re: Is anybody else the help desk for their elderly parents technology confusion?

My dad had a big note taped to the his monitor
“To get out of trouble- alt-control-delete”

God bless that man

I’ve thought a lot about this. Many of these folks were the ones in the 80s programming VCRs using buttons with no screens. Recording shows with the TV off and things that were way more difficult than today.

But give these same people a smartphone and suddenly using a screen or putting the phone on silent is a bridge too far.

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I try not to get too frustrated

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You have to stop being the crutch. They may be using it as an excuse to talk to you, but if you want IT help it's a favor, not a free service in most cases. My 90+ year old grandfather figured out AOL before he died (these are the same people that have HAM and shortwave radios, but clicking "accept all cookies" is something they need to call you about?)

Just post their phone number on a forum for Indians and watch their bank accounts hit zero. If you teach them one thing, make it a password vault. You know their default password is probably your name or the date they got married.

y'all baws that won't help your parents after all they've done for you are pretty sad

Yes. My latest was finding out they have 3 different Google accounts for their various cameras. I alsp just found out my mom pays for a cellular plan for her iPad she thinks she needs. I have to show her you can just turn the Hotspot on your phone and your iPad will have internet

Funny how timely this thread is. I received a text from mom at 5:30 this morning saying she got an email that her Ring doorbell camera battery is low. She’s currently in a skilled nursing facility recovering from a total joint replacement so she’s a little paranoid about somebody breaking in while she’s gone.

So I checked her camera and it’s at 29%. That’s good for another 3wks!

Edit: just received the 2nd tech problem of the morning. Received a text to call her to see if her phone will ring, which it did not. Apparently she had toggled the switch to silent at some point. I’m batting a thousand this morning with getting her fixed up!

Edit 2: She sent me a couple screenshot of text messages about a missed delivery from UPS with a link. I tell her it’s a scam but she persists that it could be blah blah blah. The sender was a nonsensical email address and the link was obviously fake. Told her to trust me, do not click on the link.

I have a wife. She could do it but its more fun to yell my name


But to be fair she cooks. Someone told me women dont cook anymore

I remove malware and shite once a week one stupid stuff they click on

My Mom does ok with stuff but I spent 30 minutes 1 day explaining to her that her router/modem was not the internet. Her internet is slow as frick and she thought if she upgraded the router it would give her a faster connection. Now it’s my job to order her STARLINK and install it. I don’t mind though she’s a great Mom.