Get the Story Straight

This is NOT about work. OK, well, sort of.

So as to keep work out of this post, we'll use some aliases - this is about Huey, Dewey, Louie, and me.

Since Friday last, I'd had a catastrophic failure on the work laptop. Gravity played a part. Suffice to say the PCMCIA slot was rendered inoperable. A call to Huey was made.

I should probably note here that the reason for the PCMCIA slot to be so important is that in my job of working on [expletive deleted]'s, I must remain in contact with the cloud almost 24/7. That means having an "aircard", or more accurately, a cellular modem. So without an aircard, I must rely on Wi-Fi hotspots and more conventional means of communication like two cans and a piece of string.

So Huey said they'd contact Dewey to dispatch Louie out to work on my laptop the beginning of the week; if I did not hear from Dewey in 48 hours, to call Huey back.

Monday came and went with no call from Dewey, so Tuesday I was on the phone to Huey.

Turns out that Dewey had, in fact tried to contact me, but was given an old phone number I'd been issued years ago. Why Huey didn't know that is beyond me, as they were the ones who had given me the new number. Once I'd given Huey the number, it was only a matter of time before Louie was calling me. On Wednesday.

Louie was booked solid that day, so I was penciled in for Thursday.

On Thursday, since I had to go to the office for a mundane task anyway, I met Louie there. And at noon, my laptop was... still broken. Louie had not brought enough parts.

OK, I've been in the printer, computer, and electronics-in-general repair field for thirty-four (34) years. Repairs never go as planned. So it did not surprise me that this happened. After all, though I AM authorized to do such repairs myself - certifications and all - I am NOT authorized to repair this one. Being "on the other side of the repair counter" as it were, and being a "customer", it's not my place to judge. I was told by Louie that extra parts would be in on Friday.

And no phone call was forthcoming on Friday.

As I was not on call last week, I wasn't terribly concerned. I would be this week, as I am on call. So time was now of the essence.

During the oh-so-productive daily conference call yesterday, I was asked if my laptop was repaired yet. No. Though I did say I wasn't pleased, and would be on the phone to Dewey after said call. Not having any calls to go on immediately, I just happened to look to see if there were any emails to deal with, and there, in living color, was an email from Huey.

Paraphrasing here, "Louie tried to contact you, but your phone number has been disconnected."

AAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

"...and here's Louie's phone number."

Louie said he could be at the office by 1pm. Yippee!

I was at the office early, and, since the laptop would be out of commission for a while, looked to see if there was anything else I should be concerned about. Oh yeah. Another email from Huey.

"In reference to my previous email, please do not call Louie directly; instead, call Dewey to make an appointment."

Frustration? You betcha.

Dewey said they'd dispatch someone. For TUESDAY.

AAAAAAAAAAA... oh hell, see above.

A quick and dirty email was in the offing for Huey. "So I called Louie as you suggested, bypassing Dewey. Louie said he'd meet me to do the repair. Now you tell me to call Dewey; they are dispatching Louie for Tuesday. This is ridiculous."

"And, by the way, why are you giving Dewey (and Louie by association) my old, company-issued phone number? Do you people not have access to updated information?"

"Oh, and since Louie already said he'd be here by 1pm, I'm hanging around a bit to see if he comes."

And he did. By 2pm, I was off on a call, again in the cloud.

Now, the real question is, will someone show up at the office today to work on my laptop? Probably, but I'll never know.

Huey, Dewey, and Louie still have my old phone number.