732 lines
30 KiB
Plaintext
732 lines
30 KiB
Plaintext
From: junkspill@aol.com
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Subject: Tech Support Tales #8
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******************************************
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T E C H S U P P O R T T A L E S # 8
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******************************************
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WARNING! THIS DOCUMENT IS NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH MICROSOFT BOB! You may
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laugh just as hard as if you were launching BOB, but TECH SUPPORT TALES is
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not BOB, nor does it have any aspirations to be MS BOB...despite rumors
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that the Gatester may be spreading around. To further prove this point, I
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have hired Johnny "The Man" Cochran to illustrate some of the more obvious
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differences, should TST have to defend itself against Microsoft in a court
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of law.
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* BOB is round...TST is square.
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* BOB is yellow...TST is black and white (in most cases).
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* BOB wears extremely thick glasses...TST has never worn glasses.
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* BOB lives on the west coast...TST lives on the east coast.
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* TST weighs about 25K and needs a pinch of RAM...BOB ships on 85 floppy
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disks and requires a large manual crank (batteries sold separately) to
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start it up.
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So you see, it makes no sense, it doesn't fit. And if it doesn't fit, you
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must've quit.
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YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE THE STORIES THAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ....BUT THEY ARE
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ALL TRUE!* It will never cease to amaze me how silly and befuddled some
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people get with their computers. Every day thousands of people turn on
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their computers (or try to) and come across a problem which they think they
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understand. The results of their actions can be amusing and often
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hilarious. And let's not forget the boneheaded Techs we all have to endure
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from time to time.
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*** WELCOME ***
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to issue #8 of TECH SUPPORT TALES - the publication which proves that
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stupidity breeds humor. This issue of Tech Support Tales has been sent to
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1,286 email subscribers around the globe by a hired militia of armed and
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disgruntled postal employees.
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HEY PROPELLER-HEADS,
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It's not too often that people send me tech tales that send me into a
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teary-eyed, gut-busting, laughing fit...but I think you'll agree that some
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of the stories in this issue will lighten up those dry moments at the staff
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meeting you are voluntarily required to attend this week. Some of these
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tales are sooo funny, that they will be included in the upcoming
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action-cyber-romance-thriller flick, "USER," starring Steve Case as an evil
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hacker with his Atari 540ST.
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In other news, the TECH SUPPORT TALES web site is open for browsing. Feel
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free to check it out at the following URL:
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http://128.218.7.140/techsupporttales.html
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keep in mind that it is under construction, so click lightly. A big thanks
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to Alan Herrick of Auricular for his assistance.
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For all you folks in the Lowell/Boston, Massachusetts area, check out the
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radio show "Let's Talk Computers" hosted by Dave Sciuto and Bill Dubie. It
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can be heard every Saturday evening on WCAP 980 AM 7-8 pm. They have had
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such guests as Scott Adams, Brock Meeks, and many others. Live phone calls
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are encouraged and they can be heard reading some of their favorite tales
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from this zine on occasion. You can find out more at:
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http://www1.usa1.com/~scryber/ltc.html
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Finally, here's your opportunity to land a job that will enable you to feel
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good about what you do (and send me more Tales). Habitat for Humanity
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International, a non-profit ecumenical Christian organization dedicated to
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eliminating poverty housing worldwide, is seeking Technical Support
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Volunteers. People interested should have Macintosh knowledge and
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experience (PC knowledge and experience a plus), the ability to communicate
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clearly and patiently, the capacity to make a minimum one year commitment,
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and a desire use computer skills to rid the world of sub-standard housing.
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Housing and food stipend provided. For more information, please send your
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resume to Michelle_G._Dalva@habitat.org
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Enjoy! =:-p
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-Eric Hausmann
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Editor, Tech Support Tales
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junkspill@aol.com
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TO SUBSCRIBE: I'm not using a fancy-schmancy mail server, so please don't
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send me any cryptic mail server type messages...a simple note with the
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words "Subscribe Tech Support Tales" in the subject field will do the
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trick.
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BACK ISSUES: Back issues can be obtained at the Tech Support Tales web site
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(http://128.218.7.140/techsupporttales.html) or directly from me via email.
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Let me know which issues you'd like and I'll send them your way. In the
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next issue, I'll be announcing an FTP site as well. And as always, if you
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have any of your own stories that you would like to see in a future issue,
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please send them along!
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Send all submissions mail, comments, rants, complaints and extra copies of
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Windows 95 (I need the floppies) to: JUNKSPILL@AOL.COM
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Thanks to the following individuals for sharing the jokes and tales you are
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about to read: AvelardoM@aol.com, joshr@pacificnet.net,
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alan_herrick@rad-mac1.ucsf.edu, Othill@aol.com, erd@infinet.com,
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David.B.Haseman@Dartmouth.EDU, sergior@hpcscfld.nsr.hp.com,
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GSubG13er@aol.com, nickzman@eskimo.com, EDUCORP@aol.com, jcn@world.net,
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72662.131@compuserve.com, rwinchell@acer.com, SOOOOHAPPY@aol.com, AaprDon
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77@aol.com, TwistSol@aol.com, MacSenseEd.@eworld.com
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---------------
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LETTERS TO TST
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---------------
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Can you inform me the price of the subscription? Thank you for your service.
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(Hey, I like this guy!, Ed.)
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____________________________________________________________
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My wife is on Mac and I am
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on IBM - finally something we can both laugh at.
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-mshalkey@rain.org
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____________________________________________________________
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Sign me up for your list, my tech support specialty is blue haired women
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and the oft "JUST DON'T GET IT! ARRGG!" I could use some humor.
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-V760Turbo@aol.com
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____________________________________________________________
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Please kind sir! I've had a terrible week so far, a terrible year in fact!
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If you could only send me the back issues 1 through 6 of TST, it would
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surely bring some joy to this otherwise mundane existence! <g>
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-joe.zeimetz@consultant.com
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____________________________________________________________
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After Downloading three back-Issues of tech support tales, I am hooked. In
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three hours, this has become my favorite E-Zine! I'm In the Eighth grade.
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Being one of the few Mac users at my school, I am oft called upon to solve
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various Mac predicaments students and teachers get into, so In a way, I'm
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like a Tech-Support Rep. Mostly, This falls in to the realm of "Ben! This
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$&@# computer won't print!", or "Ben, why Is this printer so slowwwww?"
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Sometimes, However, a problem will arise that really tries my Macintosh
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knowledge. Case In point: One day I was In the school library trying to
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actually get some useful work done. A kid came up to me and said "Ben! This
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$&@# computer won't print!" "All right, I said, let me have a look." I
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found print monitor running, but printing was paused. Used to this problem,
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as our LaserWriters only have two megs of ram and kids often accidentally
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pause printing while staring at print monitor spool their document, I
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resumed printing without first looking at the document que. The
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LaserWriter responded beautifully, churning out twenty-five or thirty
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copies of the SAME DOCUMENT. Recognizing the kid's name, I delivered the
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papers to his Home Room. It seemed that it had been a busy day that morning
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, and the printer's memory had been clogged. When his document didn't print
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RIGHT AWAY, he had tried printing his document again, and again, and again.
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When the bell rung to go to class, he paused the printing, leaving all
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twenty-something files spooled on his Mac. As I left, the teacher was
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reprimanding him. I sure hope that she'll teach her class what background
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printing is from now on!
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-CitroenGS@aol.com
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____________________________________________________________
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I found #7 in the Macworld "New Uploads" area. I love it so much, it's so
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encouraging to think that there are more computer illiterate people than
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just my grandfather. I haven't laughed out loud like this since Bill
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Clinton decided to run for the presidency. -Zoicks@aol.com
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____________________________________________________________
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-------------
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SIG-O-MANIA!
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-------------
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// Drink milk or suffer eternal damnation and hellfire //
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// - Brought to you by the Evangelist Dairy Producers of America //
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____________________________________________________________
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Dear Earthling: Hello! I am a creature from a galaxy far away, vacationing
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on your planet. I have transformed myself into this little .sig . As you
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are reading it, I am having sex with your eyeballs. I know you like it,
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because you are smiling. Thanks for a wonderful time.
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____________________________________________________________
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----------------------------
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Microsoft (MSFT) Announces
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New CD-ROM Software to Aid
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Consumers In Suing Itself
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----------------------------
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(REDMOND) In an effort to make it easier for computer users everywhere to
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file a law suit against itself, Microsoft Corporation today announced
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Microsoft Litigation '95, a multimedia reference library complete with 139
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frequently used legal writs, briefs, templates and forms which are
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accessible from within other programs with a single click.
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With this handy tool, a user will be able to combine elements of the
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popular Microsoft Office and Microsoft Office Professional desktop
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productivity suites in conjunction with the Litigation '95 CD-ROM package
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to quickly and efficiently bring suit against Microsoft for a variety of
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reasons, whether legitimate or frivolous.
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What is new this year:
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Litigation Builder
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-------------------------
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Located on the QuickSuit information retrieval toolbar, Litigation Builder
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provides instant access to an enormous variety of case law and civil code
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from within any program on the Windows platform.
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Suit Wizards (tm)
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-------------------------
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Suit Wizards (tm) guide the user through the many mazes of 'legalese'
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required to bring suit against Microsoft, whether in city, county, state,
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Federal, Appellate, or Supreme Court. Localized versions of Litigation
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'95 will provide for the equivalent of lawsuits in any nations' format.
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Year in Review
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------------------------
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The Year in Review section highlights lawsuits, findings, settlements and
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other legal events of the past year which affect Microsoft, including the
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Justice Department suit, Judge Sporkin's refusal to approve the settlement
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and the Stacker suit.
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All New Forms
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-----------------------
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View more than 650 legal templates and forms from around the world, 930
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country -specific case law findings, and 180 bar associations. Also click
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a Latin legal term to hear it pronounced. Nothing could make it easier for
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a non-lawyer to bring suit against Microsoft.
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More Multimedia Elements
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----------------------------------------
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Litigation '95 contains all new video for a total of 45 clips, 150 new
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audio clips for a total of five hours of sound, and 550 new images for a
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total of 3,000 pictures. The law dictionary contains more than 80,000
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spoken pronunciations (the feature can be turned off if desired).
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____________________________________________________________
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----------------------------
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The Baby Tech Support Line
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----------------------------
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Ring Ring Ring
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Hello! And thank you for calling the Baby Technical Support Line at Saguaro
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General Hospital. For Imminent Baby Delivery, please press 1, For regular
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Pediatric Questions, please press 2, For Sales and Service, please press 3,
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for Technical Questions regarding the Care and Upkeep of your Baby, please
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press 4.
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Beep.
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Ring Ring Ring
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Hello, this is Mary with Saguaro General Hospital Baby Technical Support.
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How can I help you today?
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Yes. Ahh. I'm having problems with my new baby and my wife is out at the
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moment. We had our baby delivered at Saguaro about 4 months ago.
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Yes sir. What seems to be the problem?
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Well, I'm kinda new to this, you know? I mean, I'm here alone with the kid
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and I'm not sure what to do next.
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OK. Tell me where you're at. What kind of model do you have?
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Model?
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Yes sir.
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Well. It's a baby. And she's been crying for a while now.
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What I mean is, can you tell me what obvious features the baby has? Does
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she have any defects? Is she missing any fingers, toes? Things like that?
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What? Oh no! She's just your basic baby, I guess.
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OK. Sounds like our Performa Model. How is the baby behaving now?
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Well, she's not eating, and she's been throwing things around and crying.
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In other words, she's acting normal.
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All right. Have you tried Awaking her without any Extensions?
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What are those?
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Extensions would be any outside disturbances, such as a lot of noise, loud
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pets; a nice quiet environment. She needs no extra stimuli when she wakes
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up. She'll be in a lot better mood.
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Well, I'll try that.
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Have you Rebuilt the Baby lately?
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What?
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Sir, babies need a lot of care and attention.
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That's what my wife keeps telling me. I guess I should start paying more
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attention to her.
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That's good.
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Well, what can I do now?
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Well, sir, Rebuilding the Baby is really very simple once you've done it.
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You're going to have to sit down in front of the baby and do the following.
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After you wake her without any Extensions, give the baby a bath and wash
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her carefully. Make sure when you wash her to not let go of her hand until
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you see the smiling face!
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OK. Sounds good.
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Then, dry her carefully and dust her.
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Dust?
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Baby Powder, sir.
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Oh. OK.
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Then, place a clean, fresh diaper on the baby.
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A diaper.
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Yes, sir.
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How do you put those things on?
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It's all explained very clearly in the manual we sent to you when the baby
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was delivered.
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I don't think we got that.
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Did you inspect your shipping container carefully?
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Just a second. Let me look.
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(A few minutes later)
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Yes! Here it is. Hey, it's got pictures and everything.
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Yes sir, we go through a lot of trouble to produce those manuals. You'll
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find all the instructions you'll need in there. Plus we've included many
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tips.
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OK. I'll read it tonight.
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Good. Can I have your name and number please?
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Jay Pegg, 555-6001.
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OK. Mr. Pegg, can I have the serial number of the baby, please?
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Serial number?
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Yes sir. We place a bar code on each baby which helps us keep track of
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them. It's very helpful to us when they come in for maintenance.
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(Some crying in the background)
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Well, I've got her upside down and every which way, but I see no serial
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number.
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Sir, the serial number is very small and is usually placed on top of her
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skull.
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Isn't that dangerous?
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Oh no. Not at all. Eventually it just fades away. Just brush her hair aside
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and it should be there.
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Just a second and I'll look.
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(A lot of crying and screaming now)
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Uh. I've got her in my lap now. She's very strong, you know.
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I can imagine, sir.
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Well, let's see here. It looks like S-G-H-3-9-8 Ow! Honey, don't poke
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daddy like that!
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Are you all right sir?
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Huh? Oh, just fine. Let's see S-G-H-3 Damn! Why you little!
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(A LOT of crying now)
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Hello? Sir?
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Just a second. Let me take this plastic dino away from her.
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(Not as much crying)
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OK. Here we go. It looks like, yes! 666!
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Sir?
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Hah! Just kidding. OK, the real number is SGH35671-1/22/94. Wheh! There.
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OK. I've got the number. Just let me look up that number. OK Mr. Pegg, we
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have you listed as living in Tempe? Is that correct?
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Yes. That's right.
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(Crying coming back strong)
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We have no name for the baby listed. What is her name?
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Uhh. Actually we haven't named her yet.
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Well. It's very simple. Simply Select the Baby and type in her new name.
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Really?
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Yep. That's all there is to it.
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Where do I type?
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Well, included with your manual is a key pad which has many different
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functions.
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Let me look. Hey! You're right. This will be a big help.
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The manual explains everything in great detail, and if you still have
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problems with your baby, just call us anytime and we'll help.
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Sounds great. While I have you on the line, the baby keeps crying all the
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time when the mother isn't here. What can I do?
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Have you tried a Scream Saver, sir?
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Scream Saver?
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Yes. We recommend Scream Savers for saving your baby's voice. We have had a
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lot of success with sitting the child in front of a TV and turning it to
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C-SPAN.
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Hmm. I'll try that. What do you recommend when the kid just doesn't want to
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go to bed? We've tried playing with her to the point were we are both worn
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out and the baby just keeps going.
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Sir, if you look on the key pad, you'll see a small cover which opens up.
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There we have installed additional options. Try setting the Sleep Mode to
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what ever time at night you want the child to sleep. If you have other
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times when you wish the baby to be sleeping, such as during Friday rush
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hour traffic, simply press the Sleep Now mode and the child will stop
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screaming in your ears, and fall peacefully to sleep.
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Hey! Now that's a great idea.
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Yes sir. It's amazing what they are doing nowadays.
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Well. Thanks Mary for all your help and I'll be sure and ask especially for
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you if we need more help.
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Thank you for calling the Baby Technical Support Line.
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____________________________________________________________
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----------------------------
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Use at your own RISC
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----------------------------
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My apartment-mate (we'll call him "Mike") sheepishly entered my room,
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asking me if I could take a "look" at his computer. Now, he rarely relies
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on my Mac expertise to solve a problem; he usually takes it on as a
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"challenge" to solve it himself. So I knew this must be a stumper.
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He turned on his Performa, and shortly after the extension parade, his
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Mac started beeping. Incessantly.
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Beep! Beep! Beep!
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We still had control of the Mac, and could open files, pull down menus,
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etc. But the incessant beeping was maddening. We checked every control
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panel for settings. All seemed O.K. We changed the error beep in the
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"Sounds" control panel, and lo and behold, the incessant beeping became
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incessant quacking.
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Quack! Quack! Quack!
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Annoying, so we changed it back. We lowered the volume in the control
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panel, and now instead of beeping, the menu bar began blinking (which is
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what normally happens when you mute the beep sound.)
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Blink! Blink! Blink!
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Obviously, first thing I tried was restarting with all extensions off.
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Beep! Beep! Beep!
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So, what was going wrong with his Mac? To what error was the Mac trying
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to alert us? And more importantly, was this a software or a hardware
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problem?
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Mike's first guess was to replace the System Software (perhaps it got
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corrupted?) As he pulled out the ol' floppies, I figured I'd test if
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this would solve the problem. I started up from the System Software
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CD-ROM that came with the computer. Guess what?
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Beep! Beep! Beep!
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Just to be safe, I then started up from the Disk Tools. Even though it was
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a minimal system, with no control panels, we STILL heard:
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Beep! Beep! Beep!
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No matter how we'd alter or re-install the software, this beeping would
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not go away. Perhaps a loose speaker connection? Mike finally admitted
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that he'd been pulling his hair for hours on this one, and I was his
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last hope. Apparently this incessant beeping was plaguing him for three
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DAYS now, and he could no longer concentrate on getting his law studies
|
|
done. I could see the psychosis building in his eyes. This was a
|
|
desperate man.
|
|
|
|
Beep! Beep! Beep!
|
|
|
|
I'd ascertained it was a hardware problem, which meant it was out of my
|
|
hands. Before giving in completely, Mike seemed let down that he'd
|
|
actually have to bring his trusty, die-hard Mac in for _service._
|
|
Blasted Performas, I thought. Apple probably cut some corners to make
|
|
the models less expensive. Weird new features, bundled software,
|
|
ease-of-installation... I mean, how difficult is it to install and
|
|
configure a REAL Mac?
|
|
|
|
I began to exit the room. Mike got on the phone. Defeat.
|
|
|
|
Beep! Beep! Beep!
|
|
|
|
Then it hit me. I turned around, headed back for the Performa. At the
|
|
base of the CPU were two volume buttons to "ease" adjustment... and the
|
|
"up" button was jammed in. With a quick jiggle, it was released, and...
|
|
|
|
Silence. Beautiful silence.
|
|
|
|
Mike asks me for Mac help all the time now.
|
|
|
|
Beep! Beep! Beep!
|
|
____________________________________________________________
|
|
We had a member call up with the usual connection problems and the tech on
|
|
the call was wondering why it was taking the member unusually long to do
|
|
the simplest task such as selecting an item from the menubar. The member
|
|
said that her cat had eaten her mouse ball and she had to move the cursor
|
|
by putting her finger in the cavity where the mouse ball used to be and
|
|
moving the rollers manually.
|
|
____________________________________________________________
|
|
The computer service tech where I work told me he got a call from a
|
|
secretary complaining that the floppy drive in her computer would work. He
|
|
went down to check it out and found that she was putting the discs in WITH
|
|
the plastic dust sleeves still on them. He asked her why on earth she was
|
|
doing that and she said, "Well, I didn't want my computer to get a virus."
|
|
____________________________________________________________
|
|
I was working at a company that manufactured inter networking hardware for
|
|
minicomputers, providing in-house support for other employees of the
|
|
company. One day, a user buzzed me on the intercom and asked, "is the
|
|
computer down?" Since I was reading and did not actually know the answer
|
|
to her question, I sat up quickly and began typing on my terminal to see if
|
|
the computer had crashed when I wasn't looking. It hadn't. I replied, "No,
|
|
it's up." "Well, I can't logon," was the reply. When I got to the user's
|
|
office, I checked the obvious things; the terminal was plugged in and
|
|
turned on, the keyboard was plugged in and the lights showed "online". I
|
|
reset the terminal - no effect. I checked the terminal settings (baud
|
|
rate, parity, etc.), all correct. Finally, in desperation, I craned my
|
|
neck around the back side of the terminal and noticed that there was one
|
|
and only one cable running into the rear of the box - the power cable. I
|
|
asked the user where the other cable was (the serial connection to the
|
|
mini) and was told, "Oh, it's over here. I moved my terminal this morning.
|
|
Is this thing important?"
|
|
____________________________________________________________
|
|
Knowing something about computers made me the department computer "Geek".
|
|
That meant that I had to help install nearly all the Macintosh software for
|
|
a large radiology department. It was fun to go to everyone's desk and get
|
|
them up and running.
|
|
|
|
One secretary really like to chew winter green lifesavers. I told her the
|
|
old story about seeing phosphorescence when the candy is crushed by her
|
|
teeth. She had heard about that and had even tried it out in front of a
|
|
mirror in a darkened room.
|
|
|
|
I smiled and said, "Well, you know, that chewing those lifesavers in front
|
|
of your monitor will get the screen to jiggle."
|
|
|
|
She looked up with opened eyes and while grabbing here purse she said,
|
|
"We'll just see."
|
|
|
|
She popped a life saver in her mouth and LO and Behold! the screen
|
|
jiggled (for her).
|
|
|
|
She was amazed and I grew several levels of esteem after that incident
|
|
until she caught me in the hall later and wanted to know why no one else
|
|
could see the screen jiggle when she chewed her candy.
|
|
____________________________________________________________
|
|
CALLER: "A friend of mine gave me your software, and I'm missing one of the
|
|
manuals..."
|
|
____________________________________________________________
|
|
Me: "Hewlett Packard Customer Service, this is Sergio, can I help you?"
|
|
Customer: "Yes, I have a deskjet that I need to have repaired"
|
|
|
|
Me: "We make several deskjets ma'am -- do you know what model yours is?"
|
|
Customer: "It's a Hewlett Packard!"
|
|
|
|
Me: (suppressing a sigh) Yes I know....umm, could you tell me if your
|
|
deskjet is color or black and white? Customer: (pause) well....it's beige!
|
|
____________________________________________________________
|
|
A guy calls because he wants to register his Macintosh Performa and needs
|
|
to know where the serial numbers are on the computer and modem.
|
|
|
|
For the computer: "It's on the back of the computer."
|
|
Response: "Oh, I don't think I can get around to the back of it."
|
|
|
|
For the modem: "It's on the bottom of the modem."
|
|
Response: "I've got the modem attached with a C-clamp so it doesn't fall off."
|
|
|
|
All this and a speakerphone, too.
|
|
____________________________________________________________
|
|
A co-worker told me this one...
|
|
|
|
Apparently, he (the co-worker) and a friend were talking.
|
|
He must have brought up the subject of the InterNet, because his friend
|
|
asked him:
|
|
|
|
"InterNet? Isn't that that America Online thingy?"
|
|
____________________________________________________________
|
|
We receive a variety of calls on the 100's of CD's we sell. One of them is
|
|
called Midnight Stranger, a game where you roam around a city at night
|
|
looking for people to interact with. A guy called with problems on
|
|
Midnight Stranger on a Mac. This is how the conversation went:
|
|
|
|
Customer: This program Midnight Stranger is locking up on me.
|
|
|
|
Tech: At what point does it lock up?
|
|
|
|
Customer: I don't understand what you mean.
|
|
|
|
Tech: Does it lock up at the same point every time?
|
|
|
|
Customer: I still don't understand what you mean.
|
|
|
|
Tech: Does it lock up when you start Midnight Stranger, at the middle of
|
|
the game, how far into the game, where? when?
|
|
|
|
Customer: Oh, Oh, It locks up when you are at the girl's house and she's
|
|
sitting on the couch.
|
|
|
|
Tech: OK, the brunette?
|
|
|
|
Customer: No, the dark haired girL.
|
|
____________________________________________________________
|
|
While on telesales for a software retailer many years back a lady rang and
|
|
asked,
|
|
|
|
"Can you suggest the best home office accounting package? "
|
|
|
|
I answered, "In my opinion, Mind Your Own Business."
|
|
|
|
She nearly went through the roof, yelling and screaming how dare
|
|
I talked to her like that.
|
|
____________________________________________________________
|
|
One of our software products is often used to print addresses on
|
|
envelopes.
|
|
|
|
The customer had called the printer manufacturer because every time he
|
|
tried to print an envelope, the printer jammed. Apparently the
|
|
manufacturer's tech support person asked, "Does it only do this in
|
|
one particular program?" and our customer replied yes, only with
|
|
ours.
|
|
|
|
"Well, you better call them, then," said the support person,
|
|
referring to us.
|
|
|
|
As instructed the client called us and told me about the problem. I
|
|
asked him to try printing an envelope and describe what they saw. We
|
|
chatted while waiting for the test print. I learned the customer
|
|
was in Miami, in a three day rainstorm caused by tropical depression
|
|
Jerry. He also mentioned that the printer was brand new, fresh out
|
|
of the box.
|
|
|
|
No luck, the envelope jammed.
|
|
|
|
Then I asked them to print the same thing on plain paper. It sailed
|
|
through, printing perfectly.
|
|
|
|
Obviously the humidity had swollen the envelopes to a thickness that
|
|
the new printer could not handle. I mentioned this to him and he
|
|
agreed. "Why did you call me about what is obviously a hardware
|
|
problem?" I inquired.
|
|
|
|
"The printer guy said to because it only happens when printing
|
|
envelopes with your product."
|
|
|
|
"Do you print envelopes with any other software products?"
|
|
|
|
"No, just yours," he replied, then a long paused followed. Finally
|
|
he continued, "Good point. I'll call the printer guy again."
|
|
____________________________________________________________
|
|
This guy walked into our shop with a Duo and an English accent. He had
|
|
this really important meeting in an hour and couldn't get his Duo to boot
|
|
up. So we start it up in our DuoDock with a floppy, only to find _every_
|
|
file sitting on the desktop. Apparently he liked seeing the System Folder
|
|
all the time.
|
|
____________________________________________________________
|
|
A customer called a desktop publishing outfit and wanted a poster made from
|
|
a color slide. It was a picture of the caller's recently deceased father
|
|
with a couple of his fishing buddies in a boat. The caller mentioned there
|
|
was a slight problem- in the picture her father was facing away from the
|
|
camera. She wanted the photo expert to flip the negative so you could see
|
|
his face. When it was explained that this would only provide a mirror
|
|
image of the back of his head she became irate and screamed into the phone-
|
|
"If you can take the pimples off those glamour girls why can't you put a
|
|
face on my father!"
|
|
____________________________________________________________
|
|
At 3:37 a.m. on a Sunday, I had just looked at the clock to determine my
|
|
annoyance level, I received a frantic phone call from a new user of a
|
|
Macintosh Plus. She had gotten her entire family out of the house and was
|
|
calling from the neighbor's. She had just received her first system error
|
|
and interpreted the picture of the bomb on the screen as a warning that the
|
|
computer was going to blow up.
|
|
____________________________________________________________
|
|
One particular day like any other, an older woman purchased a Macintosh
|
|
dragged it home. A little while later we received an angry phone call from
|
|
the woman. Apparently, she had set her whole system up without incident
|
|
until she came across the mouse pad we included at no extra charge. "Which
|
|
side" she demanded, "of the mouse pad faces upwards???" Despite the
|
|
brightly colored red company logo emblazoned on one side of the pad, the
|
|
woman scolded us for not including appropriate instructions.
|
|
____________________________________________________________
|
|
____________________________________________________________
|
|
|
|
Current and previous issues of TECH SUPPORT TALES are available at the TST
|
|
web site (http://128.218.7.140/techsupporttales.html) or via e-mail request
|
|
at junkspill@aol.com. ASCII and ye shall receivii! Portions of TECH SUPPORT
|
|
TALES also appear in MacSense, the Macintosh ezine every month as well as
|
|
other fine publications.
|
|
|
|
To be included in an upcoming issue of TECH SUPPORT TALES (and other
|
|
related publications), send your letters, tech stories & computer jokes to:
|
|
JUNKSPILL@AOL.COM
|
|
|
|
Until next time...
|
|
C:\DOS C:\DOS\RUN RUN\DOS\RUN
|
|
|
|
*to the best of my knowledge - yasure yabetcha =:-o
|
|
|
|
Copyright 1995 Eric Hausmann. Tech Support Tales is a registered trademark.
|
|
You are encouraged to redistribute this document freely by uploading it to other
|
|
BBSs and online services. Photocopying & faxing of TST is also encouraged.
|
|
Please keep in mind that I'd like TST to be kept in its original state and
|
|
remain unaltered. If you are a book, magazine or electronic publisher and
|
|
are interested in reprinting any part of TECH SUPPORT TALES, write me &
|
|
I'll have my people contact your people for a PowerLunch meeting.
|