Why I'm beginning to hate my computer

I’m beginning to hate my computer. Not because it’s a bad computer, mind you, but because I spend so much time on it. For two good reasons: a) It is my link to the outside world, and b) it is my livelihood… or I’m hoping it will be once this business is launched. 

Yes, I am launching a business. Why? Because last week (week four of relatively unemployment) I met with Roger the Encore temp guy and the experience convinced me that self-employment would be way better than working in scary environments for the rest of my childless life. The place was like 25 minutes away (our car was still registered at that point, but that’s another story), and when I got there they asked me to take a risk management test. 

I’m a relatively boring person who takes few risks. But these questions were ridiculous. Have I ever wanted to hit someone? No. Was I sure? Because if I had ever wanted to hit someone, now was the time to talk. Yep, still sure—no violent tendencies. Well, then, do I ever party it up? Thinking that my last party involved hot dogs, Pixar, and about 20 kids under the age of five, I said no. I answered questions like these for twenty-five minutes until they were convinced I was sane. (And in case you’re thinking this was some elaborate hoax, it wasn’t; the guy after me failed.) 

Then I got lots of practice signing my (newly aquired) married name as I agreed to any number of background checks, and then I had an interview and was told that I was the best thing they had seen in years; I should wait for their call.

 Forty minutes later, I was back on the road determined that starting my own business had to be better than that. 

So I am. It’s called boldedits, and it’s an editing service for college admission essays. All week I’ve been playing around with business names, trying out different website formats, daydreaming of business cards, searching my hard drive for examples of stuff I’ve edited over the past year... I’m hoping to be up and running next week.

I never thought I’d actually do this. Well, I thought it… but I’m a notorious starter, not finisher. (It’s why I like sight reading so much—people are amazed and forgive you your mistakes the first time around; they’re more demanding after that.) When my aunt suggested this, I thought, “That’s a cool idea!” I’ve been saying “that’s a cool idea” for three months, until now. The lack of editing jobs in this town has made me pursue other options. Who’s to say that’s not how it’s supposed to work out? 

Then again, my business is editing—the ultimate last step in the writing process. I love taking unorderly words and insubordinate paragraphs and taming them, turing them into something clear, readable, and enjoyable. Here’s hoping it works!