Coworkers tinkering with toasty electronic goodness

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

We used to have a guy working at the service desk, who I'll call "K". K was a very nice, polite guy. He had applied to come back for seasonal, but his application got flagged for some run-in he had with the law and he won't be coming back.

Nobody seems to want him back. Why? He seems to have a deep-seated need to tinker with all things electronic. If we are having a problem with a computer or a register or any other electronic things, we call the corporate IT people and they send out a tech, immediately if needed, but if they aren't coming right away they tell us what to do to cover for the problem.

But instead of calling IT, K just takes apart whatever's acting up, only sometimes finds the problem and only sometimes puts it all together. One morning I came into work and found one of the laser printers in the offices lying in pieces and parts on the floor. Apparently this printer shit the bit and K decided to do some troubleshooting.

The receiving clerk told me "Thank God K isn't coming back. I was so sick and tired of IT calling me asking why this wasn't working or that wasn't working, and having to re-assemble stuff."

Anybody else got co-workers who like to tinker with things they're not supposed to?

[lordlundar]

ahem <raises hand> guilty.

But in my defense, I know what I'm doing, I just don't have the little piece of paper that says so.

[Knightmare]

At Lowe's paint department, I had a coworker that would constantly take the computers and machines apart, even if there was nothing wrong with them.

He thought he know how to make the computer "run faster" or how to make the paint machine dispense more accurately. He was always messing with the label maker, tweaking this or that. The labels always came out wrong when he was working.

The rest of us told the paint manager about it, and he talked to him. It worked, for about a week. Then it all started happening again.

And then I left. He's still there, but I don't know if he is still messing about with the machines. I bet anything that he still is.

[Dreamstalker]

I have the bit of paper that says I know what I'm doing, yet bossman (the one who knows not of what he touches, or at least not to my level) is the in-house tech support (I've offered my services in that regard, but he doesn't want to pay me the required extra).

If something breaks, he'll throw it back together so it works until something else breaks worse. And that will be patched until it's to the point where nobody knows what the original problem was. He's probably wasted in halfassed repairs at least 5x what it would cost to just get new stuff...dude, I know you want to save money, but how is it 'saving money' to keep a computer that you can't get replacement parts for anymore?

Luckily, he's never seen fit to begin adventuring in the actual wiring closet because I think the tangle intimidates even him (it intimidates me, but I know enough not to go poking my nose in there).

[technical.angel]

I was told in all my retail jobs to quit fixing the machines. That's what their IT dept was for.

Of course, I was the one who was always chosen to call their IT when the POS refused to recognize the scanner.

[edicius]

I was told in all my retail jobs to quit fixing the machines. That's what their IT dept was for.

Of course, I was the one who was always chosen to call their IT when the POS refused to recognize the scanner.

I just gave up on the IT department here. I think many other people did as well, since they're always asking ME to fix their computer problems. I'm not sure if I should be flattered or not. For my troubles, I saw fit to *cough* acquire the administrator password to make problem solving easier. :P

[Dreamstalker]

Recently; it goes like this:

1. I identify a problem.
2. Bossman agrees that the problem exists.
3. Bossman refuses my offer for an immediate fix, instead deciding to call "an IT guy" who takes 2 weeks to show up. In that timeframe the problem has compounded itself beyond my ability (I did offer to fix it before it reached that point).
4. Bossman rants about how long it took and how much it cost. Usually the "IT guy" charges him more than I would have.

I just keep my mouth shut about that stuff now (or pull a ninja fix before he notices). Pity really.

[JustADude]

At Lowe's paint department, I had a coworker that would constantly take the computers and machines apart, even if there was nothing wrong with them.

And that is why you get the "NO! Stick" to hit him with. And by "NO! Stick" I mean any convenient length of metal pipe with 10-penny nails welded onto it at various angles to turn it into a makeshift device also known as an Implement of Extremely Negative Reinforcement.

[Dreamstalker]

We had a foam cluebrick at the register...not sure what happened to it as of late. I'd like to get one in closed-cell foam and paint it to resemble a real brick

[GolfCart34]

I used to fix the ticket printers at the tourist trap, but that's mostly because I was taught how to fix and reload identical machines at another amusement park where I was a cashier. When the managers at tourist trap land got wind of this, they'd always end up calling me to fix the machines rather than the IT guy because sometimes it would take the IT guy hours to show up. I also learned how to fix ID card printers when I was there too! Both were very simple to fix, but we had a lot of old people who weren't the most tech savvy so trying to teach them would be about as useful as trying to teach a brick to sing.

There's not much to fix where I work now other than the PowerPoint slide show that shows advertisements in the branch.

[MadRocketScientist]

And that is why you get the "NO! Stick" to hit him with. And by "NO! Stick" I mean any convenient length of metal pipe with 10-penny nails welded onto it at various angles to turn it into a makeshift device also known as an Implement of Extremely Negative Reinforcement.

Morning Star anyone?

Wasn't there an Anime where one character would get smacked with a spiked bat by an cute female Angel/Devil?

[lordlundar]

Wasn't there an Anime where one character would get smacked with a spiked bat by an cute female Angel/Devil?

I thought you were trying to narrow the selection down.

[JustADude]

Morning Star anyone?

Wasn't there an Anime where one character would get smacked with a spiked bat by an cute female Angel/Devil?

Morning-Stars have the weighted head connected to the pole by a chain, I believe, while Maces have large weighted heads, featuring flanges or spikes, attached directly to the pole.
This would be more of a simple "spiked club" than even a true Mace, though.

And yeah, I know the one you're talking about. I haven't watched it, but I've seen clips in various AMV Hell*** skits.


***WARNING: The Dude is not responsible for any content you may see on that site, nor the trouble you get into for watching it when you're not supposed to... ESPECIALLY if you ignore the warnings and view AMV Hell Zero.

[technical.angel]

So, I guess that's a NSFW disclaimer??

[JustADude]

So, I guess that's a NSFW disclaimer??

Yep, and DOUBLE in the case of AMV Hell Zero. Even its creators think it's sick and wrong.