I work as a technician at a local University. Sometimes I need to parachute into tense situations where technology has failed…
Yesterday I was sent me into a classroom (in session) with
specific instructions to cut into a cable
and replace the DC Plug with an Audio Plug.
Anyone with any electrical or electronics knowledge knows that cutting into anything live is usually a bad idea.
I advised my contact person that it was probably not a good idea
but I went anyway –
Off I went to a lecture in the Womens Studies faculty
…in full swing. Trust me. Facing 35 or 350 sets of eyes with the clear intention of solving a tech problem in less than 5 minutes is challenging at the best of time.
Sure enough, there was some kind of power cable on the top of the counter that I could not identify.
The room was near dark as the class was in progress
with the Video Data Projector on and about 3 or 4 people talking to a class of about 35 ladies.
As I fumbled around the a/v cabinet, I realised that this
cable on the counter top was indeed NOT an audio
cable. I had no idea what it was or what kind of voltage was waiting to bite my ass.
Annoyingly, every 2 minutes or so, someone in the group would
introject: WHEN the audio problem is solved, we
will continue with the AUDIO presentation…”
Within about 15 minutes I was able to find and isolate
the audio cable in question (it had been stuffed into the
tech cabinet and force plugged into the back of the DVD player
RCA input!) The class was back in business and I quietly excused myself to limit the interuption to the learning process.
I think in the future, under circumstances like these, I will put off these kind of re-wiring tasks til the classroom is illuminated and safely cleared out. It is just better for everyone. We used to do service to VDP’s while classes were in progress – but it is just too dangerous. The very thought of dropping a VDP 15 to 30 feet from the ceiling to the floor or onto the head of a student is just too much of a risk to take.
Anyway. I got the job done today.
Ironically, the classroom topic being discussed was
about how useless men are and how poorly they treat
women.
Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose.