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From: davis@ucla-cs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.rumor
Subject: Re: Computer Horror Stories
Message-ID: <9686@ucla-cs.ARPA>
Date: Thu, 6-Mar-86 19:01:47 EST
Article-I.D.: ucla-cs.9686
Posted: Thu Mar  6 19:01:47 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 9-Mar-86 00:21:36 EST
Organization: UCLA Computer Science Department
Lines: 32


        I was working in a somewhat large data center not to long
ago. Seems the company thought they could save some money on maintenance
costs by going self service. Well it seems that a year or two later another
great cost savings idea was to hire C.E.'s that had only 6 months training in
the electronics field!!!  Well the time came to install a new super
minicomputer, tape cabinet, and disk cabinet. Well they put the new C.E.
in charge of the whole project. He connected the cables from the disk cabinet
to the CPU, then connected the cables from the tape drive to the CPU.
All set! He plugged in the tape drive and then the disk cabinet to A.C. When
he went to plug in the CPU he noticed that the electrical outlet was a
different kind than that of the computer. But this C.E. was smart. He thought
of a way that he could remove the plug and install a plug that would fit in
the outlet. (Then the company would not have to pay for an electrician).
Good Idea except that he switched the HOT and the GROUND wires when installing
the new plug. As we all know computers are well grounded. Well the grounding
also is good in cables that connect to peripherals as well as within the
peripherals themselves. Of course this bright C.E. turned on the disk cabinet,
tape cabinet, and CPU before plugging in the CPU plug. You should have seen
the smoke and sparks when he plugged in the CPU. The tape drive was shot,
the disk cabinet was shot and the CPU was shot!!!!!  At least none of the
terminals were connected at the time. It took 4 C.E.s 1 week of constant
work to repair the damage. Ever see a memory board with the chips blown
to kingdomcome?


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Bill Davis - UCLA Center for Experimental Computer Science |
             ARPA: davis@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU                    |
             UUCP: (ucbvax,ihnp4)!ucla-cs!davis            |
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