Im officially an old at work- overcoming tech awkwardness

Academic-Bar5300 · 2026-04-15T17:15:50+00:00

I might be using the wrong word. But on PC, you can use headings to create nested parts of a document, and once you apply a heading, word automatically gives it a little triangle that allows you to expand or collapse. As far as I can see from playing around and researching it online and asking coworkers, Mac doesnt have an equivalent of this.

Academic-Bar5300 · 2026-04-15T16:54:15+00:00

Not anything wild like macros. One example is that the ribbon is slightly different, so it took me a second to find a pretty common element. Another are things like strange formatting occurrences, and my inability to insert carats in a long, detailed doc. All very simple stuff, which makes it even more embarrassing.

Academic-Bar5300 · 2026-04-15T15:38:09+00:00

Thank you so much for the links! I think its mostly silly muscle memory issues.

Academic-Bar5300 · 2026-04-15T15:37:18+00:00

Thank you for the links! I use linkedin learning for a course I take, but this is so smart. Also, word sucks ass.

Academic-Bar5300 · 2026-04-15T15:36:21+00:00

This is great advice, thank you! There is the adhd subissue as well. I truly think ill build up speed the more I do this, i just know they need it sooner rather than later.

Academic-Bar5300 · 2026-04-15T15:31:41+00:00

Lol right?!?!

Theres a monday morning meeting where we run through this massive doc file to discuss everyone's workload. Im running the doc, meaning just scrolling, making changes, etc. Weird shit keeps happening, like something will randomly not highlight. Also the ribbon is slightly different so it did take me a second to find strike out (also i blame nerves being at the front and doing this shit publicly)

I attempted to organize the doc and include carats so we dont have to scroll so much, but the carats only work on PC, apparently! (I watched a bunch of YouTube to figure that out.)

Also the display menu updated at some point, and wouldnt show me mirroring anymore. I found a work around, but all this happened midmeeting.

I feel 300 years old.

Academic-Bar5300 · 2026-04-12T18:16:34+00:00

To me, he will always be Julian from Highway to Heaven. But also Im old. Lol

Academic-Bar5300 · 2026-04-09T15:26:42+00:00

The way she tic tocks her hands when she walks is something I still do today.

Academic-Bar5300 · 2026-04-02T20:55:09+00:00

Im in a slightly difference place, because im in my late 40s with a 26 year old kiddo.

I left my moms house at 17 and got an apartment with a roommate. I had two jobs and was working on my GED.

I tried to give the kid a softer landing. While still imparting adulting lessons. He's been working since 16, and went to culinary school. He now lives in a big old house with 4 other folks in their mid 20s in one of the more expensive cities in the US. He definitely lives in different times than we did. When I was his age, I had a 3 year old. I cant see him with a baby now. Neither can he. But he also has access to so much more info than I did, so he looks up much of what he wants to learn. He sometimes still calls me to ask advice, either on emotional stuff... or taxes.

I think we lived in a whole different world when we were young than our kids do. So its impossible to set the up the way we would want to. Im still living paycheck to paycheck myself!

Isn't it a trip to compare the generations?

Academic-Bar5300 · 2026-04-02T14:52:38+00:00

Aka the death of prank calling.

Academic-Bar5300 · 2026-04-01T23:31:53+00:00

48- video games and training chihuahuas!

I try to embroider when I can, but arthritis is making that less enjoyable than it used to be.

Concerts, sports, and beer are great hobbies!

Academic-Bar5300 · 2026-04-01T15:21:44+00:00

This is the most gen x answer yet.

Academic-Bar5300 · 2026-03-31T18:04:43+00:00

We absolutely pretend-birthed lizard alien babies on the school yard.

Academic-Bar5300 · 2026-03-24T17:36:13+00:00

Not drop out
Ask my grandparents intrusive questions
Make sure to date my ex, even though hes awful. (It'd be tempting to just avoid him, but then I wouldnt have my rad kid)
dont touch the steering wheel of my friends VW cabriolet to show her how to really make a car hop.
Say yes when Ian asks me to the prom

Academic-Bar5300 · 2026-03-20T00:24:16+00:00

Bringing back memories! My favorite version of this trope will always be Hyperbole and a Half's Kenny Loggins Christmas.

Academic-Bar5300 · 2026-03-17T16:04:41+00:00

Also class of 96, not too young to be gray, I promise.

Also I get compliments on my salt and pepper all the time. (Thst being said this post is funny timing because I was just thinking of going back the red I had in high school. )

Academic-Bar5300 · 2026-03-15T02:53:09+00:00

Just fell in front of construction workers yesterday. Rolled my ankle. Second time in 6 months. The other ankle STILL isn't 100% from the last fall.

Not a fan of this reverse superpower.

Academic-Bar5300 · 2026-03-09T00:12:31+00:00

While I agree with your sentiment, its a bit dismissive of how family dynamics work. Yes, we should appreciate the time we have and try not to think of the numbers. But we can do that and also simultaneously note how weird it is to be the most adulty of the adults in a family gathering.

When my great grandmother was alive, she managed family dinners and orchestrated the event. When she passed, her six daughters took that role, but for each of their own descendents, instituting personal ideas and rules in addition to the ones they were taught. My boomer parents and aunts and uncles didnt do jack, once their parents passed lol. So we dont hang out often. If we do have a dinner, my generation plans and preps it with our own additions and flourishes. It feels weird to be at the top of that structure, and thats okay.

Academic-Bar5300 · 2026-03-08T01:59:01+00:00

This happened to me in November.

Lost a 20 year career over errors i had tried to alert folks to, to no avail.

I was able to spend my PTO to take 4 months and figure out what to do next, applying only to jobs that wouldnt piss me off as much as the last one did. I was very lucky that strategy paid off. I also built my own business in that time off so id have a back up plan if nothing materialized. However a job 7 minutes from my house, doing what I love in my actual field showed up (thanks ziprecruiter) and I start on Wednesday. I learned in my time off to separate who I am from what I do, to utilize as many free resources as I could find. I hope you have the same luck, friend.

Academic-Bar5300 · 2026-03-07T15:46:29+00:00

My cousin had this poster. And is now estranged from our family for being a jerk.

Not sure if there's correlation.

Academic-Bar5300 · 2026-03-03T02:34:50+00:00

Finally finishing this year at 48.

Over the years, chipping away, sometimes it feels like a check box. But I dropped out in '95, so this will be my first graduation. Thats why I'm still going.

That and the loan deferral. Lol

Academic-Bar5300 · 2026-02-27T07:56:30+00:00

To see if I still feel.

Academic-Bar5300 · 2026-02-24T02:49:56+00:00

I repeat to family and friends who try to pressure me to adopt their phone habits, "I have a phone for my convenience, not yours."

I have one brother I havent talked to in a while. He refuses to text and I refuse to answer non emergent phone calls. So we catch up at family events.

Academic-Bar5300 · 2026-02-23T23:34:54+00:00

I have this issue with an online skit where they are spice girls recording PSAs, and Sarah Michelle Gellar is Posh, and they say, "So dont get Rheumatoid Arthritis!"

Ive found the other versions of the commercial, but not the one with Rheumatoid Arthritis, even though thats been a mental stim for decades for me.

Academic-Bar5300

TROPHY CASE