I’ve turned down two more clients today. The first one for being a cheapskate (they seem to have the highest demands, i.e. lowest respect for their writers, as well as just not being a reasonable hourly rate, and – on Upwork at least – taking on cheap jobs is visible, and shows that you’ve done jobs for low pay recently). The other one wanted the work done by Monday (it’s Thursday, and I’m working Friday-Saturday-Sunday on the ward. When I’m finished work properly I’ll be able to do jobs at short notice. Maybe.
I think I’ve got 19 shifts to go until I finish. I can’t believe I’m really finishing work. I’ll probably turn up at half seven on a few Saturday mornings before I realise it’s forever.
Knee still sore. Blaming it on ‘the damp’… need to look up why people blame joint pain and arthritis flare-ups on ‘the damp’. Someone will have done some research.
I had a phone call the other day: I’ve got an interview – no, not an interview, a ’45 minute informal chat about my capabilities and ambitions’ with a healthcare communications agency in Sunderland next Wednesday. They sound perfect, actually. I’d sort of set my sights on freelancing but what if someone wanted to give me some of that sweet guaranteed income action for writing and researching and interviewing and stuff? Imagine me! Johnny Day-job! …there are a million reasons why freelancing would be better, and a million why it wouldn’t. I really, really want to maintain flexibility, see my children and such. Maybe they’d be people I could work with ad hoc, part time, or freelance. Maybe I shouldn’t get ahead of myself and just wait and see what this ‘informal chat’ is all about. What do you wear to not-interviews? Smart-casual? Smasual? About 99%* of wanting to leave nursing is wanting to wear my own clothes. I have some excellent clothes. I want to wear excellent clothes all the time. Or pyjamas, probably more of the time.
*to any prospective clients who might be reading this, not all my assertions are apocryphal, not all my adjectives are hyperbolic, not all my statistics are just made up. ‘I need some well-researched, evidence-based, accurate yet jargon-free and accessible copy, stat! Quick, call Elaine Francis!’
