INTJMom
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2007
- Messages
- 5,413
- MBTI Type
- INTJ
- Enneagram
- 5w4
I had a successful experience today that made me feel really good about myself. This doesn't happen very frequently, so I thought I would write about it.
I have a friend who's blind. I've known him for 6 or 7 years. He started out as my computer guru, but we're both musicians, too, so we have stuff in common to talk about. Every so often he calls me because he needs help with something that only a sighted person can do. I've changed out RAM for him, for instance. Sometimes I get paid, sometimes I don't. Whatever. He's done enough for me over the years. BTW he's either an ESTJ or ENTJ.
Anyway, he promised to make some business cards for a friend of his who's also blind. It was going to be printed with ink and then run through the Braille printer. He needed someone who could do some "tweaking". That's one thing I like to do that I've noticed people of other types don't like doing.
All I was given was 4 lines of text and their logo. First, I designed the card for ink. That part was relatively easy. We used an Avery template in Word. We ended up with a handsome looking card, even if I do say so myself. I was very pleased with it.
Next came the challenge. We had to use Duxbury software that takes text and translates it into Braille for the Braille printer. The only problem is it doesn't accept any formatting from another program! We called a tech support guy to find out how to cancel all the tabs. That was not too bad, but then I asked him about margins, and he started using all this computer geek, like coding language!
I don't really know what he was saying. I interrupted him and I told him that I was overwhelmed and I was going to have to give up on that. He took it well.
So I abandoned tabs and just used spaces though I was told they might not work. I'm talking about an interface that does not allow you to change the font, or other stuff we take for granted in Word. Even the left margin was a separate menu item from the right margin! It's not quite as bad as a DOS window, but there are NO frills!
Anywho, I ended up having to translate to Braille and THEN edit! It was kind of like trying to read Morse Code, if you've ever seen that. As far as trial and error goes, it really wasn't that bad. I think we only wasted four sheets of business cards getting all the braille text in the right places.
The best part was that we completed the entire project today! The business cards are all printed out with ink and Braille waiting to go to their owner. It was a lot of fun! Mostly because it was successful. If we hadn't have finished today, I'm sure I would feel frustrated instead.
I have a friend who's blind. I've known him for 6 or 7 years. He started out as my computer guru, but we're both musicians, too, so we have stuff in common to talk about. Every so often he calls me because he needs help with something that only a sighted person can do. I've changed out RAM for him, for instance. Sometimes I get paid, sometimes I don't. Whatever. He's done enough for me over the years. BTW he's either an ESTJ or ENTJ.
Anyway, he promised to make some business cards for a friend of his who's also blind. It was going to be printed with ink and then run through the Braille printer. He needed someone who could do some "tweaking". That's one thing I like to do that I've noticed people of other types don't like doing.
All I was given was 4 lines of text and their logo. First, I designed the card for ink. That part was relatively easy. We used an Avery template in Word. We ended up with a handsome looking card, even if I do say so myself. I was very pleased with it.
Next came the challenge. We had to use Duxbury software that takes text and translates it into Braille for the Braille printer. The only problem is it doesn't accept any formatting from another program! We called a tech support guy to find out how to cancel all the tabs. That was not too bad, but then I asked him about margins, and he started using all this computer geek, like coding language!
I don't really know what he was saying. I interrupted him and I told him that I was overwhelmed and I was going to have to give up on that. He took it well.So I abandoned tabs and just used spaces though I was told they might not work. I'm talking about an interface that does not allow you to change the font, or other stuff we take for granted in Word. Even the left margin was a separate menu item from the right margin! It's not quite as bad as a DOS window, but there are NO frills!
Anywho, I ended up having to translate to Braille and THEN edit! It was kind of like trying to read Morse Code, if you've ever seen that. As far as trial and error goes, it really wasn't that bad. I think we only wasted four sheets of business cards getting all the braille text in the right places.
The best part was that we completed the entire project today! The business cards are all printed out with ink and Braille waiting to go to their owner. It was a lot of fun! Mostly because it was successful. If we hadn't have finished today, I'm sure I would feel frustrated instead.
