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Happy Thanksgiving

November 24th, 2011 at 01:27 pm

I look forward to this holiday more than any, me thinks, though this year Thanksgiving has been kind of a blip on my radar.

I started the new contract job Monday, worked 3 days in their office and now have brought home their Mac to do the rest of the work here.

So, if you're curious...It's a small publisher, I'm guessing maybe 25 people? Or maybe there are more, but they're just working at home, too. They're located in a very small, rural town in the woods off a little side road, in a clearing next to a white steepled church. A quaint setting. The two story building must have been either a grand single family home at one time or possibly the parsonage to the church. Inside, it has a grand spiral staircase, but aside from that, the place is really dumpy. Everything looks like circa 1940s. Though of course, if my employer asked me, would you rather have us fix the place up or get a raise, you know what my answer would be.

The work itself requires extreme focus and is very detail-oriented. There are a million pieces of information you check or update within a single listing, and there are little rules about how to deal with each one, along with style guidelines about punctuation, etc.

Plus I was working on a Mac, which I did at my last job, but which I largely forgot. Also using Quark, which I don't know at all unless you count looking over a designer's shoulder.

So it was very slow-going while i was at the office, but yesterday afternoon when i worked at home, my productivity greatly improved.

They want you to find the right balance between accuracy and thoroughness on the one hand, and speed, becus it's an annual directory that must be done before year's end. They don't want you spending too much time searching for elusive info on a magazine website, so at some point you need to move on.

There was another contract person who started same day as me and i was a little puzzled becus she seemed to have few questions and seemed to just steam ahead without much problem. I know she had a Mac at home, but even then, I don't think that accounted totally for her doing better. I was questioning tons of things becus there seemed to be exceptions to many guidelines they gave us and there were all sorts of scenarios that would change the way you dealt with something.

But anyway. AT first i was wondering if I could stick it out, or even if they might let me go. Now I feel better about it...maybe becus I already earned $230.

My goal is still to work as many hours as possible in as short a time as possible (to make the loss of unemployment benefits worthwhile).

So today is a gorgeous sunny day. While I'm going to my mother's at noonish, I'm torn between putting in a few more hours at work before and after, OR doing more tree work. (The town still hasn't picked up the storm damage.)

I guess I'll do some more contract work this a.m. since it's a little chilly outside, then maybe after coming back from Tgiving, doing an hour or so of tree work, then more contract work.

I just hope I stay healthy. The woman training me at the job was coming down with a cold and the last thing I need is to get sick. Productivity,out the window. And she was touching my keyboard, my mouse and everything, driving me nuts, cus I'm a bit of a germaphobe.

I guess that's about it.

My focus has been, and will continue to be, the contract work and clearing more tree damage from the yard up until the point they pick it all up. (It's a one-time thing as my town doesn't usually pick up anything except recycling. The early winter storm was a huge anomaly and to qualify for federal grant monies, the town had to agree to help homeowners clean up the storm damage.)

I made a pumpkin cheesecake yesterday and i don't think it came out that well. I don't have a mixer and i think that's largely the problem, plus I cut sugar from 1 cup to 3/4 of a cup, which i guess i shouldn't had.

Every time I look at the calendar, I'm shocked that I still don't have a f/t job by this time. And I wonder how long I can go, scrambling to make a few dollars at these low-paying contract jobs and the more occasional, though better-paying, freelance work I do, plus the brain-draining online surveys and the occasional focus group/research study.

3 Responses to “Happy Thanksgiving”

  1. rob62521 Says:
    1322141957

    Your writing about your job is interesting. Sorry it isn't full-time. Hopefully something great will come along for you. Have a nice Thanksgiving.

  2. Ima saver Says:
    1322176492

    I hope you have a nice thankgiving.

  3. Jerry Says:
    1322258598

    It sounds like a decent position and I hope that it works out well and leads to some insurance that you can get through the season financially. I know what you mean about colleagues touching your stuff when they are sick... it drives me crazy, too! Hope you stay well...
    Jerry

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