User:Ssstephen/prototype/20231006

perform as in bring about

I think I am about to do some paid work. I am expecting an email from one client, and also received an email (and WhatsApp message) yesterday evening from a second client. I read and responded to the WhatsApp message at 18:17-18:36 (CET), but decided this was too late in the evening to respond to or even open the email. Otherwise my focus gets sucked in, and there are other things I would prefer to get sucked into.

I opened this annotation tab first to start taking notes before the process begins for today. I am on the HP Windows laptop, and I am using the Chrome browser. There are several reasons for this: the HP computer is most familiar and powerful enough to perform the tasks I need. It also has all my work files stored on it and the Adobe software I need (probably just InDesign for today, maybe Illustrator). There are also some reasons I would prefer not to be on this setup and am transitioning away from it: the laptop is physically breaking, for example it currently works better with an external keyboard and mouse. Also I would prefer to use proprietary software/firmware less for political/ethical reasons and a desire to be able to customise and access my software in ways not available in this setup. Also while I'm thinking about the computer I think I'll back it up now that I remember.

Backing up (copying my files to a second location) is a simple enough process when I remember to do it. I have an external hard drive which appears as "Seagate Expansion SCSI Disk Device" when I plug it in via USB 3.0. The properties panel says its capacity is 1.34 TB which seems strange. Oh no hang oh it's because it's partitioned, I guess its 2 TB in total. I open the windows backup settings and press a button to manually "Back up now". Backing up is helpful for my work because: a) laptop hard drives break and b) I make mistakes, and it's very helpful to not have lost too much progress in these situations. I enjoy my work but repeating the same exact tasks twice does not seem very enjoyable, and would (does) feel extremely pointless when it happens. I guess this can give some insight into what it is about my work I enjoy, or see as purposeful: it is the process yes but not purely for it's own sake. There is an end goal maybe, or expectation or discovering, developing or moving somewhere. The repetition of the exact same actions is usually not the point in itself, although I'm sure it occurs a lot in other ways. Something is being produced.

Ok now I'll actually work. It's 12:18 cet and I will now open my emails (Gmail!) in another tab of Chrome. I will also open InDesign as they both take a few moments to load. I have 5 new emails since 18:41 cet yesterday. Or rather 5 that make it through the filters, there are four others that go to junk folders. Of the five, three are from hosting providers for websites I or my clients manage. Two are about billing and one is about a migration the hosting provider has made to a new back end software. I open and glance at each one very briefly. The fourth mail is a Google Ads summary for another client I am working with at the moment. They added me to their Google Analytics account temporarily because I am working on some SEO for their site. The fifth email is the expected one from the client, no actually there are two emails, so I have to read a bit more carefully to get my head in the right gear and make sure I find the task to be performed. Ok they have attached a .docx file with some notes of amendments to be made to a document we are working on. They probably made the document in Microsoft Word, I will open it in Google Docs because that is convenient to do from my Gmail webmail (two clicks and it opens in a new tab). I quickly scan through the document, there are 11 changes to be made this will take about an hour I guess (well without annotation it would). I also find the correct file to be edited, and immediately save a new version of it as this will be significantly different to the last. It is now 12:27 cet and I guess this is when the main task starts. I'll get a glass of water first. Ok also I talked to Thijs and Bernadette for a while now it's 12:36.

I start at the end of the edit notes because this client refers to page numbers, working backwards prevents the page numbers I'm focusing on from shifting too much as I work. Flying through it, great. Several of the edits just involve deleting pages and replacing images. Two of the images I need to get from twitter shich involves converting .jfif to .jpeg file format. I have software that can do it locally on my computer, but it is easier to convert with a web based service. I search for "jfif to" and it autocompletes, and succests I use https://convertio.co/jfif-jpg/ I have probably used this exact service before it looks vaguely familiar, but there are many similar tools. This one is handy because it allowed me to upload both files at once and batch convert. Saves a few seconds that I can spend doing something more fun like nothing or eating or crying. I download the files and use Windows Explorer to move them to the project directory. I open two explorer windows (well the project folder was already open) and I drag and drop from one (the "Downloads" folder they automatically download to) to the other. Drag and drom means using the mouse to "move" the items across the screen, which causes them to be moved in the file directory. I use a similar drag and drop technique to placeor "link") the images in the InDesign document. I rescale and reposition them using the modifier keys on the keyboard. Shift to lock aspect ratio. Alt to set the scaling origin to the center point. I also use the arrow keys to move the image by a fixed increment (which I nearly always set to 5mm).

The next edit is a littl emore complicated and involves drawing a graphic. I open Adobe Illustrator, I actually only noticed I opened it after it happened. I am taking some flag graphics from a file to add them to the image. It's funny that even with this annotation method some actions are happening less consciously, I wonder do I need to becom emore aware somehow. Yes of course, always.

I use some keyboard shortcuts to change clipping paths, groups and layers. This is repetitive but for a purpose. It happens fairly quickly. I use a vector effect called "Flag" because I'm making cute 'lil wavey flags. Fun. I applly the effect from a drop down menu, then a dialogue box opens where I make some more specific adjustments to the effect. It has a preview mode which makes the adjusting much easier. The software also "remembers" the effect as an "appearance", so I can change it again later losslessly. Ok that edit took a little longer, all good now though. Six more to do and it's now 13:04 cet. I'll take a break for a minute and get some water. I check my phone which is on a different table, theres a mesage from my dad on WhatsApp I message him back. I look out the window. I look at my emails. I eat a biscuit.

I download an icon from the internet. I tweak it in Illustrator to make a graphic for one of the pages. I notice the backup is done so I unplug the hard drive. This one is taking a little longer too, maybe I'm slightly distracted. The next edit involved opening another InDesign document, exporting two PDFs, and replacing those files within this one. And also sending an email, so a little distracting from the main work flow. The email was to an employee with the client company who deals with anaging their online resources, amonst other things. I sent her the two updated PDFs as they will need to be added to the website, and I will need the updated URLs back from her. Although these are tasks I could do it makes sense for her to do it because all the website updates can be more easily manbaged when they pass through one person. She has a good overview of what is there, and thus is able to take care of the site and manage it. This also means she takes more responsibility upon herself. There is not much need technically for this convention but socially (or in relation to the people working on the project) it makes a lot more sense in this situation.

The language of the last edit confuses me a little. Then I realise it is just a typo, and I can make the change needed. Ok the edits are done. If there had been more of them I would double check the notes, but I'm tired today and I think it'll be fine. I write a quick email and finish writing these notes. I'm a bit tired and emotional today so im glad it's finished. It's 13:45 cet.