New project!

I will be participating in a new project pretty soon.  I am pretty excited about it, as the end result will address a very important need in our community.

This will mark my first participation in a group translation project (to be referred to in the future as Major Group Project). I don’t think I have participated in a group project since college. Hopefully, there will be fewer all-nighters involved. After a certain age, all-nighters become downright painful.

Preparations include ironing my shirt to convey the impression that I have things under control; clean out my purse so that in the middle of the meeting, ATM receipts and knitting supplies don’t spill out; and make sure to include a map to the location.

Wish me luck.

Proz.com’s professional guidelines

I have just followed the instructions contained in proZ.com’s newsletter to endorse a set of professional guidelines for translators. It is so noted in my profile.

The rules are nothing but common sense. Stick to pre-agreed terms and such.  Now, if we create guidelines for clients, I would be ecstatic.

A tale about my workstation

As I write this words, I am sitting on a folding chair that is held together with electrical tape.  The consensus is the way I sit warped it to the point where a slight shift in body postion will cause it to collapse. It has nothing to do with my weight, because my husband is bigger than me, and somehow the chair doesn’t collapse. 

I am Jo-Hanna, destroyer of chairs.

My other alternative is to sit on the fitness ball. Why not? It’s actually confortable, My Gaiam catalog sells a product called a BalanceBall Chair, which basically consists of a fitness ball on a base. Ahh, but that’s the ticket. Without a base, the ball is just the equivalent of a too-short stool. An ergonomic situation, it is not.

I keep wondering if a new chair is a justifiable business expense.  It should be; after all, I would be more productive if I didn’t have to worry about my chair collapsing. Then again, would I have to prevent everybody else in my household from using it? Would I have to hang a sign on it reading, “SIT HERE ONLY IF YOU ARE WORKING, AND NO, VISITING Stuff on My Cat DOES NOT QUALIFY AS WORK”.

This one is for little George

My local paper, the Lincoln Journal-Star, featured an article on its Sunday edition about George, a little boy with Cockayne syndrome, and his loving family.

It also contained a smaller article from the perspective of the medical interpreter who assisted the family in their doctors’ visits.

Taxed to tears

Between work and life, I have had to take some time out to figuring out 2007 taxes. I have gotten close, with help of my loyal accountant, and all I can say is: Oy!

Or better yet: AAAAAAAAAAH!

For a professional in words, I am not being quite eloquent. My apologies.

Has the tax season left you speechless? Tell me (and yes, I am aware of the irony).

This one goes untitled

Thanks to all of you who have posted your thoughtful comments on the subject of self-censorship. Both those whose opinions reflect my own and those who don’t. All of you give me something to think about.

I have been working on a series of projects. I would like to think creativity is not a finite resource. Unfortunately, energy and time are.

Keeping my opinions to myself

It’s all about first impressions.

I refrain from posting (or at least, I try to) anything I would not want a potential or current employer to find out about myself. I don’t swear, I generally keep my opinions to myself when it comes to controversial subjects  such as politics, religions, or the proper way to hang the toilet paper in the bathroom (in case you need to now, I have no particular preference in the subject. It just has to be there, period. And I apologize for bringing down the level of this posting. Moving on…)

It has recently occurred to me that in the future, I should abstain from issuing opinions on certain incidents that have the potential of providing me with a job opportunity.

Because, what if, after I post all about my righteous indignation about a violent crime involving a Spanish-speaking member of the community, I get asked to interpret for the person(s) involved in said crime? It sounds just wrong, and frankly, I would have to say no. I already say no to more assignments that I would like.

To my blogging peers, tell me: do you censor yourself too? Comment away! You are invited.

Progress report on my 2008 resolution

I promised myself earlier on that I would not complain about my lack of work, but rather, I would do something about it. I can’t say I have been  extremely good about refraining from whining, but at least I’ve managed to keep it off the blog.

Lo and behold, as of this moment, I find myself in the middle of two assignments, an interpreting gig that has been completed and is behind me, and another one waiting for me.

Of course, since I have signed non-disclosure agreements with both entities involved, there is not a whole lot I can share about the assignments.

One of these days, I am going to draft the NDA I would love to see. More for my own amusement than for actual legally-binding purposes.  Stay tuned.

I made the letter’s page…

So that letter I refer to in my previous post? It made the paper after all on February 2nd. You will need to scroll down to the bottom of the page.

 And I found out my accident. One of my co-workers was transferring a call to me, and she asked me, out of the blue, if I had written a letter to the paper.

On one hand, it is great to be recognized. On the other one… I am curious as to whether there will be an aftermath.

Swearing-in and more righteous indignation

On Friday, I attended the swearing-in ceremony of Nebraska’s newest certified interpreter, Alex Perez. It was a joyous occasion, and I am not saying this just because all the of the certified interpreters (myself included) got a certificate honoring their contributions.

On Sunday, I was still giddy from the whole experience, when I read the Sunday edition of the Lincoln Journal-Star.  And more importantly, the letters to the editor. And my giddiness vaporized at reading one of that day’s letters from a reader who is appalled that legal forms are being translated into Spanish, Arabic, and Vietnamese (scroll down to the letter titled “Translations violate rules”).

But this time, I found a proper use to my righteous indignation. I wrote a heartfelt letter to the editor myself. On Monday, I got a call from somebody over at the S-J, who wanted to verify the spelling of my name.

Now, perhaps my rant was nothing but “sound and fury signifying nothing”. But I think I had a point. Let’s see if it sees the light of day.