From: Andrew Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1999 17:49:18 GMT To: bofh@bofhcam.org Subject: here's one for the rants under just pfy... Oh my. I think today, I will actually kill someone. I have never wanted to thin out the gene pool with a sharp pointy object this badly before... Lemme explain... Joe luser calls in. Is having trouble with winzip. Can't figure out how to create an archive on his a: drive. so I tell him "Okay, when you start winzip, click new. the first dialogue window that pops up is asking you where you want to create your archive. so go to a:" Of course, he can't see it. because the moron can't figure out how to change to a different directory, let alone a different drive (who says a GUI makes things easier?). So after explaining it three times, very slowly, over the course of twenty minutes, a dusty christmas bulb starts to emit a weak light from the top of his noggin. Of course, he doesn't have a disk in the drive. So it's immediate panic when it pops with an error. So what does he do? He ctrl-alt-del's it, and we have to start over. and of course, he's forgotten the lesson on how to get to the a: drive, which is where he wants to create said zip file. So, eventually, after I've thrown a few pens, pencils, and a stapler across my cubicle in silent frustration, we get back to where we were, this time with a disk firmly lodged in his a: drive. Now, i'm explaining that he needs to tell it what he wants in the archive. "but doesn't it just know?". sigh. If we zipped up this man's brain, we'd still have 1.43 free on a disk, ladies and gents... So, suffice to say, I have to explain to him how to, yet again, navigate to a different directory, and click on the files he wants to add, and hit "Add". and he's not getting it. He's saying "but there's no add button here!". I'm gnashing my teeth... First of all, I want to strangle him with the plethora of token ring cables lying about, since we're converting to ethernet. Secondly, I can't just up and walk over to help, since I'm the only one manning the phone. During this conversation, the red light warning me that people are piling up in the phone queue is blinking like an angry demon demanding sacrifices. Of course, after 15 more minutes of this (and almost an hour total on the phone), I think "screw it", and ask him where he is. He keeps telling me he's in the winzip screen. "No, where are you located?" "In the winzip screen, I told you!" "WHERE ARE YOU SITTING!??!?!?!" I get over there, and i realize his problem: He's creating the zip file on a floppy, on his desktop. on his laptop, He's got windows explorer open and is clicking on the file he wants to add. I could have cried. I really could have. What sent me away in terror was this statement: "You know, this really has to work ASAP! I'm working on our y2k project, and this is very important!" We're DOOMED.