resume hell

I went to Kinko's three times today, and left the third visit in tears.

I have spent the entire day trying to print resumes for a job fair tomorrow. I can't use my printer, because the power cable has been missing since the move here. I asked around and no one seemed to have a printer, or one that was working anyway. People kept offering to print them at school or work for me, but that wasn't going to work since it needed to be on resume paper.

So today I asked around some more, then went to try the public library. I went in and got myself a card, then they told me I couldn't use my own paper. Grrr. Next went home to get directions to Kinko's for the first trip. Their computer couldn't read my resume file because it was in Mac Pages format. I had a cover letter in rtf format though, so I at least got some of those printed, and, I bought a new box of resume paper.

I don't know much about computers and document formats, so I went home and emailed a friend to ask how to switch file types. His reply told me what to do, but not HOW to do it. If that makes sense? I don't know computer jargon. I needed the HOW. I decided not to bug him again and to just try to figure it out. I messed around a bit, and thought I had managed to do it.

I went back to Kinko's a second time. The resume paper I'd just bought remained behind sitting comfortably on my couch. *Bangs head on steering wheel in Kinko's parking lot.*

Went home again. Collected paper. Back on drive number three. Kinko's guy finds file. I hand him my stack of paper and ask for 15 copies of what I believe is a three page document. He comes back with almost the whole 80 sheets used up on 15 resumes that are USELESS to me, because switching the format made some weird coding and junk come up at the end making it now 4 pages long, and it completely left out my header and name and address?? I just blurted out, "What is this....?" and started to cry in the store. I can't afford set backs like ruining a whole box of expensive resume paper right now.

I was so upset, I gathered up my mess and stumbled out of the store, without even paying for my screwy copies! oops. Well no one tried to stop me... I think that's because people are scared to mess with crazy people.

*** So the updated continuation of the story goes like this;

I canceled my plans tonight with my friend with who it just never seems to work for us to connect, so that I could go out to my cousins place to use her printer when she got home from school this evening. She has a MAC so I figured I was in the clear. We could use my original file. What could go wrong? Well I got there and she and her design-eye were not in approval of the state of my resume. So after a test print we spent some time perfecting it to her standards.

Then it came time to do a test print on the good paper. At which point, we came to realize her black ink was running low and looked terrible. It was late at this point. Office Depot was closed. Tom Thumb informed us that, yes they used to carry ink cartridges but no longer did. We then tried to use her fiance's printer, which only prints black, but we were willing to sacrificing the green highlight to just get it done. Although obviously, her laptop and his printer refused to communicate with one another...

So the plan as I left there was for her to get some ink in the morning and print them out for me to pick up tomorrow just before I head to the job fair. Keeping my fingers crossed. Not sure what else can possibly happen, but ya know... you read the story.