Why we cheque the procedure ALL the fashion through

Flashback to the 1980s, when this pilot fish is doing on-site Information technology support at a warehouse that's very loftier-tech: The daily "selection sheet" is on a floppy deejay.

"The warehouse had an office in the heart of the building for managing the inventory," says fish. "The warehouse director copied the option sail, listing what items were shipped out that twenty-four hours, to a 5-ane/4-inch floppy diskette. He then sent this diskette to the corporate office."

And that arrangement works fine -- until it doesn't. Ane day fish gets a study from corporate that for the past two weeks the information on the floppy has been decadent and they can't read the file.

That means the warehouse manager has to impress out and and so fax the multiple-page listing to the corporate office, where information technology has to be manually keyed into the arrangement -- which is exactly what the automation is designed to forestall.

Fish knows in that location are multiple potential points of failure in the process -- maybe the floppy bulldoze has gone bad, or the drive's caput is dingy, or some of the floppies are getting worn or take even been damaged in transit.

Just when he gets to the warehouse and observes each step as the warehouse manager prepares the pick-canvas disk, it all looks fine. The floppy disk doesn't have dents or other visible damage. The file writes without errors. Fish confirms the disk and file are both readable, and even makes sure at that place's no grit in the diskette sleeve.

The problem has to be somewhere else, fish decides. Simply as he's leaving the office, he catches a glimpse of the warehouse manager putting the disk in its sleeve -- and so hears a loud thunk.

And back at the warehouse manager'south desk-bound, he finds the disk stuck to the side of a filing cabinet -- with a large magnet.

"He said he kept losing the diskette, so he brought in a magnet from home," fish sighs. "He could then encounter information technology when he left the role and would put it in the corporate mail out folder.

"After trying to explain magnetic media to him, I taped an envelope to his filing chiffonier and told him to put the diskette in it each 24-hour interval. The diskette stuck out the top to remind him to mail it out."

Haven't you got something to mail to Sharky? Sure yous do -- your true tale of Information technology life. Ship it to me at sharky@computerworld.com. You lot'll snag a snazzy Shark shirt if I use it. Add your comments beneath, and read some groovy one-time tales in the Sharkives.

Get your daily dose of out-takes from the IT Theater of the Absurd delivered directly to your Inbox. Subscribe now to the Daily Shark Newsletter.

Copyright © 2015 IDG Communications, Inc.