Technically Speaking

Blogging has become difficult recently. As I have worked at my new job, I’ve found that I’m running around from task to task at such a pace that I haven’t had much time for blogging. It’s a great thing, work-wise. It is interesting and engaging, which I love. It’s not so good for my blog. Last night Christina said, “I can’t wait to see your next entry.” Then she suggested that I set aside a specific time to blog, or I won’t get it done. Now, I’m on the train. I don’t have an internet connection, so this is a good use of my time.

I found a way to bring some light into the cave. I purchased a swing arm desk lamp. I can get it right up under my bookcase, over my computer. Now I can actually see what I’m working on, which is a benefit.

I am having a great time at my new job. I’m finishing the installation guide for the newest iteration of the company’s software. It’s about twenty pages long and I’m excited to get it finished… My first project.

From a technical writing perspective, I’m learning a lot working as a lone writer on a new project. First, It’s been interesting to try to figure out the resources I’d need to complete a project before I understood the scope of the project. I learned that scope is the horse, and resources are the cart that must follow. One of the first things the company wanted from me was a list of the software that I needed to get my job done. For my main document publishing tool, I was debating between InDesign and FrameMaker. The problem was that I hadn’t really looked at the software, nor had I seen the documentation requirements for the project. So I was working blind as I selected the software packages I needed.

I chose InDesign because I think it is a powerful publishing tool. And it came in a suite, packaged with PhotoShop, and Acrobat Professional, in addition to others. In the end, I was cheaper to buy the suite and get all the software than it would have been to buy just Photoshop and Acrobat Professional, so if you look at it that way, InDesign was free. The problem was that after I had ordered my software, I had a meeting with the product manager where for the first time I understood the scope of the project and understood the documentation requirements. It became clear quickly that some of the doc requirements wouldn’t be met by InDesign. In particular, InDesign’s support for the following features was lacking:

• Running Headers and Footers. The documentation template, which I am expected to use, has running headers and footers that reflect the heading levels in the document. So the document title always appears on right page headers. The chapter name always appears on left page footers. The text of the most recent Heading 1 always appears on the right page footer. InDesign doesn’t do running headers/footers, so I’d have to do these manually at the end of my production cycle — the very last step, for fear that the document might re-flow if any changes were added.
• Cross References. FrameMaker has a feature that lets you cross reference other headings in your book. So, if I was writing about a feature, and wanted to insert a reference to another chapter that deals with a corollary feature, I can insert a variable that pulls the heading text I want to point to, and the page that heading is on. If the document re-flows, or if the heading text is changed, the cross reference link is updated. So if I’m writing installation instructions, and I want to tell the user to see chapter 9 for more information on account management, I can enter a cross reference to do so. In InDesign, I’d have to just type the text in manually. If the chapter number changed, I’d never know all the places in the documentation that pointed to it.
• Conditional Text. The company I work for has government contracts and private contracts alike. There are certain documentation requirements for government contracts that we aren’t required to include in our regular product version. The software is also customizable for specific clients. With Frame’s conditional text, I can add all the information into one guide, say the administration guide. The government-contract-specific text gets marked with a conditional text marker. When I print, I can turn On the government text, or I can turn it OFF. I can make two versions of the manual from the same file with a couple of mouse clicks. The table of contents and cross references are all updated throughout the guide. I don’t have to maintain multiple guides for government versus private sector clients.

So, I had to go back to my manager and request the latest version of FrameMaker. I’d love to use InDesign, and I probably will use it for Quick Reference cards and other layout-intensive documents, but for my book-length documents, my documentation requirements are better met by Frame.

Yesterday I asked my manager if he thought they were going to approve the Frame upgrade. He told me that if I had requested it with my initial software list, it would likely have been approved.But since it wasn’t on the initial request, there was a chance I might not get it.

Lesson learned. The first of many, I’m sure. After all, I’m a lone writer, foraging my way through territory I’ve never visited.

So I’ve been at my new job for the better part of a week, and I have to say I love it. I think it is going to be a great fit for me and for the company. There is a lot of work to do, and it is keeping me busy trying to figure it all out, but its a fun challenge.

If there was one thing I could change, it would be the light intensity in my office. I’ve been suffering from headaches since I started working here. There is no light that sheds light directly into my cubicle, and the lights in our area of the office are only 1/3 on.

See, each light has three separate fluorescent bulbs, Each light in each section is controlled by a separate switch on the wall. So one light switch turns on one bulb in every light in our section of the office. Some of my cubical neighbors insist on only turning on one switch and leaving two switches off. I tried turning on all the lights today, and that lasted for about 5 minutes until somebody went and turned the other two back off.

Oh well. I’m the new guy, right?

I asked my manager about getting a light for my desk, and another employee heard and brought over “the lamp.” Now “the lamp” apparently was abandoned in an old office that my company moved into, and has stayed in the company ever since. Its more of a desk decoration than an actual light. There is no light bulb, and my manager suggested that I not try plugging it in. The lamp apparently moves from new employee to new employee. I have to keep it until I can find some other new guy to give it to. Too bad it doesn’t actually give light.

I’ll adjust. Or I’ll go buy a lamp. In any case, I’m having a good time. It’s a good company
and good people. I think I’ll be very happy here. Even if it is dark.

Now where is my desk?

I used to think that I was the technological forerunner for our family. You know, the early adopter who tries out the newest tech toys first. The one who can lend advice to my other family members because of my extensive technological expertise.

Then I thought about it. Who had the first CD player in our family? My sister Wendy. In fact, not long after she got her CD player, she gave me my first CD for my birthday (Kenny G’s “Breathless” album). I would sneak into her bedroom when she wasn’t home, carefully (VERY CAREFULLY) take her Alabama’s Greatest Hits CD out of the player and put in my prized Kenny G, and listen to the clarity of the music. Then I had to have a CD player. But it turns out that I’m what Dilbert creator Scott Adams might call a “technological topper”. I had to get a better CD player. Mine had a remote control.

A few years later, who was the first person in the family to have an e-mail account? Not me. It was Wendy again. After that, who was the first person in the family to get a Palm Pilot? That would be Wendy. She bought the Palm IIIe. I followed a few months later with the Palm IIIxe — more memory (that I never used– but hey, it was better!).

Who got the first cell phone? This one I’m not sure about, but I’m pretty sure it was Wendy. Who got the first laptop computer? Wendy. Who got the first iPod? Again, Wendy.

In each case, I wasn’t far behind. But I’ve always been behind. Yes, it turns out that the technological early adopter in the family is my sister Wendy. She gets all the newest toys and from her I decide that I can’t live without whatever toy it is she has now.

Such happened recently with her iPod. She has had an iPod for quite a while now. Long enough that my brother got one. Then my parents got one. Now Christina and I have one. I think Wendy is on her second. She graduated from the 5GB iPod a Nano. Rick bought one; it was a U2 edition, which was pretty cool, but it got stolen out of his locked office.

I’ve been looking at them for a while now, and when we first heard about the possibility of a new job at my new company, Christina and I decided that if I got the job, I could get an iPod. When the new job became a more possible reality, Christina had to warn me to not take the new job simply for the iPod. (Don’t worry. I didn’t.)

I was going to wait to buy the iPod until after I had started my new job, but we realized that I have a ton of stuff on my work box. I love to listen to music while I work, so during the course of the two years I’ve been at this job, I brought my favorite CDs and made MP3 files out of them. I also took some of our digital camera images and used my work box to upload them to our web site, since we didn’t used to have a high-speed connection at home.

All told, I have a lot of stuff. Transferring with a 250 MB USB key is impractical, and I don’t have a CD burner at work, just your basic 20th century CD-ROM. So any data transfer was going to have to take place over USB.

Instead, we decided to go with the iPod. It gives me plenty of storage space to handle my music and all my files. I’m really excited about the iPod. I am going to start running for exercise, and I think it will be a lot of fun to run while listening to my favorite tunes.

So I wasn’t the first one in the family to get an iPod. In fact, I was the last. But mine has more storage capacity. So there.

So it is still true. I’m leaving my job in just over a week. Right after that, I’m starting at a new company. And I’m really, really excited about it.

I gave my current employer three weeks and two days notice. That sounds like a lot, and it is. I gave notice on the 20th of July, the day I posted that email to my blog. But I had a planned vacation from July 24 to the 28th. I didn’t think it was fair to include my vacation week as part of my standard two-weeks notice (my supervisor agreed), so I said I’d come back from vacation and work my final two weeks. Next friday, then, is my last day, and the following Monday (the 14th), I start at the new company.

I took my planned vacation last week. It was a vacation of sorts, but we didn’t get to do any traveling. We spent the first half of the week at the wedding and family reunion. The second half of the week we spent moving in to our new condo.

It was a lot of work. And I’m glad its over. There was still a lot of work to do unloading boxes this week, and I’ve been harried trying to get things done at home and at work. Today is the sixth-to-last day at my current employer, and I have some projects that I HAVE to get done before I go, so that is why I’ve been so absent lately. But I am excited about my new position. It starts in 10 days. I can’t wait!
Crazy times. Crazy times.