A+ exam in one hour....

Ok folks the time has arrived for me to see if I can remember enough of this stuff to pass the REAL tests this morning. I have been cramming for this thing for the last 6 weeks. Yesterday I took several test exams for both the hardware and OS and passed all of them so hopefully that is a good indicator that I will do well today. Each test is 85 questions long and I think that they give you 90 minutes to take the exam. I am taking the hardware exam first and then the OS exam second. I am scheduled to take both exams at two different times this morning. I hope that when I get finished with the hardware exam that they will just let me continue straight into the OS exam without having to wait. Once I am done with this and have my A+ certification I will need to dive into the Network + materials and Microsoft Windows 2003 Server test. That should keep me busy for the next 6 weeks.

The weather here for the last couple of days has been cold and rainy. I guess you could say that this is a typical Charleston SC winter. Thus far we have dodged any ice or snow storms which is nice. People barely know how to drive around here in good weather much less inclimant weather.

Yesterday was pretty easy at work, had one computer to finish up in which I had to add a new modem and configure a Dial up Networking icon for the desktop so that the customer could dial up bellsouth and get on the Internet. I spent most of the day yesterday studying and studying and studying some more. I went to lunch with my favorite bride at Cracker Barrell and then I had an appointment to work on a HP Color Laserjet 4550. Boy was I in for a surprise. The address was in a neighborhood off of Ashley Phosphate rd and Dorchester road. The customer was a couple who are real estate agents that work out of their home. When I got there and was showed into the living room or work area the HUGE HP 4550 was under this tiny computer desk with NO room whatsoever to work. I already knew in advance that it would have to have a good cleaning since I had learned that the Magenta toner cartridge had been dumped all inside this printer. I guess they got ahold of a defectice toner cartridge somehow. When I opened the printer up I was greeted by solid blue toner all over the inside of the printer. The customers house was very beautiful and there was NO WAY I was going to attempt to clean this printer on their living room floor. I could just see the blue toner getting all over everything. When I mentioned this to the wife who had initiated the service call she started to holler and shriek at a loud tone of voice about how they had just spent 400.00 to have this thing fixed and how the last person who worked on it was a bumbling idiot and apparently did not know what he was doing and on and on she went. Then the husband and wife started to fight about the fact that they did not have a place for me to work on the printer and why in the world would I even expect them to have such a place in their home when all they had was nice furniture. Imagine my surprise as I stood there waiting for the high pitched argument and whining to stop so we could figure out how we were going to get the printer moved to a safe place as to save their carpet. We finally managed to scoot the printer on a piece of cardboard through the living room and the kitchen out the door to the garage where it was about 40 degrees. I have to tell you this. I love working on technology and solving problems all day long BUT when you run into customers like these that is when my job becomes a job. Whew.....

Such is the life of someone who serves the general public and provides hardware and software and networking support on a daily basis. :)