$8
Things have been pretty decent for me lately.
At work I've gotten extra hours this past week. That's very good for me. :D 38 hours instead of my normal 30. Whoot!
On Friday...
Later in the day on FridayI was sitting at my desk after I was "clocked out" and just soaking up the high speed internet when we got a phone call from someone... you see, her husband had stopped in earlier and dropped off a jump drive with a file on it that we had to print out for them (full color on 80# cover). Well, I tried to open it an... what the HECK is a .SIG file? After a bit of research I determined it was a native file belonging to Print Maker. Nothing we have could open it, nothing online would convert it. So after telling them it was a no-go, they said they'd call me back later. So back to me sitting at my desk after-hours, I get the phone call. Well, I work with the woman over the phone to try to save the file to something else, but it turns out that Print Maker 15 Silver Edition does not save as anything other than it's native format (apparently.) Well, F-that. So I have her download Simple Prep off of our web site at www.verduins.com. I have her install the program and try creating a PDF through the program. "It's a blank page." she tells me.
I'm dumbfounded. If THIS didn't work, I don't know what will. We go back through her program, trying to find something we missed. I do internet searches and try to find some way to print to a PDF or even create a .JPG... nothing.
Meanwhile, my boss is sending me messages and making motions, asking if I need an "escape" from this endless phone call. First he's surprised I'm still talking for 10 minutes, then 20, then 50... But I'm not doing anything else, I don't have plans and I'm not upset or anything, so I'm doing just fine and keep going.
... let me go back a ways to near the beginning of our conversation:
While talking to her about the file, she asks me "Should I recreate the file?" and I (thinking she's worried about a corrupted file in some way, because it won't save as any other format) tell her "no, this should be okay. I don't think you need to recreate the file."
... okay, so about 50 or more minutes into the phone call, we're trying to figure this out and I ask her. "Well, what do you see on your screen?" she says "Well, the program, but there's not much else there. It's just a white page."
...
... it is then that I make a connection that would have helped out a LOT earlier. You see, this person had created the file ON the jump drive and never saved the original on her computer! So all this time she's looking at a blank artwork area and her "should I recreate the file" was because _I_ had the ONLY copy of the file. UGGH!!! Again, I'm not upset at her, but I'm kicking myself for not catching onto this earlier. So I tell her "yeah.. go ahead and recreate the file.", which she does. Simple Prep works just like it's supposed to and makes a PDF which she's very happy about because now she can make files and send them out too! She then tries to Email me the file but claims it's 10MB in size (it turns out to only be 2.5MB and therefor deliverable), so she comes down to the store with her laptop and we save to the jump drive and transfer to my computer. No problem and in 30 seconds we have a print-out. FANTASTIC!
So, after having spent about a half-hour trying to get the file to open on my own, well over an hour on the phone and then (the easy part) printing the transfered file out for them, they ask how much it'll cost. My boss knows how much time I've spent on the phone (well over 75 minutes) and says, "Well, normally it's only 59 cents, but I know Art here has spent over an hour with you on the phone helping you through this, so I'll let YOU decide what to pay." The guy looks to his wife and they kinda mutter and use facial and hand gestures so as to bargain between themselves and come to a good answer and he says under his breath "five" and she says "eight." So I'm just sitting there and they offer the $8 and they're very pleased and I'm happy and they eventually leave. So that was how I made an extra $8 on Friday. *L*
Matt came over later and we hung out, watching Bladerunner and Battlestar Galactica, discussing Shadowrun and other games.
Saturday I headed over to Matt's and finished reading the history of the Shadowrun setting in the new 4th Edition book so that I could sink my head inside the setting and break out of any erroneous preconceptions I had. (I also now understand everything from the New York earthquake of 2005 all the way up to the emergance of the Horizon Mega Corporation and so on and so forth.)
Also, we've been getting some WONDERFUL snow! 2 days of beautiful, fluffy powder! Big fluffy flakes that pile up a foot deep on cars and driveways. Driving through it is easy and fun to plow through.
Still no word on whether or not I'll be getting that 2-week rolling lay-off yet. If things go as strong as they have been over the last couple of weeks, it may not happen (then again, our Project Coordinator will be back on Monday from her 2-week "vacation", having been paid to stay home at 40-hour week pay, while I'm still only scheduled to work 30-hour weeks and still have to work. *sigh* But life's not fair, so I should just suck it up, huh?)
And may your lives be long. And may your wishes all be simple. And may your hearts stay strong.
Cloud Cult - "May Your Hearts Stay Strong"
At work I've gotten extra hours this past week. That's very good for me. :D 38 hours instead of my normal 30. Whoot!
On Friday...
Later in the day on FridayI was sitting at my desk after I was "clocked out" and just soaking up the high speed internet when we got a phone call from someone... you see, her husband had stopped in earlier and dropped off a jump drive with a file on it that we had to print out for them (full color on 80# cover). Well, I tried to open it an... what the HECK is a .SIG file? After a bit of research I determined it was a native file belonging to Print Maker. Nothing we have could open it, nothing online would convert it. So after telling them it was a no-go, they said they'd call me back later. So back to me sitting at my desk after-hours, I get the phone call. Well, I work with the woman over the phone to try to save the file to something else, but it turns out that Print Maker 15 Silver Edition does not save as anything other than it's native format (apparently.) Well, F-that. So I have her download Simple Prep off of our web site at www.verduins.com. I have her install the program and try creating a PDF through the program. "It's a blank page." she tells me.
I'm dumbfounded. If THIS didn't work, I don't know what will. We go back through her program, trying to find something we missed. I do internet searches and try to find some way to print to a PDF or even create a .JPG... nothing.
Meanwhile, my boss is sending me messages and making motions, asking if I need an "escape" from this endless phone call. First he's surprised I'm still talking for 10 minutes, then 20, then 50... But I'm not doing anything else, I don't have plans and I'm not upset or anything, so I'm doing just fine and keep going.
... let me go back a ways to near the beginning of our conversation:
While talking to her about the file, she asks me "Should I recreate the file?" and I (thinking she's worried about a corrupted file in some way, because it won't save as any other format) tell her "no, this should be okay. I don't think you need to recreate the file."
... okay, so about 50 or more minutes into the phone call, we're trying to figure this out and I ask her. "Well, what do you see on your screen?" she says "Well, the program, but there's not much else there. It's just a white page."
...
... it is then that I make a connection that would have helped out a LOT earlier. You see, this person had created the file ON the jump drive and never saved the original on her computer! So all this time she's looking at a blank artwork area and her "should I recreate the file" was because _I_ had the ONLY copy of the file. UGGH!!! Again, I'm not upset at her, but I'm kicking myself for not catching onto this earlier. So I tell her "yeah.. go ahead and recreate the file.", which she does. Simple Prep works just like it's supposed to and makes a PDF which she's very happy about because now she can make files and send them out too! She then tries to Email me the file but claims it's 10MB in size (it turns out to only be 2.5MB and therefor deliverable), so she comes down to the store with her laptop and we save to the jump drive and transfer to my computer. No problem and in 30 seconds we have a print-out. FANTASTIC!
So, after having spent about a half-hour trying to get the file to open on my own, well over an hour on the phone and then (the easy part) printing the transfered file out for them, they ask how much it'll cost. My boss knows how much time I've spent on the phone (well over 75 minutes) and says, "Well, normally it's only 59 cents, but I know Art here has spent over an hour with you on the phone helping you through this, so I'll let YOU decide what to pay." The guy looks to his wife and they kinda mutter and use facial and hand gestures so as to bargain between themselves and come to a good answer and he says under his breath "five" and she says "eight." So I'm just sitting there and they offer the $8 and they're very pleased and I'm happy and they eventually leave. So that was how I made an extra $8 on Friday. *L*
Matt came over later and we hung out, watching Bladerunner and Battlestar Galactica, discussing Shadowrun and other games.
Saturday I headed over to Matt's and finished reading the history of the Shadowrun setting in the new 4th Edition book so that I could sink my head inside the setting and break out of any erroneous preconceptions I had. (I also now understand everything from the New York earthquake of 2005 all the way up to the emergance of the Horizon Mega Corporation and so on and so forth.)
Also, we've been getting some WONDERFUL snow! 2 days of beautiful, fluffy powder! Big fluffy flakes that pile up a foot deep on cars and driveways. Driving through it is easy and fun to plow through.
Still no word on whether or not I'll be getting that 2-week rolling lay-off yet. If things go as strong as they have been over the last couple of weeks, it may not happen (then again, our Project Coordinator will be back on Monday from her 2-week "vacation", having been paid to stay home at 40-hour week pay, while I'm still only scheduled to work 30-hour weeks and still have to work. *sigh* But life's not fair, so I should just suck it up, huh?)
And may your lives be long. And may your wishes all be simple. And may your hearts stay strong.
Cloud Cult - "May Your Hearts Stay Strong"