How to Train Your Dragon. A Few Examples from Life
Poltergeist
A couple of days before the New Year, the real rush begins. The residents have been patient all year so that in the last days everything could be repaired and renovated at any cost.
That time I received a complaint about the interruption of the TV signal. I am interested in:
– What do you mean? Can you give more details?
Tech support explains:
— The signal is there, then not there. When the client's family is going to watch TV in the evening, it turns off. There were several people on this request before you. All of them were competent and experienced installers, but they couldn't find anything. We called the neighbors – they all say that everything is fine for them, but this subscriber has been sending requests every day for almost a week.
– And what do those who went before me say?
— As one says, everything is normal: excellent signal both in the riser and on the TV. The last time the boy sat with the owner for an hour and a half, watching the box — nothing was interrupted.
— Poltergeist, or what?
– Yes, it looks very similar. Go and figure it out.
Poltergeist is what we call complex requests where it is not so easy to find the cause. There is nothing to do, I head out to the subscriber. On site I measure the signal in the riser – everything is fine. In the box on the landing the cable is intact. I go into the apartment:
– Hello. What's wrong?
– It's all wrong. No one could do anything before you. What are we paying for! Last night everything turned off again. We're leaving you!
– Well, let me take a look.
Luckily for me, the whole family is at home: husband, wife, two children and grandmother. The owner is a very large man. Two and a half meters tall and weighs 160-180 kilograms. You can't really argue with him.
I examine the wiring: the coaxial cable in the hallway dives into a plastic baseboard and emerges in the room behind the closet, where the TV is located in a special niche. Opposite is a large corner sofa.
I measure the signal from the plug – everything is great. I turn on the box – everything is great, nothing is interrupted. I watch, think, get lost in conjecture. I start talking to the owner:
— When did you do the renovation?
— It's been two years since the last time. But what does it have to do with repairs? It's something you have, but everything is fine with us. It's been interrupted for a couple of months now in the evenings, when everyone is home. Yesterday, without me, your worker sat here with my wife for more than an hour: it was also good with him. But when I came back, it got so bad. Before that, another worker of yours said that there was a problem with the TV. We called a repairman: he said that the TV was working. Look, search, think. That's what you work for.
I answer:
– I don't argue with you, but you have to understand me. Both now and yesterday with another person everything seemed normal – I can't stay with you.
The owner shouts something indignantly, waves his arms, slaps his body and sits down on the sofa with all his weight. Bam! And the picture disappears… I measure the signal from the plug – there is no signal… I break into the entrance to the riser – the signal is completely normal.
I return to the apartment, plug in the plug: everything works. The whole family is sitting on the sofa except for my father, everyone is looking at me. The owner says much more calmly:
– Well, did you see the interruption?
– Saw.
– Look, I'm not lying and I'm not being mean. It's like that every evening. Your guys probably think I'm crazy by now.
– So, could you sit on the sofa, and exactly where you usually sit in the evening?
– Yes please!
The owner plops down on the sofa and the image disappears. I say:
– Well, what? Let's move the sofa, I don't see any other reason…
Groaning and cursing a little, we move the sofa. And we see the reason: people decided to save money on the renovation and did not install a baseboard there. The cable was in free fall and somehow got under the leg. At first it worked, but over time it broke. When the household and service workers were sitting on the sofa, the TV showed. But as soon as the owner himself came home from work and sat down, the image disappeared. That's the whole problem…
I installed the coupling for the clients, pushed the sofa back into place, checked that the coaxial was away from the leg. We all sat together on the sofa and laughed.
That's the whole poltergeist. As in 99.9% of unexplained cases – the explanation is simple and usual… The main thing is not to rush, not to get nervous and think about everything carefully.
How to Train Your Dragon
Why kill the Dragon?
A dragon is such a rarity!
It's better to try to come to an agreement.
And then show it for money.
Split the profits equally with the Dragon.
This way, it seems to me, you will get more money and fame.
The main dragon for service engineers is the housing and utilities workers. They can suck blood, fray nerves and other vital organs. Thus, housing managers often deny access to technical floors, where all telecommunications equipment is located.
In case of a small local accident (no power supply, tripped circuit breaker, dead vector) customers write complaints, management swears, and poor installers hear: “There are no keys and there won't be any, they are with the boss (plumber, electrician), he left, I don't know when he'll be back, and anyway, I don't like you, get out of here on a long erotic journey…”. I'm not exaggerating or exaggerating, all this has happened and happens all the time.
I try to be friends with the management companies in the territory entrusted to me and not quarrel over trifles. I give in if they push too hard and help whenever possible. Good relationships are made up of little things.
One day, a foreman from a management company calls me and says:
— You work for us at MTS, right?
I answer:
– Yes sir. I'm an MTS employee.
— We have a problem here. Your guys were installing networks in a new building and broke the electrical panel on the top floor. The residents have filed a collective complaint and are demanding compensation, retribution and vengeance. You should come over, otherwise it’s not far from trouble. One loudmouth promised to cut out all the cables…
– Okay, I'll come by, will you come too? Maybe we'll figure it out together.
– Of course I will.
I agree on a time, arrive and find the burglars. I ask them:
– Whose are you, guys?
– Well, from MTS, we’re building a network.
– Not true. I know all the fitters at MTS, and you are a subcontractor and should be responsible for your organization, not hide behind MTS. What did you break, eagles?
— We didn’t break anything, we didn’t touch anything at all.
– Well, let's go see how you didn't touch anything.
I go up to the floor and see: the guys were running a fifty-pair line from the attic to the low-current. There was no direct shaft to the technical floor, so the line was running in the power cable route. The electrical panel was locked with a padlock and reinforced with a metal corner. The guys poked around in the apartments for the key, didn’t find it (that’s right — they were at work after all) and bent the top automatic cover. To their credit, they tried to straighten the door, but couldn’t close it back. The owner came home from work and saw the dented doors and the open panel.
I tell these eagles everything as it was. At first they argued: “No, that's not it, we're white and fluffy,” but then they calmed down. The foreman swore and threatened to throw them out, but when he saw that the guys admitted their guilt, he cooled down. “Let's go, he says, solve the problem with the tenants. Oh, I think to myself, this is the worst thing.
A tenant comes to us, who discovered the breakdown and filed a complaint with the management company. Outwardly, he is a person with a very strong life position. And he says:
— My shield has already been opened twice, I demand that it be replaced.
The master starts filling out the report, and I see how much he doesn't like it. Then I join in, and everyone else falls silent. It even seemed to me that they lined up behind me.
– Yes, they broke it. The culprits have already been found, but they had no other options. They couldn't find the key, since there was no one at home on the landing.
— In the evening everyone is at home.
— In the evening, people have families, and installers are people too.
– So what? Break the shields?
– Of course, we can't break it. Let's fix it carefully and close it?
– No! I demand that the electrical panel be replaced, and if you misbehave, I can cut the cables or apply high voltage!
I see that the tenant is very upset and there is no point in arguing, so I agree and continue:
– No problem, if we change it, we change it. The whole panel or just the door?
He sees that people have given in and victory is his, and he calms down:
— A door will be enough.
Okay, I think I made contact:
— Should the doors be new or can they be used?
— How used is it?
– Normal. We'll show you first. If you approve, we'll install them.
– Agreed.
I approach the master and whisper:
— I saw the same board at your transport hub, and no one except electricians ever goes there anyway. If you give the go-ahead, we'll quickly replace the doors — not a mosquito can get a nose in.
The master whispers:
– Change it! Otherwise I can already imagine this red tape: send a statement of claim to MTS, wait for a response.
I grab the guys, quickly remove the doors and show them to the tenant. He looks and approves:
– It's fine. You found it quickly, guys, well done.
Epilogue. The tenant is happy because everything turned out the way he wanted. The foreman is happy because he avoided the paperwork and red tape of filing a complaint. The subcontractors are generally happy! I got good relations with all of them and another house to service.
The story is real, ordinary and does not claim to be a great feat. You have to kill a couple of such “dragons” during a work shift. This may be a small thing, but, as Michelangelo said: “Perfection is made up of little things. Little things create perfection, and perfection is not a little thing.”
