Saturday, May 19, 2007

Auto De-Tales

Plugging in...

Computor Tutor-ing is generally not an amusing vocation. Helfpul? Yes. Educational? Yes. Surprising? Yes. Laugh out loud funny? Not usually. OK. Sometimes, but never in a hurtful way. Unusual? All the time.

This tale, as most will be, is short and as most do, has a happy ending.

What do you say when a client tells you that their child has stuffed a favorite, prized even, matchbox car into the tape backup unit on the computer? And of course it won't come out. Not with praying, banging, tipping upside down, or throwing a complete hissy-fit.

How much is a little matchbox car worth, exactly? Apparently enough to pay a considerable amount of money to watch the tutor use surgeon-like precision when operating on the computer and the tape drive unit - both of which made a full recovery; the matchbox was retrieved unscathed. I'd like to think it was later sold on eBay to pay for the "operation".

Tell me, where do you go to school to learn the fine art of extracting alien articles from inside computers?

ALWAYS REMEMBER: before calling for help - is it plugged in, is it turned on?

Unplugged

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