I've been sorting some computer problems for a friend of mine. And she's really greatful for all the work I've done, and as she's a friend of mine, I don't charge. So now she's saying she wants to buy me bottle of drink or something to say thanks, I'm not really a drinker so that doesn't appeal. But the main thing I can't seem to get across to her is that I actually enjoy fixing computer problems, so I'm not doing it expecting any kind of payment. She think's that's a bit strange. Is this the diffrerence between computer geeks and non computer geeks?
Explaining what is Geekness to non-geeks
Miscellaneous Forums/General Discussion/Explaining what is Geekness to non-geeks Yes.
Yes - But remember that it also make people feel better to do something in return for a favor.
Yes, let her buy you a box of tea bags.
I think you've got levels of geekiness...
Personally I despise building and sorting out computers and I actively won't do it for people, it generally bites you on the arse in the future.
If anyone wants me to build them a new computer I just send them to PC world or a local shop equivalent who will support them and put up with their inane questions.
I like using computers, and if I could have a computer that didn't crash, run slow, need updating drivers every 14 seconds etc I would love it.
Regarding payment, accept the booze, and take it to the next party you go to.
Personally I despise building and sorting out computers and I actively won't do it for people, it generally bites you on the arse in the future.
If anyone wants me to build them a new computer I just send them to PC world or a local shop equivalent who will support them and put up with their inane questions.
I like using computers, and if I could have a computer that didn't crash, run slow, need updating drivers every 14 seconds etc I would love it.
Regarding payment, accept the booze, and take it to the next party you go to.
If I had a girl - friend offering to buy me drink, I'd say yes...
Simply fixing a PC and enjoying doing so makes you a PC Technician. A geek would fix it with bits of cheese, make it run twice as fast and then snort with laughter if the girl-friend said "What can I do to say thank-you?" before she realised, although fixed, any UI interface had been removed 'cos people should be using command line interfaces.
I don't enjoy fixing computers, I've fixed too many and become jaded ;-)
Oh and as Cyg says, if you are not attached and she's nice, then say yes (and put some timebomb in the computer so you have to go back and fix it later...)
Oh and as Cyg says, if you are not attached and she's nice, then say yes (and put some timebomb in the computer so you have to go back and fix it later...)
LOL@tonyg, actualy tbh if I wasn't already taken, I would take her up on a taking me out for one (a drink that is)
yeah yeah that is what you say NOW andy ;-)
Last weekend, one of my reelatives asked me if i could help her feel more comfortable using a computer, teach her the basics. She wanted to pay me in return because she told me that what i did was really helpful to her.
I feel like i couldn't accept being paid for just helping someone i know very well.
She didn't expect that i could say no and didn't want any money from her. I just said to her we could talk about it later.
Like you i really just enjoyed being helpful.
I feel like i couldn't accept being paid for just helping someone i know very well.
She didn't expect that i could say no and didn't want any money from her. I just said to her we could talk about it later.
Like you i really just enjoyed being helpful.
Rob, after 3 or 4 years of building computers, that's the main reason i have stopped building computers for people. 2 years down the line, you get a phone call, about their computer not working. You go round and it's usualy chock-a-block with trojans and spyware...
At what point is it our job to sort that out for them???
Pity you weren't single Andy. You could have accepted the drink, then a couple days later, asked her round for a drink :o)
At what point is it our job to sort that out for them???
Pity you weren't single Andy. You could have accepted the drink, then a couple days later, asked her round for a drink :o)
Yeah watch out Andy.. you can become extremely popular when you start fixing stuff for people. It's when they tell a friend of theirs and you start being asked to fix stuff for people you don't know from Adam that the fun really starts. :)
Yeah and people start to knock on your door saying can your fix my PC I'm sure it's something simple, when really it needs a RAM upgrade and a 4 hour intense session of anti-virus, msconfig tweaks, adaware and booting in safe mode to get rid of all the crap.
You can't - they won't get it. Thankfully most people are geeky about something (nutrition, exercise, biology, movies, books, politics, animals), so the trick is probably to find out what they're geeky about, and think of a clever analog to put things in perspective.
The ultimate T-Shirt.
The ultimate T-Shirt.
my workmate actually where's that T-shirt to work!
Actually, I did tell her I'm trying to make money fixing stuff, so she can recommend me to others sure, but they'll have to pay.
Actually I don't mind when it's load of trojans and spyware, that's dead easy to fix, you just sit back watching telly waiting for it to finish. It is a bit embarrising though when you have to tell them it was full of porn.
Actually, I did tell her I'm trying to make money fixing stuff, so she can recommend me to others sure, but they'll have to pay.
Actually I don't mind when it's load of trojans and spyware, that's dead easy to fix, you just sit back watching telly waiting for it to finish. It is a bit embarrising though when you have to tell them it was full of porn.
Actually, I did tell her I'm trying to make money fixing stuff, so she can recommend me to others sure, but they'll have to pay.
The problem is when something goes wrong again (and it will) they will likely blame you for it. Or phone you when you're doing something important like downloading porn or taking a dump...
Seriously, unless you want to do this monkey work as a full time job it's not worth the grief. I'm sure there's many many people on this forum who have fallen into the trap of helping out a friend and then being their tech support for life.
I comes to a point where you have to tell people you're not going to do it any more as you're too busy drinking and looking at breasts to help.
..actually, I'll bring that chick out for drink..she dont have to buy me one :)
I think that is the difference of geeks and non geeks.
I for one think doing techy stuff is fun.
Just as a non-geek thinks... uhhh...
What do non geeks like?
Sports? I like sports, but ima geek. I dont know.
I for one think doing techy stuff is fun.
Just as a non-geek thinks... uhhh...
What do non geeks like?
Sports? I like sports, but ima geek. I dont know.
I think a geek is someone who spends 100% of his time on the computer, still lives with his mother, and gets turned on by a jump drive! While were at it, everybody go to youtube.com, and type in white and nerdy.
YA i guess if those are the qualities of a geek, im sure not one. Lol
you can't become a geek, you're just born that way - lol
All I can say is I'm glad I'm not a geek!
I would consider myself, and my friends, to be geeks although not of the IT variety, we have all at some stage or another been involved in wargaming, roleplaying, historical reenactment, board games, painting toy soldiers, however a few of us manage to have some social skills and gasp - be skilled at some sports (squash).
white and nerdy
ROFL, love that video. That'd be a nerd though, nerds are more likely to be found in university research labs on unix than doing actual IT work in the industry and using windows. Get us a cup of tea, Mum... I'm busy on the computer.
I'm sure there's many many people on this forum who have fallen into the trap of helping out a friend and then being their tech support for life.
Maybe but i have been helping out people i know for years and i never felt the way you describe it, it was always nice to share some of the things i know. It never bothered me or took too much of my time.
Plus i do not consider myself a geek, i just like what i do and that's all.
Personally I despise building and sorting out computers and I actively won't do it for people, it generally bites you on the arse in the future.
This. Never do things like this for friends, neighbors, etc. -- they will expect you to do it when they inevitably break their system again. I suppose if you enjoy fixing problems, then this isn't anything bad, but for someone like me who absolutely loathes dealing with regular issues, this is a nightmare.I find the best thing is to simply never say anything about my programming, computer use, etc. to other people. It's personal, they don't need to know about it. Just like my hobby of stalking and killing hookers.
Just because I can fix computers doesn't mean I enjoy it. A point I had to make last night to a friend.
"can you have a quick look at my laptop, it's a bit slow". Yes, it is, isn't it? Might have something to do with the facts that:
1) It's 3 years old.
2) It has 512MB RAM.
3) You have programs on there which haven't been used since July 2006.
4) One of those programs is Skype, which quite happily loads at every boot an consumes 30+MB of RAM.
5) Your Norton Internet Security license expired 2 years ago, yet you have it still installed.
6) You have AVG anti-virus installed.
7) You have MS Works and Office Professional installed.
I would point out that I'd gone round to their house for beers and Xbox, not fixy-computery. I uninstalled a bunch of software (Google toolbar, AOL, Wanadoo, Skype, 'CD drive acoustic silencer' - oh boy) and it works marginally better than it did previously.
If I offered a full reinstall of Windows XP (remember, this is a laptop, so plenty of work to do downloading drivers before proceeding) I would likely get a 4-pack of beer for my trouble.
No thanks, you can jolly well sod off to PC World and pay them some hard cash instead. Then you will maybe appreciate that: -
1) They overcharge for their service.
2) Their service is poor.
Perhaps you will then come to me with a reasonable offer of work, rather than peanuts for rocket-science.
"can you have a quick look at my laptop, it's a bit slow". Yes, it is, isn't it? Might have something to do with the facts that:
1) It's 3 years old.
2) It has 512MB RAM.
3) You have programs on there which haven't been used since July 2006.
4) One of those programs is Skype, which quite happily loads at every boot an consumes 30+MB of RAM.
5) Your Norton Internet Security license expired 2 years ago, yet you have it still installed.
6) You have AVG anti-virus installed.
7) You have MS Works and Office Professional installed.
I would point out that I'd gone round to their house for beers and Xbox, not fixy-computery. I uninstalled a bunch of software (Google toolbar, AOL, Wanadoo, Skype, 'CD drive acoustic silencer' - oh boy) and it works marginally better than it did previously.
If I offered a full reinstall of Windows XP (remember, this is a laptop, so plenty of work to do downloading drivers before proceeding) I would likely get a 4-pack of beer for my trouble.
No thanks, you can jolly well sod off to PC World and pay them some hard cash instead. Then you will maybe appreciate that: -
1) They overcharge for their service.
2) Their service is poor.
Perhaps you will then come to me with a reasonable offer of work, rather than peanuts for rocket-science.
just say "a blow job would be nice"
regardless if its your nans pc your fixing
they might take the hint about being a doormat pc fixeruperer or you get the odd blow job ;)
regardless if its your nans pc your fixing
they might take the hint about being a doormat pc fixeruperer or you get the odd blow job ;)
Yeah, but what if your nan calls your bluff? Or your grandad? *shudder*
live by the sword
die by the sword
just pray for dentures (it helps when they are out) :))
die by the sword
just pray for dentures (it helps when they are out) :))
I love it when you don't even have a choice, I came home to find an old dell laptop left for me, it was left by my mothers friend because she had a chat to my girl friend who said id fix it for them. Its a P3 450mhz 128mb ram with a broken cd drive, whats the point?
leave a load of food on their door step then go round 2 hours later asking where your cooked food is
Tell them you were unable to effect an economic repair due to faulty cabrinators.
Then put your hand out, as if expecting a tip.
Then put your hand out, as if expecting a tip.
Yes that's usually the case, your services get volunteered by someone.
> be skilled at some sports (squash)
Sorry, squash is a sport for geeks.
I fit right into your list though.
Sorry, squash is a sport for geeks.
I fit right into your list though.
I had one a while back where someone phoned me to come out and then didn't want to pay me when I told him his new 250gb hard drive wouldn't work on his P200, almost like it was my fault he was stupid.
1st Post:
I'm confused now.
I actually enjoy fixing computer problems, so I'm not doing it expecting any kind of payment
Last post: I had one a while back where someone phoned me to come out and then didn't want to pay me when I told him his new 250gb hard drive wouldn't work on his P200, almost like it was my fault he was stupid.
I'm confused now.
It's only when I fix a friends computer I don't expect payment. When I fixing a strangers PC then I expect payment.
I think people resent paying for work done to their computer because htey believe it's not actual work. My friends were under the impression that I enjoy sitting for 4 hours in front of their computer, babysitting it through a virus clean or Windows installation (with all the trimmings like "Oh, I need Word on there too").
My housemate came out with a classic a few days ago. "You need to look at my laptop, I think it needs [Vista] reinstalling from scratch". Err, no thanks. You've only had the laptop for less than 6 months and there's nothing wrong with it that isn't wrong with every other PC in the world that is 6 months old, too many dumb apps, toolbars and screensavers installed. Plus inadequate security software. AVG may be free, but you get what you pay for. Kudos to you for removing Norton, but you need to pay for NOD32.
Another classic example is me fixing a quite broken installation of XP on a nice and small Acer notebook (very nice machine, can't remember which model now) for a friend's mom. Payment was agreed beforehand (crate of beer) and I warned that I needed £10 for a license for F-Secure (this was before Eset released their full-on firewall+AV software). I'd paid £30 for 3 licenses, and I had 2 spare.
Friend's mom decided, quite without reason or logic, that I was making £10 profit, as well as wanting beer. I therefore received a 4-pack of Fosters. Needless to say, I was quite unimpressed and will now not service her laptop ever again. Amusingly, the license expired last week. I somewhat hope she succumbs to something nasty.
My housemate came out with a classic a few days ago. "You need to look at my laptop, I think it needs [Vista] reinstalling from scratch". Err, no thanks. You've only had the laptop for less than 6 months and there's nothing wrong with it that isn't wrong with every other PC in the world that is 6 months old, too many dumb apps, toolbars and screensavers installed. Plus inadequate security software. AVG may be free, but you get what you pay for. Kudos to you for removing Norton, but you need to pay for NOD32.
Another classic example is me fixing a quite broken installation of XP on a nice and small Acer notebook (very nice machine, can't remember which model now) for a friend's mom. Payment was agreed beforehand (crate of beer) and I warned that I needed £10 for a license for F-Secure (this was before Eset released their full-on firewall+AV software). I'd paid £30 for 3 licenses, and I had 2 spare.
Friend's mom decided, quite without reason or logic, that I was making £10 profit, as well as wanting beer. I therefore received a 4-pack of Fosters. Needless to say, I was quite unimpressed and will now not service her laptop ever again. Amusingly, the license expired last week. I somewhat hope she succumbs to something nasty.
My brother did some work for a friend of my Dad's, for cash because as he says, he got snowed under with all these freebies and doesn't do it any more. In the meantime, the guy volunteers him to do a free job on someone else's machine, which my brother refuses as he doesn't know the chap and he doesn't do free jobs any more. Then, and this takes the biscuit... the paying guy gets my brother to call him saying there's a problem with the work he did. There isn't, but he has the guy my brother has refused with him, says look I promised this guy, and puts him on the line! Good for my bro, he says NO once again in no uncertain terms. The audacity.
People don't often ask me for help fixing their computer, partly because everyone close to me knows how much I detested the job I once had as a computer tech, and partly because I am a shut-in who avoids human contact.
Actually the last time I fixed someone else's computer was not that long ago, while visiting my mom for the holidays; she was wanting to use my youngest sister's old laptop. Thing is, my youngest sister is one of those people who compulsively installs everything she lays eyes on, and so by the time she casts off the poor machine, it takes several minutes to even open the Start menu.
On the one previous occasion when I attempted to clean off one of her old computers (I took it when she was going to throw away, to use for some minor project) I gave up in frustration after attempting for over an hour to remove all the unnecessary crap and simply formatted the drive (what I should have just done from the start, but 20/20 hindsight and all.)
This time I went through de-installing pointless app after pointless app, including at least one anti-virus application that I'd never heard of before, no less than 7 toolbars for IE, and cleaning out an insane number of programs from the startup directory. How my sister can possibly get any productive use out of her computer is beyond me.
Actually the last time I fixed someone else's computer was not that long ago, while visiting my mom for the holidays; she was wanting to use my youngest sister's old laptop. Thing is, my youngest sister is one of those people who compulsively installs everything she lays eyes on, and so by the time she casts off the poor machine, it takes several minutes to even open the Start menu.
On the one previous occasion when I attempted to clean off one of her old computers (I took it when she was going to throw away, to use for some minor project) I gave up in frustration after attempting for over an hour to remove all the unnecessary crap and simply formatted the drive (what I should have just done from the start, but 20/20 hindsight and all.)
This time I went through de-installing pointless app after pointless app, including at least one anti-virus application that I'd never heard of before, no less than 7 toolbars for IE, and cleaning out an insane number of programs from the startup directory. How my sister can possibly get any productive use out of her computer is beyond me.
How my sister can possibly get any productive use out of her computer is beyond me.
as long as its not covered in glitter and pictures of ponies
some custom cases scare me