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asher553Easily the most exacting and tedious part of my job is removing and replacing laptop webcams. This is a regular part of business because our major client in the area (a certain well-known chip manufacturer) has a strict policy against cameras, including laptop cameras, in the fab. So, at least a few times a week, and often several times in a day, it falls to me to stand at the IT counter with my spudger and other tools of the trade, and gingerly pry the bezel (the plastic that surrounds the screen) away from the back of the display, and disconnect or reconnect the camera assembly, which is roughly the size of a bobby pin. All of this must be done without damaging the laptop screen, which is quite fragile. Damaging the screen is going to happen on occasion, but it puts you on the boss's radar in a way you don't want.
I had a couple of these mishaps this week, and was starting to get discouraged. I pinged another tech in the team chat, and he was sympathetic and said the best thing is to just slow down. So I did. And as it happened, my last visitors of the day were a couple of guys who were flying back to the Netherlands and wanted their cameras put back in. (This is the harder of the two operations, because the connector is really tiny.)
So I took a deep breath and promised myself I would take it slow and careful. And I was there maybe 30 or 45 minutes for the two of them together, and it was painstaking as all hell, but at the end of the day I got it done, and even confirmed that the two users' screens were undamaged (no ugly black patches or lines around the upper edge), so I felt pretty good heading home.
This was a good example of the old saying about getting back on the horse (because if you delay, you'll develop a fear of riding horses). These guys came in right at 4pm, when I usually end my day; but I'd been considering putting in some extra time to make up for the Monday holiday (MLK Day), so I jumped at the chance. And even though the operation took a long time (about 45 minutes), they were really nice and we were joking around so it wasn't bad at all.
Sometimes you gotta face your fears.
I had a couple of these mishaps this week, and was starting to get discouraged. I pinged another tech in the team chat, and he was sympathetic and said the best thing is to just slow down. So I did. And as it happened, my last visitors of the day were a couple of guys who were flying back to the Netherlands and wanted their cameras put back in. (This is the harder of the two operations, because the connector is really tiny.)
So I took a deep breath and promised myself I would take it slow and careful. And I was there maybe 30 or 45 minutes for the two of them together, and it was painstaking as all hell, but at the end of the day I got it done, and even confirmed that the two users' screens were undamaged (no ugly black patches or lines around the upper edge), so I felt pretty good heading home.
This was a good example of the old saying about getting back on the horse (because if you delay, you'll develop a fear of riding horses). These guys came in right at 4pm, when I usually end my day; but I'd been considering putting in some extra time to make up for the Monday holiday (MLK Day), so I jumped at the chance. And even though the operation took a long time (about 45 minutes), they were really nice and we were joking around so it wasn't bad at all.
Sometimes you gotta face your fears.
