From way back:

ION, pretty disappointed not to see Lori in this video: [link]

Jesse, the third pumpkin down is Lori's group's. they won a prize.

I know! That's why I was hoping for Actual Lori in the video.

Okay. I think I most caught back up. I'm still packing up my classroom (file under work that is a DRAG) and I'm ready to go. But alas, I cannot yet. I" am no good at waiting.

Grrr. silly double post.

Some authors make me want to scream. (Apologies to all people here who have published or will publish in academia; I'm sure you respect your editors or at the very least follow the instructions they give you. If so, congratulations! You are not the authors I'm talking about!)

We don't send authors the edited Word docs, because if they make changes, we can't know they tracked everything, and then we'd have to compare their version with our version line by line. So we send them a PDF.

I have an author who asked for the Word doc, and when we said no, you need to work with the PDF, emailed back with "Good news! I converted the PDF to a Word document! I will re-convert it back to a PDF before I submit it!"

STOP IT, EVIL HAND.

Smooth surgery ~ma, Theo.

"Good news! I converted the PDF to a Word document! I will re-convert it back to a PDF before I submit it!"

Nope, not good news. Crazy-making news. Argh.

And I had to politely word my email so it doesn't say WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU WE SENT YOU INSTRUCTIONS THAT SAY NOT TO DO THAT JACKASS!

Instead I used phrases like "we kindly request" and "not feasible with our stringent production schedule" and "unable to use such a document."

(And this is a bullshit 2-page article that's a bio of a historical medical figure that -- I am not making this up -- the senior author's HIGH SCHOOL daughter wrote as a school project. She is listed, of course, as one of the authors. Since when does the goddamn AMA publish Sophomore history projects?!? ISTG, as soon as I found out one of the authors was a high schooler, I should have known this was going to be nothing but a headache.)

New email: "Can you tell me how to edit in a PDF document?"

Reply I can't send: "That's the whole point, jackass; we don't want you altering the content of the article."

Reply I sent: "The textual content of a PDF file cannot be altered, but you may indicate corrections using the comment tool."

I am 100% positive that this guy won't know what that is or how to use it, and will need instructions (I don't actually have an instruction sheet or anything, because we assume our authors can use Acrobat). This is fucking ridiculous.

"Good news! I converted the PDF to a Word document! I will re-convert it back to a PDF before I submit it!"

It's cute when they think they're being helpful.

My plans for today involve talking to an old manager and officially expressing interest in roles based in California. After work, I'm on a mission for Cinderella shoes rather than an Elsa dress, because reasons.