When nightmares come true.....

Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair (if you didn't already know that!)

A 70-something lady in HR called me, "When I press the cross-hatch key, I only get a '3'!" She had the Caps on of course, and she thought it should have acted like her manual typewriter when it had its Caps on.

She was also the only one that did data entry for the HR retirement module. When the company was shutting down the plant and the deadline came for retirees to submit their paperwork for the "golden boot" in order to get the best price of stock, she just retired herself, and didn't tell anybody! No one else had her access or training, so I had to retire a few dozen people the next week until I had trained someone else to do it.

Users. Gotta love 'em!

Faxed her a roll of TP!!

Why does it matter if they are older. I am 'older'(50+) - I have taken not less than 1 certification exam every year for the last 10 years (despite having 2 young children and I managed to complete a part-time university degree in there as well). You wouldn't make any comment about 'black employees' so why view older as any different?

And you girls thought you could just keep us off balance with surprises. Wellll... :)

Now, if I could just remember what I was doing....

but I can't remember why I am here??? :)

You see, there are perks to getting old. I don't remember can go a long ways.

I have been a professional musician since the 60's and I can tell you that, while I did learn how to read music early on, the lack of available sheet music for new or "hot" popular music pretty much required me and all the musicians I know to develop the skill of playing by ear. It has been so long now that I couldn't read a chart to save my life - but I still play 3 - 4 nights a week subbing with several bands and playing new songs cold with all of them.
As with Sir Paul - you do what you have to do at the time and deal with the consequences (like my spelling) when and if they happen

Are you aware you have dug the particular hole that you find yourself in yourself?

Let me guess: you got a lot of your training on your own, no tutition assistance or time paid. You will answer the phone no matter when it rings. You feel guilty because the "let you work from home." And this is best job you ever had.

Get a resume put together, talk to a career consultant, look at the temp industry to see if they have a technical program that would keep you busy. Take some classes in assertiveness, get a life and dump the company that is taking advantage of you. People who refuse to learn how to use their tools and demand that their "hired help" be at their beck and call are arrogant, users of people. You can do much better, but you must get out of there, the sooner the better.

I've been at this for a long time too, and I've had that same "you must be smart..." line tossed to me. In answering that question, I smile and tell them that they are the smart ones to know how they do (whatever it is they do.) Patience, understanding, and sharing little tid bits to help them do things better or with more confidence does wonders for keeping happy users. I've got permanent tongue grooves from biting it so hard over the years, but smiles help to ease the ache. I've taken a sweet older receptionist from refusing to even have a computer ("I'm not ever going to use that thing; just take it away") to helping her get her own computer at home so she can exchange emails and photographs with her kids and friends. We weren't born knowing this stuff, and we all have to learn it, just to varying degrees. Gotta love the user because without them to drive the keyboard and poke the mouse, we don't have jobs either.

I cleaned out a keyboard once in one of our departments and actually ended up with a pile of "debris" about the size of a half of a golf ball. Afterwards I went into the restroom and washed my hands about 20 times and then poured alcohol over them just to be sure. It was the most gross thing I think I have ever seen at someones desk! YUK! :(

I just made a simple apology--I was being blunt when it comes to my statements, not that I look down on others.

And besides, I really do not know what people are going through as far as technology and other things concern them!

-swg

I work as ICT Support in a large organisation and am now one of a team of three. Until recently, I was a lone support officer but with a reorganisation, my department merged with two others. It boggles me to see my two new colleagues running around like headless chickens keeping the IT systems afloat in 'their' respective divisions whilst I have the time to spend researching useful projects for my users.

When a similar episode happened here (xchange of workstation, one of these colleagues told his user that, as soon as the new workstation was plugged in, the data from the old machine would be instantly transferred to the new one. What he did NOT say was, your data are on the network and this is just the means to access it. When asked why, he said that if he told users what he was doing and why, he'd be out of a job.

Now I will ALWAYS tell a user what I'm doing and why. This way, the next time a similar problem occurs, why, they can fix it themselves.

(I have to admit that there are some users who wouldn't recognise the same word twice in a sentence, but this is not true of so many more)

My colleagues are currently out of the office repairing virus checkers, resetting printers, backing up data, resetting screen resolutions....you know the lists.

Me? I'm typing this post after completing an excellent database system, having learned new skills to do so, safe in the knowledge that if my users get into trouble, they'll either fix it themselves, or call me if they can't.

The secret to an easier IT support techie's life? Tell 'em how it works. It's called empowerment. They'll bother you less and your job's safe 'cos they don't have the time (or the inclination) to learn everything you already know - only the bits they need.

whenever I handle a problem with a user, I always make sure they explain their problem to me fully, or as fully as they know how. The reason I do this is to avoid these type of situations.

I know i can get an idea of what the problem is if the user can (or can't) explain it to me. The problem, more often than not, is user error. but when it's more than that, an explaination directly from the end-user is worth it's weight in my precious time.

As a project and a people manager, I don't have to know alot about the specifics of what my staff do on a day to day basis. But I do need to know a lot of broad information about what they do, what others in the company do and how they inter-relate. My staff trusts that I will handle the business side, and I trust them to do the right analysis and give me the options for technical solutions. Most of the time they make a recommendation and I go for it. The only time there is a hesitation is if they may be a business issue they haven't accounted for.

James

[b]P[/b]ROBLEM [b]I[/b]N [b]C[/b]HAIR, [b]N[/b]OT [b]I[/b]N [b]C[/b]OMPUTER

I am going to buy surgical gloves before even thinking of touching a keyboard or a mouse ...

eeeeyoooo

By the way, one of my coworkers was throwing a foam pig around yesterday .. he ended up knocking a glass of water all over someone else's laptop ...

]:)

Is he still able to walk around???

wear gloves for certain computers. I KNOW what is on that keyboard! DNA spray! :O

No, that is ok. I don't need to shake your hand either.......

Got a call, a users monitor didn't work. My co-worker drives the hour to the remote location with a monitor and a video card (just in case).

Gets there and there is NOTHING wrong with the picture. ( hmmmm )

A few days later, another call from same user, monitor doesn't work. I take the call this time.

(did I mention this is a difficult user?)

I get there, and sure enough the monitor is DEAD. (spilling coffee on it will do that)

When the user AND HIS boss walk in, he asks what the problem was.

"Well, electronic devices die when they get coffee spilled on them as you can see happened with this monitor" was my reply.

Right away the user jumps in "I didn't spill coffee in my monitor!"

So I pointed out that I didn't say HE spilled coffee, and as I am not the one that works in his office I have no idea who did it. I just knew it had been done and was up to him to determine the who if he felt it was necesary.

(did I mention, from the spills, it looked like the coffee had been sitting on top of the CPU tower and gotten knocked off onto the monitor next to it? Funny how the only spot CLEAN on the CPU was right there where someone had wiped COFFEE off of it!)

Yes, this is the computer "expert" that they hired in for that location........

Many electronic items are shipped with little bags of silica gel or other substances in them which are called desiccants. They absorb moisture.

Keep them. Even if they have absorbed a lot, they can be dried out(hair dryer) and reused.

Just take the wet item, absorb as much as you can manually, take it apart as much as possible, and stick it in a plastic bag with as many desiccant packs as you have. Leave it over night at least.

I resurrected my daughter Tomagotchi the other day.

James

Many electronic items are shipped with little bags of silica gel or other substances in them which are called desiccants. They absorb moisture.

Keep them. Even if they have absorbed a lot, they can be dried out(hair dryer) and reused.

Just take the wet item, absorb as much as you can manually, take it apart as much as possible, and stick it in a plastic bag with as many desiccant packs as you have. Leave it over night at least.

I resurrected my daughter Tomagotchi the other day.

James

When I was first starting out in the USAF working on flight control systems and avionics for the B-1B I caught a lot of crap because I was having trouble with learning the ATLAS language and also couldnt seem to understand the systems and learn them at the same rate as my peers. I was commonly refered to as "Mr. What not to do" when it came to troubleshooting the systems. I felt like there was no point in me even trying anymore.

After about a year I caught on to how the systems work and was also one of the better ATLAS programmers in the squadron. I began to learn more systems than what was required to the point where the Boeing shop on base was calling me and asking questions about reconfiguring Power Contol Assemblies and reprogramming the Serial Digital Multiplexer Assemblies.

Shortly afterwards I was given my own shift over those with higher rank that wanted the position, got to choose my team, and had to became a trainer for the systems that were required for career advancement, I even had to train those that were making me feel like I was the most worthless tech to step into the shop.

Even though I had a chance to make the one who came down on me feel the same way they made me feel I didnt. I never want someone that I am teaching go through that, to dread coming to work.I dont want to be the reason that someone decided to stop doing what they liked because I made them feel stupid.(Unless they are being a complete JackA$$, there are enough of them in the world and I dont want to work near them)

Comparing computers to cars and extrapolating a general case about technology paradigm shifts won't really work - cars and computers are very different.

Cars do ONE thing. Computers do ANYTHING. The computer revolution won't settle down once we "figure out what we want them to do". Everyone wants them to do something different. And unlike the car, it is perfectly feasible that they do something different for everyone. The computer revolution will never settle down.

There is already a segment of the population that uses the computer simply as an appliance; this is the community you support. But there is a large and growing segment that understands what the computer truly represents: it is an augmentation of one's Self. A car, by comparison, is an augmentation of one's legs...

A better (and still poor) analogy than a car would be a library - everyone's library is different, it accomplishes something slightly different, but they're still all libraries.

Or again, you could compare the computer to the printing press, if you can imagine a printing press on everyone's desk. Or you could compare it to the telephone, if the telephone also contained a complete encyclopedia...

Truth is, the computer is NOT comparable to any previous technological revolution in all its parts. It is a good deal more profound than anything we've done before, and the dislocations it forces on us will be equally profound.

The changes this technology demands aren't all good, either - the potential for abuse here is enormous.

The democratically oriented and populist revolutions of the past couple of centuries can be regarded as a result of the last information technology revolution - movable type and printing presses. But the current IT revolution offers a capacity for centralized control of information and access that the printing press lacked. This "Big Brother" style capacity could easily spin us into a very undesirable cultural mode.

Yeah did that ... The manager was absolutely frantic ... and was breathing down my neck all the time i was trying to get the laptop dry ....

Nutter

]:)

would be enough to "break" a monitor.

Ever see how cool it is when you use an OLD electonic penic sharpener by the computer? Now there is entertainment!

I once received a frantic call from a administrator who informed me that one of his employees was being bitten by 'cable lice' when she worked near her CRT screen. She had gone to her doctor twice to be fumigated. I told him I would check it out. I called the university agriculture dept extension service and inquired about this problem. I received a FAX telling me that 'cable lice' bites were actually caused by static electricity discharges from the electronic equipment which travled through a persons clothing and caused small welts on the skin. I informed the admistrator of this, sent the FAX and suggested the user find another doctor

I work in IT in the healthcare industry, and we have many medical personnel providing support to our hospitals. On one occasion when one of my techs was complaining about the ignorance of one of those people (an R.N., as it happens) concerning basic Windows operations, my boss asked "Can you start an IV? She can." I've never forgotten that wise statement, and I've repeated it to staff on several occasions when similar sentiments were expressed.

I work in IT in the healthcare industry, and we have many medical personnel providing support to our hospitals. On one occasion when one of my techs was complaining about the ignorance of one of those people (an R.N., as it happens) concerning basic Windows operations, my boss asked "Can you start an IV? She can." I've never forgotten that wise statemen, and I've repeated it to staff on several occasions when similar sentiments were expressed.

I work in IT in the healthcare industry, and we have many medical personnel providing support to our hospitals. On one occasion when one of my techs was complaining about the ignorance of one of those people (an R.N., as it happens) concerning basic Windows operations, my boss asked "Can you start an IV? She can." I've never forgotten that wise statement, and I've repeated it to staff on several occasions when similar sentiments were expressed.

I used to work for a small medical software company that did support all over the country. One of our main clients had a habit of often hiring less than qualified users. Keep in mind that these users needed little more than basic computer skills, but did spend 30+ hrs a week on the system. The best was when one user called after her computer froze up (Windows machine). This happened occasionally with our system, but a simple restart usually fixed it. When I asked her if she had tried a restart yet, she replied that she was going to, but she didn't know how to restart the computer so she called us first. Luckily it was over the phone so she couldn't see the disgusted/amused look on my face.

I work in a Hospital and support clinical systems. If I screw up, then my system could be down at the wrong time, or data could be mapped to a wrong field, and people could have serious outcomes or die. A nurse recently panicked as she was being trained, and, in tears stated that she was too "dumb" to learn this computer stuff, and she didn't see how I was so smart to know it. I told her that I knew it becuase I'd had over 6 weeks of training by the vendor, and lived and breathed the system for 9 months, and that I couldn't expect her to be an expert only 1 hour into her 8 hour class. I also reminded her that she was an expert on nursing, and that it took her a long time to get that way.

I had a client who sent me back the mouse mat saying that it was the wrong one. This one was for a 15" monitor evidently, and they had a 17" monitor...
Of course instead of getting a larger mouse mat you could just increase the sensitivity of the mouse.

Lol, so I take it you've never fried a motherboard or some such. I'm too careful to play that way at work, but man, how my own home computers hate me. >=)

When my users say "I know it might be a dumb question" I tell them that there is no such thing as a dumbe question - all it means is that someone, probably me, has not explained something properly to them.

For the sake of a little pride, it makes my life a lot easier and the computer experience less terrifying for the users.

You do come across the "wilfull ignorance" syndrome decsribed in another post. Having replaced a remote office printer and given them the toner part numbers and told them to order immediately (because the cartridges shipped with new printers are only half full), I was not amused to receive a call when out of the country "our printer has run out of toner - what do we do?". Before anyone says anything, a supplier had let me down on a delivery and I had had to drive 4 hours each way to this customer and buy them a color laser on the way from a supplier that didn't have toners in stock, and had even bought and installed a cheap mono as a backup for when there were printer problems).

This is nothing compared to the true story of the photocopier repair man in one of Scott Adams' books.

Some days it is the mouse, and other days it is the rat using the mouse....

Two of my favorites are trying to walk someone through making a modem connection, and user says he keeps getting a busy signal. I have gone into the server room, dumped all the current modem users, and said "try it now." Nope, still busy.

"Hey when you call me to help you, do you have to dial an 8 or 9 first?"

"Yes".

"How is your modem connected?"

"To a spare phone line/jack here at my desk"

"If you connect a regular phone, do you have to dial an 8 or 9 first to make a call?"

"Yeah......DOH!"

After about 30 minutes of trying to help another user to create a 'shortcut' to the dial-up connection, I say "OK, now that you have found the icon, left-click, hold the button down, and drag it to the desktop."

"What is this desktop? I have laptop computer."

When I have problems with a user who has problems with double-clicking the mouse I install a touch pad. It is much easier for someone who has a problem double-clicking a mouse to double-tap a touch pad. If you don't want to install a touch pad there are a number of utilities that will allow the use of the keyboard to double-click. However some will not work with certain programs.

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All you had to do is to copy data from one monitor to another.

cheers,

D.