Ah, the joys of network administration. I'm one of those people who knows all about knowledgebases, usenet groups, hell I even have a bookshelf of reference materials I go to at times. I'm a phone tech guy's worst nightmare... not because I'm a moron, but because by the time I actually pick up a phone I've already tried all the easy stuff.

My problems are either me just not seeing something or they're flat-out bugs in the software systems I'm using. I don't mind a little patronizing from the phone guy for the former, simply because it usually takes about 5 minutes for them to shove my nose into the spot that's screwed up and we're done. It's the other type of problems that make my stomach knot up as I lift the phone, because I know I'll spend a half hour orienting the tech to my problem, a half our doing the crap I've already done, and then fifteen minutes of hemming and hawing until I get a (usually nice) "don't call us, we'll call you" before they hang up. Leaving me, of course, no better off than I was before.

Guess which type of problem I'm having today?