Select Communique

Had just started my shift at L.T. yesterday -- my 14th straight day of work since the Friday I decided to quit the hotel and focus exclusively on freelancing -- when I got a call from A. saying S.Comm. wants me for tomorrow at 2:00. Trouble is, I was already booked by L.T. through Wednesday. An old-fashioned quandary, because L.T. likes me to stay at least till 4:00. But I told M. the sitch. Looking back, I probably would have been better off making up a doctor's appointment, because I could tell he was a little put off.

The thing is, I have to keep S. in the rotation. As those of you have been following along know, S. is my favorite & they pay great & I like working there & they were the first to hire me back in March I think it was, so I couldn't afford to take a chance of alienating them again by turning them down. (The problem with blogs is that they are read back to front but it is assumed that people are familiar with everything that came before.) They hadn't called me in a month since I had to turn them down two days running while I was training at Hotel W, which I never was paid for by the way. I could tell M. was a little ... oh, pissed is too strong a word, but he didn't like the idea of A. calling me with an assignment when they knew I was already booked here at L.T. for the day. I explained that it was a one time thing. I have to fill in the blanks with other stuff for the days when L.T. isn't gonna book me. It's called looking out for numero uno.

That said, it is good to be wanted. So I will work from 10-2 at L.T. here in Midtown, then shoot Downtown to Varick Street and work from 2:30 to whenever. This is how I envisioned freelancing eventually turning out. It's a juggling act. So again, just to belabor the point ad nauseum, I think I made, make that I know I made the right choice. I feel very good about myself and my work situation at this point. All I needed was a chance. I'm good at what I do, but as a proofreader you have to stay on your toes mentally because that one mistake could and probably will come back to haunt you; you're only as good as the last thing you do. That's what the client will remember. That and being professional and personable, of course. And in the back of your mind, you want to make the gals at my freelance agency proud of you, because they were there for me when I really needed them and they got me all this work. Of course I make them money as well by being booked. It's the proverbial two-way street.

I also want to do some proofreading on my own. Make up some cards and put them in the internet cafes in Astoria, in the coffee shops. I already have the name: EagleEyeProofreading. I can look at things like screenplays, books, freelance articles, cover letters, proposals, resumes, etc. Words are words. There are a lot of self-styled creative artist types in Astoria that I can tap into. I even have a logo in mind, the eye of an eagle looking thru a magnifying glass at some printed type on a page. Why settle for less than perfect? could be the motto. Oh it's all taking off for me now. Who can take a nothing day and certainly make it all seem worthwhile?