Wednesday, June 22, 2005

The New Proofer

The other proofer at work just got married and is taking 2 weeks off. So, I had to train another proofer who, to my surprise, is a total pro. In fact, she's probably got me licked in this stuff. She's a trained copy editor and copywriter as well. I sometimes do the writing but my copy editing sort or sucks. Funny thing is, I'm really good at editing, which I think is a bit different.

Anyway, I want this new proofer to stay. And it turns out that she also auditions for voice-over work. Today, in fact, she said she needed to go to an audition at noon. I said, "No, you don't. You need to take a lunch at noon." She asked why I said that. I told her the folks in the office don't understand when you have a life outside the office. So, don't mention anything about your auditioning. She didn't understand how they could be so demanding on a temp worker, but thanked me nevertheless.

This new proofer is a bit older than me. (At least she looks that way. Can't tell about white folks in California, can you?) And, I think, a bit wiser. She said that if you are a temp, you don't get certain benefits, so you must use the one thing you do have: time. She's taking a class to get certification to be a zookeeper. She said she used to do that in another city and enjoys it more than proofing. Gee, I wonder why.

Still, she's had long-term assignments such as Amgen. I've been offered work at Amgen. Only thing is, they're located in Thousand Oaks. That's like a thousand minutes away from Hollywood. Too far.

Anyway, I like her. She reminds me of why I do this freelancing stuff -- and why I act and pursue other things. Because there are some things more important than a steady paycheck. But one thing in particular.

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