March 14, 2004

This Day in My History

Sign the "Million for Marriage" petition

TODAY's QUOTE

What's money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in-between does what he wants to do.

~ Bob Dylan

Yesterday's Entries

2001: In Yer Dreams
2002: Cold, Heartless Bitch
2003: I Cean Feel It In My Bones

TODAY's FOOD

Breakfast: Fruit Bran
Lunch: Egg Salad Sandwich
Dinner: Leftover casserole

CURRENTLY READING

"Digital Fortress"
by Dan Brown ("DaVinci Code")
he improved with his later books, I think

TODAY's ENTERTAINMENT

Reviewing a play called "Commitment"
at Sacramento Theatre Company

Getting to know me....

POWER TYPING

14 March 2004

I may be headed back to my roots.

As many of you know, I unexpectedly lost my job a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been thinking about what I want to do about that.

One immediate problem is that I have three trips coming up which are already paid for and which were planned with my work schedule, with Fridays off, in mind, so looking for a full time job seemed out of the question until at least June. We’re going to Chicago in a couple of weeks to see The Big Voice (had a socko opening performance, by the way! Full house and standing ovation!)

In April, my mother and I are flying up to Seattle. It’s tulip time in Skagitt County and I knew my mother would love seeing all the flowers. She also has a good friend who lives just outside of Tacoma, so I figured we could kill two birds with one flight. I get to visit my friend Diane, my mother gets to visit her friend Betty, and all of us get to see the tulips. Another long weekend, Thursday-Sunday.

And then for a birthday present, Olivia has treated me to a flight up to Boise to spend some time with her there. Yet again a long weekend, with a holiday tacked onto it.

Trying to apply now for anything full time seems an exercise in futility. How do you say "Yes, I’m interested in your job, but I’ll need three days off in the next three months." I don’t think so.

The plan was to start looking in earnest in June and just keep doing what I’ve been doing--reviewing shows and typing for the psychiatrist--to keep me busy between now and then.

Things apparently happen for a reason.

Out of the blue, my editor called me with the news that the principal critic was retiring. He wanted to talk with me whether or not I wanted to take on some of the jobs she’d been doing. Very definitely!

I can’t take over all of her work because she has been the classical music critic, and I just don’t have that background. I’d sound like an idiot trying to review a symphony or an opera. Once you get beyond "they sounded pretty" and "she died good," I’m way out of my depth. She also reviewed dance and I know even less about that. I’m able to fake it or study up on all forms of theatre where I feel weak, but music and dance--uh--I don’t think so.

But I am able to take on the feature stories, which is a big chunk of work. And I will now do all of the legitimate theatre productions. I will probably spend an awful lot of time--even more than now--going to theatre!

Writing feature articles means being able to interview people during the day, and that is another glitch with getting a regular full time job, so my next idea was to sign up with a temp service and see what sorts of jobs I could get that way. I have never worked for a temp agency before and don’t know how it all works, but the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like the best way to go. Whatever job I get can only be temporary anyway, since I plan to return to Australia for another extended vacation next year, and just about the time I’m settling into a job--whatever that might be--I’d have to quit. That didn’t seem to be fair to a prospective employer.

But then my friend Diane came up with what may be the perfect solution. I had toyed with the idea of getting into a transcription pool. With modern technology, you can sit in your home in California and type reports for doctors anywhere. All they--and you--need is the right equipment.

Diane sang my praises to a friend of hers who said they are desperate for good transcriptionists. Modestly, I have to admit that I’m a fairly good transcriptionist and I type fast, so I’m interested.

I’ve submitted my resume to two different agencies and will talk with recruiters from both. Of course when you do this, you are paid by what you produce, so there is no paying for hanging around the water cooler, or potty breaks, or sitting and chatting with co-workers. You type, you get paid; you don’t type, you don’t get paid. The pay scale is also considerably less than I charge on the stuff I contract on my own, but I’d like to give it a shot. At least it's something I know I can do well, and perhaps I was not meant to work in an office environment.

At the very least it’s something to bring in money while I settle into the expanded newspaper duties and wait to do all of my traveling. There is always the idea of a temp agency if I find that I really hate getting back into production-line typing again. But for now it’s nice to have some sort of plan in mind.

Now I just need to get called by all those people who are dying to hire a new good transcriptionist.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

boat.jpg (117170 bytes)

I love this photo. It was taken in Inverness (California) a couple of years ago
and believe it or not, is the remains of a boat my grandfather
(who died when I was in high school) built. I'm not sure
why it was left on the shore here for so many decades.
It's gone now.

For more photos, please visit My Fotolog and My FoodLog