Randomness

[enterprikayak]

I didn't have a brother or a father....I had to be the techie in my house......s'why I turned out so mannish.

Unless one of your former avatars was a fake, you didn't look quite so mannish to me

Thank goodness for the softening power of boobies. Otherwise I would be nearly indistinguishable from a 300-lb sailor-mouthed trucker named Bubba.

Ek I'm no techie for one simple reason, I panic! Nothing to do with gender. I happen to think women make better tech support than men. They don't sigh ad groan at you over the phone. You can just "hear" some guys roll their eyes at you when they're being condesending. Although my brother just does it right in front of me and talks to me like I'm his 4 year old daughter. Then reminds me that SHE already can do this stuff...

I would make a HORRIBLE tech support person for this reason. My mom works at the cable company and says "You should WORK here!" and I'm like, "Your poor customers don't need me shouting at them about how stupid they are." Back in the early part of this century, I got my mom a computer for the 1st time and then spent the next 2 years trying (and failing) to not scream at her "GOD! I ALREADY TOLD YOU HOW TO DO THAT 17 TIMES! NO! DON'T CLICK ON THAT! DON'T CLICK ON ANYTHING UNLESS I SPECIFICALLY TELL YOU TO! FûCK!" And that was my own mother.

I can only imagine if I got a tech support job on the phones with the general public. I should do it. And put the shocking results on YouTube. I'd be famous.

Course, in the end, my students learn. My mom (who couldn't work a typewriter back in 2000) works the phones at the cable tv/internet co now, screaming at her own old people. Every time she complains about having to tech assist her moron customers, I'm like, "Now you see why I screamed at you so much in 2001."

[Distracted]

*Wince.* I guess it's good that I didn't know you back in 2004 when I sent my first email and had to be taught what an "attachment" was.

[enterprikayak]

Yeah. Se the above commnet re Bubba and sailor-mouth. I can be a wee wee wee bit abrasive at times.

[Distracted]

*blinks innocently* But you woulda been nice to 'lil ol' me, now wouldn'tcha, sugar? *I'd insert a southern belle icon here but I can't find one*

[WarpGirl]

Well I don't have problems following instructions if you tell me not to click something I won't. If you tell me to do something I will. My inherent problem is when the tech support starts speaking a strange language with words like gigabite (?) If it's a simple "click on this icon" I can do that very easily. If it's programming speak I'm lost.

I am always telling my brother, "WILL YOU PLEASE WRITE IT DOWN IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER? AND FOR god's SAKE STOP BEING SUCH A JACKASS!"

That's basically the extent of my foul language. Kaylee learns enough from daddy, she doesn't need Auntie WG adding to it.

[enterprikayak]

Yeah, the kids like to come home from visits and go, "Grandpa used the bad F word six different times!"

:hmph: It's 6:45 am and I am at work, cleaning.

[Cogito]

:hmph: It's 6:45 am and I am at work, cleaning.

What, there's a 6:45 AM now?

[Silverbullet]

Why in Hell can't I post withou tsomeone posting at the same time? Never fails. so I lose my post.

SB

[Cogito]

Why in Hell can't I post withou tsomeone posting at the same time? Never fails. so I lose my post.

SB

The page that says "somebody else posted at the same time" is just a warning in case you want to change your mind, there should be a button on that page that lets you go ahead and submit your post anyway.

[Transwarp]

This ones for you, EK.

There's a lot of construction going on here at Kandahar Air Field, and some of it brought down the electrical power to a fiber termination point that was providing internet service to the Canadian billeting tents across from the main PX. (Of course, no one bothered to inform us in advance, they just did it.) Since we have a bunch of subscribers living in those tents, we decided to restore service by moving the termination point into the tent area from across the street, and powering it from one of the tents. First, we had to get permission from the Canadian authorities, so I went to the compound where the Canadian HQ is located and explained what I needed to the Sergeant at the front desk. She heard 'fiber optic' and immediately sent me to Signals, even though I tried to explain I was more interested in talking to whoever was in charge of billeting. Alas, it was too late for that. I had used the word 'fiber.' That's Signals.

So she dispatched a runner to escort me to the Signal section and I was handed off to a very nice NCO who was quite perplexed when I told him I needed permission to move an equipment enclosure next to one of their tents and connect it to an AC outlet. He took me to see a Captain, who stopped a Major in the hall, and between the three of them determined that I needed to speak with the Garrison Sergeant Major, who was in a different part of the compound. The nice NCO took me there. He knew where the building was, but didn't know the location of the SGM's office. We stopped at a reception area just inside the door, and a Canadian officer with a *very* French sounding name on his name-tape walked up to us.

The very first thing my escort asked him was, "Do you speak english?"

He did, and I was able to find the Sergeant Major, (who was also French-Canadian but spoke english), and I got the permissions I needed.

But I cannot forget the surprise I felt at one Canadian soldier asking another if he spoke english. Because the implication is that *sometimes* they don't.

There are three things an effective army must be able to do: move, shoot, and communicate. How do you manage the 'communicate' part without a common language?

Scratching my head here.

[Cogito]

I don't know about that - wouldn't you expect a good communications system to start by negotiating capabilities at the start of a conversation?

[Transwarp]

I don't know about that - wouldn't you expect a good communications system to start by negotiating capabilities at the start of a conversation?

Sure, as long as both end-points have a common protocol they can settle on. If you try connecting me to a 'french' node, I'll do that 'negotiation' handshake all day long without getting anywhere!

[WarpGirl]

Yeah that French-English Canadian thing gets pretty wild. But cool story.

[panyasan]

Half a hour ago I wrote a long reply on Transwarps story with details why France is the only country in the world where they replied in French if you ask permission to land as a airline pilot (in all the other countries it's English), I pressed submit and learn that the site was updated and my post was gone. Le disparition subite reste un mystère.

[Silverbullet]

Transwarp, that is the reason that having a foreign Officer as a first Officer who mihght not speak your language is imp0ssible. Nato tried it on a ship. Failed. Too mnay l;anguages not everyone spoke a foreign language only thier own.

I understand that Nato it trying to integrate different military personnel from different countries. Will work as long as there is a common language but there is no guarantee. So, if there is a First Officer who does not speak your language ahd he isues orders no one will understand and orders won't be carried out wich could be deadly.

SB