20 Minutes

It took me 20 minutes to get the gridlines to appear on a document template today. Perhaps that doesn’t mean anything to you. To me, it represents 20 minutes of my life I’ll never get back.

Open template.
WTF? Where are my gridlines?
Borders? No…those show when printing.
Shading? No.
Options? Customize? No and No.
AH! “Show Gridlines!"

Crap. I can’t select that option.
Close document.

Open template.
WTF? Where are my gridlines?
Borders? No…those show when printing. We’ve already been over this.
Online Help. Please. Help would be lovely. As would a shot of…something.

Anything. No help. At all.

Rinse. Repeat three or four times as needed.

Oooh…flash of brilliance coming through!
“Select All”“Show Gridlines!"

Et voila! The waters parted, sun rays shone down on my CRT, and the gridlines appeared in all of their grayish, grid-ish beauty. After two Bachelor’s degrees, one Masters, one artist certificate, three languages, and . . . .20 minutes . . .I had my gridlines.

This is why I appreciate the comic genius of Dilbert and The Office, ladies and gents, because I am one of them.