Another late night working, running cables and wires.
Many nights have been spent because service can’t be interrupted
during the day.
But it’s OK, another night of my life is interrupted.
What time will we finish?
12, 1, 2 or 3 am?
I have stopped hoping for the short nights
because they don’t happen.

As I sit waiting for the vendor to complete his part
the constant noise of fans and air conditioners keeps the
servers cool, protecting them from overheating.
I sit in the server room, the Fort Knox of modern
day companies, the bits and bytes are protected from
outside intrusions, at least physically.
You never know when some virus or worm
might penetrate the fortress of firewalls, or infiltrate the servers,
winding through the routers and infesting all the computers in the company
like some modern day Bubonic Plague.
Another security patch, one virus definition update,
and the madness goes on and on.
Sometimes I feel like someone is sitting back
in some dark office laughing and thinking, “Those suckers,
they really think that there are some derelict hackers doing all this?”
Could it be that there is some conspiracy deep within
the bowels of the operating system makers and the virus
“protection” companies? Collusion to get more Anti-Virus
software sold.

My daydream is interrupted by the forgotten vendor. . .
What’s that you say? You’re done with your part,
I can do my programming and run my cables now?
Maybe I’ll be home by 3 this morning?
I better not get my hopes up. . . . .

November 1, 2003