As before – click on the ‘Meltdown’ category to see old versions.
It’s called the “Monday Meltdown” and is an excuse to just let out some of the frustration within. We all have frustration, yes? So – let’s focus our frustration and let it out on Mondays – because we all know that Mondays just deserve it. Just ask Garfield. ::grins::
Here’s how it is going to work. I’m going to post a choice for you. You take it away and go! Either in the comments section or on your own blog. But if you run away to your own blog, please drop me a comment so I can come see. ::grins:: I love to read a good rant.
I also have a button up there you can ‘steal’. Steal meaning take away to your own server. Don’t direct link. I’m afraid I don’t have the bandwidth for that one. (; So – are you ready to vent? I know you are. ::grins::
This week’s rants:
1. Incompetent IT Departments
or
2. Non-helpful Customer Service
You are free to rant about both or just one. Some of these rants may come back around, so don’t feel you need to do both of them so you can get it in. ::grins::
Okay! Go! If you are interested in my Meltdown for the week, it’s after the bump.
This one was easy to choose. And you shall soon see why.
Incompetent IT Departments
I work at a public high school. There are about 2500 students, 175 faculty, and about 100 support staff. Faculty includes teachers, administrators, and guidance counselors. Support staff includes secretaries, paraeducators, custodians, and various other people to help make life easier. I’d have to say, on a daily basis, about 80% of the adult staff needs the computer network up and running every day, before school officially starts at 7:25 am. For example, I arrive at the school anywhere between 6 am and 6:30 am. Yes, I am crazy, but I need the time to get things done, thank you. So, when I arrive, I generally like to be able to log into the network and get to my files. Most of the staff likes to be able to do this. And there is a good chunk of the *students* who need to use the computers on a daily basis. Either for writing an essay, their computer classes, research, or various other educational activities. The checking of their email does not count. So – you’d think – with nearly 3000 people depending on the vast number of computers within the building, you’d make sure everything was right as rain if that was your job.
Oh no. Not *our* IT department. And let us not kid ourselves. The IT department here at this school is one guy on faculty and about 20 or so students – whom we lovingly refer to as the minions. We never see the IT guy. No. We only see the minions. Now, granted. There are a huge number of computers in this school and it would be difficult for the IT guy to get to all of them in a timely manner. But to *never* see the IT guy? Oh, that’s an issue. And let’s not get into how he treats the staff. (As if they are stupid children, out to sabotage the entire network.) We won’t get into the lack of computer priveleges we, as *adults*, lack. Granted, I know there are many faculty members who can barely turn on their computers, but – seriously. There are some things that just bother me. (Like not being able to access the display properties by right clicking on the background. Yeah, seriously. I can’t do that.)
Anyway. Friday – the network crashes badly. People cannot take their attendance, which is computerized. People cannot record grades. There is not even any *printing* that can be done. Yes, that is correct. I could not print anything from freaking *Word*, it was so bad. The faculty as a whole finally just said, “Fuck it.” and went home, assuming our IT department would take care of it and it would be fine on Monday. Oh no. No, no, no. I get to work this morning, ’bout 6:30 am. Log in takes forever. Can I print? No. Fuck. I need to print a quiz. I try another computer, assuming mine just needed a hard reboot. Nope, I’m logged onto the network from two places. What? I thought I logged out. No, the icon that allows us to logout was not working. Fuck. Okay, I do it the hard way and go back to the other computer. And that one logs in, but gives me an utterly black screen with just the mouse pointer. Triple Fuck. At this point, it’s – like – 7:10 am and I need to give this quiz at 7:25. I just hold the damn button down until the computer turns off. I go back to *my* computer – in my classroom. No, I can’t log on – too many connections. FUCK! (At this point, I’d like to take a moment and say our IT guy is an utter MORON to think a maximum of *one* log on to the network is enough. For various reasons, it generally never is. Mostly because of things like this morning….)
Fine. I drag out an old version of the quiz and have that copied by our lovely copy lady. I hand-write the other portion I needed and have that copied. And hear as I am moving out to have it copied: “Please log out of your computers as the network needs to be restarted.” Gee, you THINK?! Hrmm. I *wonder*.
Our IT guy, I’m sure, left EARLY on Friday and was in LATE this morning. Otherwise, this would have been caught on fucking FRIDAY. But – no. He wasn’t here. And his minions cannot do anything without him. FUCKER. I want to go down to his office and beat him with a mouse. *I* could do a fucking better job than this and I’m a freaking layman.
HELLO?! This is your JOB. STAY UNTIL IT IS DONE!
Fucker.