It's hard to work and blog

I can't believe how much time it's been since I wrote on this blog! But that's because I started a new assignment at that place where I worked before. At first I said no because they weren't offering me enough to make it worth it, but then they asked me how much would make it worth it and I made the mistake of telling them. And of course that's what they offered.

It's only for a month, but it's fact checking, which is more boring but less frustrating than editing. It's pure busywork. Call people, ask them questions, mark down the answers, keep track of your progress, and repeat. There are about 500 people to call and most people don't call back, so you can imagine my day.

Half the day is just taking notes on what you did. You have to keep track of everything. Every time I call someone and leave a voicemail, I have to make a note that I left a voicemail. Now, I would normally make that note by writing, "LM for John Smith," which stands for Left Message for John Smith. But the person who did this before me wrote, "Left VM for John Smith," which stands for Left VoiceMail for John Smith. For consistency, I decided to write it that way as well. But the V is right next to the B on the keyboard, so half the time I write, "Left BM for John Smith" before I realize what I'm writing. I'm too lazy to go back and change it everywhere, so I just keep writing it the same way and hoping that I catch my mistakes and the next person doesn't look through my notes and read that I did something terrible to poor John Smith.

As dull as it is, it's so much busywork that the day goes by fast. The hardest part is just that it's full time and working full time and them coming home and doing everything there is to do at home is tiring. But I like taking gigs and doing something for a little while and then doing something else for a little while. I've also gotten some steady writing assignments that are quick and fun and pay me almost nothing.