• Aaron N. Cutshall (8/10/2009)


    Time spent tracking down the problem: 6.5 hours

    Time spent actually fixing the problem: 5 seconds

    This reminds me of the story about a field engineer being called in to fix an HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning) control system for a large building after the on-site guys couldn't make it work. She walks in. Looks at the controls. Re-positions three knobs and hits the restart button. When the building manager looks at the invoice for the call and says "how can you justify $500 just for turning three knobs?", the FE replies "I should have broken that down. It was $10 for turning the knobs, and $490 for knowing which knobs and how far to turn them."