By Lisa Talbott
Being the Office Manager at The European Technology Consultancy Of The Year 2006-2007 - and this is of course THOROUGHLY deserved and everyone here is absolutely brilliant at their job etc - I do sometimes wonder why certain people still have problems grasping the very basics of technology…
As a special Christmas treat, I’d like to share a few stories from the years I’ve been at JK (though obviously none of these relate to anyone currently at JK, oh no!!).
Now, you can ask my colleagues (sorry ex-colleagues) a question about any of their clients and they will be able to answer in full detail about the various ins and outs of products and technology sectors… But you ask them why on earth they thought it was a good idea to clean their keyboard with water and you get the response, “Well, because it was dirty”. Surely everyone knows that water and technology really do not go… err, no?
“Lisa, my keyboard isn’t working” - the moment these words are mentioned, I instantly know a drink has been involved. But of course I like to give them the benefit of the doubt, and respond, “Oh dear, what were you doing before it stopped working?” At this point, you would think they might mention there is enough water at the bottom of their keyboard for Nemo and chums to swim around in… Well sadly, you’d be thinking wrong. You get the response “Nothing, it just stopped working”…
You would then think they might spare me the hassle of getting down on my hands and knees trying to fix it, but no. After replacing the keyboard, I hold it to my chest whilst standing at their desk asking lots of normal questions, to which I get the same response: “It just stopped working”, and have them looking at me as if I’m the mad one… Okay, so I have failed to figure out the problem and go to walk away, then think, why on earth do I feel so wet…? I pull the broken keyboard away from my chest and my top is absolutely SOAKING! I then ask again, “Did you happen to spill any water on your keyboard”, to which they finally respond with “Oh yes, I might have spilt a drop…”
Still, credit where credit is due, sometimes the IT issues that arise can be very hard to work out for the non-technical minded, bless them. I mean, when you are sitting at your desk and all power suddenly goes, I guess it seems perfectly normal to scream, “Ahhhhh Lisa, quick, I don’t know what’s happened, ALL POWER has just gone from my computer, LIIIISSSSAAAA!!!”… rather then taking a second to check that the thing you were just tap dancing on under your desk wasn't in fact the power board. Or that you haven’t accidentally plugged it into a timer switch!
Similarly, it might also pay to look down at your keyboard when you are having problems with multiple items in Outlook being highlighted, just to check your porridge bowl isn’t actually pressing down the control key!!
Finally, it might be an idea when you lose network connection, to consider that five minutes ago when you were laughing your head off at someone (probably me) tripping over a wire, maybe it was your network cable they tripped over and you just need to plug it back into your PC.
So, my advice to everybody in the world of fast moving technology is sometimes things really aren’t as complicated as they might first appear. If I am able to work them out, anyone can. But to all those at JK, please just carry on asking for my help, as you really do make me laugh…
Lisa, this is an awesome post (check out how American I'm getting). I think I was guilty of at least two of those sins, but the plugging the computer into a timer switch does take the biscuit and I'm glad to say that wasn't me!
Posted by: Claudia | 22 December 2006 at 20:04
Haha! I don't think I ever plugged my PC in to a timer, but I was definitely guilty of switching it off under my desk with my toe.... more than once...
Lisa, I think I can speak on behalf of all ex-JKers when I say: we miss you!
Posted by: Amy | 09 January 2007 at 13:32