🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <61...@specialix.co.uk> jo...@specialix.co.uk (Jon Brawn) writes:
%While I worked for `a previous employer', I heard a tail about a field
%service problem. Not even FOAF, so this is REAL folklore.
%
%	And then there's the MD that I heard about, who had to send a
%	memo to all the WP staff, asking them not to wear nylon panties
%	at work, as the wriggling of the nylon on the typist's chairs
%	created enough static to blow the WP line driver chips up.
%	No-one knows if the MD checked all the WP staff himself.....
%
%Jon Brawn, jo...@specialix.co.uk  (or for you bangers: ..!mcsun!ukc!slxsys!jonb)

   This reminds me of my first job in "computers" - field service on  W.P.
   equipment.

   Now the hardware was "Toytown" stuff...  we're talking Z80, 64K of  mem
   and 8" floppies here (and  no, that is not a  pun on the first part  of
   Jon's anecdote!), but the real fun part of the job was that all of  the
   operators were female, mostly young and  mostly single (it was a  great
   job for a young, single guy and I enjoyed it...  despite the fact  that
   I wasn't either!).

   Anyway, the  `static'  problem that  Jon  mentions did  crop  up  quite
   regularly.  The  "classic" situation  would have the  operator using  a
   swivel chair with castors occasionally  zooming over to the printer  to
   pick up her work (one good shove off the desk on the outward `zoom' and
   a good shove off the  printer stand to get  back) and then zapping  the
   keyboard when she started typing again.

   The "classic"  cure  was  to  get the  floor  area  sprayed  with  some
   anti-static gunk and  put some sort  of discharge device  on the  chair
   (trailing chain ala MKII Cortina - Sorry America, disregard that..  the
   Brits know what I'm talking about) .

   The fun part was always the banter, though.  It was always great fun to
   trot into some company where the M.D.  (or whoever) was hopping up  and
   down because the system was down.  Operator and F.E.  would immediately
   launch into a colourful and intimate conversation on the pros and cons
   of various types of underwear, much to the amusement of the other staff
   and chagrin of management type!  ;^>

   All of this, by the way, was brought to mind not only by Jon's posting,
   but also by an entry in our  database which I came across this  morning
   (I kid you not!).   The entry was related  to a CPU/Memory failure  and
   the symptoms were listed as:-

		PANIC: PANTY ERROR

				     ...well, it makes a change from jokes
   about Long John Silver, I suppose!

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 |   John Little - gai...@Japan.Sun.COM  |  Sun Microsystems. Atsugi, Japan  |
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              - A fool must now and then be right by chance -