Opening MS Word Office support window.
Customer service rep: Hello, how may I help you?
Me, very annoyed: Hello. MS Word refuses to recognize the custom installed font.
CSR: Have you checked if the font is installed on the system?
Me: Yes. Windows sees the font and renders it appropriately. MS Word sees the font, but renders everything as Arial. I’ve been trying to fix it for 30 minutes. I’ve read all the forum threads on it and I tried the MS Word solutions and it’s still broken.
CSR: Your installation might be defective. May I take over your computer?
Me: Yes, please do whatever you want. I need my fonts to work.
CSR: Click here, sign this, sign that, grant permission here…
Me: Yes, yes, yes, fine.
CSR takes over the Word and messes with the file.
CSR: …
CSR: I see the problem.
Me: Yes?
CSR: Is this a new computer?
Me: Yes.
CSR: There is nothing wrong. You’ve installed the app version instead of the full program, and the app version has limited capabilities.
Me:
Me: Sorry.
CSR: No worries. I see you have a subscription. I will install MS Word for you.
I R very dumb right now. I should probably not try to walk and breathe at the same time.
Not as bad as the time I went to the Apple Genius Bar because my iPad camera was not working right…only to find that the skin I’d installed on the iPad was blocking it. I slunk out of the store.
Don’t feel bad. The microphone on my brother’s phone stopped working and he finally realized that he’d duct-taped over it when after the most recent time he’d dropped it. He almost broke down and ordered another phone before he figured it out.
He worked for a cell phone company.
I thought my iPhone was dying because it kept turning off randomly, and you had to do a factory reset to restart it every time. It did have a pretty significant dent over the battery. Bought a “new” reconditioned one off the net. It started doing the same thing. Visited the Apple Store, the carrier’s store, and a different carrier’s store, and learned how to do a factory reset. It turned out that the case, which I had switched to the new phone, was turning the phones off. One of the techs had hinted tactfully that this might be the case. I now have a new case (different maker) and two working phones.
7 or 8 years ago I took my macbook pro into the apple store because I was in the middle of finals and my laptop’s charger wouldn’t click in correctly and I was freaking out because I had a bunch of papers to write. So there I am, telling the guy all about how it will only charge sometimes and how I can’t move it at all while it is charging or it will stop. He tilts my laptop to the side and looks at the charging port and pulls out a staple. A freaking STAPLE. It fit perfectly into that charging port and it prevented the magnet in the cable from connecting to the laptop.
if computers didn’t increase productivity so much, I would burn them all.
+1
Yes, I’d help.
Too true. In my much younger days, I did bookkeeping by hand, on paper. Sometimes that memory is the only thing that keeps me from tossing my computer out the window.
Can’t I just run over them? Again and again and again? You can only burn them once. =P
It’s ok we’ve all been there. Once I couldn’t get my laundry room light to turn on. Messed with the switch, fuse box still nothing. Called the maintenance guys to come look and possibly change the bulb (its one of the long one and the prefer to change it rather than the residents do it themselves). Guy comes in and flips the switch and behold there is light. Turns out there was a second switch, behind the door that was stuck midpoint.
1. We were in the house for about 3 months by then I should have seen the switch.
2. Husband saw the switch the night before fixed it and didnt say anything to me.
I felt like and idiot all day…??♀️??♀️??♀️
I got an alert for tomorrow’s release… I’m so eager for it to be tomorrow NOW..
:):):*
I think we have all been there at some point or another. I once lost my marbles and couldn’t find the pen I was just using. Even had a co-worker looking all over for it. We searched the floor, under the desk and top of the desk over and over. Finally I said, “It looked just like this one.” showing the pen I was searching for, in my hand the entire time.
P.S.
I’ve kept a marble on my desk ever since, so I would have at least one marble left.
I love this. “It’s going to be a bad day. I’m down to my last marble…..”
Problem isn’t you. Problem is them having developers that created an app that can be downloaded into a working computer instead of a mobile device. Shame on them. You may continue to walk and breathe.
Sorry but in that case that’s not true – the app is built for full windows, it’s just the free version with reduced functionality.
But it’s still true that Ilona shouldn’t worry about it, of course.
Installing Word via the Windows store was a logical assumption to make and MS could be clearer on that page to explain the differences.
Wait! What? Microsoft be clear? Surely you’re jesting! =p
I intensely dislike MS Office Suite “upgrades.” Please explain why it is necessary to mix up then rearrange all the contents of the tabs to different tabs? It wouldn’t be so bad if the rearranging made some sort of sense. (sigh)
Been there, done that, have 2 or 3 t-shirts!!!
Went to a hotel bathroom the other day and couldn’t get the door to open. Assumed you needed a key and got the manager….who turned the handle the other way ?
My aunt and I had just started washing up the supper dishes: one sink of hot soapy water and a sink filled with hot rinse water. It had been a very long and hot summer day of tending cows, horses and garden. We were tired. Reached in to grab a plate from the rinse water to dry and scalded my hand. The rinse water was way to hot to reach into. Both of us tried using a knife, tongs and a spatula to pry up the stopper to drain the water. After what felt like hours but must have been a few minutes my lightbulb turned on, “why don’t we just add some cold water?”. While embarrassing it did give me empathy when dealing with kids trying to problem solve.
Me, very excitedly tries to download Mocha Tracking software add on for my Special FX video software. Spends two days trying to download but the software won’t recognize my code. Contact’s Mocha support. There’s an imaginary sigh on the support chat.
Support. Yes, I understand your problem. Your FX software company sent you the main download link instead of the preferred link by mistake.
Me: I tried contacting them and got no reply.
Support: Yes, they have been very slow responding to us too. Here is the correct link for the software.
Me: Thank you. I’ll post it on the FX software’s chat site so you don’t get as many emails.
Support: Oh thank you. That would be great as you are the 25,000 customer I dealt with about this today.
Me: No thank you. I’ll stop feeling like an idiot now.
Sometimes its us, sometimes its them.
But taking chances is the great adventure, breath and walk all you can!!
I had a similar issue at work
Let those who have not done something silly like losing your glasses, when your they are either on top of your head or actually wearing them cast the first stone.
I was once at a conference and the mc announced a pair of glasses had been found. Half the room checked the top of their head LOL!
Done that!
My husband woke me up one morning to asked me where his eye glasses were. I looked up at him and said ‘There’re on your head’. Poor thing.
Ah but did the app version download link say it was the app version? I hate it when I go to DL something only to discover it’s the trial version instead of the full program.
I most definitely can’t walk & chew gum. I am a menace to myself & have the bruises/broken toes to prove it 😉
It almost certainly did, but we often fail to read the numerous warnings and statements because they overwhelm us.
I agree. If it says it’s for Win 10 that’s all that I’d see. Not thinking it might be for something other than a computer…Good thing I don’t use MS Word for anything 🙂
I do a lot of end user IT support. I have been told that if I would write a blog it would easily surpass Dilbert in subscription. You cannot believe some of the questions I get. My favorite….. Which has happened more than once. Let me preface this by saying these are engineers with extensive technical background. I do not understand why they cannot see the fallacy of their logic shown below.
Me: Sir your computer has crashed the hard drive which we can easily replace and then I can restore your data from the backup. Just a moment and let me check your backup status since company policy requires every user to have it installed and in use there should be no issue. I see that you have it installed but I don’t see any recent backups. In fact I don’t see any backups at all.
User: Well that’s your problem I did exactly what the company told me to do. I installed the stupid backup program which takes up precious time of my day and set it to run at midnight when it would not disturb my work.
Me: Knowing this person was an engineer and probably extremely rule driven I took a deep breath knowing what my next question was going to elicit. Sir I know the company has a policy that has us turn our computers off at night and secure them if we don’t take our laptops with us. Do you routinely take your computer home or do you simply turn it off and lock it up in a cabinet?
User: I am a senior engineer. Of course I am very busy and routinely take my laptop home but I always make sure it is off at night.
Me: Ahhhh….I see what the issue is. The backup program cannot run at midnight when it is scheduled if you don’t have your computer connected to the network either directly because you’re on campus or remotely through VPN therefore you have no backups and will have lost all of your data with the hard drive crash.
User: That is unacceptable I have important work on that computer and I need it immediately. I need to speak to a manager.
Me: I suggest we do sure since we’re going to need to write up why we have a loss of work product because you were not running daily backups.
….await nuclear results…..
Patricia, you should absolutely do a blog!
Love this story… I also did end user support for a long time… will never forget the time a user called first thing monday morning because his monitor wasn’t. After a few questions I asked about whether there were any LED’s lit up on the monitor chassis and if so what color they were, had him cycle power and we got the no signal message… so the monitor worked… next logical question…. “sir, are there any lights currently lit on the front of your computer tower?” … and the expected response… “well of course there are… im not an idiot… i never turned my computer off… ~ bump ~, ~ grunt ~, “wait… oh…” I just turned the computer on… now stuff is coming up on my screen. Why the hell did YOU PEOPLE turn off my computer?!!”
Turns out there was a major thunderstorm over the weekend and the bldg lost power for more than half an hour. Of course after explaining that to him he asked about recovering the report he was working on for the director’s staff call what was scheduled in 30mins… and I had to explain that if he hadn’t saved it it was gone and he’d have to start over… to which he replied that it took him several hours to put it together and I had better get it back for him… cause didn’t I hear?!! It was for the director!”
Gotta love to hate end users… cant live with em.. wouldn’t have customer’s without them… ~ grins ~
Folks make mistakes all the time… but you’ve got to appreciate the ones that own it… compared to the ones that think they get to make your life miserable because of their own mistakes…
I once wrote a 30 page email and hit the X instead of the send button so lost the whole thing! This happened years ago, now I believe it asks if you want to delete or save if you hit the X, but being right next to each other made it too easy to get it wrong!
Only you older ones will understand this. Two words that make it all better when you’re mad at your computer: CARBON PAPER.
Ha! And the mess that went with it. 😉
I remember the mimeograph!! And now my granddaughter tells me Xerox machines are dinosaurs!!
Carbon Paper!! ROTFL!! And the wretched experience of trying to correct the carbon copy!!!?
White out was awful to use! Much prefer delete or backspace!
I love the smell of mimeograph ink in the morning.
You beat me to it!
lol, these kids have no idea what we’re talking about.
lol
Not just carbon paper but manual typewriters where you had to stop typing to return the carrier. When my office gave me an IBM Selectric with a ball, I fell in love. I also remember when cut and paste literally meant cutting a good copy of a document into pieces so you could use the paragraphs that didn’t change – legal boilerplate.
I did customer support for Sony and got a very angry customer whose Discman came back from repair and still didn’t work . After listening to his diatribe, I finally talked him into letting me troubleshoot. I told him to turn it on and tell me what the screen said. It didn’t light up, there was no sound and it was cold. I asked him to check the battery compartment, there was a pause followed by a a hang up. He didn’t want to admit there were no batteries.
I am having the worst week ever. Nothing customer support related.
Our basement flooded Tuesday, and we are still trying to take all the damaged stuff out. We lost more than 200 books. We thought that they would be high enough, but we got nearly 3 feet of water in the basement.
Our freezer that was nearly full floated and tipped over. We had put books from the lower shelves on top to keep them from getting wet.
Basically all the totes ended up with water in them. Even the ones that were supposed to be water tight.
Lost all Easter and Halloween decorations. Not sure about Christmas decorations.
So sorry tiffany! Lived in flood area for long time . Even little things add up over time.
Sounds like the purchase place failed to make it clear there were multiple versions. Even if it wasn’t a usability issue, your mind is full of other things right now. Forgive yourself for this and move on. Even AuthorLords are human most days!
One time my headphones weren’t working on my iPhone. I was so annoyed because they were brand new. Went to the Apple store and they turned my phone off and on….and obviously it worked. Mortifying.
Love you.
I’m in IT. This is why we have a job, because the equipment you are using is complex. I have a refrigerator. I do not worry about why it works until it doesn’t. Software is the same way. You are not stupid, you simply did not have important information to solve the problem. You did the right thing and got help. Just as I would call a repairman if my refrigerator stopped working.
I just shared this with my husband, and he responded with one of his usual things. “If this is the worst thing that happens today, you are still having a good day!” =) ::hug:: and hope it helps a little. =)
Technology is great until it stops working right. There are times when I wanted to throw my work computer out the window due to updates that I didn’t see coming until I get a little message saying “Your computer needs to restart since important updates were updated.” Sometimes it’s right in the middle of creating a data set. Sometimes it’s right in the middle of creating graphs (which is the pits). One time I received that message right in the middle of a complex statistical analysis (this was a few years ago). That didn’t go over very well with me.
I feel your pain, Ilona. 🙂
Had a similar problem at work. OneNote wouldn’t work in Zoom (and it had the day before). Turns out I was opening the app instead of the program…. luckily the IT person is one of my best pals and she delete the app with the quickness that only and administrative password provides.
This is why I do a fresh install of Windows when I get a new computer. Mostly it’s to get rid of all the bloat-ware the manufacturer installed, and so I can install only the apps I want.
Of course, I’m more apt to do that now after being thrown into the IT pit at work and spending weeks building a clean computer image. Prior to that, I always uninstalled as much bloat-ware as I could, but now I know how to do it better.
A few years ago, one of my daughters gave me my first cell phone, a simple Nokia flip phone, not a smartphone. The first time I tried to use it I could not get it to turn on, the screen remained black.
I went home and told my daughter it did not work. She asked what did I do and I told her I kept pressing the green button and it would not turn on. She said that was because the red button turned it on.
I told her that was stupid because green means go and red means stop so why would they do it that way?
Just another thing to confuse and complicate things!
Over two years ago, I updated to a smartphone. Still learning how to do things, but thankfully know how to turn it off and on, though there are no color buttons on it.
I do let people know when I was a child, my family had a black and white tv, transistor radio and vinyl records and player. Things have come a long way since then! It does make one wonder what other advances will be made.
Happy that your problem was solved and you were able to get the help you needed. It almost seems magical the way someone else, even in a different state or country, can take over your computer and do things!
Oh, and for my sheepish moment… For those in the States, you know those exit ramps that are also entrance ramps to the highway you’re getting off? And you know how you’re on autopilot when you drive you’re daily route? I once went several times around an exit/entrance loop because I somehow took the wrong exit, didn’t realize it, ended up on part of the ramp I don’t generally enter from, did another loop after I realized what happened, then did another loop because I couldn’t remember where I was going initially. I went around at least 3 times, but probably 4.
Looking back on that, all I can think of is “Look, kids, Big Ben.”
What are really diabolical are turnarounds or whatever they are called. They are circular and have many different streets to choose from and I got very list on one till a shuttle bus going where I wanted to go entered the circle and I followed it to where I needed to go. Before I was able to just stay on the road to get there before this awful ramp to a circle with spokes thing!
Lost not list!
All I can say is, glad I’m not the only one that does tho ha like this.
Le sigh.
And, looking what just happened within my own comment…
?
I work in customer support, and I can tell you, we understand that people make errors and 100% I’m not going to judge someone for missing something. Even something obvious.
As a rule of thumb – if you apologize at the end of the call, the CS representative is probably weeping tears of joy that they got to deal with a human being who is polite, while the person next to them is having some lunatic scream at them for no reason. If you are clear on what issue you are having and cooperate with the customer service person’s questions and instructions, you are probably their favorite customer of the day.
I listened to a coworker have a conversation this week where he told the customer that what the customer wanted is something we don’t recommend because it is very dangerous. Coworker never raised his voice, just patiently explained and re-explained why the thing was a bad idea. The customer started yelling about how coworker was being “belligerent and uncooperative!” and eventually hung up on coworker. Or there was the time when I had a woman tell me that she couldn’t use a level “because she is a woman.” And then there’s the people who refuse to tell us what problem they’re having beyond “doesn’t work,” and get mad when we ask for more details; or the people who have a product from another manufacturer and get mad when we tell them they need to call that company’s customer support (we even provide the phone numbers; how much more do you want?)
Thanks for the belly laugh 😀
that’s why my new computer doesn’t have Office 365, it has Office 2016.
I have painstakingly erased the Office 365 version and installed the 2016th. Now everything is fine.
I work in IT for an international company. It’s bad when I have to call our internal support for stuff because you know on the inside that they are thinking that I’m a total idiot especially when I fix complex issues for our clients every day.
Ugh! I hate when I do something like that. But hey! It is working now! Go with the positive. I think this calls for a Sunday nap ??
You got it fixed, didn’t have to pay extra, and the person was decent and competent. Been there a few times, usually the fixer, but been outfoxed a few time. Too much stuff equals these kind of problems. Apps, programs, trial stuff. All done and good. Enjoy your font and have a glass of something.
ha ha ha ha! That was awesome.
I am forever looking for my phone and its pressed against my ear while talking to people (I usually use headphones so when I actually have the phone up against my ear….)
This calls to mind the day we had our brand new car towed to the dealer because it would not start. Turns out the floor mat had slid up under the clutch pedal… The good news: the car was just fine. The bad news: the owners are idiots! BTW said Honda in now 26 years old and running fine.
Don’t worry about the small stuff Ilona. Just remember that you can replace the computer but the computer cannot replace you!
Overlooks can catch anybody. I ran, installed, maintained, upgraded, and fixed hardware in PC labs that totaled about 100 computers and almost never needed to call system or user support. I got co-workers through a lot of problems that our tech people couldn’t solve. Even so, I was caught by the old “Is the power cord securely plugged in?” goof more than once.
No human being I’ve ever met is incapable of making simple, fundamental mistakes. Don’t let them get you down.
I was about to give my master thesis defense seminar, and i get into the room and try to turn on computer. Nothing comes on, i try monitor nothing. I slowly start panicking and call IT. A guy comes up and asks me if i tried to turn on computer, and then proceeds to just turn it on. I did not push the button hard enough when I was initially trying it. Needless to say I lost all of my nerves before my presentation. For my PhD defense this tuesday, I”m fully prepared for computer to completely die and I will have to do the defense on a chalk board.
Good luck with the defense! Thumb drives can be lifesavers in those situations. That way if you need to borrow a laptop from someone on your committee, you have everything. ?
Something to make you smile – Hum to credence clear water revival,
I called MS Help today,
Fix my font. Make it OK
Found out I have no brains, oh hey,
Doo, Doo, Doo running out my backdoor…..
With everything you have going on I am surprised you can get the computer turned on. I know I wouldn’t.
We have all been there. Take a deep breath and go to an ice cream store and have an ice cream cone. It will get better.
When I was in high school, I had a part time job in a tv shop. (In 1968). I don’t remember how many times I had to do a service call to someone’s home and plug the console tv in. They had been vacuuming and accidentally pulled the plug from the wall. Before I went on the call, I always asked if the tv was plugged in. Most people would just get mad at me and would not check. At least you were proactive about it and did not blame the service person.
Used to be in the IT community. In my new life when there is an issue with dept phone or dept pc I must call support. They suggest everything I already tried. After the first time instead of trying to say I’ve already done that and they tell me to do it again. I just file my nails and say “Yup. Doing that, Nope nothing happening. Nope nothing nope. You will great! See ya.”
You know you have a successful blog when people (like me) log on not just to read what you said but all of the comments too! Really this is my favorite type of social interaction. I can laugh at people and not even have to put up with the glares. Thanks for all the funnies:)
+1
Makes my day!? I’m impatient for the 17th: looking forward to my ebook and paperback!????
Cut yourself a break. Life has been crazy. In a day or two this will be nothing.
PS – I didn’t even know that there was an app version of word.
My brother knocks on my bedroom door one day. “Hey, I need help getting into the attic.” The door is in the hallway ceiling, by the closet, in which there was a chair.
“So, I’ll kneel down, you stand on my back and open the door. Then I’ll jump up and-”
“Why don’t you just use the chair?”
“This never happened…” He slinks his way to the attic door with the chair dragging behind him.
He had an interesting plan anyway.
LOL??
Thanks, Sam. Reminds me of many adventures with my three little brothers!
Rofl!?. Thanks, Terry, I needed that!
Every time I have trouble with my computer I ask my hubby for help to fix it and the first thing he says to me is “Are you sure its not PICNIC” In other words Problem in chair not in computer. My response is usually of course it could be but I still want your help ya cheeky bugger. He is so patient with me and these new gizmo’s called computers and that Inter webby thing.
Worked on a long-term temp job in the ’90’s. There was a huge roomful of us, so we had name tags on our desks. When I got tired of “Wesley Crusher” (yes, serious Trek fan), I changed it to “OP ERR”, which cracked up the IT department, but confused the project supervisors….
Nope. That’s not even your fault! Do not feel bad. The fact that in 2019 you have to decide between installing the Windows 10 app version and the Windows 10 Desktop version (which is always the better option), and the fact that they make the app version much easier to find is the fault of the software company. Not you. It ticks me off so bad that they insist on making the process to install the correct version of the software difficult. That should be the easy part.
Okay I told many of you about my 4th of July with injuries and starting the coffee maker without the pot….what a mess! Yesterday I bought a new DKNY bra and last night while sorting laundry I said to my husband “I can’t find my new bra” he said quote “I believe you are displaying it nicely”. It’s true I was wearing it. I’m an idiot but in my defence it is a fantastically comfortable bra.
I need one of those!
I’m a teacher (grades 5 and 6). We use ipads a lot. Any time I have a problem or don’t know how to do something, I ask the kids. Even if they don’t know how to do something, in 5 minutes they’ll have figured it out. It makes me feel old but it works.
My daughters or granddaughter often help me. My granddaughter, though, was using the computer at 2 years old while I started in my 40’s so I know there is a big gap between growing up with the technology versus learning it a lot later in life. It is amazing how much even very young kids seem to know how to use devices!
Worked on a long-term temp job in the ’90’s. There was a huge roomful of us, so we had name tags on our desks. When I got tired of “Wesley Crusher” (yes, serious Trek fan), I changed it to “OP ERR”, which cracked up the IT department, but confused the project supervisors….
I think we all have too much going on to think properly. I decided to add a monitor so I could have a dual monitor setup as I do in the office. I purchased my monitor, brought it home and hooked it up. Nothing. Black screen. I look at the lower right corner and the light is on. Frustrated, I restarted my computer. That didn’t work. I downloaded drivers. I sit there, thinking this is what I get for splurging. That I really didn’t need a dual monitor setup. I decided one last thing and swapped HDMI cables. Nothing. So I pack it back up and return the monitor. While I am doing this, I order another one from the same store but a different brand.
I walk into the store and say I have a pickup and a return. I tell them the issue and that I cannot use VGA only HDMI since my laptop only has HDMI. I said the VGA might work. It really is a pretty monitor and I am bummed. The replacement wasn’t as pretty. The young man decides to hook it up just to see the error. He proceeds to plug everything in. I see the light in the lower right corner light up, then he presses a button on the back of the monitor and it turns on. I was like WT… He looks at me asking what error. I looked at him and pointed to the lower right corner. I say “the light was on, how was the power not on?” He shows me the power button the rear of the monitor. I tried to explain (while yes, user error) that all of my previous monitors when the light is on the monitor is on. He just nods his head. I felt like he was doing the ‘smile and wave boys, smile and wave’. ugh!
Heh. We are currently switching to a “digital work space” at the office. I have described this process to the project manager as “death by papercut”. I was in the test team, so I very diligently pointed out all the missing programs and all that, that was expected so it did not alarm me. But then we went live and all the niggling little errors started piling up and draining my will to live. Sure, the printers work, but the privacy codes don’t, so if you’re printing something sensitive, better start sprinting for the machine as soon as you hit that okay button. Sure, you can change your screen settings on your laptop. They simply don’t accurately translate to the digital work space. Sure, you can use Word. It’s just that we’ve disabled the “macro” setting and what do you mean, you need those?
The IT has been outsourced so we’re on the phone with this mysterious company a lot, and you quickly find out there’s a serious hierarchy in who can solve what kind of problem. There’s the super friendly but less effective junior all the way up to the grumpy but really efficient programmer kind of guy. I personally prefer his gruff manners (meaning I feel stupid but at least the problem gets fixed) to the happy conversations with junior which tend to end with “yeah, I’m not sure, let me call you back” 😉
There’s a short story by Patricia Briggs about one of her characters, Ben, who works in IT. I love that story and have reread it often these past weeks XD
It is a common experience in my opinion.
Apps often lack the capabilities of the full version, yet the corporations keep pushing the apps on us.
Likely it’s because apps are designed to collect information on the users, which the corporations is big fans of.
Been there, done that!! Have the scars on my forehead from banging it against the computer to!!
I do that a lot – call for help only to find out that I did something stupid…
What I really hate more than anything, though, is that things I’ve tried, and re-tried, and re-tried again, mysteriously work when somebody else is looking over my shoulder…
I had a problem with ordering on a website the other day – clicking the ‘order’ button kept sending me back to the log-in page. I finally broke down, called customer support, they took me through the process until I reached that page with the ‘order’ button. I pressed it, and it started processing my order. I was SO annoyed.
Worst thing is – I tried it again, just for fun, an hour later, and it once again took me to the log-in page…
Sometimes I hate websites… 🙂
My dryer was making horrible clanking noises when running empty. Call the hardware store and my friend who owned it came out. He proceeded to reach in and pull out a large part of the metal zipper that had fallen off clothing. Talk about feeling stupid. I bought him many beers that night.
At least yours was an easy fix! When I got the latest Word Office, the definition of the word I was looking up in the Thesaurus wouldn’t display at the bottom of the pane like in older additions. I NEED the definitions so I know I’m using the right word the right way. It took tech support 4 days of digging around in the guts of my computer, specialists digging around in the guts of the program, and removing and reinstalling Word half a dozen times before they figured out how to fix it. And even now, every time I open my documents I have to re-add in the Add-In for Merium Dictionary.
*Additions = *EDITIONS.
See? I NEED the freaking definitions when I’m writing!
I worked as a 2 member IT team for a small company early in my career. We were required to do a presentation for all the bigwigs in the company. We worked hard on that presentation but at the same time we were upgrading the office suite for the company. When we got to the venue we realized that our presentation was in the newest format and the venue was unable to run the presentation. Standing in front of the entire room I explained the issue and announced that my parter would talk to the slides and I would provide the live action. We got a lot of compliments for the best presentation ever.
That sounds like you provided an informative and entertaining presentation. Good job! and it was improvised
too!
We, older foggies, haven’t had time to adjust to having dumbed down versions of stupid programs we need for our jobs.
At the new job I’m needing to use Windows again for a bunch of stuff. And it’s the first time I’ve used the whole software as a service crap for real? I spent a ridiculous amount of time this morning switching between the robot control network and the internet network (no, I can’t just put an extra network card in the machine – but I will be able to in the *next* machine) while going through all the set-up documentation. The mail app on my phone still won’t let my work account log in, though it does just fine through the browser.
Also, we don’t have our real furniture, so I’m mostly sitting at a giant bench space in the middle of the lab. And I can’t bring in the kittens.
Boo hiss. Kittens should be mandatory in the workplace.
To be fair, my lab mates agree, and there’s been more than a little talk about inquiring how serious the no pets policy really is.
Of course Keanu, who is still a baby, would spend the first bit burrowing into whatever I’ve wearing, because people who aren’t me are terrifying. (…and I haven’t been wearing a lot in this weather, so that could get awkward. Though I guess I usually bring some kind of overshirt.) And Cricket, the original house gremlin monkey cat, would bounce all over our very large and largely empty* lab, flirting with everyone and trying to get up into the space above the ceiling tiles – a couple are open, and she climbs really well. On the plus side, she’s good at convincing Keanu that people are marginally okay if only because she’s having so much fun. (On the flip side, coyotes, thunder, raptors and the like all freak Cricket right out, whereas Keanu thinks they’re the best.)
* We need room to test the robots. Also, a lot of stuff isn’t here yet.
Sounds normal for Microsoft, for apple iPhones, for technology period. Always something.
I scare tech support as I have written down every issue as they have come up and how we fixed. So when I call, I think they draw straws because it will not be simple.
Good luck. Robots do take alot of space. But when they work correctly it is beautiful.
I just remembered a conversation I was having with my wife. I was talking to her over the cell phone and she asked me to do something so I said “Sure, I’ll get to it once I find my phone”.
Work in the front office of a company taking customer calls and rental orders and entering them into a custom program. We have the span of 60 years of life at the desk: one woman nearing 65, myself at 48 and a young lady at 27. We have had many laughs at the level of tech and real life competence differences. Example 1: 65 yr old has “lost” the “paper clip thingy” on the email and can’t attach the order for the client. 27yr old “You have to compose an email – you can’t attach to the Outlook home screen”. Example 2: Power went out and trying to contact customers regarding equipment that is not returned. 27 yd old states there is no phone number on the order. We say look it up. “I can’t – Google is down.” Handing her the phone book – try this. How do I use this? AND my personal favorite, I come in and my computer is on and logged in.I ask who logged in on MY computer. 27 yr old replies “I did”. You should change your password and login from your first initial and last name since that is what the company assigned and everyone knows it. (She signed in to do data maintenance since I was coming in late from an outside meeting.)
Im an accountant, we often get recepits etc emailed over to us; one twentysomething client, when asked to take a screen shot of an online bill bill, did just that by taking a picture with his phone…..
Ok, I loved all the blog posts. We’ve all “been there, done that” in some form, haven’t we? So funny to read about and so unfunny to live through. Thanks for all the laughs! As I wait for SotB (tomorrow!! it’s not coming soon enough!!), it’s been a horrible Monday and I really needed the comedic relief. Bless you all for that.
I’m glad I’m not the only one. It usually happens when I’m in a rush, and training will be in two weeks but the boss wants the results now.
I remember the time when I was forced to migrate to MS Word after using Word Perfect. At the time, MS Word was very unfriendly about letting you format on the fly. Our company sent us off to take a class in MS Word.
Me to instructor: Why can’t you format as you go when you are creating the document in MS Word?
Instructor: Think of it as a screen barf.
Me: Beg pardon?
Instructor: You throw up everything onto the screen first then you go back and format it.
Me: Oh, yes. Of course.
While graphic, it did help in learning the software.
Oh, I remember the day ‘they’ told us that Word Perfect was going away and MSWord was arriving. Cried like a baby…well, not really. But I LOVED WP and hated Word…still don’t like it but I’m retired, so who cares? At least it was a PC and not a MAC. lol
Very excited, just got Sweep of the Blade on Kindle. However lots of missing ( blank) pages. Has anybody else got this problem?
SOTB yay
Happy bookday!???
B&N just notified me….SoTB is ready for download…yippee!!! 😉
Thank for the laugh. It is always a joy to read your blog
I’m a software developer. I’ve worked in IT for all of my carreer. I’ve also called the helpdesk because of a monitor whose brightness knob was turned fully down.
Also working in IT, somebody came by because I forgot to check the on/ off switch, the shame…
Got SOB
Gonna read
God bless u n urs
:-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-)
I need to change the subject, all the above is interesting and important, but SOB is released. Wow, enough said.
Happy Book Birthday!
There will be ripper cushions!
I’m going back to a clients today. Yesterday I installed a new printer/scanner. Today I’m going back to put the icon on his desktop so he can use it.
It’s OUT! It’s OUT! Glory days! oh no, it ends with a cliffhanger, how long to volume 5???
Hey,
Just wanted to say it’s funny “Sweep of the Blade” is $6.66 on the Canadian Kobo store. Thank you for releasing it. I can’t wait to read it again. I just thought it was funny. 🙂
Reading Sweep of the Blade in serial format was fun. However, getting it in full book form…yay! 🙂 I just read the part when Arland, Dina, and Sean rescued Maud and Helen from Karhari. I started laughing when the three of them entered the Lodge. Gotta watch out for cultured sounding vampires who have shiny armor. Now, I’m reading the part where Arland is covered in bloody blisters thanks to the World Killer. 🙂
Thank you for the post, Ilona Andrews. I ROFLOL as i have been there, done that. At least it was easily fixed.
It is horrid when the issue can not be fixed without hiring a hacker, err, computer programmer. to come up with code that does what you need done that software was supposed to do according to senior management. I read a Patricia Briggs short story in Shifting Shadows that had me crying I laughed so hard about malfunctioning computer programs.
Glad help desk was able to fix. Thankjs for chuckle.
Oh. Suddenly wonders if that’s what’s wrong with the new netbook, since swearing at it did nothing….
Finished book, have Thai food, very happy. Also fixed a very aged color printer for my daughter’s ‘emergency’ drawing (a gift for someone). Am now covered in blue ink. Printer working great.
Let’s just celebrate good customer service, which doesn’t happen often enough!