So my coffee shop failed me today. I was there at 8.30 ready to type and check my email. I ended up spending an hour trying to get online; somehow the redirect function in the browser did not want to redirect so I could log in. It just said 'page cannot be displayed'. At first I thought it was my computer, that it was confused about suddenly having to use wireless after a couple of days worth of wired LAN. I gave in and called their hot-spot hot-line and after a couple of re-directs ('sorry, they printed the wrong number on the brochure') I got a very competent young admin guy on the phone.
As most often happen to me, they are very specific about things, asked me about all the things that I had already tried (check 'connect even though it is an insecure network', restart the computer etc.) and I spared him my sarcasm when he instructed me 'go to the start menu, click 'run', then write C.M.D. and then type in ipconfig \renew ('Oh you mean open a command prompt and renew the IP config?'). In the end he suggested me to pay for extra help desk service, 120 kr an hour unless of course I knew someone else who could help me out. I thanked him for his service so far and hung up. Being in computer science means that I should never have to pay for any kind of computer service. After an hour and a half I gave up and started writing on my thesis despite not being able to download the newest version that I had made on my desk top computer in my office yesterday. But my annoyance was constantly surfacing and I couldn't really concentrate. I wanted to check my email!
As it turned out it was neither my wonderful Vaoi, neither my incompetence in diagnosing non-working wireless networks. It was the hotspot itself that was malfunctioning and after chatting with a cool, skinny coffee shop guest who offered to call TCD (I had sort of talked to them already) I felt much better. Despite not having checked my email the whole morning. I still wondered how the nice TDC guy did not even consider the fact that this was the case and only offered me pay-per-call help. When all comes down to basics, I think I would make a better help desk worker than this guy; he didn't offer me any suggestions outside what I could have thought of myself and I tend to think of all possible options and worst case scenarios. Like the time I helped this hot-shot professor (no name mentioned) connect to the wireless internet that was key protected ('but it doesn't ask for the network key anywhere!', 'no, but you have to input it in this wonderfully blank field'). I might not know everything in this world about computers but trying and trying and thinking is a good step on the way.
Posted by Louise at May 27, 2004 01:10 PM