How’s this for a new employer: They actually created a casual position just for me! Well. Well. Nice to get my feet in the door, even if only casually.

So that is my update. It’s 8:30pm on a Friday and I have too much pizza in mah belly.

Image is of Nelson. Gorgeous. All Rights Reserved.

Image courtesy of Park Place Seniors Living

Their Philosophy
Laughter and fun portray comfort and home. Who wouldn’t want a position at a facility where laughter and fun are the philosophy. I sure do!

I wish I had brought my camera with me, so as I was leaving the interview, I could have snapped some shots. There were some breathtaking shots and the day was gorgeous. Bright sunshine, fall colours spotted throughout the greenery and the lake look like a tall glass of water.

Some of the images of the people there were worth a snap of my camera… not that I’d whip out a camera during the tour portion of my interview… well any portion of my interview, actually… but if I wasn’t vying for a job there, I would have taken as many shots as I could get away with.

A black and white shot of the woman having a nap on the gentleman’s shoulder; a photo of the amazing 88 year old teacher I met who was sitting on a bench basking in the sun; an image of the 5 foot birdcage with two birds, I think one green and one yellow,  happily chirping away in the hallway.

And the staff. These women are something to behold. Their eyes are bright; their faces are lit up. Their smiles are wide and genuine. They enjoy their work. And I want to be alongside them enjoying my work there.

Wait… Why am I applying for a job at a seniors community?

Right.. on that note, well I have a thing for seniors. No I’m serious. I adore them, even when their grumpy. When my Nana was alive, I had the best times with her; when her mind was clear, she shared with me amazing stories, which sadly, I never thought to record at the time. I suppose I naively thought she would always be around to tell me these stories over and over.

When she was feeling downright crotchety, she said the funniest things. I was never offended because she was 83. Years. Old. She was on this planet for 83 years. So, I figured maybe that takes a toll on ones nerves, maybe being consistently pleasant, proper and polite, she was a British lass after all, for about 75 of those 83 years became tiring and she’d rather just cut to the crap. Why not?

But someone else’s Nana is not your Nana

Hmm.. true, which means I can empathize with the experience families are having when they have a loved one in a seniors community. I know what it is like; I have been there. I had to put my adorable Nana into a home, a lovely home albeit, but not her home at that point, and had to leave her there, even though the last place she recalled ever living in was a home we bought from her twenty-five years prior–it was still very difficult.

And Nana kept up with her quirky ways: at tea time she would snitch extra brownies and nanaimo bars and stuff them in her purse for later; snake tea bags that she would never use unless I  made her a pot of tea in the little kitchenette in her apartment; and dusty sugar cubes could be found in the pockets of her polyester pants. Sometimes I wouldn’t find them when I washed her laundry, and her clothes would go through a sudsy sugar wash.

Right, so why did I apply when I already have a freelancing job?

When I saw the job ad posted in the daily newspaper, I felt a very strong urge to deliver my resume and become part of this community.

And, to be honest, the way the economy has been going, I feel more comfortable having a day job while I freelance during off hours. More activity outside the virtual world will do my soul some good.

After meeting everyone and having the tour, my urge has given way to desire. I could gleefully spend my energy in this place. And the hours are brilliant. Five mornings a week, some afternoons. I am astonished at how well those hours and my life match.

Now I wait to hear back while they make their decision. I have my fingers crossed, while I maintain my daily schedule here. Full time position at Mountain Lake Community is my mantra; join in the chant if you wish. I could do with the extra energy to send out the message.

Rather than be that girl who slags on every error I read, I decided to channel a bit of my grammar energy into weekly tips in a friendly little list–which I am typing through clenched teeth–for those who need a top up on simple, every day grammar usage. And I know there are many, many of you who could do with a refresher.

I’ve been on a few websites where the blogger is giving grammar tips–wrong grammar tips. Gak. But I won’t do that to you.

Who-That-Which

Who-That: When misused, this really gets under my skin–I even commented on a blog titled Bloggers That Fake It. I was that girl. My fingers were possessed by the grammar spirits, I swear. I was so disappointed by this glaring error from reputable writers (whom I admire) that I lost all control and tsk-ed the authors. Gahh, I just couldn’t let it go.

“When did bloggers become objects? I blog; *pinches arm* I’m a human!; I’m a who!” “And you guys call yourselves writers??” Sigh. Oh the shame. Oh the horror.

So, here’s how it goes:

People=Who. Not bloggers that, people that, friends that. It’s who peeps! Bloggers who, people who, friends who. Yes I am sounding like an owl, and my head is even spinning around.

So what is that and which saved for?

That is the defining (restrictive) pronoun. What the heck does that mean? Here’s an example: The book that has the ripped spine is on the shelf.

In this sentence, that is used to describe which book the speaker is talking about.

Which is the non-restrictive pronoun: The book, which has a ripped spine, is on the shelf. In this sentence, which is used to add a side piece of information about the book; it is not essential to the sentence or the book’s description.

With all that said, both which and that are overused: omit needless that’s and go which hunting in your revision process (you do have a revision process, right? Of course you do; you wouldn’t just write a blog in 2.5 seconds and hit publish, would you.)

And always, always, always refer to people as who’s.

Next week, proper use of quotaions. See you there.

Having a profile up on ifreelance worked out well, overall. However, I began to notice the different types of buyers out there, and wasn’t left with the best impression in the end. (Side note: I will say that ifreelance is one of the better marketplaces around. Inexpensive and they don’t take a chunk of your earnings on awarded projects.)

Types of Buyers: The Chicken, the Fox and the Wolf

The Chicken

The chicken low-balls on the budget, is cryptic in the description and broods over the few service providers who actually do bid on the project. Because of these traits,  the chicken brings out the worst in service providers (messes with their Qi), managing to offend more than a few who then lose their professional face and heckle the project, the budget and the chicken.

These projects generally end with a big red Project Canceled notice. Waste of everyone’s time.

The Fox

The Fox is a sly buyer who sneaks up on you with a grand scheme up its sleeve. Indeed, the project usually is a scheme.

These buyers request bidders set up a profile on their website and start posting before you submit a bid. They run websites that “pay” by splitting the portions of the Google AdSense shares with submitters. We’re talking pennies per post.

In the end, the sly fox gets a handful of posts AND takes half of your AdSense earnings. The fox is simply looking for a way to a) drive traffic to their site and b) attract free posts writers to their site.

I’ve been hooked in by the fox before. I set up a profile, rocked out eight posts and made 5 bucks. Woo. The editor emailed me, raved about my writing and told me to keep it up.

I thought this would be a good time to ask her about the ifreelance project they submitted. I wanted to know more about the project, so I could gauge my bidding process. Her reply left much to be desired:

“I really love your work, and I encourage you to keep submitting, regardless of the position.”

Red flag, anyone? Messed with my Qi and I stopped writing articles of interest on their website. Lose-lose situation.

The Wolf

We like the wolf. These buyers show stamina: when sniffing out a service provider, wolves are fast, they post up their fully-detailed project, a realistic budget and they award within a few days. The wolf engages in conversation with the bidders and answer queries promptly. The wolf is just as stellar as a client. Prompt feedback; prompt pay. Try and keep the wolf around as a future client as well.

**

In short: Step around the chicken; don’t turn your back to the fox.

When it comes to the wolf: When the wolves come around the competition is hot. Bid on the projects the best you can, addressing the project description in your bid.

Photo by Thomas Hawk

Current Mission: Find out what it is about magazines that makes them unrecyclable.

Update October 7, 08

Chatted with my mum about unrecyclable magazines. She lives in rural BC and raises organic beef.

Me: Hi mum.

Mum: Howzz my baby-guuurl (emphasis on the urrrll)

Me: *cringes* Good. On a mission to find out why I can’t recycle magazines and similar print-like materials, like brochures, shop catalogs, etc.

Mum: Yes you can. We drop ours into a blue bag and they pick all that stuff up every Tuesday.

Me: You have recycling Pick Up all the way out there?? What the hell? (Editors note: I live in an area that is lightly populated, but generally by serious environmentalists, conscience livers and artists of all sorts. Like a mini, Canadian San Francisco. We are fully responsible for separating our own recycling and dropping it off.)

Mum: Of course we do. Here, let me just look at the recycling guide. Wait. Just let me find it. Ah, here it is. Now, Where’s my glasses. (I brace for the usual guttural noise (think Marge Simpson) that follows this rhetorical question about her glasses.. here it comes *bracing*). Urrrggghh.. Oh, here they are.

Me: Right where you left ‘em?

*sound of crickets chirping*

Me: *shifting uncomfortably* heheh… um.. er… echem. Can you read me just the part about mixed papers?

Mum: Sure. We can’t recycle glass.

Me: mmhmm.

Mum: skimming through the guide. Hum-in-uh-hum-in-uh-hum-in-uh..blah blah yum-in-ah.. (she makes this noise to let the listener know she is skimming *shrug*) Oh. It says here that all mixed paper is shipped overseas.

Me: What!? What else does it say?

Mum: hmu-in-ah-hum-in-ah. Nope, that’s it.

So it looks like my queries as to what it is about magazines and mixed papers that makes them non-recyclable is taking me overseas. What technology are they using that we are not using? Sounds like sticking mixed papers in a blue bin or box is in fact not at all recycling.

Why are we passing on outdated material overseas to be recycled.

The search continues.

Photo by Daniel Tubb

Working from home definitely has its upsides and downsides. The downsides for me can usually be fixed with a quick trip into town, a visit with friends or a big long walk, preferring the uphill kind so I can dig my heels in.

Lately, however, I’ve been finding reasons to do none of the above. Maybe it is raining too hard (I live in the mountains - rain ain’t no joke out here), or I am nervous that I’ll run into a bear stocking up for its winter rest during my walk. With the gas prices running in the upwards direction, I haven’t felt right to just hop in the car for a forty minute round trip drive just so I can go see people or get out of the house for a coffee.

So, what’s a freelancer to do?

Bake bread.

Well, that’s what I do. It may not fulfill the need to be in the presence of non-virtual people, or help me with my freelancers-butt, like a good walk can. I decided to bake bread for a bunch of practical reasons:

• It’s super easy to make
• Requires a certain level of commitment (good practice)
• It’s healthy (and still yummy)
• It’s cheap

The most predominant reason, though isn’t about how much money I am saving. The real reason is this: My dough allows me to lovingly beat the hell out of it. Lets me get out any pent-up aggression. The more I push on it, turn its insides out, and punch it right square in its fat, doughy face over and over, well, the better my loafs turn out.

The dough says, “Oh, yes… once more… ah yes, like that.”

I am a better person because of my new-found love for baking my own bread. I am more grounded, calm, centered and possibly even more satisfied with my life and with my sense of self. My writing has improved and I don’t get ants in my pants when I need to sit down and get caught up on my work.

So, why am I telling you this? Simple. Because all writers, editors, bloggers etc. need to bake their own bread: literally or figuratively - whatev. Some perform Chi Gong, yoga or go to the gym. I bake bread. It has become my aid in getting the stink out (so to speak), and, in the end, I have better focus. And my house smells good.

Photo by jfisher

There is a ton of information for freelance writers available on the Internet: How to Write a Blog in Just 15 Minutes; How to Better Manage Your Time; Five Ways to Improve Your Writing; and the topic I’ve seen on a few blogs: Stephen King’s book On Writing.

And there is some very valuable, informative, inspiring information within these posts and the comments that follow. But, here’s the thing: Hours upon hours can be spent reading, absorbing and searching for the answer to your business queries, and to a fault.

Use Your Head and Keep Your Fingers on the Pulse

Running a business, online or off, takes a certain amount of self-study in order to keep up with what is going on, what is new, what sucks, what consumers are shying away from or bellying up to. I have read some brilliant opinions and fabulous advice from bloggers on such subjects. In the end, however, it is up to You to get off your tushie and put what you know in to action. It is up to You to be willing to learn more along the way.

Yes, You Heard Me, Shut Up and Jump

When I was about to start my clothing design business another lifetime ago, the best advice was given to me freely: Just shut up and Jump. Meaning, quit yammering on and just bloody-well do it. I think it is best to allot your reading time daily and do so with an objective mind, and then

• Wipe the drool from your mouth
• Roll up your sleeves
• Prioritize your tasks on a list
• Make your way down the list
• Expect the list to grow, change, shrink, pulse..

Use your common sense. The list will never end, and the priorities are ever-shifting. Having a list of tasks out in front of you allows you to see what needs to be done and when.

You will learn so much more as you go than what one blogger here and one blogger there has to offer you. Take what you know and start building from there with your eyes, ears and mind open, and keep your finger on the pulse.

Balance between reading the information that is widely available, but don’t stop there… begin to implement all this know-how into your business while it is fresh in your mind. Take the plunge, trusting you are smart enough to learn along the way. Be open.

Let me know how you go.

From the beginning, I did not have any real vision beyond knowing that I wanted a site for my freelance writing/editing business.

There are many questions to operating a website, with more and more questions cropping up as I go. The prominent one that I am having a difficult time answering is How personal do I want this site to be? Without the answer, I have only posted a handful of past projects in my portfolio (I don’t like how the portfolio displays my articles, so I am not going to post more of my work until I can find a better way).

In the past, I have written business and fact based articles and edited business guides. When it comes to my own writing, I have a broad approach and attraction to topics. I could (and do) write about almost anything.

My experiences are all stories in waiting: from my two years of solo backpacking throughout SE and North Asia, or my journey from clothing designer to freelance writer.. er.. rather from a forest-fire fighter by day and moonlighting waitress to clothing designer to freelance writer is more accurate.. to settling my life in the Kootenays with my artist boyfriend and our journey together as a family. Oh, and the cutest shoes I found at Bia Bora in Nelson are so worth an article too.

So as time goes on, I slowly unzip my soul, one word at a time, go against the odds and mix business with pleasure while learning how to design this blank slate of a website into something that reflects my style a whole lot better than it is doing now.