To be honest if it bothered me that much I'd stay in the house especially if I had an underlying health issue. I'm all for getting back to normal asap.
I too wish that things go back to normal as soon as possible, but wishful thinking (or plain denial) do not work, unfortunately. Just look at what happened in the US!
I was just out to buy ice cream to bring home and I was walking on these sidewalk wishfully thinking nothing would happen to me.
I don't think people have to wear a mask in these situations, do they?
They stand on the sidewalk chatting, kissing and hugging without masks. I understand taking the mask off to drink and eat, but that should be it when you are close to 'strangers'.
In Capital I don't see anybody not wearing a mask.
If you come to Palermo Soho at night, most people hanging out at cafes/restaurants/beer places do not wear a mask (indoor or outdoor).
In the daylight, I often seen people with no mask or with the mask under their chin. The police doesn't tell them anything, and sometimes even policemen take it off (also in group).
In this hot weather, if I have to walk a lot and it is very hot, I slip the mask, as well, and put it back if I have to come close to someone. Of course, walking on the street early in the morning means I can go 3 blocks without a mask because there is nobody out, but at 11 AM it is impossible to take it off because the population is just too dense.
When I am sitting at an outdoor table having a coffee or a pizza, there is people eating next to me less than 2 meters away and people walking on the sidewalk next to me. I have relaxed a little bit because it is bloody hot.
We spent a few days in San Miguel del Monte, and most people were wearing a mask in town, too. A shop owner commented there have been many cases in the town.
That's another matter. My plans are nothing but fancy dreams, considering there are no flights, most countries are doing worse than Argentina, virus-wise, and many countries in Europe have closed borders.
I think the US is one of the last countries allowing people in.
The dog have no choice but going out to take a dung and a piss. It's not made to favor dog owners.
Supermarket - where else would you go to buy food? Maybe they should close some streets and make an open-air market, with distanced stalls but how safe would it be in a country full of thieves and robbers? And what about when it rains? Let them shop inside.
Leaving it up to the people's common sense is going to be an epic fail, and Spain and California just proved it. As soon as they were given authorization to go out/to the beach, they did and they didn't look very distances, because once you're out you do your best, but when many more people had the same idea, you don't get the proper distancing.
The only comfort I am getting is that the virus must evolve to a lesser aggressive form if he want to have us as host. If it kills us, it failed its purpose because he's gonna die with us.
I am not getting pissed by the physical lockdown per se, but by being totally dependent on the Beagle Boys in every aspect of my life. Let be honest, before this all happened, 'freedom'/'sanity' was just a flight away. Nobody would have ever imagine we would end up in a world with no flights and no way out of Argentina. It is making me uncomfortable. Some of the BB's 'laws' (mostly DNUs) were already ridiculous before the virus, but now there is really no way to stop them. No external pressure, no internal pressure, no people pressure...
I am starting to think that the 'I want out' moment is approaching very quickly for me. And by 'out', I mean out of Argentina, not out of my apartment.
I applied for a job and said $200 per 500 word article. It was with an old client (insurance) and they accepted and sent me 22 articles to do. What's interesting about that is, I am still only in the mid-range of the payment scale. I couldn't believe it, and can't believe I was working for so many years under the assumption $20 was good for an article. I still made decent money, but I had to write a hell of a lot of articles every month.
Congratulations! I worked for (translation) agencies for a decade before having to face reality: the price they paid was going down and my 'seniority' was not even a factor in their choice.
In March 2019 I took a marketing for translators course and it changes my prospective entirely. Tu put things into perspective, on average, a translator in the UK earns 30 GBP per hour, which is roughly 34 k GBP per year. In the US there are more translators who are employe, hence they get US-high salaries. I haven't found a figure for freelance translators in the US, my guess is between 42 and 50 k USD per year.
It doesn't take much to get there, but some make 100k USD per year, instead. How so? There is a small portion who has side gigs, like royalties from books they've translated or written, or participation in conferences or serving as examiners or as board members or teacher. Or have passive income from rentals or other activities. I think just a small percentage makes 100 k USD per year just by translating.
Anyway, during the crisis I completely lost any purpose in life beyond survival, so I am no longer obsessed with earning more and I slowly falling for the work-less live-more motto.
Display More‘Same rates of pay for the last 10 years.’
‘We earned more money 20 years ago and we were respected.’
‘The pressure on pricing is acute.’
‘Rates are being pushed down in commercial translation. I'm glad I'm not entering the profession now.’
‘Too many amateurs undercutting prices (and delivering disgraceful translations).’
‘In the UK the fees have decreased and in the legal sector the profession has been diluted as a consequence of government' policies.’
‘We need better protection from the race to the bottom and low rates to ensure professional translators can earn a dignified living.’
“Translation is
what you make it:
you can earn a lot
or very little.”
I enjoy the quietness of our neighborhood. It is not completely silent because we can hear public transport and the occasional ambulance - we are near two Avenues crossing and Sanatorio Güemes. However, construction work has stopped and the neighborhood is peaceful - it sounds like it's Jan 1 every day. We can stay on the terrace and relax, with only dogs barking to annoy us.
Keeping windows open all the times, except when it's raining, it's another perk.
Like Semigoodlooking, I also work from home and I had to cancel those few outside gigs I used to run and which, ironically, were starting to take off.
To be honest, I am considering raising prices for running errands in public offices, as it now sounds riskier than it was. Before then it was just a matter to work the system out, take public transport, and queue. Right now it sounds more like going in the eye of the storm and exposing oneself to a lot of risk.
What do you write about, Semigoodlooking ?
