Far back in the mists of time, I was a regular listener to Wake Up to Wogan on BBC Radio 2.
Chiefly, this was because I really didn’t want the real world to intrude while I was waking up, and Wogan’s programme of user-contributed content, light music and whimsy suited be perfectly. I still miss it, and him.
The other reason is that I clearly identified as a TOG – one of Terry’s Old Geezers (and Gals).
Being generally absent-minded, cynical and confused by young people and their modern ways, I met the definition (such as it was) rather well.
Of course, I was also a dynamic and flexible worker, able to turn my hand to anything. Very little fazed me, especially in technology. I programmed my first computer over 40 years ago, worked my way through the ZX81, BBC Microcomputer, 1980s IBM PCs, an early Mac, taught people how to use Microsoft Office, learned web and HTML (and taught that, too). Then there’s email, social media, WordPress – I even built a photo library for work, for free, mostly in my spare time using WordPress and a few plugins. Then there’s the Google maps I’ve done, and some of the Inkscape drawing over the last year or so.
Hootsuite, however, seems to have beaten me.
Perhaps it’s because I’m using it on a smallish laptop instead of a 21″ monitor but even in “Compact” mode I can see a tweet and a half and three columns. We have a lot of tweets and a lot of social media accounts on the go.
I had to delete one yesterday. I knew there was a delete function somewhere but it took me a good 10 minutes to find it. Six years ago I was a whizz on Hootsuite, and Tweetdeck. Which worked fine on a 10.1″ netbook in a way that Hootsuite doesn’t.
Grumpy old man
I could fit more columns and tweets on a small netbook than I can on a modern laptop. Is it me?
Who are these people out there, regular uses of Hootsuite, who think it is perfect and fit for purpose? Are they… young?
I seem to have turned into a grumpy old man. I know some of you think I already was, but that’s different to being a TOG.
It could be related to being back at work five days a week, and frequently not knowing what’s happening – even when I’m in the office – thanks to most of us still working remotely.
I’ll be honest, I always thought that by this time in my life I’d have paid the mortgage and be down to four days a week. In fact I live in rented and need to work six days a week. Something clearly went wrong there.
I also thought I’d have my own office and team, but we don’t do offices now. And no-one wants to appoint me to be a team leader, despite my years of experience in similar (but non-managerial) roles. My laid-back, follow-the-plan, step-by-step approach seems to be a bit old-fashioned. But to misquote Advita Patel over on LinkedIn, “Your lack of planning shouldn’t be my crisis”.
Do things first, and fit them into the plan/strategy later. In a crisis, yes; but as a regular way of operating? Really? Is it me?
Now: I admit here, I’m not perfect. Possibly because I’ve been out of work for so long, I’m not on top of things as much as I used to be. Rather like the Red Queen in Through the Looking Glass, I seem to be running fast to stay in the same place; and to get anywhere I need to run twice as fast. Or turn off Teams, as marking yourself as Do Not Disturb does not stop calls coming in. I’m starting to hear the Teams Chat notification in my sleep.
It’s making me feel old, and ever-so-slightly incompetent. But I’ll only be 55 next month, I won’t be able to retire and draw my state pension for another 12 years!