My last week contained a mixture of highs and lows.
A high was completing a difficult reformatting job, on a 151-page document. This document had already seen a number of different parties working on it, introducing their own kind of numbering and formatting styles throughout it. I decided the best way to approach the task was to save a new version of the document, strip out the old formatting and metadata, and start afresh. A new consistent numbering and formatting style was then applied throughout the document. The document contained voluminous Section Breaks, Headers and Footers, Appendices and Table of Contents, so I was in hyperfocus overdrive! If you like working in big documents, you will know what I mean. I felt such satisfaction when I forwarded the completed and refreshed document to its intended recipient.
A low, on the other hand, was quoting on a job, which I knew I had over-quoted on. To me, it was such a big job, with many unknowns, particularly as to audio quality, that I felt it was necessary to protect myself for the time and hard work which I knew would be required to complete the job. Transcribing an hour and a half of audio with 16 people, plus a facilitator, all partaking in a roundtable conference – via videolink due to COVID, with the requirement for a timestamp each time someone spoke, is no easy task. Transcribing an audio with 4 to 5 participants is a challenge, so I was cognisant of the fact that a teleconference with 16 participants was going to have further challenges, but, as always, I was up for it; but as anticipated, my quote was not accepted. While I was disappointed, I was also relieved, and the question remains: what is a fair price to pay for such an onerous job? Whoever the job is awarded to, I wish them all the best with it.
Anyway, as the weekend comes to a close, and another week is about to unfold, I have been able to rest easy in the knowledge that I have renewed my vigour and faith in why I do what I do: I love to type, and I love the challenges that working with large documents invariably brings with them.
Until next time – onwards and upwards.
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