Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Penny wise, pound foolish no more! (I hope)


Next time I post a blatantly time-sensitive item, remind me of the Valentine's Day one I'm just getting around to updating (on March 20 ... a perfect time to coincide with spring cleaning). Don't want that to happen again.

Since Valentine's Day, I've learned a valuable lesson. Or, maybe I haven't learned it yet, most likely I'm still learning. Here's the lesson: the true meaning of "penny wise, pound foolish." In addition to money, my lesson was also was about efficient use of time.

I had a large project. Hundreds of pages to go over. I thought I could cut some corners by printing out the document in Fast Draft mode. (You know how expensive toner is. Sure, the printer is free with the computer but the toner costs a lung.) Of course, the Fast Draft printing was illegible. So that was a waste of time, toner, and paper. I had to reprint as the job still needed to be done. Of course, halfway through the job, I ran out of toner. Now, I've wasted more time, toner, and paper ... and I still haven't begun the job. Grrrr ...

I was getting a bit panicky as the closest office supply store to buy toner is a good 30 minutes away -- one way! Thankfully, I remembered the shipping and packing store in town also served as a copy shop. I got a quote, emailed the document, and picked it up in less time than the original Fast Draft print job took.

Hopefully, I've learned my lesson. If not, please feel free to remind me.