On track, sort of...

The editing job had me chalked up for almost 20,000 words to be done in 24 hours, which is a well-nigh impossibility (unless one forgoes sleep or editing quality), except the project manager swore that a goodly chunk of the work looks exactly like what was on the agenda last year.

Actually, that's not been the case so far, except for one small (1,000 words) document which was pretty much identical (oh, to have been the translator!). But I have managed to somehow muddle through just over 10,000 words today (now "yesterday"), and although I'm very likely to miss my deadline, um, later "today" (something I warned the project manager of when I realized the size of the cake on my plate), I probably won't miss it by much.

The excursion downtown to the jail was not an uplifting experience. It merely served to confirm my suspicions about people, which shall remain off the LJ servers, because even "private" data isn't really private on the Web, and I did sign a confidentiality agreement, after all.

The trip did cost me over two hours of time, though, as I walked to the store from home to borrow Drew's car (40 min) and then made the actual trip and did the work (90 minutes or so). Upon returning, I zipped home, did some editing, and then went back to work the 4 pm to 6 pm "shift" at the store. It turns out Shannon has quit her job at the Ace, and she and Drew (and Huntür) are now working at the store as a family.

There's some potential there, I think. I don't know.

In other news, another lump of French arrived in the email, and I haven't even had the time to unzip the incoming files yet to see what's there. I'll have to do that during a work session later "today," no doubt, and actually start to return translations. The good news is that the more I do, the easier it'll probably get.

But it's late, and I'm babbling. I need to go to sleep.

Cheers...

Free fall...

This morning was a strange mix of editing like my hair was on fire and looking for stuff that Galina needs to apply for (yet another) refinance. That kept me going until around 1 pm, at which point I took an hour or so off to finish looking for various bits of paper (a task that reminded me just how important it is to be organized, and allowed me to ask myself why that was not the case).

Then I crashed for about an hour (with two phone interruptions), and after regaining consciousness, biked to the store.

Either I'm getting in better shape or the repairs I had made to the bike were uber-effective, as I haven't yet had such an easy time pedaling to the store. By the time displayed on my cell, it took me 13 minutes from door to door.

The restaurant at the Lodge has opened up again, and I just got a call from one of the hams, telling me that tomorrow's breakfast will be at said Lodge, which places the breakfast within "striking distance" of my bicycle. We'll see.

Cheers...

A convertible ruble?

From the TimesOnline:

The state Duma has approved a Bill that would impose fines on government officials who talk in terms of dollars or euros, rather than roubles.

It also passed a Bill banning shops, restaurants and businesses from listing prices in “u.e.” — uslovniye yedinitsy, or conditional units. One u.e. equals one dollar or one euro, depending on which gives the business owner the most generous rate on any given day.

Both have been common practice in Russia since hyper-inflation wiped out the rouble’s value after the “shock therapy” reforms of the early 1990s.

Until only a few years ago, it was common to pay in dollars in shops and restaurants. People still do for apartments and cars. Most bank machines issue dollars as well as roubles.

But the rouble has stabilised since Vladimir Putin became President in 2000. He announced this month that by July 1 it should be fully convertible for the first time since the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917.

Such a bill will also have a great impact on Russian tax law, if memory serves, as there are many instances where costs and prices must be quoted in foreign currency. Then again, I'm no tax expert, so I may very well be wrong.

One item I take issue with is the idea that u.e. vary between dollars and euros, depending on rates. The euro has been worth more than a dollar for, it seems, at least a couple of years, and I've not been in any shops during my infrequent visits to Russia where one u.e. hasn't equaled one dollar. (There are other ways to screw foreigners, the most popular being to jigger the exchange rate in favor of the house.)

Still, it sure will be strange to see the ruble traded on foreign currency exchanges.

Cheers...