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Honoring your supreme cluelessness
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Morning all!
You know, one of my favorite phrases in the entire world is:
Life! It’s character-building!
And because cluelessness (we’re talking the kind that would win the Darwin Awards if one existed for personal business) is part and parcel of one’s character (ideally, less than, hmmmm, 87% of your total makeup), I now firmly believe that it should be embraced and cherished and LEARNED FROM and then……let go with all of the fervor a Twitterholic embraces the latest version of TweetDeck.
By now, you’re probably aware….I, ahem, enjoyed the above opportunity to a point that made the phrase
Soul-searing agony
seem more appealing than a double-scoop of cookie-dough ice-cream slathered with Magic Shell.
And that was the easy part of the day. 
You see, it all happened when I had completed the brochure for my karate dojo. As you might remember, I’m an enthusiastic parrticipant in Martial Arts…and because my school is so phenomenal, I occassionally pitch in to offer my skills in areas in which I’m a figurative black belt (photoshop, website design, coffee appreciation, etc.).
So! I had finished a 21 MEG Photoshop PSD file of the brochure that included 24 layers and copy that would make the angels sing (and more importantly, future customers proactively ask for more information). Bravely cutting the FINAL (as in, FINAL, as in FINAL) versions of both the PSD and the TIF files on a CDROM (notice how you do NOT see "Making certain to retain a final copy on my local computer", as that’s what any clueful person would do), I drove to my dojo and submitted my final work.
Beautiful! Masterful! And hey! Here are 2 more suggestions!
Doesn’t it always happen that way? It turns out, the ideas truly were brilliant, so I dashed back home, updated everything, re-cut the CDs, flew back, and handed off my final deliverable.
After class, I was kinda sorta ‘way exhausted….but I still had one more responsibilty to complete!
You see, one of my mantras by which I live my life is that nobody (except my mom, of course), knows everything…but everyone knows something! Put all those somethings together and you’ll create a power with which to be reckoned.
Thus, while building my brochure, I made certain to email various individuals each update as they emerged (senseis, karate moms, etc.). I receive wonderful feedback (my final product turned out to be 237 times better than if I had gone it alone)!
That evening, that dark dank evening, that scary, solitary, wind-swept evening where vampires haunted the deserted streets and ill winds tried frantically to break through the antique Victorian stained glass windows of my 13th century French Chalet outside of which Sebastian was woefully gazing upwards, yearning for my soft yielding….
Ooopsie! Got a bit carried away there. Let me try again:
That evening, I carefully made nice small jpgs of the brocure front and back, carefully saved them to my local drive, and emailed them to everyone who helped out. Whew! said I - it’s time to finally fall asleep after a job well-done!
The next day, I decided to print out a complete copy for my records. I fired up Photoshop, opened my PSD file and discovered…..
That last teeny tiny jpg? I saved it AS my PSD file. And because I had closed down Photoshop the day before….all edits and changes….were cast into concrete more unmoveable than a Hummer sans any wheels.
Of course, my immediate reaction was to buckle to my knees and scream to the heavens as I writhed in sorrowful suffering calmly look at my computer, look at my hands (why my hands, I have no idea, they weren’t holding coffee), look back at my computer, and then realize to myself:
Jeepers self, luckily I copied the final PSD file to the CDROM!
The CDROM I no longer possessed!
Sigh.
It turns out, I contacted the dojo and the brochure is already set to be printed….when it’s completed, however, I should receive back my final files and can repair the heartache that is currently my PSD file.
More sighs.
Now if that not character-building, I don’t know what is!!
So let’s bring this post back to the most important person reading it….you.
Cluelessness happens. It really does! The smart thing, however, is to evoke redundancy for things that are waiting to pounce on you WITHOUT your knowledge. To wit, enjoy these two key lessons:
Always make certain you have double backups for important documents.
Who would have thought I’d be careless enough to save a JPG as a PSD file? In looking back, I know I was really focused on getting my final email out and was parallel processing a dozen actions at the same time. I should have kept two backup files so if stupidity struck, I’d have my other failsafe waiting for me.
The moral - even if you’re the god’s gift to a particular talent, you might evoke a Fail Whale when you least expect it.
If you commit an idjut action, accept that fact and fix it.
True…I’d much prefer to ignore my blatant stupidity…but it happened. It was over, it was done with, and I could have stayed quiet so others didn’t know quite how I goofed.
Thing is, though, then I’d have to re-create the entire blasted PSD file. I’m humble enough that I can confess my mistakes…heck, everyone (except my mom, of course) makes them!
So I admitted my error and made certain to arrange I can retrieve the files tomorrow. Problem has been (ideally) solved and I can chalk up the experience to character-building.
The moral - Cluelessness….it happens. Deal with it….solve it….and then let it go.
Thus, all well that ends well (unless, of course, that CDROM decides to implode within the print shop’s computer and melt)!
In closing, remember….it’s not the mistake you make….but it’s how you deal with the aftermath that’s important.
And you can take THAT to the bank.
Enjoy,
Barbara Ling
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indeed. i’ve experienced much sorrow thanks to my careless lack of backups.
kouji’s last blog post..haiku poem: nature (sand)