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Strange attraction...
I received a query asking if I was interested in translating a chunk of science fiction.
That certainly piqued my curiosity, so I asked for (and received) a sample, which turns out to be from a book I picked up during this most recent trip to Russia. As a lark, I translated about 250 target words, and it went well.
It's hard to start a negotiation when you're pretty certain that cost is an overarching factor for your client, so I just quoted my standard price (the size of the job and the deadline justify it), and I'll wait to see how things turn out.
* * * The second batch of kefir I started yesterday turned out beautifully. The next step is to determine whether cooling the kefir kills off the probiotic bacteria or whether the action of such bacteria is simply inhibited until the kefir is warmed back up to room temperature.
The kefir we've made over the past couple of days more closely resembles the product I first encountered in the USSR back a generation ago. Not creamy at all, it looks like the semi-sour, clotted milk that it is.
Though it lacks the buttermilk consistency of the commercial product, our home-made stuff is, in my opinion, better-tasting than the product sold at the supermarket. It is also hands-down less expensive.
At the City Market, kefir costs about $3.25 a quart; if memory serves, the same bottle runs nearly $5 at the natural foods market in Durango. Our home-made product costs about 63 cents for a quart of milk (bought by the gallon) and about $1 for an envelope of the starter (when used as recommended on the package, though we've just made two quarts from one envelope, and could probably make more).
* * * Love is having your cat jump up on the bed, sit on your chest, and deposit a freshly killed mouse on your sternum. Galina was not amused.
But that's true love!
Cheers...
That certainly piqued my curiosity, so I asked for (and received) a sample, which turns out to be from a book I picked up during this most recent trip to Russia. As a lark, I translated about 250 target words, and it went well.
It's hard to start a negotiation when you're pretty certain that cost is an overarching factor for your client, so I just quoted my standard price (the size of the job and the deadline justify it), and I'll wait to see how things turn out.
The kefir we've made over the past couple of days more closely resembles the product I first encountered in the USSR back a generation ago. Not creamy at all, it looks like the semi-sour, clotted milk that it is.
Though it lacks the buttermilk consistency of the commercial product, our home-made stuff is, in my opinion, better-tasting than the product sold at the supermarket. It is also hands-down less expensive.
At the City Market, kefir costs about $3.25 a quart; if memory serves, the same bottle runs nearly $5 at the natural foods market in Durango. Our home-made product costs about 63 cents for a quart of milk (bought by the gallon) and about $1 for an envelope of the starter (when used as recommended on the package, though we've just made two quarts from one envelope, and could probably make more).
But that's true love!
Cheers...