[RESOLVED] Who we are as technicians: Breakaway

[firebird2k]

Ok, I think it would be appropriate to break out for a second fom the tech stuff for just a minute and investigate what kind of people it takes to be a computer tech. Not "What certifications do you have" or "How much experience do you have". We all know that people in the tech industry are a strange and unique breed of homo sapien (SP?), and even though we think we're above the brainless twits that we fix stuff for on a daily basis without appreciation, chances are that we're probably right about that. We aren't just the steriotypical geeks who were dark-rimmed glasses and have never had a date in our lives. Some of us know how to party, whereas other take on other intellectual persuits to stimulate us, still others who party, and others who have seen every episode of every Star Trek spinoff that the late Gene Roddenberry was good enough to grace us with.

Ours is not the persuit of fame and glory and our name in light. We go virtually unnoticed in the backgroud, our presence only left by the screws that we turn, the systems we build, and, as we all know, the blood stains we've left on badly milled cases. Yet we are a neccesity of literally millions of end users who, quite frankly, would be stuck with pen and paper, frantically searching for documents in huge metal filing cabinets, sending letters only with a postage stamp, and having magazines as the only source of nude celebrities whose images we enjoy so dearly.

So , to alll of the unseen techies that the world so dearly depends upon, I salute every single of you, and raise my phillips driver to you all!!!


Vince Arias
[email protected]

[pcshark]

Allow me to quote Max the Dork, a punk band in the Philadelphia area, from their song "Billy Boy" (c)1996:

I'm such a dork
A very special kind of creature
If you want me
I'll be downtown at the Star Trek double feature

I'm such a dweeb
I look good in a pocket protector
Coke-bottle glasses, button-down shirt
And my algebraic calculator

Show me a computer
I'll show you my friend
Show me your brawn
I'll show you my brain
Coz I'm a dork

I'm such a nerd
You know it's all a state of mind
You could be just like me
The shaper of human kind

I got a babe
She thinks that I'm such a hunk
Maybe it's my billion-dollar job
Or that I never buy her junk

Etc...

I think that just about sums it up (-;

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R. Bret Walker, CNE

Wondering what videos to rent this weekend? Check out The People's Reviews, movie reviews written for the people and by the people.

[kannibul]

me?
i waste most of my time on the computer tring to figure out problems that i cant get too because of users @ work...
other than that - i am a guitarist, only solo (for now) and was a drummer. total time as a musician - 11yrs, 10 on drums and 2 on guitar. total time as a computer 'nerd' 9 years - 7 of which i didnt get a paycheck for (highschool techsupport)
i even played football in highschool for 2 years, (small school - no JV all varsity - played DE/WR 10th grade and DT/LG 11th grade) hell, in my later years in highschool - i was so sick of the crap - i ended up getting expelled. later went and got my GED, and then worked a few places until i got my first computer break - making 7/hr as a bench tech.
i now make 29.5k/yr with all the benifits you can ask for, with no college background or formal training, or certifications.
amazing when you think about it,
i was the listed as the one of the top ten students not to succeed (un-official student poll - published in the school newspaper (for students - by students)), and now i am certain that i am in the top ten that have.
shows that all the preps, having the easy time through school with thier parents on the school board, are in fact - the biggest losers of them all.
oh well :-)


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Ignorance pays me money

[Chunga]

What does it take? A willingness to eat a mile of excrement spewed by people that are too arrogant (or ignorant) to realize that what you do earns them the money that they earn...it takes the extreme compulsion to know why the drive failed, or the server dumped, or the damned relay to Asia kicks out every 30 minutes. It takes equal parts of arrogance, ignorance and intense flashes of brilliance...it also takes an affinity for caffiene, sugar based processed foods and sleep deprivation...in addition it requires 12 hour Quake lan parties, endless bull**** sessions on the superiority of AMD over Intel (and vice versa), why the guy on 11 is an I D 10 T...I don't know,what did I leave out?

[quantum_toe_jam]

It is true, techs are not just geeks and girlless, I my self once sold drugs (acid), and was wasted dailey, I lived in a one room trailer behind a supermarket, I graduated high school, and was a canidate for honors colledge and decided to party for a while, after a couple of near arrests, and a bad marriage I became interested in my roomates 486, from there on it became my new obsession I have never formaly attended a school for computer technology, and I have no certification other than a staffmark MOUS
I am now a Network Administrator for a moderate sized company, and I own half of a computer store, which I run dailey, I teach PC repair at the local adult education center and have three kids, and a rockin wife, my life has been simply amazing And I would not trade one moment of it. To me a real tech isnt some one with certifications, or someone who just read it in a book, and has a photographical memory, they must also be someone who wears many masks, we must be patient, willing to learn, and ready to sacrifice much of ourselves, and dignity to do our trade and do it well. Customers demand so much of us and our time, and give much less. I make around 35 k a year and i am happy, I go home tired, but I know I have accomplished alot, and gotten many a person out of a jam. This is why there are techs, we dont do it for the money, that is why we keep doing it, we do it for the sheer joy of putting together that lightning fast system, or trying a new way of doing soemthing and it actually working, or learning a new os like LEENUCKSS, and it actually doing what the book and your guru friend says it can do. We do it so we can find that new little shortcut that impresses our selves so much. That said I am going to go try that neat thing everyone is telling me about... SLEEP.
Responses are welcome flames even more maybe you can show me a thing or two

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Yes maam smoke rolling out of your computer is bad, no maam thats not normal

[bruce24]

(Sung to the tune of Oh where Oh where has my little dog done..oh where oh where...etc)

Hmm...
Oh what kind of person does it take to be a tech....
Oh what kind of person does it take?
First, you'd have to be patient and smart,
Next, you must liiiiiiiike abuse.

Oh what kind of person would want to be a tech?
He or she must like challenges galore,
Staying up all night without being apprecitated,
And liking it all the more.

(Maybe I belong in showbiz? "Keep my day job", you say? Hmmm...yeah, you're probably right.

Bruce Tyler

[CobraTekMax]

Well, I wouldn't say I fit the classic "geek" definition. I despise Star Trek (though I'll watch Voyager every once in a while if I happen to flip onto it if 7 of 9 is on). I very rarely play video games, except at work when I manage to get some spare time. I've got tattoos all over my back and arms, and nearly every part of my body is pierced. Have to take the rings out during the day, though, don't wanna freak out the customers too much. I usually work till about 9 or 10 in the evening, but at the end of a large hard week, my boss and I head across the state line and hit the strip joints in West Virginia. And every once in a while, we'll go to a computer show on the weekend, and cap that off with dinner at Hooters. Don't have a girl right now, but that's mainly because I spend too much time working to have a real relationship. All in all, I can't really complain. Lots of people seem suprised to find out I'm a computer technician when they meet me after hours, though.

[CondoPC]

maybe we should be asking what kind of person stays with a techie. we all know that it is an extreme fascination of abuse and of pride that makes a tech, but what makes one stay with a tech. they can take even worse abuse (lack of attention from being tech being up all night with a problem) then we take, and yet they are willing to stand by us and support us. Who really is the tech?

[alg]

Great Tech
1. Logical Thinker
2. Photographic Memory (nonvolatile)
3. Attention to detail
4. Ability to step back and take a new path
5. Never say die

Great Rich Tech
1. All above requirements
2. Takes the time to document his work
3. Ability to talk to someone like a child without them realizing it.

[CEDAR]

As a female and a techie, I know I'm a rare breed. What makes me a good tech? On repairs, especially tough ones, THE UNENDING DESIRE TO NEVER, NEVER BE DEFEATED BY A PIECE OF INERT COMPUTER HARDWARE. I work in a remote area of the house, no TV no radio, just an old refrigerator full of beer, wine, tequila and margarita mix and a large ashtray. When the going get tough, just have a drink and a smoke then the solution comes to you. On building, I truly enjoy putting a top knotch machine and seeing the customer really get a kick out of his/her first computer.

[dawolv]

What kind of person does it take?
My background is not like most the people in the field. I am a Former Marine and also did some time with Navy SEAL Team 5. After my tour in corp. I dropped anchor in Denver. As you can guess, I didnt have alot of places to go with my "Military Expertise". One day I bought a computer and tore it all apart and decided-Hey this is a kick. And so it began, at the time most places were run by Techs and it was a blast, soon management were all replaced with College Flunkies who dont even know how to turn thier systems on.
After almost 10 years the luster is beginning to fade the budget to upgrade is almost depleted as we are only considered boys with toys.
It takes alot to do your job and do it well we go into the night unappreciated, overworked, and overlooked. But there is something that alot of these people dont know- that we have a hell of alot of power, maybe the next time some senior manager gets in your face about the 5 year computer that cant handle his new and approved CAD proggie maybe you can "update" his records-hehehe.

[gtiseb]

I'm 28 years old. Started tinkering with computers when I was about 11 (c64, c128, apple2) Never revealing to my "cool" freinds my "secret addiction". Thru high School I played the jock/musician role, scoring the girls(what's that wierd tv in the corner of your room?), Partying alot and failing classes (you'll never be anything). In college My friends would be astounded when I could fix their pc's without much trouble and be able to complete computer homework in record time (you're taking computer engineering, what for ?).

Now I make 90 g's a year for a national insurance firm, getting married to a girl whom i've known for long time, and have almost every toy I want. ALG's list is bang on with what it takes to be a techie and pretty shows my attitude here in the office.

[theBeast]

I think a lot of people expect me to be a zit-faced pop-bottle glassed geek when they talk to me on the phone. I've got a beautiful fiancee, and we're going to be married in less than a month. I like to go to bars and party. I listen to rock music (mostly 80's hard rock, but hey, I'm an 80s kid). I don't think that if you saw me on the street you'd say, "He works with computers."
Generally, I've found the true "geeks" to be my best customers. They think they know everything about computers, go home and plug their IDE cables in backwards, get frustrated and bring the computer back to us.
What makes me a good tech? Well, I talk to the customers, and not down to them. I've had lots of compliments about how I handle the situation when I tell the customer that "Oh, you didn't do anything to your computer. Windows just went wiggy, and messed everything up." Or, "Your monitor's gone wonky because you have your phone too close to it." Rather than "Umm.. EMI is disrupting the CRT causing a distortion."
They also find it refreshing because I don't work on commission, and when they come in to buy a computer I say to them, "What do you need? Do you have kids, or are you going to use this solely for business? Kids like games, so you want something higher end."
Then they say, "Oh, we want something that handles the internet."
"Well, all our systems do. You can use regular dial-up access, or highspeed access on all the systems."

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***the Beast
- Fate drove me here...then told me to get out of the car...

[TechDudette]

PATIENT first of all, and with good sense of humor. Oh! and control your emotions when you hear or see the stupid things that your co-workers/clients did to their computers.


Haroula

[NeuromancerIV]

I can't say what made me become a tech, most of my friends assumed I'd go off to law school, culinary arts school, or be a bum LoL. But some elements of tech work never have lost my interest, I can't explain it!
This is what I feel has made me a successful tech/sales puke...
1. Having a logical (cough cough) mind that can make intuitive leaps.
2. Ability to integrate new knowledge rapidly.
3. Having a sturdy ego, NOBODY knows everything, we just have to act like it!!And I'm the first to admit I don't know everthing,if you can show me a better, faster way of doing something, I won't get resentful, in fact I'll be grateful for ideas that will save me time in the future!
4. Ability to document and repeat miraculous feats!
5. Everybody's mentioned it so I'll repeat it you "NEVER SAY DIE."
6. You dont have to like people, just "...make them leave smiling or wondering what the hell you meant."
7. Have that "can-do" attitude, and have pride and take personal satisfaction in your work.
8. AND.. best of all my job is ALWAYS challenging, always different, always satisfying and almost always well paying, I just haven't found job satisfaction like this doing anything else!

"Madness takes its toll, please have exact change."