I love it when someone comes to me with a problem that I can help them with. Must be the "wanna fixit" part of my personality. You know, the one that gets you into trouble when people just want you to listen ... but that's another story.
Last week my secretary made a "grr" sound while her head was buried in the supply cabinet. Knowing that "grr" usually indicated a respectable level of frustration, I inquired "wassup?"
Apparently there was a fair amount of unruly sticky goop in the cabinet that was refusing to be removed. I said "Ahh! I have just what you need! I'll bring some Goo Gone from home. It removes sticky stuff. Works like a charm!"
Today I brought a bottle of Goo Gone to the office and a little while later I heard a "Wow, this stuff is like a miracle!" coming from the area that "grr" came from last week. I quietly and smugly smiled.
I wish technology were more often as dependable. Here's a scene that happens all too often: Someone comes to me with a problem, I propose a technology based solution (Ah! Try this calendar, or wiki, or mail list, or document creator, etc.) and even go so far to demonstrate it ... and then it fails in some way. Instead of feeling like the Techno Saviour replete with flowing red cape, I feel more like a door to door used vacuum cleaner salesman trying to hock his wares.
People "tsk tsk", smile politely and dismiss my strategy as "too complicated" or "not something they are interested in ... Not sure why tech stuff so often fails at precisely the moment that I place high hopes of getting that "Wow, this stuff is like a miracle" response. Gremlins, unreasonable expectations?
Grrr ...
Does anyone know of some Tech Gremlin Goo Gone?
