Thoughts in a Pensieve

So tomorrow is do or die time. We will be shutting down the entire network at school and we don't know really when it will be back up. Why? Well, our vendor neglected to tell us that 11 switches that are primary and key to the redesign are not going to be here. 2 are backordered until August 1st. And the other 9 switches are lost in transit. They shipped July 1 and should have been delivered around July 6th. (sounds like the same black hole that one of my blockbuster DVD's slipped into. but that's another story) So I found out about the swtitches on Friday. We ordered the first of June. Fine time to tell us that our switches won't be here. sure it was three days before our teardown, but really just one business day.

So I am going to try to get some free stuff out of this, because I see it as their screw up. Now I won't name names, due to slander lawsuit possibilities etc. I don't blame the manufacturer. Cisco is probably still the best in the business. I at least hope so, since the are definitely the most expensive. But the price doesn't concern me. Why? Well, read on.

Thanks to all you fine people that have a telephone service. See, there is a surcharge called "Universal Service". How is this related to my switches? Keep your pants on,( or don't, I don't care I can't see you). Any way, the Federal Government distributes that money back into the school systems. There's a catch though. you have to spend the money on telecommunication types of equipment and services. and there are other catches too, but the gist is our switches are covered. They aren't free mind you, but they are drastically discounted.

Remember back in high school, there was a free or a reduced lunch price for kids that lived less fortunate lives. If you aren't aware of it, then you must have been one of the "more" fortunate. Anyway, The USF (Universal Service Fund.. Stick with me here) covers the percentage of free/reduced students as the discount toward the equipment. So the school district that I work for has an Alternative high school. Everybody there qualifies for F/R lunch, 100% bam. that's a lot of discount. but it is averaged in with the rest of the district, so our total numbers are more around 75%. In the end, we are putting in about $135,000 network for about $33k!

Anyway, we'll see how fast we can get our network up and running.

I know, I didn't link to anything. nothing seemed relevant though.