Why Fix Stuff That Works? Maintain it – yes. Change it  – no. This query applies to me ‘fixing’ things, as much to the tools, systems and processes I use that suddenly change.

I am going to be childish and say ‘DropBox started it!’ 🙁

By which I mean I failed to see change coming, and the knowledge I have accrued to date hasn’t helped me adapt. Ergo – DropBox has brought in some changes to the desk Top App that triggered a brain fart –  if I can find a replacement for it I will.

Of course, if is the operative word as it is pretty much industry standard. An industry that, increasingly, is moving from the desktop to the subscription and into the Clouds. A sound move for developers and  Severer providers – but for the users is a cost,  and weakness, in the security of the business and removes a product from direct control of the owner.

Quick recap: Firstly, when I replaced my LapTop for another, I got one with an SSD and was instantaneously redirected to DropBox, and my sub increased as I was pushed to going to Selective Sync. Setting up/resetting up and replacing hardware is not something many of us do every day – we like it to be easy and we like to build on our knowledge by avoiding whatever it was that ‘went wrong’ setting up the last time – what we don’t want is to be pushed, when vulnerable – and effectively blackmailed with our work between machines in space – into spending more money.

And, it didn’t take me all that long to work out Selective Sync is crap. It sucks the BroadBand connection – took 50 gigs of my contract in two days that set up week – and is so slow that meaningful work flo is not possible. I had my old Lap Top repaired, twice, just to get a normal local DropBox folder.

This week they changed the DeskTop App: Now, instead of the whole of my screen filled with folders, only the central 3 inches is – the rest is pointless sidebars – and on my HP LapTop there is no ‘x’ to get rid of it – due to my preferred screen res – you can, after several more clicks, use File Explorer, but you still have to go to a drop-down menu to get the thing to shut. Who has time? If I have to use Explorer, why have the App?

DropBox is also getting the blame for me going off-piste Sunday into Monday: On the trail of something easy to carry, and low on BB, I hooked out of the Shipping Container storage that I used to use – memory stix – my old ones I carried with a satisfactory jangle like the keys to my world. Hum. Old memory stix like old memories – best left in the dust. Scrivener decided to dislike the old files, and I spent a whole evening, and the following morning, uninstalling and reinstalling and typing in my licence number… Not funny.

So my first ‘story edit session’ was some random line edits, nibbled at like an open packet of bickies, while awaiting husband to head out to his week’s work – and then tech issues with Scrivener took over until the delivery of parcels – or lack of delivery of packages stopped even that.

Aside: 🙂  DPD have a map where you can see the driver – and you can see that 5 min away from your house he turns off and heads into No Man’s Land and you can’t help but phone the call centre and get in the queue… It’s not much different from pacing up and down wondering where the damn parcel is – but fewer steps on the FitBit.

The good news is my cheap printer did arrive – and is now set up – and I even remembered to buy the separate cable (!)

By Monday night, I had backache: I sat /stood at 5 am and – but for a little pacing up and down before the delivery driver turned around – I was stationary 12 hours. I did not ride, eat well, and became dispirited.   There was no tangible progress on edits/ learning to edit, and I had serious doubt about my ability to keep going. These situations suck the life out of me and just hurt – I want stuff ‘just to work’ with  pathetic needyness that frightens me as so much of my time has been wasted by this.

I want to keep working so I can have a commercial relationship with tools and software and use it to produce stuff. If I bought an angle grinder, I would not want it to arrive in kit form or have it unsure if it was a nail gun. I have enough to do – catching up on lack of basic schooling in grammar punctuation and style and story edits – and so to start with this every time I start recently  is  abysmally painful and depressing. It’s no fun at and just to write that I survived – if with  a backache and a head ache – is not OK ;(

Luckily for me, I am made of tough stuff, and I bounced back for more of the same – this time the editing software, I last used in 2017, has been mucked about with and trusty desktop versions changed and wildly expensive Cloud solutions replace perfectly functional ‘original’ online versions. All Jolly Good Fun and another serious waste of time – relearning and assessing things – again before actually editing anything.

I did, finally, get the ducks lined up only to find a mysterious  ‘double entry’ of text when using Scrivener, MS Word – Grammarly /Pro Writing Aid and Smart Edit simultaneously on my wall of monitors to ‘catch up’ LOL.

This, did not phase me – or – beat me to tears. Divide and conquer.  I did read a blog post about the 10% rule in financial investment terms – if stock loses 10% – then you sell ( Sorry can’t find it to link to it) I looked back at my week and think it might be worth me thinking that way – after all I may pay over £300/year for DropBox – but I can find things in File Explorer – and Google Drive isn’t that  different or One Drive  ( so researching them willy-nilly was daft and my DB contract isn’t up for months… out side the 10% rule).

The memory stix told me there were issues – and I persisted till the HP LapTop got hiccups that took me a whole day to sort out – yep, outside the 10% rule.

Using similar but different software at the same time ’caused’ double-entry of text ( some how – and finding out how equally is outside the 10%)

Take aways this week: Firstly,  things change – accept, move around an issue if you are focussed on another goal -10% rule. Secondly, sometimes more is less – one thing properly done at a time is faster than many things juggled and dropped.

OK, so you have to know what 10% looks like in relation to your time – if you have 10 hours and you spend 1 hour on something that doesn’t directly take you closer to your day-end goal then you stop there and move around it.

It was only after I applied the 10% rule to this week that I progressed tohands on keyboard editing and revising. so, I have enjoyed my week; and the heat around me has not fanned any flames – in fact I hunkered down and engaged, interested to see if I could get around things –  a product/tool I use that suddenly changes has been in that development process a long time – emailing and outlining exactly why it has compromised the work and cost time ( money) is the best and cost effective measure that I can do – so that info may go forward to the next change 🙂

That would be inside the 10% as saying nothing changes nothing. Ruminating or fuming  wastes your own and everyone elses time – definitely outside the 10% Rule.

Unless we are talking BREXIT and then we’re all in the same mess, whatever we wanted in the first place, we will get something we didn’t plan for and didn’t see coming – so duck.