Topic: I am sure I am not alone here on this...

[addicted2dvd]

Just got a call from the sister-in-law. She has a TV and computer she wants set up (preferably tonight) And who does she immediately think of? Of course. So I will be leaving here shortly to go set up some electronics.

So what about it... are you the go to person for this type of stuff around there also? 

[Dragonfire]

Not as much now...I have helped others set up computers before. 
I did help my stepdad hook up their new tv.  It wasn't that difficult.  I think he needed me more to help pick it up.  I think it is a 42 inch.
I did hook up the Wii myself.  I think my stepdad got their Blu-ray player hooked up himself. 
I hooked up my new tv and Blu-ray myself.  Though first I missed the audio cable for the cable box..then one of the other cables wasn't in all the way and the picture looked green.  I was thinking I had a defective tv until I doubled checked the cables.  My tv is on a turn table, so I was able to turn it to hook up the cables..I think the one got caught when I turned it back around that first time.

[Touti]

One thing I learned quickly after becoming a programmer is that the more friends you have the more unpaid work you're gonna do.  I'm staying away now and I only do it for very very good friends who help me with other things.

[Najemikon]

Yeah, I'm the go to guy for computer stuff. Can get annoying, except for friends who return the favours in countless ways. I'm well aware that computers are very easy to deal with when you know how, so it's not a huge thing to help those who appreciate it.

One thing I learned quickly after becoming a programmer is that the more friends you have the more unpaid work you're gonna do.  I'm staying away now and I only do it for very very good friends who help me with other things.

My Dad was very into hi-fi and back in the 60s this meant more than plugging stuff together if you were interested in doing it properly. It was wiring amplifiers, configuring speakers and simply having an ear for a well setup audio system. His friends would all come to him to set up theirs. As I said above, that's a good thing. But he did get fed up of others just assuming he'd do it for them, especially those who thought they knew more and kept screwing up. So he simply starting charging a nominal amount. They stopped asking! 

[Halo2]

I also am the go-to computer repair person for family and friends. I've been luck that it has mostly been for those that appreciate it and return the favor in many other ways. Those that don't, I'm slow in responding, slow in completing and make them buy all their own software/hardware.

[Alien Redrum]

I'm the called person for PCs, too, but I no longer help just anyone, only close friends.

My old roommate's friend had a PC problem and asked me (via my roommate) if I would take a look at it. I gave the roomie a price and she was surprised. She said, "But you like working on computers," to which I replied, "No, I get paid to work on computers. You do accounting at work, so do you want to do my friend's taxes?"

Needless to say, none of her friends asked me again. 

(The roomie completely understood where I was coming from, and it was a relief to her, too, since apparently a few of her friends were asking me to "look at" their PCs, and once she told them what I charged, they let her be. Win/win. )

[kahless]

I'm working in the Global ICT department of a shipping company. Therefore some colleagues and friends seem to expect 24/7 support for their private pc's and electronic devices. In general I only help close family members and very best friends!

[snowcat]

  Not so much computers my brother is often called for those, my dad for TVs but I am always called when it comes to Cameras!

My grandad is 80 now (81 next month) Everytime I see him he asks how to do something on his camera.... something I have probably explained the week before  drives me crazy when im there.

[Tom]

Luckily most of my friends are computer savvy people. In the past on the other hand I was the one to call when having computer trouble.

Nowadays there are mostly two people left which call for assistance. One is my dad when he is having "Excel trouble" ("I need a makro which does this.", "How can I achieve that?").
The other is a uncle who has bought a used PC years ago which was outdated even then (600 Mhz, I think) and refuses to buy a proper one, but expects everything to work on that one. Installing stuff there is horrible. Not much disc space, not much RAM and reeaaalllyy slow. Luckily he calls first on my brother when having trouble now. I probably have said "No" too often 

[Kathy]

I am the last person anyone would call.

[Najemikon]

After the help and advice you've given on here, Kathy, I hope that isn't true. Ok, not for computer crap, but I mean for more important stuff, like... "life".

[RossRoy]

I'm the go to guy around here. But I've fixed it somewhat. I started charging for my services.

Oh not much, just a nice dinner and/or lunch will do

[KinkyCyborg]

I'm always getting calls for help with computers and electronics. My biggest non-paying customer? My father... He likes to tinker with his computer and manages to bugger something up at least once a week. The problem is he thinks he knows about computers which makes him twice as ignorant. You can easily gauge his level of knowledge with computers after you see him try to pronounce CPU, GHZ, HTML and PDF like they are actual words... 

Gotta love him.

KC

[MEJHarrison]

I used to be the go to guy for computer stuff.  I must have been too crabby because people eventually stopped bugging me so much.

[Touti]

I'm the go to guy around here. But I've fixed it somewhat. I started charging for my services.

Oh not much, just a nice dinner and/or lunch will do

A girl at work kept coming to me for help because she couldn't get her PC to recognize her new printer.  I kept telling her there's nothing I can do unless I have access to it but she didn't want to bring the PC and printer at work.

I told her she can invite me over for dinner, nothing fancy, that we could even order pizza and that I'd look at it but she declined which I found a bit insulting and it made me feel like crap to be honest.

Then a few months after a guy from work comes to see me with a video RCA cable in his hand.  That's all he has with him and he asks me if he can use it to connect his camera to his PC.  He says he has the plug for it on the camera but not on the Laptop.  I'm assuming he wants to use the Video Out feature so I try to explain him that he needs a video capture board and if his laptop doesn't have it then he has to purchase one and that a USB capture box would be the best choice.  Nope, doesn't want to spend money so then he asks me if he can connect it to his TV and I tell him yes, it's gonna work but he doesn't seem to be happy with that.  So he keeps asking, and I keep telling him that he needs to buy a video capture device.  The jerk left my office saying "I don't like your answer, I regret asking you, I'm gonna ask John".

So this is it, these people have so much respect for me and my competence that one won't invite me over to fix her problems and the other trusts me so much that if he doesn't like my answer he goes and ask someone else ?  Guess what kind of answer people get when they come to me with their problems now.

I only help my mom.

And fyi, the idiot wanted to use his laptop to set the date and time in his camera.