Excuses, excuses...

Remember this post?
I barely managed to finish the project while operating on auto-mode the whole time.
Then, the next day, my neighbour's friend who's a teacher asked me to do something for her.

I botched that project. Couldn't finish the 3 articles she wanted me to do. Well, I did finish the 2 main articles that she wanted but I only completed 3/4 of the 3rd one. :(

It was embarrassing!

I've never submitted incomplete work before. I've been late and I've been way past my datelines but I have NEVER submitted incomplete work before. *sigh*

Not 2 days later, the same friend I mentioned earlier SMSed me asking if I can translate several pages of his original work into Malay. Turns out he wanted 7000 words of English (from his thesis) to be translated into only 3000 words of research paper.

I have to admit, the promise of the payment got me excited about this project but I failed to evaluate my current sleep-deprived condition. Plus, the task at hand was near impossible since the Malay language uses way more words to convey the same idea in English.

But I pushed myself to complete the project because i) it belongs to my ex-schoolmate and ii) I needed the money. I spent 3 more sleepless night* editing and translating his work. The translating part was manageable but the editing part really got me. I mean, can you imagine trying to compress 7000 words worth of research into just 3000?? I really had to go through the whole document several times just to work out the best way to keep the research idea & results intact while keeping the words to the bare minimum.

In the end, I think I had disappointed him. I was late and couldn't satisfy the paper requirements as he had requested. But he made the payment anyway which made me feel a bit shameful with myself for submitting a half-assed work but still took the full payment. He was gracious about the whole thing though which made it a bit better for me.

I have to admit that I spent the next few days catching up with my sleep which can be said to be a lesson in futility. The boys kept interrupting my sleep with their endless demands! Then, Ramadhan arrives and threw my daily schedule to the dumps. After 2 straight weeks of staying up late and waking up late, having to wake up for Sahur at 5 in the morning have turn me into a zombie. 


I'm slowly getting into the rhythm of things. Sorry to have kept this blog silent for so long. 


* I have to wait till the boys are asleep before I can really do my work. Unfortunately, these kids sleep waaayyyyy past 11'ish so I have to stay awake at night to complete my work :(