I'm fairly sure that...

That one sentence I just cannot stand any more.

Now it's not too bad to deal with complete idiots half the day, I mean, if they weren't, who would pay me? Idiots that take a guess at what the problem is? That's alright too, amusing even if I get lucky. However idiots with no clue whatsoever, and a very strong belief that they're actually right, can really drive me to the edge.

The edge where I end up charging more, so perhaps I shouldn't care, but regardless.

For that particular someone's privacy's sake, I'll call it... it.

me >> The reason none of the e-mails get through is because of this software.
it >> But you had it working earlier.
me >> As I said earlier, once I get it working, it'll probably break again because of that other software you have, that I really have to remove and replace with something better
it >> oh.. ok

And as I so often mistakenly do, I assume it's sorted. However, let's fast forward 30 seconds of deep thought in "it's" brain.

it >> I'm fairly sure that it has to do with that cable there.

Now picture this, a laptop, with 2 cables attached. 1 being the power-cord, that I had attached a few minutes ago after the battery went low, and the other, being the ethernet cable, you know, the one you plug in to connect a pc to the network. I'm fairly fucking certain that 1) having power, and 2) having a connection to the network are NOT the causes for mail-issues.

Obviously this can go only 3 ways; I mess with them and tell a ghost story about the cables or I explain what the cables are and the discussion dies. Even though I didn't feel like killing my entertainment for the day, I figured it was the right thing to do. Wait, didn't I say 3 ways? Almost forgot, but apparently IDIOTS manage to find some ridiculous other option, in this case: I explain what the cables are, "it" refuses to acknowledge that it made a mistake, and makes itself look even dumber.

Seriously people, just save yourself and the rest of the world the trouble and stab yourself in the heart.. like now.

Anyhow, my advantage in this scenario over "it" of actually having a clue meant that I fixed it, however found another "serious complication" that's unfortunately rather costly to fix. Even the best of folk could have missed such a thing in the past.