Wrestling With Word!

Wrestling With Word!

Ok, like most people, I have a love/hate relationship with Microsoft Word. On the one hand, I couldn't live without it. It's the air I breathe, the water I drink, the spellchecker I so desperately need! So yeah, it's the best thing since sliced bread! But there is a darker side to Word, and it is called, "Oh, you want to do something other than write in me? GOOD LUCK!"

The most recent wrestling match I've had with it: How to change where "Page 1" starts. 

Note: I have Word 2007, so these tutorials (most likely) only work on that version.

Onwards! So if you want  "Page 1" to start on the second page of your document, it's pretty simple: Insert > Page Number > (select a style) > (green Design Tab pops open) select the "Different First Page" checkbox. 

Now Page 1 will be blank, but Page 2 will still say that it's 2. To fix that, follow this next step.

"Page Number" (on the left side of the ribbon) > Format Page Numbers > select "Start At" > change number in the dropdown list to "0".   

Yay! That should work!

Now here is where things get pull-your-hair-out-complicated. What if you want the numbers of your document to start on Page 3? Since the search term popped up before I'd even finished typing it, clearly a lot of people have been asking the same question. You would think that you could go to "Start At" and simply change that number to a minus 1, but that would be way too easy--and life is all about trials, right?

A Google search can lead you to the right 20-step answer in seconds, but finding the answer doesn't mean your troubles are gone.

Most of the tutorials I tried ended up messing up my document's formatting for some reason, and after an hour or two of wrestling with it, I still couldn't manage to get the numbers exactly how I wanted them. I wanted the first two pages to be blank, but for some reason, page 2 wanted to say "Page 1," and every time I deleted it, it deleted all the other page numbers too. So I ended up having two "Page 1"s.

Note: I had to Copy>Delete>Paste most of my document to keep it from having a blank page between the page break.

Here is a link to the tutorial that worked best for me. If I figure out how to do a better job, I will edit this post!

I used the answer by "The Phlebob":  http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090521031120AASsL1l

The Cutest Graveyard

Out of the Ditch of Distraction, Back in the Trenches

My "Egglets (c)"! I am opening a shop that sells them!=-)
Distraction # 1

      Ah, lately my brain has been just about everywhere (except where it needs to be)! I've allowed myself to get distracted, but now it's time to get back on that query horse. I have a lot of things I truly love, but I only have one dream, and writing is it! To help me out of the ditch of distraction I've fallen into, I ate ice-cream for breakfast, and bought some lucky bamboo for inspiration. The planets have aligned, my mechanic said my car has the only working windshield washer sprayer he's ever seen on a bug (which is a very good sign, if ya didn't know!), and my mom gave me a pep-talk. My mom also gave "over analyzing" a new pronunciation/neologism to let me know that I am being way too obsessive about my query letter! I need to stop nitpicking its appearance. I'm not sure if this counts as a "Writing Revelation" or not, but I guess I've learned that staring at a query letter is not the same thing as querying. I can brush its hair and straighten its tie one last time, but then I really have to close my eyes and wish it the best as it ventures off on its own life. I'm not going to get anywhere unless my baby does!=)

The Cutest Graveyard

     I just bought an iPod Touch! Yes, I am entering the modern world! As much as I write about technology, one would think that I used a lot of the stuff, but I don't. I just got rid of my bunny-eared TV last year, and this iPod is my first Apple-anything! I am super excited that I can have a camera with me at all times now, and I am able to record things such as...the CUTEST GRAVEYARD EVER! Yes, I made the mechanic laugh when I called it that. :-)

     I think I might have mentioned I drive a '72 Super Beetle. In NOLA there were few bugs (especially after Katrina), but in Idaho they are a lot more common, so there are shops that actually work specifically on them! Yay! My car needed a check-up, and this is the Cutest Graveyard Ever, where the mechanics pull some of their car parts. I think the cars in the front row are mostly running/fixer-uppers, but there are a lot of old wrecks in the back.