Welcome to competance and the rank of 'problem-solver' in the digital age! It's akin to winning the lottery and having relatives come out of the woodwork: You get overwhelmed with requests for 'favors'.
Those who don't understand technology are very overwhelmed by it. They find it intimidating, frustrating and they're clueless. When my relatives asked many, many years ago, I told them to by a Macintosch because Apple has excellent customer service, builds both the HW & the SW, and they're going to need a lot of hand-holding while learning. Did they take my advice? No. You'd think earning a EE 30 yrs ago would add some weight to my recommendation. But they don't really understand what a EE is actually.
I looked at one Aunts Dell several years ago because she complained it was slow. Task Manager indicated there were more than 50 processes running....small wonder. IT was just clogged with junk. She freaked when I removed a couple of short-cuts. I tried to explain you leave ADSL on...you don't sign in/sign out...she argued with me about it. After that, no more help. Then she complains about Dell's customer service......
I'm also very adept fixing all sorts of things, big and little. It's amazing how poorly some relatives treat their vehicles, their houses and their tools, and then complain when they don't last.
Personally, I remember being teased by some of these relatives while in college and afterward because I would tackle something, get in over-my-head, but eventually prevail, get it figured out and learned something in the process. My first car, an old Camero was a beater with a lot of rust. I replaced lots of parts, installed a new stereo, had her dualed out, painted her candy-apple-blue and she provided reliable transportation while I was in college.
I'm a tool-user with an engineering degree, what can I say?
When I bought my first new car, a SAAB 900T after my first engineering job out of college, the abuse really started! "WTH is that thing?" On and on and on....tease, tease, tease. They began to shut up after 100,000 miles. Plus I was getting 30mpg. But who cared? Gas was maybe 60 cents/ga. I think they were let down when the thing didn't leave me stranded.
(Can you tell you've hit a nerve?)
FF to now. Since 1983, I've only owned two cars. Both Swedish sleds. The SAAB went 256,000mi over 14 yrs and the current sled is right at 199,400 mi and is now 17 years old.
Back to confusers...I haven't bought a new one since 1998. Why? I keep getting 3 or 4 year old machines for free that are dead. New PS or HD, reload the OS and they're up and running.
Point is they see you as an expert now. You've earned it. Congrats! You do have the right to say No however. That's an additional hurdle you'll have to learn. Being competant also means you'll have some who will be resentful and jealous of you when you know more than they do and make wiser decisions because you do. You may already be experiencing some of this.
Good to rant and get it off your chest. Thanks for listening to mine!
