This is the most frustrating project I’ve had to deal with in a long time.

• They can’t send images separate from a Word document but wonder why they get messed up in the conversion.
• They send me the wrong content and I work hours to get it up just to find out it’s wrong and I have to redo it.
• They insist on calling me instead of emailing. Come on! I don’t need a phone call, I just need the correct information. Email is SO much more efficient for me.
• They think theirs is the only project I’m working on. And they give me their content last minute. Not the one week ahead of time policy we have in place.
• They don’t know how to use a computer!!!

Makes me so mad. Anyway. Thank you blog for letting me vent.

They jacked our DSL bill up. Didn’t tell me. Just added $5 onto the price. That on top of me having to pay for a phone line we don’t use. What else is interesting is that through all of the other price fluctuations they’ve had during the last year, our price has never been modified. But now. Apparently they thought it was fine to do this and not notify me.

The first CSR I got said the price increase was because of their new 24-hour tech support and antivirus software. And I don’t use either of those. I was perfectly happy with the service I had before without…

Shoot. Stupid cell interference. Only when I connect with them. I hate this.

…is going by SO slowly. What is the deal? Maybe it’s because summer is ending and people are showing up on campus. It’s probably more closely related to the fact that I am waiting for people to answer me.

I lost my iPod Touch. I’m not sure how, but I know when. Monday. It has to be in the house someplace. Absolutely has to be. See, I got home. I remember seeing it where I had set it down and grabbing it because it wasn’t supposed to be there. I went upstairs, did some GRE studying, ate dinner, went back upstairs to do some more, came downstairs and Jessica took me to Dairy Queen (drive-thru) to cheer me up.

Got back, watched TV. We haven’t gone anywhere. And I haven’t been able to find it since Tuesday morning. It’s super-annoying. I hope I find it soon.

We got a cucumber today from our garden. And we ate it. Well, half of it. In a chicken salad. It’s really good.

I am really stressed about the GRE. I need to get a better score on it this time so that I can get into the school i want. Hopefully this Kaplan stuff will pay off. But it doesn’t seem to be yet. And I take the test next tuesday.

Please pray for me.

How can someone presume to be smarter than the architects and engineers who have studied for years to understand the physics and sciences of how a massive building can stay standing, just because she is a lover of history??? There is no way that you could have any idea of the danger or risk that building meant to this campus and the hundreds of people that scurry about the grounds every day with the arts and crafts and complaining you have devoted your life to.

It is ignorant to be so presumptive. It is repugnant to attack the decision after the fact. And it makes me really mad that one could be so close-minded as to not weigh all the options or hear all of the reasoning or make an effort (other than writing letters to the local newspaper and complaining in the community) to actually help the cause but instead criticize and undermine an institution that does so much good for Christ’s kingdom.

/rant

Illinois keeps showing me why it’s a lowsy state to live in. A few things I hate about Illinois:

• Gas tax. Illinois has one of the highest gas taxes in the Midwest. If I drive 45 minutes West to St Louis, gas is 20¢ cheaper than anyplace here in Illinois. Also, during the gas price climb Chicago consistently had the highest (or was in the top three) fuel prices in the country. Yes, even higher than California.
• Energy rates. Are freaking high in Illinois. In the winter we pay SO much for gas. When we were keeping the house at 65 degrees (Fahrenheit) we would still get charged close to $400/month. Outrageous considering we were cold the entire winter.
• Corn Fields. That is all we have here. Not really Illinois’s fault that we decided to live here, but I don’t like it anyway.
• Governor Blagojevich. He’s a terrible governor. Just ask any resident. He lives in Chicago and takes his personal jet, no doubt using our tax dollars, to fly down to Springfield (the actual capitol) every day. Cha-ching!
• Barack Obama. Rhetoric, fantastical idealism and denial of reality. Not to mention his blind followers that don’t realise their support will drive our nation into the ground and bring war to our shores.

And just today I realised our auto insurance rates increased. I called up Nationwide to find out what was up (because we haven’t had any accidents or anything) and the CSR told me that our state rates had gone up. To the tune of $10 more a month. Which sucks. Not only do we have to pay some of the highest gas prices in the nation, we now have to pay more in car insurance.

I am ready to leave Illinois. This state is not cool enough to act like it’s California. I’m ready to go someplace that has a culture and ruling body that warrants it’s irratic pricing behaviours.

Screw Illinois. I’m leaving in a year.

I’ve spent the day redesigning panthernet again. i might like it this time. Not sure yet. We’ll see where I get it. And if I like it.

It’s been a frustrating day.

How do people in this industry cope with their age? Okay, maybe that’s not the right question. I know tons of people work in this industry and they do really well at staying up-to-date and current. Maybe the biggest issue isn’t the people in the web industry, it’s those that dabble and play here and there.

I’m not calling myself an expert in the field, but I certainly have been learning a lot the last few years about interfaces and user-friendly development. I’m a fan of Apple products (because that’s supposed to be some badge of honour or something), I mainly create in WordPress, I handle multiple sites, read A List Apart and basement.org, and probably most important – I grew up on the internet! I feel I at least have a basis of knowledge and enough sense to know when something sucks.

The more I work my current job, the more I find that living in this Midwestern bubble affects how people interact with the outside world. Or even perceive it in general. On the topic of web usability, there’s a huge gap between those in charge of the institution’s site and the current trends in web design and usability standards.

Actually, the people doing the “real” marketing (ie, to prospective students) are open to new stuff. Video, javascript (I know, sad), real podcasting through things like iTunesU, and maybe even some blogging. And that’s not to say that other people aren’t interested, its just that they are too set in their own ways. And that is what is so annoying.

It’s the people like Brian Niles and his team at TargetX that know what is going on. Those are the groups higher ed developers should be listening to. On second thought, I would think most developers are doing that. It’s their bosses that are convinced their methods are the correct and best means.

I’m sure this is true throughout the industry, and probably much broader, but it’s why school sites are so hard on the eyes, frustrating to navigate and downright old-fangled. Let your designers and developers do the work you pay them for! A lot of us are young enough to connect with the kids you’re trying to attract. Let us be at their level, you can be at yours.