Tech Support with My Parents

My folks computer was dying. I was hoping it would outlive them, but those stubborn old bastards continue to breathe. I was dreading them getting a new computer because, as you know, I am their tech support. A new computer means new everything. Thankfully they just...

An hour. An hour of life I will never get back. What was I doing for that hour? Being tech support for my 81 year old mother and 82 year old father. Too early in the day to start drinking. Or is it?   Yesterday, my mother's email stopped working. The way she described...

These are the type of computer updates I fear most. Ones that break my ability to see my parent's computer screen. That update/fear came true today. A day which will go down in history as the day the internet stood still and my blood pressure reached a level only...

Another call from my 81 year old dad who cannot get on the internet. He restarted the computer and his DSL modem. Yes DSL, one step up from dialup and two from smoke signals. He called me on his cell phone then proceeded to put it on "speaker" so he could type and...

Holy fuck! (Which is apparently a fuck blessed by a priest, but that is besides the point).   Just spent an HOUR on the phone with my 81 year old dad helping him order something on Amazon.com.   Yesterday, he went to Amazon as he always does, and how I am just finding...

5 hrs of total driving, 256 miles driven, and 9 hours of tech support (there was a dinner shoved in there at some point) for my 80 year old parents. Their new iMac is up and running. My mother is no longer recording a TV soap opera she likes to watch by going into her...

My dad called me because he got an email from Amazon.com after attempting to buy me a gift card from the site for Christmas. He was concerned that he did it incorrectly. The way he described what he did sounded like he had actually redeemed the Amazon.com gift card to...

My dad calls with a problem "downloading" music. After identifying that the problem was a syncing problem between iMac and iPhone, we then had this exchange:   Dad: I notice that Patsy Cline is on the computer...   Me: I know what the problem is.   Dad: ...and when I...

Lovely. After driving to my folks (2.5hrs each way) and working on their computer for 3+ hrs. And then changing my dad's gmail password today, I have successfully broken our remote connection where I can troubleshoot their computer from afar(see their screen and move...

Voicemail from my dad this morning about his gmail account. We created a gmail account for him to use with software that allows me to access his computer remotely. He got an email that someone tried to get into the account yesterday while I was at their home working...

Today: 2.5hrs driving to my folks. 3.5hrs getting their computer up to date and humming. I managed to keep them away from me while I worked. Although my dad again tried to help. This time he wanted to inform me about Bruce Springsteen's record breaking show. "Kirk did...

Another fun tech support call with my 79 year old dad. My 9 year old nephew is visiting. He and my 77 year old mom went parasailing. Go mom! Well the company gave them a disc with photos. Dad put it in computer. Nothing. Put it in DVD player. Nothing. So he calls me....

Just got a call from my dad. He claims I broke Netflix. Oh, the power I wield. I upgraded their computer so we could once again video chat, not that I need to see their ugly mugs, or them mine, but so that I could once again see their computer screen. So he went to...

Most of my computer help with my parents involves a stiff drink for me beforehand. Today, I need to be sober because I am driving 2 1/2hrs to do some onsite repair. Shannon Miller-Lutz, please have the keg ordered and chilled for me when I get home tonight.

Just saw a Nasacort commercial that said it "stops more of what makes you miserable". I'll be taking it the next time my folks call me for tech support.

Another tech support call with the Bickersons (my parents). I have lost the ability to see their screen remotely so I feel like I am guiding Hellen Keller through a mine field. I'm trying to tell my dad what to do while my mother yells in his other ear that he is...

That horrible feeling when you teach your 76 year old mother how to delete an email knowing she will eventually delete her inbox, email app, and possibly computer by accident. Just waiting for the call, "This god damn computer deleted all my email". Always the...

My parents have been on Entourage for years for their email. I know that Entourage sucks because it stores everything in a single file and if that file gets corrupted, they lose everything. I set them up with a backup drive that they never have on. Well Entourage...

After yet another tech call with my parents where I ended up losing my cool I sent them this email: For me to keep my sanity and in effort to not yell at you guys, I’d like to implement these rules before you ask for help: 1) Call me on my office phone since we know...

Just spent an hour on chat with my 75 year old mother being tech support. Utterly maddening. One of her issues was with an excel file a friend sent her that was getting cut off when printed. Her friend came over(before my mom called me) to try and help. Now we have...

So my dad (77) texts me that the flashlight on his iPhone came on and he couldn't turn it off. I called him and told him to swipe from the bottom of the screen up to reveal a menu. He did. I told him to click on the flashlight icon to turn it off. He said, "I don't...

Another tech support question with my mother. I need a drink. I ask, "Is the Excel document you want me to look at up on your screen?". (Her internet is flaky so I cannot share her screen) Her answer, "I don't want to lose my document". Me, "I understand that, is the...

On the phone with my bank. Apparently they hired grandma Moses as an operator. I'm all for hiring the elderly, but she seems to have the same computer skills as my 75 year old mother. Which means none. Every time I ask a question, she pauses for several minutes while...

Being tech support for my 70+ year old parents is one of the most maddening things I have ever done. 3 year olds can work a mouse better than my mother. She really should stay off the computer and stick to what she knows, the telegraph and homing pigeons.

As if I am not irritable enough from lack of sleep I am now trying to guide my 76 year old father through setting up email on his iPhone. One of the many reasons I want to buy a gun.

Somehow my parents screwed up their wifi. They are both in their seventies and computer illiterate. My mother curses at the computer and my dad randomly tries all the wrong things screwing up the computer more. All of this happens over a week of calling me to solve...

The other day I'm video chatting with my 75 year old dad when my 74 year old mother wanders past the camera in her bra. I of course point this out to my dad who explains to her that I can see her. Does she run off screen and throw on a shirt? Hell no. She walks up to...

So my dad gets a new iPhone. He's 75 and while completely computer illiterate, he's slightly better than my mother who always blames the "god damn computer" for all her user errors. Anyway, dad is excited about his iPhone which means "Kirk Tech Support" will be...