I am lacking with the posting, I know.
I've considered posting about my latest project, building a MythTV setup. I could write on last weekends festivities, drinking around my best friends firepit for the last time and how that makrs the end of an era I'm truly sad to see go. I want to move out, I want to go just absoulutely hardcore at work, so much I could write about, but righ tnow, there's only one thing I want to cover in this post.
I spent my evening rebuilding a computer for a family I know. Now... if there's anything thats irked me in the last year it's been doing free tech work. Partially because everyone asks, mostly because I almost always give in. This was different. Their kids would come by where I used to work. I got to know them pretty well over the year and a bit I worked there, and they've followed me to my new place of employ. The family doesn't have a lot of money and their mom does everything she can for them. So when a number of months back she brought their computer in I did everything I could to make it last as long as possible. Unfortunately the motherboard decided to let out the magic smoke a week ago, and I spent some time trying to find a replacement for it. Nothing I had would play nice. After pulling her hard drive out of her old machine, as well as a few miscelaneous cards, I sent her computer to the eco-centre this morning.
I brought what useful parts she had home, as well as an old cd burner I'd snagged out of another machine destined for the eco-center and I started rebuilding their machine after I got home from work. Now, most people think I'm insane. I'll put in 8-12 hours at work yelling at other peoples computers, then come home and sit infront of mine. Ignoring that, I spent some time this evening rebuilding this machine, and the entire time there was only one thing on my mind.
What are they going to make of my doing this? They don't know this is the plan. I just have this fear that they'd take it as an insult. I don't know how, I don't know why. Hell, most of what floats around in my head doesn't make sense, but I have a legitimate fear. I'm not sure if it's because I don't want them to have a bad impression of me or if it's because if they react badly I might become even more soured to doing good work for good people that can't afford it.
I spent a good chunk of time volunteering as a sys-admin. By the end of it I was burnt out and felt completely unappreciated. I realise now that I let myself get burnt out and better communication would have helped them understand what I was doing. Instead it ended as it did and they only saw it as some form of magic.
I guess the question is, have I learned my lesson? I hope that no mater what I'll always aim for good deeds, but am I really off my rocker thinking that they'd react badly?
I've considered posting about my latest project, building a MythTV setup. I could write on last weekends festivities, drinking around my best friends firepit for the last time and how that makrs the end of an era I'm truly sad to see go. I want to move out, I want to go just absoulutely hardcore at work, so much I could write about, but righ tnow, there's only one thing I want to cover in this post.
I spent my evening rebuilding a computer for a family I know. Now... if there's anything thats irked me in the last year it's been doing free tech work. Partially because everyone asks, mostly because I almost always give in. This was different. Their kids would come by where I used to work. I got to know them pretty well over the year and a bit I worked there, and they've followed me to my new place of employ. The family doesn't have a lot of money and their mom does everything she can for them. So when a number of months back she brought their computer in I did everything I could to make it last as long as possible. Unfortunately the motherboard decided to let out the magic smoke a week ago, and I spent some time trying to find a replacement for it. Nothing I had would play nice. After pulling her hard drive out of her old machine, as well as a few miscelaneous cards, I sent her computer to the eco-centre this morning.
I brought what useful parts she had home, as well as an old cd burner I'd snagged out of another machine destined for the eco-center and I started rebuilding their machine after I got home from work. Now, most people think I'm insane. I'll put in 8-12 hours at work yelling at other peoples computers, then come home and sit infront of mine. Ignoring that, I spent some time this evening rebuilding this machine, and the entire time there was only one thing on my mind.
What are they going to make of my doing this? They don't know this is the plan. I just have this fear that they'd take it as an insult. I don't know how, I don't know why. Hell, most of what floats around in my head doesn't make sense, but I have a legitimate fear. I'm not sure if it's because I don't want them to have a bad impression of me or if it's because if they react badly I might become even more soured to doing good work for good people that can't afford it.
I spent a good chunk of time volunteering as a sys-admin. By the end of it I was burnt out and felt completely unappreciated. I realise now that I let myself get burnt out and better communication would have helped them understand what I was doing. Instead it ended as it did and they only saw it as some form of magic.
I guess the question is, have I learned my lesson? I hope that no mater what I'll always aim for good deeds, but am I really off my rocker thinking that they'd react badly?
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
Especially because as you're workign on it and any new problems show up the reaction is "what happened?! What's wrong now?!",
and that's even when there's not really a problem.
As far as being worried about what that family thinks, just let them know that you're going to try and fix it.
Don't necessarily let them exactly how long it will take or how hard it will be.
If for whatever reason they're totally opposed to you doing anything well then maybe you shouldn't.
I'd bet though that they wouldn't mind at all and would actually like it probably.
BTW, post something in freenix about your MythTV project.
I've been curious about using that myself.