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Subject:Re: Ramblings From:Ken Poshedly <poshedly -at- bellsouth -dot- net> To:yehoshua paul <ysp10182 -at- gmail -dot- com>, Lin Sims <ljsims -dot- ml -at- gmail -dot- com> Date:Mon, 20 Feb 2023 18:23:23 +0000 (UTC)
Gang,
I love the discussion. Just to throw in another two cents (sense?):
- Since some here have posted part of their own employment history, my own most recent history is that I'm retired (not by choice) as of late August 2018 when the entire tech pubs dept (me and a co-writer) at my former employer was let go (not fired) and our jobs were outsourced to a company in another part of the United States (we're in Atlanta, the other place is in Wisconsin). The dastardly deed was orchestrated by a very unpopular know-it-all manager of technical support -- who admittedly was NOT a technical writer -- who got tired of being quietly humiliated when my co-writer and I told him his so-called "corrections" to our work were incorrect (we wrote heavy construction machinery operation and repair manuals; NOT Caterpillar but a foreign competitor with a U.S. office). We always subsequently (and meekly) "dumbed-down" our work for him (even though we already were writing to our correct "audience"). The jerk himself was terminated (not "downsized") about a year or so later because of his continued backstabbing of everybody (including the company president). Anybody else here ever work in a toxic environment like that? [Today (at age 73), I still do occasional contract tech writing work and draw on my social security. I would have retired in another two years from when they cut me, but it is what it is.]
- When I was working full-time (and sometimes even now), I loved all the in's and out's of FrameMaker (since 1998) and other Adobe products, but hated the sudden "hissy fits" when working with Word. Most of my contract work is with Word, so I do what I do. And that's another thread entirely.
- The chance-awareness of bad grammar in television adverts will continue not because we're anal retentive (well, maybe SOME are), but because our profession calls on us to communicate accurately so as to get the correct story to our particular audience. Like the saying goes, "It's what we do". And I, for one, am proud to be this way.
Let's see how long this thread continues. It sure beats "crickets chirping".
-- Ken in Atlanta
****************************
On Saturday, February 18, 2023 at 05:11:17 PM EST, Lin Sims <ljsims -dot- ml -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:
I don't mind the Liberty Mutual ad. All it's saying is that you're not
being charged for services you don't need. The one that drive me right up a
tree is Jeep's claim to be the "most awarded vehicle in its class". I'm not
sure that claiming to be the car given away most frequently is something to
boast about.
I'm currently working as the sole tech writer for a small company. One of
the things I've been working on the last couple of years is bring my
documents more in line with the Simplified Technical English standards.
We're not aerospace, so I'm having to develop some of the vocabulary needed
and it's slow going. The documents, however, are definitely improving, and
the people I support are very, very pleased with the results.
Paul, if only I'd known. I was at Discon, too. And yes, I got a few great
T-shirts there, but mostly I bought books.
On Sat, Feb 18, 2023 at 4:57 PM yehoshua paul <ysp10182 -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:
> Tried replying earlier, but an image I included caused the email to be
> blocked.
> Trying again without the image.
>
> I still lurk in the background, but with three small kids at home (9, 5 and
> 2) my hands are pretty full most of the time so don't participate nearly as
> much as I'd like to.
> 1. Meh. I've seen worse and probably made worse mistakes. I probably
> wouldn't have even noticed if you hadn't pointed it out.
> 2. This is my t-shirt, got it at WorldCon in 2021. Couldn't find a link
> online. Hopefully the image doesn't cause any snags with receiving this
> email.
> (T-shirt said "The great thing about writing is that you can set your own
> schedule - any 18 hours of the day you like").
>
> On Sat, Feb 18, 2023 at 11:40 PM Suzette Seveny <suzette -dot- seveny -at- gmail -dot- com>
> wrote:
>
> > I'm still around but with a new email. It seems everything I post is
> > moderated; is it the same for everyone?
> >
> > Are most people posting on the website? I like the email list - it draws
> my
> > attention easier.
> >
> > Still working; albeit for the company that purchased the company I work
> > for.
> >
> > We're converting our online help to Paligo, and getting ready to include
> > eCourses. Exciting times.
> >
> > We have new individuals in the company who think user documentation can
> be
> > provided with Confluence. I wonder how many people are coming up against
> > that.
> >
> > Okay, that was a bit of a "reintroduction", but it's nice to see familiar
> > names.
> >
> > Suzette Seveny (previously Leeming).
> >
> > Suzette
> >
> > On Sat., Feb. 18, 2023, 3:29 p.m. Gene Kim-Eng, <techwr -at- genek -dot- com>
> wrote:
> >
> > > No. I learned a long time ago that paying attention to the poor grammar
> > > and spelling of others when I'm not being paid to do it is one of those
> > > "that way madness lies" paths in life that should not be taken.
> > >
> > > Gene Kim-Eng
> > >
> > >
> > > On 2/18/2023 7:00 AM, Ken Poshedly wrote:
> > > > 1. Does anybody here (other than me) raise an eyebrow (or even
> cringe)
> > > when the Liberty Mutual Insurance adverts proclaim "You only pay for
> what
> > > you need"?
> > >
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--
Lin Sims
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