Who, Me?
The office sink is always a horror. Managers worried this one glowed
WHO, ME? Welcome to a fresh, tasty installment of Who, Me? It's The Register's reader-contributed column where you confess to things you did at work that probably deserve to remain a secret.
This week, meet a reader we'll Regomize as "Ray" who told us he once worked in a research lab repairing nucleonic instruments.
We understand they're gadgets that use very short half-life isotopes that emit just enough radiation it's possible to measure the backscatter. According to the World Nuclear Association, this is helpful to measure the level of coal in a hopper, or the thickness of paper!
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Like many workplaces, the lab Ray worked in had a microwave oven staff could use to warm their lunches, and a coffee machine too.
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The difference in this lab was that the appliances lived next to a sink used to wash the nucleonic kit.
Ray's manager decided that posed a risk to worker health – which it didn't – so insisted the microwave and coffee machine go elsewhere.
Ray's solution was to screenshot his PC's desktop, print it onto A3 paper, and laminate it.
"The screen looked very realistic without requiring a backlight," he said. So Ray moved it into an unused office and put a keyboard and mouse in front of it. He also found the coffee machine a new home where the manager wouldn't go looking.
"They were both still in use when I retired three years later," he told Who, Me?
Have you found a way to defy the boss and got away with it? If so, click here to send us an email. We'd love the chance to expose readers to your story! ®