I get to train the new person who will be taking over my job when I leave, and I made an outline of the order of things I should go over. Here is a rough depiction from memory.

1. Start, stop, load, and unload. (This is about loading and unloading paper from the photo printer and processor. It is the most important thing to know.)

2. Introduction to the VAX, the differance between the two V7 machines, the differance between finals and tests. (The VAX is the computer database system the lab uses for orders, crops, quantities, color corrections, and to connect to all peripheral devices like printers. I learned a little about the VAX system when I read the book, The Cuckoo's Egg, which I highly recommend. The V7#3 prints 3"x5"s and not 4"x5"s and the V7#4 does the opposite. The V7#3 is for package deals - for family and school portraits where the same picture is printed in many sizes, while the V7#4 is for reprints - like for weddings, parties, landscapes, etc.) Finals are obviously the final prints, while tests are tests, but tests only print the smallest print available - either 3"x5" or 4"x5", and you don't need to clean the glass.)

3. Common problems (The card handler often can go haywire because of inconsistancies in the cards that negatives are taped too and the barcode sticker placement on the cards. These problems are retarded, but the physics of the V7 printers is not perfect because of human misuse and chaos. The operator must know how to deal with the myriad problems that will occur in order to feel cool. It is fun to be able to manually command the machine to do everything it can possibly do - rather than being rough with it and trying to fight it's powerful robot hands as it rips negatives in two.)

4. Cleaning, Shirley, Slope. (This about how to keep the printers working right - keeping them free of dust and "trash particles" and keeping the lamphouse and the color in check by printing calibration prints and then reading them with a funky light device. It can be confusing to do this sometimes if you are not paying attention to the numbers, and things can go bad quick.)

5. Rare problems. (Basically what you should do when you can't find a marker to use, how to change the orange static wipes on the negative cleaner, who to ask if the machine catches on fire, etc. The machine has caught on fire when I was operating it. Dude, time to get out the multi-voltimeter!)

I think that is about it, although there are more fun notes, this has gotten pretty long, and I am sleepy. I hope to tell the new person all I know about the personalities of the lab and about the mysterious insect that is a mutant mix of a centipede, grasshopper, and spider that may appear and how to charm it away from you with the air hose. It is really very scary looking. Good night.