That's All for 2007, Folks!

Well, my work for this year is done. Today's my last day at work for 2007. I'll be back on Jan. 7, 2008.

Manu paid a visit today to touch base with us. When I got a chance to talk to him and discuss copywriting matters (I was writing a fulfillment letter for Belinda's client), he admonished me to grab the opportunities and fill the vacuum left behind by both copywriters (Barry's last day in Toronto is tomorrow). He said that I needed to discuss these with Jim.

Now, I have something to think about during my Christmas break.

When It Rains, It Pours

When Belinda and I left work yesterday, she was talking about me writing a fulfillment letter for her client today. I was looking forward to project because nothing was happening in the office for the last two days. Well, it didn't happen.

Today, right after our last WIP meeting for the year, I got an e-mail from Allison requesting me to proofread 55 online banners. This took me five hours to finish! I wasn't expecting so many errors in them.

Then there were these Chinese ads I had to proof in a hurry. I guess I have to talk to Belinda tomorrow about her project.

Random Thoughts

It's so quiet in here, I don't know what to write. So, here are random thoughts:

• Yesterday, I worked for ¾-hour only; today, probably an hour.
• Amanda was right about the constant playing of Christmas music; it will drive you nuts. (Belinda's radio is set at a station that plays Yule tunes all day long.)
• I'm off on Friday and won't be coming back until Jan. 7, 2008.
• The weather outside is frightful. In fact, it sucks.
• I broke my trusty umbrella just when I got home last Friday. It was the best full-sized, folding and automatic brolly I've had in years.
  

What Am I Doing Here?

Last week, I planned to take the Monday off as a personal day. However, when I read the office manual on Friday, I realized that I only had a half-day left only. So, I had to report for work today.

Then I got this e-mail from Julita clarifying if my Friday off was a personal or vacation day. I said that it was a personal one, but she said that we were not allowed to take them as bonus days off (which I found strange because I remember Doug taking his two remaining personal days on a Friday and Monday; however, he didn't give a reason like I did: Christmas shopping).

However, she said that it was okay for now and wouldn't allow it next year. So, I get to take the Friday off this week because if Julita hadn't approved of my personal day off last Friday, I would have swapped it with this Friday's vacation day, leaving me with no choice but to report for work on that day.

And speaking of work, it's crazy-quiet in here.

The Aftermath

I forgot to mention that before we had dinner last Thursday, we had a secret Santa of the stealing kind. I think the mechanics of this game is to pick a gift of your liking, then someone gets to steal it from you if he or she chooses to.

I chose a nicely wrapped gift, which was stolen from me, unfortunately. In turn, I stole Belinda's chosen gift. I regretted this because it turned out to be a yellow Banana Guard. (When I opened the box, I thought it was a yellow dildo!)

Needless to say, I was very much disappointed with what I got at first. But I thought of the practicality and design of this product and I began to like it. The Banana Guard turned out to be a cool and useful gift after all. Thanks, Tom (or whoever you are)!

Dinner was at Joe Fortes. Only nine of us made it there: Rob, Brooke, Tom, Nina, Amanda, Charlene, Julita, Ryan and me. Everyone got a small token (a Christmas ball) and a $25 gift card. I had ahi tuna steak, which was surprisingly good. I didn't know what the others ordered, but I remember Tom having the 20-oz. Porterhouse steak priced at a whopping $55! That's a lot of meat and he would need a lot of roughage to get that digested.

But everyone had a good time and left with a full tummy.

Office Christmas Dinner

Tonight is our office's Christmas dinner. It's not a party, but a sit-down dinner at a nice restaurant downtown. Julita originally planned to have the celebration at Wendy's place and hire caterers, but there was a change of plans (which was a good thing, especially with the current snowy/rainy weather).

Concerning work, there's not much happening. However, I managed to sneak a half-hour's work updating copy decks of the sales sheets.

And since I have 2½ personal days left, I'm taking them tomorrow, Monday and half of Thursday.

I Wasn't That Busy Yesterday

Unlike Monday, I wasn't that busy yesterday. However, with all that time in my hands, I forgot to write how Tuesday was like. Most of the 3½-hour client chargeables were spent proofing French and Chinese versions of a brochure. Next was for a new project: sales sheets (which took up most of today's chargeables).

We also got an e-mail from Jim regarding Barry, our copywriter in Toronto. He's leaving the company, effective Dec. 21. His departure would leave a creative vacuum at work again. I would love to jump at the opportunity, but somehow I wasn't quite sure if I was ready for this kind of copywriting work.

I'll play it by ear.

Thursday and Friday a Blur!

With work coming in trickles, I thought Thursday was going to be an easy one — until Julita told me that our sister company was requiring my proofreading and editing services. I got to meet Joy, their general manager, who handed me a hard copy of the document that needed nitpicking and had me sign a confidentiality agreement.

I worked a total of five hours checking it, and the only feedback I got from her was that it was everything she expected. (I don't know if that was good or bad.) It was all good though because I got to use my skills. I definitely enjoyed doing it.

The next day, Friday, was the busiest on record for me: eight hours with a 30-minute break. Allison wanted me to do some frame-by-frame screen captures of 24 French online banners, plus 16 more for her presentation to the client.

I left some work from last week for today so that I would have something to do. Unfortunately, Tom, our freelance interactive art director tasked to do these online banners, called in sick. Now, my work was in a standstill because of his absence, leaving me time to write this blog and catch up on other personal stuff.

Morning Rush

I worked immediately as soon as I arrived, foregoing my morning cup of tea. I was editing an advertorial for a client and we needed to submit it today (I was working on it since yesterday). Brooke needed me to cut down some of the copy in order for it to fit in a small ad space.

I managed to remove 95 words from the original 495. However, I laboured in vain because Jim advised us to instead let the artists of the newspaper, where it would appear, lay it out themselves so it would appear like a news item. I didn't mind though because I got to edit — and not proofread — this time.

Then there were French online banners to proofread. I spent 90 minutes doing this. Allison wanted these out today, so it was a rush job again. There were other stuff, too, like brochures, and all my work wound down a little before 4 p.m., giving me some time to write an e-mail to a former co-worker.

It looked like this was the busiest day of the week. Today's client chargeable: 5½ hours. (I couldn't wait to go home and play on my Xbox!)

My Good Deeds for Today

As usual, I was one of the first-comers in the office. I went to the kitchen and started the electric kettle for my morning cup of tea. I checked the fridge and saw that it needed some restocking of juice and pop. Although I wasn't on kitchen duty today (it was Jill from our sister company), I chose to fill it up with drinks. Besides, I might have a hankering for apple juice later in the day only to find out that it's all gone or not a single cold bottle was available.

Then I went to the washroom to take a leak. Someone took out the paper roll out of the automatic dispenser and didn't replace it. I didn't know why, but it was easy to do so. One need only to read the simple instructions, which I did. In less than two minutes, the dispenser was operational again.

Back in the office, Belinda wanted to listen to some Christmas carols. Since there wasn't a radio station playing continuous Yule tunes, I offered to play some songs using my PC's Internet radio. I guess the volume was so loud that Amanda and Charlene asked me to turn it down. Charlene's reason was that she couldn't hear herself over the phone while Amanda simply didn't want to hear them this early (three weeks to go before C-Day). The former was understandable; the latter, just plain Scrooge-y.

Concerning work, it looked like today was going to be a slow one. It looked like I'd be spending most of my day surfing the 'Net and reading newspapers and magazines.

By the way, Rob lent me his Gears of War game. I couldn't wait to go home and try this one out on my new Xbox 360 that I got for myself.

Early Morning Roll

I was on a roll this morning. I started working at 9 a.m. on several online banners from last week. It was becoming repetitive though, with me seeing the same errors repeated over and over again.

Then there was a DM, too, for another client. I spent 45 minutes on that piece.

Unfortunately, work lost steam 30 minutes into lunch time. One o' clock and everything stopped. Total billable time: 3½ hours.

I spent the rest of the afternoon reading the December issue of WIRED.