IT pilot fish is working late one night when there’s a slight case of user error — with more-than-slight consequences.

“There was a bank of network switches in a cabinet in cubeland — no more room in the cable closet,” says fish. “It was taken down when a colleague used a coffee jug and one of those in-the-cup immersion heaters to make tea.

“He forgot about his boiling water, and after giving the switches 15 minutes of a damn good steaming, the pot was dry.

“There followed an almighty bang and a flash of actinic light.

“And that was that for the switches plugged into the same line sans surge protection.”

Sharky’s burning the midnight tea — er, oil — waiting for your story to arrive. So send me your true tale of IT life at [email protected], and you’ll score a sharp Shark shirt if I use it. Comment on today’s tale at Sharky’s Google+ community, and read thousands of great old tales in the Sharkives.

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