Something New

Well, I thought I wouldn’t be working at all today. However, I spent two hours proofing and reproofing a six-page newsletter, which was an entirely new work experience for me after editing ads for quite some time.

Quiet and Slow

It’s awfully quiet and slow in here again. I only worked a combined total of one hour. I hope work picks up again soon.

Same Sh*t, Different Size

Once again, there was work waiting for me when I got in. Unfortunately, they were the same ads from last week, only different sizes.

And these were the only stuff I did for the rest of the day. Total billable time: 30 minutes!

Style-point Error

With Rob and Brooke both on vacation, it looked like things were going to slow down. Rebecca, a freelancer, was called in to pick up the slack the two left behind.

It’s almost lunch time and it seemed there was no work in sight. Fortunately, Jen came in with an ad to proofread. Afterward, it was Deb; she brought three. Anyway, as I was proofing the ads, I saw a style-point error. Because I’ve been proofing the same work for days, they all looked the same. It was only after a day that I noticed this mistake.

That style-point error was a mere period. It wasn’t supposed to be there, but there it was. It’s not glaring or a huge mistake. I wouldn’t lose my job because of it, but I was after consistency. I guess my being a perfectionist was rearing its ugly head again.

Timbits

This was one of the days when work was intermittent. There were new stuff to do, but they were print ads.

Doug brought Timbits, which was today’s highlights.

Leftover Work

The leftover work from yesterday lasted for 45 minutes only. However, there were still work, also from yesterday, that was revised and needed proofing. All in all, I worked for a total of 4¼ billable hours.

Two Months and Counting

Two months now with the company. So far, I’m enjoying the work; it’s the lull between projects that’s driving me crazy. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of hours; oftentimes, days. I can’t wait to see my timesheet filled with projects.

True to form, work suddenly picked up during lunch hour. And for the next five hours, I was proofing laser and printer proofs. I even had to stay for half an hour because of rush work — and some leftover work for tomorrow to boot!

Two Hours for a Project

The day started slowly. Rob dropped by with a job bag containing a project for a client’s newspaper ad.

I’ve seen the ad before, but there were revisions. Even though I took my time proofing it, I was done in half an hour. At the end of the day, I was able to squeeze in almost two billable hours out of that project.

Slow Again

The last two days were pretty busy for me. So, it looked like today wouldn’t be, unless Rob would drop by and hand me some proofreading work.

Yes, there were some work, like updating copy decks and proofreading minor revisions, but nothing substantial. With proofs coming from the printers, it looked like we’re at the tail end of the major project. So, it seemed like things were getting slower again.

I just hope new projects come up — and soon. Otherwise, there won’t be anything left for us to do.

Eugenia

When I came this morning, there was a small pile of work waiting for me to proofread. As usual, I finished them in less than three hours. But there were other small projects that were dropped on my desk from time to time.

We also had a short meeting about timesheets, and Eugenia tendered her resignation today (July 26 was her last day).

After lunch, there were a couple of projects, but they weren’t enough to work on for the next four hours.

More Work

Like I said yesterday, I bought a magazine, book and newspaper. I was ready for another boring day. Fortunately, Wendy, the PM, brought me some stuff to do around 9 a.m. I was busy until 11 a.m., which was good.

At 1 p.m., she dropped by again, bearing a job bag. It was good for another hour though. Then a few more came in, courtesy of Rob. I had to leave some for tomorrow; otherwise, I’d be doing nothing again.

Bored Crazy

By far, last week was probably the busiest for me. So, after all those ads, brochures and other projects, this week looked relatively quiet.

As usual, I spent the entire morning doing nothing. At lunch, Doug handed me a docket to update some copy decks for him. After an hour, they were all done.

The rest of the afternoon was boring. I was trying my best not to fall asleep. To while away the time, I resorted to reading magazines. This only made me even sleepier. Such ennui was driving me crazy!

Tomorrow, I’ll bring more stuff to read.

Friday the 13th

Unlike yesterday, this was a relatively quiet day, save for some rush jobs from Brooke requiring quick proofreading that lasted only a few minutes. That’s Friday the 13th for me.

But by lunch time, work started to trickle in. There were the old ones from yesterday and a new one — a brochure — that had several consistency errors.

Twenty minutes before closing time, Jen asked me if I still had time to proofread some banner ads. How could I say no? Unfortunately, there were some mistakes, much to the chagrin of Eugenia, the interactive art director, who had to stay a little late because of this.

A No-Luncher

I reported for work an hourly and hit the projects immediately. There were seven ads to proofread — and it only took me an hour to do so!

After a 2½-hour lull, other projects came in. No new ones though. But some were so messed up that I spent over two hours deciphering and cleaning their copy decks. Once I was done with them, it was already 1:30 p.m.

And when I was about to go to the kitchen and grab my lunch, other projects came in. It was a no-luncher for me. I only had a chocolate chip cookie for sustenance.

Busy Tomorrow?

The morning was quiet; I practically spent the entire morning surfing the ’Net. But the afternoon wasn’t.

Brooke handed me some small proofreading jobs to work on. She also asked me if I could come in early to proof some ads — a lot early if possible. So, it looks like tomorrow’s going to be a busy day for me.

Nina

It looked like this was going to be a slow day. I only worked on two ads for a total of one hour. It would be hard again to find productive things to do for the next seven hours.

I just hope things get busy again soon, like tomorrow; otherwise, I’d be bored stiff again. (By the way, Kyla’s replacement came in today. Nina’s her name.)

Over and Done in 1½ Hours

The work that I was saving for from last week was over in 1½ hours. I wished it could have been longer, but I just couldn’t extend it for half an hour more. I just hope there’d be more work for me later.

Well, I worked on other projects for 3½ hours more, for a total of five hours, which was good because it meant I was doing nothing for three hours only (one-hour break included).

The Busiest Day, So Far

Like yesterday, I worked right away. Since I couldn’t read Chinese, I simply compared the characters in the proof with the ones in the copy deck. It took me an hour to check that thing!

And I got to proofread banner ads. It was kind of difficult proofreading them because they were Flash animations and I had no way of pausing them by frames.

This was the busiest day (and work week) so far. I was working until closing time. In fact, I left some work untouched so I could start proofing them first thing next week.

Office Barbecue

Because this was going to be a short day (office barbecue party at 3 p.m.), I started working on a client’s mailer Brooke left on my desk yesterday. I worked more than two hours on that project.

And while I was finishing that work, Brooke dropped two more projects for me to proofread: a brochure and a poster. For once, I was continuously busy. In fact, there was one waiting for me tomorrow: a Chinese brochure.

For the office barbecue at Wendy's place, I brought my wife's Chicken Waldorf Salad. I never got to taste it along with the other foods the rest brought (except for the ice cream). I left at 5:30 p.m. with Belinda, and they started grilling meats around 7 p.m.

Kyla

Kyla, the office receptionist, hadn’t showed up for work since last week. And I guess this was the reason she officially declared her a non-employee today.

I worked on a client’s ad. No big deal. But before I left for the day, Brooke said that she would have something for me to work on tomorrow morning.

Morning Off

I took the morning off for a medical appointment. When I reported for work, I saw the “suits” and the creative staff having a meeting again. I hoped it would bring more work for us, especially now that Wendy and Deb’s work week has been cut to three days.

After lunch, Brooke handed me some proofreading work. I took my time this time, making sure no mistakes went past me.