Today it's all oysters and no pearls. and it's barely afternoon.
This morning I have overslept (tch-tch), done three loads of laundry, and moved the Closet Project at good 40% toward completion with the final weeding out of a few more garments and the sorting of "things I will wear a lot" from "things I might wear occasionally," complete with bagging the "occasionally" section to keep it all clean.
This is not because my compulsive work ethic is taking a holiday.
No, it's the aforementioned Crazy Component--still the Magical Mystery Machines account.
When I sat in the cubicle farm, the need to step back for an hour or two and let my subconscious work out how to accomplish whatever impractical demands were being made of me meant doing a lot of smoking (hardly healthy), staring at data until my head was going in so many circles that rational thought was impossible, and, not infrequently, finally doing something not because it was the right thing to do but because I was "at the office" and I felt compelled to do something.
Now, when someone demands the stupid, the illogical, or the downright absurd, I can go do something productive while the back of my brain works on the problem.
It doesn't necessarily make arriving at the "right" course of action easier--ridiculous and unobtainable are still ridiculous and unobtainable --but it's certainly much less aggravating.
So, maybe that's a pearl.
Posted by AnneZook at 01:24 PM | Comments (0)Got a little distracted from the topic in that last post, didn't I?
For the record, I shopped yesterday and at the Container Store I acquired the bounty of not one but two small bookcases for half price! (Floor model sell-outs. Score!) So I got extra shelving in my home office and also three more shelves for the closet, to assist in the never-ending task of organizing the space. I also cleaned out old and unloved garments and took them to a donation station, another huge step toward getting it under control.
I still have boxes and bags full of stuff--the cubicle stuff and presents I've received from Webstrainer that I can't decide what to do with--stuck it all back in the closet until I have time and energy to go through it all--but aside from that heap, I made major Organizational Progress yesterday. I feel good about that.
So--that 72 hours we were going to talk about.
Well, first, two oysters.
I celebrated my new reliance on freelance income by threatening to fire one client--the JasonWife account--if they don't provide me with the site features I need, and smacking another one across the chops for "helping" so relentlessly that a pipeline to the almighty wouldn't allow me to produce success for them.
I can't stand clients who want to "help" and especially those who demand major structural and focus changes every 10 days.
A review of past performance shows that their results have been poor all this year. You would think that would be enough to convince them that they don't know what they're doing and that they should leave it to the experts, wouldn't you?
I mean, granted, their Magical Mystery Machines product makes my head hurt when I try to understand it enough to advertise it all, but the kind of "help" that would be useful--like a website with clear destination pages and less reliance on industry abbreviations--would go a long way toward "helping" me and the Webstrainer software understand what they're doing.
Aside from that, the first client from one of the two new agencies (hereinafter referred to as Mister Dillon) bailed, so that project is dead in the water. I'm not sorry--another client with ridiculous expectations and even more ridiculous demands for how quickly their expectations needed to be met. The agency swears there will be Real business some day soon. Whatever.
Haven't heard back from the other agency (hereinafter identified as Sandwich Man) about that proposal for the first of three accounts they were thinking of offering us. but that's partly my fault--they needed one additional bit of info and it took me until Friday to get it to them.
Things with Louie Louie, my original pearl, seem to be reasonably smooth. I have five active accounts with him (and one on hiatus), three of whom seem to be happy clients. One of the others is the aforementioned Magical Mystery Machines problem child. The other is the FastFinder company who used to do different things on their website that produced massive success but who aren't doing that any more and won't stop complaining that their massive success melted away.
And, finally, there's UglyFruitSoftware, a definite oyster, my most recent client and (unusually for me) a direct account--no agency involved. Possibly the worst--certainly the ugliest--site I'm trying to work with--and that's after I sent page after page of suggestions for improvement to the lunatic client who inexplicably insisted on doing all his own coding and design. He made about 1/3 of my changes before he got bored. I do not predict a long-term relationship or any measurable success. If I found myself on that website, I'd hit the back button instantly and go find a more professional company to work with.
I'm not regretting my decision to go it on my own--not at all--but I'm not immediately seeing any decrease in the level of Crazy I'm dealing with.
On the other hand, I did work in my pajamas one day this past week, so, fun there.
Posted by AnneZook at 09:50 AM | Comments (2)I thought my recent Life Change was significant enough to warrant a new category of adventures on the sidebar--thus, Oysters and Pearls.
From here on out, I expect to spend a fair time dissing the slippery oysters or polishing the perfect pearls I gather in my journey toward entrepreneurial success.
But first--one last complaint.
This was not my dream. Living as just one of the anonymous rats powering the corporate wheel for the occasional pellet of food didn't really bother me. It's what I was raised to expect* to spend my life doing.
Now? If I fail to succeed, it's not my fault. That's all I'm sayin'. I don't have a toolbox for this situation--my coping skills are around workplaces filled with people less-intelligent, less-motivated, and less-committed than I am. If it's just me--and success or failure rests only on my own efforts--I don't really know what to do with that situation.
/digression
No,wait. First, a side-note about storage.
I really need one more bookcase--I need more shelving. I need something no more than 20"-24" wide that will go with the carefully selected (matching) bookcases I already have in here. (Sadly, they are 32", so another one of them won't fit.) The home office corner needs that last critical extra few feet of space to get things properly organized.
So. 72 hours into it, how does the adventure progress, you ask?
It's been--normal.
But weird.
The first two days I bounced between doing Actual Work and trying to tidy up the disaster I made of my home office by dragging a couple of boxes of stuff home from my cubicle and dumping it all here. That's going to be a week-long project--getting things set and settled to let me work from here for the long-term, and not just the occasional day--so, for the short term, I dumped it all in the closet and out of sight.
Sigh. That closet is the bane of my existence. I've been cleaning it out, I swear, for five years, and it's still stuffed. What is all that stuff? I can't possibly need all that stuff!
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* Well, no, really I was raised to scrub floors and wipe dirty noses--but I came to terms with my disinclination to become a Soccer Mom a long time ago.
Posted by AnneZook at 09:09 AM | Comments (2)Tomorrow!
"Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you, tomorrow. You're only a day a-way."
I've never seen the musical, but that snippet of that song has been singing in my head all day.
So, what's been happening?
#1 - The announcement to the 'Nuts afield actually went out Friday afternoon. It went to a small, selected set of email addresses which struck me as odd. (For instance, it wasn't sent to my co-workers in this this office.)
It contained no reference, no matter how implicit, to suggest that any of the 'Nuts would be welcome if they wanted to contact me about management.
#2 - Nevertheless, I heard back from one 'Nut almost immediately with a request to contact him on his personal email account. Who it was surprised me--not one of the ones I'd expected.
I haven't contacted him yet--without at least tacit approval from the Corral, I'm not really certain what to say to the guy. Back when it was the Argonuts in charge, we didn't allow people to go off the reservation (dated, racist metaphor--sorry) in all directions whenever the mood struck them. The Corral seems to be more laissez-faire about the whole thing but I don't really know for sure.
#3 - Sent proposals to two agencies this morning. Anywhere from two to six new accounts.
Without any additional accounts, I now have my expenses covered and, thanks to underbidding the first five accounts*, am getting close to my maximum workload.
I don't know that I'm happy about this. I mean, I haven't even started being self-employed yet.
Where are the months of nail-biting and account juggling to keep the bills paid? Where are the hours spent staring longingly at a phone you need to ring with an offer of new business? Where are the days spent bonding with other entrepreneurs who are facing similar challenges? Where's the struggle?
Me, being me, I look at this and suspect I must be doing it wrong.
I was looking forward to a bit of leisure each day. Time to clean the kitchen, scrub the bathroom floor, do a load of laundry every day or two, keep up with the dusting, etc.
A bit of exercise in between massive bouts of analysis. Time to read the latest articles, view the videos, keep up with developments in the field, chat with the experts. That sort of thing.
Oh, well. I remind myself that, if nothing else, I should at least be getting my weekends back. I can dink around then.
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* I'm not going freelance to get rich. I never wanted to be rich. I want to get up every day and look forward to work. I want to find my job interesting and challenging. And, yes, I want to make enough money to cover the bills with a bit left over for entertainment and amusement.
"Rich" is overrated. Rich people have nothing to do all day. Human beings need purpose in their lives.
I thought it was worth an update to say that today, over a week after I submitted my resignation letter, I actually heard from NewerBoss Peter on the subject.
He had little to say other than than they're looking to hire a replacement to work out of the CA office, which I expected, and that the announcement to the 'Nuts Afield will be sent out today. (Good morning for me to be working from home, I think.)
He surprised me my saying they'd "reached out" to Webstrainer's Help system. The sensible thing to do would have been to advertise or ask around for replacement. Webstrainer cannot and will not help you hire internally. (They will recommend you set everything on automatic, which will produce disaster, but they mean well.)
Surprised me as a first step, that's all I'm saying. I mean--this isn't rocket science or some alien endeavor. You hire for it like you hire for any skill-centric job. Find the best mix of skills and personality you can.
Anyhow, he said he heard I've put on more clients in the last week. That puzzles me--not sure who he's been talking to who would have passed that info on. I don't care that much--it wasn't a secret--but it puzzles me.
Anyhow. I have a 90-minute online meeting with the new agency in half an hour. As soon as I can get him off the phone, I plan to make an appearance at the office. 'Cause they're still paying me, though Tuesday, so I think they might like to see my face each day.
When last we talked, I was moaning about--well, all the usual stuff plus the Being Old thing.
So. Quick update.
#1 - Spoke to Gidget about her inexplicable refusal to work w/my clients. All a failure in communication. She's on board.
#2 - On Tuesday, November 1, I handed in my resignation. My last day at the office will be Tuesday, November 15. HOOray?
#3 - The agency I was hoping to hear from did contact me--and offered me three accounts. So, that's okay.
#4 - AARPer information acquired--not yet submitted. I'm having a little trouble getting over myself. Aged, geezer woman that I apparently am.
#5 - The only response NewerBossPeter had to my letter was to ask if I was going to be freelancing full-time and would I like them as a client. I think that was very nice of him and suggests that maybe he had a higher opinion of my skills than I thought he had. Don't you think?
Anyhow. I wrote back and explained that I already have a pretty full schedule but that I'd be willing to take up to half a dozen of the 'Nuts, for $250-$300/month each. Since I know for a fact that the Piggyback Corral is only collecting $75/month from each of the 'Nuts, I figured that wouldn't fly, but I'm not becoming self-employed so I can starve in a gutter.
I haven't heard from NBPeter since. Not a peep. I've had occasion to send him an email or two on various topics. Not a sound out of him. Dunno what he's thinking.
Another of the Corral Bosses was in town this week for a training class we're holding at the moment. He didn't say anything to me (aside from the usual hellos, I mean) until right before he left, when he pulled me aside to say "thank you" for--well, he didn't say, but the inference was sort of for the work I'd done, so I'm thinking that's where he meant to be going.
He wanted me to understand that no bridges were burned.
I dunno. You think he thought I was thinking they'd offer me $$ to stay? 'Cause I wasn't thinking that and he knows it now so if he was thinking it then, he's not thinking it now.
Anyhow.
Dealing with the flood of new clients, trying to get just enough work done to string them along for a week or two while I try to shake myself free of this place explains why I've been quiet, right?