My desk on a tidy dayThis is what my desk now looks like. Up until a few weeks ago I used to toil away happily on my laptop. That all changed dramatically one morning thanks to my oh-so-loveable dog, Nara (believe you me, she is going to be a fixture on this blog).
I must say that I had been considering buying myself a screen, the laptop keyboard I can handle (in fact I'm still breaking in my new keyboard, and I'm always pressing the wrong keys, particularly when it comes to Spanish accents), but I had started to give some thought to getting myself an extra screen for proofreading or for browsing sites whilst translating without having to split the screen up into a million pieces.
My morning ritual usually involves catching up on a half-hour tv show over breakfast and the morning papers. Nara is usually chilling on the sofa behind me, worn out after our morning walk, but she sometimes jumps up to snoop around or to bring me a toy to play with when she thinks I've been typing away for too long.
Since I'm pretty much the Bridget Jones of translators (more on that in future posts), Nara jumped up, nudged my elbow, my elbow jerked my hand, hand jerked the spoon, laptop lapped up my cereal. Delightful way to start the morning.
Cut to me frantically backing up my files (I regularly back up everything, but just the thought of losing something makes me panic!), watching milk pour out from under the keyboard and then wrecking the keyboard as I tried to pop the keys back on the keyboard after prying them out not in the most expert of manners.
After powering up my 10" screen netbook and proofreading and handing in a text that I had thankfully translated the night before on my 16" laptop, I set off to kit myself out with a screen and keyboard. I went for a 20" screen and a wireless keyboard and mouse because although I'm messy by nature, I get a bit claustrophobic when my desk is too cluttered and I didn't want the extra cables getting in the way of all the pencils, pens, mugs and other stuff that I generally litter my table with.
I'm really happy with the change. I'm the kind of person that learns the hard way, so I really do thank Nara for nudging me towards changing my set up.
Photo breakdown: keyboard, mouse, wrist cushion, pink notebook (my current "word jotter," I have countless little notebooks that I jot down words, expressions, terminology in. I know this is incredibly old school but I find that writing them down makes them stick in my brain, I do use excel for "official" glossaries though), speakers (I could not live without my music), book stand (I work from converted pdf files, but like to keep the book close at hand for quick reference), chapstick, hand cream, day planner, and lots of little flannels that I brought back from my summer trip to Japan and don't really know what to do with but are too cutesy to throw away.
I must say that I had been considering buying myself a screen, the laptop keyboard I can handle (in fact I'm still breaking in my new keyboard, and I'm always pressing the wrong keys, particularly when it comes to Spanish accents), but I had started to give some thought to getting myself an extra screen for proofreading or for browsing sites whilst translating without having to split the screen up into a million pieces.
My morning ritual usually involves catching up on a half-hour tv show over breakfast and the morning papers. Nara is usually chilling on the sofa behind me, worn out after our morning walk, but she sometimes jumps up to snoop around or to bring me a toy to play with when she thinks I've been typing away for too long.
Since I'm pretty much the Bridget Jones of translators (more on that in future posts), Nara jumped up, nudged my elbow, my elbow jerked my hand, hand jerked the spoon, laptop lapped up my cereal. Delightful way to start the morning.
Cut to me frantically backing up my files (I regularly back up everything, but just the thought of losing something makes me panic!), watching milk pour out from under the keyboard and then wrecking the keyboard as I tried to pop the keys back on the keyboard after prying them out not in the most expert of manners.
After powering up my 10" screen netbook and proofreading and handing in a text that I had thankfully translated the night before on my 16" laptop, I set off to kit myself out with a screen and keyboard. I went for a 20" screen and a wireless keyboard and mouse because although I'm messy by nature, I get a bit claustrophobic when my desk is too cluttered and I didn't want the extra cables getting in the way of all the pencils, pens, mugs and other stuff that I generally litter my table with.
I'm really happy with the change. I'm the kind of person that learns the hard way, so I really do thank Nara for nudging me towards changing my set up.
Photo breakdown: keyboard, mouse, wrist cushion, pink notebook (my current "word jotter," I have countless little notebooks that I jot down words, expressions, terminology in. I know this is incredibly old school but I find that writing them down makes them stick in my brain, I do use excel for "official" glossaries though), speakers (I could not live without my music), book stand (I work from converted pdf files, but like to keep the book close at hand for quick reference), chapstick, hand cream, day planner, and lots of little flannels that I brought back from my summer trip to Japan and don't really know what to do with but are too cutesy to throw away.
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