TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
T'was the days before Christmas and for the folks on the list,
Four days off from work were sounding like bliss.
The manuals were sent to the printer with care,
and hopes that no reader would find them in error.
The writers were shutting down their workstations,
For the hard-working tech writers, some nice relaxation.
Four days of quiet, with no SME's
was enough to fill all the tee-dubs with glee.
And me in my 'kerchief and ma in her curlers,
were just logging off - Happy New Year, tech whirlers!
When out on the list, there arose such a shout,
That I quickly logged in - to find out what about.
And what to my wondering eyes should appear,
but a Word vs. Frame flame war, my dear!
Some shouted out that Word was "stupid" and "lame"
and others said "Hey, Microsoft gets the blame.
Master documents is broken, we know it's a fact,
And we hate the way that the templates react."
While the Framers defended the tool of their choice,
The Word partisans quickly lifted their voice:
Frame's too expensive, you know it's not cheap,
and the learning curve for this tool is too steep!
The interface problems are giving us tics,
and besides, the whole thing was ported from UNIX!
Then the process vs. product "discussion" began,
With a post on this topic we probably should ban.
And soon the whole group was raising a clamor,
Going at it again, with the tongs and a hammer.
And for hours it continued, the dance and the song,
'til poor Eric said "Can't we all just get along?"
So the writers desisted from the tool wars (for now)
and said "Use the tool of your choice." (Holy Cow!)
The process folks offered "Get it done is just fine:
We?ve done it ourselves, when it got to crunch time."
And the others admitted "We use processes too,
We just don?t formalize it, the way that you do."
It was peace on the list (if not the whole earth)
A gift that's got (IMO) high worth.
After all, we?re all writers, and not too obsessional,
(I'm glad we can handle these things so professional)
And laying a finger along-side my mouse,
I'll click on "Send" and head for my house.
I'll spring to my car (you've heard that it's new?)
And say (for the year) a fond farewell to you.
May your new year be happy, and filled with good stuff,
May you enjoy your work (not too much - just enough!)
May you find a good job, if you need one, I say,
And may you and all yours have a wonderful day.
Yes, I'll leave you for now, and start my vacation,
And say to tech-whirlers, all over the nation:
You'll hear me exclaim, ere I drive out of sight,
"HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!"
Dan
Dan Hall
Sr. Technical Writer
SchlumbergerSema RTEMS
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Collect Royalties, Not Rejection Letters! Tell us your rejection story when you
submit your manuscript to iUniverse Nov. 6 -Dec. 15 and get five free copies of
your book. What are you waiting for? http://www.iuniverse.com/media/techwr
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
