Day #393 of COVID19 Lockdown Journal

Friday, 16 April 2021

I was afraid it would never end. I finally finished the transcription proofing assignment. I don’t even know at this point how long it took. The actual total length of the audio was 4:53:30, but that last 48-minute segment took me two days.

Note to anyone who will be doing a Zoom panel or any kind of speaking engagement… slow the hell down, make sure you can be understood. Do not end every sentence by pitching your voice upwards so that it sounds like a question. That makes you sound like you’re either really unsure of yourself, or you’re just a complete idiot. Be aware of speaking tics, such as starting a sentence with “And so” or interjecting “like” or “you know” too much. This is coming from a person who may be writing the closed-caption transcription of your recorded voice, so believe me, I notice. After several hours it becomes maddening.

I ended up going to sleep at about 4am this morning, and I got up at about 9:30, took a shower, downed some coffee and went right back to it. I was so zombified, I went downstairs to feed Kiki and Houdini, and for just a moment I couldn’t figure out why there were a bunch of plants in Edda’s cage. Cue the tears. I am expecting her ashes to arrive any day now.

I’m scheduled to get my second Pfizer shot on Sunday, here’s hoping the second-dose side-effects don’t kick my butt. The good side of this is I will be fully vaxxed as of May 2nd, so as of Monday, May 3rd, I am free to move about in public, masked, and I can theoretically leave the paranoia at home.

I’m sure it will be very weird and very mentally stressful to be out in the world again for a while, and if I give you the hand if you come in for a hug, don’t be offended.