Sunday, September 23, 2007

Jay: My Word

Apparently I have not used Word all that much on this computer, despite all the years it has been installed.  I just found myself having to turn of smart quotes, which I’d have expected to do almost preemptively, knowing how much trouble they cause.  I also started a sentence with:
1996.

Big mistake.  That meant I was creating a number list, doncha know, and that the style of the paragraph should change on its own from the default.  Changing it back?  That would of course delete the “1996.” because wasn’t that what I wanted?  Begone, ye demones of automatic formatting!

I know I used word a lot more at the office than at home, but I could have sworn I’d used it more than that.  Perhaps the settings or template got wiped clean or relocated along the line.  At least for me it’s more of an amused frustration than confused frustration, but I’ve been on the support guru side of Word enough to recognize the kinds of behaviors that drive people crazy and aren’t necessarily brainless to resolve.


04:09 AM | Books • Business • Geekery • (2) Comments • Permalink

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Jay: Don’t Look Now…

But I think I am going to write a book, which ought to be possible to complete over the next few months.  On business.  From firsthand experience.

On the side.  Obviously it’s not going to save us from being dead broke in a few weeks.  It has other purposes.  At best, to be one of those additional income stream thingies.  At worst, to be cathartic and an achievment of the “look what I did” variety and a few people will buy it online, self-published.  Hey, maybe that’ll be what running CotC is good for.

I’ve watched people write books on blogs, blog marketing, blogging for business, and thought, in charitable moments, “I could do that at least as well as they could.” I’ve watched people write books that are patently absurd ideas that can’t possibly sell, yet get traditional publishers on board.

Without getting bogged down in story and plot, or doing something that’s been done, even if it should have been done by me, what’s the best thing I could do?  Write what I know; my actual experiences as a cautionary tale.  And I don’t mean the part about marrying someone you meet online.  Which would be another possible story, but there doesn’t seem to me to be that much to it.

I’ve been making notes and it’s bringing back a lot of memories.  I could actually end it at the end of 1999 if I wanted, since by comparison everything since is footnote, and we lasted this long because I was stubborn.  Without being able to thrive given my standing reaction to what happened through 1999.  It’s a great tale of what not to do starting and running a small business.


09:37 PM | Books • Business • (0) Comments • Permalink

Jay: We Wish You a Merry Halgivmas and a Happy Fourth Quarter Plus

I meant to mention that I was dismayed to see my first Christmas displays of the season last night at BJ’s in Taunton.  Deb was unsurprised, being a retail mogul in a past life.

At first I thought it might just be an end display with a couple of trees, but it was a whole aisle of wrapping and decorations, and a revved up couple of toy aisles, oddly devoid of anything I’d have wanted for Sadie’s birthday in a week.

Basically, Christmas has equal time to Halloween, with a pirate display thrown in for good measure.


06:55 PM | Business • (0) Comments • Permalink

Jay: I’ll Miss Them

I already do, since we stopped eating there as much long ago to save money.  Who?  Mina’s, a family sub and pizza restaurant in Easton, near the office I am closing.

Today I was planning to go continue going through stuff anyway, but the fact and timing of that was enforced by my partner, who has limited time between work, law school and studying for same, coming down to grab all too little of the stuff that was up for grabs.  I sent him with a file cabinet, two folding tables, an old laptop (P166), and a few odds and ends.

Which still helps, and makes the place look a fair bit emptier.  That and it solidifies what remains as a slate of items for me to deal with, one way or another.

Anyway, I went there on coffee and no breakfast, had a Snickers for lunch near 2:00, and found myself thinking I’d surprise Deb with Mina’s, achieving the additional benefit of saving me from cooking.  Plus it has been months, and while they are excellent in general, the things they do that we most go there for are at least as much unlike anyone else as going, say, to D’Angelo’s for a Number 9.

So it came time and I called them.  The owner recognized my voice instantly, asked how I was, took my order, asked how was business, and was shocked to hear I was closing the office.  I was amused that when I punched in the number and hit dial, the Blackberry screen displayed “Mina’s” because I’d put them in the address book at some point.

I took a load to the car and headed over, timing it so the stuff would be fresh and hot enough to have a chance of being slightly hot after going all the way to Middleboro.  The delivery guy was outside the door, grinned to see me and had to visibly resist the urge to hug me, going instead for a handshake.  The rest of the place was as friendly and excited to see me, and they approve of the baby’s name.

They asked me again about the office, and I was kicking myself for not having any of the new business cards on me for the first time since I got them.  I told them I’m doing something similar, but from my house and probably just one the side so I have to get a job too.

They are the nicest people!  I’d be thrilled to have them local to the apartment, the way Chinatown is local to us.  Indeed, the Chinese place on the same plaza as Mina’s, Ho Yon, is also superlative.

Anyway, we had already decided that now and then in the future we’ll have to go there, even if we have to eat on the premises (they do have some tables).  They are just that good!  They didn’t disappoint tonight, being at least as good as ever.  We split a meatball sub, one of the things they do best, and shared a Hawaiian pizza with the kids.


05:08 PM | Business • Food & Cooking • Massachusetts • Totally Random • (0) Comments • Permalink

Jay: No Birthdays

Today and until, I believe, Tuesday, and that one is some second cousin or so who wasn’t much older than Sadie when I obtained and entered the info about her in 1993.

That leaves me trying to think of what to say without taking any time, since I’d like to be to the office in Easton by 10:30 or so and Deb needs to run to the store before I leave, which won’t be for another hour anyway, and without writing all about Sadie’s invention of the term “poo butter” when she splurted in her diaper.  The poo butter resulted in my having to use half a pack of wipes cleaning it, including what ran all the way down her legs, during which she was excellent about standing in place so it wouldn’t spread.  The two of them got a shower already this morning.

This whole moving stuff is going to be fun, considering I killed my back and maimed my arms just taking bags of trash out of the office.  I managed to produce eight bags yesterday, for a total of ten needing to go out.  Plus a container of pure paper and a handful of cardboard.  They made everyone’s life miserable by enforcing recycling in the building starting a year or so ago.  That was the state coming down of the waste company.  Small bags, since most of what goes in them is heavy and adds up fast, but when you lift them watch out.

The funny thing is, it doesn’t look like much yet.  It’s not obvious that I have taken it from ten full file cabinet drawers down to one full four drawer file cabinet worth of stuff.  And some of that can be compressed, given time spent combing through it carefully enough.  That and most of what can be thrown into the trash readily has already gone from the rest of the place.  The table I used as my desk has a visible surface.  It ended up being a shifting mound as I went through stuff.

It’ll be a matter of a few hours work to have every bookcase empty, for instance, and to be well into emptying tables.  I expect to know by Monday what I will offer up for sale or grabs to people in the building, and by next Saturday there shouldn’t be much left.

I am going to have to figure out what to do about a hazardous waste/appliances run my local dump, since I am pretty sure I will have to dispose of a small refrigerator and some office equipment or computer related stuff.  What belongs to the former big client will remain for them to deal with, but I can’t leave them stuff that’s not theirs.  And can’t even masquerade as theirs.  The refrigerator bugs me because it’s been being stored there for a former partner, who had loaned it to another former partner before they had a falling out.  When she had the opportunity to sell it for more than it’s worth and split the money with him, as he was never going to want or need it back from six hours away, he objected and had her store it in the office.  Now it will probably cost me what it would have fetched.  I’m hoping someone will take it as a freebie.

Anyway, I had better grab another coffee and a shower before it gets any later.  The partner is meeting me at 12 or 12:30 at the office to grab whatever he might want of the stuff, and some personal items.  I wanted to get more done before then, but at least I can try to be on time.


08:48 AM | Business • Geekery • Totally Random • (0) Comments • Permalink

Friday, September 21, 2007

Jay: Happy Birthday

To my step-aunt Beverly.


08:23 AM | Birthdays • (0) Comments • Permalink

Deb: And yes…

I did notice that because I still think that Landis got screwed big time.

Why do you ask?


08:57 AM | News • Stupidity • (0) Comments • Permalink

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Deb: Have you noticed the change in wording?

I just did, today.  Nobody is “found guilty” anymore, you see.  They *are* guilty.

That’s a big freaking difference, in one little word.


06:14 PM | News • (0) Comments • Permalink

Jay: Discover is Evil

If you pay them slightly late, they ring your phone off the hook.  Understandable enough, if more vehement than most.

If you are current and they are happy with you, they ring your phone off the hook trying to sell you things.  That’s counterproductive for them, as it simply moves them to the top of the “pay off and never use again” list.

I suppose they aren’t all bad.  They’re the fallback card for emergency car repairs we can’t afford.  But really, lay off the damn calls!  Which are especially annoying when the baby is sleeping - or close to it - on me in the office and the phone right beside us rings loudly with pme of the three calls of the day from Discover telemarketers.


10:11 AM | Business • (1) Comments • Permalink

Jay: “Civics” Quiz

I got 90% on this quiz; 54 right out of 60.  Most of what I got wrong was taking a stab between two likely choices, perhaps getting game play wrong.  That’s always an element in multiple choice, after all.  Sometimes a trick question is not a trick question after all.

Some are brainless.  Some are tough.  Most have one or two obvious answers and the rest can be dismissed out of hand, often with great amusement.  Some might have you saying “this is civics?”

I got number 36 wrong, and that was a pure guess between the answer that was correct but struck me as as odd, except for making sense in a Westphalian sort of way, and the answer I chose, which was the expected bleeding heart answer.

Anyway, intriguing stuff.


09:32 AM | Quiz or Meme • (0) Comments • Permalink

Jay: Well That Was Fun…

Yet another Hosting Matters outage of the server that hosts this domain.  It was brief, but you know it’s getting to me when I announce, in a funny deepish voice, how grateful I am to our hosting overlords, who may go down a lot, but boy they get us back up fast.  Meanwhile, the post that will follow this one has been waiting a good half hour for the down time to pass.  Heck, I should probably go straight to that post, in case it goes down again after this one.


09:27 AM | Blogging • Geekery • (0) Comments • Permalink

Jay: Happy Birthday

To blogger and reknowned blog host Pixy Misa.


07:55 AM | Birthdays • (0) Comments • Permalink

Jay: Happy Birthday

To blogger GM Roper.


07:52 AM | Birthdays • (0) Comments • Permalink

Deb: For the Last Fucking Time…

Making it illegal to be poor never filled anybody’s wallet.

AND IT ISN’T A FREE MARKET!


08:37 AM | News • Health Care • Stupidity • (0) Comments • Permalink

Deb: So the baby?

Decided to celebrate turning a month old by sleeping through the night.

I, of course, didn’t.  I don’t know that I *could* anymore, I’ve been getting up twice a night for so long now.  But it was still awesome.

Anybody want to bet on how long it is before he does it again?  Because babies?  Terrible teases with the sleeping thing.  It might be months.

*sigh*

Yeah, I’m scattered.  Just so long as I’m not smothered and covered, we’re good to go.

I dreamed last night that I was visiting one of my nieces at a hospital in Australia.  She worked there, and I was there for some damned thing or another (and yes, I don’t remember what it was), and Sadie potty-trained herself while we were trying to leave the place.  Then we all went and hung out by the pool with her and her dream-husband (who was filling in for her actual husband since this was a dream, natch) and Jay’s dad.  There was a dog involved, but I think the dog was a patient.  Who knows?  Next thing I know I’m in Pensacola, lamenting the changes that Ivan wrought, because for some reason all the beaches in the area had been pushed together and become a single beach, and it was so packed you had to wait for somebody to leave before you could get a spot.  And though I don’t believe there was an actual requirement, we were the only people there without a red and white striped beach umbrella.

I have no earthly idea WTF my brain is thinking.

But sleep?  Is good.


08:03 AM | Kids • (1) Comments • Permalink
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