Dave Schwartz
01-30-2007, 09:45 AM
(I am writing this so that I may share my pain.)
For several days I have been chasing the quiet sound of chirping birds in my office. I do not have great hearing and the slight periodic chirps have been driving me nuts.
Every once in awhile I would stop what I was doing and lsten quietly in order to determine direction. Our NOC is just behind me and I assumed that it might be a failing hard drive. So, one by one, I would put my ear next to each machine and just listen. I have done this perhaps 5 times. Never have I heard a single sound as I did so.
Back to work. A little while later, "Chirp, chirp."
I thought it might be my chair and spent the better part of 30 minutes turning and tilting the chair in every direction. Not a sound while I did so.
Then I thought it was my ceiling fan. I would stop working and listen from different places in the room. Nothing.
Yesterday I concluded it must really be a bird's nest, but where? I checked the eves outside my window but saw and heard nothing.
We have a two-story house and I began thinking the birds were between the floors - just above my office. Listening carefully, nothing.
Aggghhh!
Today I noticed an interesting thing... whenever I get up from my desk the chirping stops. Could the birds actually see me? When I move, do they suddenly go silent for safety reasons?
So, here I was, at 5am, working pretending to work diligently at my desk. Yup. The chirping is there. Stop and look around, the chirping stops. Start... chirp, chirp. Stop... silence.
Can these birds be this smart? And where the hell are they?
Am I insane? (Perhaps I should see a doctor.) I am actually trying to trick some birds.
I actually looked under my desk thinking there was a nest close to me. Nothing. But the birds did go silent. (Wasn't there a Steven King book about birds?)
Headphones! I'll use headphones! That's the ticket!
So, I listen to music and quietly work on knowing that those damn birds are just chirping away even though I can't hear them. That will never do. I rip the headphones off and, of course, there is not a sound.
Back to work. Chirp, chirp.
What's this? The chirping is right in front of me.
Hey, every time I move my mouse, I get a chirp. What the...
About four inches from my keyboard is a piece of paper - a 4" x 4" note left to me by my wife reminding me of something. Every time I move the mouse, the cord scrapes the edge of the paper and makes... A %$#@& chirp!
Who would buy software from a guy that is this nuts?
(I have written this note anonymously as I don't want anyone to know who I am. I am going to work on the paranoia real soon.)
For several days I have been chasing the quiet sound of chirping birds in my office. I do not have great hearing and the slight periodic chirps have been driving me nuts.
Every once in awhile I would stop what I was doing and lsten quietly in order to determine direction. Our NOC is just behind me and I assumed that it might be a failing hard drive. So, one by one, I would put my ear next to each machine and just listen. I have done this perhaps 5 times. Never have I heard a single sound as I did so.
Back to work. A little while later, "Chirp, chirp."
I thought it might be my chair and spent the better part of 30 minutes turning and tilting the chair in every direction. Not a sound while I did so.
Then I thought it was my ceiling fan. I would stop working and listen from different places in the room. Nothing.
Yesterday I concluded it must really be a bird's nest, but where? I checked the eves outside my window but saw and heard nothing.
We have a two-story house and I began thinking the birds were between the floors - just above my office. Listening carefully, nothing.
Aggghhh!
Today I noticed an interesting thing... whenever I get up from my desk the chirping stops. Could the birds actually see me? When I move, do they suddenly go silent for safety reasons?
So, here I was, at 5am, working pretending to work diligently at my desk. Yup. The chirping is there. Stop and look around, the chirping stops. Start... chirp, chirp. Stop... silence.
Can these birds be this smart? And where the hell are they?
Am I insane? (Perhaps I should see a doctor.) I am actually trying to trick some birds.
I actually looked under my desk thinking there was a nest close to me. Nothing. But the birds did go silent. (Wasn't there a Steven King book about birds?)
Headphones! I'll use headphones! That's the ticket!
So, I listen to music and quietly work on knowing that those damn birds are just chirping away even though I can't hear them. That will never do. I rip the headphones off and, of course, there is not a sound.
Back to work. Chirp, chirp.
What's this? The chirping is right in front of me.
Hey, every time I move my mouse, I get a chirp. What the...
About four inches from my keyboard is a piece of paper - a 4" x 4" note left to me by my wife reminding me of something. Every time I move the mouse, the cord scrapes the edge of the paper and makes... A %$#@& chirp!
Who would buy software from a guy that is this nuts?
(I have written this note anonymously as I don't want anyone to know who I am. I am going to work on the paranoia real soon.)