dianaschnuth

Looks like the HR issues I was having with my contracting job may have been ironed out. I wasn’t able to connect with the contact person to do the training on how to use the online timeclock, but she had sent me the Word file that explained the process. I had thought that a phone conference with this person was a requirement… but it seems that I am able to log in and record my hours, so that issue may be resolved.

This is good, since I finished a four-hour project this past Wednesday and have already been presented with another, more involved but similar project due by next Thursday.

My main contact there said that they could potentially give me enough work for a 40-hour week, but also mentioned that the summer months are the slow season for their firm. I’m not comfortable with the idea of relying on freelance and contract work to keep me financially afloat, even with a relatively steady inflow of work from this particular firm. Like I’ve said before: if it were just me, I might be more inclined to take the plunge. But I’m beyond the carefree “oh shit how do I buy food this week” days of my youth, and I can’t afford to jeopardize my half of the mortgage and car and insurance payments, or my student loans and credit cards and whatnot. That narrow window of financial spontaneity has officially closed, and I now crave stability.

I also have new comps due to my freelance client by Monday. They happened to choose the design I liked the least, but because its main features (rounded corners) matched some of their previous marketing materials. Once I had a copy of their existing flyer to give me ideas, and vector versions of the logo and logotype, along with their ideas on what they wanted to incorporate into the new comps from the old, I felt much more prepared to give them what they wanted.

It’s shaping up to be another working weekend of sorts. As long as I’m getting paid, though, I’m OK with it.

Had a call with my freelance client during my day off today. Discussed time frames, design ideas, web presence goals, and so forth. Realized after the fact that better pre-phone-call notes are in order for my next client, as well as actual signed paperwork, rather than just a verbal agreement. Might have been a little optimistic on my timeframe for ultimate delivery. Let’s just say that the next five to seven weeks are going to be devoted to this project as much as possible.

Enter the higher-paying freelance gig. I’m apparently getting training in the structure of their interface tomorrow evening, via the magic of the internet and conference calling. That very likely means that the dude has a project ready and waiting for me to tackle. These projects are estimated to take 16 hours to complete, which will basically be one week of evenings.

Add to that about one evening a week of juggling eBay postings, and I’m going to be one busy bee right shortly.

At least I gave the other freelance client an “assuming life doesn’t drop stuff on my head” clause.

Must not bow to the temptation to shirk exercise in favor of working on web stuff. Need to continue taking care of myself, despite all else.

P.S. – Did I mention that we’ve lost another team member at work, and will be losing another this Friday? Makes the workplace a lot more jumpin’, too.

A “normal” freelance web designer wouldn’t exactly call three gigs “a lot,” but it’s a lot for me. None are totally off the ground yet, but all are promising, even if not from a monetary standpoint.

Number one is the fellow podcaster who’s having me do time-consuming but relatively menial work for a good wage. He’s been snowed under by work lately (not literally like we have in Ohio, though), and hasn’t been able to reschedule my “training session.” I bugged him this evening via Google Chat, and we’re going to try to make it work for tomorrow or Monday evening. We’ll see how that works out.

Number two is the Frontpage website, referred by my corps buddy. I did some research on his nonworking .asf files, and it looks like he was using deprecated tags that the new IE7 no longer supports. Tonight, I e-mailed him some alternate code and a very reasonable quote (IMHO) for a new website, including three design comps and free minor tweaks after the design process is complete.

Number three is a new prospect. A new/reforming senior corps is researching other corps’ websites, and I basically got a fan letter regarding how the LSM site was designed. The representative of the new corps likes the lack of pop-up and pop-under advertising, the clean look, and the design concept in general. I e-mailed him this evening and gave him the name of our forum software and its server requirements, a run-down of the features of the LSM website, and an offer to assist him with his website research and the design of their new site, no charge. (I can’t bring myself to charge a non-profit. I know corps have severely limited budgets, and they’re gonna need to spend money on webhosting already.)

Add these to my drive and determination to get my portfolio done, and I’m one bad mutha.

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Don’t laugh. That’s not nice. I’m trying to boost my self-esteem here.

In the nearly five years I’ve worked for Sky, I don’t think I have ever had a snow day. An official one, anyway.

Last night, I called work to let them know that I would be under a two-hour delay, and would be in at 10am, barring any further weather developments. This morning, my supervisor called to let me know that Lucas County is under a Level 3 snow advisory, and that Sky is closed — for the morning, anyway. I’m supposed to confirm with our Status Line between now and noon to see whether things have changed, although it looks like we’re still under a Level 3.

I haven’t seen drifts like this in years. A plow came down our street yesterday evening; this morning, you wouldn’t even be able to tell there was a road there if you didn’t know (and if the mailboxes didn’t tip you off). The mail didn’t show up yesterday until 5:30pm, and the substitute mail chick nearly got her mail truck stuck two houses down from us.

If the Status Line says we’re opening for the afternoon, I’m going to call in and use a half day of personal time. Screw that. I don’t even know if the snow emergency will have abated by the time Aaron has to go in to work tonight. I’m glad he stayed home last night; I wasn’t comfortable with letting him go out with the roads the way they were yesterday.

Being that I’m officially allowed to be home from work… this isn’t bad. Once I have to start driving in it again, though, I’m going to lose my Talcott-ish love for the snow and go back to being my typical, winter-hating self.

I’m glad that I’ve finally reached a point in my life where I can summon some anger and determination to excel, where in years past I would have sunk into depression and given up for the time being. This is a step in the right direction.

I’m going to go start working on this now, while I have candles brewing upstairs, preparing to earn a big ol’ twelve bucks for me tomorrow at work. Yee-haw.

When I’m not working on either of those things, I’ll be visiting Cameron Moll‘s site for sources of inspiration influence.

I’m still so fucking fragile. At least I’m dealing with it in the proper manner now.

Update, 8:45pm: The SQL database backend of my new portfolio site is complete, apart from detailed descriptions of my work. I will now use all of my willpower to make it work *before* I make it pretty.

Update, 9:30pm: I’ve got a nice While loop happening now, and I’ve managed to make a dynamic (but unlovely) list of the work I plan to showcase in my updated portfolio. Unfortunately, I completely forgot about my candle wax melting upstairs; fortunately, it wasn’t at a critical point where forgetting about it was a Bad Thing™.