No Multitasking!

[partly]

So, my computer at work is acting weird. One of the Very Important Programs that I need kept giving me an error report. Plus it keeps freezing when I reboot... well, maybe not freezing but it sticks at the automatic diagnostics that IT put on it. After 10 minutes of waiting for it to work, I just reboot and skip that step. Works fine after that.

Well, yesterday I step into the back to get some supplies and when I come back S from IT was sitting at my computer checking it out. Keep in mind that I have NO rights on this computer. I can't install programs. I can't remove programs. I can't even remove icons from my desktop.

S tells me that he doesn't know what's wrong with Very Important Program. Because it is a program only used by the the UW-Extension, he says IT doesn't support it and I should write the UW-Extension support. Okay. I kinda guessed that would be the case. County IT doesn't support many of the programs that are only used at the UW-Extension.

Then he goes: What was the program in the corner of your screen that I had to close out of.

I panic for a moment, wondering what the hell website I was browsing and what kind of evil pop-up it left on my computer. Was I on LJ or, Lord forbid, had I started AIM in order to chat with someone... Then I look at the screen and go: You mean the Windows Media Player?

S ponders that. Probably realizing that when he shut down the program the music stopped. Oh. That was a skin, huh?

I nod. So I can pause it if I need to in a hurry. It's always on top.

S looks the task bar on the bottom of my computer. Well, you shouldn't be in that many programs any how.

I blink at the computer. There are five task bar buttons: Word, IE, Publisher, desktop folders and a search window. Granted I'm in two sessions of IE and possibly three word documents, but still... that's not very many in my world of work. I give a feeble response I was working... This doesn't seem to appease him, so I continue And the Windows Desktop Search just installed on the last reboot...

This was true and I had nothing to do with it. IT does that occasionally -- they update Windows and we get new things on our computers. Usually evil Windows stuff, but it just so happens that I had been wanting to install Google Desktop because I often spend a great deal of time looking for documents that were used in the past years. The past years when I wasn't around and they named documents strangely and hid them in a variety of mysteriously named folders. Only I can't install the Google search bar, much less Google Desktop. I had spent the morning tweaking this new program so that it would search the different network folders where people have hidden things. I just got it to where it would do what I needed it to.

S frowns. I know that was just added. I’ll get rid of it.

I will admit that my “NO” was probably a bit more strident than necessary, but he was taking my new toy Very Useful Tool away from me. Do you have to? I’ve set it up to catalog the files and…

Now I’ve really confused him. I guess. Most people are just annoyed by it.

Well, I’m not most people. I didn’t say that aloud.

S looks back at my computer. In any case, you really shouldn’t be in that many programs at the same time.

This doesn’t make sense to me. Most IT guys I know (and I used to work IT for the school district) aren’t happy unless they have at least ten windows open. I routinely have that many open. He hit me at a low point. I didn’t mention that either. But I’m using them is all I manage to say.

He smiles. But you can only work in one at a time.

At which point my brain breaks and I give up trying to be tactful. No. I need to be in all of them at the same time. I need to work.

This fortunately ends the conversation before I go into detail in how every single window I have open (especially since he shut down WMP) relates to the 4-H banquet that we are preparing for. S finally leaves and I get back to work.

I am still greatly amused by all of this. The best bit? Every time my boss came up and asked me to do something new, I said: I’m sorry. IT says I can only do one thing at a time. Fortunately, she has a good sense of humor. She also said that she told S that we all need computers that can do more than one thing at a time.

He was lucky he didn’t show up when I also had Contribute or Dreamwearver open. Or photoshop for that matter. Those programs can really suck up memory.

But you can only work in one at a time. Heh. Single tasking is for wimps.

Comments

[finabair.livejournal.com]

Oh, please. It's a slow day when I don't wrap the taskbar icons around to a second row. You can't look at program one to fill in the blanks in program two unless they're both open! And when tasks five and six interrupt this process you don't want to lose all the work you put in getting to that point, you're not gonna close out and repeat all that work to open everything when you get back to it!

If S can manage to have only one program open at a time, I think I see why you might be having IT problems...