Posts Tagged ‘Work’

Where are you?

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

OK… so I haven’t kept up with things the way I’ve intended to but that’s due to the fact that lately I’m working six days a week and I’m just too tired to blog.  I have a lot of plans for this site, I just haven’t gotten around to doing them yet.  I haven’t read up on any new technology, I don’t have any ideas for new business techniques and I haven’t got the time to really sit down and write either.  I randomly jot a few ideas down but unfortunately that paperwork gets lost with the stacks of everything else that I’m working on.

As far as the web hosting is concerned, I’ve completely handed that over to Sean (lepslair.com) so any questions you can take it up with him.  As far as my design business goes, I want to get to work on my portfolio and I know I need to update my resume quite a bit so we’ll see what happens in upcoming weeks.

I won’t have another day off from work until Sunday.  Last week I worked 7 days straight and I’ve gotta say it’s killing me.  I’ve been so tired lately it’s unreal so catching up on any missed sleep has been the first priority.

What’s to come?  I want to setup a new theme and begin posting here again.  For now I think it’s going to be a few random personal updates from time to time until I can get back into the swing of things.  School is coming up too and I know for sure that it’s going to take its toll on me once that happens.

So I guess we’ll see what the future holds.

Long time, no post.

Saturday, February 21st, 2009

I haven’t updated here in quite some time and it’s completely due to the fact that my life offline is dramatically different than it was in the past.  I now have the time to finally sit down and blog since I’ve gotten used to my new schedule.  I’m working full time hours during the week and on the weekends I always seemed to be busy doing other things so sitting down to update a blog was never really worth it to me.  I do have some more time now though.  It’s my goal to begin making some drastic changes here in upcoming weeks.  I do not care about the paid blogging world anymore – I went out and got a real job instead of sitting on my ass talking about products that I’ve never actually used before.  There will still be reviews and opinions coming through here, but it will be real product reviews based on first hand experience.  I’m hoping to be able to add a new toy to my collection but that can’t happen until another 6 people are nice enough to help me out with it anyway.

But for now I’ll just say that I will be posting here a lot more often.  I’m hoping to get back on track with a few of my other sites as well.  This is more of an ‘intro’ post just to get the ball rolling again.  I honestly never thought I’d go six months with absolutely nothing to say here, but that’s the way the ball rolls I guess.

Inspration Required.

Sunday, August 3rd, 2008

Work has been going pretty well lately, it’s proving to be a bit difficult on my inspiration though. I have the stamina to complete the tasks I have, there’s no question about that. The issue is where I’m unable to come up with ANYTHING for the new clients coming in that hasn’t been done before. I know there are some very creative people out there but it’s one of those situations where once you’ve seen it done before, you know it’s wrong to go out of your way to recreate it and then pass it off as your own. Of course, there is an exception to the rule. If a client asks you to recreate a template that they liked (paid or free, or just on someone else’s website) then you have to do what the client wants – without breaking any major copyright laws at the same time.

I’m working on this new site that’s health related. With the way the client approached me I thought I was going to be working on a hospitals website or something. The money from it is great, don’t get me wrong, but I was going in a completely different direction when he told me to slow down and sent me a long email on exactly what the company was. It’s for a new experimental weight loss supplement, something I’m honestly not sure I would try myself, but they seem pretty darn focused on getting it launched and out there for the world to see so of course I need to come up with something that’s not only informative, but matches their brand label and can appeal to 18-32 year old men and women whom would benefit from using their product.

So what did I do? I went out of my way to look at just about every single site that houses a large database of website templates that I could find. During my search I went through the usual sites, ones that tend to pop into your head as soon as you’re looking for new ideas.  Fortunately, I found a new one that’s certainly worth flipping through, that’s for sure.  It’s called DreamTemplates.com.  They have a database of over 300 templates that are completely free, or you can pay them a one-time-fee of $59.95 and gain access to THOUSANDS of templates.

When looking through the premium templates, I have to say that I was certainly inspired.  While the bulk of them look very generic (to me at least) the rest of them are appealing and worth that one-time payment.  They’re all high quality templates, all of the sources files are included (if you’re looking at any Flash based ones) and they’re relatively attractive for just about any business or personal site you’re looking to house them on.  I’d highly recommend them.

Happy August

Friday, August 1st, 2008

While it’s only about 1:30 in the morning, it’s officially August.  July went by rather quickly.  I’m still in New York, I’m still searching for a job and I’m still working on straightening out my head so I can figure out exactly what I’m going to do with my life.  Numerous family members are sick, and while Sean and I have been at my father’s house this entire time, my father doesn’t seem bothered by the fact that we’ve both been here for as long as we have.  We’re hoping to figure things out as soon as possible but of course that requires some kind of a call-back from any of the positions I’ve applied for.

Today was pretty busy for me.  I put in a lot of applications and I spent about six hours (straight – no breaks) working on an account for a client.  I want to get everything accomplished with them over the course of the next few days so I can begin putting the finishing touches on things – mainly because right now I’m in the process of converting screen shots to code, it’s time consuming but I’ve half-assed a few things here and there just to get it done.  The finalization of things will look much better, it’s just a matter of changing some CSS attributes around so there’s a better flow with the template.  Right now it looks very pasted together, but the cosmetics aren’t the hard part it’s the conversions.  I’m moving along nicely though so I’m sure I’ll be done sooner than I think.

I have a few pending projects as well.  I need to renew this domain name so any money that shoots into Paypal over the course of the next couple of days will go right to that.  I’m also still working on loading everything to the new AGn Solutions database, it’s all automated but it’s the matter of getting my older clients worked into the billing area.  Time consuming but worth it in the end.

In any event, guess I should wrap up for the night and head to sleep.  I’ve been up for about 15 hours now so it’s definitely time to crash.

STILL waiting

Saturday, July 26th, 2008

I’m still waiting to hear from just about anyone at this point.  I had the chance to look over the application I submitted to the hospital and I’m starting to feel as though they aren’t even going to give me the time of day.  I didn’t see the small print during the application process (mainly because it was listed as recently updated) but they want someone with two years of experience in the medical field.

My issue is the fact that a family member of mine basically did the same job – starting back in the 80’s and working 20 years with them.  They had no prior experience so naturally I’m going to hope that they let that slide with me too.  The starting salary for them is about $40,000.  That’s all I need to get by, so hopefully something sticks.

Technorati:

Patiently Waiting

Monday, July 21st, 2008

I’ve been pretty busy for the past couple of days, mainly with work.  I’m working on a new site now that’s proving to be a bit more difficult to code than I’d originally thought it would.  I’m working on another template that’s so beyond my experience it’s unreal.  I’ve been able to get somewhere with it, I’ve just never had to use so many div layers to accomplish everything.

On top of that, I’m waiting to hear from at least ONE of the jobs I’ve recently applied to.  I’m waiting on about 7 design positions and a few clerical ones as well, the biggest being one at the Hospital.  Even though it’s per-diem (call you when they need you) if you have your foot in the door and have your shit together, then you’ll more than likely be on their payroll for a full-time position in close to no time.  I’m really hoping to hear something from them though.  It’s local, easy to get to, and with most of my family already working there it shouldn’t be hard to get in.  I just have to wait for the application to even be looked at, let alone delivered to the hospital.  I completed it online but it has to go through two other offices before it gets to human resources.  Last week they had something going on with joint commission so that puts a delay on things.  But it’s been over a week since I submitted so I really just hope to hear SOMETHING.

In any event, I have some posting to do, mainly to get back on track with things I’m backed up on.  There are a few new cool technology things to boast about, and lets not get started on the new CSS3 standards. OY!

It’s been fun…

Monday, July 14th, 2008

I’m still visiting family, an issue with our car left us up here a little longer than we’d originally planned.  It isn’t too bad though, my father enjoys having me here, I’ve been in touch with a lot of friends and family over the course of the last few weeks so it’s been nice to catch up on things.  I’ve spent a lot of time with Lucy, I met up with Colin and his new baby boy (too damn cute).  I’m itching to get in touch with my friend Pat but he’s currently on tour and hasn’t really been in town.  His band, Stealing Jane, is doing very well right now.

I’m actively searching for a job up here.  I love Delaware but New York is really the place for me.  I was born here, raised here, and have so many things going on up here that I really don’t want to leave.  I truly appreciate everything that I have in Delaware, it’s just not “home” for me.  So I’ve gone through every job related website; Monster, HotJobs, CareerBuilder, SnagAJob, Craigslist – you name it, I’ve been to it.  I’ve put in applications for companies located everywhere from New York City to very fart out East on Long Island.  I haven’t gotten any phone calls yet, but I’m hoping to hear something soon.

I have some pretty big plans, but they all require a very solid income.  In order to live in New York (in your own apartment, utilities, food, whatever) you need to make at least $40,000 a year to have some kind of a savings account being maintained as well.  I’m not really too keen on living paycheck to paycheck so making anything from $40,000 a year, and up, is the route that I’m looking to take.

I’m putting in an application with Human Resources at the local hospital.  My father works there ,most of my family is employed there, and my Mom worked there for many years so they kind of know us.  I’ve also put in applications at a few different companies around here, mainly part-time kind of BS work but that would give me enough money so I can put some into a car.  I believe I’ll be moving first and then Sean is going to come up later on.  With this, I’m going to need my own means of transportation and with car insurance, and car payments, plus my other bills I figure about $700 a month in bills going out to cover everything.  A part time job of about $200 a week should be able to cover that.  After that, I can still push the applications to higher paying jobs and continue with part-time work on the weekends so I can bring in some extra money to handle food and making sure Bella is OK with her vet checkups and food as well.

It’s a big deal, a very big deal.  I’ll stay with my father until I can handle being out on my own.  After that I’m really not sure of what I’ll need to do to maintain it after the 40-hour work week but damn am I going to give it all I’ve got.  I put it many applications down in Delaware, for jobs all over Sussex County but I’ve been unable to hear anything, even for the stupid $7 an hour part-time retail work.  It’s pretty damn annoying.

In any event, I need to float around on some sites and put in some more applications.

: crosses fingers :

Still Moving

Thursday, July 3rd, 2008

I’m still in the process of moving.  I now have about 30% of the accounts transferred over.  Hopefully by Wednesday (it’s Thursday now) everything should be completely transferred and then Sean and I can take on the daunting task of completely revamping everything.  I really should be doing that now but I’m very content with the current layout on agn-solutions.net.  The revamp would be the backend.  The new script we’re going to use is connected to the WHM so everything, account wise, is going to basically be automatic.  That works great when it comes to new customers, but when it comes to integrating the old ones we’re bound to have a little bit of an issue.  I will hopefully be able to get everyone setup without any problems, and it would definitely help with those of my clients who have multiple domains hosted with me. I think my top one in that regard owns about 15 domains with me, so that should be interesting. It will certainly take a while but the amount of effort put in should certainly pay off in the end.

In other news, I have a few new projects under my belt.  Hopefully it will bring in a decent amount of money in upcoming months so that Sean and I are able to go forward with our plans and possibly move up to New York.  I’m more comfortable up here, it’s very easy for me to concentrate on things as well.  He’s noticing the same thing, even though he’s not used to “city living” with all of the street noise, he’s still able to put his head into work with absolutely no problem at all.

A perk would be that my grandmother has an available apartment, the downside would be that it’s $1,000 a month.  However – everything is included (heat/water/gas) so there really would be no issues there but the fact that in order to just live would cost us about $1600 a month (after cable/internet/phone and food) is a bit of a damper.  Not to mention car insurance and gas prices in New York are a little extreme.  So it’s a lot to think about but I think if we can both get to the point where we have about $4000 a month (in total) coming in – we should be absolutely fine.

He’s been on my iMac for the last week ( I brought it up with me ) and now he’s absolutely in love with it and wants to get one of his own.  While I can’t afford it right now I’m certainly thinking of getting him one in the future.  An iMac for an iMac – heh.

Snails are passing…

Tuesday, July 1st, 2008

While I wanted to slowly move everything over to the new host, I was hoping that it wouldn’t take over three weeks.  So I’ve decided to cash in on my 30 day money back guarentee and I’ve already got myself signed up with a new company that seems to have half a brain.  The downside is I typically would prefer to work with a company that’s located in America but I think Canada will do just as well at this point in time.  The resources that I need are pretty minimal so having to pay out of the nose for things just doesn’t seem like the logical thing to do right now.

There were a lot of server issues with this move, the back-ups weren’t properly created so it set a massive server load that I’ve just spent the last hour fixing.  I had to go through all of the accounts individually and remove the backups.  I also made it a point to change my password.  Hopefully I can get everything moved over (again) within the next day or so (personal-stuff wise) so that the company can take care of the clients for me.  I’d rather move my own things personally because it gives me an excuse to clear things out.  When it comes to the clients I like to leave that stuff up to the professionals.

I’m up in New York for a couple of days.  I came up here to see my father and sister for their birthdays (3 days apart – shopping this month has sucked).  I was looking forward to going down to Ocean City, MD for the fourth of July but Sean informed me of the unwanted house-guest for the 4th so we decided to stay up here and look for alternate methods.  Maybe we’ll wind up going down to Morgan’s Park or something, I don’t really know.  Either way we’re looking into firework alternatives so I guess we’ll just play it by ear.

For now it’s knocking on 4am, and considering I need to be up in 4 hours I guess it’s time to get some sleep.

Moving things around…

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008

Sean and I are in the process of moving things around. Not only are we cleaning the heck out of the office but I was also able to locate a new hosting company and I’m going to slowly transfer everything over within the next couple of weeks. I’m getting a great deal on excellent resources and there’s literally no turning back at this point.

I’ve filled out my FAFSA and I’m working on getting things together for admissions at the University of Phoenix Online. I’m going for my bachelors degree and I hope to be able to bring in enough money so I can afford to complete the degree. If I had no student-aid to back me up I’d have to shell out a little over $60,000 to complete the course. Since I don’t have that to just throw around I know that scholarships, grants, and the potential for student loans (down the road) will be the only way. I hope to have all of the technical stuff figured out in the future. I just know that I’m finally pushing for it and damn is it going to happen.

In any event, I reinstalled MarsEdit so I can start blogging again. My only dislike for the program is the lack of ability to add proper TAGS to the entry. I think there should be some kind of an add-on for it in the future. I’ll have to bring it up to support.