The Week that Blew Up

Did you ever have one of those weeks? I just came off one of the strangest weeks in my career. It started okay, but midweek it all went ka-flooey. I had written an article for a pub I’ve written for in the past, when I get this call on my answering machine. The article I’d just sent to the editor didn’t pass muster. He mentioned “cut and paste” and “need to edit” – huh? It would seem your overworked writer here, while working on her laptop, sent a file over to her main computer so she could finish writing. It contained cut-and-pasted material, which I use to match against the product I’m reviewing. When I start to write, I’ll use those points from the vendor’s info to jog my memory and write my own thoughts.

You guessed it. In my haste to get it out the door, I sent the wrong file. How embarrassing! I may have lost some credibility too, despite the fact that I’d sent two articles and the other did not have the obvious problems this one did. I corrected the error by sending the right document, but I feel like an idiot for not making sure the right doc was attached in the first place.

Shake it off, as they say. However, yesterday yet another boo-boo. This one had the client writing a terse email and using words like “good faith” and “very disappointed.” This boo-boo was fixable, but I don’t think the client has read my note back, which could clear it all up instantly. So as the weekend draws on, he’s hating me more and more. This one was really dumb – I gave him the wrong page count on a huge project. That mistake inadvertently shaved 100 pages off the total – less than I’d told him a few weeks prior. Yikes! I sent him the project to prove there really was more, but oy!

I’m not a superstitious person by nature, but I swear I did not inquire as to the status of two other projects for fear more explosions occurred. In my already weakened state, it would’ve done me in.