woo-hoo... the company I told you about, the BIIIIG company that wanted some translations? They sent me a (very) small job yesterday... I promised them I'd work on it and sent it after 7pm, as I would not have internet access before then (ture)...sooooo... today, they sent me a 9 page document!!! still a small job, but, that means they liked the first one and are willing to "try" my services!... They also have 10 other documents (about 50-70 pages in total)...sooooo.... I think I've got them!!! This would be my "foot in the door" with them... so to speak... WOO-HOO-HOO! (plus, its HR stuff, one of my "favorite subjects"!...legal and technical tend to be very difficult for me...)

::happy dance::

Used to pay for Ale's 2009-2010 enrollment! (we get a yearly bonus that equals one monthly salary, we get 30% in May/June and the other 70% in November)

I'm thinking of buying stuff I KNOW I really won't use...

You know, things like... a sewing machine (no, I don't know how to sew...no, I don't think I'd learn if I bought one... yes, I've always wanted to learn BUT...even if I bought it ....I wouldn't have the time to learn to use it at the moment!!)

... there are also a couple other "useless" things in my mind...so...

HELP!!!

somebody talk me out of this!!!!

Well, here's the link again, and a list of currently available jobs...

http://www.mccjobs.us/

Current Vacancy Listing As Of 5/18/09



Director (Economic Analysis and Evaluation), MC-301-3a

Location: Department of Policy and International Relations/Economic Analysis and Evaluation Division

Vacancy Announcement Number: MCC-09-0086

Open: 04/17/2009 – Close: 06/01/2009



Resident Country Director (Moldova), MC-301-2d

Location: Department of Compact Implementation/Chisinau, Moldova

Vacancy Announcement Number: MCC-09-0050

Open: 05/18/2009 – Close: 06/02/2009



Program Officer/Senior Program Officer (Procurement), MC-1102-4b/4a

Location: Department of Compact Implementation/ Procurement Division

Vacancy Announcement Number: MCC-09-0047

Open: 05/15/2009 – Close: 06/05/2009



Program Officer/Associate Director (ESA), MC-301-4b/3b

Location: Department of Compact Implementation/ Environmental & Social Assessment

Vacancy Announcement Number: MCC-09-0038

Open: 05/07/2009 – Close: 06/19/2009



Associate Director/Director (ESA), MC-301-03b/3a

Location: Department of Compact Implementation

Vacancy Announcement Number: MCC-09-0002

Open: 12/29/2008 – Close: Open-Until-Filled



Associate Director/Director (Infrastructure), MC-301-03b/3a

Location: Department of Compact Development/Technical Assessment

Vacancy Announcement Number: MCC-09-0091

Open: 01/08/2009 – Close: Open-Until-Filled



Civil Engineer, MC-810-03b/3a

Location: Department of Compact Development/Technical Assessment

Vacancy Announcement Number: MCC-09-0094

Open: 01/08/2009 – Close: Open-Until-Filled



Associate Director/Director (MEEA), MC-301-03b/3a

Location: Department of Compact Development /Technical Assessment Division

Vacancy Announcement Number: MCC-09-0027

Open: 03/17/2009 – Close: Open-Until-Filled



Associate Director/Director (Fiscal Accountability), MC-301-03b/3a

Location: Department of Compact Implementation

Vacancy Announcement Number: MCC-09-0032A

Open: 03/31/2009 – Close: Open-Until-Filled



Associate Director/Director (Portfolio Analytics), MC-301-3b/3a

Location: Department of Compact Implementation/Front Office

Vacancy Announcement Number: MCC-09-0046

Open: 05/06/2009 – Close: Open-Until-Filled



Associate Director/Director (Procurement), MC-1102-3b/3a

Location: Department of Compact Implementation/Procurement Division

Vacancy Announcement Number: MCC-09-0048

Open: 05/15/2009 – Close: Open-Until-Filled

She's always complaining that she has no money, but I always see her spend the kind of small money that ends up amounting to A LOT!... About 2 weeks ago, she asked me for my chicken lasagna recipe...said she'd decided to start cooking lasagnas on the weeked to sell... she'd take orders THEN cook, so as not to end up with a perishable product that won't sell... Now, pasta is not her strenght... but, she is an amazing cook, so I know she'll be able to do this...
BUT, I need to TEACH her, because last time was a disaster... she made pasta the top layer in her lasagna, so it dried up in the oven... Also, she didn't have basil on hand, panicked when she coudln't find it (it WAS there!) and substituted for oregano... er... And, finding the sauce a bit "too bland" she decided to "fix it" with pepper... er...

So, no, it wasn't her best try...I'm supposed to help her make another try this weekend, and then the week after that she'll try to do it on her own again...

I also helped her price the lasagna...

Hopefully, this will help her increase her income a bit!

I'll let you know how it turns out!

Please, if you pray, add my friend and colleague Rosa Maria to your prayers.
She suffered a severe stroke this morning and is currently in the ICU.

Thanks!

I had a call today from a woman who used to work at the same company I used to work for... she´s no longer there, she´s working for another HUGE company here... she wants me to quote some translation jobs... woo-hoo! my network keeps expanding!

Thank You, God!

Well, HR asked us to pass this along to anyone who might be interested....

http://www.mccjobs.us/

...Ale is almost done, but I´m just getting started!

ok, this THE most important "investing in me" expenses: health!

LOL! Well, sister's ex hubby (SEH) and family are leaving to the US (or so they say... this would be their 3rd "attempt"...oh, they have the papers, they're not migrating illegally, but... SEH always seems to feel that the jobs he finds are somhow "beneath him"... perhaps he thinks his very first job in the US, without fluent English, should be top management?)...anyway... THIS time, they're selling everything (so, maybe he's really committed to the move this time!) ... and, he has given a lot of house stuff to my niece... she's already distributed most of it around the house, and even put some of our stuff away to make space... Most of it is nice...

Now, I'm going to spew my venom... (Obviously, I made this comment to sis, but would never mention it to my niece!)... maybe he thinks this would be free storage IF he decides to come back? (meaning> if he decides to come back, will he ask niece to return it all?) Knowing him, I know he's capable of it... (I really hope he DOES stay this time, and I really hope that, even if he comes back, he doesn't ask niece to return it, mostly, because it would break her heart!)

I bought a pizza dish today... Ale made her first pizza!... I had made a couple for her in the past, but, this time, all I did was measure the flour... oh, yeah, and I did heat up the sauce and added some garlic... everything else she did by herself... she was so proud!... she even asked her cousin (my nephew) to leave 2 pieces so that her other cousin (my niece) could taste it!

Next time, she wants to make the sauce herself... from scratch!

Really, that dish already paid for itself!

Yesterday, when I came back from the dentist's I thought I felt a weird smell on my car... I asked niece to come outside and check it...she didn't smell it...still, I told her to have her "antenitas de vinil" on while driving... yesterday night, when she was returning from work, she heard a PFFFT! in the engine, and opened the hood to find a rust-colored splat... this was about 1 Km from home...and the smell got stronger...since we had spoken about it, she told me as soon as she came in...
Today, I took the car to the workshop in the morning...turns out it was the main hose to the ...cooling system (?)...
they will replace that one, and the other 2, while they're at it... the guy said they didn't look so good, so I decided I don't want to go through this exercise again in the near future... and, they asked if I would OK probing the radiator, just because the "rust colored splat" is water from it, and it looks... well...rusty... so, better look at it NOW instead of later...

So far, the quote is $380, and I'll have my car back at 5pm... YAY! (from the "rubbery" smell, I was thinking engine seals... or worse... )

While it IS a lot of money, again, I must thank God that the time is past when I would have had to sit down and cry because there was NO WAY I could pay for it...now it just means I have to reshuffle/reprogam payments!

Well, the doctor started populating what my ex used to call "the teeth map", which is the little graph where they write down where you have cavities and where you've had work done...

It confirmed that the only teeth I have still "untouched" are my canines and my wisdom teeth...

I have at least 2 new cavities and a "?" ... and I will need a crown and I think I counted at least 5 "re-do"... OUCH!!

In the meantime, I'm $116 poorer, but my molar looks pretty again! (I had one molar where the filling on the side had broken off...and it looked terrible...the only reason it didn't hurt was because I already had endodoncy on that molar!)...

Oh, the $116 covers 2 sealants for Ale, the new filling for my molar and a "panoramic x-ray"... (to see just how rotten my teeth REALLY are! ugh!)

I hate going to the dentist!

But, this one is very good, I totally trust her, so, at least that makes it less painful... And, the great news is Ale only needs 1 filling and then I can go alone to my appointments without having to be ashamed in front of my daughter! (I AM a nervous wreck at the dentist... I AM a crybaby... the dentist knows this and lets me cry if I want to... but, we don't want to scare Ale!)

but... my molar looks pretty now!...

so, all in all...I'm still happy!

well.... Ale has 3 cavities...one has to be worked, the other ones will be treated with sealant...
cleaning of her teeth cost me $30

cleaning of mine> $50....

We have another appointment on the 14th to assess MY teeth and fix Ale's cavity...

Well, yesterday we had the annual meeting of the coop at work. They gave each of the attendees $20...yay! ... originally, they were going to raffle 200 gifts of $20 each, but, since there were about 200 attendees... it was decided to just give each person $20!....
I also won a bottle of wine! (raffle of products donated by suppliers)

...I invested my $20 in buying a set of 1 small round table + 4 stools which I had seen advertised that same morning for $21.99... (plastic)

I set it up in a corner of our yard and now that's Ales "atelier"...she can craft, paint, draw, write...whatever she wants... she loves it because its her own little corner.... I love it because it should mean no more paint/glue-ruined bedcovers...MY bedcovers, as she never paints/crafts in HER room...only mine!

I haven't been blogging lately... too much going on!
ELECTIONS IN ES>
Well, the leftist guerilla turned political party won the elections... 48.X% to 51.X%...67,000 votes difference!... some people are celebrating... some others (like myself) are still holding our breath and wondering what this will REALLY mean for the country...nothing to do now but wait and see, and give them the benefit of the doubt I guess...
***************
TRANSLATIONS>
I haven't had as many translations, but the studio added 2 new translators, and they asked me to train them, help review their first 3 scripts BEFORE they got sent for review, just to help them get acquainted with the whole system (as well as avoid embarrassment if any turned out not to have a suitable level, they are not professional translators) ... they've done well, and the improvement from translation #1 to #3 is noticeable... from now on, they'll be pretty much on their own!
Oh, and I accidentally erased the WRONG file from my USB drive... did you know files deleted from your USB drive don't go to the recycle bin?? I had to use a special software and was able to recover PART of it! (about 9 pages out of 22!) so that set me back a whole day!!...
***********
went to the Dr. yesterday for a check up and turns out some seemingly insignificant things, added up, means she has strept!...well, the Dr. prescribed us another drugstore...er, several medicines, but he gave us enough medical samples that I didn't have to buy anything! YAY!
They also gave me a list of "pending" vaccines...her 8 year booster shots... OUCH! ...well, obviously we did NOT give her any yesterday (not for at least 15 days!)...Part of me is considering taking her to a public clinic to get the shots...then part of me feels guilty because supplies there are limited and they should really be for people who REALLY can't afford them... (like me, 4 years ago!)....Plus, they DID bruise her there last time!
Ahhh, what to do, what to do?
***********
WORK
Sometimes I go crazy, sometimes I could fall asleep on my face...what else is new?!
*********
HEALTH
I started going to the gym and lost about 2 Kg...but I think my body is too comfortable in its current weight, because then I gained 1 back! (at least 1 and not the 2, or, worse yet: 3!)
*********
PETS
Sis took Antonio to the vet and he prescribed some cod-smelling medicine for his coat... the label said: palatable for cats and dogs...well, Antonio certainly didn't find it palatable... the first time I tried giving it to him, he ignored me for 2 full days!
**********
NESTING
Yep, still at it...still fighting the urge! To give in a bit, I bought a small house facade today (you know, the little ornamets that LOOK like a small house facade)... I already hung it on my wall... (it's sooooo pretty!)... I bought that and a couple indigo-dyed ponytail scrunchies for Ale and myself... resisted the urge to buy a bag, a necklace (oh, so pretty) and a metal thingy with pegs... which was beautiful, but that I really wouldn't even know WHERE to put! LOL!
Oh, and I'm almost done with the rug (about 90% done!)

Well...I have to go finish translating now!

I'm always lurking, even if I don't post...so..."see" you around!

her boss told her yesterday that, given the low sales in Central America, they might be closing down offices starting in June...
Right now, most of their large customers are not buying anything...some have said they are awaiting the results of the election (to be held March 15) to decide what to do...others simply have less orders from the US, so they are not producing as much, so they are not buying as much...
It's tough, because sis is already 44, and, here in ES, a woman might as well consider herself unemployable at 35!
Not only that, she's worked sales, but, in a field that is so specialized...
Well, there's not much to do but wait and see, I guess...
For the time being, she'll try to lower her debt as much as she can (she's got at least $12K- $15K...and I don't know how much of that is cc!!)
Don't know if she's already told her children...at least they're both working now, so it'll be easier than it would have been, say, this same time last year!

I've been going crazy looking for all my tax letters (the ones from the people I've worked for, stating how much I made, and how much of that they gave to the govmnt)... and I thought I had lost 1 of the letters...so I sheepishly wrote to the company requesting a copy...their answer? They have the original, I haven't picked it up yet!

Oh, well, I'll pick it up when I pick up my next check - which should be ready this week/next, at the latest!

Well, generally it's relatively quiet and peaceful at my office... enough work to keep me from falling asleep, but not enough to stress me out... GENERALLY... this past 2 weeks have been crazy!
I'm taking a break right now, but I have to put together a binder with info, contract an interprter, make logistical arrangementes for a trip (in country), translate 2 presentations and get at least 4 docs signed ... one of which I accidentally tore! (yikes! I glued it and now it looks as if it had been jammed in the automatic feeder of the photocopy machine and then smoothed out!)...I'm getting calls as to what I'm going to do with some (office) money allocated to cair repairs, which hasn't been used... it SHOULD have been used, I HAVE been sending the car to the workshop... but, since that vendor handles maintenance for all cars, they are SO messed up with documentation, I was told 3 different things yesterday: 1. Office owes 2 installments of $700 each, 2. No, office owes 1 bill for 2 cars totalling $25K...oh, no, no, no...3. Office car has never been serviced...
Er... NO, no alternative is valid. Which basically means they have no idea of what they're invoicing!
Told the girl to try to get things straightened out and I'll call her today... (I will!) Otherwise it looks as if I can't manage the $$$! (as in> why did you require that $900 be allocated and then not use it!) AAAAAAAAARGH!
Oh, translations have subsided a bit (thankfully, I could not survive another week of 8-5 then 6-12, weekends included!)

well, those 2 extra translation jobs left me with a lot of catching up to do in my "regular" translations...I'm still behind with 2...
will post once I'm not racing against the clock anymore! (which SHOULD be next week!)

Yet, in my exhaustion, I translated kidney (riñon) as higado (liver)...
At least, that was the only SUBSTANTIAL mistake in a 34-page translation!

I got another BIG translation job... $135 pages...I cannot do it, but it's from my oldest/most faithful customer... so I'll do part of it and subcontract the rest!...I'll make no money on the subcontracted part, but I WILL on "my" part, plus, I keep my customer happy! YAY!... March will be a great month, financially (as I will get paid late Feb/early March for all this!)

I am teaching her how to crochet...so far, I've taught her to do chains...
she figured a small chain would look good as a bracelet, so she started making them in many colors... she figured a longer chain would make a necklace...
she made a bunch, put them in a basket and went out to sell them around the neighborhood...she made $0.60 (so far)...Now, she's figured if you take 3 strands of different-colored yarn, you get a much thicker bracelet in a funky pattern...
next weekend I'll teach her a new stitch, and see what happens!!

WOW... I paid my (share of the) rent today, and realized one thing:

If it weren't for the translations, I'd barely get by on my own salary....

Having said that... I also should be taking better care of where my translation money is going...

Why?...well, my monthly expeses are ~$1,036...my salary is $1,077...that is, of course, if I stay on budget with groceries and utilities (I tend to go over with groceries) AND, if I stopped paying Nanny every 15 days out of my salary, and paying her 1 "quincena" when I get paid and the other one just let her wait until sis actually gives me her share of the money (which would mean up to 10 days wait for Nanny!! -- can you imagine??)

Also, looked at it THAT way, I'm not doing as much as I should with the translation money...not as much is going towards debt as it should...

Hmmmm... I guess I found Goal #1 for 2009!
_____
looking at it on the bright side....at least now I'm NOT at -$200 on paper!!!- even with just my salary! YAY!

You didn't think I'd forget to send you a super special, just- for-you-on- your-birthday collage this year, did you??

a billion, "in English" is one thousand millions... "in Spanish" a billon is a milliion millions...
quite a difference, huh?

I get really confused when I have to translate this (numbers really elude me, to say the least)... I have more problems when I have to translate things like> 4 and a half billion... I really have no clue how much that is... and, oh, yes, I did mess that up on a recent script! (Thank God, they DO review them!)

we got a request for 4 "urgent" programs... and then 1 more, "super urgent"...
2 of them have already been reviewed and are ready to be recorded... I just had to share this two comments!!!

"Fue una buena traduccion - verficamos ciertos terminos que nos tomo tiempo,pero todo está bien."
(it was a good translation. We verified certain terms, which took some time, but everything is fine) -- this was a very complicated translation for me, as it dealt with astronomy... lots and lots of technical terms and names!

the other one dealt with fixing some high voltage power lines...

"Una excelente traduccion - casi nada de cambios solo typos."

An excellent transnation, next to no changes, only typos.

(at the rate I've been translating, I can live with a few typos!...after all, the saying is: Translations- fast, accurate, cheap...pick 2!)

1. Track spending -- terrible, as usual

2. Make at least $1,000 per month average from translations. Save at least 10% of that! -- well, managed to do the $1k/month, but all my savings are gone (car repairs)... oh, well, at least it's no new debt!

3. Take better care of myself...hmmm... so-so....

So, in conclusion... did not do that well in 2008, although there was progress, that's for sure!

Have to start thinking about 2009!

Well, I don't know how well these will show... in my computer at home they look ok, but at work they look awful!(tried fixing them with Adobe and now they look better, although the colors are a bit off... the bright pink is actually not THAT bright!)

Here's the original idea:


And here's the real thing!


A detail of the tutu:

Detail of the slipers:

Detail of the hearts:


I must say I'm very proud of myself! It turned out really well...for someone with my sewing knowledge...(knitting, I know...sewing... VERY limited skills!)

Is coming along nicely... I tried taking some pictures, but they were too dark... bummer...I'll try againg tonight! (Did I mention I need to do this at night, so Ale won't discover me?)
I'm almost done... sadly enough, I don't think I can finish it on time to be a recital gift (the show is tomorrow!...I still have 2 good days' work to do on it!)There's one part of the directions that I really don't understand...eventhough it describes the procedure and even has a picture! (how dense can one be?) So it's not like I can rush it!...so it'll have to be an "additional" Christmas gift!