Drudgery

There are some things an author shouldn’t be asked or forced to do. High on my list is going through a mailing list and updating it. It is boring, tedious and time consuming. I keep putting it off, but the press of getting the word out that CHERUBS 2 has been released is pushing me along this path. The only saving grace is that when one is done, there will, at least theoretically, be fewer invalid email addresses. Hopefully!!!

Next on my drudgery list is updating my programs on my laptop, smart phone or tablet. First, what is easy for someone who does it hundreds of times is a pain in the neck to me. The system, under the guise of being “user friendly” and “easy to use,” asks me all sorts of inane questions about some nuance of the software package. They’re couched in choices without an explanation of what the impact of each choice might be. So, how can one evaluate them?

Then, once they are “updated,” one finds that the software maker has made changes in the graphics, tabs, drop downs, etc. and it takes a few hours or even months to figure it out. Once you learn, guess what, it’s time for an update!!!” Why can’t they leave the package alone or better or give us a choice!

I’m lucky if I use ten percent of the capability of any one package. Somehow, I just can’t get excited about a new release of a software package.

Number three on my hit drudgery parade – filing. Despite the wonders of Microsoft and all the apps in the world, one still has to print documents and then keep them in some sort of order so you can find them two or three years later.

What gets me is that when one gets a document from a government agency such as the IRS or Health and Human Services, the document is sent with three copies. Buried in it are several paragraphs listing all the paperwork reduction acts the government agency complies with. Then, when you go to their web site that touts how paperless the agency is, they require a copy of the document, usually notarized, sent back to via either mail or fax. Electronic copies are not acceptable!!!

Then there are the files themselves. What seems to be a logical method today may not make sense two or three years from now. It doesn’t matter whether it is electronic or Pendaflex, I often worry if I will be able to find in it in the future. Invariably, what someone or some firm wants to provide “proof” is lost in a file, logically filed several years ago, but where the heck is it?

So, to escape from the drudgery, I decided to write about it. Hence this blog.   At least, I hope you could identify with me when and maybe it was a break in a task that you considered drudgery.

Marc Liebman

August, 2015