In my office there is one
chap by the name of Roger, a
computer repair technician in our shop who happens to be the brunt of most of our
Pranks. He is a
nice old fellow who never seems to get upset, this is probably why he is always the target of our unspent juvenile mirth.
Prank #1: The Buzzer Thingy
We attached a
battery cell from an old
Polaroid camera to a device manufactured by another employee. The device emitted a very high pitched electronic whine. The noise was just barely in the audible range. We placed the device behind a bunch of old hardware on the
equipment rack near Rogers
desk. The noise could not be heard more than a few feet away from the devices resting spot. When audible
it was very annoying. We informed everyone else of the prank. When Roger would ask, "Can you hear that noise?" we would respond in the negative and tell him that he was probably just hearing things. This lasted for about three days before Roger started hunting for and eventually found the device.
Prank #2: The Loud Zap Noise
This is one of my favorite pranks and will often use it on any handy target. While walking by Rogers desk one day I noticed that he was elbow deep in a partially disassembled
monitor. He appeared very tense, and that's understandable; monitors carry quite a punch if not properly
discharged first. I crept up behind Roger without his noticing me and loudly yelled "ZAP!". As I predicted he jumped, and was very startled. He claimed I nearly gave him a
heart attack.
Prank #3: The Monitor Switch
Another employee had come upon a device that plugged into a wall socket and would switch power on and off in response to a
silent whistle. The whistle was a small bellows fed device that was operated by squeezing it in the
palm of your hand. We attached this device to the power lead for Rogers monitor. While he was at his desk one of us would
blow the whistle and Rogers monitor would turn off. This caused him great consternation. He would attempt to fix the problem. At an appropriate time the whistle was blown again and the power was restored. This proved very entertaining for a surprisingly lengthy amount of time.
Prank #4: The Speaker Debacle
Roger likes to listen to his music loud. He also listens to an odd assortment of
Celtic instrumental and folk music. Most of us don't like it. One Friday while Roger was out of the
shop on a call I decided to put a temporary end to it. I found an old stereo cable and clipped the end of the 1/4" miniplug so it would fit flush into the appropriate female receptor jack. I also soldered a short length of very fine wire to the end so that it could be removed. I then placed the jack in the headphones receptor on Rogers desktop
speakers. If you haven't caught on yet, this completes a circuit that turns off the speakers. When Roger returned and discovered that his computer wouldn't make any more noises, he became distraught. To our delight he did not discover the dummy plug and began to fiddle with the
sound card settings. I found out later that he came in on Saturday and spent all day formatting his workstation and reinstalling Windows. He even went so far as to swap out the
soundcard before he thought to exam the speakers and eventually discovered the plug.
He has not played his music loud since the incident.
Prank #5: The Desk
Roger has the most unique excuses when he calls in sick. "There's ants in my cats food", "My car won't start" and my favorite, "My water has been turned off". It was after the last one that I decided to use his absence for my own benefit. Carefully notating the placement of every object on his desk I removed them, and then turned his desk around 180 degrees. I then placed everything back on his desk in the correct location. It was a
simple prank, and those are often the most rewarding. When Roger arrived the next morning he went through his normal
morning routine. He placed his bag on the floor next to his desk, turned his computer on and walked down the hall to fill his
coffee cup. When he returned he sat in his chair. He only noticed what I had done when he pulled forward and banged his knees against the back of the desk. Then the most spectacular thing happened.
The imperturbable Roger became enraged. He wouldn't talk to anyone all morning. I elected to not claim responsibility for the
attack.