Taken down a 'peg', er four legs
Long ago in the distant past I worked at a place with three people with the same first name. The third one, who was a bit of a petty dictator that nobody seemed to know what he did except make phone calls all day was known as D3 . He worked on a room that had four programmers, a telcom account manager, and no friends. For context, this was back in the 80s or 90s where all desks were typically buried up past the height of the monitors with piles of paper. The telcom guy had several shelves on the wall with his 'filing' that had one day failed and created an avalanche of paper some six meters across the office!
One fine Monday I came in and my office mates in the tech department suggested I go see D3's desk. With the wry smirks across that team I figured D3s desk had similarly slid. But lo, his desk was still covered deeply with its half meter layer of paper concealing his little used computer. Oddly though the pile was about 20 cm shorter than it had been on Friday, Well, the four metal legs on the corners of the desk were absent! He sat on the other side in his chair, that although it also was at the lowest setting still didn't allow his knees under the desk. He was on the phone so I went to check with one of my friends who explained that a argument had broken out the last week with one of the other programmers and although we had no proof, we expected it was his style. The lowering of the desk was masterfully done with nothing apparently out of place on it too. But then I noticed the piece-de-resistance where the seat height adjust rod was also missing!
Well D3 tried for a few weeks to get someone, anyone, to help him out restoring his desk (even found where the legs were hidden.) but to no avail. One day I was riding in the elevator with him and he begged me for help. I suggested that he should purchase a case of beer and leave it atop the desk. Later that week I heard that a case of beer had appeared on his desk. The following Monday the beer was gone, and the desk had been restored! I never asked who was responsible...
Biting the hand that feeds IT
