I hope everyone had a happy New Year and that it was a safe one, too! Me, I stayed home. Too many drunks on the road, and I’ve noticed that in most places, prices go up for celebrations on that night. You pay more for the same experience you could have had any other night.
All the talk about how cold it is on the east coast, and in the northeast particularly has me thinking that wherever I end up after ABQ, it will be warm. As in all year warm. I just can’t handle the cold anymore. It makes me want to hibernate.
To be able to handle a move like that, I need to earn extra income, so that’s one thing I am working on. I’m not saying the move is going to happen soon. I really want to do my research and plan for things financially and otherwise, etc. I’ve been journalling a lot of my thoughts. Writing always helps.
Some of you know I do transcription. The lady with whom I’ve worked for the past 13 months or so is shutting down her business in March (for a well deserved retirement, I might add), so it’s a good thing I have lined myself up to start doing transcription for a company that does a lot of law enforcement work. Jail house interrogations, courtroom transcription, depositions, wire taps, police dash cams, etc.
The pay is decent, and they say that they always have a lot of work – one thing that’s recession proof is the law, and therefore crime. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that crime increases when the economy is bad.
I plan on setting up two separate bank accounts just for this work. This morning, I applied for an EIN (employer identification number, not a social security number), so I will have one account into which my pay will be deposited, and another bank account into which I will transfer money for taxes, because all this work will be done as an independent contractor.
I’m excited to begin this work. When it comes to legal stuff, I can be a total nerd, and I actually like listening to this sort of stuff! Having been a librarian for so many years, I love LOVE LOVE learning about new things every day. I never want my brain to become stagnant.
My school starts up again in another week. I can’t believe it’s already the spring semester! I’m taking courses in Animal Protection and Writing for Social Change, and I am super excited by both!
I have been reading up on how to grow this blog – the more I write for it, the more I want to write, and I really want to get information out there, both on topics I care about, and on those that you, the reader, find interesting. I’m putting together an editorial calendar so I can be regular with my posting (I’m thinking Tuesdays and Fridays are good for posting), if not 3x per week. I’m always looking for more bloggers and readers to connect with and follow, so I TRULY do appreciate all the comments everyone leaves. I can’t stress this enough!
I hope you enjoy the illustrations – I’ve been coloring a lot lately and it helps to relax me, plus all the positive thoughts in my Good Vibes coloring book (which I got for just $2!!) help me to stay motivated.
As always, thanks for reading!!
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Chasing Simple Dreams 
Happy 2018 Terri!! I’m glad you like comments because I like to leave them (and read them). Your plans sound exciting and smart investments. What does being a transcriptionist require? It sounds like something I might be interested in.
Since you like coloring, check out this site for an opportunity to expand your posts:
https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/24840312/posts/1719444948
oops…that was the wrong link, sorry:
https://lindaghill.com/2018/01/01/the-escapist-coloring-club-prompt-january-1-2018/
I will check out the site from your second comment! So for transcribing it is helpful if you have a foot pedal. Can’t imagine doing it without it. Some companies want you to have Express SCribe (there’s a free version but I paid for the pro version) and you want to have headphones that can help isolate some background noise, although Express Scribe also helps with that. There is also a free application you can download called FTR (for the record). You need to be able to pay close attention to multiple voices, and a good typing rate is pretty helpful too. Lots of patience. Check out Transcribe Anywhere, or Rev – they have tests you can take and they provide feedback as well. Rev pays via paypal every week which is nice.
Good thing you had another transcribing job lined up. I think that’s an excellent source of income. I color some too…though not a whole lot. Like reading, I keep falling asleep! Guess it IS relaxing!
Happy New Year to you! May 2018 be the year of advancement toward your dreams!
Thank you so very much, Dawn. And yes, lately I’ve been in the mood to color a lot. Sometimes I use crayons, and sometimes I use colored pencils. They have a different feel to each of them, so I kind of let my mood dictate what I’m working on and what color scheme I feel like working with that day. Sometimes it includes lots of yellow and sometimes it’s a lot of blues and purples. And yep, I am looking forward to getting the transcribing thing going. Have to go and get fingerprinted today!