This question use to make me cringe … but now I look at it as being an opportunity to be the "smartest" person in the world to the person asking the question.

And usually when that question comes up the asker is in deep trouble.

Two recent examples with older folks are worth highlighting not to toot my horn, but to encourage anyone reading this to not cringe, but to offer their help (I am guess if you are reading this you are able to help) …

One of our close neighbors who is in his early 70s and worked at Bell Labs on the original transistors (another story – maybe a podcast?), came over a couple of weeks ago and said his computer won’t boot anymore.  It was full of spyware and all sorts of nasty stuff.  It could have been the spammer that was sending me all the email I have to weed through.  So, I got his data off ([37-MBs? ;-)], slicked the machine, reloaded his OS, and his main applications.  Got him Firefox, virus protection, anti-spyware, etc.  The system is running great now.  He can chat with his kids, see pictures of his grandson, and manage his retirement fund again without any woes.  He was so happy he bought me a World of Beers 10 pack. Cool!

Another friend (who is also in her 70s) that is part of our church care group, said she has having problems finding the latest pictures of her grandson in her email program.  I asked her why, and she said that the emails show up in the list all over the place and she has to scroll up and down in her inbox to find the new ones.  I smiled, and asked if I could fix that problem for her.  I walked up to Outlook Express and clicked on sort by receive date instead of by title.  Problem fixed!  She smiled, and then served up some fresh apple pie with ice cream.  Yum!

The moral of my story: helping others with your talents = beer + desert! 🙂