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Archive for May, 2008

Add $9 more!

May 28th, 2008 at 10:58 pm

a quick one-pager! woo-hoo!

$5 Diesel?!

May 28th, 2008 at 04:01 pm

Diesel is $4.95 ... I fully expect it to be AT LEAST $5 when I come back from the trip. EEK!

Another $106!!!

May 28th, 2008 at 06:28 am

When I came home, there was a new package of translations waiting...a lease agreement amendment- joy! (not!)...
still, I've gotten quite used by now...but, I swear, thinking about the difference between a lessor and a lessee (or arrendante and arrendatario in Spanish) makes my head ache...it's one of those things I've never quite gotten...so I just repeat like a parrot: lessor is arrendante...lessee is arrendatario, and keep going!)

I had until Thursday night to turn it in, but I want to be FREE tomorrow and Thursday to pack and make sure I'm not forgetting anything! (yes, I have a list...but unless I have ENOUGH time to pack, I feell like I'll forget something!)

my monthly average "fell" to $867...but because I had to divide by 7 now, since all/any work gotten on the last week of a month will most probably NOT be paid the following month, but the one after that (so, this translation $$$ will probably be paid in early July, rather than late June!)

New office and leaving early today!

May 28th, 2008 at 12:01 am

We were assigned new, larger office space- yay!
we moved today- not yay!
My workstation did not fit the way it did in the other space (it's a combination reception desk/workstation/file cabinet)...so...we had another piece of it in storage...had to get it out of storage...had to change the orientation of the whole thing (my drawers used to be on my left, now they are on my right hand side!)...making that change took a lot longer than anticipated...as a result, half my furniture is still NOT in....hopefully tomorrow.
This also delayed the setting up of IT equipment, so I have my computers (yes, I use 2!), but I only have 1 (out of 3) printers...
Because the furniture is not in its proper place yet, I haven't been able to unpack my files, paper supplies and other knick-knacks!
I haven't been able to set up the coffemaker, either!

At least, my boss#1 office is set up and I was able to unpack all his stuff already. All that is needed is his conference room table (which we had in storage due lack of space at the other offices)...

Boss#2's furniture is set up, and he is only pending unpacking his files...

our DAS' (development assistance specialist) office had not been painted, so that his office is less than 50% ready!...and I'm leaving on FRIDAY!!!! ((breathe in, breathe out))
Hopefully, this will be all set up by tomorrow!!!
++++
oh, yes, and I'm leaving at 5:00pm today, since there's not much else I CAN do!

Piggy bank!

May 26th, 2008 at 06:12 pm

we opened the "Disney Money" piggy bank today...Ale had $15.03
I told her as soon as we come back we have to start another piggy bank (they sell them here at the marketplace...any shape and size imaginable!)...and she said: what would that be for? ...I told her I wasn't sure...could be for another trip, maybe...and she said: or for a medical emergency, Mom, so we can pay in real money and not credit card money!

My baby!!

Ready for the move!

May 24th, 2008 at 12:10 am

Our offices are relocating...All my stuff/ general office stuff is already packed. I also had to pack boss#1's stuff, since we were told on Wednesday that we will move on Tuesday and, he had requested the day off today so he could travel...which means he should have packed yesterday, but he had a lot of meetings and a lot of work that had to be done by COB today (which meant he had to finish COB YESTERDAY if he wanted to go on vacation)....good thing is, since our office is fairly new (1 year) and we are paperless (as much as possible, anyway), all HIS stuff fit in 3 boxes! yay!
My stuff took about 7 (but then, I have the paper/office supplies, equipment and, even the coffeemaker is considered "mine"!)....Everything is boxed and labeled, even the furniture! (so movers know which desk goes in which space!)... this should speed up things on Tuesday!I get a much larger space, and 1 window!!!...boss#1 and #2 get almost twice the space, boss#1 gets 5 windows!!!- boss#2 only 1 window...IT has promised we wil only be off-line/without phones for 2-4 hours...we'll see...

Had to leave the office at 1pm, though, since I got a migraine (duh: packed my "emergency" aspirin yesterday, and was too lazy to dig it up today while I still had a normal headache!)...it's ok, since boss#2 had decreed that, since all our stuff is boxed up anyway, we'd get early dismissal at 2:30 (provided we had finished with the packing!)....

I wasn't that far off!

May 23rd, 2008 at 04:42 am

I estimated $70 pre-tax on the new translation job, and it actually came out $67.68.
Done and delivered! (well, sent!)

+++++++++++++++++++++
Next week is going to be crazy at the office!...
5/26 we get off due holiday in the US
5/27 they are moving us from our current offices to newer, larger ones one floor down!
5/28 I'd guess we'll be unpacking!
5/29 am- webinar pm- cash award ceremony (from 3pm to 5pm!)
5/30 - I'M OFF TO DISNEY!!!

Oh, and my boss leaves tomorrow for a long weekend, so I'll be packing HIS stuff, too!

More translation jobs!

May 22nd, 2008 at 04:44 pm

a PACKAGE arrived yesterday. It's one of those training evaluation packagess, which pay $0.03/word, and which generally bring in anywhere between $6 and $20 for each session evaluation. This one had 5 session evaluations. I've already finished 2 and they were about 1,000 words (so, $30 pre-tax). I'm finishing tonight, and I'm hoping this one will bring in about $70 in total.
(see? I told you God would send work along!)

$34 more for a $1,015 average!!!!

May 21st, 2008 at 05:17 am

Just finished another translation. That brings my YTD average to $1,015!!! yay!
and if I get anything else this week, it still counts towards June...
Week after starts counting towards July, and then there'll be a "lost" week...

We'll see...I know God will send me enough work to make up for that week! Smile

Dad must be wondering...

May 21st, 2008 at 04:07 am

Who is this woman, and what did she do with my daughter??

Today I preferred to make myself a veggie sandwich instead of eating spaghetti and meatballs (which were already cooked when I arrived home, so it wasn't only pasta vs. veggies, but convenience vs. work)...this, from the kid who declared all veggies were "yuckie"- except carrots, peas and tomatoes and potatoes!

Either that, or he's laughing like crazy!

We are going to Disney!!

May 19th, 2008 at 10:27 pm

I made the payments I wanted to towards debt and, with the reduced airfare (had budgeted $700, turned out to be $435) and the gift from ex-hubby (of paying for Ale's park tickets), this trip has become a reality (almost!)

Now, all that is left is praying for space to be available on all flights so that we can proceed as planned with our "space-available" tickets! (wish us luck!, although, ex-hubby says the flights "look good"- meaning they are not full!)

We are leaving on the 30th, so my goal is to have EVERYTHING ready by the 26th (including luggage!)...

12 days until take off!!! - and I'm guessing we won't get to sleep on the 29th!!

vet visit

May 18th, 2008 at 04:27 am

Took Fiona to the vet's for her anti-rabies and anti-parasite vaccines...I was feeling lazy and decided to spend additional $$$ on a bath for her, as opposed to bathing her myself tomorrow...I don't know what they put in that bath, but she looks amazing and smells clean (hmmm, my doggie shampoo is anti-flea, have never wanted to splurge on the one that smells good...I also don't buy a doggie rinse) ...the total cost for the visit was $22, so it wasn't bad at all. The vet pronounced her in good health and even gave her a treat for being such a good doggie!
You know what felt amazing? Being able to just say: Fi needs to go to the vet's, let's take her! and not having to check first to see whether I could afford it, simply because I KNEW I could afford it!...and it was included in my budget for the month!! Smile

$30 more and a promise of another translation job!

May 17th, 2008 at 09:01 pm

I made a translation yesterday for $30, and the people from the translation agency said they'll send another document tonight! - my monthly average is at $994 at the moment!!
Did you notice the ticker?? I'm past the $9.5K; $9.0K; and even the $8.5K mark!- woo-hoo!! ::chugging along::

Crazy weekend coming up!

May 16th, 2008 at 11:24 pm

tomorrow, I have to take Fiona to the vet's (rabies vaccine), Ale to church... go grocery shopping...pay my personal loan at the bank...

I'm thinking of dropping Fiona at the vet's, the Ale at church, go to the bank, pick up Ale, then Fiona...

and going to the grocery store in the afternoon instead of in the morning (I like to go with Ale after church because church is about halfway between our house and the supermarket with the lowest prices...if I go drop Fiona off at home, then it's a lot of extra gas...and I can't go with Fiona to the supermarket...and I'm afraid if I go to the supermarket after church I won't be back at the vet's on time to pick up Fi!)

((sigh))

add $42 more!

May 14th, 2008 at 11:33 pm

another 2 small translation jobs!

Why do you eat?

May 13th, 2008 at 10:44 pm

we are supposed to eat for nourishment, but, for some of us, there are a host of other things associated with food.

Mom alternated between anorexia and bulimia. She was obsessive about food and would also go years (YEARS) on end eating the same food (egg-salad sandwiches for dinner, for example. She also went through a fried egg and a tamale phase).

Food was important in our house.Food was an indicator of love. Mom cooked to show she loved us, but, if we didn't eat the food (you HAD to have seconds) it meant you were rejecting her love!... we learned to "trick" her by using mini-servings, so you could have seconds...or even a third helping!

There was always excess food at the house. Mom liked to have "extra" in case we decided to invite a friend or two...we were a family of 4, and always sat at a table for 10...and, believe me, there was enough food for 10 at the table! (food for the maids- yes maidS, there were at least 3 of them- was separated before the food got to the table...contrary to local custom, maids didn't get to eat what was left over from the table, nor did they get beans and rice only: they got whatever we got, and a full portion was separated before sending the food to the table. If, additionally to this, they wanted something more, there were always beans and rice and tortillas). Any leftovers were packed in individual bags and given to poor people who (knowing there were ALWAYS leftovers at the house) would come by once or twice a week to collect them for their families.

So...yes, we could spend a lot less in food (mind you, we DON'T cook for 10 nowadays!)but...food is important EMOTIONALLY for us...

And, it's funny, sis stops eating when nervous, while I eat non-stop! oy!

***
chose this image because my friends all say one of the things that impressed them the most when they came to visit was that our pantry looked like this!


Mom also HAD to have food available in large quantities... know that '@' symbol? In Spanish, it is called an "arroba", and it is the symbol for 25lb!...we bought our potatos and onions by the arroba!!

$46 more!

May 13th, 2008 at 05:33 am

from urgent translations....just finished the 2nd one! ...time to go to bed! Smile

Mothers day at our house!

May 12th, 2008 at 10:12 pm

Ale woke me up at 7 am to give me a note that stated she didn't want to wake me up, so she'd be downstairs playing....and to please look for her once I was awake so she could give me my presents
I went down at about 7:30...Remember that conversation about not BUYING presents? like the little mice in Cinderella, she went about looking for discarded stuff she could recycle. She got my niece to give her an old bead (BIG BEAD) from a broken bracelet and she turned it into a necklace!...she also used bits of construction paper to make me 3 different cards! ...oh, and she has taken to going around saying I'm her "favorite parent"! Smile

She also told me she had wanted to bring me breakfast in bed, but that we were out of cereal and she doesn't know how to use the stove! :P

****
on a funny/ kind of sad note, my sister's ex stroke again and left HIS daughter stranded downtown, where she takes an advanced math course on Saturdays, so Niece and Nephew went to get her and she had lunch at OUR house...how can he expose her to what could be a potentially hostile environment?? -- perhaps he was counting on us being civilized enough to 1)let the siblings go get her and 2)be nice to her and ask her to lunch!...we've seen this girl (she's 15) probably 4 times in her entire life. I think she's nice; sis is rather indifferent towards her (let's not forget this poor kid is "living proof" that her ex was cheating on her!- plus, the kid is very introverted, and sis is extroverted...), but, in the spirit of it all not being the girl's fault, sis tries to be nice and make her feel welcome (both times she's been to our house, anyway!)...this guy is really something!

woo-hoo! cash award!

May 12th, 2008 at 07:21 pm

There's a program at work whereby your boss can nominate you for a cash award. The nomination is then reviewed by a committee...well, my bosses nominated me and I got it! ...I still don't know how much it is, but, hey, any (legally obtained) unexpected income is welcome in my house!!

that's a first! - and brought some savings, too!

May 12th, 2008 at 12:40 am

Nephew came this weekend (he comes every 2 weeks) and he had asked sis to buy some stuff to fix our front door... sis did buy the things, but was very skeptical that he'd be able to fix the door...she thought that he'd make it worse and that we'd end up having to call a carpenter...or having to sleep without a front door!
Well, Nephew DID fix the door, and he did a very good job, too!...it cost us only $20 + the stress of having to hear sis yell at him for dismounting the door! - seems he learned some carpentry at one of the last re-hab centers...

It's a first because he's finally taking care of us (at least in some respects), as opposed to us having to take care of him! (I know that sounds awful, but, it's true!)

Lesson of the Day: Make sure you're looking at the right numbers!!

May 8th, 2008 at 08:42 pm

ugh! I was looking at the office's travel budget (we need to send an update on projected vs. budget) and, we had "left over" money ....we KNEW there had to be a problem, and thought maybe I had left out some trips or something...I went over the trip allocation twice....and then proceeded to re-check the other numbers...ah-ha! turns out the "remaining available funds" figure I used were NOT ours, but another country's!!

setting up a new "future" account

May 7th, 2008 at 09:31 pm

I had one set up 5 years ago to help with the Disney Trip (should have had $1k by now, but I had to get $$$ out to pay for debt a while back!)...soooo, now that I'm closing this account (to get the $285 that I currently have there), I've already spoken to the Bank's exec to set up a new one! Yay, me!- she'll be dropping by later to pick up my docs (we have a mini-branch inside the compound, with a cashier, and the account exec comes 2x a week!)

I have no self discipline!

May 6th, 2008 at 09:14 pm

I've been trying to NOT buy soda for lunch for ages...I do well a couple of days and then go back (just so you can imagine how ingrained the soda habit is: my Mom bought our sodas directly from the soda truck...and they gave her the wholesaler price!)...

so, today I decided to face the fact that I lack self discipline: I put $0.30 in my pocket (I needed to buy a tortilla for my lunch, didn't know that they cost $0.05!) to make sure there wasn't enough money for the soda (they are $0.50 each!)...

It worked!!...so, all I have to do is NOT bring any money to the cafeteria!!! - wish me luck!

New translation work = $40!

May 5th, 2008 at 03:38 am

Ok, I just finished one translation work. It was a 2 hour job, and it will bring in $40! yay!

May 3rd is Day of the Cross

May 3rd, 2008 at 11:28 pm

As is the case with many Catholic rites in Latin America, this originally was an indian rite adopted/adapted by the Catholic Church: at the beginning of the rainy season, to ask the gods for a bountiful harvest, the pipiles used to make offerings of fruit. Now those offerings are made on May 3rd (Day of the Cross in the Catholic calendar) and placed at the feet of a cross. People put up these little crosses in their yards, with garlands and fruit. We put ours in the living room (to guard the fruit against Tonio and Fiona)

The cross in El Salvador is made of a special wood called "palo de jiote" (don't ask! I don't know!)... the peculiarity is that the bark peels off and leaves behind a very smooth surface. It is believed that the indians saw in this wood a representation of the Xipe Totec - an important Mayan god who wore the skin of the dead

There's some information here: http://espanol.groups.yahoo.com/group/sanromero/message/39

The top of the page is in Spanish, but if you scroll down, you'll find the info in English.


Yay! got paid $1,500 today!!

May 3rd, 2008 at 11:13 pm

I will deposit the cheque on Monday...
Yay!- and they still owe me $258!

Live and learn!

May 2nd, 2008 at 08:44 pm

Niece got her Dad to give her giftcards to a clothing store instead of him buying the clothes for her! so all 5 pieces she bought fit/ she likes them! yay!

New customer!!

May 2nd, 2008 at 06:23 pm

It's "official"! we both said yes!...they don't have any work for me right now, but they are expecting some soon!...it's a very nice project translating scripts...yay! Pay is not much, but, it is light work (they sent me some samples of a job they just delivered, also the corrections made by the end customer)

I am happy, because a friend had scared me a bit about putting my $40 towards savings, quoting the inflation and rent increases...but I had already decided I was going to try to make it at least for 6 moths, figuring I could offset the increases through translation money.

a closetful of bad purchases

May 1st, 2008 at 07:17 pm

sis and I are constantly teasing Niece about her having 1,0000 shoes, while we only see her wear the same pair....same with clothes...

I guess anticipating getting a ton of new stuff for her b-day, she decided to clean her closet last weekend...

I got a pair of shoes, as did sis... (please note sis wears a size 4, I wear a size 5 and niece wears a size 7!....)

What niece discovered was that:
she has 14 pairs of shoes (after the ones she gave away)...but of those, 5 she "absolutely loves" and were "total bargains at half off"...but they hurt her feet so she doesn't wear them.... hmmm...

Of her many blouses....some are too loose for her taste (bought by her father, LOL!), some are already too small and others are not really her taste (gifts)...she gave some of the ones that are too loose to my sis...and I asked her to pass the ones that are too small to Ale...I suggested giving away the ones she doesn't like (plenty of people will be more than happy to have those!)

She has 13 pants, between jeans and "regular" pants...but "can only wear 1 pair"...the other ones...you guessed! either they don't fit (too loose) or she doesn't like the way they fit! ...ok, keep those that can be fixed and fix them, give the other ones away!...

I think she finally understood that we WERE right, that she DID have a closetful of stuff she wasn't wearing...I also hope she realizes how silly it is to keep a closetful of stuff that doesn't fit or that you don't like!...

Niece's birthday

May 1st, 2008 at 04:37 pm

is April 30. As long as she remains in El Salvador, she will ALWAYS be able to have a party ON her birthday...See, May 1st is Labor Day here, and a National Holiday!!!

We had an early dinner here last night (7pm), so she could then go for another dinner with her father and then go clubbing with her friends!....

Sis got her a watch (she has a boxfull of watches that she never uses- yes, I've given her quite a few myself....her excuse? 1. She likes to be able to color coordinate her watches with her outfits, and 2. Most need new batteries!)...
Ale and I got her a picture frame (in purple, her favorite color) and a teddy bear (which I suspect Ale is hoping wil end up sitting on her own bed instead of Niece's!)- just to make it financial: I spent a total of $6.50 on both presents!