P.I.C.N.I.C.

If you are a "techie" you'll understand that title. If you aren't, I'll explain in a minute. I am NOT a techie, although some think I may be; at least a little. When I was working I was considered the Technology person for our school. If there was a problem with teachers' computers, I was the go-to person. Unfortunately, that wasn't because I really knew what I was doing. As one person put it, 15 years ago, when our school was trying to decide who would be the designated Tech person, "Connie, it should be you! You know more about this stuff than anyone else, here!" To which I replied, "If I know more than anyone else, then we are in trouble!"

I learned a good bit while I was doing the job, but mostly I was the first level tech person who solved the simple problems. One thing I learned is that when you check the troubleshooting part of a manual for anything the first thing on the list is "Is the (fill in the blank) plugged in?" That question is there for a reason. It made people like me look smart. I plugged in the printer, and VOILA! it worked!!! Amazing.

Well, this week was a chance to harken back to those days. First, someone hacked my email. Hundreds of people on my contact list (yes, there are that many) received invitations to try Viagra or Cialis under the multitudes of misleading subject headings like "I Did It!", or "You'll Love This!". I changed my password, but alas, Hotmail decided to teach me a lesson while protecting their system. I was locked out of my account for a day while the whole thing was sorted out. So Techie thing #2 was to fix my account and get it back. Today I had to deal with Techie #3. My wireless printer went off line and none of the traditional fixes (meaning turning it off and then on again) worked.

The problem with all this is, as I stated at the beginning, I am NOT a techie!! Therefore I made a few missteps before I figured out what I should have done and ended up re-installing my wireless router, and then I had to reconnect my printer and two computers. 2 hours wasted.

There is a fun side to being a techie. Techie's have code words they use to describe problems to one another. My favorite is the "IDtenT" problem. It sounds very 'technical' but when a Tech Support Person tells another Tech Support Person, "the problem was an "IDtenT" it is not a compliment. I won't spell it out for you, but grab a pencil and write it out, supplementing the actual number for the word. It means you probably forgot to plug the printer in.

One guy who does phone support told me he uses the "Pin3ErrorCode" with people over the phone. One key tip to solve any problem is to 'check the connections'. This doesn't mean jiggle the cable. It means unplug it and plug it back in to make sure a lost connection has been re-united, so to speak. Most people would assure the phone tech they had checked the connections. This techie told his clients it 'sounds like a Pin3 error code' and had the client unplug a few cables and then reconnect them, frequently solving the problem.

So what does P.I.C.N.I.C mean? Code for "Problem in chair, NOT in computer". Another version of the IDtenT code. The problem is: user stupidity; not computer error. So back to my problems this week. As for the email Hacking: true. My password was too simple, and not changed frequently enough. Problem in chair.  Blocked out of my email????  Let's change that to "Problem in COMPUTER, NOT in Chair!" (even if maybe I originated the problem). And then the wireless router? Definitely, problem in chair. As I said, I was a Level 1 tech support person at my school. I only looked good because I had great 'behind-the-scenes-support'. Greg, I mean YOU! I had people I could call who would walk me through more complicated fixes. It's one of the things I miss most, now that I'm retired. So after fiddling around, make that fumbling around, I finally solved the problem and got my printer back on line

Being the Tech Support person is one of the things I don't miss, now that I am retired! But having those people I could call?? Oh yeah, I miss them ALOT!