Here All Week

I am booked at L.T. thru this week, so that will give me a string of 12 days of work in a row, which isn't bad for freelancing; usually there are some gaps. So without trying to jinx myself, ever since I made up my mind to forgo the hotel and stick to freelancing, I've worked every day, not counting the 4th of July. In fact, I would have been better off never saying yes to the hotel job, because not only does it look like I won't be getting paid for the training days I put in, but I could have worked that whole week either at S. or at L.T. -- plus, I may have somehow alienated the folks at S.C. because when they really needed me I had to turn them down. I would have never fallen behind money-wise if I had just stuck to freelancing. But at the time I thought the hotel gig would work out, before I realized what I was getting into. I won't go into the details; I already outlined them in previous posts.

This L.T. proofreading gig might be the easiest work I've ever done. There are enormous gaps between things to proof. Basically I'm looking at the same posters and ads for the same shows over and over again, which run in trade publications as well as on the sides of buses and on top of taxicabs. It is the opposite of catering, the yin to its yang. In catering you're busy for 5 or 6 hours and you're lucky if you get a 5 or 10 minute break; here there's about 20 or 30 minutes of work for every 5 or 6 hour shift. In catering you're on your feet all day, running around and doing a thousand different menial tasks; here I sit on my butt and use my brain. It's almost too good to be true, but they keep asking me back and seem to appreciate my effort and my expertise. Today I caught a bunch of errors in a glossy promotional package they were sending out; that made me feel useful, and apparently they're gonna have to reprint the entire 200 or so letters. So I have been justifying my presence here. But I really would rather be kept busy because the time goes quicker. Ah, who am I fooling? I'm sure you don't believe a word of it.

At the other proofreading gigs, at S.C. and especially last week at C.B., I'm usually kept busy the entire time. They really don't call you unless there's a specific need or publication date coming up, whereas here at L.T. I'm on standby, so to speak, more of a consultant, where in the parlance of the office, I sign off on this or that ad, meaning it's good to go. I'm fortunate this gig showed up when it did, and hopefully I'll be needed at least 3 times a week for the foreseeable future. I don't want to obsess about it, but I wish Select would call sometime soon so that I can get back in their rotation. You'll be the first to know when it happens, here on WardensWorld!