Grrr...

I've probably said this before, but it bears saying again...

I utterly detest client-supplied "glossaries" whose content approaches that of a small dictionary. While I am sure the compiler meant to be helpful in providing a pile of terms having no particularly unique-to-this-project meaning (i.e., amendment=поправка), what said compiler does not realize is that the presence of such terms makes it harder for translators to concentrate on the terms that are relevant to a particular project or document. Then again, I'm sure the compiler feels his or her worth to the employer is proved by the breathtaking size of the steaming pile of language embedded in such a glossary, so of course, "the bigger the better" is the rule.

I also am charmed by the fact that the glossary was provided in the form of a read-only Word file that is alphabetized in (for me) the wrong language. After all, as I translate from Russian to English, it would make sense to assume I tend to look up Russian terms, not English ones; thus the English alphabetization is entirely lost on me, unless one assumes I prefer to use Word's lamentable Search feature to root through such linguistic dumps for the rest of my natural life.

Therefore, in order to be able to use this masterpiece, I have to jump through some additional hoops, not the least of which is to resort the table by the entries in the Russian column, do a select-all, copy the data, paste it into a new file and save it (because the original is, after all, read-only...). Of course, the fact that the glosasry is embedded in an 8000-line table and any operation on a table of such size occurs either in geological time or doesn't occur at all because Word enters [Not responding] mode is merely icing on the cake.

(I shudder to think what idiocy will ensue if/when Microsoft enables DRM for document originators who decide to allow you to read their documents, but not to modify them in any way, including resorting them, but I digress...)

I am already behind schedule for today, all because of this farblegargling "glossary."

Cheers...

De-e-eep breaths...

Having gotten a little frustration out of my system, perhaps I should take a step back and recall last night's trip to Durango.

Drew and my plans for the trip changed (not that we had any plans, per se) in that Shannon and Huntur came along. Once in Durango, we ate at the Applebee's there, which was my first experience with the chain. The meal was uneventful and everything went well, though the prices charged for beer and margaritas makes me think I should have invested in the restaurant business instead of the packaging and mailing industry.

We dropped off some after-hours FedExes on the way home, which will be a welcome surprise for our clients, who are under the assumption that their packages will only go out on Monday, for overnight delivery on Tuesday. (Here's hoping none of the three clients we thus served were counting on stuff not getting somewhere until Tuesday, because it's going to get there on Monday!)

Wal-Mart was, well, Wal-Mart. I didn't really do any shopping, as our original objective was to pick up some paintball ammo for Drew. I slept for most of the trip home, as did Huntur.

We now return to our behind-schedule translation.

Cheers...

Revenge of the computing gods...

I must've ticked off something or someone, because today has been a dilly so far...

Starting up Wordfast under Microsoft Word caused it to recalculate its installation code, thus requiring me, if I wanted to use my existing large translation memories, to reregister the new code with the publisher. (Reregistering the code results in the publisher sending a response with a new license number to go with the code.) This is Wordfast's way of avoiding having to distribute copy protection dongles: the software calculates a number that is supposedly unique and immutable (ceteris paribus) for a particular computer, and then the software will work, but only with both the installation code and the related license number obtained from the publisher. For some reason - reinstalling Word? - my installation code has changed.

Wordfast allows individual translators to install the software on a desktop and a laptop, and when I registered my copy the second time (once I got home from Houston) I found out that that a response to a request for a code could take a few hours. So, I started doing the translation in TRADOS 6.

No problem, until I hit the bulleted lists in the document, which uniformly turn to dross under the bludgeonings of the TRADOS software. (Who knows, maybe the same would've happened with Wordfast?)

And just a few minutes ago, out of friggin' nowhere Microsoft Windows (or at least I assume it's Windows) decides - while I am in the middle of a sentence - to launch something called "Tuning up Application Startup," which blithely sits in the middle of my goddam screen and tells me it is "modifying [my] programs so they start faster."

Oh, and this "might take several minutes."

WTF??? C'mon people, I'm on a deadline, here!

Wouldn'tcha know... attempting to kill said application has well and truly hung my VAIO. (No doubt that will teach me to try to thwart the will of the minions of Redmond!)

I've just thought of a new use for boiling oil.

Cheers...

P.S. I need to go for a walk.

A growing suspicion...

I am beginning to think the source of my ever-multiplying problems (TRADOS repeatedly craps out after translating one or two sentences, and I get "out of memory" errors with 50 MB of memory available) is the farblegargling document. I've since abandoned trying to process it with a TM.

Maybe now I have a prayer of finishing the translation before the next millennium.

Cheers...

Checkpoint...

I just finished the chunk of work for the new project manager a few minutes ago. Despite what I posted in a previous message, I did not go for any walk, as I wanted to get some more mileage under the old belt with regard to that job.

I will leave the review until tomorrow.

I will, upon posting this installment of my journal, go for a walk.

(I know that sounds very Prussian, but I've got the better part of a Pilsner Urquell in me, so I can't be that stiff, but I digress...)

I will at least review the rest of the stuff on my plate, and maybe even put a dent in it before retiring for the evening.

Right now, however, the road calls.

Cheers...

A prolix Saturday...

But I just thought I'd mention that, in attempting to reformat one of the remaining documents, I found out that my installation of Word on the VAIO no longer recognizes "Letter" (i.e., 8-1/2 x 11 inches) as a paper size.

Das ist nicht gut. Alles ist nicht in ordnung.

So, I've installed Word 2000 yet again. Here's hoping the result does not entail Wordfast generating Yet Another Installation Code™.

I need to get away from the computer, I really do.

Cheers...