Only 3 weeks into the month, and I'm actually getting around to the journals? That in itself is newsworthy! =]

Week of Jan 31 - Feb 6th, 1999

Upgrade Hell continues: my printer hasn't worked for months. I thought that my PC printer port was at fault, but the technician examining it said the computer is fine... it must be something wrong with the printer itself.

So, we brought the printer to Hewlett Packard's service depot here in Montreal. After a few days, they informed us that the Montreal office doesn't deal with inkjet printers - only laser - and that they would have to ship it to Toronto.

Oy.

At least I put the week of writing to work constructively: I finished my zine for APACalypse early enough to email it to the Distribution Manager in Postscript format to print at her office. I'm glad that I had so much material ready for the last issue when my system nightmares had worsened; it made putting together a zine that much easier. It also helped me to push Comicopia further ahead.

That extra time allowed me to get Comicopia prepared a week in advance. As with the other APA, I emailed my friend Mike with the finished work for printing... I got much needed, relaxed sleep after this.

After a few hectic weeks of cold lack of drive and deadline angst, I really did nothing during this particular week. I just recharged my batteries.

Oh, I did find out about an update on my printer though: H-P in Toronto claim they couldn't find anything wrong; they think my printer cord was at fault.

Three more weeks of Upgrade Hell for nothing, then.

Double-Oy.

I forgot to mention in last week's entry: I finally handed in a web-review column for PWD last week - only 3 weeks after the last.

Upgrade Hell continues: I got my printer back just for the end of this listed week. Well, the printer itself powers up fine; looks like the major problem is my PC's printer port after all... when I tried to print a test page, I got the message that it's unable to communicate with the port.

I'm beyond the stage of being upset now. In a murderous rage is more like it. I've lost many months of productivity due to this. I haven't been able to print up my story Y2K to try submitting it to a magazine. I'm always trying to land a full time job; I'm unable to print up my CVs.

Mike described it best: turns out I've been stuck with a lemon - of a technician crew.

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