I think I'm not going to bring my work laptop home with me this weekend even though there's always busywork I could do while watching Netflix.

I need to buy new walking shoes. And more Hawaiian rum while I'm at it, since the store is down the street from DSW.

And because I need to spring clean my closet, perhaps I'll do some more unfucking: [link]

What are people doing this weekend?

I have a voice lesson tonight and a massage appointment tomorrow afternoon.

I might be doing some voter registration tomorrow morning. Normally I enjoy it, but I'm kind of pissed off at the person who keeps calling me during working hours wanting to discuss scheduling. I answer my phone at work because sometimes I get work-related calls from off-site people on it (our office phone network's had some issues), but I can't discuss political things during working hours. "Get my ass fired," levels of can't. I've told the organizers not to call me during week days but they won't stop. Call after 5 pm or don't call at all. Pick one.

WHAT.

I KNOW.

How does the magic "they will be required" even WORK? Just saying it doesn't make it possible.

In my boss' mind, it does.

I'm curious about this, though. We just get Word docs in and edit in the Word files.

laughs

weeps

laughs

We accept Word or LaTex files. The conversion vendors convert these files to .xml which is what we edit in, in something called "Epic". It is not a format natively designed for either text editing or layout.

(Our acceptance-to-publication time, BTW, is about 3-4 months. And we keep accepting ever larger numbers of papers, which just makes that time longer and longer. Makes us look AWESOME, let me tell you.)

MOG, you get MONTHS? And when you get more papers, they *extend the publication cycle to compensate?* My workload went from 2700 pages/year in 2000 to 4300+ (I didn't keep track of papers I edited that weren't in my publications) in 2011, while they cut the pub cycle time in half.

That longer pub cycle may not make you guys look good, but publishing things REALLY FAST that haven't been edited very well isn't making us look great either. MY stuff, of course, is edited well (*ahem*) but many pubs have been "outsourced" to being edited by the same vendors, who are in Malaysia and the Philippines, and they're fast, but having technical papers edited by people whose English is not exactly fluent is NOT A GOOD IDEA. And many of my fellow editors have simply given up and started doing the minimum necessary to pass the ever-more-cursory quality checks. Because they feel they should be spending time with their families or something instead of working all day and all night.

sigh

I know. I could quit. I could try to find another job. (Hi, Erin. I know.) But I don't WANT to. I want this job to be sane again. I used to love this job. Even more, I want to keep being able to work from my sofa in my underwear! Priorities, you know.

perhaps I'll do some more unfucking

I wish that didn't describe so much of my cleaning habits.

I must finish taxes and take a bag of stuff to Goodwill.

There are also soccer games both Sat and Sun, so maybe some knitting. I'd like to do some cooking or baking, but I am pretty sure that will not happen.

I got my taxes done. meh. I do get money back, so that's all to the good; last year my math skills were of the suck and - believe it or not - the IRS corrected it and send me more money than I expected.

I need to do some cleaning, but I tripped on a piece of rough sidewalk and didn't fall, but twisted my back and badly pulled the big muscle that goes up the back of the thigh into the ass. So I've been lying around with a heat patch on my ass.

the panda bear video on good stuff reminds me of that one Beastie Boys video, you know the one.

WTF? Are they counting on a wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey thing?

Yes, they do. The "timey-wimey" thing they're counting on is their editors working as long and hard and fast as necessary to get the job done.

That's not merely my cynical perception, that's pretty much verbatim from the Department Overlord.

My next one thing is a bitch. I'd rather declutter.

My next one thing is either dusting or cleaning the bathroom. And I do not want to do either one, on an epic scale.

We accept Word or LaTex files. The conversion vendors convert these files to .xml which is what we edit in, in something called "Epic".

WHAT. You edit in xml???

...I feel better now.

many pubs have been "outsourced" to being edited by the same vendors

Holy. Shit.

shrift, I like that Unfuck Your Habitat site! I can use the inspiration.