The Vent and Rant Thread

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by John K

Sounds like there might be some mental health issues there. It could be an opportunity to expand your business services, Hitch. Bookmaker, therapist and cat slave.

To save your own sanity, maybe you could find someone with a Gig economy mind set willing to provide technological hand holding. Tell people that you don't provide that service and recommend a specialist.

Interestingly enough, EVERY interface of which I'm aware, with any type of real Tech support, has gone horribly wrongly. Apple, for example, nearly cost me all my hair, telling a guy during several HOURS of support that the MOBI file we'd sent him was "corrupt." They were absolutely, horribly, completely WRONG; the "mobi" file wasn't working because that moron kept trying to drag-drop the secured link (to the file), from the email to his desktop. (Like a Dropbox or Gdrive link sort of thing, but ours are encrypted and tied to specific email addresses, etc.)

No matter how many times I told him that it was NOT A FILE, but a link to the file, he persisted in doing it, and then, of course, he screamed at me (screamed) that of course, I was giving him corrupt garbage, because "Apple said so!" The Geek Squad guys--they seem to have NO idea what an ePUB or MOBI is. And on and on and on.

It's a specialized field. No, it ain't rocket surgery, but if someone hasn't dealt with eBooks, directly, they are apparently clueless about how to download them, find the software, etc. It's effing mind-boggling, let me tell you. You would be APPALLED, if I'd recorded the various times I've been on a GoToMeeting or Screensharing app of whatever kind with "tech support" from wherever, and I might as well have been dealing with the end user. Appalling. (What kind of "tech support" person has never read a damned ebook?)

Originally Posted by cc_in_oh

Nah - poets are just technology-averse - there's no rhyme or reason to it...

Oh, YES, that is sooooo true. I had a poet SHRIEK at me, because in his print book version, all his verses started at the 50% mark--and then flowed to the right, rght? In some eBook formats/layouts, we can't do that. We can indent the poems, but not indent to 50%. You'd think that the Apocalypse was upon us, I s**t thee not. And LINE-HEIGHTS! OMFG, if the line-heights aren't 100% right, The Doom Has Come Upon Me, cries the Lady of Shallot. (And no, we're NOT talking visual poetry, either! Just regular stanzas. Bizarre.)

You literally can't charge enough for the stuff that happens, and you never know what's going to set them off. You try to address one thing, and cover that ground upfront, and something else bites you in the ass later. (Like CRYING, because the instructions are "too hard.")

Endless, really endless.

Hitch

[Hitch]

AND, on top of everything else, I have the dreaded grue. Dammit!

Hitch

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by Hitch

AND, on top of everything else, I have the dreaded grue. Dammit!

Hitch

I suspect we've done this bit before, but: I don't suppose you mean THIS Groo?

[cc_in_oh]

Originally Posted by Hitch

AND, on top of everything else, I have the dreaded grue. Dammit!

Hitch

As long as it isn't pitch black you should be OK.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that poets also generally operate under the allusion that they're perfect, and so have an adverse reaction to criticism. They like to embrace their inner assonance...

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by cc_in_oh

As long as it isn't pitch black you should be OK.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that poets also generally operate under the allusion that they're perfect, and so have an adverse reaction to criticism. They like to embrace their inner ass ...

Fixed that for you.

[cc_in_oh]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

Fixed that for you.

Tough crowd. I'd keep trying but poetry puns are onomatopoeia to me...

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

I suspect we've done this bit before, but: I don't suppose you mean THIS Groo?

Nope, that's a new one on me. I just mean plain old grue. It could be fluey grue, cold grue, whatever. The Grue.

Originally Posted by cc_in_oh

As long as it isn't pitch black you should be OK.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that poets also generally operate under the allusion that they're perfect, and so have an adverse reaction to criticism. They like to embrace their inner assonance...

Not sure about the pitch black, but, okay. NICE on assonance, not something that you hear every day.

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

Fixed that for you.

MWAHAHAHAHA.

Hitch

[HLS]

Been sick. was feeling just a cold for a week then bam Friday night coffing up mucus and throat so raw i cant talk or breathe went to urgent care now im on two antibiotics, one was a shot in the rear, Ventolin HFA inhailer, prednisone for 10 days too

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by kcladyz

Been sick. was feeling just a cold for a week then bam Friday night coffing up mucus and throat so raw i cant talk or breathe went to urgent care now im on two antibiotics, one was a shot in the rear, Ventolin HFA inhailer, prednisone for 10 days too

Yeah, I had to actually leave my office early on Wednesday; left practically right after I arrived, on Thursday, and slept until Friday morning. It was nasty, and I'm still wheezy. Good luck! (If you got the headache, a batch of Advil helped!)

Hitch

[Hitch]

OK. Enough is enough. It's my damned birthday, and first, I get up, and the power's out for 2.5 hours, for whatever reason, someone hit a power transformer, etc.

NOW, my damn septic is backing up. There's just no damn justice.

Hitch

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by Hitch

OK. Enough is enough. It's my damned birthday, and first, I get up, and the power's out for 2.5 hours, for whatever reason, someone hit a power transformer, etc.

NOW, my damn septic is backing up. There's just no damn justice.

Hitch

You got some bad karma going there ....

Maybe it's a sign you should have spent your birthday out of town?

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

You got some bad karma going there ....

Maybe it's a sign you should have spent your birthday out of town?

No kidding, right? What's bizarre is that it backed up about 18 months ago, on Mr. H's birthday, and now it's doing it again, on mine. The first instance, the tank had to be pumped. This one, I'm 99.99% sure it needs snaking, but it's not fun. We couldn't find anyone to come tonight, (another joy of living in a highly rural area) so I have no real running water, etc., until sometime around 7:30-8 tomorrow morning.

Suffice to say, this is a Crappy Birthday to me, quite literally. (As the sewage has backed up into the showers, oh JOY. Nothing like the stench of raw sewage in the morning, eh?)

Hitch

[Dazrin]

Happy Birthday, Hitch!

I hope you are able to have more of a celebration tomorrow. Bummer of a day today.

[Rumpelteazer]

I've been trying to resist getting the new Paperwhite. But I just saw that Amazon Germany offers it now with a €40 discount for €99 (the 8gb, wifi, no special offers version). So now I might have to order it, especially since I gave my spare Paperwhite to my sister last night.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

Happy Birthday, Hitch!

I hope you are able to have more of a celebration tomorrow. Bummer of a day today.

Thanks, Dazrin. Sitting here--dying!!--waiting on the snake guy (Plumber, for folks not accustomed to that term) now. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Worst. Birthday. Ever. (And I don't even really DO birthdays; we don't go anywhere, do anything, I just want one lousy day of peace and quiet. Oh, no, that's too much to ask, apparently. )

Hitch