Archive for September, 2006
Well today ended a chapter in companies I have worked for - the previous chapter in this saga ended when I sent a email like I did yesterday to this client, we then agreed it was probably a good idea for me to leave, which at the time I really had mixed feelings, but now I have had more freetime, more jobs, more stuff to keep me busy - same thing this time, and welcomed with a message towards the end which said:
“As far as doing future business with you, I’m sure you can understand that at this point I would not exactly feel comfortable with that, but that seems to be your intent.”
Well in the last few months they had “one more thing” for me to do, I did it, and in doing that I recieved the same treatment I got while working there, always “This is your fault, fix it” even about a week ago I got an email about something that had been how it was for over 3 years was somehow my fault - and I needed to drop everything and work on it - so I did what I did at the end of the previous chapter, and stood my ground on a issue, could I of done “one more nice thing” sure I suppose, but with folks like this, one more thing leads into a lot more, so it was stand my ground now, or be lost in endless freebies, even a recent quote which I cut the prices as low as I could go, and they came back “How about…” and shaved off $100 from the job, even after me saying “Hey, best deal I can give you”.
I have dealt with this 2 times now in dealing with Christian “Ministries” - I don’t say that to mark all Christians, as I do business with many other Christians ministries/business owners, etc. and no problems, just so far 2 groups have really stuck it to me, using every ounce of freebie I’d offer, then when I say no, or am too tired to continue, say “Well brother… its time” - sad stuff, gives Christians another stumbling block with people who look at Christians already in a poor light.
A lot has changed in me since I originally started with this company, and from talking to employees I worked with in the past there, and even currently, its just common place stuff, heck in both instances I talked with people who had similar experiences like mine, but for me I think I came to realize it even more when I started to branch out from sitting in front of a terminal 24/7 and focusing a bit on having a life away from the screen - and instead of screen names used to identify people, I looked at faces and said “Oh hey!” over a pizza, drinks at Sonic, etc.
But life goes on I suppose, there is one check still supposedly enroute to me, and I think I am going to tear it up, and wish them well (it’s for software purchase) - but it’s sad stuff, and life must move forward - its sad but this will probably continue, but I do pray it does not, and instead of just offering a blessing, thrust it upon them even if they say “No it’s no problem” - it’s one of those things I try to live by, Bless Others - I mean God Blesses me, who am I not to share that blessing, if only every one followed that the world would be a happier place - one could say I am not living that by saying “No” to this client, but honestly a ministry which simply uses up Christians and spits them out, thats not a good thing.
Anywhoo - back to my light Friday, first mellow day this week, and I am going to use it to clean and file some paperwork. Have a Good Friday Folks & A Great Weekend!
I got an email today from a old old account, basically the email made it out to sound like I was being a jerk to this person, honest fact is I have had a lot going on business wise and personal wise to really deal with the situation, but this person has been just a little naggy, and all I asked was they keep up their site because time and time again they were getting hacked, putting entire servers at risk - sad really - but I suppose everyone see’s the server as “my problem” not theirs, but honestly, if he had just put even an hour a week in, he’d of been fine, or for that matter, switched software… but just odd.
The flip side of the coin this was a “friend” style account - I dunno, sometimes folks in emails come off as ungreatful, and I know what some of you may say “Chuck it’s email, you can’t define someone’s tone in a email” with over 10+ years on this crazy thing, I can usually do a fair job, but beyond that I have gotten very greatful emails before, this was just like “gosh chuck!” - sad sad.
But today was mildly rough, early AM wake up after a hard night to get some rest, thankfully after running down to the office to work on a server, I was able to come home, work a bit, eat, work some more, then crash. Much needed sleep, my meeting was re-scheduled so tomorrow I have that, and a service call downtown, so I should be getting to bed, just got back in from a quick visit to B&N to visit Rosie / Invite her to a snack after work, but she had other plans (things like oh I dunno, sleep) 
so Jake and I hit Cindy’s and got some grub, chatted, and now its time for sleep.
So tomorrow, busy busy, keep praying for the deal, I think it’s gonna be good! Night folks!
What a week, and it’s only Tuesday - yet feel’s like Thursday.
Got home around 10:45pm - mixed day, some big stuff, some small stuff, mainly prep (more in the morning) for a meeting tomorrow at 10am, working on all the details, getting things printed up, etc. but it’s pretty cool, if this deal goes through, I think it should be about $350 extra a month into my pocket - but maybe a little less - but it’s one of two things hanging around right now.
Kman invited me out to dinner with him and billy, got mexican food, stomach was a little uneasy and went safe with a side of rice and beans, twas really good - chips were fresh, gal who served us was very pleasent, so a nice dinner, then hung out with Kman a bit and discussed random things - then hit the office, called Rosie to see if she wanted me to meet her after her shift to setup her DSL - but about 5 minutes ago she called and said she was going to bed.
So here I am sitting, pondering, which is a bad thing for me to do when I am exhausted, I tend to overthink things, possabilitize situations which I have already gone over in my head 30,000 times before - why this, but not that, why them, not me, the 10,000 questions which most folks brains deal with in the background, mine brings to the foreground and nit-picks at it for hours - tonight’s the usual “why didn’t I” situation, a choice I made that I feel God really said “Wait” on, just seems odd - I almost don’t understand it, but at the same time do understand it, I mean in waiting I did avoid a VERY AWKWARD situation, but I guess life is all about timing, who asks first, deciding when to be observant of people’s requests, and when to focus on your desires first and foremost, I dunno - in this situation to remain mildly vague, its hard for me to walk away, probably why my brain always comes back to it - who knows, life - crazy stuff.
So I think I am going to wrap up on the web, walk away from it, watch a little TV in the living room, and then pass out in front of the TV. So I shall say goodnight, do throw up a prayer or two for me, this gig tomorrow would be awesome to get, and help speed the car along in payments. Night Folks.
Well I survived the weekend (I think) - started on Friday heading down to Grover Beach - my first real “long drive” / “road trip” style thing - Mom and Sister came along for the fun, and my driving made no one sick as we traveled down HWY 166.
We stayed at my brother’s place for Friday and half of Saturday, with Saturday meeting up with my cousin, aunt & uncle (aunt and uncle were visiting from Bakersfield too) - but it was a fun trip, we did loose power at around 12:30am or so Saturday Morning, but even un-plugged from the net, window open cold air flowin in - twas good stuff.
We got home around 4:30pm or so I think and I crashed out after a while, as Sunday my dad was preaching in Weldon,CA (about an hour or so up the canyon/hill/etc.) - waking up to a cell phone call Sunday morning was a blessing (was in a odd dream), twas my mom checking in that I saw the address of the church - and I showered and headed up the hill, my second big drive in 3 days - and windy, close to walls of rock, scary but fun.
Church was alright, dad kind of got shorted on time as they had a presentation - but he got in 30m of his message, and it all seemed pretty well recieved - and after it was all done, I primed the camera for some shots on the way home ( see flickr ) - I got some good shots, wish I would of turned off to Lake Isabela, lake was bluer than blue! But I missed the turn off since I was talking on my cell and not reading signs - but it was a semi-important phone call about a job.
But I made it home, loaded up my photos and took time to map some of my shots on Flickr ( my flickr map ) which was fun, then I zoned out and fell asleep again, but it was a good weekend, and here I am at 9am, trying to get all setup for the day, some work I truly want to work on today, and some I honestly don’t - but the week beckons. Have a Good Week Folks.
Well I made it out to the beach to stay at my brother’s - we went down to the beach, and had some food, here’s proof:
It was fun - here for only a day, but it was a nice escape! More when I get back home I’m sure.
Oi! I was checking the ol bank account tonight, and was greeted by a notice I had $80 in there, and I think my credit card payment did it’s auto-minimum payment - so its going to be like $3 very shortly… so many mini-bills came in, and it added up quickly, kinda of scary, I knew it’d be tight, but this isn’t funny - crazy car buying!
So hopefully everything thats coming down the pipe, hurries the heck up. LoL Going to check the PayPal and have it dump most of the funds from there to the business account and work to get it back over $100 even with auto-card payment, which should of been less, but forgot one purchase I made, and it made a difference. Sooo - guess its time to get FH done and online, perk up TN, and follow up on all these possible contracts, no more lunches out, have to eat otter pops for a week lol.
So prayers are definately appriciated, not tooooo concerned, but at the same time, really don’t want to run the risk of overdrafts, just not sure why client payments are slow coming in! Anywhoo - off I go to re-run the checkbook and see what happened exactly, and see what I can do to pump-up the funds before I leave if possible, so the bank account isn’t too bear and have another $30 fee come in throwing me into over-draft and another $45 in fees for going into overdraft! Craziness.
Night Folks.
Laptops are handy - I don’t think anyone can really say they aren’t but once you start packing apps on your laptop it can be bogged down, and you can have limited space - so lately I have been considering selling my HP laptop and going MacBook - simple, sleek, and maybe slowly phase out things to only Mac & Linux - mainly because I have been phasing out use of Office a bit - Google has helped in that process greatly.
My Online Office
Writely - For wordprocessing, access wherever I am, works great in Firefox, Safari and IE - so no issues in accessing it at all! Top it off, it’s free.
Google Spreadsheets - A excellent Excel replacement, granted I wish it had a PDF print function (save to PDF or download PDF to print) but for now, it is great for doing my deposits, and quote write ups.
Google Calendar - I have just updated my schedule with the appointments from my Treo - now I have my schedule with me online and Gmail whines reminds me of things.
But all in all for a bunch of free programs, and Gmail acting as my mail dump for all my major “need to check” accounts, its awesome - wonderful in the realm of once things calm down and I go on my road trip, then the office is there if and when I need to connect.
Anywhoo thats my tid-bit for the day, just sitting down here at the office working on quotes and running some numbers - its all going good, and my CD’s are burning from iTunes & Ripping in Winamp to mp3’s for the roadtrip tomorrow (going to Grover Beach!) just a fun day thus far.
