Never A Dull Moment At Work (Part Deux)

Two days ago I was asked to move a computer at work and connect it to the building's network.  I got part of the job done-all the parts of the system made it to the new location, but I got hung up because a power strip wasn't available to plug everything in (and when I got one, the plug section wouldn't fit through a hole I'd made in a partition).

When I got home on Tuesday I assembled some things that would help complete the job, putting our drill, several bits, and an extension cord the car so I wouldn't forget them. Yesterday I used the drill to expand the hole and threaded the power strip plug through.  It worked!  The new computer station had electricity.

However, there was another issue I hadn't noticed the first day.  The shelf above the desk holding the CPU was flush with the wall, so there was nowhere to run the cords.  I could think of two solutions--drill a hole through the shelf, or take it off the brackets, move it forward enough to slide the cords behind it, then nail it back down.  In my opinion the second option would work better, but I couldn't find the appropriate size nails in the preschool's minuscule hardware area. I sent the director an email telling her the project's status and left everything as it was.  Last night I grabbed a few nails from our collection in the basement and added them to my "go to work" pile.

This morning I went to the staff room and used a rubber hammer to remove the shelf.  It popped up easily, and I had time to remove the nails before classes started.  At the end of the day I got back to the project.  It was easy to re-hammer the shelf in its new position, although the people in the staff room were a little surprised to see me up on a step stool wielding a hammer.

It only took a few minutes to run the wires behind the shelf and plug the monitor, keyboard, and mouse into the tower, since I'd labeled everything as I took it apart.  Holding my breath, I turned on the computer and monitor.  IT WORKED!

Part two of the project was getting the computer on the network.  In the computer lab it was connected to the router with a cord, but the other systems in the staff room use a wireless adapter.  There was one waiting for me.  I opened the adapter box and read the instructions, which didn't seem so hard on paper.

The job was tougher than it looked.  I installed the software and plugged the adapter into the back of the computer, then hit a roadblock; I could see the network, but it wouldn't let me connect.  After trying a couple of different things, I decided I'd had enough.  I left a message for the director letting her know where things stood, then cleaned up my things and left.

I wonder who will finish the project?