May the fourth not be with me!

I am sure that I am in some kind of nightmare!

Please pinch me to ensure I am awake!!!!

The day kinda starts off ok - the big yellow thing in the sky is out- I believe some refer to this as 'sun', drive to work all good, traffic very light (think tiny evil people off school or sumsuch), I pass 3 single magpies (single as in on their own, not single as in their dating status - I did not ask), I salute them, wish them well and enquire about the 'missus' which going back to earlier statement they may or may not have.

Make it in to the office, no further a do. Mood lifts as realise collegue who has been off on paternity leave is back - (whoop whoop) saneness returns! Sit at desk, open laptop bag, proceed to fit the various wires etc and turn it on.

Which seemed not what the laptop wanted to do. Eventually after ensuring all power cables all present and correct, it powers up - and that's it!  After watching it cycle through the boot up sequence 3 times, trying all the options (safe mode, last working config etc) realise need to get the IT bods on the case.

So, I ambush a desktop and the log in process - which will take an age as first time looged on etc, and decide before facing the IT bods, need a strong cup of tea. Go the tea caddy, and alas empty - bar one lonely ripped tea bag.

FECK!

Go to machine & purchase some radioactive tea sludge subsitute, grab broken laptop go to IT bods domain. No one in. After the second failed attempt - realise things getting desparate and phone 'the IS helpdesk' or what is locally referred to as (un)Helpdesk. Spend several minutes explaining problem to bod on phone (who actually seemed more interested in eating his whatever than the problem at hand), informed that yes, I had turned it off and on again. He then asks what the error message I get at log in says - Grrr - There is no error message as it never reaches the log on screen.

Thirty minutes later, I have a reference number, have been advised to speed things up to go to my local IS office (fume) and the SLA is 7 days... So what do I do in the meantime? The bloomin desktop is missing half the programmes I have on the laptop and is 3gig slower as laptop was upgraded!

Set off processes on the desktop - which then locks up! Takes 4 hours to run a 20 min job, decide to try using the spare laptop (spare as in we managed to keep hold of when we got a new one!) Leave that to try and boot up (it was abandoned as randomly ignores the powercable, decides out of battery and powers down - save button is your friend!) While that is booting up, think I will have a browse on Twitter....No service on phone!!!

DAGNAMMIT!

Reboot Iphone, switch to coffee - finally get into my e mails! Outlook decides to sent me the e-mails I should have had on Friday, and periodically sends me the ones from today - in batches of about 10! Eventaully find a human (ish) in the IT bods office, discover the usual helpful chappie is on holiday, look round the people(ish) and enquire as to whom is the current laptop fixer, some poor sod gets pointed at. I pounce and scare him(ish) into looking at sad laptop with immeadiate effect, mumbling words such as 'Do you know who I am...' feel slightly guilty as he looks scared and gets straight on to it - to the extent I get hourly updates in person.

Also had the cleversods making the comments like 'Oooh another broken laptop- does somebody want one of the new ones?'

The answer is a NO NO NO  - as we changed supplier and I is not keen - so asked them to move - heaven, earth and all inbetween to ensure the survival of said laptop.

Light at the end of the tunnel???

Latest update is that it needs rebuilding, but will be left overnight to do so!

I won't even go into the crappy e mails & issues I had to deal with today! 

Rant over :-)