Unutterably Silly So what are you doing RIGHT NOW?

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

Right now opening a book on how long a colleague will remain stuck in a lift

(he has already called for help, so I'm not being that heartless!)

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by ShortNCuddlyAm

Right now opening a book on how long a colleague will remain stuck in a lift

(he has already called for help, so I'm not being that heartless!)

Go for 12 hours.

(then intercept the repairperson and offer to split the winnings)

[Slite]

Originally Posted by Sparrow

Go for 12 hours.

(then intercept the repairperson and offer to split the winnings)

Or never, and intercept every repairperson and klonk'em over the head and dump'em down the elevatorshaft!

Yes, I'm a bit violent-prone today... had a shitty day at work!

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

Originally Posted by Sparrow

Go for 12 hours.

(then intercept the repairperson and offer to split the winnings)

I was beginning to think that's what ourt Facilities lot had decided to do - they said the repairman couldn't find the faulty lift...

Originally Posted by Slite

Or never, and intercept every repairperson and klonk'em over the head and dump'em down the elevatorshaft!

Yes, I'm a bit violent-prone today... had a shitty day at work!

Nah - I like this colleague. I'll wait for it to happen to someone else

(Hope you have a better day tomorrow)

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

Savoring my second pot of pu-er tea to celebrate being jobless, and trying to keep up with this thread

heh, good luck with that last bit !

Zelda, the market seems in much better shape now so I don't think finding the next contract should be a problem. I hope I don't find one too soon, because I have a very long list of things to do, and I'd like to take it easy for a few days too I feel a bit guilty because I just left in the middle of the project I was working on, but also happy that I'm free-lance and don't have to take s**t if I don't want to. Other people on the project don't have that freedom and had to stay and take it.

you're right, the market seems to be doing almost shockingly well right now. it's a big change from a few months ago ; i spent all winter putting ads in professional sites and panicking because i had practically no new work at all coming in. now i'm wondering if there is any possible way i can fit in a new project alongside my FOUR currently in-progress ones, especially since the project is "urgent" and needs to be online by mid-november (it's a project i would usually count 3 months for, so twice the time allowed).

i will have to make a quotation for the potential client and i'm really tempted to make it a bit high just so she won't choose me (because of course, in addition to giving not nearly enough time, also she has not much money. ). i would never have expected this rush in january. about 70% of my earnings for 2009 were billed between july and august ! of course, i still have a deficit overall for the year to date but luckily it's shrinking...

i know just what you mean, it is one of the best things about being freelance, knowing you are not stuck with the evil clients from hell.

About quotations, I don't make them as a free-lance because I bill strictly by the day, but I worked in several IS companies, and normally a quotation should be accompanied by a description of the work that will be done: ideally it should be a document written by the client (cahier des charges), but if there is no such document you should write that description yourself. In theory everything that is added or changed in the initial requirements should be charged separately. Of course, in practice it's all a question of commercial negotiation and power balance...

too true.

grr. i hate writing cahier des charges, and usually when i'm working on a project alone (without a project manager) i have to do them, the clients don't seem to understand what it is. you're right that anything not in the cahier des charges should be billed extra, but sometimes it's tricky. almost always, actually. unless it's quite clearly an additional service, most clients seem to think that they can ask for an unlimited number of modifications, versions, and revisions, without extra charge, even when it means two or three times (or more) the work originally planned.

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

Just found out I have an author cloud at Librarything

I'm a bit surprised (and slightly ashamed) at some of the names that pop out in big print. Some of them I don't even like that much, but I guess I did read several books by them

heehee ! i have no author cloud but i see we have similar tastes. and hey, that guy "anonymous", wow ! he wrote some good stuff, and he was amazingly prolific !!!

Originally Posted by montsnmags

I'z in teh bak of ur hed.

Yours insincerely,
Adrian

engrish ftw !!!

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

i will have to make a quotation for the potential client and i'm really tempted to make it a bit high just so she won't choose me (because of course, in addition to giving not nearly enough time, also she has not much money. ).

Why not just be honest and tell them with your current schedule you can't possibly meet their time line? If you just give them a too high quote they won't come back for future quotes.

BOb

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Why not just be honest and tell them with your current schedule you can't possibly meet their time line? If you just give them a too high quote they won't come back for future quotes.

BOb

well, i did tell her that was a tight deadline, and also that i already have quite a lot of work right now. but to be honest, i think a "fair" quote will be too high for her, so the problem might resolve itself. especially since i'm not prepared to give her a deal since i don't know her at all and she'll make me work in bad conditions (not enough time). and since each project is unique, if she likes my work (which she says she does, that's why she contacted me), if she has more work in future she might come back for a quote just to see, or she might work with someone else on this project and be happy with them and keep working with them in future. honestly, if all her projects are going to be underpaid and "urgent" with half the time really needed to do the work, i'm not going to make too much effort to try to catch her. i have enough clients like that already.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

honestly, if all her projects are going to be underpaid and "urgent" with half the time really needed to do the work, i'm not going to make too much effort to try to catch her. i have enough clients like that already.

BTW, what do you do? Do you work on web applications, usability and user experience at all or do you just mostly do graphic design/color/layout web site type stuff?

BOb

[ravenne]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

BTW, what do you do? Do you work on web applications, usability and user experience at all or do you just mostly do graphic design/color/layout web site type stuff?

BOb

Z installs little pinwheels on websites to hypnotize users and make them wanna buy things they don't need....

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

BTW, what do you do? Do you work on web applications, usability and user experience at all or do you just mostly do graphic design/color/layout web site type stuff?

BOb

i'm a webdesigner, so i do graphic design and i can code a site completely if it's just html and css. i don't do any developpement ; i have a colleague i work with when there is any need for php or databases or cms or whatnot. i've never made a web app but i do try to pay a lot of attention to ergonomy and usability and accessibility ; that is important even for the simplest website.

Originally Posted by ravenne

Z installs little pinwheels on websites to hypnotize users and make them wanna buy things they don't need....

shhh, ravenne, you'll give away my secret !!!

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

i'm a webdesigner, so i do graphic design and i can code a site completely if it's just html and css. i don't do any developpement ; i have a colleague i work with when there is any need for php or databases or cms or whatnot. i've never made a web app but i do try to pay a lot of attention to ergonomy and usability and accessibility ; that is important even for the simplest website.

I was just curious. Our app seriously needs a UI/UX designer person. In addition to the styles and layout we need help with navigation and work flow. However, we are looking to re-do the front end to be Silverlight instead of HTML. I expect you have worked with Silverlight/XAML yet? Although I am also evaluating re-doing the whole thing with Ruby on Rails too... which is all HTML/CSS/Javascript front end.

Not sure if you know, but I am a web developer. I just know enough about CSS to be dangerous and am certainly not "artistic" so color schemes and such aren't my thing. So, I do do all of the programming and database stuff. I am actually the chief architect so have a lot of say in the tools and technologies used and input into other needs that we have.

Anyway, I am trying to talk the boss into consulting with a UI/UX designer that has worked with web based LOB apps. Not sure if I can get him to out source it. Of course, right now they are really watching stuff closely and not spending a lot of extra money. But, I hope that frees up a bit as we get into next year.

BOb

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by ravenne

Z installs little pinwheels on websites to hypnotize users and make them wanna buy things they don't need....

I'm trying to click the BUY NOW button, but I can't find it.

BOb

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

I was just curious. Our app seriously needs a UI/UX designer person. In addition to the styles and layout we need help with navigation and work flow. However, we are looking to re-do the front end to be Silverlight instead of HTML. I expect you have worked with Silverlight/XAML yet? Although I am also evaluating re-doing the whole thing with Ruby on Rails too... which is all HTML/CSS/Javascript front end.

Not sure if you know, but I am a web developer. I just know enough about CSS to be dangerous and am certainly not "artistic" so color schemes and such aren't my thing. So, I do do all of the programming and database stuff. I am actually the chief architect so have a lot of say in the tools and technologies used and input into other needs that we have.

Anyway, I am trying to talk the boss into consulting with a UI/UX designer that has worked with web based LOB apps. Not sure if I can get him to out source it. Of course, right now they are really watching stuff closely and not spending a lot of extra money. But, I hope that frees up a bit as we get into next year.

BOb

okay, well like i said, i'm not a dev, so i only understood about half of that (silverlight ? LOB apps ? maybe it has a different name in french). i know what ruby on rails is, but only by name. but keep me posted. i've never worked on an app before, but we could talk about it.

Originally Posted by pilotbob

I'm trying to click the BUY NOW button, but I can't find it.

BOb

it's right there ! the big red one.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

i'm not a dev, so i only understood about half of that (silverlight ? LOB apps ? maybe it has a different name in french).

No worries.

Silverlight is a new client side technology by Microsoft sort of like Flash but different and better for some things.

LOB is Line Of Business.... the aps I work on are a property management app, you know for people that own apartment buildings and stuff to keep track of tennents and rents and also a financial app for people in that business to keep their general ledger and accounts payable too.

If we do get some money freed up for a designer, I will definitely contact you on your rates and availability. Any public web sites you worked on that you could send us to as a sample of your work?

BOb

[Reyben]

Yellow.


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