Setting up new lab computers

Last Monday, I lucked out. I had no meetings at all, and I knew Curtis was coming to set up the new computers we got to replace the old skeezy ones in our CTE lab. Twenty-five of the little guys, all stacked in boxes inside the library. So...I had all afternoon to help Curtis and our sysop unpack, connect, name, and reimage the lab.
Here's what I learned: setting up the first two computers is fun. Unpacking and connecting the third and fourth computers is annoying, especially since every single component is wrapped in at least three different kinds of packing material--twisty ties, heat-sealed plastic bags, taped-on foam, cardboard supports, and the ubiquitous styrofoam among them. Everything after computer four becomes a sort of exercise in Zen boredom. Squeak out the styrofoam, pull off the tape, stack the boxes, cut open the bags, untwist the twisties, plug in the component, repeat. Om....
Setting all the computers up for a multicast session after we'd assembled them was more complicated. I'd never messed with a computer's setup menu before, at least not since DOS was the operating system of choice. It had also been a long time since I'd told a computer to do anything at the command prompt, but we had to go through a multi-step routine to set each computer up to "listen" for a multicast session so it could be reimaged and thus compatible with the network. By the last computer, I had the routine down--but the first three or four were utterly frustrating. "Um, Curtis, what's the name of the Networks editing program again? And what keys to I press to interrupt it again? Um, Curtis? I've never seen this screen before. What did I do wrong? Um, Curtis...?"
It took several hours, but we finally got the lab set up and functioning. On Tuesday, I walked past the lab during planning and saw all the students working busily away on their spiffy new flat-screen computers, blissfully unaware of how much effort had gone into the setup process. It made me feel like I'd made my first significant contribution as assistant sysop.