saxikath | Entries tagged with freelancing

Blink. Blink. Rub eyes. Blink.

Finished my freelance math problem writing project today. They want me to do more, yay. (Now I have much more sympathy for my mother, who used to make me and my brother write in journals and do a page of math problems every day in the summer. We hated doing them (though I'm sure they helped keep us sharp for the new school year), but I can appreciate much better now how much she must have hated writing them. Thanks, Mom.)

Then this evening I spent hours inputting edits to the Legends rulebook, which I volunteered to edit. I'm going crosseyed. (Memo to self: need better light for desk!) More affect/effect errors per capita... sheesh. Oh well, at least I have, I think, improved it; we'll see if the Legends folks agree. At least I should get some bonus points for my character this way, and spare other folks the cringes I got from reading it initially.

Oh, and Microsoft Publisher is even worse a memory hog than anything else Microsoft I use. Yeep.

I need a backrub... volunteers?

Current Mood: bleary-eyed

A friend of mine gave me a three-day guest pass to her health club. It was good only through May. It took me till today to get up the nerve to actually use the thing.

I've never really understood the appeal of health clubs, "working out" as an activity, and the like. I always figured, I could just take a walk and spare myself the expense and the self-consciousness.

I think I understand now.

The club is a women-only club, and it's really quite attractive. A fitness trainer spent a long time with me showing me how to use the various machines, which I'd never used before. Even though I didn't have an appointment or anything.

I felt much less self-conscious than I expected to. I was probably the largest woman I saw, but it wasn't all skinny hardbodies, either. Many different ages and stages and sizes.

And afterwards... after I'd done a whole circuit on the Nautilus machines, and 20-25 minutes on a treadmill... I felt good. Really good. I felt strong, and powerful, and more energetic than I have in a long time. I'm sure the weights on the machines were dinky compared to what people who are really in shape use, but they felt heavy to me. I walked out with my head high and a confident walk. I don't know how I'm going to afford the club, but I really want to keep going now.

So I was going to then go to a cafe and do some work, but outside the cafe I ran into an friend and former coworker whom I hadn't seen since we were both laid off in August. I still went to the cafe, but ended up spending at least two solid hours talking with him instead of working.

Then I took myself out to dinner, which I shouldn't have moneywise, but I got some work done while I ate.

I go, girl.

Current Mood: satisfied

This has been a pretty good day, all told. I didn't get enough done, but:

My new bodice for Legends (or anything else I decide to use it for!) came. No pics of me in it yet, but it's this one in forest green. Maybe should've gotten a size up; it's pretty darn snug. I mean, I know they're supposed to be snug, but breathing is good too...
I got feedback on the first batch of math problems I wrote for my current freelance project. There were a few little things to fix, but the e-mail began: "Thank you for the terrific manuscript. We are very happy with the items." This makes me happy, especially because they're paying me $30 a page, and a page only has a few problems on it, so it's quick money.
I found out I got cast in the MIT Community Players' summer show. This is the first time I've even auditioned for non-musical theater since about ninth grade (well, there was that one SCA play in grad school, but that hardly counted). The show is a set of five short one-acts. I'm playing a small role in one of them. So not a huge thing, but I'm glad to be part of it. And it's a great little play, called "The Perfect Thing," about a guy who wakes up one day to discover that he can say exactly the right thing to get anyone's attention. I know the author from the National Puzzlers' League, which makes it even more fun.

So now I just need to get some more work done, and it'll be an even better day.

Current Mood: satisfied

So I finally got around to putting up a photo. Yep, that's me, at least me a year and a half ago, but it's the most recent really good photo I have. Least I think it's good.

I'm officially grumpy tonight. Editing a statistics book will do that. So will being depressed and out of work. Blah. I even got a freelance assignment today -- writing math items for a practice standardized test. Not exciting, but at $30 a page I can handle unexciting.

But I'm still grumpy.

Current Mood: grumpy

( Spoilers ahead if you watch Amazing Race. )

Current Mood: geeky

Why do I go and spend money on silly stuff while I have no job? (The silly stuff in this question being pvc pipe and foam for making a boffer sword and some fabric for making skirts.)
Do I really like live roleplaying enough to invest in it the time, money, and energy that seems necessary to get anywhere with it? I went to Legends the other weekend, and had an ok time, but not a fabulous one; I spent a lot of time feeling useless and rather lost for much of anything to do.
What the heck is the difference between PVC and CPVC?
Why, when we explicitly told the cab company that we needed to be picked up at 5:00, did they not show up until 5:25, thus making us miss the commuter rail train we wanted?
Why didn't I ever hear back about what sounded like the perfect-fit job for me? (telecommuting, editing a newsletter devoted to language and wordplay)
Why did Houghton Mifflin suddenly decide to move their math department back from New Jersey?
Will they hire me again?
Why am I still missing one paycheck? Or did I mislay the stub?
Why do I always start asking myself stress-inducing questions at night?
What do I have in the house to eat? And why haven't I eaten since lunch?
Should I get new glasses, or should I wait till I have income?
Anyone need an editor? Fast, accurate, not too pricey.
Why are so many of the songs in my collection of Spanish songs written in a women's voice, but written by men? They're fascinating. Oracion de las madres que tienen a sus hijos en brazos ("Prayer of the mothers who have their sons in their arms") is heartbreaking: "Sweet Jesus... I pray that this my son does not become a soldier."
Where did my ability to concentrate on anything for any length of time go?
How could I possibly have managed to forget that it's davehogg's birthday? He's only one of my favorite people in the world. Happy birthday, Dave! *jumfem*
How many people reading this will be totally baffled by the last word of that last question?

Current Mood: depressed

*sniffle* I think I've developed an allergy to cats, of all things. Or at least I seem to have a mild reaction to something here where I'm housesitting, and the cats certainly seem to be the most likely suspect. Which is too bad, because I like cats. Emily (a somewhat skittish calico, who's also my local alarm clock) decided my lap was an ok place to be for a while earlier, which was very cozy but left me sniffly. Robert is a black "tuxedo cat" (he has a little white patch on his chest) who has been very distrustful of me ever since a previous housesitting visit during which I had to chase him all over the house to free him from a plastic shopping bag in which he'd entangled himself. However, he too seems to have decided that I'm more or less okay now. Daisy is the third cat; she's a big old lump of tabby cat love. She's just a sweetie.

( Enough about cats, on to the rest. )

Current Mood: thoughtful

Well, my taxes are done. Self-employment tax is a bitch. Must remember to (a) keep good records and (b) file an estimated tax return.

But, that's probably the most productive I've been in a week.

Now, to do some things that earn money, rather than taking it away...

Current Mood: productive

You know, a lot of dust accumulates under a bed in a few years. I finally got new slats for my bed today -- four nice, new maple 1x3s, instead of the mere two (one cracked!) slats and a jury-rigged plywood setup that there used to be. Now my head is full of dust, but I expect I will sleep more comfortably than I have in a long time. And no more squeaking noises that sound like the whole thing's about to fall apart.

So I've accomplished many of the things I set out to in my week. I got the desk, got stuff out of my closets and took it to the thrift shop, and fixed my bed. I still haven't cleaned my room, which is a disaster area, but I guess that's tomorrow's project now that I no longer have the rental car to tempt me to run off and do other things.

The "oh [bleep], I have no job" gut-wrench set in yesterday while I was doing laundry. I've been pretty blase about the whole thing, but suddenly it hit me that, oh yeah, I'm unemployed. Anxiety crept back in. I'm still calmer than I might be, but I think it has now sunk in that yes, the job is over and it's time to get my rear in gear and do something about it.

I notified nSight that I'm available again, and I actually got a call from them today -- for an upcoming job at the company I was just working for, and for which I left a resume before I left! That was amusing. But at least my resume is still turning up in their searches, which is a good thing.

Plus I have another puzzle proofing job coming in soon, and I still have to edit Dad's manuscript. But those are little projects; they won't pay the bills. I need to come up with some more sources of income, freelance or otherwise, and pretty soon. I hate job hunting.

Anyone out there have tips about getting enough freelance work to support oneself? I like the flexibility of the freelance lifestyle, but I worry about the financial side of it.

I know I'm good at what I do, but how do I get business doing it?

Ah well. At least Gondoliers is starting to come together. Everyone come see the show!

Current Mood: discontent
Current Music: Gondoliers snippets