Anyway. Never runs smooth, so here we go, into the negotiations and logistics :
The Boss : "Would I be able to take that spare computer with me, and work from home?"
Here's me : "Yeah, don't see why not. You have internet in the house, don't you? It should be simple enough."
The Boss : "Yeah, I have BT internet."
Here's me : "Fine then, it should be easy enough."
The Boss : "Will I just plug it in and it'll work straight away?"
Here's me : "Depends.. is your internet wireless?"
The Boss : "Don't know."
Here's me : "Is there a wire from your home computer to the phone line?"
The Boss : "No. There's a hub."
Here's me : "But is the hub connected to the computer?"
The Boss : "I think it's connected to the server."
Here's me : "I'm fairly sure you don't have a server at home. Is there a wire between the hub and the computer, or is it wireless?"
The Boss : "No, I think it's wireless."
Here's me : "Is it a laptop?"
The Boss : "No, it's an old PC."
Here's me : "Right, so there's a wireless card, looks like a wee box maybe with an aerial on it, in the back of your computer?"
The Boss : "No, it's wireless."
Here's me : "No no, I mean just plugged into the computer itself, just a little box in the back?"
The Boss : "No, there's a hub."
Here's me : "No, I mean... I mean, how does your computer physically connect to the telephone line?"
The Boss : "Firefox."
Here's me : "Aagghhh... Look, is there a wee box or card or similar that sticks out of a USB socket on the back of your computer, and isn't connected to anything else, and maybe has an aerial or antenna of some kind on it?"
The Boss : "Do you mean the dongle?"
Here's me :"YES! Yes I do! That's the wireless card! Great!"
The Boss : "But there's a wire on it."
Whu?
Here's me : "A wire on the dongle? What kind of wire on the dongle?"
The Boss : "A wee sticky up one."
Deep breaths.
Here's me : "So yeah, just put the, uh, the dongle into the new PC when you take it home, and it should connect to the net... do you have a password on the router?"
The Boss : "There's a code..."
Here's me : "OK, just put that code into..."
The Boss : "...but I don't have it."
Here's me : "Actually it's probably a very complicated process, this, now that I think about it. I think you'd better phone the IT guy."
Firefox physically connects her PC to the internet? Does it carry little data packets to-and-forth in it's little mouth, spitting them down the phone line?
ReplyDeleteI think you boss's life is actually one huge piece of performance art!
Awesome; also perfectly summarising the life of anyone who finds themselves doing phone-based IT support for their family. Me, for instance.
ReplyDelete(I have read back in your posts as far as I can without having to stitch up my sides. Stoke-on-Trent killed me.)
There is a IT guy out there somewhere who will kill you if He reads this and finds out you adviced her to call him!
ReplyDelete