August 22, 2002 - 6:33 p.m.

i sat down at my desk after lunch yesterday, and the following message popped up on my computer screen:

They loved your photos, Brokovich.
Paul

"brokovich," mind you, is a bastardized spelling of the last name of one erin brockovich. because my name is erin, paul in the office thought it would be funny to call me brockovich, as well. har har.

anyhoo, he printed off the following e-mail me for me to read:

Hi Paul

We received the photos this morning and they're fantastic! Erin did a great job, can you please thank her from me... Ron Ghezzi has also asked me if we can keep her contact details, so that when we need a photographer in Melbourne for future issues we can use Erin as she has done a good job of capturing the lighting detail. By the way, how much did Erin charge us?

Regards
Jo

score one very big point for me, especially since i tried to wheedle my way out of that job, claiming (truthfully) that i don't shoot architectural photos. lucky break. now i'm scouring the internet trying to find out a fair price to charge! luckily, a nice photog in sydney (an american who married an aussie and has connections with my old professors) helped me out with some suggested union rates. i didn't even think to check for a union!

there are so many things i've had to figure out because i moved to another country, and they never seem to stop popping up. it makes me feel helpless whenever it happens because i feel like i should know these things. i don't.

i got pretty upset last night about some similar stuff (mostly related to my present job situation and my general levels of happiness and stress). simon and i got in a heated discussion about making dinner, and i ended up bawling. i think i've been hiding a lot of grief and not letting it get to me, but the wedding stress is pushing everything else to the front. i was a mess last night, but dinner turned out great. i guess that means things are going to be ok.

on a happier note, i'll mention one great thing about living in australia: fresh mandarin oranges. they're much sweeter and smaller than navels. they're also virtually effortless to peel and leave no mess on your hands. your fingernails will be amazed! we eat so many that we've decided to buy a box for when the guests come. two boxes might be smarter.