"Okay, fine. So..." (aka: Frustration Central)

[capri0mni]

Okay, fine (#1). So I hooked up my old printer to my new computer via a usb port. But when I went to print, Windows only created its own special version of a pdf document, instead of printing out a hard copy (I think it was something called a windows image document).

Okay, fine (#2). So I find the Hewlett Packard website, and they have the right driver for Windows XP available free for download. But you have to unplug the printer from the back of the computer before you start the download, and I can't reach the back of the computer to unplug it myself.

Okay, fine (#3). So I bookmark the site, and wait until my aide can come over to unplug the printer for me. Then I wait some three hours to download the driver to my computer over my dialup connection. And then, I wait another day, until she can come back and plug it back in. But she misundersands the (very) confusing wordings, and plugs it back in before she's actually prompted to do so. So, instead of recognizing that the printer is there, the computer sits there and does nothing for over an hour, and by this time, my aide has left for the weekend. So I cancel the installation, and wait until she can come back over and re un-plug, and re-replug in the printer.

Okay, fine (#4). So that's what she does -- plugging it in exactly when she's told to do so. And it still doesn't work.

Okay, fine (#5). So, in the meantime, I decide I'll just use that Windows Image file program to create commissioned story (for which I've already been paid 80%). But when I go to choose that option when I print, it doesn't come up -- it only tells me that I don't have a printer installed. To doublecheck, I try to open those image files that were created when I first tried to print, in step one... And I get an error message informing me that Windows does not recognize that file type.

AAARRRGGGHHH!

*headdesk*
*headdesk*
*headdesk*
*headdesk*
*headdesk*

:::Sigh:::

My head hurts.

Comments

[drox.livejournal.com]

*sympathy hugz*

I wish I could offer a quick fix, but fo now that's all I can give you.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Thanks. if wourse comes to worse, I can always reset up my old computer, at least until this book project is finished. ... I think. Murphy's law seems to have it in for me, lately. So there's no guaruntees (that's spelled wrong, I know... but...)

I just get frustrated, in part, because I'm my aide's second job. ...Which is fine, because Dad and I are paying her second job wages. But when she can come over to help with things like this is dependent on other people's schedules, so it's hard to impossible for me to plan on anything.

And it would be so much easier if all the usb ports were in the front of the machine, so I could do this stuff myself. ....

[heronheart.livejournal.com]

And it would be so much easier if all the usb ports were in the front of the machine, so I could do this stuff myself. ....

A quick suggestion: You might want to get a USB hub with a good long cable so you can plug and unplug those sorts of things yourself. Also if you have a friend with a printer you might try emailing them the story and having them print it out and mailing it to you.

[spooforbrains.livejournal.com]

OpenOffice has the option to save straight to PDF, I don't know if that's any help ...

Also, can you arrange to have your PC rearranged, maybe put on a table or something, so that you can access the back as well as the front ... ?

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

It's already on a table... the thing is, the tower is so deep, back to front, that the only way I could reach the back is to scoot forward to the very front of my chair, and try to reach over the top, while trying to balance. And then, trying to scoot back into my wheelchair with nothing solid to push against. I'm speaking from experience, here. I've had to wiggle the mouse jack a couple of times in the past; the expericence left with a facial expression much like the guy in your icon.... The thing is, if I can reach the back, I can't reach the front, and vice versa.

Also, this machine did not come with a pdf writer installed. It came with adobe reader, but no writer... I'm thinking of installing ghostwriter again.

Sigh.

[spooforbrains.livejournal.com]

Have you tried the OpenOffice save to PDF option? I know one of the guys in the office uses it all the time.