| Thursday, January 12, 2006 |
| I'm just not THAT big of a flake |
So, the fact that my ernest officemate thinks me a great big ditz was reinforced about an hour ago. I, in my new years resolution to get to uni earlier, showed up at uni at 8 am this morning. No, I lie. I must be honest with you all. I had to be here by 8 am to return the uni ute which I have had for the past two days doing my fieldwork. So, anyway, I was here bright and early, full of good intentions of not wasting time blogging, and just writing away at my paper all morning, until my appointment with my supervisor at noon. I go up to my office, log into my computer. Up comes a message to me, informing me that there is no server. Now, servers are very important things, I have learnt. If the internet doesn't work, it is usually because 'the server is down'. This morning, it was a very important server that had disappeared. This server supplied not only the internet, but all the 'drives' within my school where everyones files are stored. Thinking it may just be my office computer, I tried computers in two different computer labs, then went and conferred with the postgrad coordinator (the only person I could find at 8.15am in the morning), who said that yes, the server was down everywhere, and we'd just have to wait for it to come back on.
So, basically here I was, bright and early at uni, with nothing to do. Well, I read a couple of journal articles, but that was it. I thought I'd be nice and build bridges with my officemate (who I think hates me as she shows disdain and exasperation every time she has to talk with me) so I sent her a nice friendly message telling her to have a late one this morning because the server was down at uni and there's nothing to do, signing it 'Cec in the office', in case she knows other Cecs and also in case she'd forgotten my name. At 9.30 I wandered down to my supervisor with my list of questions (I see her once a week so I save up questions to ask her), two and a half hours before our appointment, because I truly do have nothing else to do and figure she must be at a loose end too. Half an hour later, I head on back up to the office and find Mia sitting at her desk, working away on her computer. She has the window open that has all the network files in it. Mine had come up blank. Thinking the server is now 'up' again, I try my computer again. Nothing. Turning to Mia, I ask her if she was using files from the network (she may have saved everything on a back-up CD). "Yes" she says, as if to say 'what other kind would I be using'. "The network has been down in the whole school", I tell her. "I wonder why is yours working?" "Maybe you didn't log on properly" she says, like I'm a child. "Dd you try a few times?" "I tried up here, and in the computer lab. And there were other postgrads who'd migrated into the computer lab to try there as well, and no one could get it to work." I inform her, "It's down in the entire building, except your computer." "Have you tried your computer recently?" she asks me in this highly patronising tone. "Maybe it's working now" . "Yes", I tell her, highly annoyed, "Just then, and it's not working, Your computer is the only one in the whole building to work - how bizarre! Oh, maybe it's because you don't log out of a night, you just leave it on" "I've just logged in twice this morning" she tells me smugly.
So, in the typing of ths story I've realised two things. 1) that it is quite a dull story, and 2) that Mia doesn't come out looking like a bitch who hates me. Her responses sound quite reasonable. But it's all in her manner, how she was implying that the server wasn't down at all, I was making it up and the reason I couldn't get the computer to go is because I wasn't logging in correctly (probably because I was stuffing up my password). HER computer was going, so obviously there was nothing wrong. I immediately went down and hassled the computer technician, telling him that Mia's computer was going fine. He had no answers to that, but said he was working on the problem. SO cop that Mia - I wasn't imagining a problem. I'm just not that big of a flake.
I'm writing this in the library, where the internet is working fine. It's time now to head back down to my office and see if the school network is up and running again. And go sit closeted in a little room with Mia. Oh yay. I still have a doozy of a cold though, with lots of nose-blowing and hacking coughing, so instead of going to the toilet every half hour for an almightly nose-blowing session, and trying to muffle my coughs with lots of sips of water, I think I'm just going to let rip in the office and Mia can just deal with it or go out. It's my office now too! Just because she's been there two years, and I've only been there four months doesn't mean I have any less right to be there with my germs! |
posted by Cecilia @ 10:59 am  |
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| 3 Rantings: |
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That may have been boring but at the same time highly amusing. As for Amsterdam, I have a friend that lives there so I have a place to crash and someone to show me where to go (I would say take me but he is an ordained minister so I'm not sure if he would participate in all the "activities" but he would definately show them to me).
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Mia sounds like a bitch, despite what you think she sounds like. I know you're not a flake, baba!
Will you be home tomorrow? I MUST have a gobble with you!
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she does sound like a bit of a pain, shes too smug. i vote give her your cold!
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That may have been boring but at the same time highly amusing. As for Amsterdam, I have a friend that lives there so I have a place to crash and someone to show me where to go (I would say take me but he is an ordained minister so I'm not sure if he would participate in all the "activities" but he would definately show them to me).