Between a rock and a dumb place

Sometimes, being the computer guy is like being a Kindergarten teacher. You have to be so pedantic.

pe dan tic, adj. Marked by a narrow, often tiresome focus on or display of learning and especially its trivial aspects

Yep, that's the word I'm looking for. "No, you can't go outside without your shoes. Yes, you have to wear them. Yes, you have to wear them on your feet. No, putting the left shoe on your right foot and your right show on your left foot won't make you walk a straight line. Yes, you have to tie them first. You're right, I misspoke: you have to tie them last." I actually had to say "You need to turn the computer on before you use it." Shoot me now.

Ordinarily, this would merely bother me and I'd bitch about the time wasted trudging up a few flights of stairs, hitting the "On" button, and trying not to tell someone to their face that they're a complete idiot. But right now I'm stuck between a bunch of deadlines and a bunch of flatlines, and neither one wants to yield to the other.