This has been the most troublesome and costly paper I have yet to produce.
It all started as we headed south for our leisurely trailer camping trip down here. That first night in the campground from hell in Grand Forks, North Dakota where there was no Internet. (just ask me and I'll let you know which one to avoid) We were going to be taking our time and might go, off the beaten path, so I decided that I would Top-up my Virgin Mobile stick to make sure I had Internet access all the way along. $$
That got me excellent Internet access, but there seemed to be something else going on with my computer. At first it wouldn't let me onto Facebook. "Oh,well, I can do without Facebook during this trip". Next thing I knew I couldn't access my emails, then I was, not able to download my pictures and I had trouble doing my blog.
By then it was November and we were here in McAllen and I tried everything I knew how to do, to reset and restore it. It all helped a little, but nothing was functioning like it should, and I had a newspaper to do. So I bit the bullet and took it into the shop. $$
I put all my pictures and documents on a flash drive, so when they suggested to clean it right out and install Windows 8 on it. I knew I had a newspaper deadline and would have a big learning curve ahead, but I said, "Go ahead". Two days later I picked it up. $$
Now the fun began. I know that they have to upgrade and improve all products including software. No company can sit on it's laurels and expect to keep their sales. They have to add anything new that has come down the pike or be left behind. And they have to keep ahead of the hackers and their competition. But, why do they change things just for the sake of change.
You try to do something you have done a thousand times before and here you are staring at your computer dumbfounded, not knowing what to do or where to look. So you start poking around opening this, looking at that and after hours you have figured out how to do one simple thing like open a document. Everything you have used before is still there. They have just changed the name of it and hidden it in a different place. Then hours and hours later you have figured out how to do one more simple thing.
Then there is the time you have wasted walking away from the computer and throwing up your hand and pouring a drink to keep from throwing the computer out the window. It took me about three weeks to realize that it wasn't just me, but the new Windows 8 they installed had a lousy, very weak word processing and I was not going to be able to do the newspaper without biting the bullet and purchasing a new Microsoft Suite to go with this up grade. $$
Well here I am nearing the end of November and I have finally finished my little newspaper. I have a Souped-up little 2007 Acer laptop with only 4G, that I have spent too much money on. Money that probably should have been put towards a new laptop that has a Gazillion Gig and they would have thrown in the new programs. As you can see there is more than one lesson here.
DAMN, I HATE THE LEARNING CURVE.
