ilovecode

Once you start blogging and you regularly blog, you start thinking about things a little bit differently. You look at it from a bloggers angle and you start planning out your post well before you’re even near your computer. Sad, but true.

I was speaking to someone on Friday and he was telling me about this site he was launching and he said…well, if it fails, it will be a blog post. That’s the attitude!

Last week I joined a new stats program and a close friend asked me why I did that? Why pay $5/month when between awstats and analytics, we are pretty much covered as far as stats go. He didn’t care, he was just curious. I didn’t really have a compelling reason to give. I like trying out new things and I like being aware of whats out there so I can make an informed decision on what is best for me. So I responded, “I just wanted to try it. It’s a blog post either way.”

Always looking for that silver lining and it seems now-a-days we can turn anything into a blog post. Heck, I just did!

So have YOU become that person who when hearing something on the news or having a discussion with a peer or friend, is always aware of the blogging angle? I don’t mean that you actively are seeking out a blog post, but the idea just pops into your head. Sadly, I am that person.

Or are you that person that DOES things for a blog post. I have thought about that too. Just trying something out to document my experiences.

I was asked recently…

Do you twitter?

To which i responded that was NONE of their business. Twitter, Twotter, What?

I feel like I’m drowning in all of these new social networking/bookmarking/hanging out sites. A new one is launched almost daily and how on Earth am I supposed to keep up with these? How can I tell what will be worth spending my time on? I don’t have a ton of free time to just hang out and write about what I like to do like on 43 Things. Twitter just doesn’t interest me right now. So, as a website owner, which would be the best to spend my time on. Right now the only two I really have found useful are StumbleUpon and MyBlogLog, both personally and professionally.

I am really curious as to what people are using and why. I want to know is there something I’m not doing that I should be doing.

I saw this somewhere and thought it was awesome and it definitely struck a chord. I do not know the original author of this piece.

Dear Mr. Architect:

Please design and build me a house. I am not quite sure of what I need, so you should use your discretion. My house should have somewhere between two and forty-five bedrooms. Just make sure the plans are such that the bedrooms can be easily added or deleted. When you bring the blueprints to me, I will make the final decision of what I want. Also, bring me the cost breakdown for each configuration so that I can arbitrarily pick one.

Keep in mind that the house I ultimately choose must cost less than the one I am currently living in. Make sure, however, that you correct all the deficiencies that exist in my current house (the floor of my kitchen vibrates when I walk across it, and the walls don’t have nearly enough insulation in them).

As you design, also keep in mind that I want to keep yearly maintenance costs as low as possible. This should mean the incorporation of extra-cost features like aluminum, vinyl, or composite siding. (If you choose not to specify aluminum, be prepared to explain your decision in detail.)

Please take care that modern design practices and the latest materials are used in construction of the house, as I want it to be a showplace for the most up-to-date ideas and methods. Be alerted, however, that kitchen should be designed to accommodate, among other things, my 1952 Gibson refrigerator.

To insure that you are building the correct house for our entire family, make certain that you contact each of our children, and also our in-laws. My mother-in-law will have very strong feelings about how the house should be designed, since she visits us at least once a year. Make sure that you weigh all of these options carefully and come to the right decision. I, however, retain the right to overrule any choices that you make.

Please don’t bother me with small details right now. Your job is to develop the overall plans for the house: get the big picture. At this time, for example, it is not appropriate to be choosing the color of the carpet.

However, keep in mind that my wife likes blue.

Also, do not worry at this time about acquiring the resources to build the house itself. Your first priority is to develop detailed plans and specifications. Once I approve these plans, however, I would expect the house to be under roof within 48 hours.

While you are designing this house specifically for me, keep in mind that sooner or later I will have to sell it to someone else. It therefore should have appeal to a wide variety of potential buyers. Please make sure before you finalize the plans that there is a consensus of the population in my area that they like the features this house has. I advise you to run up and look at my neighbor’s house he constructed last year. We like it a great deal. It has many features that we would also like in our new home, particularly the 75-foot swimming pool. With careful engineering, I believe that you can design this into our new house without impacting the final cost.

Please prepare a complete set of blueprints. It is not necessary at this time to do the real design, since they will be used only for construction bids. Be advised, however, that you will be held accountable for any increase of construction costs as a result of later design changes.

You must be thrilled to be working on as an interesting project as this! To be able to use the latest techniques and materials and to be given such freedom in your designs is something that can’t happen very often. Contact me as soon as possible with your complete ideas and plans.

PS: My wife has just told me that she disagrees with many of the instructions I’ve given you in this letter. As architect, it is your responsibility to resolve these differences. I have tried in the past and have been unable to accomplish this. If you can’t handle this responsibility, I will have to find another architect.

PPS: Perhaps what I need is not a house at all, but a travel trailer. Please advise me as soon as possible if this is the case..

I was recently asked on my Ask Me page what I do when someone doesn’t pay. When I received the question, I had never encountered that problem before until now.

I think the reason I have not encountered the problem is because of the way I have my contracts set up. For a typical web development job, I require a deposit. If the job is a very small job, I will typically require 1/2 up front but a standard development project I require 1/4 up front typically. There are two instances where I will be more lenient requiring a deposit: 1) if the client is a return client and they have paid successfully before and 2) if its a few hour job and the client is pretty established.

Also, in my contracts, I typically have set milestones where we require payment. If that payment isn’t received, development ceases. Also, I specify that in order for the full website to be pushed live to the client’s server, I require final payment. I will be more lenient at times with this final payment depending on the client; if they have paid for the previous milestones, I don’t have an issue pushing the site live and collecting payment afterwards.

As I said in the beginning, I have not had any problem with our clients. I did consulting work for a .NET application about a month ago and have yet to receive payment or acknowledgment of my statements. During the consulting process, they were in GREAT communication. This is only an invoice for $250 so it’s not a large amount in the scheme of things. A month really isn’t that long to wait but typically for small jobs like this, we require payment immediately. If this goes on for more time, I will need to decide how to proceed.

The key here I think though, is to avoid situations like this altogether. Our processes and contracts have ensured payment thus far, so maybe we should reconsider these small jobs or at least how we handle them.

I’d be interested in hearing how others handle things like this and what you do to avoid these situations.

I have some pressure put on me to find a dress for a semi-formal event at the end of the month. I have it narrowed down to two different dresses but I am in an all-around crap mood so I can’t decide and I need to decide by tomorrow as I am ordering it from the US and it may take a few weeks to arrive. At this event people will wear anything from a teeny tiny cocktail dress (not my style) to a full blown ball gown (also not my style). I tried to pick out a couple of dresses that I thought were pretty and I would be comfortable in. Comfort is the real key word here. I am a tomboy and would much prefer to hang out in a t-shirt, pair of umbros, and some flip flops. But I guess we all need to get dolled up every once in a while. So, please help me decide which dress to get.