Lycanthropy?

[Jimbo1]

Has anyone ever noticed service calls becoming...shall we say...wilder during the time of the full moon?

Or is it just me?

[Jules Winfield]

uh, yeah... I think it's just you. I think the full moon theory only applies to people, not inanimate objects.

[Jimbo1]

Well what I meant was do customers call in for a litttle different stuff? I know we dread full moon syndrome around here.

[Shadow1]

My wife used to work in the ER at the local hospital. She will testify things went a little crazier during a full moon. Not so bad with the machines, but if I'm going to fine something weird the customer did, it's likely around the full moon.

[Jules Winfield]

I suppose it could be more likely that a customer might do something stupid to a machine during a full moon... I would expect the calls to come in the next day, though.

[mrwho]

It's not a wild idea machines doing strange things depending on what's going on outside - everyone here knows how machines can get cranky when it's raining!

[Stirton.M]

Yes, people do become strange during full moons...not everyone of course...and I would not be surprised if there was a correlation in the types of calls I get based on the lunar cycle....

As an aside, the moon itself can influence our atmosphere in some pretty amazing ways that are not so apparent to us, aside from tidal influence. The ionosphere itself is specifically influenced by solar cycles. During the day, it consists of 4 layers, the D, E and F1 and F2 layers. The D layer is nearest earth. Each layer affects radio transmissions in the AM band specifically, though FM can sometimes be influenced under certain circumstances. For example, an AM radio station will be transmitting a signal at a certain frequency and power during the day, any skywave signal given off the antenna will be absorbed by the D and E layers. Some frequencies, primarily the low HF band, with suitable power output, will not be absorbed by those layers and make it to the F layers. The F layers may refract the signal back down to earth, and in some cases, rebound off the earth and back up again...doing what is referred to as signal hop. Long distance RF communications can be achieved using this property.

At night, the D and E layers mostly vanish, while the F layers merge together in an incredibly dense layer. Most skywave signals will be refracted back to earth will very little absorption and then bounced back up....signal strength and frequency are less important to achieve long distance hops.

This is how you can hear a signal from Singapore but you live in LA at night on the AM radio.

With solar cycles, the lunar cycle can influence the ionosphere by the amount of EM radiation it reflects to earth at night. At lunar maximum, any solar electromagnetic activity can be enhanced, charging the atmosphere in peculiar ways. This can influence induction behavior, primarily in power lines, telegraph and the like, which in turn can cause electronics to behave strangely under the right circumstances.

Most HAM operators are familiar with this...the strange squeal noises heard on an AM radio at night for example, are one of the properties of this induction noise.

Science is just now starting to gain understanding that this induced energy can also affect us, since our brains operate with electrical signals. How much we are affected is subjective. Most will never notice a thing, while others may have strange behavior during these lunar maximum cycles, where the term lycanthropy has its basis in theory.

Overall effect on electronics I think would be subject to just how sensitive those electronics are to EM field radiation.

[ToshibaTech]

And that is what I am going to use on my next Fuser code that was "just like that when we came in." Cooool!

[fixthecopier]

The calls are not getting stranger, my coworkers are. Calls are way down, and the boss lady got into the Halloween stuff and got out the remote control spider. They have been scaring the shit out of everybody they can. Got the poor warehouse guy 3 times. It is a giant 8 inch spider. I took the cartridge out of a Ricoh 5100 and put it in. Ask another tech to take a look at it. He opened the lid, slammed it shut and had to walk outside. We are getting pumped for our annual Halloween Party. Live band, lots of alcohol and a few hundred people in costume. As a matter of fact, the company party is what stopped me from drinking tequila 3 years ago. Somewhere at work is a picture of the Big Bad Wolf laid out in the parking lot on the hood of a car. Good Times, Good Times

[Stirton.M]

laughing_horse.jpg

[Lagonda]

...........Most will never notice a thing, while others may have strange behavior during these lunar maximum cycles, where the term lycanthropy has its basis in theory........
.

There is another term for those affected by the lunar cycle......lunatic!

[prntrfxr]

The bosses have been acting strange lately. I'm about ready to ban the CFO from the tech department. They're good bosses as far as bosses go, but lately time wasting work is suddenly more important than money making work. "It's just going to take 5 minutes of your time" is never what they promise and you end up spending a whole day moving stuff from one shelf to another.

[Jimbo1]

A lot of it also are these calls that either are not what they were supposed to be or are related to something entirely different than what you were told the problem was. Maybe I just said the same thing. I dunno.
Like when they call because they want you to "clean" the machine and you just know deep down there's something else they won't tell you. Like you won't fix it if they don't lie.