What’s on the iPod: Cinderella Man by Eminem
It’s cold in the east, even by western Pennsylvania standards. I looked at the thermometer – 4 degrees. Plus there’s a little wind. Ouch. Welcome to January. I’m used to it after years of living west of Harrisburg, but for this area, it’s unusual.
I usually have nice weekends, but this one was special. Living 300 miles from the hometown is sometimes tough when you realize the distance is more than just physical. Few people understand me (and I them) like the hometown crowd. So it was especially fun when a few of those high school friends, now living on this side of the state, answered the call to get together here in town. We brought spouses and what was supposed to be just a few hours turned into a few more. It was our first try at it, so there were three of us of the expected eight, but things do get in the way. That one friend came three hours north for it was special.
And if you know me, you know yesterday was a fantastic day, as well. The colors prevailed, the boys are headed to Arlington, and I’m giddy once more. The Jets played fiercely to their credit, but luck was on our side and my Steelers are going to meet the Packers in two Sundays. What fun!
Today, I have one interview for an article, a smallish project, and a contract to negotiate. Tomorrow was supposed to be a dentist, but yet another snow storm is expected, so who knows? I’m okay traveling in it, but I’m not okay with others who don’t know how to drive in it traveling in it all around me. Having learned to drive in this kind of weather, I learned early what to do and not do on a snowy road. Too many people in this area aren’t used to it, which means the BMWs without front wheel drive are getting stuck and people in SUVs will still go 75 on your tail when the road conditions dictate 45 and lots of space.
So what’s new with you? How was the weekend? How is your week looking?
13 responses to “Weekend Recovery”
Weekend was busy and fun. Week will be busy, and, hopefully fun.
You're lucky you enjoyed your hometown. I loathed mine, and most of the people I went to school with. Fake, pretentious, entitled — typical suburbanites.
My weekend was great. Got so much stuff done, and even had time to squeeze in a couple of karaoke songs. I just might survive this semester after all!
I can understand that completely, Devon. I didn't grow up in a suburb, and I live in one now. I prefer real people to the labeled crowd any day.
Ashley, I'm crowning you the queen of karaoke. 🙂 How many more semesters?
My Saturday was slightly derailed when I stumbled upon a Buffy the Vampire Slayer marathon. I've seen every episode at least five times. I have entire chunks of dialog memorized. I only really watched a couple episodes (any Buffy fans lurking here will know these well: Spike's hysterically heartbroken season 3 return; Anya granting Cordy's wish that Buffy never arrived in Sunnydale; and the later episode where Vampire Willow from that alternate realty is accidentally transported to their real one.)
I still got a tiny bit of work done, but most shifted to Sunday…which is when I woke to cold water. I'd never had to re-light a gas water heater before, so I was greatly relieved that A) I didn't smell any gas, and B) the water heater I had installed 5 years ago has a simple ignition system so there was no long-match-over-open-gas-jet fear to confront.
Later I knocked out two small jobs ahead of time. (That wasn't easy with the idiot couple next door standing out front about 10 and 25 feet, respectively, from my closed office windows, in the cold, screaming and cursing at each other for about an hour – grow up already!)I'd hoped to transcribe two short interviews, but upon realizing it was 6 PM on a Sunday I decided I'd already given up enough of my free time for a project that doesn't pay as much as I'd like.
This weekend I toyed with the idea of joining Twitter after one of my editors told me the magazine had sent the final proof of that big rush job to the creator-producer of the series in question. Apparently he's a big Tweeter and they're hoping he'll alert fans to run out and buy the magazine.
This week is looking so busy I had to tell one client I won't be able to take on any of their quick assignments that would be due this week.
I should have only three more classes after this one (but that's three more semesters). The class I'm taking isn't bad…. it's the class I'm *teaching* that's a challenge! I'm also still working fulltime and freelancing. And trying to squeeze in a conference paper. So far I've kept my sanity. Pray for me! 🙂
Hey, Lori, you just described me!
I'm the idiot with the rear-wheel drive BMW who rues the day she ever bought that car every time there's more than two inches of snow!
Man, I have several bags of salt and gardening pebbles in my trunk to weigh that damn thing down, and I still get stuck sometimes. Grrrr! Next car: a sturdy, small SUV that's higher off the ground and has FWD or all-wheel drive.
P.S. The car's 11 years old, been paid off for three years, and has only 63,000 miles on it. I pine for a new car, but so far, I can't justify the cost. Double Grrrr!
Anyway, workwise, I finished a deadline spree last week, so this week will be at a much more livable pace. Thank goodness!
And like you said last week, the clients are coming out of hibernation now after the holidays. Getting busier and busier.
By the way, can anybody give any insight on what to charge for book revisions/edits? I have a potential client who started at $.15/word and when pushed said she could get to $.25/word.
I can't tell the scope and depth of the work necessary, so I can't tell whether that'll be decent overall pay or crap pay.
I'm toying with asking for an hourly rate, but I wonder if I'll be shooting myself in the foot, because if the rewriting/editing is easier than I think, a per-word pay may be much higher than hourly.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
Interesting Lori, I have so little in common with my home town folks anymore… and yeah, seems like Monday is always about recovering.
Gabriella, let me make a suggestion from personal experience – skip the SUV. Go for a front-wheel drive car instead. Much more stability than SUVs. I think SUVs drive you, not the other way around! I love the VW/Audi cars because the handling is impeccable (and that Jetta of mine has 195K on it and is still running like a dream). I had the car 8 years and have had three fixes – catalytic converter (they all die eventually), sway bar, and battery. If you want to call those last two major…
Paula, I'm glad for Buffy! It means you took time off. 🙂
Ashley, prayers going up! You'll do fine. 🙂
Anne, my hometown folks probably think I've gone a little batty, but none seem to hold it against me. Instead, they embrace me, weirdness and all. 🙂
Gabriella, that's a question I struggle with sometimes, too. Here's what I do – I figure out how many hours I think it will take. I multiply that by my hourly rate, then divide that by page count to determine how many pages I need to do in an hour. If it seems like too few/too many, I futz with it until I come to a total that works for the amount of work involved.
Thanks for the advice on the cars and the rates, Lori!
My problem with the rates is that all the info I have at this arranging-the-assignment stage is that the editor thinks it'll be about 13,500 words. (She's getting this info from her client, who hasn't sent the book or requested revisions yet.)
I asked if it was interviewing and/or research, or just rewriting, and the editor said rewriting with maybe a little research.
Bottom line: I don't have enough info to make an informed decision. Yet this is a client who could become regular if this initial project goes well. So I don't want to push back so hard that I lose the project before even seeing it.
Gaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Thanks again.
Normally, 4WD vehicles are great for snow, provided you know how to drive them. Too many people think they're invincible, so they drive like a banshee in bad road conditions. The next thing you know, they're sitting pretty in the roadside ditch.
Ice fishing was the big thing going on this weekend. The big tournament they had in Brainerd seemed to spark a frenzy in those who stuck close to home, in our area. Not me though. I'm just glad that they weren't any vehicle fatalities. It drives me nuts to hear about vehicles falling through the ice-needlessly. Brand new ones, too!
I, like Devon, loathed my hometown too. So much so, as a matter of fact, that I didn't even walk at my graduation. I took my last exam, jumped in my packed car and headed up to Indianapolis for the summer to train for my summer competitions. I left straight from Indy to head to Tennessee for college and never looked back.
When I got hurt in college and lost my scholarship, I headed home. Unwillingly. 4 weeks later I was enlisted in the Navy and 2 more weeks I was headed out to basic.
Not really sure why. I had a bunch of friends, but I think I knew if I didn't get out (and if I ever went back, for that matter) I wouldn't ever leave. I looked at the people I had known growing up who stayed there and didn't want to be where they were in 5 years.
Anyway, all that being said, I love getting back together with people who I haven't seen in a LONG time. It is fun to see where everyone is at in their lives and how much has changed in the past X years.
Glad you had a great weekend. It was cold here, but no 4 degrees by any stretch of the imagination. More like 30 (but for someone who thinks 50 is freezing…I would argue to the end that it was indeed – WAY COLD!)
🙂
Wendy, I had an SUV back before they were considered popular (just before). I'd sold my Cavalier to my girlfriend. We met at a shop with an icy parking lot. As we left, she pulled right out. I sat there, spinning, in four-wheel drive. That car had no control. Mind you, I once had an AMC Eagle 4-wheel drive. It sat lower to the ground and man, that thing could go! And it was easy to control.
I'd LOVE to see the ice fishing! I'd love to participate even more! But that fear of ice cracking keeps me on the shore. 🙂
Gabriella, that's frustrating! I'm the same. I can give you a price, but if you change the parameters it's not going to be the same price. Maybe just give her a ballpark based on the current word count? Really stress that it's only for that number and will change if the details change.
Sal, I know what you mean. You can't wait to leave. You feel smothered. Everyone knows you, which is great, but everyone knows you, which is bad. I had a great group of friends (who are still my best friends to this day), and I miss seeing them. But it makes the reunions that much nicers. 🙂
When I was younger I couldn't wait to get out of our small town. I didn't want to get stuck there. But now that I'm married with kids, I really want them to be around family. And that means going back there. But going back after 20 years is different than never leaving. You find enough of yourself that I don't think you'll drown like you would if you never got away.
(Does that make sense? Maybe if you've lived in a small town that few people ever leave.)