Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Incompetence update

For the third time in two business days, Mustafa has implied that atmospheric conditions may have an effect on my building's wifi network.  Specifically, he wondered why the wireless was so slow "even though it's not cloudy out or anything."  The first time, I just dismissed it as me possibly misunderstanding what he had said.  The second time, I was too busy to correct him.  The third time, I felt the aura of his incompetence encroaching and I was forced to flee, lest I be sucked into the swamps of incompetence like stupid, stupid Artex.

A student today complained to Mustafa* that nothing was coming out of one of the printers in the lab, although the other one continued to work.  I'm not sure what Mustafa's troubleshooting procedure was exactly, but he ended up asking me to help diagnose the problem.  Long story short, I printed a page to each printer, then walked into the lab to discover a long line of students waiting for their printing.  Waiting in vain, of course, because there was no paper in the printer.  What the fuck.

I'm not used to being the most conscientious and competent person in my office.  Sometimes when I'm walking across campus I daydream about what it will be like to hire Mustafa's replacement.  

* At least the student went to Mustafa first.  Other than not having to listen to Mustafa chew, the greatest benefit of my tiny private office is that the students have stopped bothering me about every minute thing that happens in the lab next door.  However, I am still treated to some of the most inane and inappropriate hallway conversations, courtesy of large groups of undergrads standing outside my door.  Recent topics have included eyebrow dying, UGGs (!), cell phone bills, and how the undergraduettes (thanks for the word, Baby) outside my office were planning to make Valentine's day "really special" for their boyfriends by breaking out of the humdrum collegiate coitus they have become accustomed to.  I'm sorry, but if you're an 18-year-old and you have to figure out ways to "spice up" your sex life, there might be something wrong with you.

1 comment:

  1. You never answered the question about the wifi and I'm dying to know. I mean, ours goes out whenever it's windy...

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