Jake’s Life

I felt like I had to blog about this for some reason. It’s just that great.

Evernote, a note taking tool similar to OneNote, recently released a new version for Windows and Mac, as well as various web and mobile versions. I had tried Evernote way back when it first came out, and when it came down to that or OneNote, I chose OneNote. Now that this version has come out, I rapidly switched to Evernote (which makes it easy with their OneNote 2007 Import Wizard). I’ve also been expanding the use I have for this app, using it as:

• An archive for important paperwork, receipts, documents, certifications, etc.
• And image dump (Evernote has a neat feature that recognizes text in an image file!)
• Grabbing screenshots (select the screen clipper and you size the box to what you want and it will insert it in a notebook which you can save it from)
• Grabbing web content with the Firefox Web Clipper (select content on a web page and press a button dumps it into your notebook)
• Idea repository (they fly around my head all day)
• Code library (there’s so much code I have floating around for web development)

The eco-friendly janitorial site I finished was published today. The other day I received a signed contract for a larger project, and yesterday I began speaking with a new potential client over another larger project. I also switched car insurers, which saves me about $70 per month on my policy. If anyone else has any money they’d like to drop in my lap, I won’t turn you away. Seriously.

I’ve found some really good community sites out there pertaining to freelancing and working in the web field contract-based, and have been listening to the podcasts at Freelance Switch lately. Here’s some more interesting articles and sites relating to web working:

Legalese for Freelancers: Creating a Contract

Nine Factors to Consider When Determining Your Price

Building Credibility: 11 Ways to Show You’re a Professional

Web Worker Daily — The Why & How of Firing Clients

Web Worker Daily — Get Organized: Keep All Your Work in One Place

…Evernote is my choice… (see above link)

12 Breeds of Client and How to Work With Them

Well, a work day that is.

I get in the car and put on my mean, yet empathetic friend who is here to help, face.

I drive around, answer calls, see what’s going on.

Then I drive around some more.

There’s always at least one, “Huh, good,” moment.

Darkness falls, and I’m still going.

Close to the end of my shift I’m tired and at times a bit loopy.

By the way, I picked up my new badge last week. We used to have a seven pointed upside down star, which we still have, just inside a large shield now.

Yesterday I finished one of the web design contracts I was working on, but the client hasn’t uploaded it yet. They needed a really basic site, or as they put it, “a glorified brochure.” See the entire review site here.

I set up payment arrangements for my big contract today, so that will be nice to have a steady flow of extra income for a while, even after the projects done and running.

Sorry about not blogging in a while! Things have been definitely hectic. I had to fill some larger boots at work for a few weeks with my supervisor being gone, and picked up some overtime shifts in the process. The new 4/4 shifts are going great so far, but I am concerned over Sandro for my shift rotation on weekdays off. He insists he’ll be fine with it and we’re working out a system where he’ll still spend the night at my house during the week when I’m off. Mostly he’s happy that dinner will be made, his laundry will be done, and everything else will be taken care of while he’s at work and school.

Now that we’re on the topic of domestication, we’re officially looking for a place together. We’re both saving up and remotely checking apartments out. I’m on the lease here until next Summer so when we decide it’s time I’ll have to find someone to take the lease over, but if worse comes to worse he can cover the new place for a month or two while I do that.

In saving money I decided to get back into some freelance web design gigs. Within the last week I’ve set up three different gigs totaling $2500. One I am 95% percent done with and the only thing left to do is hand over the files, but I worked too quickly on it and am still waiting for the deposit check. The other begins in a few days, and the third client I am meeting with next weekend (my ex introduced us). Also, if any readers out there are interested in web design work definitely let me know and I’ll give you a good price. My largest contract, bid at $4000 by another freelance designer in the area, I signed her for $1500. I’m trying to keep the mind set of charging what the work is worth, not how much I think I can get for it. Oh, and if you hook me up with someone who needs a web site I’ll give you 10% of the total cost on it as a commission.

The other night Sandro and I went to see Eartha Kitt live at a jazz club in downtown. We got down there early to avoid the Saturday night pilgrimage to downtown and got parking. We stopped by Gameworks and played some video games, grabbed a beer at their bar, then walked to get our tickets. We had reservations and it was still another hour to go, so we went to the Westin and grabbed a drink at their bar before heading back over to the jazz club and stood in line. I was not a fan of hers and was going mainly for Sandro, but I have to say she put on a hell of a show. We sat at the first table in the very front center of the stage.

I’ll try to keep you guys updated more often! I have plenty of pics on my Blackberry that I still need to post too.

Dizzle (Yaya bitches!)

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Thorpedo

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Breaker of Hearts

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Lil’ Maddy O’Cockface

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Just wanted to post and say that my work schedule has changed, partly for the better and partly not. I’ve switched to four days on and four days off, so my days off will rotate.

Other than adjusting to that, not much else is going on. I’m taking pictures like mad wherever I go so I’ll have lots to post soon.

In the last few days I’ve been in a few sticky situations, both literally and figuratively. Literally speaking, Sandro would kill me for speaking of them. Figuratively is a free-for-all.

We all get into situations once in a while where when all is said and done, and even during the course of an event, a possible outcome is affecting you much more than the actual outcome. It didn’t happen, but the mere possibility that it could have happened is what bothers you most.

Thursday evening I was parked inside an apartment complex doing some paperwork. I constantly check my rearview mirror when parked out of habit for safety. Well, mid-paperwork I look up and see something I didn’t really expect to in the form of a younger male about 20 yards from the back of my car walking horizontally across my mirror. What tripped me out? He had what looked like an M-16 against his shoulder and was aiming it at something.

I won’t go into the entire event and what happened, but to make a long story short he genuinely didn’t understand—and didn’t care—how close to getting hurt someone could have been. It was an airsoft rifle, full size, with the 2-inch orange tip painted black to match the rest of the rifle except for a centimeter or two of the very tip (which from twenty yards away is indistinguishable). To him it was okay to walk around with that, pointing it at cars and people, ducking behind things and aiming, all because it wasn’t “a real gun,”and the “tip is orange.”

I don’t have to go into what his parents are like when you know his view on the issue is that.

With all of the news stories about children having guns and killing others, and children getting killed for pointing realistic guns at people (Here’s a news flash kid…see the gun on my waist? I carry it in case someone points a gun at me.), you’d think someone would have a brain about them when they pick something like that up, see a fully marked two thousand pound piece of Ford Crown Vic 20 yards away, and begin pretending to inflict violence.

Part of the reason I am so pissed, and this is a personal character flaw of my own, is that he won’t understand the feeling of my heart jumping into my throat when I first saw him. He doesn’t get what was going through my mind as I was calling out on the radio what I was out with, and the mental preparation I was giving myself as I was making my way towards him on foot. It was funny to him, that I would make a mistake like that.

Silly me.

“I already knew one of your cars was totaled by a hit and run last night…who do you think was driving?!”

“I don’t give a fuck! Dat badge make you a tahget to me! We handle this next tahm ‘cuz I’m comin’ back! You see mah record from Cali?! I don’t have no pro’lim hittin’ one o’ y’all!”

“I miss laying next to you. I love falling asleep while you’re playing on your laptop and picking on me every other minute…”

“On the long arm of the law, we’re the middle finger.”

The cute Russian boy gets ready to wash my car at work.

 
The clean car.

Sandro and I were really excited about going to the annual Washington Beer Lover’s festival today, but once we got there they ran out of parking. There was also at least a two mile line of cars waiting to get in the other direction. We scrapped the idea and went to the Taphouse instead, then went to see The Happening. It wasn’t all that great.