I haven't attended any of the monthly meetings in quite a while. I might go to the one next week, just to see who's there. The tragedy is we're in a "transitional" neighborhood that is transitioning in reverse, due to 17% unemployment and an influx of gang members and drug dealers who were ousted from the really bad parts of town thanks to a successful (for those neighborhoods) Weed & Seed program. So right now, more than ever my area needs an active association. As a property owner/life-long resident, I have a vested interest in the success of the group. So if I can help in the future, I will. as long as that woman is not involved.

I have a new client *trying* to harsh my mellow by rushing me to start a job I have yet to receive the deposit for. He's trying to make it seem as if it should be no big deal to go ahead and get started on the work, but if it's no big deal then where the heck is the deposit???

I say write the copy yourselves, fools. When the hell did we allow this denegration of business ethics to take hold?

Then I read this article about how Time Inc. is offering pay freelancers (a) what they're owed and (b) in a timely manner — just as long as the freelancers don't, ya know, mind GIVING UP A PERCENTAGE OF WHAT THEY'RE OWED: http://bit.ly/7vqnCO.

Sigh …

[Note: My anti-spam word for this entry was "chill." Perhaps the computer gods are sending me some not-so-subtle guidance?

Ditto that, Krista. I hate the dead silence, especially if it's followed with all sorts of hell should you get it wrong.

Wendy, exactly! I had one client send seven emails in less than 30 minutes. It took me longer to read them all than to respond with a "sent it yesterday" note!

Paula, volunteer jobs are pretty awful. You take abuse for no pay. Where is that fair? I wouldn't suspect she'd send an apology – people who fuss for control rarely do.

– The postal service. I had the correct address, the correct postage, yet the papers I'd mailed to a client were returned to me about two weeks later. Even my letter carrier was perplexed. She said the local carrier on the other end should have stamped and noted on the left-hand side the reason it was "undeliverable." She also didn't understand why it took a couple of weeks to come back. I triple checked that I hadn't transposed any numbers. There were no mistakes on my end. I just hope my second attempt goes through.

– The (now former) president of the neighborhood group. I volunteered to edit a quarterly newsletter for the group. She e-mailed me exactly what she wanted it to include. At the next meeting she cornered me, crossly saying, "Who told you to say there wouldn't be a December meeting? That hasn't been decided yet." Um, you did, honey. She denied having told me to include it, and went on about the "conspirators" going behind her back to get their own way….so when I got home I forwarded her own e-mail back to her, highlighting the part she titled "Things to be sure to include." The top thing on the list? No December meeting. Naturally, she never apologized for accusing me of trying to subvert her authority, and she never acknowledged that she had indeed told me to include that information.

Also, you are expected to respond to their emails within 5 seconds of them sending it. It doesn’t matter that it might take 5 minutes to read through their emails and another 5-10 minutes to type out a response. If they don’t get a response within 5 seconds they will send another one to ask why you haven’t responded to the first one. By the time I get done typing out one email, I’ve got 3-4 others asking why it’s taking so long to get a reply.

The postal delivery gets to me too. We’ve had some of our bills get stuck in someone else’s box and I don’t get it back until the day before the bill is due or I don’t get it back at all. (Filing complaints hasn’t helped so far)