n-dimensional insanity...
May. 23rd, 2006 09:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexpgpIt's not every day I refuse work from a new customer willing to pay a premium, but I did so today. My eyeballs, which have been abused of late, had a strong voice in the decision (you might say the "eyes" carried the vote, as I certainly wouldn't touch a pun like that with a ten-foot appendage, but I digress...) To make a long story short, the primary reason I nixed the job was the truly awful quality of the source material (and considering the unconscionable &#^$@! I've been dealing with lately, that's saying a mouthful!)
And it's not every day I take on multiple rush jobs, either.
Okay, so the edit from this morning was not a rush job, but still...
As my senses dulled (not a good sign for a translator or editor), my speed picked up, and I ended up spending a little over 6 hours editing 4000 words. The major problem with the translation was the fact that the "register" of the translation - from a document prepared by a government agency - sounded like a the result of a linguistic catastrophe involving J. Edgar Hoover and Cheech Marin, with frequent excursions into the land of mistranslation, as misguided attempts to sound conversational twisted the meaning of the original.
In the middle of it all, I got two hot potatoes tossed in my inbox. One was a PowerPoint file where about half of the 35 slides consisted of bitmaps with a lot of text in 'em (may the originator of the file be visited by a pestilence of parasites!). The instructions accompanying the file said to get really friendly with text boxes (the better to cover requisite sections of bitmap), which I did, and which will make counting words somewhat problematical, because PowerPoint was never good at counting words to begin with, but I again digress...
I was just so happy to put paid to that document!
I tried to nap after sending in the edit and the PPT file, but my $#!@&! cell phone kept ringing, and I was bereft of the common sense to turn it off, say, by chucking it into a toilet bowl. I probably did get a couple of winks, though, and thus refreshed, commenced down the Home Stretch™.
Drew came by around 7:30 to bring me a plate of lamb roast (delicious!), which I devoured on the verandah while fending off Misha (who's grown and wanted some lamb) and the attentions of my granddaughter (who is just plain cute). Among other news, I was informed that Shannon has quit her position at the hardware store and has resumed working at our store, with Drew.
And my gig at the jail? It's been rescheduled for tomorrow. I've been informed that no particular preparation will be necessary, which historically means I'll need to take a specialized dictionary or two with me, except I haven't the foggiest idea which ones, so I'll be playing it - as ever - by ear.
I've been promised another slug of French work. I can hardly contain myself.
Cheers...
And it's not every day I take on multiple rush jobs, either.
Okay, so the edit from this morning was not a rush job, but still...
As my senses dulled (not a good sign for a translator or editor), my speed picked up, and I ended up spending a little over 6 hours editing 4000 words. The major problem with the translation was the fact that the "register" of the translation - from a document prepared by a government agency - sounded like a the result of a linguistic catastrophe involving J. Edgar Hoover and Cheech Marin, with frequent excursions into the land of mistranslation, as misguided attempts to sound conversational twisted the meaning of the original.
In the middle of it all, I got two hot potatoes tossed in my inbox. One was a PowerPoint file where about half of the 35 slides consisted of bitmaps with a lot of text in 'em (may the originator of the file be visited by a pestilence of parasites!). The instructions accompanying the file said to get really friendly with text boxes (the better to cover requisite sections of bitmap), which I did, and which will make counting words somewhat problematical, because PowerPoint was never good at counting words to begin with, but I again digress...
I was just so happy to put paid to that document!
I tried to nap after sending in the edit and the PPT file, but my $#!@&! cell phone kept ringing, and I was bereft of the common sense to turn it off, say, by chucking it into a toilet bowl. I probably did get a couple of winks, though, and thus refreshed, commenced down the Home Stretch™.
Drew came by around 7:30 to bring me a plate of lamb roast (delicious!), which I devoured on the verandah while fending off Misha (who's grown and wanted some lamb) and the attentions of my granddaughter (who is just plain cute). Among other news, I was informed that Shannon has quit her position at the hardware store and has resumed working at our store, with Drew.
And my gig at the jail? It's been rescheduled for tomorrow. I've been informed that no particular preparation will be necessary, which historically means I'll need to take a specialized dictionary or two with me, except I haven't the foggiest idea which ones, so I'll be playing it - as ever - by ear.
I've been promised another slug of French work. I can hardly contain myself.
Cheers...
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no subject
Date: 2006-05-24 05:00 am (UTC)My favourite part of yesterday's job was finding that some of the bitmaps had been inserted OVER part of the text on the slides - discovered when I was re-sizing said bmp to add one of those fun fun fun text boxes.
Still prefer ppt over Excel, however.
Keep smiling! (says she who feels steamrollered). And if you have any queries over the French, send 'em over.
Oh, and before I forget - if I find a used copy of That Dictionary I'll let you know. I always check flea markets and second-hand bookshops for dictionaries and have found some gems in the past. It's still the best one around though, that one.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-24 02:05 pm (UTC)Following a hunch, I played the presentation through, and it turns out the compiler of the cursèd thing was "building" his presentation so that there were actually two or three layers of information on each slide! I suspect that's what must be happening to you.
Also, I've noticed a fair number of F/E-E/F technical dictionaries offered on eBay written by one J. O. Ketteridge (published by Routledge), and even got one where it seemed the price was right ($25 + shipping). Is this is known quantity in your world? Mine is the '72 edition, and I've seen a later edition ('80?) going in the €130-150 range.
(And BTW, euro prices have the euro sign in front of the numbers, yes?)
Cheers...