Don’T Anger Computer Support Staff

Satisfying tasks, a decent salary and a fair-minded boss are all important.

But for many in the modern work force, good relations with the in-house computer services support staff is the most important thing.

Here’s how to rate your own relationship with the folks who address computer problems.

a.) The people in Computer Services hate you. (Over time, this tends to erode job satisfaction.)

b.) Computer support at your workplace is provided promptly and cheerfully, in a spirit of teamwork. (Hey, wake up. You nodded off and were dreaming.)

c.) The folks in Computer Services are willing to help but enjoy making you feel like an idiot. (Don’t feel bad. Chances are, you are an idiot.)

d.) Computer support staff excells at sounding annoyed and impossibly busy when you call. (Well, so? How would you like it if people phoned you and wanted you to do your job?)

* Beware of dog: A friend noted that she saw us out walking near her neighborhood. She said we seemed amused about something. Frankly, that sounded odd. We like to think our natural expression is a scowl.

Then we figured it out. She must have driven past just after we went by the corgi yard.

Every day, it’s the same. We’re walking along on the sidewalk thinking about what a nice thing it is to be out taking a stroll in Spokane on an autumn afternoon. And then, without provocation, this short-legged little dog comes racing over to its backyard fence, hurling threats.

You’ve never heard such a fuss. There’s barking. There’s snarling. You’d think we had insulted Queen Elizabeth or something.

The thing is, this low-to-the-ground dog is pretty adorable. So we have a tendency to smile in the face of its, um, ferocity. And we usually say something along the lines of “You’re living in a dream world” or “Hi, Shorty.”

That probably makes the dog even angrier. But the truth is, we’ve gotten to where we look forward to these high-energy encounters.

* Take heart: At this very moment, a majority of area young people are not committing acts of vandalism.

* Running on empty: South Hill resident Colon Miller is a “boomer.”

The Air Force sergeant is an air-refueling specialist. His job involves pumping thousands of gallons of fuel from flying tankers to other planes.

So his neighbor, Dick Wands, had to smile when Miller’s car ran out of gas the other day and the sergeant wound up walking a couple of miles.

* Today’s Slice question: What’s the secret to hiring people from out of state who will not decide after a few weeks that they hate it here?