ItsGeekToMe.co

Geek Note: This issue appeared only in the Northwest Florida Daily News as a filler the week the paper moved I.G.T.M. from Sunday in the Lifestyle section to Saturday on the business page.

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Happy Independence Day, Geeks! Celebrate your freedom, but try not to blow-off any of your typing fingers while you’re doing it. Welcome to a special edition of It’s Geek To Me that’s just for my local readers in the Northwest Florida Daily News, as the column makes its transition from Sundays in the Lifestyle Section to land here on Fridays Saturdays on the Business page. The column will continue to be available on my webpage at ItsGeekToMe.co.

What a long strange trip it’s been! Did you know I’m approaching the start of the column’s 8^th year of publication? I find it difficult to believe it’s been that long. To put it in perspective, the first issue was written about seven months after Microsoft released Windows Vista. This was also the month after the first generation iPhones were introduced. Since then, there have been 3 major consumer versions of Windows, at least 7 new models of the iPhone, and 362 weekly issues of It’s Geek To Me. Out of this chaos, the Geek Lights on the Corner were born in my front yard in 2008, and I’ve been invited to speak at numerous venues around our community. The column remains a fun little hobby for me; one which does not put unreasonable demands on my time, and which I can easily fit into my otherwise busy lifestyle, since it can be written and e-mailed from just about anywhere.

Having said that, I want to remind you of some things. I’ve been beset on and off over the years by a handful of people who seem to feel that, since they pay for the paper my column publishes in, they are entitled to personal, on-demand service from me. These have ranged from people e-mailing me (easy to ignore) to calling my home (more difficult to ignore) to knocking on my front door (downright impossible to ignore). While I am not unsympathetic to the cries of those with sick computers and short deadlines, I cannot, and will not try to fix the problems of every computer in the world, or even in my little corner of the world. I owe time to myself, to my Spouse Peripheral, to the rest of my family, to my three sweet dachshunds, and to my other many and varied interests. I am not set-up as a business to accept payment for coming to people’s homes, or for them to bring their computers to me. I am not disposed to accept bribes of cash, food, or liquor (all have been offered) to make a “quick visit” to come take a peek at an ailing PC.

People’s response to this has ranged from reasonable acceptance of my boundaries to outright contempt for me and my questionable parental lineage for fairing to disdain their immediate needs. I take it all with a grain of salt, and move on to the next crisis with all the grace and aplomb I can muster.

To those of you who have chosen the other path, those who have met me out in the checkout line at Walmart or Lowes and recognized me, and offered your thanks for the many columns and advice; to those who have visited my Christmas light shows and said much the same, to you I say “You’re welcome.” It is the people who make this all worthwhile.