Date: 12 October 2007 00:06:04
There has been a postal strike in the UK over the past few days. This has had its advantages and disadvantages. It has added further grist to the mill for my thesis on the subject of "All the paper in my house comes through that little slot in the front door." I had felt to have made a start on sorting out all the bills, junk mail, catalogues, interesting mail, flyers, etc. which come flying onto my doormat every day. And then, without a by-your-leave, the strike ends and a backlog of mail avalanches its way across the floor.
One of the disadvantages of the strike is that I haven't been able to send any invoices which means there will probably be a cash flow problem at some point.
But another advantage is that I can pretend that it has affected my ability to mail my "postcards" from Nuremberg and Vienna on this blog. They are on their way....they've got caught up in the backlog. I realise you have probably all lost interest/forgotten about the fact that I ever went. I need to post them for myself really. [Aside: I wish now that I had kept a diary while living in Vienna as it would be interesting to look back on...but I was too busy fighting bureaucracy and trying to carve out a semblance of normal life to have the time to reflect on my experiences at the time ......[Pause] I just broke off here to check through my diaries. There are three entries for a whole year which began in September: one each for April, June and July....]
JtL: I'm sorry I didn't send you a real postcard. I don't have your parents' address.
Other messages long overdue:
Thanks to all those who said that they enjoy reading my blog; it was really encouraging [and apologies for the administrative nature of this post]
Smudgie: I had a real life before translation. To keep it short, I basically came to a crunch point in my mid-30s. I had always *thought* I would like to be a translator but wasn't sure if I would be good enough or what the reality of translating as a daily occupation would be like. The climate in my "proper" job forced the issue a bit and I did the IoL's Diploma in Translation at City University on a part-time basis; then worked as an in-house translator for 5 years before going freelance.
Lanark: I hadn't heard of "Stasiland" - but thank you for the recommendation. I ordered it from the library today.
Ian: glad you're enjoying my witterings. Where did you learn your German? [Same question to Smudgie and Lanark, too].