The Long Haul, Day 1...

I've done 2800 source words and returned an assignment of moderate size today.

I think I need to stop and smell the... what? laundry? (We have no roses.)

The off-again, on-again story with my principal client's client (aka, the "end client") appears to be off again, which is a shame. My principal client's response was to introduce me to a colleague of hers (providing a very nice reference as part of the "introduction"), who wrote to ask if I was available for work. I was, unfortunately, unable to be enthusiastic in my reply.

So, my current status (i.e., the "state of the plate"):

• ~20000 words to go for a job due by Thanksgiving;
• 795 words and despeckling to go for a 5,500-word job due by Thanksgiving;
• 40 pages to translate (no time to do OCR yet) for a job due by the end of the month.

I'm not seeing a whole heck of a lot of free time in there, folks!

Then again, perhaps it's the uncertainty associated with just what kind of effort will be required for the 40-page job that's messing with my mind. After all, if I whittle the big job down at a rate of 2,000 words per day, I will actually have something of a margin for despeckling and unexpected stuff.

So, while I am seriously considering not OCRing the 40-page job, I'm thinking perhaps I should do so anyway, just to to get an idea of overall word count—so I know what I am facing—and then chuck the result (or not, depending on what I find) and move forward from there.

Cheers...

UPDATE: Well, at least I know that those 40 pages weigh in at ~17,000 source words (in a subject I'm still sort of wobbly in).

At least I know...

Time to go get ready for tai chi.