Space Oddity

[wxgeek.livejournal.com]

Hi, everyone. I found this community and immediately realized that this is the place where I will be venting.

I'm a Tier 1 Technical Support Representative at an inbound call center, for a national wireless ISP who shall remain nameless (but really, how many of them are there?). Now, we at my ISP use Google Earth, with an overlay that shows our coverage areas and towers. To best orient the customer to our signal, we ask the customer to rotate the modem in the direction of the nearest/best tower. It's pretty simple, really. Where's your house? Okay, do you know which way northeast is? Okay, point the blank side of your modem thataway.

Problem is, lots of people don't know 'north' in their own homes. At one point, I literally had this exchange: "Okay, ma'am; do you know which way north is?" "How the hell am I supposed to know that?!" ...*sigh.* So to help them figure which way is which, we coordinate what we can see on Google Maps with landmarks they know, in the direction the tower is in. So far, so good.

I get a valley girl on the phone. Sweet girl, nice person, but not at all computer literate. So I'm coaching this girl through pointing her wireless modem towards the nearest tower, and I start describing the houses in her area in hopes of pinning down which house was hers. When she realizes I can 'see' the cars in the driveway, and gets real, real quiet, and in complete sincerity and awe, she asks:

"Are you in space?"

I wanted so, so badly to say yes.

Comments

[the-reda.livejournal.com]

Aww.
You are a better person than I am. I would have messed with her head. Thehhhe

[geeveecatullus.livejournal.com]

I usually do not know where north is in buildings, but some / a lot use that for orientation so I bought myself a cheap compass.
And you so should have said yes!

[ohmyhead.livejournal.com]

1. Great icon!

2. LOL @ "Are you in space?"

3. How crappy is your service that people have to point their modems at it??

4. Only cops seem to know where North is at all times. And maybe Muslims.

[snyperwolf.livejournal.com]

I concur on 1 and 2, but I'm one of those nerds that does all my directions by "go north on this road, head east down this road ..." etc.

That said, I still don't know where north is inside of my home. I think that's mainly because the one of the corners of my home faces north, not a wall.

[wxgeek.livejournal.com]

1. Thanks. :)
2. Seriously. :D
3. It's not, actually. It's just that the modem is directional.
4. You'd think that at least in your own house, though...

[yanni85.livejournal.com]

4. Only cops seem to know where North is at all times. And maybe Muslims.

And people who put points into direction sense.

[nykeyoung.livejournal.com]

I would've said "Yes, and I have an Ion cannon pointed at you. You have two minutes to write your last will and testament."

[zzyzx.livejournal.com]

Did you post this in Mock the Stupid a while ago? I think I replied mentioning the Google Copernicus Center.

[brownizs.livejournal.com]

Yep, yes they did http://community.livejournal.com/mock_the_stupid/2921315.html And just to add, rotating the modem for a better signal, will not work. An antenna will pick up radiating signals, no matter what direction they come from.

[wxgeek.livejournal.com]

I did, and you did, but I just joined this community, and figured they'd get a kick out of it. =)

[110billion.livejournal.com]

I get a valley girl on the phone. Sweet girl, nice person, but not at all computer literate.

Fixed.

Dear lord, seriously... how stupid are your clients?

[the-reda.livejournal.com]

She sounds a little stoned to me ;-)

[wxgeek.livejournal.com]

*twitch* I work tier 1 tech support. for an ISP that sells itself on being simple.

I'm surprised some of our customers can tie their shoes.

[moopet.livejournal.com]

*click* hello? This is the emergency operator. We've traced the call - it's coming from inside your own house! Run for your life!

[falnfenix]

*snort*

[vortex.livejournal.com]

*Snort!*

...and yes, I really am lol'ing!...

[70schild.livejournal.com]

That is so awesome.. if they don't know north, can they tell where the sun rises?

[ex-deliveryboy.livejournal.com]

"Are you in space?"



"No, I'm from Iowa. I only work in outer space."

[glassarchitect.livejournal.com]

that's awesome :)

[wxgeek.livejournal.com]

WINNAR. A shiny new internet is yours.

[vulpisfoxfire.livejournal.com]

Oookay...on a totally different subject, am I going (more) insane, or is that a Second Life style model of a Cylon wearing a sombrero...and a thick mustache?

[ptstech.livejournal.com]

You, sir, are a saint. There's now way I could have passed that up...

[canray.livejournal.com]

Not many folks know where North is. Hell, I was lucky to know what neighbourhood I was in when I first moved here. ;-P

As for the Valley Girl...

"Oh, like, TOTALLY! I'm a total Space Cadet, yaknow?" *Chews gum with an open mouth and plays with little doggy that lives in huge purse*

[miertam.livejournal.com]

In space no one can hear you whimper.

North Is Thataway -->--^--<--\/

[rose-welch.livejournal.com]

I don't know north. I get around using landmarks and streetnames. I'm kind of odd in that way. I also have to think really hard, and sometimes start marching (my body automatically kicks out the left foot) before I remember which one is left and which one is right. Conversely, Albert Einstein reportedly could not tie his shoes. Ahh, the price we pay for genius, Al & I...

No, seriously, my family and I go camping quite a bit and I've spent many an hour wandering in the woods, and have never, ever needed to know north to get back anywhere. That would assume you knew what direction camp was in, could see the sun (sometimes hard to do w.o climbing a tree), had a pretty good idea what time it was, etc. So not knowing north doesn't really bother me, as I have never needed it, and therefore have never had a chance to develop that particular sense.

[heathwitch.livejournal.com]

o_O