* * * * *

                       “What's the frequency, Kenneth?”

I don't handle stress well (as if that [1] wasn't [2] apparent [3]) and
again, today was no exception.

I get this way because of deadlines.

Normally, as I approach headbanging time, I simply stop doing what I'm doing
and put it on the back burning for a period of time (could be days, could be
months) until it suddenly strikes me what I might have been doing wrong. But
when I can't follow my own timeline for these things, that's when I get
irritable.

It also doesn't help my mood when things that should (there's that word) work
don't, and in the process of troubleshooting the things that don't work, the
processes I'm using to troubleshoot have to be troubleshot because the stuff
that I'm using to troubleshoot should (there's that word again) work, but
aren't.

Ouch, my brain hurts.

Today I found two wireless units on my desk to configure (as part of the
firewall/router thing that was dumped on my lap nearly two weeks ago)—an
access unit (with a serial port—more on that in a bit) and a bridge (without
a serial port, just power and ethernet). The wireless bridge should (there's
that word again) have been on 192.168.200.1 (why that address? I don't
question why, I just do and die) but no response at all. After half an hour
I'm told that that unit might be bad, so try this one.

Four hours later with the “new” unit (handed to me encased in plastic) was
just as uncommunicative as the “bad” unit. And don't think I didn't try.
Let's see … couldn't see it at all from the router it's supposed to be
plugged into … couldn't see it from the office switch (and having to place my
workstation into the 192.168.200.0 network). Couldn't see it from a separate
switch the wireless bridge and workstation were plugged into (bascially
because this switch didn't work at all) … and couldn't see it from a second
switch I found (that took about half an hour to get configured to ensure that
the port the wireless bridge was plugged into was 10Mbps half duplex no auto
negotiation (basically, troubleshooting the switch to attempt to troubleshoot
the wireless bridge) since the office switch can't be configured).

All this in a vain attempt to configure the wireless bridge. It should
(there's that word again) either grab an address via DHCP (Dynamic Host
Configuration Protocol) or failing that, default to 192.168.200.1 (ah, that's
why that address) but the documentation, it lies! It lies! (turns out it
wasn't factory set, even though I came wrapped in plastic—thanks wlofie!)

Now, the wireless access point? It has that serial port on it.

Ah, I'm brought back to the days of yore when men were men, women were women,
and getting any two random pieces of equipment with serial ports
communicating was indeed a Black Art™ of the darkest sort—arcane
incantations, sacrificing small furry animals to the Great Computer Gods, and
an ungodly number of cables, adaptors, frobs and gender changers were
required. Along with knowing such arcana as DCE (Data Communications
Equipment), DTE (Data Terminal Equipment), CD (Carrier Detect), XMIT
(TransMIT), RECV (Receive), CTS (Clear To Send), RTS (Request To Send), DB-
25, DB-9 (which technically is incorrect—it's DE-9 but everybody just calls
it DB-9), RJ-45 (if you're lucky, otherwise, you get DEC (Digital Electronic
Corporation)'s unholy abomination of RJ-45, which requires heaps of gold to
use), XON (Transmit ON), XOFF (Transmit OFF), NULL modems, breakout boxes,
jumpers, UART (Universal Asychronous Receiver/Transmitter)s, male ends,
female ends and RS (Recommended Standard)-232 (which isn't).

Just shoot me now.

I didn't get to the wireless access point because I didn't have a gender
changer (or a female to female connector). It was bad enough having to crawl
under the desk to continuously swap out the DE-9 NULL modem cable (normally
used to congfigure the Cobalt RaQs but today used in a vain attempt to
configure the one switch while trying to troubleshoot the wireless bridge)
for the RJ-45 to DE-9 adaptor cable (for the router that's being configured).

On the bright side, I didn't have to deal with any control panels [4] today.

[1] gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2005/09/01.1
[2] gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2005/07/14.1
[3] gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2005/08/01.1
[4] gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2004/11/22.3

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