The month has begun ... early
I had assumed that my proofreading activities this month would be spread out sort of evenly over the next few weeks, but things have started arriving a few days early, so it's going to be more like rush-rush-relax for a few days-rush-relax, etc. February is my heaviest month for proofing. The company in Raleigh for which I do the proofreading publishes an annual membership directory that has to be printed up by the time the annual convention is held in March; there are scholarly papers (known as "The Proceedings") presented at the convention, and those are printed up in advance of the convention and have to be proofread (about 175 pages this year), as well; and finally, there are the usual monthly magazine and newsletter to check over. I've completed the 50 pages of introductory material for the membership directory and have just begun on the proceedings today. What I usually do is to divide the total number of pages of these long jobs by the number of days minus one until the work is due back in Raleigh. That gives me five days to finish the proceedings, about 35 pages per day. I can usually manage about 3½ hours in a day before my eyes and my mind begin to lose focus. That may seem like a damned short time, but I'm 78 years old, for Pete's sake; and I don't have the stamina that I had 30 years ago, regardless of the category of stamina you want to discuss.
The mail today was a nice surprise: another check arrived from Texas for a set of antique chairs recently sold at the antique mall that accepted all the antiques from my Texas house. They've gradually been selling the items; there are only a couple left, I think. They can't get as much for them as I paid, but with this economy, I'm very happy with whatever they bring. Also in the mail was this month's issue of The New York Review of Books. Now that I've done my 35 pages for the day, I can relax with that; there's a good article on Franz Liszt that's up next on my list of articles to read right away.
With whatever energy I can scrape up between now and bedtime, I'll finish cleaning up the kitchen [*gag*].
The mail today was a nice surprise: another check arrived from Texas for a set of antique chairs recently sold at the antique mall that accepted all the antiques from my Texas house. They've gradually been selling the items; there are only a couple left, I think. They can't get as much for them as I paid, but with this economy, I'm very happy with whatever they bring. Also in the mail was this month's issue of The New York Review of Books. Now that I've done my 35 pages for the day, I can relax with that; there's a good article on Franz Liszt that's up next on my list of articles to read right away.
With whatever energy I can scrape up between now and bedtime, I'll finish cleaning up the kitchen [*gag*].