New FuMP: "Tech Support For Dad"

[filkertom]

Aaaand my first one comes up.

Comments

[foenix.livejournal.com]

I feel your pain. Or the pain expressed in the song.

I'm completely unable to walk people through diagnosing their problems over the phone, because it seems like so much stuff has been done to their system, I have no idea what's running and causing problems, and get so quickly annoyed trying to get them to do simple things...

And almost every problem I encounter can be summed up by, "Oh, I haven't done any updates, am I supposed to?" Be that to Windows itself, their antivirus, spyware scanners, etc etc...

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I have found that it works best if you can [a] get them to a stable running point, [b] convince them not to open spam, and [c] tell them NEVER TO INSTALL ANYTHING EVER AGAIN without asking you first. Most people of my dad's generation don't seem to be interested in cruising dubious web sites or going all gonzo on the newest games or graphics programs. If you've got a multimedia enthusiast you could have problems -- although, come to think of it, someone who's willing to sit down and learn Movie Maker or anything trickier will likely be more computer savvy in the first place....

[druidsfire.livejournal.com]

If I hadn't already graciously said breakmanz could have the Dementia Radio premiere tonight, I'd have called dibs in five seconds. Brilliant stuff, as usual, Tom. :)

[the-s-guy.livejournal.com]

Reminds me of the time I flew interstate to visit the parents for a week. Started cleaning up their PC the same night I walked in the door and finished removing the last virus an hour before I had to leave for the plane home.

"Vacation", they call it.

[hitchkitty.livejournal.com]

Oy, had that happen to me. Visited my grandparents, whom I make a point of not seeing, for reasons that will become clear later, over the holidays.

FIRST WORDS to me when I walk in the door: "TV's busted."

The next few minutes involved: a phone call to an automated tech support line (that did not respond to touchtone buttons); a visit to the company website (that didn't list that model); plenty of exasperation.

So, after I fail to fix their VCR/DVD/Cable box setup -- oh, by the way, I'm a computer programmer, not a cable tech -- I get razzed for making the situation worse (it wasn't; functional state when I'd walked in the door had by this point been restored).

My response, "Well, I'm sorry to be such a disappointment to you. I realize the only reason you invited me over, on Christmas, was to have free tech support. I'll be out of your hair in a moment, and you can call someone competent."

Ah, family.

[fuuberry.livejournal.com]

Reminds me of my boyfriend's mother.. we've watched her sit there, merrily clicking pop-ups before. Last Thanksgiving, we cleaned out her computer and discovered 382 folders in her Programs folder... She needed 5 of them, the rest was junk she'd let install.

Then again, one of my grandmothers has a phobia of the computer we bought her. My father and I each spent about 10 hours, seperately, trying to teach her how to check and respond to e-mail, with her taking very careful notes. As soon as we left, she never touched it again.

[hitchkitty.livejournal.com]

Loving the icon. The Dark Crystal, isn't it?

[fuuberry.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I love it, too. And, yes, it's Dark Crystal.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

That was me, last September. Threw off my entire fall schedule, and I'm only just recovering in time to drive down to Florida again....

[kirylyn.livejournal.com]

Florida??

sooner than Oasis???

I went to one Oasis a couple years back just to see you but driving up from Miami took longer than it should have and I missed your performance by about an hour :'(

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

All personal, no performance. Oasis this May will be performance. IF PETER POPOVICH EVER GETS BACK TO ME, HINT HINT. :)

[sunfell.livejournal.com]

I suppose that I should be grateful that my Dad refuses to have a computer. But my cousins and sister make up for that. And some of my colleagues...

I'm pretty good at phone diagnosis, but sometimes it's so hosed up that I want to tell them to take it outside and shoot it. At least I can reimage the ones at work.

[wormquartet.livejournal.com]

Holy pope-smuggling supernugget, this is AWESOME. And you even threw in a shot at Adam Sandler, thus endearing you to me even further. This whole damned thing's clever as hell, and I can totally relate to it. I have a friend who's about as computer-literate as the average Q-tip, and he just recently asked me how HE can sell things on eBay. This is a guy who had trouble typing in a web address I read to him over the phone because he actually typed out the word "slash" for every slash I read him.

Anyway, yeah. One of my favorite songs by you ever. Thanks for sharing it with the FuMP.

ONE UBER-PRESUMPTUOUS SUGGESTION: "myspace page" would've been funnier than "web page" in the last line.

-=ShoEboX=-

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Many thanks, ace. Re: suggestion, though, I wanted to make it something a] really common and [b] really frought with peril -- setting up a MySpace page is roughly as tricky as setting up an ebay account, which still is no walk in the park no matter what they tell you, but with "set[ting] up a web page" you start with "what is it gonna be for", "what are you going to have on it" etc., proceed to "where are you going to have it online", and then head towards "how do you build it" by way of "who's going to maintain it, Mom or me?"...

[wormquartet.livejournal.com]

Point taken. I was merely thinking a myspace page would leave more of a "what the hell is she going to DO with it?" question open.

-=ShoEboX=-

[darkwolf69.livejournal.com]

You nailed it, as usual.

But there's actually a worse situation than this:

I built a computer... for my mother in law. I thought to myself, "Well, I have to support her computer, it might as well be one I built."

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT.

Now, not only do I have to FIX the problems, but as far as she's concerned, I'M the one who CAUSED them.

*headdesk*

[lothie.livejournal.com]

*ADORE*

[tigertoy.livejournal.com]

I downloaded it. I haven't heard it, but it's already helped me -- as soon as I started to play it, my call which was very important to them was actually picked up, and I stopped the player so I could deal with that, and then had to leave for work. (It would be funnier if said call had actually been for tech support, but I must confess I was actually making a hotel reservation.)

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Tom - I didn't know how else to get this to you - but it looks like someone took Fenton too much to heart (http://www.blacksheep-themovie.com/Black%20Sheep%20Trailer.mov).

This *has* to be a gag, right?

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

No. It is real. And, sorry, but you're the 38th person -- I went back and counted... LJ postings, e-mails, and two phone calls -- who has told me about this.

Aiee.

[wwetuesday.livejournal.com]

This song makes me glad that my parents have ZERO interest in learning computers. I'll never have to go through that.

[hms42]

Tom - How did you guess the phone call I got Wed from my mother???

Her email was broken (ISP at fault) for about 24 hours and she was going nuts!!!

After 3 phone calls via relatives who have the primary account, she finally got the hint and left me alone.

Harold

[wildcard9.livejournal.com]

I've been in this situation. In fact, I live close enough to my parents that I have to occassionally go over to their house to fix their computer. Not fun in any way, shape, or form. 3 Dead Trolls in a Baggie said it best: keep your parents off the internet!

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Will there be a way to listen before downloading, so we can find out whether we want to buy?

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Actually, yes. First things first: For as long as a song is on the MySpace page (two weeks), you can listen to it without having to download it. Second, either at TheFuMP.com or the MySpace page, the 128 Kbps download is free. Third, once a song goes into the FuMP Archive (call it three weeks), there will be a Flash player version for you to listen to. You can see how this works right now -- Shoebox's "C Is For Lettuce" is there.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Ah, I didn't know about the MySpace option - thanks! Love the new song! :-) (I'm just a little fussy about downloading things.)

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

No prob, Elke. [hugs] I'm curious -- is it a bandwidth thing, or a dear-God-who-needs-b.s.-on-my-computer thing? Because I'm quite sure The FuMP's MP3s are as spyware-and-adware-laden as mine, i.e., completely clean and in fact kinda boring....

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

That's an "a" at the end, not an "e"... :-) But thanks for the hug. {hug back} It is very much the latter - I just don't like to clutter up my computer with stuff I don't really like or need. Habit from when we had less space available.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry, Elka. By now, I should have your darn name right....

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

That's OK, Tim... :-)

I just have one question...

[pickledcritter.livejournal.com]

Did you have someone wiretap my phone? You must have, because that is almost word for word my conversations with Pickle's dad :).

As a matter of fact, whenever I hear "Peter Lorre", I mentally replace "The bane of my existence/are the movies that I see" with "The bane of my existence/Is my father-in-law's PC" :) :)

[ladysoapmaker.livejournal.com]

I love the song. Since I have done tech support for an ISP located in the south and I lived in Ohio, I have learned to explain tech stuff to people over the phone so I can relate. REALLY REALLY WELL. I'm lucky though my dad knows how to use a computer and doesn't do stupid things. Mom on the other hand... Thank goodness she's got a Mac now. And she hasn't been able to screw it up, yet.