Thursday
Mar042010
Covering All the Bases
March 4, 2010 Because you can never be too safe, that's why.
Famous for their Dance Dance Revolution play-offs...offs.
You tech guys know a PEBKAC when you see one, right?That's "Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Cake."
By the way, here's a tip from a former tech support phone operator*: if you're ever told you have an I.D. ten T. error, get a second opinion. Unless, of course, you're using your CD-ROM tray as a cup holder or mouse as a foot pedal**. Then it's an accurate assessment.
* That would be me.
Moving on...
If only this had said "Patti Love heart <3 you"...then it still wouldn't have made any sense.
"Let's see...I could write 'Amanda' in the Happy Birthday bubble, OR..."
Poor Adamwithblueflowers. Grade school musta been murder.Ashley R., Tara C., Simon P., Amanda L., & Dana G., I would like to thank Ashley R., Tara C., Simon P., Amanda L., & Dana G. In italics.
- Related Wreckage: The Literal Letter of the Law
- Related Wreckage: The Literal Letter of the Law
Reader Comments (88)
I thought it was going to say "Adam with the blue..." something else that rhymes with walls.... I'm glad it didn't. Yikes.
WOW just horrid!!! Love your blog! xo
I'm a former tech support operator too! I'd suggest we start a support line, but that would probably just make it worse.
I D Ten T, haven't used that in a while, although now that I think about it, it could have come in handy lately.
agirlinherkitchen.blogspot.com
Amanda is a young woman with Multiple personalites, it is also her stripper personality "Bubbles" birthday, so they didn't know who to make the cake to. That's the story right?
Hooray for Tech Support!!! hee hee
And a Vappy Birthday to Jim.
Those "edible" (quote marks intentional) paper designs kind of gross me out. But if you're gonna use them, at least smooth out the wrinkles and start over if you tear it!
wv: subste: These designs are no subste for artistic decorations.
I "love heart" this blog.
That creased "Amanda Happy Birthday Bubble" has a certain classical lyricism about it.
Oops, I should have said, "That creased AND TORN 'Amanda Happy Birthday Bubble'" ...
WV: eyboxyie. I'm trying to get yestarday's cake image out of my mind, but it seems to be stuck on my retinas with eyboxyie.
ID10T! :)
Here's a good one: It says to press any key, but The ID10T can't find the 'any' key! Lol when I did tech support, thank god I didn't get any real bad ones, cuz I wouldn't have contained the laughs...
Jen, we love heart you!
Ah, Adam With Blue Flowers -- Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds' lesser-known brother . . . She got a song, but at least he got a cake!
Ooooh, do I detect an old-school Homestar Runner reference? Can I love you guys even more than I already do? I do believe the answer is "AaAaAaAa! I'm forever your girl!"
Maybe the wreckorator thought he was Native American...Adam With-Blue-Flowers?
I bite my thumb at these cakes!
I love the manly blue flowers on the cake for Jim.
Bahaha, please tell me the CD tray as a cup holder was in reference to The IT Crowd!? Please! That would make me so happy. "I feel trapped, like a moth in a bath."-Moss (If only I had a "moth ladder!")
WV: Brapho: Brapho Wreckies, Brapho... you just keep making them worse! Quite the feat!
Found you through SoCalFruGal... so glad I did. Thanks for the laughs!
Genny
gotta love the literal minded and redundant.
poor Amanda. that looked like a really cool cake with the retro silhouette. too bad they mucked up the inscription. and the cake got a crack in the icing on the cute silhouette. and the screenprinted form apparently got wrinkled or didn't fit, because the blue bar on the side seems to be from another design that snuck onto this cake.
could a little white icing at least patched THAT up, decorator? and a little airbrushing fill in the white crack on the silhouette so the girl doesn't look like she's splitting in half or getting struck by lightning?
but you spelled bubble, and rewrote Happy Birthday. so I'm wasting my time here. lest I repeat myself.
Maybe it's a cake for twins, Amanda, and Bubble, her stripper sister. or maybe she's just an airhead.
I like your theory though, Anon @ 9:38. of course the decorator also misspelled Bubbles name. but your theory fits the crack in the icing on the girl, as if her personality was split.
this isn't a wreck, it's a work of GENIUS!
Happy Birthday Adam With Blue Flowers is clearly your next t-shirt.
Maybe Adam With Blue Flowers is just his Native American name.
I can beat your cup holder.
A guy calls because his computer is making a weird noise. When asked where the noise is coming from, he says the floppy drive. (Yes, floppies - you remember those, right?) When told to eject the disk, he says he can't. A few more questions get to the source of his trouble: he tried to use one of the REALLY old floppies (5 inch?) in the regular 3.5 inch floppy slot. He thought scissors would accomplish this.
I'm a technical writer, but part of my job is to review tech support requests to see what users are having problems with, and what could be improved in the documentation.
I think tech support requests give kind of a skewed picture of user intelligence. You have to figure that the users who are actually competent and/or able to read a manual generally don't need tech support. That leaves the really dumb ones, and the unhandled exceptions.
Here's another tech support acronym for you...
PICNIC
Problem In Chair, Not In Computer.
Ah the art of redundancy.
With blue flowers :)
True story from my call center days: I had a older gentleman who called because he was having problems entering his credit card into the computer. After a few minutes I realized he was inserting the physical credit card into the diskette drive. As if it was an ATM. I had to mute the call while I got my hysterical laughing under control.
You are hilarious, I can't believe someone else sees the world as I do. ahhh too funny, with an exclamation mark.
My grandma used to have a neighbor that every time she mentioned her she didn't just call her Oogie (her actual name!), but always called her Oogie Acrossthehall. Maybe Adam is like that. His name is Adam Withblueflowers. Could be a Native American name.
No, i'm convinced that the crack running down the middle of Amanda/Bubbles' silhouette isn't a mistake so much as an artistic choice.
You see, the decorator knows about amanda's secret double life and the late night performances as Bubbles, and as a deeply religious person, is morally offended by them. This wasn't just a job; it was an important opportunity to tell all of Amanda's friends the truth. So the decorator put on both names, Then changed the bubble into a storm cloud of truth, complete with lightning strike. It's a simple easy way to say, "Happy birthday Amanda! God knows about Bubbles, and will strike you down for your late night striping."
Adam with blue flowers would be a great band name.
But the keyboard is awe inspiring. All those teeny dot/keys...and somewhat accurate for a row or two.
<3
Less than three
I less than three these wrecks!
Can't read your blog at work. Between you and your commenters, I laugh out loud too often. And double over unable to stop laughing. Doesn't make a good impression with the boss. "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds younger brother." OMG.
The literal ones are my favorite.
A-hahahahaha! After the PEBKAC thing I was thinking, "Hmmm, that's right up there with those ID10T errors so-and-so was telling me about..." LOVE that you put that in there! :)
(saw a cake case out of the corner of my eye yesterday, and if I hadn't been under the weather, I absolutely would have scouted for potential wrecks!)
Here is one that us hardware guys like to use when a computer is brought to us and nothing seems wrong with it physically.
SBKAC = Short Between Keyboard And Chair.
Dame Ruth: you stole my exact thought!
Um ... why does the right side of Amanda's cake look like Bounty paper towels??? Enlarge it, and you will see exactly what I am talking about.
Some of those actually look like the cake was done correctly, then someone came along and wrecked 'em. For instance, Amanda's cake looked fine before Fred-the-decorator came over and wrote all the instructions. Adam's cake clearly has two different hands writing the words. I guess people can really be stupid.
Before you post another cake like "Adam with Blue Flowers", would you please give us a warning. Something like ... "Projectile Beverage Warning. Protect hardware and chair."
Tricia
Heh, we've had to invent a new term at work since everyone got wise to ID10T and PEBKAC so we came up with PICNIC errors.
Problem In Chair, Not In Computer
;-)
Debbi,
You are absolutely right. I didn't even notice it. Jen and I are sitting in the office and we both just opened it on our respective computers. And she has no clue either. Good catch.
john
Adam with the Blue Flowers sounds like some kind of hippie name or a Joni Mitchell song...Is anyone else concerned that Amanda seems to be cracking under the strain of embarrassment?
Is there a way to find out where these cakes have come from? If not the actual bakery names, possibly a city/state location?
LindaK
It's just so hard to believe these are real! It frightens me a little :)
As my dad likes to say, it's the Department of Redundancy Department. :P