Fax Life
About 15 years ago, after leaving school, I started working for an engineering company as an apprentice. At work when I wasn't learning the trade, I was required to do some of the more menial jobs that the engineers were too lazy to do. So one quiet Friday afternoon, when the part of the office I was in, was pretty much empty (I think the engineers were attending a seminar on the future of Fan Coil Units, or passive cooling systems, or some other instantly forgettable subject), I picked up a phone call, after repeating the standard company greeting, and asking how I might help, the voice at the other end, stated, in a bemused manner, "Could you let Mr. Bloggs know, that we have received his fax detailing the preliminary plans for the 4th floor heating/cooling systems, in excess of thirty times now, with copies still being spewed from our fax machine, seemingly without end, which is becoming a bit of nuisance, as it is tying up the phone lines.". I took note of the message, and went to find Mr. Bloggs, who incidentally, was one of the company directors, a knowledgeable engineer, and also nearing retirement, to give him the message. I eventually found him in one corner of the building at a fax machine, industriously scanning pages through. I tap him on the shoulder to relay the message, but before I can say anything, he says "Do you know anything about these blasted machines, my secretary is on holiday, and I've been trying to fax this damn document for nearly an hour now, the only problem is that it doesn't seem to be working.", "How so?" I ask, "Well..." he stutters, "Aren't the pages supposed to get transmitted to the other end? It can't be right that the fax machine keeps spitting the pages back out again, they should disappear.". I tell Mr. Bloggs that the machine is working correctly, relay the message, whilst trying not to soil myself, and leave Mr. Bloggs to work out the rest.
(dunkindogdo, Mon 25 Sep 2006, 21:08, Reply)