Client website goes online

Pfhew!
The client's website I've been doing since July went officially online today. It's not really up because the account doesn't gracefully accepts ASP.net 2.0 change from 1.1, so by tomorrow morning it will be up.
I've already gave my bank info for them to pass along the dough so I can start paying bills and quit this host and move it all to the newest host. I'm two months late now...

In other news, my project is halted for a while, I'm feeling in no mood to program outside of work and keep questioning myself internally how well is this going to run. I mean, I don't offer nothing really innovative, new, cheaper, better, faster, is just another one of the same.
And then I see a free ASP.net host provider that has 55.000 accounts and I'm really happy to have only 0,5% of that user base, paying users, on my project debuttal. It would still give me PLENTY of cash to jump-start my life.

Other than that I've worked on my dayjob, go out every night with my girlfriend, some nights I go out with my friends too, sleep, annoy my ex girlfriend and count my cents till my next paycheck. Life is hard, but it's less harder now than a few months ago. Hope it keeps getting better now.

Ciao.

Changes and more changes

Well hello there.

The website I've been doing in the past four months isn't complete. Today another email with more changes. Now the colour they choosed isn't the most likeable they have. They want more yellow.

More yellow it is.

But I want to see some green too.

I've just read their 7 changes, and they're all not that boring. I misread, they want a darker yellow, a darker gray, a zoomed in map, a text change, and the inclusion of a business number. It's something for two hours max.

My project is going fine, have database access for INSERT, DELETE, UPDATE and SELECT, already fills translation codes for multilanguage, automatically translates combobo...er... dropdownlists (ASP.NET lingo) and does some pages contents. I just wish you could see it! But no. Wait till it's ready!

Some more insights into business:

- Pass the ball to others (or cover your ass first)
- Always back what you say
- Deliver complete on time or before that
- Sometimes something wouldn't make sense until you talk to the fabricant
- Telephones serve to solve problems too
- Debug or walk thru something step by step and the solution will reveal itself
- Strong will, determination, self-assurance, conviction
- Everybody lies
- People like certifications and seals of approval and fabricant approvals

It's all for today, let's see it I can do something else in the next posts.
Maybe talk about a theme, a subject or anything like that. Comment!

Projecting

Well hello.

I know I promissed writing everyday but the last few days there were problems with my Internet provider, a long weekend, not much time at the computer, going out with friends and attending music concerts.

Last week and this one are being well worked at the day job so we are doing massive stored procs and really working things up towards first version to be deployed at the client starting next week.

On the night "job", I'm starting today designing the database tables and writing the code for the first general tables (stuff like categories, types, groups, etc). It's taking shape too.
Today is Patch Tuesday so I expect some Microsoft patches coming this evening.

Keep visiting!

October

Hello there.

Im here again. Geez is this joint empty!

Well, what I've been up to? Work is good, im making a mega hiper Stored Procedure which has 2000 lines already and growing. I'm at it for three days now.

The website I was developing... well, I'm still developing it. Client yesterday brought more changes. It never ends does it?

To say that I got a credit card for online shopping, got the domains transfered to new host, that today I won an auction for 1Gb RAM for my PC for half the cost of the normal store price - let's see if I get soap bars on the mail heheh.

My project? Well my project is coming along nicely, I've got an idea for dynamic web forms one day and when arrived home I wrote it down in my black book then been busy for some days, then took it and wrote the engine in 2 hours and it's going great! Really great! Soon news from the project birth.

I've also been helping my girlfriend with her end of college dissertation, mainly Word 2007 fixing tables, setting margins, normalizing font sizes, the usual boyfriend stuff.
I've been thinking in going to a country hut in the New Year's Eve, snow and hot chocolate and all that. And we're making plans to get together, rent a house and live together until March 2008. Let's see what the future brings.
First she must find a job, earn some money, save some more money, and then start looking around for a house... et cetera.

Well it's all for today, tomorrow I'll be here for a new blog post.

End of Month

Hello.

We are on 29th of August and the client this Monday (day 27) sends me an email with 20 changes to the site. Most were cosmetic (up the telephone numbers, new text for headers, etc) but one pissed me off: forget all meetings before and move the left side menu to the right side of the header picture. You see the change.
Luckily I haven't made the photo animations yet, so it was fairly quick to change it.
I found a new host server that hosts ASP.NET 2.0 sites for a fraction of the cost of my current one - a difference from 75€ monthly to 75€ yearly. I know, I was paying too much, but September will be the last month, the month of the switch. I only have three sites hosted from my previous company, mine and two clients.

I'm in a low productivity mode now, the past few days I haven't done much programming on my day job or on my own free time. My self project has advanced slowly but it will restart in a few days I'm sure. I've had these before.

I hope next month of September I will start to make some extra money with my website projects, or else things are going to be hard.
Stay tuned!

Saturday

Hello.

Today is Saturday, 12.49 A.M.
I'm home doing some work for the client's website. I am VERY late on this one, and taking many shortcuts to deliver it ASAP.
I have a new idea for a new software, based on errors I've been having with some Microsoft software in the last few days. Another way to make some bucks too. Few.
It's been lurking around my head and I must research it better, but seems no one has made one.

On my CMS project I'm gonna go the way of the weekend-long programming jam. My girl is doing her own university paper, my friends can't go out and play Call of Duty, so bring up the coffee and some donuts!

This weekend I plan to also wash my car and give it a little polish, it's been needing for almost a year now. And stop looking at porn so much lol.

Still alive

Just a quick check to remind I'm alive and well.
My debts are almost gone, and till the end of this month they will be terminated. Next is the IRS thing too. I know, I know...

Meanwhile, my project is taking grrreat shape, it's coming along nicely, and in some time I'll get all stuff working online. No Backoffice at first, but already a website with updateable content, users, and some other stuff.

At work the work it's going great, been developing great commented code, helping out a out-of-college new employee who has no clue about real life job demands, and he's taking pace. We enjoy at work with each others many times, so we have a great work environment, helpful, dynamic, and compelling. I like it there.

I plan to close the website development for the first client already this saturday, only leaving the tweaks for next week. And payment would be nice too. Let's see.

And today I won't do anything because I'm going out with my significant half and then we're going to do other "things" if you know what I mean *wink* *wink*.

Cya!

Another Day

Friday night.

I've arrived home now from my girlfriend's house.
Now I'm going to code some more, after a full day's work programming. What a life.
Having some dificulties doing a grid product page, seems I'm complicating easy stuff.

I'm BACK!

Hello!

I know I've been away from this blog a long time (since May 18th to be precise).
My life has changed once again. Major changes are:

- I got myself a new job as a Software Developer
- I'm developing there large piece of software for a large vertical business client
- I'm there for two months and I'm already being scanned for software project management
- I've quit my room at the 80km city, now I travel 40km from parents house to new job
- I've landed a webdesign development for a real estate agency
- I've been scanned to do a portal webdesign for another agency
- My project is going well underway, having as template the website I'm developing at the same time
- All my debts will be under control in another month or so
- I'm listening to Metallica :)

Stay tuned for more info tomorrow!

Job interview

Hi.

I went yesterday to another job interview, this time for a programming position. It was a nice talk, they do VB.NET and ASP.NET development and the team is really small, like, two to three people per project.
I'm a bit confident they will choose me because we seem to get along (me and the interviewer). The only thing I dislike was that he prompted me to terminate hosting of actual 4 clients I still got from my failed business. Seeming that now I don't have new webdesign prospects (that one failed to go anywhere) and two of them are going do go quits, it's irrelevant to them. A matter to negotiate with them if talks are to go further. Besides, he was interested in seeing my software and I will gladly show him in my own laptop (copyrighting eh?).

If it doesn't go well there and doesn't go well in the other job interview (Staple's office) I am pretty much pennyless now, so I'll make sort of a part-time job with my project until I got something to work on with a salary. Maybe I get better luck than with this blog. It seems nobody is visiting :(

Well for the project I don't know yet, but something akin to a backoffice-frontoffice store but I don't want to go to webdesign, like in "do it yourself". Maybe some mix of Live MS Office/ Campfire?

Long time, no write

Hello.

I've not posted in the last weeks because I've got nothing to say. And I got no visits yet.
Well I've not found a job, got a job interview the other day, and the employment center sent me a letter yesterday, that I have to pick up at the post office.
About my business idea, well, not much development, mainly because I'm at loss for good ideas. I mean, what's the business really? Dunno yet, and that's fulcral.

A little more thinking

Hello.

Today I went helping my girl with a PowerPoint presentation for her school. It wasn't hard to do, but managed to finish in the nick of time before her laptop went battery dead.
Tomorrow I'll return to my home away from home. I will get the paid room another month and do a course on teaching classes. I mean, teaching how to teach. Good for resumé.

Meanwhile I'm evaluating some tools, such as Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2005 or Microsoft Expression Web. Frankly, apart some background programming, the two are quite similar at first sight.

My project is shaping, yesterday I thought of doing something in the ways of a portal with access to various areas, each with it's own peculiarities but everyone sharing the same code, only differing data and presentation. In the first step it's also easier to use the same domain name that to distribute for various.

Also while seeing some tools, my mind wanders to "what if I don't do programming but instead pick a ready made system with hundreds of addons like DotNetNuke or OSCommerce?".
I'm drowning in thoughts...

Busy Weekend

Hello there!

This weekend I've been busy attending a wedding Saturday, had a post-wedding lunch this Sunday (to eat the remaining food heheh) and at night went to a bar fraternize with friends watching a soccer derby on T.V.

I've received two job proposals and two "don't call us - we call you" emails. Tomorrow morning I'll get to answering them correctly to see what it brings. I'm also waiting an email from another place, they called me Friday and should follow-up with an email but never did.

My business ideas have settled a bit because instead of focusing on doing/selling just one thing and expect acceptance, I now think the better is to get one more development week or two and make an all-purpose framework then build not one, but several non related revenue sources. The framework, being refined, should also become a revenue source (think about eating dogfood then feeding your costumers the best parts of said dogfood).

Also, on par with the framework and the resulting "revenue sources" (I'm being discreet here, bear with me), a kind of advertising and afilliation model should also be put into place, so that I can get, well, some more... er... revenue source :)
What do you think?

Well I'm off for today, see you tomorrow.

A little background to where I am now

Hello there.
Today I sent some more resumés, and got three resposes. Monday I'll try to get to them in order to be interviewed for some positions.
In my business idea front, ideas still roam free in my mind but nothing seems to settle down. I read joelonsoftware.com articles and foruns and nothing added to ease the ideas.

I went to the business page of a ex-friend of mine, who managed to stole not only my idea, some clients and my product, only making it all web-based. It sucks to be me. But he was not the only responsible for the downfall of my previous endeavour. I am, because I lost track of what I was doing, always fixing some bugs that shouldn't exist in the first place. Moved in wrong directions, was afraid of losing clients, afraid of getting new clients, trying to do all work myself, meanwhile money was not getting in, my girlfriend went berserk and we split, and I lost track of everything.
Eventually I went broke, no girl, no business, losing clients day after day, alone at home (my workplace) and a tremendous sense of failure.

In the last year or so, starting around July 06 I closed my business only maintaining tech support to clients, went after a job 80 miles from home, met this girl and started living by myself for the first time in 27 years (yeah, I know).

I've been to two jobs one from August to December, and the other from January until 30th March 07. The first one I quit because I got the second one (which was better) but in the second job was a really difficult to sell product, the company was objectives-based and I only managed to sell 25% of estabilished objectives and they sent me out. Yes I did long hours, in my car, by my gas, did face-to-face, mail-targeted approaches, leave biz cards on everyplace, returned phone calls and emails, but no one came to me and buy.
I wasn't the only one tough, because my team "mates" (I put quotes because everyone seemed to hate everyone else there, really really intrigue-esque way of working) also didn't accomplish the objectives, only scratching them due to months-old follow-ups.
It was a nice income, I was looking forward to be financially debtless in April, but the resignation letter they sent me broke everything up.
Now I have to leave the house where I was living and return to my parent's house, it's a GREAT GREAT sense of defeat for me. I'm leaving because I cannot support it (no money) and what am I doing 80 miles from home with no job, right?

Meanwhile, I got a ticket for speeding, broke a wheel axis on my car having to repair it and but two front tires (the old tire had a big bulge heheh), my car was broken into three times in 7 months living away (yes, nothing was taken, not even CDs), a rear glass was broken the first time it was break into, and in January I got the car revision which took more money from me once again. Plus the food for the month, the car loan, the 2 cellphones bill to pay (my own for work too), 3G internet (I have to give tech support remember?), the house rented, gas money (and I was on my car working), and my end of the month was, really, like the 4th day after getting the paycheck. It's not been easy at all.

Lately my bank, with whom I've been working for the last 5 years since I started my business, refuses to give me new checks, and no reason for that. I've been with them on the phone, on person and the most they say is that my account doesn't add up to a percentage of them to be able to get new checks. I would quit there and open elsewhere an account, but since I got virtually NO MONEY deposited it would be pointless to move. Move 10 euros? What a tragedy for them, right?

Well I'm off for today. Tomorrow I got a wedding of my girl's friend, and I got to attend. I am a bit uneasy because I suspect that "friend" that stole so much from me will be there, in that case I must be all smily and false and I hate doing that. But I can't also confront him for being successful where I failed. Jealousy is a bad bad feeling and I must be superior to that.

Hope I didn't bore you too much. I guess not, nobody reads this blog right? Bye.

Another day goes by

Today I've sent about 10 more job resumés, no answer yet.
I've also sent the proposal to that website redesign to those other clients.
And as the days go by, the date is nearing to leave this room and get back to parent's house. I DO NOT want that, because that is the worst thing. Sense of defeat.

My business idea is germinating but I have much to read and to think, but the general sense is that it's hard. Don't know if I can pull this off again. I've had a business for 4 years and I failed due to some inabilities of mine, which I identified somewhat and am trying to get a go at it again.

Here is a list that I plan to make grow to serve as guidelines for my new business. Feel free to add or comment on them too.

- Have methodology - don't reinvent the wheel or reinvent the same wheel everytime
- Clients come first - before hours, family, food, or else they go get business elsewhere
- Return all calls - either emails, phone calls, faxes, memos, return them at the earliest opportunity
- Solve clients problems timely and immediately - they don't need problems, need solutions and a breeze working with your product
- Delay is stressful and a death setence - When I delay things it's mainly because I feel bored to do it right then or the "I'll have time later" syndrome. Don't!
- Testing is important. Never release anything before testing and testing and testing...
- Confidence, know-how, incentive, you're the man, it's the best product, the best business
- Be fast and adaptative is always better that slow and monolithic - hurry up!
- Details, details, details are important little things
- Go that extra mile - it is the extra work hour that separates you from competition
- Document everything that moves - be it code, accounting, website changes, everything should be dated and commented, or else you lose important info and may have to ... reinvent the wheel once again. Keep important links to sites, keep that .zip files sent by email.
- Backup. Period. Backup Periodically.

Am I on the right track?

Today

Well today I am resting in a national holiday.
My mind has been wandering between making a website very beautifully designed for a client, or a standard all-people-have-it website. I guess I'll make the latter, but keep the idea for playing the cards later if the client declines the first.
I've also been reading articles and magazines trying to catch-up after a 7-month interruption in all things IT related. I grew tired of it, but now the little "bug" inside is springing back to life.

I ate lunch, take a walk with my girl buying a wedding gift for a marriage this Saturday.
Tomorrow I have a job resumé to send to some folk that requested it, may be my first stone to achieve my goals.

Welcome

This is my first post.
I plan to document my path to succeed in life in over an year.
We are in April 25th. By December 31 I want to live in my own house, with my girlfriend, have a job and/or small business, pay my late bills, manage my bank accounts, improve myself and generally have new friends and new experiences too.