So today is Tuesday, the last day before a glorious 5 day vacation of tinkering, video gaming and pure relaxation.  That being the case, we can only expect one thing from work: CRAZY TICKETS OF CRAZY!

Here’s the highlight of the morning shift:

Ticket Details: ” I am having trouble converting the “B” side of a DVD so that it can then be uploaded to the lcs.”

Ok, no big deal, usually we have a few problems like this every year where a disc is too badly scratched or there is some sort of crazy copy protection.  No big deal.  I walk over to the building (good christ is it really 12 degrees outside? It was 17 when I arrived at work.  NOT COOL NATURE.)  I talk with the user and don’t see any problem with their process, only the end result.

They pop the disc in, select the files, rename them as usual, see that the estimated length is appropriate, and click convert.  About an hour later they’re presented with files, but they’re all way too short to be right (we’re talking 5 minute output for a 45 minute input).  So I walk over to the desktop that does the conversion and I’m…. confused.

I pull the disc out and walk over to the user.  I turn it over to them and this is the conversation that occurs:

Me: “Hey <user>, someone’s written on the B side of the disc with a sharpie.”
User: “Well yeah, I did, that’s how we keep track of who owns it.”
Me: “Well, yeah, I get that, but how is the computer supposed to read the disc through the sharpie?”
User: *eyes go wide* “Ohhhhhhh.”
Me: “Yeah.  We need some rubbing alcohol.”

A few minutes later we’ve cleaned and polished the discs off.  Lo and behold, they work.

Lesson Learned: Never, ever, ever, expect a problem to be as cut and dry as you expect.  As technicians if we go into a scenario expecting certain parameters we can be blinded to the reality of the situation.

Wish I had taken a picture.

Oh well, that’s a lesson for another day.