lesson 101

working as a tech support for a dsl company taught me a lot of things...this work improved my vocabulary (a little) , taught me how to be patient and friendly, and also taught me to be straight forward (as most Americans are). we are only supposed to support line as well as basic computer issues - but if the problem is with regards to the computer itself - it's out of our hand. I usually say , "mam / sir - there seems to be an issue with your computer. One or more of it's components are not functioning properly so you need to call the tech support of the manufacturer of your computer as they will be the one to further assist you with that..." (saying in a cold hearted manner). It's easfor me to say that as I know it's not my problem but theirs - but ive come to realize that unless same thing happen to me - I will never exactly know how it feels to hear such words especially in a harsh, cold, irritating way...I guess I've learned my lesson just recently....

My computer crashed yesterday... I mean not totally crash since I can still use it sometimes - but usually, it will just restart by itself. Being a tech support - I know it's not "smart bros" issue but something on my computer - so I tried doing all the troubleshooting steps I know just to revive back the connection ... I powercycled the modem, deleted some software that I rarely use...uninstall some drivers that is not familiar to me and practically clean up everything that I know of in the computer just to make it work. Luckily, it did help but sometimes...my computer still does it's own thing especially if I used the computer to at least 5 hrs straight. You don't know how I panic as this computer is my constant companion especially on a cold boring Sundays and this is also the same thing that helps me earn money online.

That particular thing gave me an important lesson since I'm dealing (most of the time) with people having problems with their computers. Sometimes - just to save my aht (average handling time) - I used to just refer my client to the computer manufacturer just to get rid of her. Now, since this thing happened to me - I now know the feeling of not being able to go online even for one day. It's horrible! Now, when people asks for help , I am now giving out my 100% - but of course there are some limitations as we also have scope of support....but this time I don't just refer them over to the manufacturer without trying to help them out.

And by the way...I'm thinking of buying a new computer next week and hopefully this time - it will not just quit like that....