Categories: translation, trials
Date: 30 September 2008 22:02:55
I do not wish to sound over-melodramatic or anything but I am beginning to wonder if I am facing the future. Not in any ordinary sort of "tomorrow is a new day and we never know exactly what it holds" kind of way but more in the sense of "is my career as a translator grinding to a halt" sort of way.
Since my return from Denmark at the end of the first week of September I have been somewhat underemployed. I remember being in a similar position in November last year (my post of 19 Nov refers - should you wish to refresh your memory as I did). Back then the doldrums lasted a couple of weeks and then the winds of the translation world started to blow afresh in my direction and pushed along the good ship Tiggywinkle Translations in a solvent direction.
And I suppose there is no reason why I shouldn't experience this becalmed situation again. Freelancing is notoriously precarious and unpredictable. But this time there are different thoughts tugging at my sails. Last November, the financial world was not suffering wrecks of establishments such as Lehmann, HBOS and Bradford and Bingley. Now these matters dominate the headlines.
Should the scuttling of these ships sink my own? Well, I don't know frankly. Mine is a small dinghy which could easily be sucked down in the whirlpool created by these titanic vessels. On the other hand (is that starboard or port..?) my little craft may list rather violently for a while and then get back on an even keel to sail on course for a happy sunset ending. (Perhaps if I changed tack and specialised in financial translations, I would be in great demand.) In my little engine room here in the rose-covered cottage I don't get a broad view of what is happening on the ocean of translation. I have reminded my clients of my presence and have quoted on jobs for prospective new clients. So far, no one has taken the bait.
Will tomorrow, a new month, bring new assignments, or will I be redecorating the spare room to prepare for a new lodger? If I haven't lost all my brain cells from breathing in paint fumes, I'll report back.