da tomāto

I've set aside writing content (my other freelance job) for the past three days. As a result, I'm behind in reaching the minimum submissions that would make me eligible for pay on the 16th. That got me thinking. Should I intentionally hold off submitting any articles today? I could catch up and, in turn, submit more content than the minimum if I do. That means, the pay that I'll get on the 31st would be higher. I could... but should I? I do feel a headache coming on since I rushed to submit my podcast transcript this morning -- that's 2:00 am this morning, by the way. I even chatted with my friend who's in Canada (it was early afternoon there, at the time) while I was waiting for the confirmation of my submission. It was almost 3:00 am when I said goodbye. I still haven't received the confirmation at that time too so I figured that they were already asleep. I did submit the transcript twice just to be sure. This morning, at 8:00 am, I got a text message that the

I ate at my "workspace" this morning. The eggs don't look appetizing in this shot... they're actually more yellow and fluffier than that. I cut up my dogs so I could eat with one hand. I started with just using the fork but the fried rice kept falling off on its way to my mouth. So I shifted to using the fork and spoon interchangeably (phew! big word for just talking about eating. lol). Earlier, I discovered a very useful hotkey on Express Scribe (I'll call this ES). I found it after I got annoyed with the f6 key because it kept minimizing the ES window. I needed to record the timestamps kasi and they don't show when it's minimized. The three hotkeys that I used to use were f4 for pause, f7 for rewind and f9 for play. While I was working earlier, I kept accidentally pressing f6 -- it minimizes the screen by default. So I went to "properties" and changed what it does. That's when I found the "go back five" command. I didn't know

I got all three jobs on a deadline this week... ack! Accounting : Yesterday, I received documents and files for tax reports that I have to send by Saturday (or Sunday, at the latest). Content Writing : I have to write at least four articles and submit them by Friday to get my pay this month. Transcription : I was assigned an hour-long (plus a few minutes) podcast that I'm downloading at this very moment. I have to submit it before Saturday. Phew! I sure hope my computer can handle it since it's been very hot and humid here lately (I don't use air conditioning kasi -- oh, I do have an AC but I don't use it). It's so hot!!! My fingers are sweaty... they're sticking on the keys... maybe I should turn the AC on??? Okay, I'm thinking about it. I don't want to add on to our electric bill because since it's so expensive here especially with air conditioning. Okay, downloading successful... I'm going to load that podcast to express scribe now. Ciao!

I can type 53 wpm (words per minute) according to http://www.typingtest.com/ but it seems that I can only transcribe a difficult ten minute audio in approximately three hours. By 'difficult', I mean, there's mumbling or the speaker's volume is too low. I guess I try too hard to figure out what's being said before I go on and continue listening and encoding the rest of the recording. What I found out about transcription is that the perspective's not on a per minute basis. It's because when you encode speech... it's on a per second basis! I guess that's why some clients prefer time stamps rather than speaker names on their transcripts. I use Express Scribe where you can adjust the audio by volume, speed, background noise, etc. It's a great software plus it's free! It's just that I have to pause and hit 'f9' to play or 'f7' to rewind the recording and that takes away from the comfy position I had before while I was typin

Phew! Submitted the transcript in the nick of time. I just hope I had a couple of hours more to edit it. Take note, I submitted it without proofreading it! YIKES! Man, I haven't felt this kind of cramp in my hands and back since... college! At least I know that my limits in transcription are: 1. I need at least five hours to transcribe a difficult 10-minute audio (editing included). 2. I need at least 20 minutes to try figuring out the words until I can confidently move on and type "inaudible" in brackets. 3. I got to remember to move my bum every now and then or else, it'll get numb! That's about it. I haven't taken on much [yet] to actually add on to this list or improve on my transcription skills. But we'll see...

A few weeks ago, I joined an organization that has a team of home-based freelance transcribers. After submitting my CV, passing their tests and completing the training, I can say that I'm part of that team now. Freelance general transcriber - that's the job description. And as of now, I'm starting my first paid project. The deadline's tomorrow so I got to get cracking. Well, I've neither a rant nor a rave about this yet. Of course, that depends if I actually receive my pay or not. We'll see... FYI, I'm working on three freelance WAH jobs right now - accounting, web content writing, and transcription. I guess that would count as "working three times as hard"? Yeah?