# Fictional example: delayed sample dashboard updates

## Summary and impact

- Reference: practice-01; review date: 2026-10-21; author role: duty operator.
- Status: recovered, cause under review. All services and evidence below are invented.
- Service alias: sample dashboard. A manual refresh displayed an older sample reading.
- Observed window: 2026-10-20T09:00:00Z to 2026-10-20T09:12:00Z (12 minutes).
- Scope: one practice dashboard observed; wider impact and exact start are unknown.
- Evidence: fictional notes A and B; no real logs, hostnames or customer records.

## Timeline (UTC)

- 2026-10-20T09:00:00Z | Observed | Manual refresh still showed the 08:55 sample reading | duty operator | note A
- 2026-10-20T09:03:00Z | Observed | Sample collector queue contained 8 pending items | duty operator | note A
- 2026-10-20T09:05:00Z | Hypothesis (unverified) | A recent polling change may have delayed collection; timing alone does not prove this | investigator | note A
- 2026-10-20T09:07:00Z | Action | Reverted the practice polling change | duty operator | note B
- 2026-10-20T09:12:00Z | Observed | Manual refresh displayed a new 09:12 sample reading | duty operator | note B
- 2026-10-20T09:17:00Z | Observed | Five further one-minute checks each displayed a new reading | duty operator | note B

## Recovery and validation

- Mitigation: practice configuration reverted by duty operator at 09:07 UTC.
- New readings observed from 09:12 through 09:17 UTC; this supports recovery in that window only.
- Remaining risk: delayed collection could recur; resume investigation if readings stop advancing.

## Contributing factors and unknowns

- Confirmed observation: queued items and stale readings occurred in the same window.
- Hypothesis (unverified): polling change contributed to queue growth.
- Supporting observation: readings resumed after the revert.
- Counterevidence / limitation: queue drainage or another unobserved change could also explain recovery.
- Root cause remains unknown. No controlled comparison or collector timing evidence exists yet.

## Follow-up evidence

- Investigator, due 2026-10-22: compare old/new polling settings in an isolated sample environment.
- Completion criterion: record queue depth and reading age for both settings under equal sample load;
  accept or reject the hypothesis only if the evidence supports it. No result is claimed yet.
- Duty operator, due 2026-10-22: draft a stale-reading check and demonstrate a sample failure/recovery.
- Next review: 2026-10-23; both actions remain open in this fictional example.