# What were you THINKING? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 13, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532 "2023-10-13T19:36:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 398
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/8331 "2026-09-21T22:29:26Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > I used to do regular training classes on our software over conference calls. A class of 5-10 people that I am giving instructions to on a voice call. Yes, being able to write easy-to-follow instructions (potentially with helpful screenshots) and/or being able to properly walk someone through a fix over the phone are extremely useful skills for anyone providing IT support. I’ve also in the past had non-IT staff in different locations who we’d call “IT contacts” who you could reliably call and walk through doing stuff when you can’t be there in-person. “Go into the server room, look for this particular switch, are the lights blinking on it?” That sort of thing. That can take the place of remote access tools, and sometimes works when remote access tools are unavailable or just not the most appropriate solution. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/8332 "2026-09-21T22:42:00Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Yes, being able to write easy-to-follow instructions (potentially with helpful screenshots) and/or being able to properly walk someone through a fix over the phone are extremely useful skills for anyone providing IT support. Except when you have easy-to-follow instructions with helpful screenshots that don’t match what you actually have. “Click on FUNCTIONS in the top menu, then RECOMBOBULATE”, when there is no FUNCTIONS in the top menu. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/8333 "2026-09-21T22:42:20Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I’ve also in the past had non-IT staff in different locations who we’d call “IT contacts” who you could reliably call and walk through doing stuff when you can’t be there in-person. This. The bank where I worked had 20-odd branches. Obviously we couldn’t send one of our staff every time there was an issue. We quickly learned who the tech-savvy folks were at each branch, and we contacted them first before dispatching one of us IT folks. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/8334 "2026-09-21T22:44:36Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Except when you have easy-to-follow instructions with helpful screenshots that don’t match what you actually have. That means you are _not_ good at writing instructions. Or at least in the way an IT person should be. That also means that if you’ve written them in the past, check every now and then that whatever product you wrote them for hasn’t changed to the point where they don’t work anymore. I have to do that at work all the time. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/8335 "2026-09-21T23:04:40Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Yes, being able to write easy-to-follow instructions (potentially with helpful screenshots) and/or being able to properly walk someone through a fix over the phone are extremely useful skills for anyone providing IT support. I As a dev it often fell to me to write detailed install & configure manuals for rather complicated multi-server “enterprise” products. Which was great & generally successful. Until we hired Kevin. Nice guy, good head for troubleshooting, lotta obscure IT knowledge. Problem was he must’ve been something akin to dyslexic or ADHD. He could not read an ouline-formatted page of numbered & lettered steps without skipping unnoticed over at least one step. Unfouling a botched install because step 4.c.3 had been skipped on server 2 only and 6.d.5 had been skipped on servers 1 and 4 was a special sort of torture. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/8336 "2026-09-21T23:10:15Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > He could not read an ouline-formatted page of numbered & lettered steps without skipping unnoticed over at least one step. Oh no. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/8337 "2026-09-22T00:40:57Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > > [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > > > Remote desktop had to be a major technology boon for IT people. Prior to that I’m not sure how you did the job at all. > > That’s easy to answer: by moving our asses to the desks that had the issues. I used to do phone support before the age of remoting in. I asked very specific questions and and insisted on specific answers to those questions. It helped that i was supporting actuaries, who tend to be technical enough to understand why i needed that kind of information. > [@TroutMan](#): > > . We were using pcAnywhere in 1994 or 1995 for remote support. I was doing this in the 80s. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/8338 "2026-09-22T02:39:03Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Unfouling a botched install because step 4.c.3 had been skipped on server 2 only and 6.d.5 had been skipped on servers 1 and 4 was a special sort of torture. Ouch, bummer. But yeah, that’s why I became the bane of the first and second level support when I was the last line before we started bugging the devs. I’m going to double check the basics of the work done so far before I set up a lab and try to reproduce the issue. I was burned a few times by thinking “nah, no one is so clueless to miss _that_ step”. I learned my lesson, now it’s your turn. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/8339 "2026-09-22T03:17:34Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > I was burned a few times by thinking “nah, no one is so clueless to miss _that_ step”. I learned my lesson, now it’s your turn. I _am_ a developer for very expensive systems used by customers with low tolerance for errors. Every install is done by two engineers: one to read each step, and one to do it. You’d think that would prevent problems, and yet… ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/8340 "2026-09-22T06:45:08Z")
I’m sure all this tech support talk is _fascinating_ for the people involved but … maybe move it to its own thread? ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/8341 "2026-09-22T12:27:45Z")
I tried… 🤷‍♂️ > [@solost](#): > > I’ve been enjoying these tech support stories, and the battery backup discussion reminded me of one from back in my sysadmin days. But I didn’t want to hijack this thread too much more, so I spun off a new thread: > > [Tales of tech support tomfoolery](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tales-of-tech-support-tomfoolery/1033227) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/8342 "2026-09-22T12:28:44Z")
Yeah, that was the thread I was meaning. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/8343 "2026-09-22T15:29:17Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > m sure all this tech support talk is _fascinating_ for the people involved but … maybe move it to its own thread? Yeah. We need to go back to talking about cables. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/8344 "2026-09-22T16:29:35Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I was doing this in the 80s. Oh, yeah? Well _I_ was doing it in the 1880s, when our computers were steam powered, and we sent messages by pneumatic tubes! So there. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/8345 "2026-09-22T16:34:43Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > and we sent messages by pneumatic tubes! So there. Metric tubes (shudder) or the proper Imperial measured tubes? ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2026, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/8346 "2026-09-23T05:15:54Z")
Yeah! And the programs you had to load on these steam-driven computers came on wax cylinders. You know how easy it is to accidently melt one of those cylinders when you get get it too close to the steam?! ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2026, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/8347 "2026-09-23T13:24:42Z")
My father died when a supercomputer suffered a double-ended streamline rupture. Some asshole used the wrong kind of bolts (black oxide-coated brass instead of steel) to put it back together after a software upgrade. The bolts failed and an entire section of pipe literally fell off as the processor approached full power during an unusually intense game of minesweeper. He stayed at his post… when the trainees ran. …in retrospect, he probably should have run with them. Seriously, what kind of idiot stays at his post in the middle of a steam-line rupture? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2026, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/8348 "2026-09-23T13:54:17Z")
Frankly, I think that computer makers fucked up when, instead of making the coffee cup holders stronger, they got rid of them entirely. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2026, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/8349 "2026-09-23T16:18:52Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > Seriously, what kind of idiot stays at his post in the middle of a steam-line rupture? Sorry, but this was rather triggering for me. There was a steam line rupture at one of the generating stations my company ran. Right outside the employee breakroom. Seven people died and a couple were seriously injured. Very traumatic for the company. Nothing to do with you, of course, it’s just your comment brought that time back full force. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2026, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/8350 "2026-09-23T16:22:33Z")
Along with a hull breach, a main steam line rupture was one of the two things I was always aware of that could kill me the fastest in a submarine engine room. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=397) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=399)