Today I had an odd experience. Anthony from the Hispanic Chamber came in with an acquantance in tow, Jonathan. Jonathan had called earlier looking for PC-2700 memory and Jen took the call. While Jen looked for memory or something compatible Jonathan hung up. No problem with that, some people really have other things going on and can’t wait.

 

So Jonathan says he is working on a computer that has a virus and his research says that he needs to delete some files in  the Windows Registry, but they don't exist and he doesn’t want to use a virus scanner. “How would you handle that?” he asks.

 

“I’d take it to a professional if I were you.” I smile. He tells me that he “is” a professional. “So then you must know that that there are no files in the registry, only references to files?” I ask.

 

He tells me that he’s been doing computer work for 12 years, oh.. okay. What is that, 1998 – 1997? Really, just because I’ve been doing this since 1977 means nothing. When it comes to virus repair it doesn’t matter what you did 5 years ago. The only thing that matters is what you learned yesterday.

 

I’m sitting down at the computer looking for memory for his Dell Dimension 4500. Although we are currently out of PC-2700, I tell him that some memory is backward compatible so maybe it will take PC-3200.  He tells me that he doesn’t think a 512MB 2700 will work with a 1GB 3200.  Jonathan is not convinced so I look it up at http://www.crucial.com

 

So back to the 12 year professional, I asked him if he has a business. Yes. Do you have a card? Yes. Can I have one? Why? Now I’m trying not to laugh. This guy is standing inside my store, telling me about his experienced but is unwilling to hand over a business card. Don’t get me wrong, some cards are very valuable and hard to part with, but I buy mine cheap, by the thousand. I can’t get rid of them fast enough.

 

Anthony laughs a little at the interaction and Jonathan hands over a card. I look at it briefly, then Jonathan asks me why I would want his card? I tell him that it’s nice to know your peers and that we are all friendly with each other. After he gives me a look, I hand his card back to him, “Okay, I see how this is…” Anthony changed the subject and they left.

 

As I sat down at the desk I noticed that the crucial site was still up. The max memory for his system was only 1GB and 3200 was in fact recommended. So he could not possibly add 1GB to 512MB in any configuration. If he ever comes back, should I mention that?