05 February 2008

Productivity and annoyances

The bug that's been haunting me for the last month appears to be in retreat at last. Despite problems falling asleep last night (which required a quantity of brandy to rectify), I felt more energised today.

Cue a flurry of activity - I pitched several mags and papers with some feature ideas, sent a cheque to my web host for services rendered and invoiced some clients, which I should have done on Friday last week but didn't due to lack of energy and general feeling of illness.

Next, it was time to overhaul my CV. The last time I applied for a job (and got one) was well over 6 years ago. Since then, I've tweaked the old resumé as needed, especially when attaching it to client pitches, but I have decided to apply for a full-time job (don't panic, I'll still be freelancing, IF I get it {fat chance} ). The CV needed major surgery. I chopped and cut and slashed and burned. Then I sent it to a trusted hack pal who has the ability to hire, for an honest opinion. It came back scrawled in the digital equivalent of red ink. I was momentarily shocked, but the trusted colleague was bang on the money. Hey ho, there are several more hours' work ahead. 'T'will be worth it.

Fingers crossed...

Meanwhile, I may be back in the union, but the union's not backing me... I have my reissued membership number, but will the NUJ recognise it on the website and let me log in to all the exciting behind-the-scenes stuff? Of course not. That was too much to hope for. Hey-ho again, I'll have to get on the phone. Tomorrow's phone round also includes booking a haircut I should have had a month ago except I've been ill, ordering a bottle of calor gas in case of a cold snap, so I don't die of hypothermia in my office, and chasing a company that promised me a refund several weeks ago. Oh, and chasing some of today's pitches.

1 comment:

pmclaughlin said...

Dear wordsmith
I read your posting on your return to NUJ membership and the fact that you are following the Writers Strike in America, which I too am watching with interest and admiration. I work for the NUJ and am responsible for the Broadcasting Sector. There are many positive things happening for, and by NUJ members. The website is still very much a work in progress. We have tried to make the broadcasting bits all publicly available so there is no need to log in. Thankfully there are few disputes now of the scale of the strike in the US, months without earnings would be a pretty tall order for most working journalists, however, you only need to look at the current dispute at the BBC to appreciate that Union membership is alive, well and often delivering positive outcomes for NUJ members. Welcome (back) aboard.