Story time!!
The computer center's been jumping all day. Three simultaneous projects going on.... We have five people scheduled during the day on Fridays right now, which I thought was going to be too many, but the adminisrators seem to have caught onto this and have saved the projects for Friday...
Replacing monitors in students services
hard drive back-up of a cursed lap top
Windows XP install
payroll
printers died today
Replacing phone handset...
No one got lunch until 2pm.
We also got to tell some horror stories to the new worker, which was all kinds of fun. Basically, any sign in the computer center that does not seem intuitive (and some that do) has a story behind it. Many of them could be classified as sociology experiments gone awry.
Story the First:
There's the "Ask First" sign on one of the closets behind the staff computer, for instance. In this closet, many operators keep personal items (jackets, books, bags, etc.) while they are on duty. Wea also put lost and found items in these closets. We also keep the staplers in there to keep them from wandering too far around the room. (They are also known as "the quantum staplers." As in, there is a probability that they are in the room...somewhere. But that is another story.) The problem is that many students know that this is where the staplers live. The operators began to notice an amusing trend based on the perceived loctaion of the staplers. If the stapler was on the table in public view the student wishing to use said stapler would ask permission of the operator before they used the stapler. If the stapler was in the closet (or wandered away and not on the table) the student wishing to use said stapler would open the closet without asking and look for the stapler. Isn't this a little backwards? "If the stapler is out and accessible, I will ask before I use it. If it is put away, I will paw around in a closet that is not mine and look for it without asking." Huh? And then they act all indignant when we ask ehtm what they think they are doing pawing around in the staff closet... So, we put a sign on the door indicating that students should "Ask First" before opening it. It also gives us more of an excuse to mock them if they ignore it.... The "Ask Second" sign is on the other closet because Chris felt wierd that day....
Story the Second:
About the quantum staplers. They have a habit of wandering around the Computer Center, so that if they are not in the closet, and not next to the staff computer, they could be anywhere. There is just a high probability that they are located in the computer center at all. Occaisionally, the probability wave will coalesce and some one will find one of them... Sorry, geeky joke...
Story the Third:
"Please Use Other Door." "Do Not Open This Door." These seem like fairly simple instructions. Easy to understand, short, sweet, and to the point. There is an amazing amount of people who cannot follow these instructions. You see, the second door of the computer center is alarmed. It is there because of fire code requirements, and so, is not locked. However, despite it not being locked, it is for emergency use only. There is a very nice, arrow-shaped sign on it pointing towards the main door of the computer center that says "Please Use Other Door." This is one of those nice, permanent, engraved-type signs. But people couldn't follow these instructions, so the alarm would go off constantly. So, one new operator had the bright idea of making a BIG sign. So, he printed out the words "DO NOT OPEN THIS DOOR!" with each word (and the exclamation point) on its own sheet of paper, and taped them vertically on the door. No one can miss it, now.
Fifteen minutes later, some one opened the door.
There is now a little papar box over the door knob that also says "Do not use this door." The theory is that they will notice soemthing is amiss when they grab the paper box and not the door knob, and actually look...
Story the Fourth:
OK, not one about a sign, just a strange tendency. Two staplers sitting on the table. One has staples in it, the other doesn't. The majority of people will grab the empty one first. THey will also not believe you when you tell them it is empty before they staple their papers and attempt it anyway.
'K. Done now.
Replacing monitors in students services
hard drive back-up of a cursed lap top
Windows XP install
payroll
printers died today
Replacing phone handset...
No one got lunch until 2pm.
We also got to tell some horror stories to the new worker, which was all kinds of fun. Basically, any sign in the computer center that does not seem intuitive (and some that do) has a story behind it. Many of them could be classified as sociology experiments gone awry.
Story the First:
There's the "Ask First" sign on one of the closets behind the staff computer, for instance. In this closet, many operators keep personal items (jackets, books, bags, etc.) while they are on duty. Wea also put lost and found items in these closets. We also keep the staplers in there to keep them from wandering too far around the room. (They are also known as "the quantum staplers." As in, there is a probability that they are in the room...somewhere. But that is another story.) The problem is that many students know that this is where the staplers live. The operators began to notice an amusing trend based on the perceived loctaion of the staplers. If the stapler was on the table in public view the student wishing to use said stapler would ask permission of the operator before they used the stapler. If the stapler was in the closet (or wandered away and not on the table) the student wishing to use said stapler would open the closet without asking and look for the stapler. Isn't this a little backwards? "If the stapler is out and accessible, I will ask before I use it. If it is put away, I will paw around in a closet that is not mine and look for it without asking." Huh? And then they act all indignant when we ask ehtm what they think they are doing pawing around in the staff closet... So, we put a sign on the door indicating that students should "Ask First" before opening it. It also gives us more of an excuse to mock them if they ignore it.... The "Ask Second" sign is on the other closet because Chris felt wierd that day....
Story the Second:
About the quantum staplers. They have a habit of wandering around the Computer Center, so that if they are not in the closet, and not next to the staff computer, they could be anywhere. There is just a high probability that they are located in the computer center at all. Occaisionally, the probability wave will coalesce and some one will find one of them... Sorry, geeky joke...
Story the Third:
"Please Use Other Door." "Do Not Open This Door." These seem like fairly simple instructions. Easy to understand, short, sweet, and to the point. There is an amazing amount of people who cannot follow these instructions. You see, the second door of the computer center is alarmed. It is there because of fire code requirements, and so, is not locked. However, despite it not being locked, it is for emergency use only. There is a very nice, arrow-shaped sign on it pointing towards the main door of the computer center that says "Please Use Other Door." This is one of those nice, permanent, engraved-type signs. But people couldn't follow these instructions, so the alarm would go off constantly. So, one new operator had the bright idea of making a BIG sign. So, he printed out the words "DO NOT OPEN THIS DOOR!" with each word (and the exclamation point) on its own sheet of paper, and taped them vertically on the door. No one can miss it, now.
Fifteen minutes later, some one opened the door.
There is now a little papar box over the door knob that also says "Do not use this door." The theory is that they will notice soemthing is amiss when they grab the paper box and not the door knob, and actually look...
Story the Fourth:
OK, not one about a sign, just a strange tendency. Two staplers sitting on the table. One has staples in it, the other doesn't. The majority of people will grab the empty one first. THey will also not believe you when you tell them it is empty before they staple their papers and attempt it anyway.
'K. Done now.