With non-stop coverage of the election and financial meltdown, we all could use some humor. Think your help desk staff has heard it all? For your entertainment, we'll focus on some of the most unusual queries IT help desk workers have fielded, according to Robert Half Technology.

The IT staffing firm polled 1,400 CIOs about the strangest or most unusual request they or their tech support team has ever received. Such examples demonstrate the need for support staffers to possess not only technical skills, but also patience, empathy, and a sense of humor.

* Can you install cable TV on my PC?
* My computer is telling me to press any key to continue. Where is the "any" key?
* My laptop was run over by a truck. What should I do?
* Can you order joysticks so that we can play video games?
* A server went down, and I found a lizard had crawled into it and died.
* How can I block e-mail from my manager?
* Can you build me a robot?
* Why isn’t my wireless mouse connected to the computer?
* I’d like wireless computer access in my motor home.
* Can you reset the Internet for me?”
* There are animal crackers in my CD-ROM drive.
* I’d like to stop receiving e-mail on Fridays.
* Can you rearrange the keyboard alphabetically?
* How do I read my e-mail?
* A skunk ate my cable.
* Can I open the bank safe using my computer?
* How do I wire a robotic turkey?
* Where can I get software to track UFOs?
* My daughter is locked in the bathroom. Can you pick the lock?

Amy Schurr is the former managing features editor of Network World.