Tami’s Tech Blog

1. Describe your problem:
__________________________________________

2. Now, describe the problem accurately:
__________________________________________

3. Speculate wildly about the cause of the problem:
__________________________________________

__________________________________________

4. Problem Severity:

A. Minor__
B. Minor__
C. Minor__
D. Trivial__

5. Nature of the problem:

A. Locked Up__
B. Frozen__
C. Hung__
D. Shot__

6. Is your computer plugged in? Yes__ No__

7. Is it turned on? Yes__ No__

8. Have you tried to fix it yourself? Yes__ No__

9. Have you made it worse? Yes__

10. Have you read the manual? Yes__ No__

11. Are you sure you’ve read the manual? Yes__ No__

12. Are you absolutely certain you’ve read the manual? No__

13. Do you think you understood it? Yes__ No__

14. If `Yes’ then why can’t you fix the problem yourself?
__________________________________________

15. How tall are you? Are you above this line? __________________

16. What were you doing with your computer at the time the problem occurred?
__________________________________________

17. If “nothing” explain why you were logged in.
__________________________________________

18. Are you sure you aren’t imagining the problem? Yes__ No__

19. How does this problem make you feel? ____________________________

20. Tell me about your childhood. ___________________________________

21. Do you have any independent witnesses of the problem? Yes__ No__

22. Can’t you do something else, instead of bothering me? Yes__

After being on and off hold for an hour with tech support, who kept telling me to install, uninstall, and reinstall the same software that was not working, the very calm woman on the other end of the phone said, “Let me put you on hold one more time.” Instead of soft rock music this time I heard her put the phone on the desk, and I was able to hear the conversation in the room.

“We’ve done it again, and it’s still not working,” said the person I had been working with. “Now what?”

“You know it won’t work,” said a frustrated male voice that I had not heard. “She has Windows 2000.”

“It’s supposed to be supported,” she replied.

“But it doesn’t work. Tell her to try again on her own, and to call back if it doesn’t work. We’ll be gone by then.”

Next I heard the sound of the phone being picked up. “Ma’am?” she started.

“I heard,” I said, “Thanks for letting me know.”

Once I hung up, I dropped the course that required the software.

I’m new to blogging but wanted to test the waters since I teach website design for educators. The reason that this site looks decidedly “low tech” is that I want this to be a place to post stories about technology, both in the classroom and out. That explains the “storybook” look to the pages.

I’ll be posting new stories, both good and bad, as well as jokes each week. Please join in.