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¿Se habla English? Life of a Translator

Sunday, December 31, 2006

A translator's resolutions

Año Nuevo, vida nueva (New Year, New Life). It's been a little over a month since I started my job at the SGN (Shall Go Nameless) agency. My voice has gotten somewhat used to the stress of talking for hours on end, but my mom still thinks I have a cold. I have gotten to the point where I am not completely ignorant, yet still have a lot to learn.

The same old lifestyle resolutions (eat right, exercise) have been created, will be followed for a new days, then promptly forgotten.

As far as resolutions related to my career as a translator, I have a few:

  • LEARN TO DRIVE. It has dawned on me that getting work as a freelance interpreter would be a LOT easier if I am not completely dependent on the city's public transportation system or other people.
  • Learn not to count my chickens until they are hatched. Whenever I am approached for a project, do not start spending the income in my head until at least the invoice has been sent.
  • Practice my simultaneous translating skills.
  • Be more organized when it comes to my records. If I ever get audited by the IRS, the process might be less painful if I don't have to dig under my stacks of yarn for receipts.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

I still have my voice... barely

I do a lot of talking at my Present Job. Pretty much, most of my time is spent on the telephone. I drink a lot of water, but despite this preventative measure, last night I found myself with a sore throat that continues up until now. Dang. Hopefully, it will clear up by Monday. I have always been prone to throat problems. I will need to be more vigilant about those. Throat lozenges and tea with honey and lemon, here we go!

On to better news: it is official. My name appears on the List of Nebraska Supreme Court Certified Court Interpreters, which was updated on November 29, 2006. My profile in proz.com has been updated to include a link to that, so that prospective contractors can verify that.

It is entirely possible I am bragging too much about that. I just woke up my husband to show him a printout of that list.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

My to-do list

  1. Update my proz.com profile in order to report my certification as a Court Interpreter by the Supreme Court of Nebraska and my interpreting rates.

  2. Update my website to reflect that the above information and that I no longer work for my former employer.

  3. Update my profile at Translators Cafe for the reasons stated above.

My original post was a rant about a nasty and particularly charm-free individual I encountered today at work. But now that it is out of my system and I deleted the post. This person does not deserve the power to annoy me and I shall simply make him the object of my unending scorn. Mwa-ha-ha.