(no subject)

[katealaurel.livejournal.com]

I do tech support work for my college, and wound up taking extra daytime hours over my spring break instead of my normal evening shift. As a result, I'm suddenly fielding many more calls from professors.

These professors are, for the vast majority of cases, brilliant in their fields, but some of them are not so great with computers. Case in point:

*phone rings*
Me: "Computer User Services, this is Kate."
Prof: "Hi, I'm trying to set up a vacation message thingy in my email.."
Me: "Ok.. What you'll want to do is go to webmail.[school].edu..."
Prof: "REDmail? All one word? Redmail?"
Me: "No, no, WEBmail.[school].edu.."
Prof: "I.. I don't see where to type that in.."
Me: "Sir, what program are you running?"
Prof: "I'm using my email..."
Me: "Yes, but can you tell me what program you're using?"
Prof: "Oh, uh, the Thunderbird."
Me: "Ok. I need you to open Safari or Firefox."
Prof: "Uh... ok... there's Safari..."
Me: "Ok. So type webmail.[school].edu into the bar at the top, and hit enter.."
Prof: "Uh.. ok..."
Me: "Now it should be asking you for your username and password.."
Prof: "Oh. I don't think I know my password..."
Me: [now attempting to bang head on desk while still on phone] "Ok, well, I can give your call to someone who can change your password for you.."
Prof: "No, uh, I'll take a guess at it.." [puts phone down]
Me: "Sir? Sir?" [belatedly realizes he's put phone down]
Prof: [picks phone up] "Well, that one didn't work.. I'll try again.." [puts phone down]
Me: "No, wait, sir..."

This continued for a few more rounds, until I was able to get his attention and pass him off to someone who could reset his password. In the meantime, though, it was a very Special phone call.

Okay. It. Is.Spring. Break. Why. Are. You. All. Here.

[texasts.livejournal.com]

I work as a Security Adminstrator for a large multinational. This week and next week will be spring break for the majority of our customers. In the US. Which is where the majority of our users are. Even my boss and her boss and my co-Admin here in the States are out on vacation...

I've been working my ASS off here these past two days (with no letup in sight it looks like). For every five issues I work. Whether I close them or push on for approval is at this point irrelevant. I get seven to ten more in our shared mailbox. WTF?

And if anyone sends me another damned screenshot - I'm gonna yank their access. You think you got trouble now? Just send another screenshot to our shared mailbox. (Server is in Europe. Takes me anywhere from 30 - 90 seconds to open your note and I don't have the luxury of time.) Screenshots hardly EVER help us diagnose what is wrong with your account. Go ahead. Send another one. You'll be lucky if you can EVER log in to any our systems...

Needless to say I'm drowning...I started at 645 this morning. 

It. Is. Now. After. Seven. PM. 

I now have twice the amount of work that I started out with this morning. After more than twelve hours on the job. Glub...Glub...

One of my two co workers in the EU office see the amount of work we have to do...And I think she freezes up. They both certainly sounded really frazzled when I talked to them this morning. To make matters worse, our other workhorse on the team (besides me), a lady in Singapore, is out on medical leave...I'm screwed. 

Just to check I am trying to get our ticket DB to give me a count of tickets closed today. And the effing thing has been thinking about giving me my requested data for about ten minutes now. 

I. Hate. The. Hourglass. *sigh*

All you users should take a few days off, cuz it is gonna take us that long just to get caught up. 

Shit.

TexasT's out...

Xposted...