another day at the college help desk
Oct. 11th, 2005 10:13 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
knittinggoddess.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
techrecoveryI had a lovely afternoon helping an emeritus prof migrate to IMAP. He was competent with his computer, and asked good questions. But before that, I had the following incident:
We don't allow unattended personal computers in the back office--or at the desk or wherever. If your computer is at the desk (and you're not a staffer), you must be with your computer.
This girl comes up and asks if she can borrow a power cord to charge her battery. I say that shouldn't be a problem, but she'll have to do it here, and she will have to stay here with her computer.
Girl says oh thank you, that will be fine and we plug her in at the back.
"Ok," I say, "you can hang out back here, I guess."
Girl laughs, as if I had made a particularly stupid joke.
And leaves.
I pause, as I'm not quite sure if she's joking or not, or maybe she went to go get her reading, then I dash after her. I catch up, apologize for any confusion and tell her, no, she really DOES have to be by her computer. We want to avoid missing computers, not to mention clutter in the back office.
She's a little annoyed, says that she has other things to do, but collects her laptop.
"I really can't just leave it back here?"
No.
"Is [boss man] around?"
WTF?
Are you going to tell my boss on me? The HELL?
We don't want your computer to be misplaced, lady. Thanks much.
It was later pointed out that the girl (who was in that 21-27 age group) might have been my boss's girlfriend. Well, shit. Then again, if this is true, I didn't know who she was.
We don't allow unattended personal computers in the back office--or at the desk or wherever. If your computer is at the desk (and you're not a staffer), you must be with your computer.
This girl comes up and asks if she can borrow a power cord to charge her battery. I say that shouldn't be a problem, but she'll have to do it here, and she will have to stay here with her computer.
Girl says oh thank you, that will be fine and we plug her in at the back.
"Ok," I say, "you can hang out back here, I guess."
Girl laughs, as if I had made a particularly stupid joke.
And leaves.
I pause, as I'm not quite sure if she's joking or not, or maybe she went to go get her reading, then I dash after her. I catch up, apologize for any confusion and tell her, no, she really DOES have to be by her computer. We want to avoid missing computers, not to mention clutter in the back office.
She's a little annoyed, says that she has other things to do, but collects her laptop.
"I really can't just leave it back here?"
No.
"Is [boss man] around?"
WTF?
Are you going to tell my boss on me? The HELL?
We don't want your computer to be misplaced, lady. Thanks much.
It was later pointed out that the girl (who was in that 21-27 age group) might have been my boss's girlfriend. Well, shit. Then again, if this is true, I didn't know who she was.
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no subject
Date: 2005-10-12 06:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-12 06:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-12 06:52 am (UTC)well ... you can never know who sleeps with who ;)
how old is your boss again ? *G*
-------
however. in this case i would also tell my boss that /I/ cant be blamed if the laptop is gone in an hour. i cant stay here all the time to watch over her notebook and if anyone will take it and she's not there, its her own fault.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-12 06:55 am (UTC)i guess, since youre in ... USA? ... i guess youre to blame in any way :)
i found out that youre not responsible for ANYTHING by your own, in USA. You can always blame someone else.
and if you would put an fake-bomb-belt around your waist and jump out of the car in front of the white house and they'll shoot you, you can blame the President for your injuries because there is no sign in front of the white house that you must not jump out of your car with an fake-bomb-belt in front of the white house.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-12 12:07 pm (UTC)hmm... how about the russian ?
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Date: 2005-10-12 12:12 pm (UTC)its MY fault!
i didnt vote. ok... i couldnt even vote since iam not an US-Citizen. But... i didnt vote, so its my fault *WHINES*
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Date: 2005-10-12 12:40 pm (UTC)But don't look at me - I didn't vote for Shrub Senior or Junior, either. (And yes, I did vote,
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Date: 2005-10-12 02:18 pm (UTC)You only have yourselves to blame.
If I could have voted against him in the last election I would have.
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Date: 2005-10-12 11:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-12 06:03 pm (UTC)If she actually was my boss's girlfriend, I would have asked her to come back when Ben was around and maybe she could use his power brick.
People also complain when they log into a public computer, leave for dinner (or a lengthy smoke) and when they come back, someone has either logged them out or started using the computer themselves. "But my books were marking my spot! I don't care that the IRC was full, I was using that computer!"
Thesising seniors, unfortunately, are the worst.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-12 01:03 pm (UTC)[further down]
This has been a test of the emergency ID10T system. This is only a test. Had it been a real emergency, the Support Desk would not have considerately picked up your PC and stored it away. Kindly wander over to the main desk and claim your property. Please be sure to bring proper ID, proof of ownership and $10 to pay for babysitting your precious device. Thank you."
Of course, that opens yet another can of worms - *whine* My laptop doesn't work right anymore. You gotta fix it or else...
How about just putting up a sign warning against unattended laptops being stolen not being the responsibility of the college?
no subject
Date: 2005-10-12 01:05 pm (UTC)Proper grammar at this hour? Surely you jest.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-12 02:11 pm (UTC)How about just putting up a sign warning that unattended laptops being stolen is not the responsibility of the college?
*couldn't resist*
no subject
Date: 2005-10-12 07:20 pm (UTC)May I borrow that bat?
I'll start with a triple somersault *headdesk* followed by a quintuple over-under *facebat*.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-13 06:50 am (UTC)so dont hit ME with that bat when iam writing bullshit. :)
no subject
Date: 2005-10-13 10:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-14 06:11 am (UTC)may i help clobbering you ? *G* (kidding)
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Date: 2005-10-12 06:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-13 06:47 am (UTC)1) if anyone wants to use the wallpower, sign the EULA that we are NOT responsible if you leave your computer alone!
2) if they go away, take the laptop and put it on ebay.