That would explain it

Flashback to the days of Windows 95, when this IT pilot fish's users are thrilled to be able to install their own desktop themes and wallpapers.

"I caught the ticket from a manager reporting there was a problem with her video card not rendering colors correctly," fish says. "I went around to her desk to check it out. She was away from her desk, so I sat down to troubleshoot. Her desktop theme had a background picture of a southwestern U.S. landscape and a majestic mountain lion.

"There was no issue immediately apparent, so I checked the color depth, verified that the video resolution matched the monitor and opened various image and video files, but all seemed to be working properly."

Fish leaves a note for the user saying the PC seems to be OK -- but soon there's a message from the user on his voice mail, complaining that the video is wrong. Fish returns to her desk; once again she's not there, he troubleshoots, nothing seems to be wrong, and he leaves a note.

After several rounds of this, frustrated user threatens to escalate the issue, so he camps out at her desk -- and finally catches her as she's about to leave for an important lunch meeting.

Fish asks her to show him the problem, and user insists she doesn't really have time. "But it's obviously not correct right now," user says. "Just look at the picture!"

Fish looks closely, and patiently explains that he doesn't see the problem.

"Just look -- the colors are all wrong!" says user. "See that tiger? Right there in the middle of the screen? It is not orange!"

Reports fish, "I paused for a moment. Then I explained that tigers were still quite rare in the southwestern U.S. Mountain lions, however...

"She told me to close the ticket and went to her lunch without further comment."

Sharky doesn't want lions or tigers -- just your true tale of IT life. Send it to me at sharky@computerworld.com. You'll score a sharp Shark shirt if I use it. Add your comments below, and read some great old tales in the Sharkives.

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