This one is going to Europe!...
it is 4 pages long, and it needs to be sent in by Saturday 5:00pm (that's ok, it's plenty of time...especially since the topic is related to my work, so I know/have access to the vocabulary!)
I might have to work until midnight tonight, as we have a fun family activity (just Ale and I, but, hey, we ARE a family unit!) for tomorrow morning...and I'd hate to cancel on Ale because of work!....
this one could easily bring in $110-$120

I'm happy. And grateful. Just yesterday I prayed for a ~$100 translation for either this week or next one (Holy Week is next week, so there probably won't be any work, thus I'd have a "lost" week for translation $$$)...so, after taxes, I would have about $100! How's THAT for a speedy answer??

I had a couple fast translations today (as in: wording for 2 or more pages was 90% the same!)- woo-hoo!...that went real fast...and I even get paid tonight for 1 of them! woo-hoo! ($53...will go to new school shoes for Ale...hers are starting to come apart...they cost $20...the new ones should last us until end of May - which is the end of the school year- don't have much hope of them still fitting in August!)

Some of the latest translation jobs I got will most probably be paid in April, so I have updated my excel file to divide /4 to get the monthly average....it's still at $1,043!!...

If things continue like this, I will be able to pay off enough debt by May to actually consider the Disney trip before the end of June! ....

I think I can, I think I can....


((that being said, I AM tired...and I'm taking this Sunday - and, hopefully, all next weekend!-off!...we are going to visit my aunt in the mountains -- she retired to her family home, right in the middle of town, in the heart of coffee-growing mountains!))

2 new customers...a translation for $700 and another one for $63...on top of my normal workload from the translation agency since they are at that 6-week training program again!...oh, boy!

it's scary in a good way!!

I could kick myself!...I was asked to quote on a translation job...I did..I quoted $50...turns out, I somehow got my math wrong...it should have been $150!... the customer accepted, I accepted the job and, only half-way through it did I realize: "hey, this is too long for $50!"...aaaargh! ...

ok, lesson learned! (double and triple check before committing to a quote!!) ... a $100 lesson!

with the translations I submitted yesterday, my monthly average for translations is back at $1,001!!!! - that is my main goal for the year, to have at least $1,000 monthly average income from the translations...not all will go into debt...some will be for "reinvestment" (buying stuff I need for translating...like my new glasses - prescription changed!- or specialized dictionaries and funding an account in case my laptop NEEDS to be replaced or serviced)...part will go to savings!!!! .... last month I put $50 into savings!!!...then again, I had to take $20 out to pay for additional gas and groceries...so, it ended up being only $30...but, I figure it's $30 is better than $0!!!

I've been busy lately, and, translations over the weekend, yesterday and today will get me $349 come March! woo-hoo!!!- my monthly average is at $986...and rising!!...it will continue to rise until the third week of Feb...from then, I'll have to start counting April (as the payments typically take 30-45 days!)

but, I'll get paid at the beginning of March...
now that I am already doing "March" translations, my average dropped to $913...still, I think my goal of $1K/month average is doable...after all, February hasn't even started yet!

if all of a sudden you see just one letter being repeatedly typed here, I'm asleep on the keyboard!...

the customer with the blurry translation sent a new document...legible this time, Thank God!...which included the 6 original pages and 9 more!... medical and chemical terms...o joy!...I ended it at 10:30pm and went downstairs to connect to the internet to "clean" the translation (that is, to check MY translations against Google to see whether the terms actually exist or whether I made them up! ;P ) ...well, at around 11:10 (when I had 3 pages to go!!!!) the internet went down!!!!...aaaaaaaaaargh!...and I HAD to send it in yesterday (they needed it for today, end of day, but, we have visitors from out of town at the office, which means we will all go out to lunch, which means I don't get to work in my lunch hour!)...by the time the internet decided to work again, and by the time I finished reviewing the document, it was already 12:50!!! I finished at about 1:05 am, and went to bed at 1:11...I woke up feeling refreshed, but I look terrible (red eyes, yellowish skin)...I need at least 2 hours nap time...not going to happen! ....I've been keeping awake through coffee and candy...bad, bad MI...
(at least dinner last night was broccoli cream, so it KIND OF compensates!)

oh, and the $80 translation turned into $200!

4 files...lists of chemicals and medicines...ugh!...and the files were scanned....and they looked awful (like photocopies of photocopies of a fax!)...but, managed to read it! -- with a little help from a magnifying glass that a friend gave Ale recently as part as an "insect-catching" kit!

I finished the translation yesterday night and sent it...it turned out shorter than I thought, and it will be $144 (tax included)...I'm pretty good at guessing how many words a translation will have when translating from Spanish to English...but, I was off by about 600 words on the English to Spanish....hmmmm, must start paying more attention, so I'll get a "feel" for the right ratio....

woo-hoo! just got sent my first official translation of the year!!...the original is in English... 3,164 words...considering that Spanish tends to use more words, I guess it will be about 3,800 words when done - or $152, whichever you prefer!...let's consider it ~$150!!!

my goals for this year:

1. Track spending (I know, I generally am very good at this for the first few months, then drop it, but, this year I got a small pocket calendar!!)

2. Make at least $1,000 per month average from translations. Save at least 10% of that! (still working on the best configuration, given my amount of debt...since I am still owed from the toy sales, I will not know 100% where I stand until I make those payments)

3. Take better care of myself...(financial, because I've been neglecting things like dentist check ups due $$$)...started "last year" by ordering my new glasses...with the new prescription....and bought contact lenses also with the new prescription - I guess this could also be seen as an investment in the business! (can't translate very well if your vision is blurry!)

Ok, that's it for now...I'm off to watch the Rose Parade to see if I can spot "our guys"!!

Saludos!

...I just got told that our quotation for that $1600 translation got accepted...so, they already delivered the materials to my home...that means I have to start TONIGHT! as I only have 15 days to do it...that means we must deliver it no later than Jan 2nd, 4:00pm...
wish me luck!

my friend called (he still owes me $179; we hadn't been paid!...he's got the cheque!...) this will be the last translation $$$ I will receive in 2007....the translations I've made in Dec will be paid in January!...(these $179 go to my department store card!) ...

woo-hoo!

ok, so I still have 12 pages of translation to go...
we are done with all the toy wrapping (yay!) and today all we have to do is load the cars to be ready for tomorrow (take the toys to the place where the party will be held, tag and bag there)

Then on Sunday night we load cousin's car for the last delivery on Monday (toys are already wrapped)...

almost done....almost, but not quite!

with the translations I'm doing this week, I already have $800 due for January...that is so wonderful...I don't think there will be much more after this week, but, we'll see...one of my goals for next year is going to be to match my salary through translations...(so, I should be making an average of $1014 per month, after taxes- in translations)...wouldn't that be nice??

Ok, part 1 of the translation is done...that was 20,001 words!(or $800.04, whichever you prefer!) ...now there's another law I need to translate!!!...

At least, I got niece to help with wrapping gifts for a while today (called her at 10am, but she needs to pick up Ale at 3:00 and then leave for work)...still, it's help!...

The customer with the additional 187 toys just called...he missed ANOTHER 24 toys!...ugh! and to think I still haven't wrapped MY gifts for family!...will get to it next week!...I hope!

::breath in, breath out::

I'm leaving for lunch now! (it's 1:14!)...brought some spaghetti from home!

....we already have our hands full as it is, and, yesterday, one of our suppliers told us that the 30% off promotion had expired...we actually had a large order on toys from them...so, cousin ran downtown to find another supplier (she found one, yay, cousin!), but, it took her all morning...AND, the office get-together was yesterday night...(no way I could get out of going...we are only 9 people!-counting the spouses and 2 consultants!)...and, today, one of the people coming to help pack presents is sick!... AND, I still haven't finished my translation!!! (the good thing is, I was given an extension, because the end customer is NOT going to arbitration just yet-they might not go at all, but they want to have the documents just in case anyway!)

::breath in, breath out::

So, the last translations from company 1 were paid...after taxes, $1,025...I used $425 today for the toy business (I should get all my money back, plus profit, by Dec 15th, as we have an agreement with all companies that we get paid when we deliver the toys!)...

Now I only have to survive this week! (I have an awful cold...Ale, too!)...

I'm not going to try to do the whole translation!...in anticipation of this, and in agreement with the person who contracted me, I had asked them to tell me what parts of the Laws were MOST URGENT...so, I'm skipping on doing the whole thing and going for the Most Urgent part first...IF, once I'm done, I still have enough time, I'll do the rest!!

this is a Law they want translated...fortunately, this is one law I'm quite acquainted with (acquisitions by govmnt entities)...but, it may be quite extensive...most probably, I'll agree to do only a PART of it, as it is quite urgent and I wouldn't want to overcommit!

I'm wondering whether I should keep the translations as my $20 challenge next year or, if I should start considering that "recurrent income" and looking for something else to become the $20 challenge....

Truth is, with translations I've already covered most of my free time...and I honestly don't want to use the hours that I have actually left "blocked" as that is my "Time with Ale" ....

OUT:
well, groceries were $48....fruit and veggies at the market $18...bought some cloth to make some bedding for Ale $19.75 (still need to get the batting, but that's not expensive and, she'll have 2 new bedcovers/4 new looks for her bed!)....seafood $23...invited the whole family for lunch at our favorite restaurant: $55 (had thought it would be $50... still, not too expensive for 4 people!...and, sis had beer and niece and I had one glass of wine each!)

IN:
2 translations...$42 and $74.48...and a third one which I still haven't done, so I don't know how much I will get for it!

well, I just got sent a file...it does not need to be translated, but it is a Powerpoint doc that got turned into a PDF and now they want to use some slides, so they asked me to re-create them...text slides, mostly....I don't think it'll take more than 1/2 hour...
I'm going home now (it's 5:15pm!) and I'll work on it after Ale goes to sleep... $$$$$ I'm SO glad:
1. that my former boss asked the managers to let me "help" with their presentations (hinder, mostly, would be the right word...at least at the beginning! I swear it took them twice as long to explain to me what they wanted than what it would have taken them to actually DO the slides themselves!)
2. that the managers had the patience to actually teach/correct me
3.that I was actually paying attention
4. That I got to re-type the manual/make the slides/screenshots for the new version (lots of practice!)

Yeah, Dad was right: anything you can learn can be useful some day, even if at the time you cannot imagine that it will!...and, even if you CAN imagine, sometimes things are useful in a DIFFERENT way than you imagined! (never saw this as a "side business" skill!)

just finished another translation!....hopefully, this will cover the $$ I spent on Ale's medicines (MY share of it, after I get my reimbursement!) and the new battery for the car!

Remember I said that there was one translation job that I was separating to put towards the Disney fund? Well, I got paid yesterday!!...so, I updated my ticker....

I'm still waiting on $1,000 from one translation job, and about $300 more for other, smaller ones...I'm also pending the proceeds from the toy sales....this will all be put towards debt.

another short translation arrived just before lunch! woo-hoo!...$15.16 after tax!...slow but steady!!!

have a new translation, which I'll work on during my lunch hour...I estimate about $20 from it...pre-tax...hey, it helps!!

I'm learning about energy generation now! LOL!...

...could you believe my "average" additional income for this year (from translations only) is $500?...what's amazing to me is that the first semester is about $600...the rest is all August-Nov...but, I'm willing to go with the $500 average...if I can keep it up, I could even be debt-free by next December!!...("happy numbers")...that would be soooooo sweet!

well, $33 once you take out the taxes!!...woo-hoo! this was a ppt presentation....these are becoming my "specialty"!

....I got 26 pages of transltion from the office...they scared me, because originally the guy that sent them said it was about 100 pages...I guess he was kidding, but, I HAVE seen translations that big, so I thought he was serious!...he really scared me!...as it is, since my boss said I COULD do it IF I had the time and IF I felt like it (because he said it is this guy's responsibility to have the doc translated if he needs it in English, not ours), I have been doing it in my "dead" time at the office and, have already sent along 15 pages....I expect to be finished by Thursday, at the latest... 1. it helps me get more acquainted with what we are doing and 2. it will help my reputation around the office! :P