Formatting Nightmare

I hate you, Kinko's. 

No, I'm not just saying that. Yes, I realize they are not Kinko's anymore, but FedEx Office (isn't that who Tom Hanks was working for when he ended up marooned on a frigging island with a volley ball and a pair of ice skates? I don't remember)...but it's still the same location, still the same employees, still the same old shit.

And I do mean shit. $30 for books that don't lay flat and for margins bigger than my thumb and image resolution that, quite frankly, isn't up to snuff. Ugh. Ugh, UGH!

Got my "proofs" back (duh) and they're passable enough...I mean enough that I can work with them...but they're nothing I could sell to anyone. They look like garbage. I mean, they look FINE, but they need to look better than that. Which is, of course, why I go to a professional printer for my books, but, well, there it is (I ran into this same issue back when I was first trying to print up my B/X Companion...I guess I just don't learn). They just make me mad...they look, quite frankly, cheap and amateurish, and no, I'm not just being hard on the books for the F of it. I HATE f'ing Kinko's!

They're about on par with Ninja Burger. No, scratch that...more like Kobolds Ate My Baby.

5AK is supposed to be a more serious piece...dammit, it has classic illustrations. And it's supposed to...ugh!! I am so proud of what's IN it, and the form doesn't reflect that pride. Bugs the hell out of me, in fact and, no, I do not think I'm being an uptight perfectionist about this. I wanted to order DICE tomorrow, dammit!

Ugh. Double-frigging-ugh. It's 9:49 (PST) and I still need to do dishes and get the car seat out of the car for the nanny, and I absolutely have to get up on time tomorrow. But dammit, I'm going to work on re-formatting this damn thing tonight...get it tight. Get it looking like the LBBs it's supposed to frigging resemble. And then, only then, shall I take it to my real printer and get them to bend over and put this thing together in a decent fashion with a decent looking cover. Hell, I might just go with basic brown. Why the hell not? It was good enough for Gygax and Arneson after all...and it beats this day-glo card stock I thought would look okay.

Frigging Kinko's...not only do they suck, they make me see my own damn imperfections.

9:55. Still have some beer left. Later.