... or not

I did not end up getting the proofreading gig I mentioned yesterday; the client's budget is about half what I would need to charge. Oh well. But I do have an interview next week for a possible writing gig. Geez, how long since I went on an actual in-person interview?

small loss, small gain; big loss, big gain

Last week I broke up with Wells Fargo, and I will no longer be proofreading their newsletter.

Today the publisher of another newsletter responded to my resume, and I might end up proofreading theirs instead. See how nicely that works out?

Is Big Brother reading this?

I need some sage advice. I've proofread a certain Large Bank's employee newsletter for the past several years. I've included my Social Security number on my invoices, and Large Bank has paid me. Nothing else was required.

But times have changed. This week the project manager informed me that Large Bank is instituting new information security measures that require contractors to submit to background checks before they can be deemed suitable for the Large Bank payroll. I was a little uncomfortable with this idea until I received the background check authorization form.

After reading it, I'm a lot uncomfortable. It states, in part:

The scope of the report requested by [Large Bank] may include information relating to criminal history, academic achievement, employment history, Social Security number verification, character, general reputation, personal characteristics, and mode of living."

Does that sound arbitrary and invasive to you? Am I overreacting?

I'd appreciate your opinions on this. Thanks!

when it rains, it pours

After a couple quiet weeks, the work floodgates are opening again. The magazine I used to work for needs some on-site help a couple days this week, and I’ve got a phone message waiting from another party interested in my resume. Plus, that new client I’ve been waiting on has sent me several informational documents in preparation for work to begin next week. So I guess vacation time is nearly over.

Last night I had a dream in which I kept receiving checks in the mail. I didn’t really want to wake up from that one. And then today I’ve found money in two different places. Granted, it was only a penny each time. But found money is found money. I think these incidents portend good things to come.

day of sloth

The recession, which once lived in a different city than me, has now become an impolite neighbor tossing its garbage over the fence into my yard. Two of my freelance clients have hit the economic skids and informed me this month that they won’t be sending me any more projects “for a while,” which I take to mean “ever.” That takes an uncomfortably large chunk out of my monthly income.

This came as no surprise, especially since one of those clients was an Internet start-up I never expected to stick around for long. The other client had me doing a regular project I found to be a pain in the butt, so I’m actually sort of grateful it’s off my plate.

And I remind myself that this fluctuation is all part of the freelance game, one of the tolls I pay for riding the freedom trail. Heck, a recession might even work in my favor if companies start outsourcing more tasks.

Still, the mortgage must be paid. So I went ahead and landed a new client last week—amazing how these things show up just when I need them; amen—and we’ll start trading labor for pay soon. If things go well, this client could nearly fill the financial gap left by the other two.

Plus I’ll begin teaching more T’ai Chi classes in September, so there’s a few bucks. And the client is already talking about booking classes for 2009.

I also have a bid in at the U to increase my hours by taking on a part-time tech support position in my department that will open up in mid-August. The guy who’s currently doing this job does it from off-site, which means I could, too. So let’s keep some fingers crossed for that.

Ideally, adding those responsibilities would increase my hours enough that I’d qualify for health benefits, too. Ideally, I say. My department manager is amenable to the idea, but she has to run it through the vast and lumbering bureaucratic channels all U employees know and love. My niece could well be enrolled at the school by the time an answer trickles down, so there will be no counting of unhatached chickens. But I’m hopeful.

In the meantime, I’m in a lull. One might almost say a doldrum. There’s nothing I have to do today. So I am declaring a Day of Sloth. Today I will not:

• go to the gym
  
• mow the lawn
  
• clean the house
  
• do laundry
  
• go to T’ai Chi
  

Instead, I plan to spend the day reading In Odd We Trust (a graphic novel in Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas series lent to me by Sister-san) and going to matinees. Yes, I plan to actually see movies in a theater! Can’t recall the last time I did that. Right now Dark Knight and Kung Fu Panda are on my agenda, so I’m sure to get plenty of fight-scene action despite skipping my own martial arts class.

When I tire of those exertions, I will catch up on watching Burn Notice on Hulu.com, and if my brain hasn’t fallen out yet, I might even try an episode of The Fall Guy.

But I will not perform work, and I will do my best not to think about work. And I’m tossing that recession trash right back over the fence.

Hey, bud

Know how sometimes someone says they'll call you at a certain time, and the call will be a certain length, so you don't start anything right beforehand because you have to be available for this important call? And then they don't call?

Yeah, I hate that. It happened this morning. But I guess I'm grateful I get back the hour I expected to spend on the phone.

Of course, now I'll have to reschedule this inconsiderate weasel again, because I still need the interview. If this wasn't the third or fourth time he'd blown me off, I might feel more generous toward him.

Anyhow ... I'm definitely grateful my crabapple tree is about to blossom. It's a couple weeks late this spring, but as you can see, it's just about ready to explode with color.

call & answer

One of my regular freelance projects involves interviewing a homebuilder each month for a magazine. The interviews themselves are easy, since the magazine supplies the questions. All I have to do is write down what the builders say — or, better yet, e-mail them the questions and edit the responses they send back.

The hard part of this job is finding builders to interview. For instance, between yesterday and today, I made 29 phone calls. Nearly all of these were follow-up calls to people I’d contacted twice before and hadn’t heard back from — discourteous of them, but entirely usual.

My efforts resulted in conversations with numerous answering machines and about five actual people, one of them a teenager so snide and sullen that if her Dad does call me back, I’ll say something about her ‘tude, and I don’t care if it costs me an interview.

Only one of those five people was an actual builder rather than an assistant. That builder agreed to do the Q&A and asked me to e-mail him the questions. Sadly, I have no faith he’ll actually fill out the form and send it back, as I’ve been burned on this arrangement several times. (I am, in fact, currently trying to get back in touch with a guy who eagerly agreed to do this six weeks ago and hasn’t replied since.)

One of the assistants said her boss might have time to talk to me later today while he’s on the road, and if so, he’ll call me back.

So out of 29 phone calls, I got one yes and one maybe, with no guarantee of follow-through. OY! But I am grateful for the glimmers of hope these possibilities provide.

In other news, my birthday is next month. If you feel like giving me a gift, what I want is an interesting and/or beautiful mug, with or without saucer, for my morning tea.

soap dish

Once upon a time last week, my former boss Claire called to tell me about a job opening that might interest me. It did, so I made an appointment to meet with the client. We met yesterday, and while the full-time position was not a match for me, we discussed the possibility of me doing some freelance work for them.

Since the job was still open, I contacted a networking buddy, Kim K, I thought might be interested. She said, "My friend Deb used to work there. Wanna talk to her?" So I called Deb, and she gave me some very useful information about the organization.

Then I asked what Deb was doing these days, and she said she'd just applied for a job at a place I used to work, reporting to my ex-boss (not Claire). So I in turn hooked her up with Kim T, who still works at that place with that boss and can give Deb the inside scoop.

And then I backtracked to Kim K and Amy, the mutual friend who introduced us, and Claire, and told them the whole story. It's a small, small world.

Today I'm grateful for:

• networking
  
• cell phones
  

Cabinet label at work

Yes, these two things ARE the same.

Yay!

I acquired another new client today. Signed a contract and everything. Woo-hoo!

apply yourself

Hey, creative writers! I'm applying for a contract/freelance proofreading job and received a 16-page application to fill out. 16 pages! Methinks some HR wonk needs to get the hell OVER him/herself.

Wanna help me? The application questions appear below. If you've got a minute, answer a few. I appreciate all the help — and cheap entertainment — I can get. Thanks!

UPDATE: As of 3:30, Mother Media and JA have turned in absolutely HILARIOUS riffs on "branding" (think cowboy thoughts) and "packaging" (think impure thoughts) respectively.

The Ginormous Application!

Please answer each of the following questions as concisely as possible. In other words, provide your most complete answer in the fewest number of words:



1. What is your philosophy on branding? How did you arrive at this position?


2. What “sells” brand strategy?


3. What is your philosophy on package design? How did you arrive at this position?


4. What “sells” package design?


5. How would you describe your personal work style? How does it differ from that of others?


6. How are you qualified for this job and how does your experience qualify you for this job?


7. What makes you more qualified than the other candidates?


8. What are some aspects of your experiences that specifically apply to this position?




9. Provide a specific example of a time you handled a very difficult, angry or unreasonable client.



10. Provide an example of a time you identified a need to learn something new (QC related) and took it upon yourself to do so.



11. What relationships have you developed in your proofreading position with clients, and professional channels that will help you develop new business in this position?



12. How would your customers describe you and your work style?



13. What would your customers say is the reason they requested proofing services from you versus someone else?



14. Please describe some of the important aspects in proofreading a package design.



15. What situation in your prior experience would demonstrate the level of confidence that you have in yourself?



16. What is the greatest risk you’ve taken that resulted in failure?



17. What is the greatest risk you’ve taken that resulted in success?



18. Why did you leave your last job or why do you want to leave your current job?



19. What is the primary reason you would like to have this position at this particular company?



20. What do you think you will like least about this position?



21. What do you think you will like most about this position?



22. What is your greatest strength?



23. What is your greatest weakness?



24. What trade publications do you read?



25. Describe the best day you remember having on the job.




26. Why do you believe you are the best candidate for this position?



27. What would your existing (or previous) peer group of employees say is the single area that you could improve in the most?



28. What did you love about your last job?



29. What did you dislike about your last job?



30. What did you like most about your favorite manager?



31. What did you like least about your least favorite manager?



32. What will past supervisors say are your strengths?



33. What will past supervisors say are your growth areas?



34. How confident are you that you can successfully perform the duties of this position and why?


35. Tell us about a situation that would demonstrate the level of confidence that you have in yourself.


36. Tell us about a situation that would demonstrate the level of expertise related to this position.

37. Tell us about a situation that would show the confidence your coworkers have in you.


38. Are you an implementer? Give us one example of what you have implemented in previous organizations.


39. Provide us with an example of your ability to work independently.


40. What experience have you had in pressure situations?


41. Tell us about a pressure situation you were in that would demonstrate your ability to work under pressure.


42. Provide us with an example of how you’ve asserted yourself in an emergency or high-pressure situation?

43. What are some constructive methods of dealing with stress?


44. Briefly describe the most significant responsibility you have had in your career and what it taught you?

45. How do you handle responsibility?

46. What training have you received that qualifies you for this job?


47. What have you done outside of formal education to improve yourself?


48. What training opportunities have you taken advantage of and why?


49. How does your current job qualify you for this position?


50. Describe a typical day at your present position.


51. What is the most difficult assignment you have had?


52. What steps have you taken to improve your job skills?



53. What significant contributions have you made to the operation of your work group?


54. How has your current position prepared you to take on greater responsibilities?


55. What steps have you taken in the past two years to improve your qualifications?


56. In the areas where your experience falls short for this job, what steps will you take to make up for this shortfall?


57. Recall an incident where you made a major mistake. What did you do after the mistake was made? What did you learn from this mistake?


58. What is the greatest failure you've had? What would you have done differently?



59. What action on the job are you the least proud of?


60. What questions would you like to ask about this position?


61. What questions would you like to ask about your future supervisor?


62. What questions would you like to ask about the company?


63. What compensation do you feel is fair and how should it be structured?


64. If you could create your own work day, what days of the week and what times of the day would you like to work that best fits into your life? And what is your most productive time of the day?


65. If you had a magic wand what would you do to earn a living?


84. Please fill in the following blanks:


1. Listen ____________________________________

2. Results _____________________________

3. Attention to ___________________________

4. Follow _______________________

5. Laser ______________________

6. Assume _____________________________

7. Agreements can be kept or ______________________________

8. When you don’t get the results you want do something _________________________

9. Where there’s commitment there’s no room for ____________________________

10. There are ______________________ possible answers to a simple question

11. Don’t make a decision based on a false _______________________________

12. EBITDA is an acronym for ______________________________________________


________________________________________________________________________

13. The Past is the Past and You Can Only Control the ___________________________

14. Plan _____________________________________

15. One successful sales strategy is based on understanding the Moving __________________

16. To close a sale you must have _____________________________________

17. Manage__________________ Manage_________________ Manage________________

18. USP is an acronym for ____________________________________________

19. Value your ______________

20. Test ___________Test

good company

Today was a spiffy day. I awoke to a cool, fresh morning, lounged a bit, and still managed to exhaust the Internet by 8:45. So I showered and grabbed a book — a paperback from Sister-san that fits neatly into my new purse along with my reading glasses — and took myself to Perkins for breakfast. I’ve found that 9:30 is about the latest you can show up and still beat the after-church crowd, and I just squeaked in. Biscuits and gravy and meat, oh my!

[And by the way: Thank you, Twin Cities, for smoke-free restaurants. I remember the bad old days of having to wade through the cancer section to get to the “nonsmoking” section, which was usually tarry from secondhand clouds anyway. It’s not as if I ever went to Perkins for health food, but at least now I get to choose my poison rather than being forced to inhale someone else’s excrement. (Yes, excrement. The lungs are part of the excretory system. Look it up.) So again, thank you.]

Anyway. I came home and did some proofreading, cleaned the kitchen and bathroom with Grey’s Anatomy playing in the background, then finished the proofreading. Then I started my own company.

Although I’ve had the forms for weeks, today I finally filled out and mailed in my Articles of Organization (which means that as far as the Secretary of State is concerned, I’m organized) and my Certificate of Assumed Name (I assumed I’d use my own name). When the checks are cashed and the registration officialized, I will be the proud sole proprietor of Kimberly Husband, LLC. Hooray for me! Just in time to file self-employment taxes. Or maybe not, if it’s an LLC. I’ve got a call in to my tax advisor.

On the bright side: I have a company credit card. Can I use it to pay my taxes?

Seriously, though, I’m proud of owning my own business, even if it is just a wee mom-and-pop shop without the pop or the shop — and come to think of it, I’m not a mom, either. But my mom and pop managed to create a very fine life for our family with their shop, so I have an excellent model to follow.

I’d carry on about that at some length, but evening birds are twittering outside, and I can smell my late-blooming lilac on the breeze. I need to go out and inhale. Great things await.

NEVERMORE

Once upon a Monday dreary, I woke up, no longer weary, and it was so unlike a corporate Monday that I nearly wept with relief. I went out onto my deck and jumped rope for 20 minutes in a light drizzle — part of my radical plan to exercise occasionally — then came in for an unhurried shower, a sit-down breakfast, and a leisurely stroll through my e-mail and favorite websites.

In about half an hour, I will start on the work of the day. By then, I won't have to pretend I'm awake. At no time will I have to pretend to look busy in case the boss is watching; I have plenty to do, and I just applied for more online. I will not pretend to be someone else, someone agreeable, in makeup or business casual costume. I will not have to sit in meetings pretending they mean something, and I will not have to pretend that a boss's ideas make sense. I will not have to pretend I'm not humming Moxy Fruvous's jazzy "Kick in the Ass" every time certain coworkers walk by.

I will not have to pretend anything.

I've been waiting my whole life for this. You have no idea. I remember as far back as first grade, pretending not to be bored out of my mind while waiting for the rest of the class to finish their worksheets; pretending I didn't know answers because I was tired of being called on; pretending I was riding a horse, not a desk, through my daily nonadventures. In that sense, school really did prepare me for the real working world to come, and no thank you very much.

I'm incredibly lucky I've found a way out of that box. It did take a kick in the ass for me to find my happy place, but I did, and I give thanks every day for my good fortune. It's not just fake-smile polite thanks, either. I'm talking on-my-knees gratitude here. No pretending. Nevermore.

The Employment Chronicles, Chapter 22

My credit card is paid off, I have two paychecks in my purse to deposit, two more due today, and another overdue. Projects awaiting my attention include a website update, a newsletter to proofread, a trio of newsletters to write, some course materials to proof and test, a few more magazine pages to copy edit, and an interview to conduct if the subject would just return my calls. Oh, and my half-time and quarter-time jobs to attend to as well.

The Unemployment Chronicles are officially FINISHED.

The Partial Employment Chronicles, Chapter 21

I got another job! I've been offered the position of copy editor for a magazine based in Atlanta. I'll work from home. They publish nine issues a year and pay handsomely. This is exactly the kind of gap-filling gig I was looking for. We'll have a two-issue trial period, and if all goes well, the job is mine permanently.

Hooray! Ice cream for supper tonight! (I finally located a grocery store that carries Stephen Colbert’s Americone Dream yesterday, but it was sold out. GRR!)

Also, the editor of the magazine I used to work for here in town called yesterday to ask me to bid on a rush project. I did, and she'll tell me this afternoon whether I get the job. That would be nice, too.

I've also spent some time recently updating my resume and website as we discussed, and I downloaded some business license-related forms that I need to fill out and send in. And I've posted a reminder for myself to get back to networking — although I'm not sure I'll have time. ;-)

Ask me about my magic bracelet!

The Partial Employment Chronicles, Chapter 20

Long time no blog. I've been spending a lot of time lately trying to find clients and projects — and not enough time attending to the ones I've got. So after a morning of networking, the afternoon is for actual working.

A few more developments on the employment front:

• The Grail job is no longer available. That company decided to hire from within rather than contract with someone outside (like me), so I guess I won't get that one after all. Bummer.
  
• A two-week assignment from the staffing company has also fallen through due to the client flaking out. Sigh. The staffing lady says she'll keep trying to find me something, but I've got enough part-time work lined up right now that I'm not sure I could accept another assignment. It would really depend on the scope and duration.
  
• I had my first meeting at the U this week and got keys to an office on campus.
  
  An office? D'OH!
  
  Yep, looks like I'll be working on-site, on campus, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, at least for a while. I'll also do some work at home, probably more and more as time goes on and I become more familiar with their systems. So . . . cool.
  
  I have to admit, however, I was a little disappointed at first, since I've gotten really, really used to the idea of working from home pretty much all the time. Yes, I'm spoiled. Or working on spoiling myself, anyway.
  
  Super not cool is the parking situation on campus. The U will not supply me a parking permit, nor cut me a price break for parking on campus, nor get me a discount on public transportation, nor anything else. If I choose to park on campus, I will pay through the nose for it — an immediate penalty for finding a job. So I need to figure out whether I should take the train, or where I'm going to park the car so I can walk to the office, and whether I should consider parking far enough away that biking from car to office would be a good idea, or whether I should take my bike on the train . . .
  
  In the meantime, I have a large U document to read and mark up in beautiful red ink — one of the tasks I intend to begin today.
  
• Speaking of red ink, I'm considering getting some red pens with my name and contact info printed on them to use as promotional freebies. Good idea or not?
  
• I've designed and printed some very pretty business cards. If you ask nicely, I'll send you one.
  
  I've been printing the cards myself on card stock bought at Office Max. That's convenient, but the card stock ain't cheap, nor is ink for my printer. Today I tried to upload my design to a website where I could get vast quantities printed for pennies, but it didn't work. Something to do with the dimensions of my PDF. I'll spend some time later figuring it out.
  
• As I mentioned a post or two ago, my website, www.kimhusband.com, is up and running. Check it out. It's still more of an online resume than a product/service-marketing site, so amping up the sales factor is another thing on my to-do list.
  
  There's also a page on my site for the Lemonade Factory, an organization I'm starting for people whom corporate life has handed lemons. We'll get together and make lemonade. How? Get yourself invited to a meeting and find out! Hint: E-mail me directly from the website.
  
• Next week I'll have my first meeting and probably get my first assignment from Online U (different from the U).
  
• The U and Online U between them account for 30 hours' steady work per week — but not at quite the hourly rate I'd like to be getting. This means I need about another 15 hours' work at that rate, or 10 hours at my preferred rate. Hence the continuing search for clients and projects to fill that gap.
  
• A friend said last night that she might be able to hook me up with some work for her employer. Cool! Thanks, Lynne!
  
• I came away from today's networking meeting with a referral, too. It would be nice if that one panned out, too.
  
• This morning I had a coffee chat with a woman I met at a networking thing last week. She'd said she wanted to learn more about me and my business, since she's also an editor, and maybe we could trade tips. Sounds good, right? But it turned out that what she really wanted to do was introduce me to the marketing company she's part of. I hesitate to cast aspersions on this scheme without knowing all the details, but if I were to assign a shape to it, I'd say "pyramid."
  
• Obviously I've been doing a lot of networking, and I'm thinking of becoming a full member of the organization whose meetings I've been checking out. I need to find a chapter in my area that meets at a reasonable time of day — i.e. not 7:00 a.m.. I've got a few more chapter meetings to visit, and I've been asked to substitute for regular members a couple times already, so that's in the works. I'm still hesitant to fork over the dough for dues, but members assure me the volume of referrals I'll get from the group will more than pay for my membership.
  
• On the advice of my career coach, I've been working on applying for a business license, tax ID, and bank accounts for my editorial services company. It is not going well. I can't find the relevant information on the websites she pointed me to, so I'll have to do further research to find what I needed.
  
  I hate it when I make up my mind to jump through some bureaucratic hoops, only to find that the hoops are not where they're supposed to be, nor have any useful signs been posted to help me find them. This is one of the monumental pains in the ass the Lemonade Factory will help ease — once I learn what I'm talking about.
  

OK, time to stop talking about work and start doing some.

a site for sore eyes

I've finally got my website, www.kimhusband.com, up and running, so please stop by and check it out. I'll be using it to promote my editing/writing business and want it to be as groovy as my feeble webbin' skillz can make it, so don't hesitate to point out flaws.

NB: Not all the links work yet. But they should by the end of today.

The Partial Employment Chronicles, Chapter 19

Maybe you're getting tired of hearing this, but I'm not: I got another job offer today. It's another part-time gig I was really interested in — editing and posting online materials for the U of M's Learning Technologies Center. I'm going to campus on Friday to take care of paperwork and maybe collect my first assignment.

In other news, I've been too busy working and networking these past few days to get my website going — GRR! But I swear I'll have something posted by the end of the week, even if it's only a basic home page.

Actually, that's it for today's bloggage. I have to write up an interview I did this afternoon (as journalist, not job seeker). Then I have to make a run to the grocery store for my new favorite Ben & Jerry's ice cream: Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream. Taste the truthiness! And after that, my rich, creamy boyfriends Ben & Jerry & Stephen and I are going to watch a movie together.

The Partial Employment Chronicles, Chapter 18

It's been a pretty good day so far. I made some phone calls bright and early and am waiting for calls back. Behold the glamorous life of the freelance journalist!

A recruiter called me about a job that turned out not to be a fit for me, but it might appeal to a friend of mine. I left her a message about it. I doubt it's a match for her, either, but she might connect with the recruiter for something else.

Then the staffing agency called with a potential assignment for me for later in the month. Huzzah! I warned them that I might be out of town for a couple of the days they're asking for (helping Sister-san move), but it turns out I won't be. I called back with that information, so hopefully I'll get a couple weeks' worth of work out of this.

Then I spent some time fooling around with the online office suite that came with my newly registered domain name. It's a slightly crippled but fully web-hosted version of Outlook, which I think I'll use mainly for (A) its snazzy e-mail address and (B) the Task function. I have a to-do list function in Entourage, which came loaded on my iBook, but I don't use it, so I might as well use Outlook's familiar Tasks.

I haven't figured out how to set up the actual website yet, as the instructions my hosting company provided are all for PC/FrontPage users, whereas I am a Mac user running Dreamweaver — and Dreamweaver's Help menu doesn't say jack about starting a site from scratch. But Eileen is going to set me straight tomorrow, so I should have a shiny new home page to show off in the next few days.

Around noon, I went to see my tax guy, who delivered the good news about this year's refund. The news was so good, in fact, that I ran right out and bought a widescreen plasma TV. But it wouldn't fit in the Subarushi for the drive home, so I returned it and got a Mint Oreo Blizzard instead. Yep, Dairy Queen is open again. It's a sure sign of spring.

Now I'm back home, watching last week's Lost — a low-impact Hurley episode, and I do like the guy, but the "dramatic" moment at the end could hardly have been more forced — and still waiting for calls.

I also spent half an hour loading my calendar with the logistics of Sister-san's family's move, which happens at the end of the month. No one but a master organizer like her could have put this project together. My sister could keep the Space Shuttle flying on time.

Later: classes.

For a Monday, this ain't too bad.

The Partial Employment Chronicles, Chapter 17

Oops, I did it again. Got work, that is.

The best part of waking up is not, as is commonly believed, Folgers in your cup. No, it's e-mail in your inbox from a former colleague who needs a hand with a freelance project of her own — and the suggestion of more to come if this one works out. So huzzah to that.

Yesterday also brought encouraging news on the search for the Holy Grail, by which I mean a job I could do from home, and enjoy, that offers health benefits. A recruiter contacted me about just such a gig, and our conversation was positive enough that he's going to present my credentials to the hiring manager. I imagine I'm looking at another lengthy chat/wait/chat/wait cycle, but that's all part of the game.

If I got the Grail gig, I'd have the 10-hr/wk dissertation editing, plus my handful of regular clients, plus the odd project from that former colleague, plus a full-time job. Not bad, eh?

I'd need them all, actually, because the Grail doesn't pay enough to support me by itself. But I'm good enough at managing my time that I can work smaller projects into the gaps.

Yesterday I also spent a few hours surfing craigslist.com. There are plenty of writing & editing jobs listed in cities around the country (and probably around the world, although I didn't look that far afield). Because I am a HUGE GEEK with time on my hands, I figured out how to create searches for writing & editing jobs in all the major cities, then have Bloglines (my news aggregator) read the RSS feeds from the searches. So depending on how often I check Bloglines, I can see new job postings almost as soon as they're listed. Cool, right?

And let me tell you, some of those jobs are crap. This category attracts huge numbers of ads with headlines like "Work from home! Make billions of dollars in your spare time! Perfect for stay-home moms and students!" And those are the legitimate offers of $10/hr data entry sloggage. There are also plenty of "Get paid for taking surveys!" and "Ask me about my secret formula for making money without working!" (The formula: Get people to pay you for your secret formula.)

I tried one of the survey things just out of curiosity. I was promised a $500 Victoria's Secret gift card if I would take a survey online. Sound too good to be true? Yep. You know what comes next. I spent 20 minutes supplying a huge amount of demographic information, then got to the "almost done" page.

But you can't be done, and therefore can't qualify for your gift card, until you "participate" in a certain number of "sponsor promotions." Which of course means buy crap from their friends the crap dealers. (Not craps dealers. That's in Vegas. I had a friend who was a craps dealer in Vegas once. But I digress. And believe me, the digression is the best part of the story.) I signed up for seven "free" CDs — for which I had to pay shipping and handling — and bought several Dr. Seuss books for cheap (to have on hand when CNE visits, or when I'm jonesing for green eggs and ham).

Alas, I was supposed to participate in four promotions to qualify for the Victoria's Secret card, and there just weren't four sponsors selling anything I wanted. So I cut my losses and skipped to the end. Sigh. I should know better by now.

On a much more practical note, this week I downloaded some business card templates so I can design myself a good one. I also bought some card stock so I can print them in the back room, just like counterfeit $20 bills. And I signed up for six networking events over the next two weeks so I'd have somewhere to distribute these new cards. Settling on a design and doing some printing are my tasks for tomorrow. That, and studying the sample materials for the dissertation editing gig.

Did I mention that I went to Goodwill on Wednesday and bought myself a leather laptop bag to replace the one that was stolen last year? I did. It's a little scuffed but otherwise sound, and it has pockets for paper files and small objects (which my cool messenger bag, alas, lacks). For $6.99, I'm not going to complain. Maybe I'll try spiffing it up with one of the black shoe polish kits Mother Media keeps giving me.

But for tonight, I'm done. It's movie time. I need to choose among the four flicks awaiting my viewing. Which would you pick?

• Batman Begins
  
• Beavis & Butthead Do America
  
• For Your Consideration
  
• Groundhog Day