The Idiot's Guide to SysAdmin'ing..

A few things those 'How to' books didn't tell me...

1. Crying out loud to Ravi and Johnson may not necessarily be the solution to all mainframe problems.
2. Oops is certainly not an appropriate response-to any boo-boo.
   
3. 'Oh, is that really a command? Cooool!' is not is NOT an acceptable reaction however genuine it may be.
   
4. It doesn't pay to curse someone over the phone without pressing the mute button.
5. No, it never really does.
   
6. 'I'll be right back' is the most frequently used phrase next to 'Huh? How'd that happen???'
7. You can run but you certainly cant hide.
   
8. Its a fact that half you're problems are because people get locked out of their systems every day. Dwell on it.
   
9. No, its not your problem when someone calls you and tells you he's locked out of his house. Hang up already.
   
10. Lets just try and hide that subtle element joy when we say 'Oh, thats not our problem. Try the neighbouring team'
11. The log never lies. This just reinforces point #7
12. No, you cant help yourself when you're locked out of you're own system. Well, like they say, every SysAd has her day.
13. The 'I dunno why...but my boss told me to press that button' routine doesn't always work especially when he's on the call too.
14. If you run out of alibis, blame the server. If you work on the mainframes, just run as fast as you can from your seat.

Happy Administering.
Amen.