I work in an office that is rapidly expanding with a limited amount of space in which to do it. That being said, we are often required to shuffle desks around in order to restructure teams, make room for departmental expansion, etc. Yesterday I had been alerted that we were going to shuffle a few members of one team whose manager was moving downstairs and into another department. What I didn’t know was that this would have a clogged sink effect. You see, once this lady (the clog in the drain, so to speak) was removed, everything around her spiraled out of control and resulted in about five hours of non-stop moving as roughly 100 people decided that if she got to move, they all got to move. This meant that I was responsible for assisting and reconnecting computers.
Before I get too far I do want to say that, for the most part, my users are very self-reliant. They know how to disconnect and reconnect their machines and I generally don’t have to intervene much. I am usually just on-hand to spot check things. Yesterday, however, was a bit different. Here are some things I encountered yesterday:
– The first was someone who claimed their keyboard wouldn’t work. I approached to help and was met instantly with, “I already rebooted so you don’t need to do that,” which meant that I needed to do that. I also needed to plug in the keyboard.
– Nearby, another person called for help. “My monitor isn’t working! I checked all the wires!” Naturally, the first thing I did was check all the wires. It was unplugged (not at the wall, but at the rear).
– Downstairs I went, to see what was going on there. The lady who moved had transplanted someone else in order to lay claim to that particular desk. The person moved the PC but then complained that the internet wasn’t working. She had left her network cord behind, not realizing she needed it. I assure you that if it’s attached to your PC when you pack everything up, you’re going to need it when you get to your new desk.
– Speaking of the internet, one of the managers said they couldn’t get our internal IM program to work. Everything had been hooked up by this user with one small thing out of place. A small tip for the rest of you, if you have a cord that runs this…
…it will not power the internet on your computer. You’re going to need a network cord.
– It turns out that unscrewing one of these from the underside of a workstation…
…is pretty easy. It’s reattaching it that’s difficult. Also, it will leave the oddest brown stain on your shirt.
– Thrice I was summoned to desks of users who couldn’t get their PCs to turn on at all. “I checked all the wires!” Yes, of course you did. Here’s your problem:
You see, modern computers require electricity to run. Without it, they are little more than footrests (which half the staff uses their computers as, mind you).
– This is right side up, apparently. I didn’t know “DY” made computers…or existed.
Oh, co-workers. How you amuse me.
