work rant

I work in the Twilight Zone<tm>.  As such, very little is normal.
What really makes my head spin around 360 degrees, spitting pea soup, is the sheer entitlement my coworkers are either hired for or somehow manage to develop after fifteen minutes on the job.
The other day we noticed that our internet pipes were clogged.  Pulling [...]

TALES FROM THE HELPDESK
Hi.  We ordered a powerpoint slide and projector from you.
Do you mean a laptop and projector?
Yes.  The projector is saying that the battery is low.
Plug it in.
It is plugged in.
Check to make sure it is plugged all the way into the outlet.  Try a different outlet.
What about if that doesn’t work?  (looks [...]

In case you haven’t read the previous Comcast post, work got Comcast service turned on last Friday.  Today we went to look at the modem and found it half dead.
Half dead?
Yes, half dead.  Sort of.  The WAN side was blinking but the LAN side, which has four ports, had two ports lit up in spite [...]

For some strange reason (necessity?), I was either lucky or good at hiring.  I’m kinda proud of it, right up til this week.  It seems that I need to add a new set of skills to my hiring bag: bone density(?)
As of noon today, this is the sick bay report:

one shoulder surgery due to an [...]

We have a laptop and projector loaner pool at work.  We have spent years trying to idiot-proof these units but we always come back to Murphy’s Law: If you try to idiot-proof something, they’ll just come out with a better idiot.  Nowhere is this more true than where I work.  We are the better idiots.
We [...]

My boss is funny.   Not funny ha-ha…. Funny like breaking your leg when the bone sticks through.
Two weeks ago she chewed me a new one for some imagined event that had no basis in reality.  We seemed to get past that relatively decently but we still work in the Twilight Zone<tm>.
As proof, I offer the [...]

Yesterday I attended the PA VMware Users Group conference in a Philly suburb.  It was the subject of much discussion and anticipation among the crew, with just about everybody wishing to go. This was my first foray into user group events.
I’ll be honest: I hate salespeople.  Most of the salespeople that I meet make my [...]

LATER, SOUTER
With the announcement of Justice Souter’s impending retirement, I have heard two reactions so far; both talking about how a woman should be appointed to the Supreme Court.  One was from Arlen Specter.
I have to tell you that I’m really tired of this bulldookey. 
What happened to the concept of hiring someone who can [...]

I do not set out expecting (or wanting) weird things to happen: they just do.
There are approximately fourteen people at work expecting babies, at least four of them twins.  The call has gone out: DO NOT DRINK THE WATER.
It is too late in my department: we have one set of twins and one boy, both [...]

Just moments ago someone walked into our IT office.  Seeing the only two occupants having a business conversation, she knocked loudly on a desk.
How can we help you?
[hee hee] I, um, there’s a meeting.  And they [hee hee] need a.. they’re having a training in the Big Room.  They need a … thing.  I don’t [...]