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Fixing Macs door to door

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Re: Fixing Macs door to door

#141

Post by AtiRadeon9700 »

SoKamil wrote: post #137
Jonmade wrote: post #118

Reading these stories about fixing Macs in the 90s is like unearthing a treasure trove of tech lore. Who would have thought that a day job could lead to encounters with high society, complete with inkjet printers turning into unexpected smoke machines, and a twist of fate leading to a starring role in the world of digital piracy? It's fascinating how these tales intertwine technology with the thrill of adventure, alm…

Did you use LLM to write this comment? It felt a little bit unnatural to my eye so I put it into gptzero and it spit out a 91% of probability that this was generated.

Lol, I had the exact same thought. There's something.. Off about its writing style; reminds me of marketing copy or 'HR speak'.

Re: Fixing Macs door to door

#142

Post by Cyphase »

gorlilla wrote: post #102
KennyBlanken wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just a PSA (not trying to harp on parent commenter, just taking their comment as an opportunity to soapbox) but never, ever, every go into a room or building that is getting smokey from something burning. It's how you N+1 the casualty/death count in a fire. Unlike the heroes in films and movies, you don't have Plot Armor. It is incredibly common that people think they can just go back in holding their breath or stay…

We just had a house fire over the holidays. It started in the basement, I was to the flames in 10 seconds, using an extinguisher another 5-6 seconds later. That failed... I spent another 30 seconds scrambling for anything that might suffocate the flames.... then I had to get out. I was 'upwind' of how the flames were spreading, but was not prepared for the power to suddenly cut out in a room now quickly filling with…

Sorry to hear that, that's awful. I'm glad you (and everyone else hopefully) made it out (relatively) safely.

Re: Fixing Macs door to door

#143

Post by wkat4242 »

KennyBlanken wrote: post #67
wkat4242 wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did that too, worked for a computer shop and often got hired by clients. Never got offered sex on lieu of payment unfortunately, I would have taken it :) Nor drugs but I don't do those.

It's almost never the attractive, talented, or regularly-tested-for-STIs-and-STI-free ones that offer the sex...

Understood but I always use protection anyway.

And when I did this kind of work I was a shy horny teenager so I wouldn't have cared about looks :P

Re: Fixing Macs door to door

#144

Post by freedomben »

KennyBlanken wrote: post #67
wkat4242 wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did that too, worked for a computer shop and often got hired by clients. Never got offered sex on lieu of payment unfortunately, I would have taken it :) Nor drugs but I don't do those.

It's almost never the attractive, talented, or regularly-tested-for-STIs-and-STI-free ones that offer the sex...

Indeed. A friend of mine did work in a small town hard-hit by the changing economy, and multiple times had offers of sex (more commonly oral sex) in lieu of payment (or partial payment). If you're not picky then some of these people have a lot of experience and are good at what they do. But if toothless/meth-toothed people, usually not recently showered, and sometimes with a fair amount of extra weight is something that will be a problem for you, then it's not going to be as appealing as it initially sounds. On the (maybe) plus side they won't make you wear a condom. On the negative side, they didn't make anybody else either...

Much better (IMHO) to put in the time and effort to cultivate a loving long-term relationship with a good partner.

Re: Fixing Macs door to door

#145

Post by waltwalther »

This is a great read! I am fifty years old now, but for many years during my twenties I supported myself as a one-man Mac/PC repair shop...in a college town. I made house calls almost everyday, and every evening was spent in my home shop working on drop-offs.

I got to meet a ton of different people. There were the computer-illiterate business owners with ridiculous expectations; the lonely middle-aged guys with esoteric hobbies who talked my ear off; the single moms on a tight budget raising three kids; the ultra rich people wanting to keep a ten-year-old PC alive; the author who had lost years of data and would pay "whatever it takes"; the religious father with gigs of porn; the helpless college students whose lack of basic computer knowledge actually impressed me....and more

This was like a trip down memory lane. Great read. Thanks for sharing!

Re: Fixing Macs door to door

#146

Post by Cyphase »

intrasight wrote: post #20

That was the most fun thing I've read all year. I know we're not very far into the year but I do read a lot. Just an example about a parent requesting tracking be installed on her daughter's phone "One girl waited until her mom left the room to casually turn to me and say 'I will pay you $500 to lie to my mom and say you set this up'." I was offended that this 15 year old thought she could buy me, in large part becau…

  s/year. I know we're not very far into the year but I do read a lot./week, and I read a lot./
FTFY ;)

Re: Fixing Macs door to door

#147

Post by waltwalther »

gorlilla wrote: post #102
KennyBlanken wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just a PSA (not trying to harp on parent commenter, just taking their comment as an opportunity to soapbox) but never, ever, every go into a room or building that is getting smokey from something burning. It's how you N+1 the casualty/death count in a fire. Unlike the heroes in films and movies, you don't have Plot Armor. It is incredibly common that people think they can just go back in holding their breath or stay…

We just had a house fire over the holidays. It started in the basement, I was to the flames in 10 seconds, using an extinguisher another 5-6 seconds later. That failed... I spent another 30 seconds scrambling for anything that might suffocate the flames.... then I had to get out. I was 'upwind' of how the flames were spreading, but was not prepared for the power to suddenly cut out in a room now quickly filling with…

Wow. I am sorry to hear that. Glad you are ok, and hope no one was hurt.

Re: Fixing Macs door to door

#148

Post by hexagonwin »

SoKamil wrote: post #137
Jonmade wrote: post #118

Reading these stories about fixing Macs in the 90s is like unearthing a treasure trove of tech lore. Who would have thought that a day job could lead to encounters with high society, complete with inkjet printers turning into unexpected smoke machines, and a twist of fate leading to a starring role in the world of digital piracy? It's fascinating how these tales intertwine technology with the thrill of adventure, alm…

Did you use LLM to write this comment? It felt a little bit unnatural to my eye so I put it into gptzero and it spit out a 91% of probability that this was generated.

Had the exact same thought as well. It just.. kinda feels off.

Re: Fixing Macs door to door

#149

Post by qingcharles »

smith7018 wrote: post #131
qingcharles wrote: post #48

I did this in the mid 90s. It was really fun to see inside a lot of rich people's houses, the sort that have libraries so big they need those ladders with wheels on to scoot around. I was hit on by several bored housewives, including one that answered the door in her open robe. One American woman had brought her inkjet from the USA and I hooked it up to a decent convertor, but it wasn't one that converted the frequen…

I also did this in the 2000s and while it was fun to peer into their lives, the amount of porn I was forced to see on elderly people's machines was... not great. Especially during those rare occurrences where they wanted to watch what I was doing to "learn how to use the computer." Just awkward all around.

It's weird, I must have repaired hundreds of computers. Hundreds of backups, reinstalls, but never once did I come across any porn. This was around 1995 though, so it was very early days of the Internet, and pre-digital cameras.

Now, in the early 2000s I had to buy dozens of smartphones to test out an SMS relay (SMSC). I bought them all on eBay. Like 70% of them had homemade porn of the owners on them still...!

Re: Fixing Macs door to door

#150

Post by wkat4242 »

freedomben wrote: post #144
KennyBlanken wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's almost never the attractive, talented, or regularly-tested-for-STIs-and-STI-free ones that offer the sex...

Indeed. A friend of mine did work in a small town hard-hit by the changing economy, and multiple times had offers of sex (more commonly oral sex) in lieu of payment (or partial payment). If you're not picky then some of these people have a lot of experience and are good at what they do. But if toothless/meth-toothed people, usually not recently showered, and sometimes with a fair amount of extra weight is something t…

Uhm if you're fixing PCs as I did you don't end up working for meth-toothed people :P

Maybe not the most attractive people no, but regular middle-class people at the very least. Especially when you were fixing macs which were even more premium priced here in Europe back then than they are now. I fixed all sorts of stuff but I would not have marginalised clients.

I guess it's also why I didn't get such offers :P I didn't charge a lot so people could pay my fees easily.

In fact I think sensitivity to paying money (or receiving financial incentives) is more of a US thing. Only last month I spoke to a fairly rich American guy because a friend asked me about a problem he was having with his WiFi. I gave him some advice and he offered me money to come to his place and sort it out myself. I said no, because I already have a day job (enterprise architect) and I just don't want the responsibility. Once I start taking money it comes with expectations to show up if something goes wrong. So I help friends for free but that's it (and he was only a friend of a friend). I don't mind giving some advice but actually going there and taking care of his stuff is a bridge too far. I have zero entrepreneurial spirit anyway, I'm a typical "salaried employee" and happy with that.

The guy was a bit offended, he said that in the US everyone would be eager to do some work for money on the side and here he's always having issues getting IT help. His way of finding such help is apparently talking to friends and offering them money then. It surprised me a bit. I don't think many people here would be too eager to do that.

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