Indexing work

Today Gail and I had our weekly piano duet practice. We played “Castle House Rag” several times thinking it would probably be the next special music selection we would play at Restoration Church. I told Gail that last Sunday the special music was played from a CD. She cringed. She said that we needed to volunteer to play again, and that since the 4th of July is coming up, we might consider playing “You’re a Grand Old Flag” by Cohen. We practiced the piece a few times. We will have next Monday to refine it some more.

After piano practice, J and I took Ayla to Braum’s were she got an ice cream cone. It was actually a soft frozen yogurt cone, but she enjoyed it tremendously. I ordered a No. 5 – a grilled chicken sandwich and a Dr. Pepper. Ayla said she would eat after the library program, which was about origami.

We were in Springfield last Thursday and Friday. While there I received a phone call from Elise at UNM Press. She needed an indexer to index a book. I told her I would do it. I later got an email from her saying the book would be delayed by about three weeks. This morning I got a phone call from a former employee of UNM Press, now working at another publisher. She asked me if I would be available to do some indexing for her. I said yes. Then I got another e-mail from Elise saying she had a book ready to go as soon as she had an index for it. I told her I would do it. The page proofs were shipped today or will be tomorrow. So soon I’m liable to be covered up with work. So much for retirement, huh?

But I love doing indexing work. I find it is a lot like solving a puzzle. Once you get the index completed, though, there is nowhere to check your “answers.” Perhaps, that is why you never really know when the index is done. You could make refinements on it forever. It is probably somewhat like a sculptor making a statue. Take a little bit off the left elbow; take some more off the right knee, etc. You’re never sure when to stop with the final editing process.

I was going to brush up on my Russian language skills (I checked a bunch of books out of the Tulsa Library for that purpose), but with the opportunity to do indexing, Russian will have to wait.