fornax.net

I spent something like seven years at university, and for most of them, I worked for the Adelaide University Union's Computer Resource Centre.

At the time, the University of Adelaide didn't provide any kind of centralised, standardised computing facilities - it was up to each faculty to provide computers (as, and if, required) for their students. As a result, the Resource Centre was the one place where students who struggled with technology could turn to for help, and for specialist services like document binding, cheap photocopying onto overhead transparencies, and helping PhD students recover their one and only copy of their dissertation -- due next week -- that they have saved on a $1 floppy disk that's now gone bad.

Apart from the satisfaction of helping other students, and the fact the job paid my rent, the best thing about working there was the camaraderie with the other staff. We had these little rituals that we'd all follow - like using certain phrases to relieve the stress of dealing with some of our more challenging clients (without ever being rude, of course!). One of these rituals was to always correct people who came with a stack of printed sheets, and would ask "Ummm, can I get this binded?" We would always reply "No, but you can get it bound."

As a result, seeing this in the Metro recently made me a little nostalgic...