DMN doesn't get it; and doesn't have IT either

Our IT guys: Have you restarted it?
Me: Four (f-word)ing times.
Our IT guys: And that hasn't fixed it?
Me: Would I be talking to you right now?

And that exchange is at least three times a week. We've got one guy that's worth a crap and the rest are worthless.

But something is about to happen with them and we may outsource, too. Their boss just told the publisher we couldn't do something publisher wanted to do.

Publisher said to buy the software. They said they didn't know if they could make it work. I think the Publisher is about to find someone who can.

 

Shoulda been at my last stop --- I was the IT department, along with being the sports department and occasionally the camera-ordering-and-photo-fixing department.

DMN=Dying Mouldering Newspaper

 

i'm astounded at how often this advice passes for "tech support." it seems like the only thing the phone tech support people know how to do if you call the cable or tivo company.

 

We have one guy that is wonderful and does things I didn't know were possible with computers and I thought I knew a lot. Another guy is simply worthless. To the point that when you walk in to the IT department and ask him a question, his respone is always "Oh, I dunno, but Joe will be back in 5 minutes." Everytime I walk by the office he has headphones on and he is playing some PC game (on the clock mind you) and their office is on the way to the bathroom, so everybody has to pass it.

With that said, we are still using Quark stoneage on MAC's that were built in the 80s for two reasons. We are cheap and we don't have the IT department that could handle all the upgrades.

 

Our lead columnist was at the World Series and filing on deadline from the press box in St. Louis. He couldn't connect to the main computer, which usually means a modem has to be reset or something. I call IT, tell the guy our columnist can't connect to the main computer. He says, "Tell him to go to an Internet cafe."

 

SoCalDude,

That has GOT to take the cake. "Tell him to go to an Internet cafe"? What, pray tell, was your response (as if I can't imagine already)?

 

Last thing I needed was to give him attitude, so I just kept cool. I said, no, that is not how this is done. If you don't know what to do, please turn the phone over to someone who does or page your supervisor so I can talk to them.

 

Dear SoCalDude: Of all the horror stories I've read on this site, I think yours is number one. Congratulations!! I guess.

 

Well SoCalDude, you're a better man than I am because there is now way I could've stayed cool under those circumstances, especially not with deadline approaching. So how did this horror story end?

 

They finally passed the phone around until somebody knew what I was talking about ... then reset the modem, which is what I told them at the beginning.
I have 37 years in the biz. I've learned the hard way at times that smart-ass remarks to others, although they make you feel good for a little while, usually aren't productive. And, absolutely, ABSOLUTELY, don't send e-mails when you're pissed off, especially to higherups. If you have done that, read the e-mail the next day and then decided whether it was a good idea to send it. Most times, not.

 

that is truly horrifying

is there a "computer nightmares on the road" thread or something along those lines?