In my search to find my old resume on my computer, I ran across a document I saved that is a compilation of e-mails I sent out at work about our over-worked copier. That damn copier was breaking down all the time and people were constantly telling me about it, so I would send updates out to the call center and let them know what was going on. They seemed to enjoy the emails, which only encouraged me to do more. I think this is about the time everyone was encouraging me to start a blog, so they seem relevant. I don't think I've shared them before, but after doing this blog for a while now, who knows, maybe I have already. Anyway, here is a look back at how it all started.
Daily Blog about the copier...
3/12/09 Thursday, 3:47pm Larry arrived and brought new parts for the copier. Hurrah. Upon arriving and finding notes taped to the machine about other possible problems, Larry put on his thinking cap. He thought to himself, "hey, I am going to look at this new toner bottle and compare it to the old toner bottle...oh, lookie here, there is an extra piece..." And then he hypothesized about how it got there and came up with a theory. He shared it with me and here is what he said:
Blah blah blah, toner bottle, blah, blah, blah, rollers, blah blah blah, I narrowed it down to the fuzzy logic circuit (I'm not making this up, that is what he said), blah blah blah blah, and then I noticed this clicking sound...blah, blah, blah blah...." I nodded like a little bobble-head doll and then said, "ok, sounds like you have it under control."
Larry reported to my desk just minutes later that it was all fixed and should be good to go. He advised me to "enjoy the sunny afternoon" and as quickly as he appeared...he was gone. I saw him from my window, walking out in the parking lot...just a little taller, a little more pride in his step, but with a slight limp, like, perhaps he had kicked a machine one time too many. Anyway, good day for our copier...good day for Larry.
Friday, 3/13/09 8:00AM Julianne innocently walks in to make copies for her training class today. She feels confident in knowing Larry the copy guy was here. The machine has a clean bill of health, after all. With all the confidence she can muster, she asks for 40 correlated copies. Just two pages, just one staple each. Her heart fills with glee as she sees copies shooting out onto the tray...and then it happens. "beep-beep" The machine has a jam. Julianne goes to work, opening doors, pulling out paper, after all, she has done this countless times before. The error message goes away. She pleads with the copier to just finish her copies. This isn't her day...this Friday the 13th. It just isn't going to happen. She throws her arms up in dispair and leaves the room, with only a partial job done. She makes a mental note to tell Cassondra what she thinks about Larry after her training class. In Larry's defense...the machine does have toner.
8:30AM Cassondra (unaware of the morning's events) arrives on the scene to make copies only to find the machine in a disasterous state. Paper was spread throughout the machine like a cancer, jams everywhere. Cassondra makes a mental note to find the assailant and give them a stern talking to.
10:26AM Julianne confesses her crime.
11:38AM Larry calls to see how things are going. Cassondra relays the message about the jamming and the instability of the machine...silence on the line...you could almost hear the wheels in his head turning and he replied, "but the toner problem is gone, right?"
There is a certain comfort in knowing that even in the toughest of economies and high unemployment that our copy machine has single-handedly given Larry job security.
It's Monday. March 16th. My copier was complaint free between the hours of 8:00AM and 2:35pm. It's a new record.
2:36PM - Julianne comes over to my desk. She had the same look a cat has on it's face when it has already eaten a canary, but has every intention of pleading innocent....never mind the cat hair on the cage door. It appears there is a new problem with the copier. Julianne claims she has not mistreated the machine. She claims she was simply trying to make copies and then there was a jam. The alleged jam then led to a situation where a new error message surfaced...one we have never seen before. The machine now claims there is a cover door open...when clearly, there is not.
2:38PM - Teresa and Rob witnessed the complaint. Rob retreated into his office for safety purposes...laughing about a conspiracy between Larry the copy guy and Julianne. Teresa, Julianne and myself inspected the machine...opened all doors...the error message would not clear. I was perplexed...but not defeated. In a moment of genius, I pushed on the door that houses the toner....that's right...the evil toner. Upon pushing on the door and holding pressure, the error message cleared. With my shoulders slumping, feeling a little defeated, I left Julianne alone to hold tension on the toner cover door while she made 100 copies.
2:46PM - I left word for Larry. Looks like we need another service call.
That was the last entry I saved. To let you all know, the copy machine eventually died. We had to get a new one. Not long after the new one arrived, we also got a new copy repair guy. I have not seen Larry the Copy Guy in years. I do not know what happened to him, but I pray his toner didn't go bad.
Daily Blog about the copier...
3/12/09 Thursday, 3:47pm Larry arrived and brought new parts for the copier. Hurrah. Upon arriving and finding notes taped to the machine about other possible problems, Larry put on his thinking cap. He thought to himself, "hey, I am going to look at this new toner bottle and compare it to the old toner bottle...oh, lookie here, there is an extra piece..." And then he hypothesized about how it got there and came up with a theory. He shared it with me and here is what he said:
Blah blah blah, toner bottle, blah, blah, blah, rollers, blah blah blah, I narrowed it down to the fuzzy logic circuit (I'm not making this up, that is what he said), blah blah blah blah, and then I noticed this clicking sound...blah, blah, blah blah...." I nodded like a little bobble-head doll and then said, "ok, sounds like you have it under control."
Larry reported to my desk just minutes later that it was all fixed and should be good to go. He advised me to "enjoy the sunny afternoon" and as quickly as he appeared...he was gone. I saw him from my window, walking out in the parking lot...just a little taller, a little more pride in his step, but with a slight limp, like, perhaps he had kicked a machine one time too many. Anyway, good day for our copier...good day for Larry.
Friday, 3/13/09 8:00AM Julianne innocently walks in to make copies for her training class today. She feels confident in knowing Larry the copy guy was here. The machine has a clean bill of health, after all. With all the confidence she can muster, she asks for 40 correlated copies. Just two pages, just one staple each. Her heart fills with glee as she sees copies shooting out onto the tray...and then it happens. "beep-beep" The machine has a jam. Julianne goes to work, opening doors, pulling out paper, after all, she has done this countless times before. The error message goes away. She pleads with the copier to just finish her copies. This isn't her day...this Friday the 13th. It just isn't going to happen. She throws her arms up in dispair and leaves the room, with only a partial job done. She makes a mental note to tell Cassondra what she thinks about Larry after her training class. In Larry's defense...the machine does have toner.
8:30AM Cassondra (unaware of the morning's events) arrives on the scene to make copies only to find the machine in a disasterous state. Paper was spread throughout the machine like a cancer, jams everywhere. Cassondra makes a mental note to find the assailant and give them a stern talking to.
10:26AM Julianne confesses her crime.
11:38AM Larry calls to see how things are going. Cassondra relays the message about the jamming and the instability of the machine...silence on the line...you could almost hear the wheels in his head turning and he replied, "but the toner problem is gone, right?"
There is a certain comfort in knowing that even in the toughest of economies and high unemployment that our copy machine has single-handedly given Larry job security.
It's Monday. March 16th. My copier was complaint free between the hours of 8:00AM and 2:35pm. It's a new record.
2:36PM - Julianne comes over to my desk. She had the same look a cat has on it's face when it has already eaten a canary, but has every intention of pleading innocent....never mind the cat hair on the cage door. It appears there is a new problem with the copier. Julianne claims she has not mistreated the machine. She claims she was simply trying to make copies and then there was a jam. The alleged jam then led to a situation where a new error message surfaced...one we have never seen before. The machine now claims there is a cover door open...when clearly, there is not.
2:38PM - Teresa and Rob witnessed the complaint. Rob retreated into his office for safety purposes...laughing about a conspiracy between Larry the copy guy and Julianne. Teresa, Julianne and myself inspected the machine...opened all doors...the error message would not clear. I was perplexed...but not defeated. In a moment of genius, I pushed on the door that houses the toner....that's right...the evil toner. Upon pushing on the door and holding pressure, the error message cleared. With my shoulders slumping, feeling a little defeated, I left Julianne alone to hold tension on the toner cover door while she made 100 copies.
2:46PM - I left word for Larry. Looks like we need another service call.
That was the last entry I saved. To let you all know, the copy machine eventually died. We had to get a new one. Not long after the new one arrived, we also got a new copy repair guy. I have not seen Larry the Copy Guy in years. I do not know what happened to him, but I pray his toner didn't go bad.
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