Stupid stuff I see, hear and do.

Stupid Stuff I See:

This is our busiest week of the year. We go from about 75 calls per day to over 200 for a couple of weeks at the start of the fall semester (remember, technical university, right?). This year, we have a smaller staff taking calls for various reasons, so the call volume "feels" even bigger than it normally does this time of year. This is part of the stupid I see. Part 2 was at least temporary. The facilities guys needed to run some additional data cables in out building, and needed to install additional conduit for it. 4 inch diameter conduit, through concrete floor directly above the call center. During work hours. Have you ever heard what a hammer drill sounds like boring a 4 inch hole through a foot of concrete? Have you ever tried to have a phone conversation over that sort of racket?

Stupid Stuff I Hear:

The most common one recently goes something like:

Student Caller "I can't log into (insert online application here)"
Help Desk Guy "What sort of error are you getting?"
Student Caller "I don't know, it just won't let me in"
Help Desk Guy "Why don't you go ahead and give it a try while we are on the phone so I can get an idea "
Student Caller "Hold on while I turn on my computer" even better was the one that had me hold on while she WALKED ACROSS CAMPUS to find a lab computer that wasn't in use, huffing, puffing and cussing the whole way.

Then there was...

Staff Caller "My printer isn't working"
Help Desk Guy "Is this a network printer or local?"
Staff caller "I don't understand"
OK, I'll give you that one.
Help Desk Guy: "Is this a printer that only you can print to, or do others print to it as well?"
Staff Caller: "I don't know"
Help Desk Guy: "Do we know what kind of printer it is?"
Staff Caller: "No. It's grayish. Does that help?"
Yeah sure it does. It looks like every other printer ever made. Thanks. I now know exactly what kind it is
Help Desk Guy: "What about your computer name? Do you know that?"
Staff Caller "No"
Help Desk Guy: "Do you have a 'My Computer' icon on your desktop?"
Staff Caller "I don't see one. The problem is my printer, not the computer"

I sent someone to go have a look. Apparently the reason the printer was not printing was because a network print job that is automatically sent to her printer from the main campus or "mother ship" was currently being sent, rather than over-night like normal. It "wasn't printing" because the print job had not yet been sent.

The rash of phishing schemes got us "blacklisted" by a couple of organizations that monitors spam. If they see a domain that is sending out copious amounts of junk, they mark that domain and add it to spam filters that other organizations use to help keep the garbage out of your inbox. As a result of us being blacklisted a lot of out-going email is either going to junk mail or spam folders, or not getting delivered at all. I was explaining this to a professor who had a colleague suddenly not getting his email. His response:

Faculty Caller "You mean people responded to that? I thought this was a technical university."

Priceless.

Stupid Stuff I Do:

Tripping over the cedar chest in the living room that is used for a coffee table teaches one a the lesson that wood is pretty sturdy and bare toes are not. Purple, swollen, maybe broken. Yay.