Monthly Archives: July 2010

How to Download Docs From iWork to the iPad

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I managed to do this once, when I first got the iPad… then I forgot how I did it (so it must have been a pure-luck-bumble-into-success in the first place). After spending WAY too much time trying to figure it out and trying to look up the steps online, I found a description which helped me over on ArsTechnica.com. (Thanks, guys!)

I decided to take it a bit further, because of the slippery little visual cues and created my own “step-by-step” for anyone else trying to do serious work on the iPad who has also hit this stumbling block.

Open in Safari and go to iWork.com and log in. (I set an icon on iPad’s homepage to make this quicker.)

Select the blue “down” arrow and hold your finger there a second until the drop down menu appears. You can select what format – Numbers, PDF, or Excel:

Once you do that, it opens into the Safari Browser – which will seem like you are in a “view only” format — but you AREN’T. (Never fear!)

At this point, you can tap anywhere on the screen and a previously invisible bar will appear at the top, just under the browser. (It appears briefly when it launches in the browser, but if you blink you will miss it.) Tapping the screen brings it back for a few critical seconds.

On the left you have an “Open in..” button and on the right you have a specific format (the one you picked when you selected the blue down arrow on the previous screen).

In this case, I was opening it in numbers, so that’s the option on the right button.

I hope this helps others who have struggled with this.

***Now, if only I had an easy way to view and make comments via the notes option in iWork on the iPad. (Right now I’m using the Atomic browser app – but it’s dicey at best.) It seems odd to me that the Safari browser won’t show one of the best features about the iWork online “cloud” option – notes from clients for collaboration. :(

Slowing Down to Gear Up

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The harried pace that my life has been for many, MANY months is slowing down. It’s odd to have a few minutes to call my own per day — that aren’t taken up with business tasks, second job work tasks and domestic affairs.

I’m still doing the Census thing in addition to my “real” work,  but it’s tapering off, finally. Its been a great change of pace from my (usually) solitary work style. Changing my location before starting the new phase helped curb the Census mania. The current crew is much smaller, so there are fewer people to manage (20 instead of 200) and much of the work is in the rural parts of the state.

WickedWriter is gearing up lately, some great new clients have appeared in addition to my favorite long term clients — but even that boost in business seems manageable now. There are lots of inquiries lately, but I’ve only accepted a couple new folks that seemed to be a good fit. I’m getting back on a regular schedule so I don’t feel the obligation to work all night and then get up at the crack of dawn and start all over again. Money stretches further and the bills are much smaller.

My personal responsibilities are lighter, so my need to push hard all the time is starting to reduce to a manageable level. I actually have “down time” occasionally – and I sometimes watch a movie without trying to get something done WHILE watching. (That’s nice.)

Life has changed course dramatically (doesn’t it always have a habit of doing that?!), but I have to believe that all things happen for a reason.

The next couple of months should be interesting. The planning phase for my next adventure has begun and should be complete by October. Planning consists mainly of boiling down my life to core essentials and extracting everything that’s not in that category. But, planning is also mental — getting my head in the right place to take the next steps.

I did this once before and was almost there when my life exploded with people and activities and possibilities and responsibilities and love and all forms and varieties of external forces. Suddenly my simple life became less sitting still and more perpetual motion. I liked it, loved it even — but the time has come for yet another new beginning.

It’s easier to find my direction when not riding a roller-coaster. I’ve always adored roller coasters; I’ve always been an adrenaline-junkie. It’s exciting and fun and terrifying and a real rush — but it’s not really the best way to read a map or plot a course. It makes achieving goals more difficult.

As I make headway on the new plans, I’ll share — but for now, I’m plodding along looking for a sense of serenity and placing one foot carefully in front of the other. For now I’m securing what I need to take the next steps. For now, I’m ok.