Let's Talk Thursday: Episode 2

Hello Awesome Visitors,

Let's talk for a minute.

Disclaimer: Before we go on, I want to let  you know on these topics, I'm no expert.  I am just speaking on my own experiences or those by others.

Now let's get to it.

When it comes to office products, Microsoft is the most well known and the most used platform.  Back in the day when you got a computer, the whole suite would come for free.

Then as time went on, the amount you received started to decrease.  Now, you only get a thirty day trial and then it's time to pay for the software.

It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't so expensive.  A girl is on a budget.

Then other alternatives popped up.  One that has risen in popularity is Open Office.  The greatest thing is that it's free.

Although it is friendly for the pocketbook, it has become costly in terms of my writing progress.

One incident occurred about a couple of weeks ago.  I was finalizing work for inclusion in a short story collective.  I had already started working on it and saved it as a .doc file.  Yet when I searched for it on Open Office, it couldn't find it.  Open Office did an auto save and then shut itself down with no warning.  Turns out, not only did Open Office not save it where I wanted: it had converted it into an .odt file.  Absolutely no frigging sense!

This last fiasco (which has made me start saving back money for Microsoft Office) happened this past weekend.  There was this a new idea for a short story.  I specifically remember saving it as the potential name of the story.  I was about thirty percent in with the concept.  When I write things, I don't have an outline.  I tend to do it from the top of my head.

Some other errands needed my attention so I didn't get the opportunity to circle back that day.  A couple of days I turned on my computer.  My computer did an update recently.  When I clicked on Open Office, it requested information as if I had never used it before.  I found it strange but the prompts wouldn't allow me to skip.  Then when I looked for my work, I couldn't locate.  It wasn't in my recent documents.  It just vanished.

Pissed isn't the word but it is the word that you will see.

I tend not to back up my work until I'm at least fifty percent complete.  Reason being is by the time I get to the halfway point, there's a good rhythm.  I have a pretty good idea where things are going.  Before that, I'm in the first building stages so it's preferred my flow not be interrupted.

These hiccups with Open Office have definitely forced me to change my strategy.

I'll give things another go this weekend.  It'll take more than technological fails to stop me.

Until next time,

Desire