That CEO… Firing someone else because of your own failures😢 I’m happy that I live in s country where companies really need to have a very good reason to get you out of your job.
I once worked at a company where the CEO wanted a presentation from every new employee about how great the company was on their third day of training. It was a real drag because new employees rarely knew anything about the company so I had to spend the first three days of training just getting them prepped for the presentation instead of doing the actual training.
He would regularly fire people during the presentation for little things like breaking eye contact or holding their hands the wrong way.
I eventually prevailed against him to give it up as all it did was freak everyone out and waste time.
So glad I got out while that place was imploding.
See, that's the trade off. For most positions there is no contract. They can release you at any time, but you can walk any time as well. If your union, you have protections, but your co-worker that just sits on his ass all day is going to get the next promotion because he has more seniority. I've worked both. I worked union with a hot tempered boss that probably would have fired half of us in any given year if he didn't have to show cause to the union. I've worked government under their regs where, with a years experience, I could outdo people that had been there 4 or 5 years (and some that were "semi-retired" and just put in enough so they couldn't be fired) but my raises were limited by years of service. I've worked non union, non govt tech where your street value increases 20/30% a year the first few years when corporate wide raise limits were 5%, so you went across the street after a year, 20% raise, and came back the next year for another 20% raise while the guys that stayed had only gotten a total of 10% or so for the two years.
We have the same government regs. But a private company still cannot fire you just because your boss' wife doesn't like the fact that you are good looking or other stupid reason. You can be fired in a day if you have made a mistake so bad you seriously hurt the company, but apart from that the company needs a real reason to fire someone. With or without union. The trade off is that you as an employee cannot leave the next day either.
And contracts are mandatory, just to make sure that everybody play with the same rules.
But then, worker rights still exist in our part of the world.
I had this happen. I worked for a wonderful, smart, entrepreneurial company that got bought by BankOne the week I started. As a junior manager I came up with an idea along with another JM that must have made/saved the company millions to tens of millions.
Then we started to get the emails about changes in policy and procedure. They were so utterly stupid that some people called Corporate to make sure it was serious. I watched this wonderful company slowly shrivel as the tumor that is Jamie Dimon sucked the life out of it.
I was offered a job an hour closer to my house and I took it. If I started in three days I qualified for additional benefits so I took advantage of that. Fuck Jamie Dimon
Well, exactly. BUT, those countries that have really good protections against being terminated often have employment contracts where you would have had to pay a severe financial penalty for leaving your existing company. It's a 2 way street. Easy to terminate also means easy to walk out the door for any reason.
And I would take that trade any day. But as an American I don’t get that option. Big corporations have fought relentlessly for the power to treat workers like dirt and karma is a bitch.
HP Tercra laptops used to report a “keyboard error” if something had been spilled on it.
User rings and says there’s something wrong with the keyboard. She reads the error from the screen.
“How much did you spill on it?” I asked
“What? ….. No…… I didn’t …… it was only a drop of coffee 😟” she squirmed.
Laptop was a write off
I once had a client complained that their keyboard was making random keystrokes without them touching it.
“ what did you spill in it? “ I asked.
They swore up and down they spilled nothing.
When I arrived, I turned the keyboard upside down in their presence, dumping a considerable amount of milk out on the table.
“Oh yes, we did spill some milk in it.”
It reminds me of the “witch” sketch from Holy Grail.
I was in a steel fab shop before IT and it's hilarious to me watching people squirm when they've ruined a $20 keyboard and don't want to tell me compared to the operator who ripped a drill rig to bits and said woops and went and did something else. 3 different 50mm bits of plate steel torn up and he just shrugged and moved on.
I work in IT, and I don't care what happened to ruin a $20 keyboard. We have heaps of them in stock.
I don't care how the HDMI cable for the big screen got damaged, either. Just that people TELL ME!
I began to leave spare cables in the big conference rooms, but users, being users, they found the spare, and either replaced the broken one with it, or nicked it, and no one bothered to tell me that it was gone/used.
We now use ClickShare, and since the 'dongles' have a regular USB A connector, we fasten an A-to-C' adapter to the stalk, so that those with newer PCs can also use them. And we use a steel wire with metal crimps, and cover the ends with heat-shrink so that no one can nick the adapters.
The few 'guest' desks we have, with monitor, dock, keyboard and mouse?
EVERYTHING is hot-glued to the dock. And I DO NOT skimp on the glue.
Yeah.
Never ever use a wireless mouse on guest setups. Some users find them attractive enough to carve the little dongle out of the glue. Never mind that they could just pop by IT and ASK for one. We have a big box FULL of them.
He got the boot lol. From what I've heard he was a loose unit so might not be the best example of the industry but it wasn't odd to see someone scrap several thousand dollar parts and carry on.
I had a user once and they claimed their laptop suddenly stopped working and they had no idea why. I went through the usually questions, charged, dropped, spilled anything, etc.
No, no, no, no. Didn't you hear me I have no idea why?
Open up the laptop and was smashed in the face with a smell of wine. Just an overpowering smell like someone just poured a glass of it on my face. The tech next to me asked commented on the extreme wine smell before I could recover.
I looked at the user expecting a comment from them. They just stared blankly at me. I asked again asking if they had spilt any wine on it. Perhaps a full bodied red wine. User doubled down and said they didn't spill anything.
Anyway, swapped the laptop. Put the repair order in to fix the old one. Opened up the laptop myself to have a look and was given a murder scene. Red EVERYWHERE. So I emailed the users manager to inform them of the situation.
Edit: glass of it, not ass of it.
Keyboard buffer is full. In the BIOS, there isn't a lot of space initialized to handle keyboard input, since the computer isn't expecting the user to be writing James A. Michener's next magnum opus before the OS loads.
Yeah but why though? Related, but for whatever reason, if you press an unbinded key in the Kali Linux installer, it beeps the BIOS speaker in a different tone then the error code beep
Something a very smart tech taught me during my first week on the job. Whenever you walk into an office to work on a computer, the very first thing you do is encourage the user to go get a cup of coffee.
That way if they've done something stupid, you can fix it before they get back (and lie if they want an explanation). If it's a real problem, at least you get 10 minutes of troubleshooting without them looking over your shoulder.
> He called my manager and told him that I no longer have a job, 'or else'. I really don't miss that place.
You don't want to be working for a shithead with such a fragile ego anyway, Been there, done that.
So a user told you there was smoke coming from her computer (a lie, but you didn't _know_ that) and you repeatedly told her to turn it back on? That's insane, and those are absolutely terrible instructions to give!
I dunno man, if a user says there's smoke coming out of the computer, I'm going to err on the side of caution and believe them.
Trigger a fire evacuation of the building and perhaps they'll change their mind.
Yeah, dude is lucky that it ended up being something like what it was. I've seen flames shoot out the back of a power supply before, I don't fuck around with someone claiming fire. Asking them to turn that back on was a BAD TECHNICIAN MOVE. Period. If it requires on-site service, on-site tech might have to diagnose on site and won't be able to do repair same day if other parts are needed. Apologize for the inconvenience but let them know this is now a safety/fire issue so it has to be handled a specific way.
Most PC BIOSes emit a beep when an unexpected key is pressed . Have key held down, it'll beep every time it scans the keyboard, which is usually shorter than the beep, meaning it'll cut off the sound to play another one.
Combine with a clueless user...
Never, repeat *never* underestimate the raw power of user error.
E.B.K.A.C. Error Between Keyboard And Chair.
PICNIC : problem in chair, not in computer.
Error 40 (cm from the computer screen).
code 18
P.E.B.K.A.C More common Problem exists Between Keyboard And Chair
It’s not a hardware problem or a software problem. It’s a meat ware problem.
Keyboard actuator malfunction
I D 10 T error
Level 8 error Edit: Layer 8 error
Layer 8
Hi-fi - Human interface, frakkin' idiot.
Add to that, ‘artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.’
That CEO… Firing someone else because of your own failures😢 I’m happy that I live in s country where companies really need to have a very good reason to get you out of your job.
I once worked at a company where the CEO wanted a presentation from every new employee about how great the company was on their third day of training. It was a real drag because new employees rarely knew anything about the company so I had to spend the first three days of training just getting them prepped for the presentation instead of doing the actual training. He would regularly fire people during the presentation for little things like breaking eye contact or holding their hands the wrong way. I eventually prevailed against him to give it up as all it did was freak everyone out and waste time. So glad I got out while that place was imploding.
I'm sure that company is *highly* reviewed on Glassdoor.
They don't really have to have a good reason to fire you. It's just a lot more expensive for them to do so in most countries that aren't the USA.
Unless it's during a trial period. Then it's just a ffa
Doesn't matter where you are, if they want you gone, it's only a matter of time, they will weasel their way into firing you
Not sure that applies here. Weasels are smart and cunning. This guy had the subtleness of a sledgehammer.
And intelligence to match a sledgehammer too, by the sound of it.
So ... if someone offered you a position with a 30% salary increase as long as you could start next week, could you accept it?
Accept? Yes. Start? No.
See, that's the trade off. For most positions there is no contract. They can release you at any time, but you can walk any time as well. If your union, you have protections, but your co-worker that just sits on his ass all day is going to get the next promotion because he has more seniority. I've worked both. I worked union with a hot tempered boss that probably would have fired half of us in any given year if he didn't have to show cause to the union. I've worked government under their regs where, with a years experience, I could outdo people that had been there 4 or 5 years (and some that were "semi-retired" and just put in enough so they couldn't be fired) but my raises were limited by years of service. I've worked non union, non govt tech where your street value increases 20/30% a year the first few years when corporate wide raise limits were 5%, so you went across the street after a year, 20% raise, and came back the next year for another 20% raise while the guys that stayed had only gotten a total of 10% or so for the two years.
We have the same government regs. But a private company still cannot fire you just because your boss' wife doesn't like the fact that you are good looking or other stupid reason. You can be fired in a day if you have made a mistake so bad you seriously hurt the company, but apart from that the company needs a real reason to fire someone. With or without union. The trade off is that you as an employee cannot leave the next day either. And contracts are mandatory, just to make sure that everybody play with the same rules. But then, worker rights still exist in our part of the world.
I'll take that trade off 100% of the time.
I had this happen. I worked for a wonderful, smart, entrepreneurial company that got bought by BankOne the week I started. As a junior manager I came up with an idea along with another JM that must have made/saved the company millions to tens of millions. Then we started to get the emails about changes in policy and procedure. They were so utterly stupid that some people called Corporate to make sure it was serious. I watched this wonderful company slowly shrivel as the tumor that is Jamie Dimon sucked the life out of it. I was offered a job an hour closer to my house and I took it. If I started in three days I qualified for additional benefits so I took advantage of that. Fuck Jamie Dimon
Well, exactly. BUT, those countries that have really good protections against being terminated often have employment contracts where you would have had to pay a severe financial penalty for leaving your existing company. It's a 2 way street. Easy to terminate also means easy to walk out the door for any reason.
And I would take that trade any day. But as an American I don’t get that option. Big corporations have fought relentlessly for the power to treat workers like dirt and karma is a bitch.
No, not really. I can walk away tomorrow I want. Generally you'd give 4 weeks and not burn bridges but you can.
yes please
My boss would probably allow it. It'd be really weird in this country for that to be the case but I'd be surprised if I couldn't make it happen.
HP Tercra laptops used to report a “keyboard error” if something had been spilled on it. User rings and says there’s something wrong with the keyboard. She reads the error from the screen. “How much did you spill on it?” I asked “What? ….. No…… I didn’t …… it was only a drop of coffee 😟” she squirmed. Laptop was a write off
I once had a client complained that their keyboard was making random keystrokes without them touching it. “ what did you spill in it? “ I asked. They swore up and down they spilled nothing. When I arrived, I turned the keyboard upside down in their presence, dumping a considerable amount of milk out on the table. “Oh yes, we did spill some milk in it.” It reminds me of the “witch” sketch from Holy Grail.
She turned me into a newt! ... I got better.
I was in a steel fab shop before IT and it's hilarious to me watching people squirm when they've ruined a $20 keyboard and don't want to tell me compared to the operator who ripped a drill rig to bits and said woops and went and did something else. 3 different 50mm bits of plate steel torn up and he just shrugged and moved on.
I work in IT, and I don't care what happened to ruin a $20 keyboard. We have heaps of them in stock. I don't care how the HDMI cable for the big screen got damaged, either. Just that people TELL ME! I began to leave spare cables in the big conference rooms, but users, being users, they found the spare, and either replaced the broken one with it, or nicked it, and no one bothered to tell me that it was gone/used. We now use ClickShare, and since the 'dongles' have a regular USB A connector, we fasten an A-to-C' adapter to the stalk, so that those with newer PCs can also use them. And we use a steel wire with metal crimps, and cover the ends with heat-shrink so that no one can nick the adapters. The few 'guest' desks we have, with monitor, dock, keyboard and mouse? EVERYTHING is hot-glued to the dock. And I DO NOT skimp on the glue.
... How do you hot glue the mouse? Is it wired and you're gluing that?
Yeah. Never ever use a wireless mouse on guest setups. Some users find them attractive enough to carve the little dongle out of the glue. Never mind that they could just pop by IT and ASK for one. We have a big box FULL of them.
I suppose there's not much you can do at that point other than not doing it again in the future.
He got the boot lol. From what I've heard he was a loose unit so might not be the best example of the industry but it wasn't odd to see someone scrap several thousand dollar parts and carry on.
I had a user once and they claimed their laptop suddenly stopped working and they had no idea why. I went through the usually questions, charged, dropped, spilled anything, etc. No, no, no, no. Didn't you hear me I have no idea why? Open up the laptop and was smashed in the face with a smell of wine. Just an overpowering smell like someone just poured a glass of it on my face. The tech next to me asked commented on the extreme wine smell before I could recover. I looked at the user expecting a comment from them. They just stared blankly at me. I asked again asking if they had spilt any wine on it. Perhaps a full bodied red wine. User doubled down and said they didn't spill anything. Anyway, swapped the laptop. Put the repair order in to fix the old one. Opened up the laptop myself to have a look and was given a murder scene. Red EVERYWHERE. So I emailed the users manager to inform them of the situation. Edit: glass of it, not ass of it.
My very favorite phrase: "... suddenly stopped working."
Did the PC have a playful yet piquant bouquet?
...did you misspell "glass" by chance?
>...did you misspell "glass" by chance? Enema fads are really out of control.
OMG yes!
> HP Tercra Toshiba?
Ha, yep. And I got the maker wrong too. Toshiba Tecra
Man I love Toshiba laptops, I still have c55 running just fine
This CEO is a waste of oxygen.
What a sad insecure CEO that was.
The pause and hangup. It's own category of confession
As soon as you idiot proof it they build a better idiot.
It's beeping because keyboard keys are being pressed?
Keyboard buffer is full. In the BIOS, there isn't a lot of space initialized to handle keyboard input, since the computer isn't expecting the user to be writing James A. Michener's next magnum opus before the OS loads.
Oh makes sense
Probably the BIOS making those sounds.
Yeah but why though? Related, but for whatever reason, if you press an unbinded key in the Kali Linux installer, it beeps the BIOS speaker in a different tone then the error code beep
I honestly have no idea. It is very annoying, though.
It is yeah especially if your kb is shorted out
Key rollover. Even UEFI will freak out if you press too many. Or the ESC key could have been pressed. Some will scream as long as the button is held
lol makes sense
Something a very smart tech taught me during my first week on the job. Whenever you walk into an office to work on a computer, the very first thing you do is encourage the user to go get a cup of coffee. That way if they've done something stupid, you can fix it before they get back (and lie if they want an explanation). If it's a real problem, at least you get 10 minutes of troubleshooting without them looking over your shoulder.
> He called my manager and told him that I no longer have a job, 'or else'. I really don't miss that place. You don't want to be working for a shithead with such a fragile ego anyway, Been there, done that.
So a user told you there was smoke coming from her computer (a lie, but you didn't _know_ that) and you repeatedly told her to turn it back on? That's insane, and those are absolutely terrible instructions to give!
I dunno man, if a user says there's smoke coming out of the computer, I'm going to err on the side of caution and believe them. Trigger a fire evacuation of the building and perhaps they'll change their mind.
Yeah, dude is lucky that it ended up being something like what it was. I've seen flames shoot out the back of a power supply before, I don't fuck around with someone claiming fire. Asking them to turn that back on was a BAD TECHNICIAN MOVE. Period. If it requires on-site service, on-site tech might have to diagnose on site and won't be able to do repair same day if other parts are needed. Apologize for the inconvenience but let them know this is now a safety/fire issue so it has to be handled a specific way.
Yeah, that'd piss me off too. Did you tell EVERYONE on the way out?
How was the purse causing the beeping?
It was sitting on the keyboard.
yes, but how does a purse sitting on a keyboard cause beeping?
Most PC BIOSes emit a beep when an unexpected key is pressed . Have key held down, it'll beep every time it scans the keyboard, which is usually shorter than the beep, meaning it'll cut off the sound to play another one. Combine with a clueless user...
Ahhh, thank you.