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Plowing ahead...
Jun. 16th, 2015 10:11 pmThere are days it seems to me that translation is an ideal medium in which to practice the "salami slice" technique of problem-solving. The technique is named after the observation, which is easily made by anyone who has ever been faced with the prospect of eating a whole salami, that it is much easier to do if you slice off one small piece at a time.
And so today, faced with four very similar jobs (the originator had taken four proposals and made changes to them), I found that this approach allowed me to keep my sanity. Read a sentence, translate a sentence and then read the next sentence. Finish one job and then learn, as the second, third, etc. jobs are undertaken, that a number of those sentences are similar (if not identical). Overall, given what went out and the new work that came in, I think I've made some progress, but not anything to write home about. But I'm not in any race, and I had very nearly a week's worth of work on my plate with the arrival of just yesterday morning's items.
On a completely unrelated note, I got a robocall from American Express today. The computerized voice at the other end of the line asked if I was—and proceeded to say the name of my old boss here in Houston! I was taken aback a bit, but was able to keep sufficient wits about me to answer, "No," whereupon the voice asked if that person could come to the phone. At this point, I answered "You have the wrong number; there's nobody here by that name," but the computer at the other end apparently only understood the words "yes" and "no," and so after asking me to inform the person of the call, I was disconnected.
In fact, I did inform that person, by calling her office and telling her of the strange phone call. We had a nice chat and will probably meet for coffee one of these days and catch up.
In other news, having my sister-in-law around will necessitate making some slight adjustments to my day-to-day activities, particularly in the "noise management" department. Normally, Galina and I go about our daily business largely in silence, breaking that silence only if something is needed or during meals and during the evening's activities. However, now that my sister-in-law has been added to the mix—and considering the two have a lot to talk about, as they do not socialize all that much, despite weekly (and sometimes semi-weekly) calls over Skype—there's a continuous conversation in the background, which I only consciously became aware of late this afternoon. Easily fixable; the trick was realizing something needed fixing.
Tai chi went well. Sifu spoke at length about the martial application of this martial art, with emphasis on the advantage of defense (i.e., letting a potential aggressor make the first commitment).
It was a reasonably good day. I will do better tomorrow.
And so today, faced with four very similar jobs (the originator had taken four proposals and made changes to them), I found that this approach allowed me to keep my sanity. Read a sentence, translate a sentence and then read the next sentence. Finish one job and then learn, as the second, third, etc. jobs are undertaken, that a number of those sentences are similar (if not identical). Overall, given what went out and the new work that came in, I think I've made some progress, but not anything to write home about. But I'm not in any race, and I had very nearly a week's worth of work on my plate with the arrival of just yesterday morning's items.
On a completely unrelated note, I got a robocall from American Express today. The computerized voice at the other end of the line asked if I was—and proceeded to say the name of my old boss here in Houston! I was taken aback a bit, but was able to keep sufficient wits about me to answer, "No," whereupon the voice asked if that person could come to the phone. At this point, I answered "You have the wrong number; there's nobody here by that name," but the computer at the other end apparently only understood the words "yes" and "no," and so after asking me to inform the person of the call, I was disconnected.
In fact, I did inform that person, by calling her office and telling her of the strange phone call. We had a nice chat and will probably meet for coffee one of these days and catch up.
In other news, having my sister-in-law around will necessitate making some slight adjustments to my day-to-day activities, particularly in the "noise management" department. Normally, Galina and I go about our daily business largely in silence, breaking that silence only if something is needed or during meals and during the evening's activities. However, now that my sister-in-law has been added to the mix—and considering the two have a lot to talk about, as they do not socialize all that much, despite weekly (and sometimes semi-weekly) calls over Skype—there's a continuous conversation in the background, which I only consciously became aware of late this afternoon. Easily fixable; the trick was realizing something needed fixing.
Tai chi went well. Sifu spoke at length about the martial application of this martial art, with emphasis on the advantage of defense (i.e., letting a potential aggressor make the first commitment).
It was a reasonably good day. I will do better tomorrow.
