Tersosity & Verbosity

As you know if you actually read this place, which few do, it’s been mainly a repository for digests of my @jaysolo Twitter activity each day.  All well and good, but not the most compelling reading, and not what I had in mind even before Deb decided to finalize the process of dumping me.

While I still won’t feel that I can say anything here - even the preceding sentence is phrased in a way that might raise ire were she to swing by, and I hate to offend her because then she might dump m… oh wait! - I am willing to say more and make it where more of my writing goes, from the back to being me and not an appendage and silly to be on a marital blog when it’s been slain perspective.

Further, I have my ancient blogs that this in some ways continues, and those have content in old blogging software that might be safer replicated here.  Which also makes this site richer in content and more appeaking for ad sales.  Since it attracted none yet, I removed it entirely from the account I manage that markets primarily my sites but that is in Deb’s name at the agent we use.  I’ll add it to an account that’s entirely my own.  Sites that have existing ads will require her approval to migrate with continuity.  It may be desirable to leave them as they are toward household/child support/daycare expenses, but I am set up to have such a migration happen if as and when.  Preferably smoothly, but I’m ultimately in control of whether ads remain there.

As I was saying, I may start migrating/copying all or best of posts from the original blogs to here, either date-adjusted to be as of same time they originally appeared, or current, depending.  Add some depth, content, search mojo. erc.

I may also move this domain to different hosting.  Which relates to the above.  The blog is highly personal, but I put it on hosting that was primarily for business - hers and mine - and for the business oriented blog.  We’ve backed off from that, but in dividing things up, we’d kind of designated this hosting as “hers,” with the other two being “mine” though one of the accounts has content that’s “ours” that I’d be keeping live.  Trouble is, she’s changed plans, making control of this hosting moot, and most of what is on it is mine.  Not a big deal for her existing and prominent site to remain indefinitely.  Anyway, as something more personal, and as the direct successor to what is there, I thought I might migrate this to my original hosting.  If I can migrate the original blog content enough, I may ultimately be able to move more there by freeing up resources.

If and when I do that, you might see glitches.  That’s not immediate though.

I probably was going to cover other things.  Mainly, though, it’s about the blog status here.

In the upcoming week I will be making appointments I have put off making for no good reason, finish up some new and old paying work, and pump my newly updated resume out into the world at a furious pace (maybe look for “lesser” work locally too, to replace and/or supplement FredCo, which can’t last and wasn’t meant to, though cool to know I’ll have made 6 months at a grueling job where they mostly appreciate me).  Those are the big big things on the agenda, but work on the blogs is cathartic and has side revenue prospects.

Here’s a new and different idea: Companies offering debt-related benefits, as opposed to the more traditional emphasis placed on retirement and other things. Because yes, it is distracting (remarkable that link is from 2002, when the good times still rolled and only a few of us were stressed out about the glaringly obvious housing bubble problem).

Have you gotten more telephone averse with age? This is something I’ve written about before myself, or close to it, in reference to phone phobia. Even in times of no creditors, my heart leaps up into the roof of my mouth and addles my brain when I hear the phone ring, in large part because of doing phone support. This also relates to the increasing tendency not to be in touch with anyone who lacks online means of contact, like e-mail. And yes, it’s intrusive and all that, as noted.

These sound about right.

Overcoming resistance and getting things done, also from my old bookmarks.

Interesting Erica Douglass post on being worth more than you think, setting a baseline and sticking to it. I’ve been having related thoughts lately, exactly the opposite of where I had been and could be taking my attitude in this time of being beyond broke and completely without paying work. While there’s consideration of marginal revenue and zero versus non-zero, there’s also consideration of what it means to accept $10 an hour work, versus accepting $100 an hour work that’s moderately harder to find. And frankly, people are going to be less skeptical about hiring the likes of me for the latter than the former.

Good post on rules of thumb, some of which are familiar to me. I didn’t know the interruptions thing had a number attached, but I knew it was bad. I can seldom do much of substance without being free of interruptions. And I have to keep my self-sourced interruptions under control. I think part of my ramping up process that means the first lump of time I sit down to do a thing barely touches it is that it serves both as a thinking and mood altering phase, and a clearinghouse for things I’d do to derail myself, be they small tasks or ticks or what. The estimating one is well known, too, and soundly ignored by most.

I’ve always had trouble battling imposter syndrome, which ties into my trouble charging a lot and accepting too little income, as I discussed with the recruiter yesterday. Not that it helps for what’s a good income to change so dramatically over time. What was a great income in 1978 is live with your parents or in a car money these days. What was good money five years ago needs to be higher by an amount equal to the entire good annual income of thirty years ago. Crazy.

But yeah, I suffer from lack of focus, but not lack of ability or potential. I only think I’m worthless much of the time. Probably a good reason for people not to shoot me down when I do get cocky, because that may be annoying, but the quashing of it contributes to fear that I’m no good and unwillingness to tout myself even if I have a solid idea otherwise. Even the people who chip what they are willing to pay have contributed, because to me there’s a direct correlation between your cheapness and my perception of not being worth anything.

Just talked with a recruiter who apparently found me on Monster.com, and had a very favorable impression of him. I’m not a fit with the specific opening he had in mind, which would have required Foxpro background, but I’m going up to Burlington Monday for the quick get to know you meeting so it’s easy for them to send me out if they do come up with matches.

This means it’s time to update the resume, which is on my to do short list anyway, because they’re asking me to send an updated version in Word format, and references. It’s silly it’s not changed to speak of since I finally had something worthy of uploading to Monster.

I was going to tweet this, but Twitter is acting up and won’t take anything from me, and this allowed for a longer bit of text. I am so close to just “tweeting” here, since I can post so easily. Even from the Blackberry if needed.

On an amusingly related not to my consulting fees post the other day, here’s a post on how to sell overpriced services. The dressing part feels tongue in cheek, even though it’s tried and true advice I first saw decades ago, and so not me. The part about being right up front is something I’ve flirted with and lately come around to wanting to do again, though in my situation there may be a balance between every scrap of marginal revenue being vital and it being worthwhile to make the most of what work can be landed at real rates, allowing focus on clients willing to pay realistically.

This is good post on determining consulting fees, even if it does date back to January. I famously have trouble with pricing, which may be tied up somewhat with self-esteem and excessive desire to please others on my part, and ironically it’s probably low pricing that’s left me with a lack of business and prospects. Obviously you can’t sell to those who can’t or won’t pay a given amount, and competition is ever a factor, but in all reality I need to charge $100 n hour and put in plenty of hours in order to earn realistic income from a support the family perspective. That should be a powerful incentive not to charge $50 to spend 6 hours updating a web site, or $80 to spend 4 hours, or $112.50 for 9+ hours on a POS system update underpriced and misleadingly described. Or you would think.

Apparently text messages are private from employers, per the court.

How do you convince potential employers you’re not overqualified? I am a person of low expectations at the moment, but with to all appearances amazing background, assuming you’re not of the opinion that self-employed people are lazy scum and not to be hired, as one person who reviewed my resume for me revealed. I was completely thrown by failing to get a no-brainer temporary support job that would have been perfect to stabilize our situation, get me back in the world, and get me clearer on where I was heading.

This is exactly my view of it.

Face lift advice for improving your resume.

How you can work with 12 different types of clients.

With my family situation, type of work, and commuting costs, working from home has been not only much on my mind, but a conscious thing we’re trying to pursue. Sun recently pursued telework in a big way after determining the benefits.

Old post of mine and linking elsewhere on home office tips that deserves revisiting, after time has passed and things have changed to make it all the more relevant.