#actually idk why i’m saying ‘use an external keyboard’

[ladytauria]

RIP laptop keyboard, you will be missed

[master-sass-blast]

Weekly Wrambles

...Hi.

(Yes, I know that’s not how you spell “rambles.” It’s for humor.)

So, uh, I know I’ve been pretty quiet for a while. That’s mostly due to needing to take time away from Tumblr so I can actually get things done, and also injuring my arm/shoulder/back when I my laptop’s ‘c’ key went out, forcing me to move to an external keyboard, which threw everything out of whack in my body -yeah.

I have a functioning laptop again, and it occurred to me that I should probably try to interact more with my followers here, generate some content, and practice talking about my projects instead of just posting them and then disappearing.

Bear with me. I’m very shy. (Putting the rest under a cut so it isn’t an assault on the dash.)

CHC Updates: The CHC is still going. I had to stop basically all writing and computer things when I hurt my arm -which was TORTURE--so I haven’t made near as much progress as I wanted. However, I’m still working on stockpiling fics on the weekends. Right now, I’m working on Children of the Gods Part Three, and I’ve got about... four (maybe idk I’m not gonna try and count right now) filler fics done, too.

Do you guys want update posts for word counts/how many fics I have stocked up? I might try doing something like that anyway, but I’m curious to know what y’all want to see.

E-Reader Stuff: I am going to try and make some E-Readers that I could put on Amazon for $2-$3 to earn some passive income. Dunno when I’ll fit writing them into my schedule but... yeah.

I think the ones I’ll start introducing first... are probably the Wild West Magic Using Cowboys/Cowgirls/Cowthems Steampunk thing, the Futuristic Steampunk Cruise Ships in the Sky Love Story that’s Sorta Ala Titantic but Not Tragic, and “DOLLS” (the only one I have a title for oops), which is a dystopian futuristic fic about beauty influencers/entertainers if it was a competitive “class” where they were filmed 24/7 for content... yeah.

A lot of my stories (fanfic, e-reader, or otherwise) are queer focused or inclusive. I’m working on educating myself so that they can be racially inclusive as well (but in a positive, respectful way, of course). If that appeals to you... cool.

(Idk what to say. Why was I made so awkward.)

Novel stuff: I’m also working on a novel series, of which the first book is called “Game On.” It’s kind of a fantasy/sci-fi fusion thing, or as I like to call it, “thinly veiled political/social commentary.” It’s got a main series that’s probably around eight to nine books and some sides series/spin-offs that focus on other prominent characters in the universe, too. I’ve actually got some art of the first main character/narrator (the main series is broken up into two mini parts that have two different narrators, don’t ask me why I did this to myself):

Her name’s Lola -and, yes, she has purple hair and silver eyes. This is because I designed her when I was fourteen, and, honestly? I stand by it. CHARACTER DESIGN SHOULD BE F U N!

She also has special powers.

I can already hear the Mary-Sue comments coming lol.

(She’s a “Glitch,” which --in the universe--means that she gains experience and abilities quickly and has some select abilities; in her case, that includes empathic abilities (her strongest ability) and abilities to make a basic “shield” around her body and fire some energy bolts from her hands (more “defensive” abilities, ala snakes having venom or hedgehogs having spikes).

Anywho. This is just me... trying to be less shy about my various projects. I normally don’t like to share things before they’re completely done because... it feels rude? Somehow? Like, I’m somehow promising a certain product, and then if I can’t deliver it in the time frame or to the scale I promised, that I failed?

I don’t know. But I do know that I want to share my stuff more. So here I am.

Yeah

Tagging my friends and CHC taglist for this to try and get a little traction on this. Want to be added or removed? Just DM me. (If I missed you, I’m sorry; I’m very tired lol.)

@chromecutie​, @marvelhead17​, @marvel-is-perfection​, @leo-writer​, @ginghampearlsnsweettea​, @lolofangirl​, @emma-frxst​, @dandyqueen​, @super-darkcloudstudent​, @girl-obsessed-with-things​, @sadstone-s​, @rovvboat​, @candle-light-writings​

[salt-sass-and-lyrium]

Working in tech support has given me a new found hatred of Baby Boomers

Long post.

Okay so, I work for lawyers, many of whom are boomers. And while as a whole I don’t have a huge problem with either group, sometimes the combination are just... fucking disastrous.

Take for example the call I just got off of a few minutes ago. Guy calls in because when he’s typing in his password, backspace is registering as a character.

Only, it took me a few minutes to get that out of him, because when he called, the conversion went kinda like this:

Me: *generic greeting* What can I help you with? Guy: I can’t log into my computer Me: *waits a moment, realizes he’s not going to say more than that* Me: Okay. What’s happening when you try and log in? Guy: *presumably hits something on the keyboard, I don’t know because I’m not there* That’s what happens Me: Okay. I’m not on your screen right now (we can remote in with users once they’re logged in, many boomers seem to think that as soon as they call in we’re immediately on their computers) so I can’t see what you’re seeing. What’s happening? Guy: *literally does the exact same thing, hits something on the keyboard, and angrily says* THAT’S what’s happening Me: *repeats myself* Guy: It’s just *he’s typing or something I guess, sounds like he’s just bamming on the keyboard at this point* It’s doing... that Me: *internally screaming* Guy: (FUCKING FINALLY) When I hit backspace, I get a dot Me: Oh. Okay. So instead of deleting it’s acting like you’re typing a letter? Guy: Yeah. Me: Okay. This can be caused by a few different things

Now. There’s no standard required ‘set up’ for the computers at the firm. People have different model laptops, desktop, docking stations, some have external keyboards (both wired and wireless), all sorts of other equipment, etc, and we have NO info on who has what

Me: Are you on a laptop in a docking station, or on a desktop? Guy: Laptop in a docking station.

So, idk why, but with our docking stations, if the wifi is on while the laptop is in it, it tends to cause all sorts of issues. So, I wanted him to reboot to make sure his keyboard is connected and the issue isn’t that his computer has been on for like 6 months (true story happens all the fucking time).

Me: Okay. Can you make sure your wifi is switched off, and then reboot your laptop? I just want to make sure it’s connecting properly. Guy: *angrily* I don’t know what you mean about wifi.

Which, is an annoyingly common occurrence. Without fail almost every boomer I talk to has no grasp of what wifi is, or anything involving the physical laptop itself. NBD, there’s only 2 ways it can manually be turned off and on on the laptops we use

Me: That’s fine. Depending on which  model laptop you have, there is either a physical switch you can toggle off and on on the side of the laptop itself, or one of the F/Function keys on the laptops keyboard will have a wifi/cell signal icon on it.

Guy: *getting more angry, now talking to me like I’m the stupid one* I can’t into the computer, what do you mean get to the function keys? How am I supposed to get to the function keys?? Me: Can you lift the laptop lid up and see the laptop’s keyboard? Guy: *like I’m saying the dumbest thing ever* Uh. Yeah. Me: *SCREAMING INTERNALLY* Okay, lift the laptop lid up and look at the F keys along the top of the keyboard. You don’t need to log in in order to do this. Guy: *literally shouting at this point* I DON’T KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS.

If you’ve ever worked in customer service, you may have heard the concept of the ‘CD Skip’, which is ‘just repeat the same thing over and over again, because it’s not that you’re saying something that doesn’t make sense, they’re just refusing to hear it’

Me: *repeats myself* Guy: That doesn’t-- Me: It may also be a toggle along the side of the physical laptop itself, depending on what model laptop you have. I don’t have that information, but it’s in one of those two spots Guy: *starts sputtering and shouting at me* YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU KNOW WHAT YOU LITTLE-- (I can hear the ‘bitch’ hanging on his tongue but he stops himself) I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS. I HAVE WORK TO DO! Me to me: Good luck doing that without being able to log in or backspace Me: I’m just asking you to ensure your wifi is off and reboot your machine to make sure everything is connecting-- Guy: THIS IS STUPID I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS I HAVE AN ACTUAL JOB TO DO (because tech support isn’t a real job, apparently) I’LL CALL YOU LATER *slams phone down*

Now. This shit happens all the fucking time. At least once a day I get a boomer who gets violently angry because I ask them to do something remarkably simple. And I don’t mean “simple to people who grew up  using technology” I mean simple like “Hey, there’s a glowing button on your monitor, right?” “Yeah” “Push it” “*angry confused ranting*”.

And I specify boomers, because I almost never have this issue with younger employees. I say “can you make sure your wifi is switched off” and they either 1. Know how to turn it off and on or 2. can follow the simple instructions of looking for a switch and looking on the F keys.

The main issues seem to pretty much stem from these bullshitteries: 1. A refusal to understand that something can be done in more than one way. I’ve literally had people screaming at me that I was breaking their computer because I went to file > print and didn’t just click the printer icon 2. A refusal to learn about the device they’re using: ESPECIALLY with smart phones. They’ll learn how to do something like make a call and check an email, but heaven forbid you ask them to turn the phone off and on or uninstall an app (seriously had an attorney screaming at me because he didn’t know how to click on the app store to download an app) 3. A refusal to understand that not every inconvenience is a HUGE issue (this is often the ‘my computer was slow for .5 seconds’/ is running slow but my computer has been on for 6+ months crowd) 4. A refusal to comprehend that there’s some things they don’t know how to do 5. A refusal to understand that just because you don’t know how to do something, doesn’t mean it’s broken (I once had a ridiculously long call with a lady-who wouldn’t let me remote in with her-who kept insisting that her PDF program was malfunctioning and wouldn’t let her convert PDFs, and getting angry and lying about following my troubleshooting steps and screaming that there must be something wrong with her computer. When in reality it turned out that she didn’t know how to convert PDFs and instead of admitting that, she just kept saying that the program wasn’t working. There’s literally a big “CONVERT PDF TO WORD” button, but w/e).  6. A refusal to think critically or troubleshoot. I get a lot of REALLY stupid issues like “My computer says I need to restart it to install updates” “Okay, what happens when you restart it?” “WELL HOW I WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW TO DO THAT?” or “This document won’t open when I click on it” “Have you tried clicking on it again?” “Well, no.” or “The printer says it’s out of paper” “Have you put paper in it?” “No!”.

7. A refusal to follow simple instructions

And knowing all of this, it just fucking irks me that Boomers scream about how entitled millennials are, but they literally can’t grasp that the world doesn’t work the way they want it to. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN I HAVE TO PUT PAPER INTO THE PRINTER? I SHOULDN’T HAVE TO HIT THE CONVERT PDF BUTTON TO CONVERT PDFS!!” “WHY CAN’T YOU JUST GIVE ME THIS ITEM FOR FREE?????”

In my customer service experience, when you tell a millennial how something works or store policy or when something can/can’t be done, usually so long as you’re polite about it, they’re polite about it. But when you tell a boomer that their coupon is expired or that they’ll have to wait an extra 5 minutes if they want fresh fries, they lose their fucking shit. Drives me up the wall how a boomer will one minute be asking for help opening a goddamn email, but then .5 seconds go on about how lazy and entitled millenials are.

/rant