explaining things at work
Apr. 1st, 2008 03:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
glauconI work for a lady who's a bit younger than my parents and doesn't really get computers.
she used to call our sibling IT-related department for her computer questions, but they started billing her budget $100/hr or something every time she called them with a question, so now she comes to me first. most of her questions I can handle in my sleep 'cuz they're usually something like "why isn't it printing the URL at the bottom of the page when I print out a web page?" or "how do I delete all room numbers with an A in them from this excel document" or something.
once in a while, she'll ask me something that's beyond my ability: "can you change my login name?" or "can you reroute the phone lines such that your phone number rings in my office and my phone number rings in yours?". the answer to these is usually "yes, but I don't have the necessary access - I can't possibly do that without calling...and possibly paying...someone who does."
but she doesn't usually want to just settle for "there - I did what you asked" - she wants me to explain exactly what I did and why and how, which makes things way more complicated than it needs to be. "how did you change the print settings in Firefox?" "hell, I dunno - I just did" is the answer I'm usually inclined to give, all the more because she seldom remembers or fully understands my answer even when it's fairly clear, careful, and precise.
once in a while though, I get a good one though.
like today:
"well, I would compare this extra hard drive to the human appendix. it was probably useful to someone else once upon a time long ago, but by the time we received it, it had become unnecessary. we aren't using it now and will almost certainly never do so. it does us absolutely no harm to leave it where it is, and unless it starts showing mechanical problems, we will never need to remove it. on the other hand, being entirely vestigial, it also would do us no harm to get rid of it - except for the time and expense, and the small possibility of damaging something else while we're taking it out. so...do you want me to operate?"
she used to call our sibling IT-related department for her computer questions, but they started billing her budget $100/hr or something every time she called them with a question, so now she comes to me first. most of her questions I can handle in my sleep 'cuz they're usually something like "why isn't it printing the URL at the bottom of the page when I print out a web page?" or "how do I delete all room numbers with an A in them from this excel document" or something.
once in a while, she'll ask me something that's beyond my ability: "can you change my login name?" or "can you reroute the phone lines such that your phone number rings in my office and my phone number rings in yours?". the answer to these is usually "yes, but I don't have the necessary access - I can't possibly do that without calling...and possibly paying...someone who does."
but she doesn't usually want to just settle for "there - I did what you asked" - she wants me to explain exactly what I did and why and how, which makes things way more complicated than it needs to be. "how did you change the print settings in Firefox?" "hell, I dunno - I just did" is the answer I'm usually inclined to give, all the more because she seldom remembers or fully understands my answer even when it's fairly clear, careful, and precise.
once in a while though, I get a good one though.
like today:
"well, I would compare this extra hard drive to the human appendix. it was probably useful to someone else once upon a time long ago, but by the time we received it, it had become unnecessary. we aren't using it now and will almost certainly never do so. it does us absolutely no harm to leave it where it is, and unless it starts showing mechanical problems, we will never need to remove it. on the other hand, being entirely vestigial, it also would do us no harm to get rid of it - except for the time and expense, and the small possibility of damaging something else while we're taking it out. so...do you want me to operate?"
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no subject
Date: 2008-04-02 01:54 am (UTC)