In case you’ve ever wondered why technical manuals are hard to follow sometimes, this is a partial transcript of a conversation between a project manager and a contract technical writer who couldn’t log in to a particular online database. It was not unlike trying to log in to Gmail.
———
Contractor: still having probs with popups
Employer: That’s a problem. Did you add the domain to your Trusted Sites list?
…
Contractor: it may indeed, just be a subtle configuration parameter that requires a ‘check’ enabled
Employer: I would suggest pinging support, now online, to see if he’s seen the pop up issue.
…
Contractor: sorry, i’m finding A LOT of subtle issues arising as i walk thru this with support…
Contractor: when you look at stuff all the time, you tend to take stuff for granted
Contractor: i think i may have nailed down a subtle issue that’s been overlooked
Contractor: fingers crossed, still testing
Contractor: straight-up, mr. gates makes windows users work too hard 
— still testing
Contractor: it’s not going well
Contractor: not sure support can help me anymore
…
Contractor: i think i ‘overwhelmed’ support with my propensity to trouble-shoot
Contractor: i hope he took my efforts constructively
Contractor: still have the ’sa’ in my blood, i guess
…
Contractor: let me step back for ~30 minutes and then retrace my path
Contractor: there’s something subtle i need to do, step-wise
Contractor: i’ll get back at you in ~30 minutes
Employer: I have no one else to do this.
…
Contractor: it think it’s just a stepwise parameterization matter
Employer: It’s very simple process
Contractor: i kinda noticed some subtle stuff happen and change based on steps i too–there’s a hierarchiacal issue
Employer: I’m lost…
Contractor: when you invoke which step
Contractor: i know, it should not be this difficult
Employer: I’ll leave you to it.
Contractor: it was working before
…
Steve Said:
on November 14, 2006 at 4:05 pm
Ah, that takes me back to the nonsense speak of the dotcom boom. It takes serious talent to be able to say so much while saying so little!
iggi Said:
on November 15, 2006 at 1:26 pm
people often confuse the heavy use of jargon with great skill – it tends to be the other way around.
technogrrrl Said:
on November 17, 2006 at 9:20 am
I wish I’d been a blogger back when I did tech support for a living. The people who wanted to show off how much they “knew” were hilarious! The tech support person this gal was speaking to was probably curled up under his desk in a fetal position by the time she was done with him!