Stunned...

I received a query from an old, old client (actually, from the client's translation manager, who has changed jobs): would I be willing to go to Kazakhstan for 5 weeks?

I said yes, and faxed her a copy of my passport data page. Now I am waiting for - as Paul Harvey says - The Rest Of The Story.

Cheers...

A day for old acquaintances...

Shortly after the call from my old project manager, I got a call from Igor B., asking if I could handle a fairly technical translation in the aerospace field. He faxed me a sample page, and I think we're in business.

Back in December 1991, after I'd been laid off from Borland, I was wondering what I'd do to make ends meet (severance only goes so far, don't you know). At the time, I had stopped doing freelance work for Plenum, as my job responsibilities at Borland pretty much absorbed all of my time, not to mention that the rate Plenum paid was barely enough to keep me in peanuts and beer.

Galina and I had already made plans to go to Pagosa Springs for a vacation before I was laid off. Since I had a very bad habit of foregoing family vacations because of work, Galina took the occasion to remind me that this time (as I was out of work), I had no excuses to offer. I had no job. (By the way, in retrospect, if I had it to do again, I would have gone on those vacations. Brainwashing myself with the convenient bromide of I - the Provider - am doing this for my family was foolishness.)

Nonetheless, I was worried about the future. I'd interviewed at Microsoft, and although they seemed interested in hiring me, I was reluctant to throw in with the software giant. (Probably a bad decision, from one point of view, but a good one, from several others.)

Anyway, shortly before we left, Igor calls and says there's a translation available for the asking from the company he was working for, so I made the call and got the assignment. So for part of every day we vacationed in Pagosa, I spent a couple of hours on the translation with a newly acquired laptop (a 486, if memory serves).

Our move to Pagosa was based on a few factors, not the least of which, I have come to realize, was the fact that one so rarely is in a situation where one can throw over one's former way of life and move 1,000 miles to take up another, just because you like the place you found. Other factors included easygoing people, a reasonable cost of living, and the beautiful scenery.

Besides the possibility of reviving my career as a translator (at a living rate, no less!), I had contacts in the computer press (I had been the house propagandist at Borland, writing numerous articles for magazines such as Dr. Dobb's Journal and Software Development on how to do really neat things - using Borland products, naturally). Too, as I had been the OS/2 product manager for C++ at Borland, I had a tremendous "in" with IBM, with whom I landed a nice consulting contract after leaving Borland.

As time went by, I became a columnist (primarily for Miller-Freeman), but eventually the columns went the way of most computer journalism. The IBM contract went away, too, once it became clear that no amount of marketing dexterity would cause OS/2 to make any inroads against Windows. The translation remained.

So it was a pleasant surprise to hear from Igor, and even more pleasant to have him send me work.

Things appear to be looking up.

Cheers...