My current client is insistent that my team use their equipment while we're working on their software. I can't say I really agree with this, but I can understand the spirit of the request. More difficult to understand, however, is why they'd persist in this direction despite the fact that the hardware isn't up to the job. Processor speed is fair, but there's not enough RAM, and I think we'd have to have a personal memo from the governor to get a second monitor.
But the thing that's driving me absolutely batty is my mouse. Yes, it's an old-style mechanical mouse, complete with the rubber marble that turns the little rollers inside. The moving parts pick up junk and start to fail, and no amount of cleaning makes it quite right again. Every day, I end up taking the thing apart a couple times, to very little effect, and every day, I silently boil every time I move my mouse and the cursor just sits where it was, blinking in silent mockery of me and my defective hardware.
Yes, I've tried to obtain a new mouse. Paperwork has been obtained, filled out, and signed. As of my last trip up that mountain, I hadn't yet achieved enough signatures to move this $12 transaction forward. Yes, the time I've spent on paperwork and signatures exceeds (easily) the cost of a new mouse. Yes, I could probably go out and buy a damned mouse myself and bring it in. I very well may end up doing that the next time I order from Newegg or Amazon.
In the mean time, I have to marvel at this brilliant example of process gone astray...while I clean my mouse.