Yesterday, I learned to do two things that will revolutionize my life:
1) I learned to turn a four-column Excel file of acronyms and abbreviations into a Trados termbase
2) I learned to use cruise control on the car
Now you may not quite understand what the first one is about, so let me explain a bit. Trados is this fantastic software for translators that basic makes our job easier. One of its functions is anh add-on program called Multiterm that allows you to create glossaries. As you are translating, it recognizes terms in the glossary you have open, and tells you how to translate them. For a simple bilingual glossary, this is relatively easy, but for a list of acronyms and abbreviations, where you have not just the actual abbreviations, but also information on what they stand for, it becomes really complicated to import them into Multiterm. Trados is a notoriously un-userfriendly program, and I managed to figure it out without having to wade through its opaque manual. I think I'm going to do a separate blog entry on this, because I can't find clear instructions for it anywhere on the web, and I see it as a service to my fellow translators. You, however, will not be bored by it!
The second thing is the cruise control. The Volvo S40 we bought for my commute is a fantastic car for all sorts of reasons. It isn't the most luxurious model: it doesn't have leather seats or a sun roof or automatic climate control. However, it does have heated seats (man, those things are da bomb in winter!), and it has cruise control. What this effectively means is that a computer automatically keeps the car traveling at the same speed. You can take your foot off the accelerator, and it automatically gives more on the uphills and less on the downhills. This has a number of advantages: 1) You don't have to keep glancing at the speedometer, so you can give all your attention to what is going on around you on the road; this makes driving a lot less tiring. 2) It actually increases your average speed, and hence reduces the commute time. I tested this this morning on a hunch, and it really works! I shaved about 10 minutes off my commute. The reason for this is that I found I would often lose speed on an uphill without realizing it. With cruise control, the car just powers up the hills at the same speed.
It's absolutely safe, because at any time you can brake or accelerate, and hence override it. Once you're back in a place where you can keep a constant speed again, you can turn it back on.
Today is Valentine's Day, and I have a lot to be thankful for. I was a bit disappointed that André didn't buy me anything, but hey, I forgot his birthday last year, so I reckon he's got some credit! He got a card and some caramel chocolates with sea salt. I suppose the contrast with his birthday last September is what makes me grateful. That was such a terrible time, with me very, very sick with depression and him at the end of his tether with the situation, and that was the utter low-point. But he didn't give up and stuck around, even when he felt he least had reason to. And that's what I'm grateful for: that we've both reached those points where we've realized that the things we hoped for in marriage were not materializing the way we envisioned - back in NL I realized that we would probably never have a lot of free time to spend together, and he was disappointed that I had dropped the ball on what he felt was one of the most fundamental benefits of being in a relationship (that someone remembers your birthday) - but we've stuck it out through sickness and in health, and I'm so very, very glad.
