Microsoft PSS Suffers

I don't post much and I usually don't post about 'work stuff' but lately I've really been getting horrible service from Microsoft Premier Support and I've got to vent somewhere.

I have a pretty long history with Microsoft PSS, I've been using PSS since about 1995. Through the mid to late 90's PSS was pretty typical for a support organization of the day. Support was mediocre in most cases, rarely exceptional and if you had very complex issues you often had to wait a long time for the issue to be resolved, or even worse, for Microsoft to admit the bug existed! I'm a fairly technical implementer of Microsoft products and I would report many issues that were caused by bugs, it was frustrating, time consuming, and pretty typical for product support of all types.

From 2000 through 2004 Microsoft seemed to really refine their PSS model. Support got better every time I called. PSS got so good that when people would bash Microsoft vs OSS solutions around me I'd mention the stellar support we got from Microsoft and the quick resolution times as a huge reason for sticking with Microsoft in some spaces. From my perspective as a consumer of PSS it seemed to be reaching a zenith, providing awesome support in a timely fashion every time I called, no matter how complex the issue. It was great, you could almost look forward to calling PSS for help.

In 2005 I wasn't contacting PSS too often so I'm not sure when the change started but this year PSS has been abysmal! Now when I call I'm routed to India call centers and I get support techs who have a mere fraction of the knowledge that the previous US based ones had. The support is pathetic. I sit on the phone for hours with techs who repeatedly spell commands out each and every time. I had a high priority Exchange case where I needed some advice on the ideal eseutil steps to recover a database. I'm very familiar with eseutil and have used it many times, I told the tech that, I just wanted MS assistance to ensure I got the steps correct because a lot of user data was hanging in the balance. I told the tech exactly what I was doing, that I knew how to use eseutil and I just wanted him to help me step through the proper sequence. However the entire call went something like this:

PSS: Now we will need to run ese-util. Type e-s-e-

ME: OK I'm there, eseutil.exe, got it typed in, ready to go, just need the command syntax here...

PSS: u-t-i-l-

ME: Right I've got that just give me the command syntax.

PSS: DOT-e-x-e...

The entire call was like that, finally I just got off the phone and let one of my co-workers sit on the phone with the PSS guy. Each case since then has been like that. Since I have enterprise grade support I do have the option, at the four hour mark, to declare an emergency and get escalated to a higher level of support. This results in my call being routed to the US somewhere and I get the guys I used to get when I first called and they usually fix me right up. It's frustrating and terrible. What used to be a huge asset for Microsoft implementations is now a complete waste. These days the last thing I want to do is call PSS.

When I've mentioned this to Microsoft people they want the case numbers, they want to know what the level of suffering is. This is nice but it hasn't resulted in any changes yet. Manager types in my world just expect us to sit through a bunch of these to prove the point that support has gone downhill. Why should we have to prove anything? It's obvious it's not the same support you used to have when the phone rings in India and the people you're talking too know less about the product than you do!

Anyway for now I'm not going to be singing the praises of Microsoft PSS. It's obvious to me they've gutted their US based operation and moved it to India and the level of support has gone in the crapper. I'm sure in time the India call centers will get better but I doubt they will ever come close to the support professionals I was talking to previously. I'm definelty not going to be pushing Microsoft PSS as a benefit of using Microsoft software, that's for sure.

Another look at the Honda ST1300 & Yamaha FJR

I went by our local mega-motorcycle store today and they had a couple fine examples of the current Honda ST1300 and they actually had a Yamaha FJR on the show room floor! With these two fine bikes present I figured it would be a good time to take another look at both and see how they compare now that I've had my RT for about seven months.

After seven months on the RT almost daily I'm alot more comfortable with the bigger bikes than I was when I was shopping for my last bike. Back then the ST, FJR, and RT all seemed pretty big to me and the GoldWing was just absurd. Today the GoldWing, well its still big but it didn't seem like I couldn't handle one if I tried and the ST and FJR seemed downright small! Now on to observations, about the ST mainly because when I was originally bike shopping the FJR never quite made it into the running for me. Also note the lack of riding experience with these bikes, the big box dealers don't do test rides so I can't give a complete opinion, best I can do is sit on them and toss them around as much as possible while standing in one place.

First off the ST seems small compared to my RT. The seat was alot lower (maybe it was lowered or in the low position?) and my knees while they fit in the pocket were kind of bumping around in there. The ST seems to have a little more forward lean for me than my RT as well, I'm not big fan of that either. Over all fit on the bike, for me personally, was wretched compared to my RT. I'm guessing there is probably some work that can be done, raise the seat, maybe lower pegs, but out of the crate, man I'm hating the ST's riding position while my RT fit me perfectly from day one and only seems to get better.

The dash of the ST doesn't impress after alot of quality time with the BMW. It just seems clunkly and poorly laid out, I also miss the single clean console the RT presents. The ST just doesn't do it for me in that regard, why have a nice big dash area like that but hang the various instruments around like you would on a lesser bike? Just looked icky to me. In retrospect I wonder if it was the latest ST? It must have been because it wasn't in the used section. The weight of the ST doesn't do it for me either. It seems so much heavier and seemed wider than my RT. I know it can't be wider, or if it is its not much, but it just felt big and sloppy. I'm sure its dreamy once it gets rolling but man I thought my RT felt a bit unweildy sitting still, this is worse.

The FJR was worth a look, there were a couple people looking at it so I didn't give it as much time as the ST. Overall I'm still not happy with the seat, it feels too wide to me, and the forward lean it just a bit too much for me. I rather enjoy my RT where I can lean forward if I want but I don't have to.

Overall I'm still quite happy with the R1200RT. The ST and FJR feel just a notch below the RT to me and I feel the ergos of the RT are more suited to a taller rider than the Japanese bikes are. I was hoping to be pleasently suprised by the ST and FJR but now I'm only more certain the RT is the right bike for me and I'm looking forward to many more miles on it.

New bike for my friend

Patrick, a friend of mine from work, picked up his new BMW K1200S today and came by my house on the way home to show it. Wow what a bike and he's got it tricked out for touring already with BMW cases and a massive tank bag.

I was really impressed with the bike. It has a really low center of gravity that I'm sure will inspire confidence. With 160+ HP at the rear wheel there's more than enough power too!

I really like the black and yellow paint job too and the wheels look great.

Motorcycle Commuting

With spring here and gas prices on the rise it looks like conditions are ripe for another potential increase in motorcycle commuting. Judging by the hits on this site (what few there are) it looks like my article on motorcycle commuting tips pulls in more than a few visitors.

There are some significant advantages to motorcycle commuting, at least in my area. The ones that apply directly to me personally are:

+ I ride in the HOV lane and get to work in 15-20 minutes, when I took the bus my commute was 40-50 minutes

+ I come and go when I need to, I'm not tied to a bus schedule

+ Motorcycles get a 30% parking discount where I work

+ I get 45 mpg on a consistent basis so its good on gas

What motorcycle commuting is not:

+ Its not cheaper than driving. Motorcycles require more maintenance than cars for the same miles and motorcycle tires wear much faster than car tires

+ Its not for a faint of heart or those who arn't serious about riding safely

+ It requires good gear to do regularly (a good helmet, weather proof jacket, riding pants, etc)

All in all its very positive for me personally. It saves me at least a half hour a day and makes my schedule much more flexible. And the people in the cars don't look very happy but everyday I'm having a blast, even in the rain ;)

Ending the tyranny of e-mail

About a month ago with things really picking up at work I started to question, more than usual, how I was spending my time. In the evenings I spent some time reading up on productivity tweaks and after giving serious thought to how I was actually spending my days I decided to make some changes at work. There are few things I'm doing differently but the biggest one seems to be how I've changed how I handle e-mail.

In the past I'd been your typical email user at work. I'd have Outlook, or whatever mail client I happened to be using at the time, open all day. I was reading most everything as it came in, responding as necessary and keeping the past three months or so of email in my inbox. When looking at my personal productivity I realized I was wasting a bunch of time on email, maybe an hour a day. I'd also become very interrupt driven, I'd go off task to answer and email and then finding myself struggling to get back on task. So I've adopted an email management strategy that is saving me a ton of time. The rules of the new road go something like this:

The email client is opened and closed like any other application. It only gets fired up 3-4 times a day when its time to do email. Period. I only open it when its time to work on email and close it as soon as I'm done. Email is supposed to be asynchronous not real-time. Surprisingly no one has seemed to noticed that I'm not always responding immediately.

My inbox is empty. Yes you read that right, its empty!

All email is dealt with immediately, in one session, when I'm done the inbox is empty again. The goal is to spend 5 to 10 minutes tops and Outlook is closed again.

If its trash or something I just need to read once I read it and delete it immediately. If the email contains potentially useful information I will file it away into an archive folder. If I can respond to the message in just a couple seconds I respond immediately and file the email away. If the email can't be responded to immediately and/or contains action items for me I file it in an Action Items folder.

This strategy is saving me alot of time. I stay on-task more with my regular work and when I do work on email I fire through everything much quicker. Seperating out email like I would any other task is a great productivity enhanced, I really wish I'd taken this approach sooner.

The beginning of the end for me and my 'rauder

I feel kind of sad. Tonight I took my Marauder out for a spin. I haven't really ridden it since I got my BMW in December. I wanted to make sure it was going to run OK after sitting for so long. My little buddy fired up on the second try and only took a minute to warm up to the point I could push the choke in despite the cool temperature outside.

I didn't plan on riding further than around the block, but I went much further. Full face helmet, my summer gloves on a winter night, a non-motorcycle leather jacket, jeans and my usual riding boots felt like nothing compared to my usual three quarter length BMW jacket with its kevlar skin, armor with back protector and my usual armored overpants. As I shifted up through the gears I felt a bit of that cruiser mystique kicking in. The wind pushing against my chest as I accelerated, the low center of gravity, that feeling of rushing forward on a bike with no windshield, no dash, no fairings, just you and the road. For a moment I began to wonder if I'd missed something in the year plus I rode the Marauder everyday. By putting on a windshield, saddlebags, a trunk, had I taken away the bike's true identity? Had I shortchanged myself and missed the true American riding experience?

Then I realized how cold I was.

The wind pushing against my body was a great ab workout but was becoming tiresome pretty quickly. I reversed direction. As I came back into my neighborhood I also realized how much I'd already forgotten about the bike. My turns, my lane positioning, my poise, once perfected on the bike was now sloppy at best. I fumbled with the turn signal, spoiled by the BMW's big turn signal paddles, accidentally hit the horn and tried to use the starter button to signal a right turn twice. I began to notice how huge that front tire is and how much you have to countersteer it and how much more work it was to corner than the RT. I kept trying to tuck my feet up under me onto the pegs same as on the RT but the Marauder pegs are way forward so I kept finding myself flailing my feet around looking for the peg, then stepping on the rear brake accidentally as I found it. Fortunately the rear drum isn't very powerful. As I pulled the bike into the garage I realized that there really isn't enough room in my head for mastery of two very different bikes. I sadly acknowleged that while the cruiser and me had had our moments I would never go back for real and if I kept the bike I'd just be kidding myself.

Looking back I understand riding the Marauder was an excellent learning experience for me. The cruiser ergos and huge front tire ensured that I mastered countersteering because there was no way the bike would turn without serious concious effort. The Marauder could give me that oh-no-I'm-going-too-fast-in-this-corner-I'm-going-to-hit-the-guardrail feeling that the RT makes go away with a tiny steering input. The bike demanded you understand what a delayed apex was if you wanted to take a corner quickly. The 800cc engine delivers power in a smooth and linear fashion, it never really got away from me even when I got stupid. The low cg and seat height gave me confidence in nearly every situation. For me it was the perfect learning bike. Powerful enough to commute with ease on the freeway everyday but not powerful enough to allow me to kill myself, despite my best efforts.

So now the time comes to part ways with my baby, my first bike. In some ways I wish I could keep it, but the reality is I can't imagine ever taking it out over the RT and with its retail value still hovering around $3000 its just too much money (and garage space) to have wasting away. Over the holidays I pulled the windshield and the trunk off it. I've cleaned it twice, even polished the chrome and it hasn't seen rain since I quit riding it to work. Tomorrow I'm going to take it to an empty parking lot and meet up with a buddy of mine from work who is thinking about getting into riding and is considering buying the Marauder. I'm going to give him a little mini MSF so he can see if riding in general, and this bike specifically, might be for him. Normally I wouldn't do this but this is someone I've worked with for five years and I trust.

I like to think that if I could go back to that night in October when I bought my Marauder that even knowing everything I know about motorcycles now (which is 1000x than I knew then) I would still buy the Marauder. After all, who can resist a Harley that is made in Japan, costs $10k less, doesn't make your ears bleed or you body parts vibrate off and is probably faster to boot!

Motorcycle Commuting Tips

I put together an article of motorcycle commuting tips. It can be found here:

http://st0nkingbyte.whizy.com/commuting_tips.html