A Slight Back-peddle

Several things have happened since my last post. The first two were that I had time to look into the online freelancing platform a bit more and then I had my semi-annual appointment with my GP.

I read a lot of position offers. Really a lot. Several trends emerged.  Some of the requests seemed to be for people to make multiple comments on blog posts. I began to wonder if this is the origin of the spam comments I receive on recent posts as well as on really old ones on my now defunct previous blog. Some seemed to be compiling email lists for spamming. Then there were the proposals for jobs where the fee was really insulting. Then there were the insulting requests - "don't bother to reply unless you can do this exactly this way," said one. "Don't waste my time" barked another. Typos, misspellings and poor grammar were rife. I know that's the help some were requesting, but you'd think they could take a little time, but then again, time is money.

I went to see my Doctor on Monday.  We had a discussion about how difficult my readjustment to American  Life has been this time. We came to the conclusion that I've been mildly depressed. He made some suggestions that were helpful. I should be doing some regular exercise, eating more thoughtfully, making sure I'm getting enough sleep, and getting out and socializing a bit.

On Tuesday I got in touch with the principal of a local elementary school with whom I worked before my last Japan trip and asked if she could use any volunteer help. She jumped at the chance, and we had the application process finished in the matter of two days.

Today I went to meet with her and spent about four hours at the school doing odd jobs in the Kindergarten pod. This kind of work is instant gratification for someone like me.  I did copying, I did stapling, I did collating, I listened to children read to me.  I'll go back next week for more.