Work Related

Favorite co-worker (now an ex co-worker) emailed me this morning saying I had to call him immediately about a feature in MS Office 2007, so of course I did. I will never pass up an opportunity to talk about geeky stuff.

Turns out that Excel has some awfully cool new features that would have been GREAT to have on projects we used to work on together, so we reminisced about how AWESOME our reports would have been.

I snapped him out of his remorse by saying, "But the cool thing is that you have it NOW and you still get to make reports!".

See? There's always a bright side.

So, client number 2 has someone on their team very much like the Grinch. His attitude was evident from the start, but I did my best to ignore it because that's what I do with those kinds of people.

Anyhoo.... one of the messages Grinch 2 wanted me to incorporate into the course was the idea that change is good, embrace it and love it.

The course I created has lots of creative ways to keep a user engaged. For example, instead of the tired old multiple choice questions where you have a one in four chance of getting it right, my quizzes include things like wheel of fortune, fill in the blank, arrange things in sequence, etc.

Grinch 2's job was to be the content subject matter expert. Instead, he looked at my course and whined to the training director (cc'd me) that my quizzes weren't in multiple choice format. He wanted my quizzes to be multiple choice like all their other training pieces.

Dude! What about embrace change?

I nicely wrote back (cc'ing the training director), thanking him for his feedback and that I'd be more than happy to change the format if that's what the director of training wanted. And then I wrote,

While we’re circling back, I wanted to make sure that someone was looking at the actual content of the course. It was the attached Word document and needs SME review. I’m assuming [Grinch 2] is one of the SMEs.

The training director simply wrote back, "That would be correct. [Grinch 2] would be reviewing for content correctness as it related to the new policy.

Ha! Take THAT Grinch 2!

He's not going to be a regular customer of mine if I continue on with that client as a customer- so I'm not worried about running into him on a regular basis.

The course is called "Change management". Ha! Now THAT's irony.

There, I've put it out there for the whole world to see.

I turned in the project for client number 2 last night at 11:30 pm. I told them I'd have it done by Friday, but had a personal goal to have it done Wednesday. I made it!

This project, though scary to me at first, turned out really great. I sent the bill this morning and was asked if I was charging enough. Trust me, my peeps, I'm charging enough. I just happen to work fast and have a good eye for how things should be laid out when I'm designing. It’s a win-win situation. I feel good about the money I’m making and the client feels like they’re getting an excellent deal. Even better? I *love* what I’m doing!

This morning, The Hubs's cell phone was ringing. I told him that it was from my client, telling him what an awesome wife he has. Yeah, I really did say that!

Client number 1 has asked me if I'll do some live videocasts 20 hours a week in August and September. What? Are you kidding me? That would be a blast! In the meantime, I'll be working as many hours as I can to get 20 course hours of web-based training designed. That's a lot of stuff.

I think client number 2 will be hiring me for more projects. No, I know it. <- that there is the power of positive thinking. Thanks Dr. Peale!

I know for certain that client number 1 will be contracting with me for the foreseeable future. Will I have time for a client number 3? You bet. I'll MAKE time.

This edition of this and that will be so random, it'll make your head swim.

• I broke a tooth last week, all the way up beyond the gum line. My dentist fit me in the next morning (yay!) and had to do a root canal (boo!). He said that my nerve was exposed and was surprised that I wasn't screaming in pain. Something tells me that the 3x a day lyrica for the bone pain in my face might have something to do with my ability to handle nerve pain in my tooth.



• Einstein was neutered last week and had to stay indoors for 10 days. 10 very LONG days. Poor little guy probably didn't understand why all the sudden we weren't going to the doggy park or swimmin' in his pool, or even going for walks. During this 10 days he gained 2.5 lbs and I believe I did too.



• I'm enjoying this self-employment stuff a LOT. The awesome thing is that when I hear people say that I've exceeded their expectations, I know that it's going to help ME succeed and not just my employer. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy helping my employer be successful....



• My little nephew is ADORABLE and totally has my dad's eyebrows.



• I was telling a lady at the dog park today that my mom and dad's dog is really spoiled. The Hubs interrupted me to make a point of the fact that I was letting Einstein drink from my water bottle while sharing that story. OK, yes, my puppy is spoiled too.



• I got a call from the cardiologist's office telling me that they had more heart monitor readings from me than they usually get. They said that I just need to give them five more "really good" almost faints and I can turn in the monitor ahead of schedule. I don't know if that means that I've been pushing the button too much, or that I have a real problem. The only obsessing I'm doing is wondering if I've been pushing the button when absolutely nothing is going on.

I think that just about does it.

We interrupt this 'I'll be scarce' stuff to bring you the following interesting observation.

Working lots of hours for myself and working lots of hours for an employer feel exactly the same. I've been putting in the same types of insane hours that I've been known to work when I was employed rather than self-employed. I thought that I'd be constantly thinking, "more hours = more money"; whereas before, more hours = less $ per hour because I was salaried.

Turns out, it doesn't feel any different. I guess I've just proved to myself that I just work hard and money isn't, and never has been, part of the equation. That doesn't mean that I won't have a bit of a girly squeal when I receive my first invoiced payment.

...as you were.