Computing gotchas...

I had this idea yesterday of creating a table of many narrow columns and short rows in Word - the effect would be not unlike graph paper - and then to use the merge-cell command to create a table whose format would very nearly match that of the tax return I'm to translate (or at least the first page of said return).

Having printed the table, I was faced with the problem of superposing the printed table and the printed document, and nothing short of a light table (which I do not have) would appear to do the trick. It then occurred to me that if I printed the table on something transparent (a sheet of plastic) my problem would be solved. Not having any such sheets available out-of-the-box, I cut up an A4-sized plastic folder that I use when I want to group several related items together, and sent one of the sheets through the laser printer.

Oops!

At about the time the leading edge of the plastic sheet should have been coming out of the printer, it wasn't and it dawned on me in a flash: laser printing involves a step in which the sheet being printed is run around a very hot roller to fuse the toner to the paper. At which point the plastic sheet stopped moving altogether and an alarm light started blinking.

Fortunately, I was able to extract the melted mess that was created without any apparent problem, since the printer continues to work without problems, but I think I may have just lucked out.

* * *For the second time, I've run across a phenomenon in which an application appears to freeze or do nothing when invoked. The apparent reason? There's a part of it that was "left behind" on the "other" monitor when the machine was put to sleep from two-monitor mode.

What actually happened: In laptop-only mode, I fired up Semagic from the tray, whereupon it would not respond at all. Upon returning home and connecting the second monitor, it turns out there was a "History Item" dialog box open on the second screen. Something similar happened the other day when I tried to use The Sleuthhound, but in that case, I killed the process and continued on my merry way.

Just some things to keep in mind.

Cheers...

Not giving in to The Horror...

High-falutin' words, to be sure, but I'm referring here to the humongoid assignment due next Thursday morning. As I write this, I have about 1500 words left of today's slug of work. The plan for the rest of the day is similar to yesterday: finish the slug, do a couple of pages of the tax return, do the obedience class with Shiloh, then grab some short z's prior to tonight's shift.

Galina's been reorganizing the kitchen because it turns out the occasional moth we've been seeing in the pantry represents the proverbial tip of the iceberg. Apparently, just about everything that might attract an insect that wasn't in a glass jar - and this includes sealed plastic packages - showed signs of, um, life. Humorous remarks about how a little extra protein is always welcome aside, it is good that Galina got on top of this.

I've been following the weather news only with 10% of my attention. I seem to recall there was something called Erin that came ashore today, while something else called Dean is still a number of days out. Erin was supposed to come ashore near Brownsville, Texas (at the southern tip of the state), but given that the Tube is currently devoted to "live coverage" of widespread flooding around Houston, I'll warrant that the storm moved north between then and now. I can hear the drum of rain from time to time, as it pounds our back yard lawn into insensibility.

And now, I must apply myself to the task at hand.

Cheers...

Feeling better about it all...

Well, I've managed to finish today's "slug" of work on The Horror and catch up on what I intended to have completed yesterday for the tax translation, so although I am still somewhat behind, I'm not that far behind.

Time to go get ready for obedience training.

Cheers...