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The unwanted copywriting client resurfaced at the end of last week - I knew it was too good to be true. I got a phone call in which I was told the job was urgent (again) and then I found out that what was wanted was in fact totally different to the original brief I had prepared a quotation for. I told the client to prepare me a new, detailed brief so I could requote and he promised to do it over the weekend. Well, here we are on a Tuesday night and there's still no sign of the new brief. I give up. This one I'm washing my hands of and if he comes back, I'll offer to refer him to someone else on the grounds that I'm too busy.
Elsewhere, I've been offered a paid blogging job. I'm not committed yet as I'm waiting to see what the money will be like. This is important as I'll have to read at least two foreign papers every morning as well as write 1000 words a day. I have also possibly found a new financial editing client (another one, woo-hoo!) - this one is for books and could turn out to be a source of regular work, I hope.
My accountant emailed to say my books are ready. My tax bill is not very high - I carried a large loss over from when I first started trading three years ago and I'm using that this year to offset my tax. No complaints there.
On the downside, a benefit I receive for my disability has been rescinded and I'm not happy. Now I've got just 3 weeks to appeal and hopefully get it restored.
Showing posts with label tax. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tax. Show all posts
30 October 2007
15 June 2006
Fried brains
Sadly, not a reference to one of Hannibal Lecter's more disgusting recipes.
I've had one of those days.
I was up and about bright and early this morning, and by 9.45am I had sifted through a fair bit of e-mail, surfed the net, done a couple of sudoku puzzles, drunk a pot of tea and sorted some paperwork on my desk. So I headed out the door for a meeting with my lovely graphic designer and our mutual client. He looked rather startled when I knocked on the door and walked into his office. Unsurprisingly, as our meeting is for 10.00am tomorrow... I had one of those "duh!" moments and scrambled around in my handbag for my diary. Sure enough, he was right. It's tomorrow. I stopped for a very quick chat then made a hasty and embarrassed exit, as he was expecting someone at 10.00. Just not me.
I can only put the absentmindedness down to my episode on Monday.
Reader, I have epilepsy. According to the law, it's a disability. But I don't see it as one. I was diagnosed in my mid-30s, some 9 years ago and it's never been a major problem for me. I was very well controlled on medication until just over 2 years ago, when a blow to my head retriggered my seizures. Now I get one or two a year. It's no big deal. The biggest disability is the loss of my driving licence. To be fair, I don't really need it, living where I do, but it would be nice to get it back one day. The trouble is, you have to be seizure-free for 12 months and I never quite make it before a seizure decides to strike again and I start counting the days again.
I had seen my neurologist last week and everything was fine. No seizures since last November and we were hoping I'd make it to my next consultation in December without any more episodes and be able to reapply to the DVLA. Fat chance. On Monday, after I'd written my application letter to bag the prize of editing Skin Two magazine, I had a small seizure.
I say small - it's all relative. This one only lasted a few seconds but knocked me out for the rest of the day. I got no work done and couldn't even take a shower until my beloved P came home. I was even knackered watching the tennis on the tv. And I gouged a lovely tramline in my face while writhing on the floor. I shouldn't complain. I've rarely had even a semi-serious injury. The worst was a cracked rib and a dose of concussion one time. Although I did nearly burn the house down that time as I'd just lit the gas cooker...
But I digress. I've been feeling out of whack all week as a result of those few seconds disruption to my brain's normal electrical activity. It's no surprise I mixed up the meeting. I'm not normally so disorganised.
Back home, I had to rethink my plans for the day. I decided to price up the complicated editorial job on offer. I quickly realised I needed to ask some questions so I fired off an e-mail to the person who is commissioning the work. While I was waiting for her to respond, I bit the bullet.
Yes, it was time to close my accounts for tax year 2005/2006. I've been putting it off for ages, but I had promised my accountant I would do it this month. And as the rest of June is likely to be taken up with editing financial books and watching Wimbledon, it really had to be today.
Five hours later, I was finished. I logged out of Sage with a sense of accomplishment and a feeling that I may have just fried my brains a little more. I'm a wordsmith, not a number-cruncher...
I've had one of those days.
I was up and about bright and early this morning, and by 9.45am I had sifted through a fair bit of e-mail, surfed the net, done a couple of sudoku puzzles, drunk a pot of tea and sorted some paperwork on my desk. So I headed out the door for a meeting with my lovely graphic designer and our mutual client. He looked rather startled when I knocked on the door and walked into his office. Unsurprisingly, as our meeting is for 10.00am tomorrow... I had one of those "duh!" moments and scrambled around in my handbag for my diary. Sure enough, he was right. It's tomorrow. I stopped for a very quick chat then made a hasty and embarrassed exit, as he was expecting someone at 10.00. Just not me.
I can only put the absentmindedness down to my episode on Monday.
Reader, I have epilepsy. According to the law, it's a disability. But I don't see it as one. I was diagnosed in my mid-30s, some 9 years ago and it's never been a major problem for me. I was very well controlled on medication until just over 2 years ago, when a blow to my head retriggered my seizures. Now I get one or two a year. It's no big deal. The biggest disability is the loss of my driving licence. To be fair, I don't really need it, living where I do, but it would be nice to get it back one day. The trouble is, you have to be seizure-free for 12 months and I never quite make it before a seizure decides to strike again and I start counting the days again.
I had seen my neurologist last week and everything was fine. No seizures since last November and we were hoping I'd make it to my next consultation in December without any more episodes and be able to reapply to the DVLA. Fat chance. On Monday, after I'd written my application letter to bag the prize of editing Skin Two magazine, I had a small seizure.
I say small - it's all relative. This one only lasted a few seconds but knocked me out for the rest of the day. I got no work done and couldn't even take a shower until my beloved P came home. I was even knackered watching the tennis on the tv. And I gouged a lovely tramline in my face while writhing on the floor. I shouldn't complain. I've rarely had even a semi-serious injury. The worst was a cracked rib and a dose of concussion one time. Although I did nearly burn the house down that time as I'd just lit the gas cooker...
But I digress. I've been feeling out of whack all week as a result of those few seconds disruption to my brain's normal electrical activity. It's no surprise I mixed up the meeting. I'm not normally so disorganised.
Back home, I had to rethink my plans for the day. I decided to price up the complicated editorial job on offer. I quickly realised I needed to ask some questions so I fired off an e-mail to the person who is commissioning the work. While I was waiting for her to respond, I bit the bullet.
Yes, it was time to close my accounts for tax year 2005/2006. I've been putting it off for ages, but I had promised my accountant I would do it this month. And as the rest of June is likely to be taken up with editing financial books and watching Wimbledon, it really had to be today.
Five hours later, I was finished. I logged out of Sage with a sense of accomplishment and a feeling that I may have just fried my brains a little more. I'm a wordsmith, not a number-cruncher...
05 May 2006
A productive day
Despite my fury this morning, I have done a lot of work. Five documents for a favourite client, the document for the annoying client and some proofreading for a new client I've just picked up from a networking website (plus a long phone call with her and drafting a contract as she will be sending me work on a daily basis). I had a long chat with my graphic designer about the website we are working on for our mutual client. I didn't even start the copy today but we have drafted a sitemap and worked out which pages will be done for which phase. And we threw some ideas around, as I always have the sales aspect in mind for clients and what will or will not work. I also sent out a bunch of invoices and caught up with some of my accounts, called the chamber of commerce yet again about my fees, e-mailed a client about feature writing for her website and e-mailed my accountant about the looming tax return.
Let me tell you about my graphic designer - he's great to work with. We met last year at a networking meeting, swapped business cards and arranged to meet for a pint one lunchtime. He actually has an office about three minutes' walk from me, which is very convenient now I'm no longer driving. Anyway, we hit it off because we like to work in a similar way. Shortly after, I got a call from a client who need a website overhaul. I agreed to take on the job and then it turned out her web designer had gone off to Bahrain or somewhere and was no longer available. So I brought my graphic designer in on the project. We worked amazingly well together on that first job and, since then, have worked together on other projects. This current one is the biggest yet that we have worked on together and has underlined yet again what a great team we make. We are so in tune with each other - he has the ability to see how the words need to work with the design, while I understand the importance of the design when it comes to the patter.
I love the fact that he's local - it's so easy to organise meetings if we are working on joint projects. Like me, he's from elsewhere too, so we also share the fact that we've both only been living in our town a couple of years. It's great to have someone like this you can trust to deliver a good job - he's really talented and easy to rub along with too. On the current project, we have so far created three exhibition banners and a brochure. Now we're doing the company website. There will be other stuff down the line, such as magazine advertisements.
Today he passed on my contact details to a local photographer who wants to use my services. This is useful for me not just in terms of earning from him but also working together in the future. I never know if I will land a client who suddenly needs a good local photographer as well.
That's it for this week. It's gone 5 and I have a glass of wine in my hand. Time to enjoy the sunshine and look forward to the weekend...
Let me tell you about my graphic designer - he's great to work with. We met last year at a networking meeting, swapped business cards and arranged to meet for a pint one lunchtime. He actually has an office about three minutes' walk from me, which is very convenient now I'm no longer driving. Anyway, we hit it off because we like to work in a similar way. Shortly after, I got a call from a client who need a website overhaul. I agreed to take on the job and then it turned out her web designer had gone off to Bahrain or somewhere and was no longer available. So I brought my graphic designer in on the project. We worked amazingly well together on that first job and, since then, have worked together on other projects. This current one is the biggest yet that we have worked on together and has underlined yet again what a great team we make. We are so in tune with each other - he has the ability to see how the words need to work with the design, while I understand the importance of the design when it comes to the patter.
I love the fact that he's local - it's so easy to organise meetings if we are working on joint projects. Like me, he's from elsewhere too, so we also share the fact that we've both only been living in our town a couple of years. It's great to have someone like this you can trust to deliver a good job - he's really talented and easy to rub along with too. On the current project, we have so far created three exhibition banners and a brochure. Now we're doing the company website. There will be other stuff down the line, such as magazine advertisements.
Today he passed on my contact details to a local photographer who wants to use my services. This is useful for me not just in terms of earning from him but also working together in the future. I never know if I will land a client who suddenly needs a good local photographer as well.
That's it for this week. It's gone 5 and I have a glass of wine in my hand. Time to enjoy the sunshine and look forward to the weekend...
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