I’m a sailor.

Ships sound a certain way, even when not sailing. If they ever sound differently, you know something has happened and you’ll have to respond to it. Even if it’s just a drill, the response is the same.

My sailing days are actually behind me, but I still get tense when I hear unusual sounds in my house or office.

I’m extremely sensitive to changes in noise levels. Whether it’s a very loud and short noise, like a door slamming, or some change in background noise, like a furnace turning on, I’m just acutely aware of it.

I played at varying levels of intensity between 2010 and 2015.

I met my first serious girlfriend through the game. It was also a long-distance relationship, and led to the frankly absurd story of how I lost my virginity, which involved a massive snowstorm and a lost passport. The relationship didn’t work out, but it was formative for me as a person.

These days, I still occasionally hang out with some of my old guild mates, who still play the game. Not as much anymore, especially after our D&D campaign ended, but I still consider them some of my closer friends.

All my grandparents save one have passed on, and I have no actual relationship with the one that still lives. So I’m not terribly concerned about her, beyond how much I care for any other random senior citizen.

To answer the spirit of the question, though we can talk about my parents, who are grandparents now.

Both are educated and about as tech proficient as I am. However, my mom nearly got caught in a gift card scam a few years ago, where someone was posing as one of her friends. She had even bought the cards, but insisted on going to give them in-person, which exposed the scam.

Because of that, I think my parents are actually pretty safe, as they are now extra vigilant about the messages they receive, and know to follow up anything suspicious using an alternate communication method.

I know, “once bitten twice shy,” isn’t the best defence, but alternate communication methods are. Stress to your loved ones that if they ever recieve a message from someone asking for money, to follow up using a different medium.

I’m in my mid-late thirties, and my recovery time is about the same as it was in my mid twenties. This is because when I was 26 I had major abdominal surgery. That experience ended up delineating my life, having boundless vigour before and but needing to carefully measure my energy and actions after.

This article only talks about the number of Copilot 365 licences that are active. It doesn’t even consider the situations like my workplace, where everyone was given a licence but hardly anyone uses it.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the actual usage rate for these licences is also very low, meaning the situation could be even more dire than the article makes out.

“Swearing”

5th grade, first day at a new school. I’m trying to meet new kids, but I’m terribly awkward. I try to lead one conversation with some humour: “Did you know the Bible says you shouldn’t covet your neighbour’s ass?”

Cue some other kid running off to find a teacher, which resulted in me having to skip recess and write an essay about how I shouldn’t swear because it is a bad influence on younger kids.

Over the following four years I was on the receiving end of invective many times more aggressive and offensive, sometimes right in front of teachers, but I never saw another kid punished for foul language.