IT Professionals

[Bjorn Toulouse]

I was always a little disapointed with the IT Crowd, Real life where I work is funnier.
If the team that produced teachers made it I think it would have been a lot better.

Any way I head of service at our place was getting a lesson on how to use his computer (same head of service that wanted to know how much an internet was and were we getting one) he was asket to press the send button on his e-mail app.. yip you guessed it, my friend then said "no no not with your finger use the mouse" he then picked up the mouse and tapped it on the screen over the send button.

why bosses should not have access to IT mags!

 

[DaveP]

36 years Field Engineer with a multi-national company.

We had a Word Processor in an Air Force installation that was used for secure applications and was surrounded by high ranking Brass who were raising cain about data loss. You couldn't touch the machine without an escort. The secretary was complaining that her 8" floppies were scrambling her files and she was losing her work daily. Yes, this was the 70's.

After numerous successful diagnostic runs and replacing the floppy drive and controller, I called in 3rd level on-site support. After beating our heads against the wall, the tech spec guy noticed ring magnets on the file cabinet. On a hunch, he ordered some magnetic fluid that contained powdered iron. When it arrived the next day, he cut apart some 8" floppies and painted the media with the liquid. Sure enough, the image of the ring magnet appeared on all the media that had lost data! She was pinning her floppies to the file cabinet with the ring magnet like they were paper!

We explained and demonstrated the problem, the brass turned their glaring attention to her and we left!

 

[tribalmasters]

Computer Stupidities

A great read

 

[chrisl317]

Computer Stupidities

A great read

I've been reading them all day long. A bit are dated, but, funny and scary at the same time.

 

[Stevew443]

I was a network admin for a large non-profit and my Exchange server crashed at 1 PM. By 5 PM I had the hardware all repaired, but the software was still in bad shape, so I put a call into Microsoft support to get some help. I had 2 different Microsoft techs on the line in a conference call. Finally about 2 AM the Microsoft techs were totally out of ideas when one of them said to the other "Why don't we Google this and see what we can find." Sure enough, they found the answer they needed from a Google search. I had the server back up and fully functional by 7 AM, a full hour before start of business.

Now the funny part... I had put in a straight 24 hours for the company I worked for, and got all kinds of kudos from management, and not 3 months later I was laid off because donations had dried up and they could not afford to keep me on, but they were able to keep on the less qualified techs who walked out on the problem when quitting time came along.

 

[chrisl317]

I was a network admin for a large non-profit and my Exchange server crashed at 1 PM. By 5 PM I had the hardware all repaired, but the software was still in bad shape, so I put a call into Microsoft support to get some help. I had 2 different Microsoft techs on the line in a conference call. Finally about 2 AM the Microsoft techs were totally out of ideas when one of them said to the other "Why don't we Google this and see what we can find." Sure enough, they found the answer they needed from a Google search. I had the server back up and fully functional by 7 AM, a full hour before start of business.

Now the funny part... I had put in a straight 24 hours for the company I worked for, and got all kinds of kudos from management, and not 3 months later I was laid off because donations had dried up and they could not afford to keep me on, but they were able to keep on the less qualified techs who walked out on the problem when quitting time came along.

I feel your pain. I used to work for free a lot at my last job. I'd get a thank you, but in 7 years I never got a raise. I even went back one night, after my shift ended. In my pj's and slippers I fixed the printer before the store closed so they could print their end of the day report. I would've heard something about it the next morning anyways and I only lived about 10 minutes away.

BTW - Google is your friend!

 

[Soundwave]

I was a network admin for a large non-profit and my Exchange server crashed at 1 PM. By 5 PM I had the hardware all repaired, but the software was still in bad shape, so I put a call into Microsoft support to get some help. I had 2 different Microsoft techs on the line in a conference call. Finally about 2 AM the Microsoft techs were totally out of ideas when one of them said to the other "Why don't we Google this and see what we can find." Sure enough, they found the answer they needed from a Google search. I had the server back up and fully functional by 7 AM, a full hour before start of business.

Now the funny part... I had put in a straight 24 hours for the company I worked for, and got all kinds of kudos from management, and not 3 months later I was laid off because donations had dried up and they could not afford to keep me on, but they were able to keep on the less qualified techs who walked out on the problem when quitting time came along.

One thing I've learned quickly is that if you follow the books when working with corporations or individuals you tend to get a better response. I have worked for free and been burned to many times to let it happen anymore. People ask how much I charge and I give them the break down and ask if they understand. After I do my "lawyer" like speech I get to work and fix it in 5 minutes and charge the minimum hour charge. Most of the people I help make so much money they don't care because they just want to get back to work. Its mostly the individuals or families that don't like to pay for your services.

Here is my favorite
Customer : "It only took 5 minutes why do you charge an hour if its not that hard?"

Me : "It takes time away from my personal life and drive time with gas is factored in."

 

[maureengill]

I currently work in desktop support. I really don't want to talk about it though

 

[PLSChows]

Here is my favorite
Customer : "It only took 5 minutes why do you charge an hour if its not that hard?"

Me : "It takes time away from my personal life and drive time with gas is factored in."[/QUOTE]


I loved my father's response to that question (he was in the repair field). He told them they are paying for his experience (that's WHY it only took him 5 minutes to fix). An inexperienced guy would have taken 2 hrs to fix it, therefore costing them more.

 

[viktor]

I'm a programmer

 

[tribalmasters]

I can't program my way out of a paper bag

I'll fix your noisy fan and your email instead

 

[finalthought83]

I had someone call about a dial up connection, the fact that his computer cant connect. Sat on the phone for 2 hours troubleshooting different settings and everything to find out that he was using the phone line that was supposed to be used for his modem to call the help desk and didn't know it...