Achoo!
The weekend after Christmas, we went to a small gathering that included little bundles of germs joy. A few days later, I came down with a miserable sore throat the progressed to a cold. I can attest to the high degree of functionality of my snot glands; they did a great job. [bleh] Fortunately, I was able to work through it, and I had a couple of really interesting projects -- a book for teachers on how to grade students in a way that helps them learn and a book for health care practioners about how to avoid malpractice lawsuits. However, I tried to control the symptoms with over-the-counter cold medicine, and that stuff does strange things to my sleep patterns. Hoping to get back to normal soon. Also, I haven't felt like exercising, and I feel flabby. [double bleh]
Housework came to a screeching halt when I didn't feel good, but I should have some time this weekend to reclean the five rooms I got clean (it's very frustrating that things get dirty after being cleaned) and then tackle the living room. Check back for another exciting episode in this ongoing drama.
The economy seems to be tanking in a big way. The official unemployment figure is 7.2 percent, and that doesn't count all the people who have jobs but fewer hours than they would like or less pay than their qualification would normally merit. I keep hoping the economists have no clue and the whole thing will blow over without being nearly the crisis that it's predicted to be, but I'm not really optimistic.
The book publishing industry has seen a slew of bad news recently: staff cuts, pay freezes, acquisition freezes, and plummeting book sales in sync with plummeting retail sales in general. I've been getting a steady stream of projects, but then a bunch of them have been delayed or even cancelled altogether. I used to think I didn't mind if publishing moved to more electronic formats -- the text will still need to be edited. However, I'm discovering that there are zillions of people in India who are fluent in (British) English and will work for $1/hour. I can't work for $1/hour.
The health care industry is still going strong. I've done some preliminary research into becoming a nurse practitioner (NP). I see an NP as my primary care provider. She's cool. Plus I like the role that NPs play in providing health care. I might enjoy being an NP with a psych specialty. There are increasing numbers of master's programs open to people who aren't already RNs, and coursework is increasingly being offered online for distance learners. I swore ages ago that I was never going back to school again, but maybe this would be a good profession for my "golden years" -- age 50+. (I plan to work until I'm 80.) It's just something to continue to keep an eye on. I've based my professional life on always having a Plan B. It's probably kept me from rising to the top of any one field, but it's also meant that I've never been unemployed and I've never been bored.
Fun: An orange tabby visits Rafael Nadal during a doubles match in Doha, Qatar (Jan. 9, 2009).
"George" the lobster is probably about 140 years old. He was captured and kept in a restaurant's tank as a mascot for 10 days, but now he's being released into a no-lobster-trapping zone off the coast of Maine.
Housework came to a screeching halt when I didn't feel good, but I should have some time this weekend to reclean the five rooms I got clean (it's very frustrating that things get dirty after being cleaned) and then tackle the living room. Check back for another exciting episode in this ongoing drama.
The economy seems to be tanking in a big way. The official unemployment figure is 7.2 percent, and that doesn't count all the people who have jobs but fewer hours than they would like or less pay than their qualification would normally merit. I keep hoping the economists have no clue and the whole thing will blow over without being nearly the crisis that it's predicted to be, but I'm not really optimistic.
The book publishing industry has seen a slew of bad news recently: staff cuts, pay freezes, acquisition freezes, and plummeting book sales in sync with plummeting retail sales in general. I've been getting a steady stream of projects, but then a bunch of them have been delayed or even cancelled altogether. I used to think I didn't mind if publishing moved to more electronic formats -- the text will still need to be edited. However, I'm discovering that there are zillions of people in India who are fluent in (British) English and will work for $1/hour. I can't work for $1/hour.
The health care industry is still going strong. I've done some preliminary research into becoming a nurse practitioner (NP). I see an NP as my primary care provider. She's cool. Plus I like the role that NPs play in providing health care. I might enjoy being an NP with a psych specialty. There are increasing numbers of master's programs open to people who aren't already RNs, and coursework is increasingly being offered online for distance learners. I swore ages ago that I was never going back to school again, but maybe this would be a good profession for my "golden years" -- age 50+. (I plan to work until I'm 80.) It's just something to continue to keep an eye on. I've based my professional life on always having a Plan B. It's probably kept me from rising to the top of any one field, but it's also meant that I've never been unemployed and I've never been bored.
Fun: An orange tabby visits Rafael Nadal during a doubles match in Doha, Qatar (Jan. 9, 2009).
"George" the lobster is probably about 140 years old. He was captured and kept in a restaurant's tank as a mascot for 10 days, but now he's being released into a no-lobster-trapping zone off the coast of Maine.
Labels: economy
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