a factory that made all the Burger King meat for all the BK shops in Spain. Just for testing the database and the automated control of the meat boxes path along the production line...

                          [www.tamautomation.com] | Robots, CNC and PLC machines for grinding and polishing. [YouTube channel]

                          1 Reply Last reply
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                          • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

                            http://www.commitstrip.com/en/2015/04/24/coders-coders-everywhere/[^]

                            Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.

                            L Offline
                            L Offline
                            Lost User
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #18

                            Turned up on a customer site many years ago, for a planned job that was estimated as a week's work. They'd been told they needed to provide me with a workstation. They had. it was on the floor, in what was originally a broom cupboard; a hole in the wall led to the server room, where a cable had been passed through. I couldn't actually fit in the cupboard with the terminal. But I called their bluff (they were, I think, just being arseholes as they felt that my company should be paying for a bug fix, while my company was charging them for an enhancement) So, I lay on the floor, legs out of the door. 2nd day I brought in cushions and blankets to lie on. Programmed like that for a week. I admit I had to take the occasional walk around the office to straighten the spine - but all in all it wasn't actually too bad! 'course that was when I was young; these days if I got into position I'd never get up again!

                            PooperPig - Coming Soon

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                            • D Daniel Pfeffer

                              Mark_Wallace wrote:

                              He can just say "Israel". That's way more awkward than Birmingham.

                              Birmingham is a 'national disgrace' says Ofsted chief inspector[^] Compared to Birmingham, Israel is an Earthly Paradise! (Of course, that doesn't say much...)

                              If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill

                              M Offline
                              M Offline
                              Mark_Wallace
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #19

                              Um, Ofsted is all about schools (OFfice of STandards in EDudation), not places.

                              I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

                              D 1 Reply Last reply
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                              • M Mark_Wallace

                                Um, Ofsted is all about schools (OFfice of STandards in EDudation), not places.

                                I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

                                D Offline
                                D Offline
                                Daniel Pfeffer
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #20

                                The article notes that in Birmingham, children have starved to death (in a supposedly first-world country)! Do you really believe that the only thing wrong with Birmingham is its school system? I freely admit that Israel has its social and other problems, but not on that level!

                                If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill

                                M 1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • D Daniel Pfeffer

                                  The article notes that in Birmingham, children have starved to death (in a supposedly first-world country)! Do you really believe that the only thing wrong with Birmingham is its school system? I freely admit that Israel has its social and other problems, but not on that level!

                                  If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill

                                  M Offline
                                  M Offline
                                  Mark_Wallace
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #21

                                  I didn't read the article, because it's the opinion of one of the people in charge of Ofsted, which is well outside my range of interests. I imagine that children suffered because of mistreatment, not because of whatever it is that you're implying. Unfortunately, children are mistreated everywhere -- far worse in the Middle East than the UK.

                                  I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

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                                  • L Lost User

                                    Turned up on a customer site many years ago, for a planned job that was estimated as a week's work. They'd been told they needed to provide me with a workstation. They had. it was on the floor, in what was originally a broom cupboard; a hole in the wall led to the server room, where a cable had been passed through. I couldn't actually fit in the cupboard with the terminal. But I called their bluff (they were, I think, just being arseholes as they felt that my company should be paying for a bug fix, while my company was charging them for an enhancement) So, I lay on the floor, legs out of the door. 2nd day I brought in cushions and blankets to lie on. Programmed like that for a week. I admit I had to take the occasional walk around the office to straighten the spine - but all in all it wasn't actually too bad! 'course that was when I was young; these days if I got into position I'd never get up again!

                                    PooperPig - Coming Soon

                                    R Offline
                                    R Offline
                                    rnbergren
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #22

                                    At least they couldn't tell if you were napping or not. :)

                                    To err is human to really mess up you need a computer

                                    L 1 Reply Last reply
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                                    • R rnbergren

                                      At least they couldn't tell if you were napping or not. :)

                                      To err is human to really mess up you need a computer

                                      L Offline
                                      L Offline
                                      Lost User
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #23

                                      if only I didn't snore :(

                                      PooperPig - Coming Soon

                                      1 Reply Last reply
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                                      • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

                                        http://www.commitstrip.com/en/2015/04/24/coders-coders-everywhere/[^]

                                        Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.

                                        M Offline
                                        M Offline
                                        MarcR
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #24

                                        Once, I worked three months in a closet. There was no room in the main office. As bizarre as it sounds, I was really happy because there was dead silence :-D

                                        Marc R.

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                                        • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

                                          http://www.commitstrip.com/en/2015/04/24/coders-coders-everywhere/[^]

                                          Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.

                                          T Offline
                                          T Offline
                                          Tony Meche
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #25

                                          The Men's room. We had a lab that required men's and women's dressing rooms. The lab had been abandoned so they put my office/lab area in the dressing area of the Men's room. There was a bathroom located inside this dressing area. It was the most remote bathroom in the building so a lot of guys would go there to take care of "serious" business. All-in-all, since it was so isolated, I got A LOT of work done.

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