Back in the land of the living – I mean overworked February 4, 2010
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Random musings.trackback
Sorry for the radio silence in the last month or so. I wish I could say it was due to being overworked, but alas it was due to being underworked. Since I wasn’t at my computer as often I didn’t have as much opportunity (or desire) to blog on life. My prediction for December and January was indeed correct, and it was pretty slow. Not to mention the fact that I had some problems getting customers to pay my invoices. At one point I had $4,000 in outstanding OVERDUE invoices (some overdue by 53 days, some by just a couple). A girl’s got to pay her rent, eat and pay the dog groomer, so I was glad I had a bit of a financial cushion to tap into. I now have to work hard to replenish that cushion. That really did a number on my mood though, so I wasn’t my usual chipper self, which in turn influenced my desire to blog.
Luckily all my customers have now paid their overdue invoices, and I am once again fairly solvent. Hint: it helps to tell customers you will be turning the invoice over to a bill collector in a couple days if they don’t pay. I was amazed at how quickly the checkbook finally opened up! The trick is to mean it and not be threatening. Just be firm and business-like. And mean it. I had a bill collector lined up.
Also, business has picked up again, and I am back in the swing of life as an overworked translator. I am housesitting and dogsitting for a friend at the moment, which brings a whole other set of problems with it. I lugged my work computer with me and am connected through my friend’s router. For some reason I can receive e-mail, but am unable to send e-mail from my mail program. I am forced to keep my ISP’s Webmailer open to send e-mail. I hope to have that fixed in a day or so. I was contacted by a new client this morning with a job request, and they sent me a Geheimhaltungsvereinbarung (Non-Disclosure Agreement). Since I don’t have a printer here I ended up inserting my digital signature and converting the Word file into a PDF.
Life is full of challenges and workarounds. We just need to be calm enough to come up with the solutions.
Musings from an overworked translator 
Glad to have you back, Jill!
Hi Jill! Thanks for the tip. You always have good advice for us. This is the first time I make a post in your blog, although I’ve read it many times. I met you at the ATA Conference in Orlando, in which I attended to your pre-seminar course, and also to other presentations there and at the Conference in NY. I always love your presentations, but never dare to go and talk with you to let you know. I find them very interesting because you address problems that are common to all of us and bring practical solutions. Hope to meet you again in Denver this year. Thanks and congratulations!!
Hi Claudia,
Don’t ever be afraid to approach me. I love hearing that people enjoy my presentations. I am not sure if I will be attending Denver this year. I am still debating. But thank you so much for the kind words.
Thanks Jill!! I will definitely go and talk to you next time we meet.
Regards!!
Glad to hear things are picking up, Jill.
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For some reason I can receive e-mail, but am unable to send e-mail from my mail program.
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I lot of ISPs will block outgoing email on the standard port (25) unless it goes through their mail server, to keep zombified computers on their networks from shotgunning spam.
As a work-around, you might try using encrypted email if your ISP supports it (which uses a different port), or asking your friend to share their email authentication credentials, and send out email via their ISP.
Hi Ryan, Thanks. My friend Jim said the same thing, so I fiddled with the settings and am using the submission port (587) now. It works like a dream.
There’s definitely something in the air (dare we say economic recovery?); glad to hear that you are officially the Overworked Translator again! January was slow-ish for me, but since the calendar turned I’ve been swamped, let’s hope it stays that way!
I’m not sure if anyone else noticed, bit I LOVED the OCR typas in your post. 🙂
What OCR typos? I wrote this post myself. Do you mean the previous post? I’m confused.
Hi, Jill. Your mention of a comment on a blog of yours brought me to browse your websites once again today. I am inspired, and so pleased for you about the rich life you live in so many ways with your career, interests outside of work, friends, family, etc. What a full life you lead! And so many are interested in your life, too! I really admire you.
Have a good weekend and good luck resuming your walking regimen!
Thanks, Michelle! We need to get together for lunch or something soon. It’s been way too long.
Sounds like an excellent idea! My life has settled down since my youngest started going to a special school and I don’t get frantic calls from the public school to come pick him up nearly every day. So lunch is a definite option! Where to?