I had an opportunity recently to visit the other side of IT. For those of you unfamiliar, there are 2 phrases I'd like to share: cable monkey and code monkey.
Like all labels, they do not fit nicely in all situations, but I am a code monkey. I have very little interest in hardware. The case actually stays on my computer and I generally assume that any error is software related.
What I am definitely not is Tech Support.
I tip my hat to those in Tech Support. They work with unstable systems. I have sometimes referenced the "Ghost in the Machine". In truth, an operating system has so many lines of code, so much error checking, etc. that identifying a problem is often impossible for an end user. The restart phonemonon is a result of this. If you clear session data and go back to ordinary operating parameters, everything should work fine. The jumped out error causing code somewhere in some sub-module just needs a fresh call.
The unfortunate result is that good tech support people are magicians. Diagnosis is nearly impossible. Indirect causality is usually as close as one gets. I've heard of machines that needed to be flipped upside-down to run. The strange set of experiences that lead to discovering this cannot be taught. It's simply illogical.
Whereas I would spend hours looking for the switch, soldered connection, capacitor, chip, etc. that was loose, a tech support guru simply flips it over, starts it up, and returns it to the user while my synapses are still running down a list of possible causes.
And so, I am thankful that my little baliwick is limited to 0's and 1's. I thank those that are in the trenches, fighting systems too large to be debugged effectively.
I apologize to all those who require support and are faced with the likes of me. You should probably just restart. It will probably fix the problem. I can't tell you why it will fix the problem, but it will. I will then sit back and be infuriated that my lovely world of 0's and 1's has been invaded my goblins, ghosts, and wizards.
