How quick the time flies ! It's been more than two years since I wrote the last post here. A lot has happened in that time. Probably the most significant thing that has happened in interpreting field here in the UK has been that MOJ( Ministry of Justice) has signed a contract with a private interpreting agency to provide interpreters at courts. Previously courts used to call the interpreters directly to engage them for hearings and trials. A lot has been said about this change by a lot of people. I won't go into those details now; may be another day. But basically, interpreters' earnings have been effected seriously- for the worse . Because of the recession and subsequent austerity measures implemented by various government departments the available work for interpreters have also gone down quite a lot and whatever work is left, the rates of pay for that work have gone down. Perhaps it was inevitable. I kind of expected it to happen. I could see some of the things that was going on and knew that it couldn't last for ever. So I am not shocked. I was prepared for it and adapted to the new environment. I still get interesting assignments from time to time. Like a couple of months ago, I was asked to do a voiceover job. I really enjoyed doing it. It was interesting because I completed the job without ever meeting the client or even the sound engineer or their technical guys. I was in a studio in London and the sound engineer and the technical team were in a different European country far away ! We did it using technology and finished it seamlessly. All of us were very satisfied with the results. Just to clarify, I did not join this agency which the MOJ has signed contract with. But I am still getting by depending on my old contacts. And I am happy so far. It's been a very hot week this week here and I am also fasting. So I will keep today's post short and finish here. I just felt obliged to come back and get in touch with you guys. See you soon.