revenge of the nerds

conversation between ng and i seems to keep coming back around to our respective dorkiness. it's a natural instinct, i think, among those of us have always been a little nerdy, to put it out there all at once, lest you inadvertently give the impression that you're actually cool and then get all tangled up in maintaining the illusion. it all started as i was trying to give him a little bit of blog back-story to get him caught up. i put my foot in my mouth trying to explain about the bizarre events staged by my blogmate's theater geek neighbors, forgetting momentarily that ng actually is a theater geek. he absorbed the ribbing rather well, and put out his theory that we all have some degree of inner dork. i argued rather adamantly there's nothing closeted about my dorkiness- that i wear it all on the surface for everyone to see. i'd like to think that it's an endearing quality, but i'm probably wrong... actually, i might even be wrong about the inner dork part.

in spite of my constant complaining about having to work all the time, here i am, putting in an entire day that is totally self-inflicted. granted it's for exorbitant amounts of extra money (see multiple past blogs referencing my love of shopping). this action in itself might be considered dorky, but really it's about shoes.

anyway, as i was getting settled into my temporary work space (i.e. surfing the internet), i discovered that not only could i not print anything, but that my computer wouldn't even acknowledge the big fancy laser printer sitting right next to it. after trying all the tricks i know (high-tech stuff like making sure it was plugged in) and even attempting the add-printer wizard, i gave up and called IT.

aside: i think that the all the installation wizards so graciously provided to us are actually some kind of cruel joke being played on us by the microsoft computer geeks (probably well-deserved, given the forthcoming computer-geek mockery that ensues). it looks like idiot-proof, user-friendly stuff, but i, for one, still can't ever accomplish the task at hand and feel even dumber about it because they make it look so easy.

the IT guy on the phone was pretty patronizing until it became quite clear that he couldn't fix my problem. he did, however, access my computer remotely- i'm always a little creeped out when that happens- there's something freaky about your computer executing all these commands (with the mouse arrow moving all around) when you're not the one doing the commanding. (for those of you who are mystified by my intense hatred of horror movies, my fear of possessed computers ought to convince you that i'm not faking it).

so phone IT guy (PITG- p could also stand for patronizing) gave up and dispatched live, in person, frenetic IT guy (FITG). FITG was every bit as peppy as PITG wasn't. he was tickled pink to even have found me (and more importantly the printer), and i have to say that he got full credit for finding his way through the maze of hallways, as i was totally incapable of explaining where i was. i spent the next 15 minutes in a tiny room with one highly energetic dude who was so surprised by his inability to fix the problem that he crawled under my desk on hands and knees to check things out (i wasn't sitting at the desk at the time)- he'd correctly surmised that only frank mechanical failure could explain his apparent lack of computer prowess. he was the happiest computer geek i've ever seen. i was less happy, since it turned out that my problem was lack of some kind of internet access so that my printer can talk to the server which can talk to my computer- this problem can only be fixed if someone takes financial responsibility for my office and pays for the service.

though i've already demonstrated how un-computer-savvy i am, i can't deny my fascination with FITG. besides, doesn't it seem like connecting the printer directly to the computer would eliminate the proverbial middle man and obviate the need for funding? maybe i have some inner dork after all...