Reply #4: Happy Advent!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

Now that I've outgrown the "I want toys!" stage, I like Advent almost as much as Christmas--mostly because the business world hasn't commercialized it.

Actually, I spent my first Sunday in Advent in a very penitential matter.

A translation agency asked me to help translate a pile of discovery documents from a lawsuit against a Japanese company over the weekend. I volunteered for 6,000 words, and the agency gave me the names of six files to download.

It was obvious that one was much larger than the others (32 pages), so I started it first. It was all small print, much of it in tables, and after 5 pages, I realized that I already had 3,000 words.

At that point, I told the agency that there was no way I could finish all the files on time. No way, so they told me that they'd reassign them.

I kept plugging away at the Monster File, all of which was tables and schematic diagrams in small print.

In the end it was 9,000 words, and it took me all day Saturday, all day Sunday, and Monday morning.

I not only missed church on the first Sunday in Advent, I missed the Advent Carol Service (a special choir event) and even Compline!

The good news is that the payment for this job will make my January finances more comfortable.