Work is going OK, but at the same time, it’s been a long time since I’ve felt the level of pressure to perform that I have on me right now. I currently have four manuals assigned to me for editing, all with basically the same deadline. Unfortunately, whoever assigns deadlines on these things have their heads firmly stuck in the sand (time is money, afterall), so we get maybe two weeks to edit a 600+ page manual, accompanied by, at best, spotty information on what changes have been made in the switch and software. Add in the language and culture barriers between us technical writers and the software engineers (Chinese vs. English/Western language and culture as well as Engineer vs. non-Engineer language and culture/mindsets) and you have a real recipe for constant frustration and stress. It is nice that I’ve been instructed to essentially ignore the deadlines. Now if only the Project Managers would quit nagging..
Last weekend was Moon Festival, so practically the entire nation of Taiwan observed a 4-day long weekend vacation (Monday and Tuesday off), had barbeque’s and stared at (worshiped?) the full moon. Monday I went to the beach in Nanliao with Tim and Julie (both from church), Dougal (Julie’s dog) and Bean (my dog). We just sat around and talked and watched our dogs chase each other into the ocean. It was nice. Bean hasn’t been around the ocean much yet and is generally unhappy around water, so it was amusing to watch her cautiously approach the water’s edge just to be chased up the beach by every new wave. I swear she’s a cat, down deep inside. 
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