HoSpanky wrote on Apr 7, 2020, 10:58:
The computers thing? Oh yeah. I work in a repair shop and the number of people bringing in ANCIENT machines they dug out of a closet in desperate hope they could do their job on it is RIDICULOUS. Then we tell them OF COURSE you can't get your windows 98 computer upgraded to 10, and they get angry. Others bring in clearly demolished laptops (how do they get that bad?!?) and are SHOCKED that we charge ACTUAL MONEY to fix them.
We're refurbishing laptops as fast as we can, to get them out for sale to these same people. We're out of monitors, webcams, any "business-required" devices are long gone. Just recently, the people working at the local GM facility, bored out of their minds, have realized WE SELL GAMING MACHINES.
Our shop is busier than it's been for a decade. We're considered "essential" because of the huge amount of people needing said machines to do their jobs. Unfortunately, it mean that customers are more demanding and less capable of understanding even basic instructions. When their company's IT department is overworked, they expect US to fill in for them (no kidding), asking how to use proprietary software and then call us idiots for not knowing anything about it.

It's fun and infuriating.

LOL. Reading that was like a flashback.
Glad I closed my store. I'm too old for that shit.

My position is not public facing.

The amount of out-of-the-blue emails I am getting from people asking for help so they can work from home is staggering. Anyone that looks remotely like any sort of IT is being barraged.

I just reply back with "Are you using Linux? If not, I am sorry but I will be unable to assist you."

I actually had one guy write back that he was so I helped him. The VPN setup is Windows-centric and needs a couple of extra hoops jumped through to get connected on Linux. Got him connected.

Outside of that, though, been busting my ass off trying to load balance on an infrastructure that was never intended to have 10,000+ people connect to it simultaneously and stay connected.

I even went in and started repurposing a bunch of Dell PowerEdge 2920s that had been mothballed years ago. CentOS 7 installed just fine and that has been a help.

Got an email last night that they have extended WFH until 5/31 and that it is expected to be extended beyond that date.

Spectrum in Central Texas is ridiculously overloaded. Multiple outages daily.

This comment was edited on Apr 7, 2020, 13:37.

HoSpanky wrote on Apr 7, 2020, 10:58:
The computers thing? Oh yeah. I work in a repair shop and the number of people bringing in ANCIENT machines they dug out of a closet in desperate hope they could do their job on it is RIDICULOUS. Then we tell them OF COURSE you can't get your windows 98 computer upgraded to 10, and they get angry. Others bring in clearly demolished laptops (how do they get that bad?!?) and are SHOCKED that we charge ACTUAL MONEY to fix them.
We're refurbishing laptops as fast as we can, to get them out for sale to these same people. We're out of monitors, webcams, any "business-required" devices are long gone. Just recently, the people working at the local GM facility, bored out of their minds, have realized WE SELL GAMING MACHINES.
Our shop is busier than it's been for a decade. We're considered "essential" because of the huge amount of people needing said machines to do their jobs. Unfortunately, it mean that customers are more demanding and less capable of understanding even basic instructions. When their company's IT department is overworked, they expect US to fill in for them (no kidding), asking how to use proprietary software and then call us idiots for not knowing anything about it.

It's fun and infuriating.

I can't believe you don't know how to setup and install one of a kind proprietary software and database's. What kind of rinky dink shop do you work at.

Where I used to work we swore that there should be a licensing requirement to own and operate a computer.

You can't fix stupid people, but you can tell them their ancient af POS box needs to put out to pasture.

My favorite is getting an administrator locked down laptop that a customer has pron-er-ized. Most of the time there is not much I can do except to tell them to take it back to the companies (or school districts) it department. idiots

HoSpanky wrote on Apr 7, 2020, 10:58:
The computers thing? Oh yeah. I work in a repair shop and the number of people bringing in ANCIENT machines they dug out of a closet in desperate hope they could do their job on it is RIDICULOUS. Then we tell them OF COURSE you can't get your windows 98 computer upgraded to 10, and they get angry. Others bring in clearly demolished laptops (how do they get that bad?!?) and are SHOCKED that we charge ACTUAL MONEY to fix them.
We're refurbishing laptops as fast as we can, to get them out for sale to these same people. We're out of monitors, webcams, any "business-required" devices are long gone. Just recently, the people working at the local GM facility, bored out of their minds, have realized WE SELL GAMING MACHINES.
Our shop is busier than it's been for a decade. We're considered "essential" because of the huge amount of people needing said machines to do their jobs. Unfortunately, it mean that customers are more demanding and less capable of understanding even basic instructions. When their company's IT department is overworked, they expect US to fill in for them (no kidding), asking how to use proprietary software and then call us idiots for not knowing anything about it.

It's fun and infuriating.

That is why they pay you the big bucks

The computers thing? Oh yeah. I work in a repair shop and the number of people bringing in ANCIENT machines they dug out of a closet in desperate hope they could do their job on it is RIDICULOUS. Then we tell them OF COURSE you can't get your windows 98 computer upgraded to 10, and they get angry. Others bring in clearly demolished laptops (how do they get that bad?!?) and are SHOCKED that we charge ACTUAL MONEY to fix them.
We're refurbishing laptops as fast as we can, to get them out for sale to these same people. We're out of monitors, webcams, any "business-required" devices are long gone. Just recently, the people working at the local GM facility, bored out of their minds, have realized WE SELL GAMING MACHINES.
Our shop is busier than it's been for a decade. We're considered "essential" because of the huge amount of people needing said machines to do their jobs. Unfortunately, it mean that customers are more demanding and less capable of understanding even basic instructions. When their company's IT department is overworked, they expect US to fill in for them (no kidding), asking how to use proprietary software and then call us idiots for not knowing anything about it.

It's fun and infuriating.