Some work situations are kind of emergencies, but at the same time, that doesn’t mean they’re hard to fix.

In this story, one employee is given an important task to handle. It’s important and urgent, but it’s not hard, that is, as soon as he’s able to figure out what his boss needed him to find.

Let’s read all about it.

The easiest overtime ever

This took place, oh, about four years ago now. Our IT infrastructure company had been contracted to install the data, access control, and camera systems for a new tortilla factory.

There was actually very little data and access control, mostly limited to WAPs and the administration areas. There were, however, over 100 cameras, with complete coverage of the production and packaging areas.

Because they wanted HD quality recording practically 24/7, they needed a seven-figure camera server to handle the video.

All of that was not particularly difficult, and it was even quite fun to learn how to configure the cameras and add them to the system. The issue came after they had their electrical inspection.

They had to hire a new electrician.

They failed so hard that the owners fired the electrician for gross incompetence. (For reference on how bad it was, one of the feeder lines for a breaker panel was attached to the wall by screwing through the conduit.) They then hired a new electrician who called all hands on deck to make it right.

So how do I fit in to all of this? How do I get the easiest overtime ever?

One Saturday, they needed to completely shut off power to the half of the building that contained the main communication room. This meant their fancy camera server would go offline. As we weren’t done configuring the system, we hadn’t turned over the passwords, so we had to go handle it in person.

His boss gave him instructions.

My boss explained this to me Friday afternoon. He then gave me the following instructions:

Ask the electricians for a corded plug to feed the UPS from a powered part of the building.

If that failed, log in and perform a graceful shutdown to protect the system from possible corruptions due to the UPS shutting down.

If you are like how I was at the time, you might be thinking “why do we need to shut it down if there’s a UPS?” Turns out that the UPS only lasts for about 30 minutes, it’s only ever meant to be a bridge until the onsite backup generators kick in.

The electricians had no idea what he was talking about.

I arrive onsite and my first order of business is to find an electrician.

Done, they’re everywhere. Then the conversation goes a little something like this:

Me: “hey, do you guys have a corded plug?”

Electrician: “the hell is a corded plug?”

We go back and forth, asking other electricians, calling my boss for clarification (he only ever repeats the term ‘corded plug’ like that’s perfectly clear) for about an hour.

One electrician finally figured out what the boss meant.

As we’re coming up on t-zero for power-off, the electrician finally says:

“Wait, does he mean ‘extension cord?’ Because yes, we have some of those, but none long enough for what you need.”

Primes.exe has stopped responding

I rush in to the comm room and log in, shutting the server down just as they hit the disconnect and the lights go dark.

There’s a twist here.

I then call my boss to ask if I need to do anything else.

“Nope, the system will start automatically when they turn the server back on. Come on home, you still have a lawn to mow.”

Did I mention my boss is also my dad?

So that’s the story of getting paid an hour of overtime for shutting down a server.

It would’ve been even easier overtime if his dad had simply said “extension cord” instead of “corded plug.”

Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story.

Here’s a suggestion on how to make the cord long enough.

I mean, it is kind of obvious once you realize what he’s talking about.

I agree with this assessment of the story.

Meanwhile, another person can’t stop screaming.

Knowing what things are called makes life so much easier.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.