silly end-user

So I'm standing in the doorway of an office shared by two people in our little department. Immediately to my left is a desk on which sits a Dell Optiplex^TM 755 Ultra Small Form Factor. We spec'd these about a year ago to increase the amount of desktop space folks had on the mixed-matched office furniture used throughout the building. For the most part, the systems have been well-received. We just finished deploying the last group of 20 or so, which brings about 2/3 of the college up to date in terms of desktop computing hardware.

OK, back to my story. I'm standing in the doorway talking about an extremely important project (read: gabbing about kids, money, sports, spouses, etc.) and I turn slightly to my left to place my HUGE full coffee mug on top of the Optiplex CPU unit, just behind the monitor. The mug, a gift from Microsoft TechEd 07, holds about 2 1/2 cups of nectar.

Before this goes any further, I'll say that I personally am extremely tolerant of the end-users we support on a daily basis. Not everyone is comfortable with technology. Not everyone understands basic and fundamental principles of productivity computing. Not everyone knows that liquid substances should not be placed above, on, or near electronic equipment.

Dare I say more? Of course I do. Part of the fifteen minutes I spent draining coffee out of the upside-down opened CPU was caught on film by my quietly laughing but very concerned co-worker (the one I'd been talking with about that important project with). She has promised me she will not publish the photos, but has reserved the right to remind me of them just before we complete the yearly reviews in May. Even funnier... the person to whom the system belong was out sick today. When she arrives tomorrow morning, she will find her computer lying opened on her desk like a filleted salmon, drying in the 65 degree ambient air of the little, and now quite humid, office.

The story will no doubt spread through our little college. If I have to defend myself in the next Admin Council meeting it may be necessary to pull out this year's IR reports and start naming names.