Writing are difficult and the race is on!

So I've been busy writing up some technical documentation at work for some new Macintosh group members. Since members of the Macintosh team have always been familiar with the environment and the product due to some super-entrenched tribal knowledge, it really hasn't been necessary to create anything formalized for new team members since there hasn't been any for some time.

Until now.

Thank the influx of new calls from new corporate Mac customers and Mac OS X 10.5, but I had quite a challenge ahead of me. So for the past few weeks I've been creating a Keynote presentation and some level of technical documentation in Pages. Then revising and editing both the presentation and the documentation, sending it off for feedback, waiting for feedback, learning that groups in other regions are interested in what I'm working on and not at all feeling the pressure, especially since I haven't done anything to this level in quite some time. Fortunately, the opinion that I was up to the challenge was circulating quite heavily and I decided to buy into that rumor, scandalous though it may be.

So, this past Friday I finally gave the presentation, had it video taped for me to edit down onto DVDs to send out to lucky individuals around the world and the feedback was thankfully very positive. As a result, I feel somewhat assured that I know what I'm talking about. There are a few things I would change on reflection, and I'll probably create a new slide or two and drop them into the finished DVD product, which I'm guessing is going to also need some serious voiceover work to make sure the viewer can hear and understand what I am saying. Thank goodness for Final Cut Express.

I've also got one other thing to write that has a hard deadline - a letter of recommendation for a friend's son for his college application. That I remember quite clearly carrying him on my shoulders going into Toys R Us when he was barely four and now I'm helping him for his college entrance doesn't make me feel old at all. Just slightly aged. I go shopping for canes and walkers tomorrow.


Meanwhile, The Amazing Race 12 has started, and as one would expect, it is the classier of the reality shows and something worthy of the Tiffany Network. Applications are now being accepted for The Amazing Race 13 as was announced last week on the show. Deadline for the applications are apparently this week. So I and my potential race teammate have to get it in gear and this this done ASAP.

This week I am on vacation and it's also Thanksgiving...so for anyone in the US...enjoy that turkey...