the job

My "quick in 'n out" turned into a four-hour headache with a return visit in the morning.

After spending nearly three hours trying to debug the machine (the normal user login couldn't find the "VBScript engine", but Administrator login could) while waiting on and dealing with callbacks from HP, somebody who actually knew what they were doing finally called me back.

The first two gentlemen I spoke to at HP were clearly in India and had no idea what I was talking about. They also made me yell into the phone so that they could hear me; one actually hung up.

The last person to call told me that no, we DO NOT troubleshoot on site for problems like this; a new computer should have been waiting for me. There was none. Eventually it was located at the loading dock. Halfway across the bloody Tampa Airport from where I was. They sent someone to fetch it.

When I got the new machine, it turned out that I couldn't even get into the enclosure where the old one was encased because I lacked a 3/32" Allen wrench. I had a full set of metric ones. Useless.

I explained the situation to the woman in charge and said I'd be back in the morning with the correct tool. She signed off my time sheet for today.

If I knew my way around the area, I could have found a hardware store and bought the damn tool but, if I get off the highway to find a store, I'd never find my way back to work. Instead I stopped on the way home at a store a mile or so from home. Now I'm ready to do the quick in 'n out tomorrow.