Friday, August 21

Ascending—and Descending—the Career Ladder

Just yesterday, I was complaining—as I often do—about the Chutes and Ladders like advancement in aviation, at least for pilots. By the time you climb to the top of one ladder, an unfortunate roll of the die or twist of fate funnels you down a chute so fast it tests the integrity of your pants. (Old Navy jeans will melt like a plastic plate on a gas grill.) After all the flight training and lingering student loans, a mere slip on a couple of ladder rungs—rather than transgressing to airplane washer—would be appreciated.

While enjoying a fixed state of pilot employment, however, the smell of melting denim brought to mind aviation's career slide. Other aromas bring about fonder memories, like my association with the smell of cotton candy and stepping in elephant poop. But that’s not my point. It seems aviation is not the only profession with dramatic career peaks and valleys. Even prior recognition or sucess, writing has them too.

For months I have wanted to spruce up the blog and turn it into a real Web site. You can imagine my delight, then, when I united my two-year-old dot-com address with a hosting site. Anybody who is anyone has a dot-com. Having to type blogspot in the address makes people wash the stain of amateur from their fingertips (so they tell me). Besides, you get a ton of cool features with WordPress like searchable tags, categorized articles, and social media links.

My excitement over the new Web site, however, ended shortly after uploading a WordPress template that—in finding and selecting—took years off my life. In trying to change something as simple as font, I slid down the steepest chute and into a burning inferno. And no, the combustion of my pants (damn Old Navy) did not spark the fire. It was burning, of immeasurable magnitude, before I got there, like the pit of despair or Hell.

WordPress provides a new dimension. Gone are the days of user-friendly Blogger templates, familiar ground, and acceptable presentation. There, I wield my computer illiteracy and close my eyes when trying to conquer code. Perhaps I should have taken my counselor's advice in high school and became a computer programmer after all. I bet techies only bump their chins on the ladder when their foot slips during ascent.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Right on sister! Technology is great...if someone else does it. Keep plugging away and create a masterpiece.

John Byfield said...

I'll stick with user friendly templates, familiar ground and acceptable presentation so I stick to the most challenging task...writing!

helisphere said...

C'mon now. HTML has got to be one of the easier codes to learn, at least enough to do the basics with. And there is so much of it already out there and you can look at the code for any page you like and just copy it and change the content. And then you really have more flexibility with what you can do. It's really pretty easy, maybe a bit more time consuming but worth it.

Choc. D said...

I'm not saying it's the code's fault. I'm sure that 59% of the learning curve exists within my own cranium! Okay, maybe 63%.

Little bro said...

In case you haven't yet, check out:

www.mcmanigal-architecture.com

That may or may not be a website (created by yours truly) featuring the great architectural portfolio of a man very near and dear to our hearts.

But all that aside, I created that all on my own with the help of my trusty Macbook Pro, and bluehost.com (for the domain name)

Apple has a knack for creating easy to use software that allows even the most simple of human minds (not at all inferring anything here I promise!) to express themselves through the various technological mediums - movies, photography, music, websites, etc. etc.

Next time you're in a metropolis with an Apple store, stop on in and ask them a few questions, try out some gadgets, see if they can help you find what you're looking for - a snazier, posh, new way to express yourself!