I've not been posting here that much in the past couple of weeks. Why?
Projects. As I've stated, I'm nearing official launch date for my website. It has a planned release of November 1st, 2009. In conjunction with that, we are finally launching my wife's Etsy shop as well. She's working a full time job, full time classes finishing up her BA degree (business admin), doing translations for her company, and taking pottery classes on Saturdays, with a line of pottery goods that she'll be launching in 2010, time dependent. In between freelance work, the e-book, the website, the language lessons, and everything else...we are lucky if we have free time on Saturday afternoons and Sundays. We are both very, very busy little bees.
Once the website goes live, this blog will be transitioning into personal only. The time for seperation of professional and personal is way past due, which was the whole spark that set this into motion.
On the plus side, once the website is launched, things will slow down for the rest of the year. I'm booked solid with work until the end of the year, and I'm really hoping to have that e-book published by then as well. Had hoped to have it done by November but...well, life has a funny way of knocking your timelines around a bit. Suffice to say, business is great, and only getting better. 2010 should be a really knock-out year, and I'm looking forward to expanding my horizons in Europe, especially.
Hope you have a Happy Halloween!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Progress!
Settled on a good theme for the website today, and I'm about 30% done with the content sections. Right now I'm just waiting on e-mails back from clients who I asked for testimonials from, as well as finishing up the rest of the content, adding links, bios, pictures, and customizing. Sure, you can set up a website in a day, but to flesh it out takes time, and I'm not a professional web designer. I'm taking my time. Official launch date is November 1st, so I'm not rushing anything. I want it pristine when it goes live.
Other than that...today was smooth sailing. Spent the morning/early afternoon doing some freelance work, then spent about 3 hours working on the website. I'm doing another hour's worth of work while dinner cooks, then it's time for a relaxing evening with a bottle of wine and Evy's company while we watch the latest Heroes and Castle episodes.
Other than that...today was smooth sailing. Spent the morning/early afternoon doing some freelance work, then spent about 3 hours working on the website. I'm doing another hour's worth of work while dinner cooks, then it's time for a relaxing evening with a bottle of wine and Evy's company while we watch the latest Heroes and Castle episodes.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Update
Website is coming along nicely. I expect to have it launched by the weekend. I actually spent about 4 hours this afternoon working on themes and such.
Busy. Have a test on Wed. Two projects to finish up for October. Another rejection on one of my shorts, so time to find another place to ship it off to. Evy's B-day on Halloween. Have to buy her a present.
No time!
Busy. Have a test on Wed. Two projects to finish up for October. Another rejection on one of my shorts, so time to find another place to ship it off to. Evy's B-day on Halloween. Have to buy her a present.
No time!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Things that make you go "%(*)@)#!!!!"
I work from home. As a result, I rarely use public transportation, other than when the weather is crappy, or if we are lugging 50 lbs worth of groceries or some such. Evy tells me horror stories about the tram, but I don't always get to experience things first-hand.
Yesterday, I did. And I can totally appreciate her perspective on it, as well as agree with the big WTF question regarding the following behavior.
Bulgarians, for some reason or another, are incapable of riding the tram without all crowding into the very front of the tram. There can be four tram cars available to sit in...but all forty people on the tram will be crammed into the first 10 feet of the first car, packed in like sardines. They refuse to budge, and they get incredibly irritable and cranky when you need to get through. To the point where they will screech at you for pushing by.
Why do they do this?
Let me explain how the tram system works here. If you want to ride the tram, you either need a ticket, which can be purchased from a kiosk on the sidewalk, or from the driver. Or, you can deposit coins into a slot machine (which rarely ever works) which gives you a paper ticket. This is at the front of the tram. You can also purchase a swipe-card which can be used at the card-reading stations located in each tram car.
If you want to buy a ticket from either the kiosk or the driver, you almost always have to have exact change. You cannot, for example, buy three tickets with a ten leva bill (tickets are 1 leva per). The driver or the kiosk attendant will tell you to get bent. Unless you do like me and just pretend like you don't understand that they are asking you for exactly three leva, at which point they get very cranky. Evy has actually had a kiosk lady yell at her (literally yell) for not having exact change.
In any case. If everyone were using the coin machine or purchasing tickets from the driver of the tram, I could understand why they are all packed in up front. But they aren't. No one from Bulgaria ever uses the coin machines, because they know that the damn things are almost always broken. Only foreigners use the coin machine because they don't know any better, which means you then have to get a ticket from the driver. Most Bulgarians who ride the tram regularly have a card to swipe at one of the various card readers. Remember, there are one per car.
Yesterday we went to the store and got a new router, a all-in-one printer/etc. (needed a new one), and some various sundries. We had coins to burn, so we decided to get on the front of the tram and the tram was just about to leave so we didn't use the kiosk, we just bolted for the door. There were 5 cars.
The front of the tram was so crowded that I couldn't get up the stairs with the printer box I was carrying. I then proceeded to get two paper cuts as I tried to jostle my way through a PACKED crowd of at least 40 people....ALL OF WHOM HAD CARDS AND WERE TRYING TO GET TO THE CARD READER AT THE FRONT OF THE TRAM. The other four cars....empty. Not a soul.
One lady yelled at me. Two older men were cursing as I tried to maneuver through with my box held above my head. Meanwhile there were at least 35 other people yelling at each other trying to get to the damn card reader. Meanwhile, Evy finds out that the coin machine is broken (imagine that) and she needs to buy tickets from the driver. Only, the front of the bus is so crowded it takes THREE stops before it's clear enough for her to actually get to the guy and purchase a ticket.
Know how many of those people purchased a ticket from the driver? Zero. Know how many of them used tickets in the punchers? Zero (when you have a ticket you have to get it punched with a hole puncher unique to each tram mounted on the wall; ticket checkers will sometimes come in and check to see that your hole punches match the tram you are on). Every single individual on that tram used their card, and they all used the very first tram card swiper, ignoring the the other four swipers in the other four cars.
Why? Why don't people use the other tram cars? Evy said she always just gets on the last car and never has to fight for a seat, while she can look ahead and watch 30-40 people all clamoring for the card reader in the first tram car.
I don't get it.
Things that make you go hrmmm
Yesterday, I did. And I can totally appreciate her perspective on it, as well as agree with the big WTF question regarding the following behavior.
Bulgarians, for some reason or another, are incapable of riding the tram without all crowding into the very front of the tram. There can be four tram cars available to sit in...but all forty people on the tram will be crammed into the first 10 feet of the first car, packed in like sardines. They refuse to budge, and they get incredibly irritable and cranky when you need to get through. To the point where they will screech at you for pushing by.
Why do they do this?
Let me explain how the tram system works here. If you want to ride the tram, you either need a ticket, which can be purchased from a kiosk on the sidewalk, or from the driver. Or, you can deposit coins into a slot machine (which rarely ever works) which gives you a paper ticket. This is at the front of the tram. You can also purchase a swipe-card which can be used at the card-reading stations located in each tram car.
If you want to buy a ticket from either the kiosk or the driver, you almost always have to have exact change. You cannot, for example, buy three tickets with a ten leva bill (tickets are 1 leva per). The driver or the kiosk attendant will tell you to get bent. Unless you do like me and just pretend like you don't understand that they are asking you for exactly three leva, at which point they get very cranky. Evy has actually had a kiosk lady yell at her (literally yell) for not having exact change.
In any case. If everyone were using the coin machine or purchasing tickets from the driver of the tram, I could understand why they are all packed in up front. But they aren't. No one from Bulgaria ever uses the coin machines, because they know that the damn things are almost always broken. Only foreigners use the coin machine because they don't know any better, which means you then have to get a ticket from the driver. Most Bulgarians who ride the tram regularly have a card to swipe at one of the various card readers. Remember, there are one per car.
Yesterday we went to the store and got a new router, a all-in-one printer/etc. (needed a new one), and some various sundries. We had coins to burn, so we decided to get on the front of the tram and the tram was just about to leave so we didn't use the kiosk, we just bolted for the door. There were 5 cars.
The front of the tram was so crowded that I couldn't get up the stairs with the printer box I was carrying. I then proceeded to get two paper cuts as I tried to jostle my way through a PACKED crowd of at least 40 people....ALL OF WHOM HAD CARDS AND WERE TRYING TO GET TO THE CARD READER AT THE FRONT OF THE TRAM. The other four cars....empty. Not a soul.
One lady yelled at me. Two older men were cursing as I tried to maneuver through with my box held above my head. Meanwhile there were at least 35 other people yelling at each other trying to get to the damn card reader. Meanwhile, Evy finds out that the coin machine is broken (imagine that) and she needs to buy tickets from the driver. Only, the front of the bus is so crowded it takes THREE stops before it's clear enough for her to actually get to the guy and purchase a ticket.
Know how many of those people purchased a ticket from the driver? Zero. Know how many of them used tickets in the punchers? Zero (when you have a ticket you have to get it punched with a hole puncher unique to each tram mounted on the wall; ticket checkers will sometimes come in and check to see that your hole punches match the tram you are on). Every single individual on that tram used their card, and they all used the very first tram card swiper, ignoring the the other four swipers in the other four cars.
Why? Why don't people use the other tram cars? Evy said she always just gets on the last car and never has to fight for a seat, while she can look ahead and watch 30-40 people all clamoring for the card reader in the first tram car.
I don't get it.
Things that make you go hrmmm
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Swamped
Enough said. I'm finding my schedule very maxed with the addition of language lessons, because suddenly I find myself spending at least two hours a day studying on top of doing freelance work and trying to fit all of my side-projects into my daily schedule.
I'm behind on two of my personal projects. Sounds familiar by this point, doesn't it? :) If you've been following my blog for any length of time, you'll see that my personal projects often fall to the wayside for weeks or even months at a time. That's not necessarily a bad thing, I think, because my professional career is continually progressing, and that's the important part.
Met some really interesting folks @ my language class. One guy is French, and he's my age, married to a very sweet and beautiful Bulgarian woman (met her the other night; they are a super cute couple. And yes, I used the word cute in a sentence). As far as I understand it, he works logistics for a couple of humanitarian companies helping to get medical and other types of aid packages to various places around the world. We are going out for beers next week, so I'm going to find out more.
There's also a German lady who speaks 6 languages fluently. Her husband is a German language teacher and they have traveled around the world for over 20 years living in various countries for 5-7 years at a time on contract with her husband teaching at various places, and they just came here 6 weeks ago for a 5 year stint.
Then there's this Serbian guy who is probably mid 30s. Apparently unemployed. Not sure if he's married.
Was a British woman in her late 30s/early 40s in our first lesson, but she didn't show up on Wednesday, so no idea what she does.
Another kid is an Indian who is here getting his doctorate in mechanical engineering at some university here. He's probably mid/late 20s.
Then we had a late addition last night. She's a Spanish woman who works for the Ministry of Environment and just came to Bulgaria. Probably in her late 40s, early 50s.
So, with the exception of one, we are all working professionals.
Now, having never taking a language course before, I wasn't sure what to expect at my first class on Monday night. I was totally unprepared. It was not "Hi, welcome to Bulgarian for Foreigners. This is an introduction class and we will be getting you into it nice and easy".
Instead, it was bend-you-over-the-desk-and-beat-you-over-the-head-with-a-wall-of-text. She didn't speak a WORD of English, which was a shock to everyone in the class, believe me. Me, probably least, because I didn't know WHAT to expect, but I think everyone else, who had taken language classes in other languages before, expected some sort of English introduction. Nope. This woman is hard-freaking-core-to-the-max.
But she's also very good at what she does. I struggled through the 2 hour class on Monday, but understood most of the lesson by the end. I came home, I studied, and on Wednesday night it was nice to not have to look at my lesson book like most of the others did when it came time to brush up on Monday's work.
Felt bad for the Spanish lady because she walked into day 2 and had no idea, and she was in absolute shock the whole class, because she had NO idea where we were at. At one point she asked the teacher something in English, which warranted a HUGE sigh from her and a "Only this once. Never again".
Still...we had a hell of a lot of fun on Wednesday night. Still don't understand the majority of what she's saying, but we have learned enough at this point to be able to ask people names, where they are from, what they do for a living, what languages they speak, and the generic greetings. We've also learned some of the really confusing sentence structure for Bulgarian, such dealing with that damn "li" (if you are Bulgarian you know what I mean).
Thankfully I have until next Monday, so I've got a few days to study. Had a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to getting in there on Monday and rocking out. It'll be extremely refreshing here in a few weeks to actually have a CONVERSATION with someone other than my wife and her friends :) It's been a very difficult situation at times when at family gatherings because I always need a flipping translator. Thankfully I have a very patient woman by my side, otherwise I'd be up poo creek w/o a paddle!
I'm behind on two of my personal projects. Sounds familiar by this point, doesn't it? :) If you've been following my blog for any length of time, you'll see that my personal projects often fall to the wayside for weeks or even months at a time. That's not necessarily a bad thing, I think, because my professional career is continually progressing, and that's the important part.
Met some really interesting folks @ my language class. One guy is French, and he's my age, married to a very sweet and beautiful Bulgarian woman (met her the other night; they are a super cute couple. And yes, I used the word cute in a sentence). As far as I understand it, he works logistics for a couple of humanitarian companies helping to get medical and other types of aid packages to various places around the world. We are going out for beers next week, so I'm going to find out more.
There's also a German lady who speaks 6 languages fluently. Her husband is a German language teacher and they have traveled around the world for over 20 years living in various countries for 5-7 years at a time on contract with her husband teaching at various places, and they just came here 6 weeks ago for a 5 year stint.
Then there's this Serbian guy who is probably mid 30s. Apparently unemployed. Not sure if he's married.
Was a British woman in her late 30s/early 40s in our first lesson, but she didn't show up on Wednesday, so no idea what she does.
Another kid is an Indian who is here getting his doctorate in mechanical engineering at some university here. He's probably mid/late 20s.
Then we had a late addition last night. She's a Spanish woman who works for the Ministry of Environment and just came to Bulgaria. Probably in her late 40s, early 50s.
So, with the exception of one, we are all working professionals.
Now, having never taking a language course before, I wasn't sure what to expect at my first class on Monday night. I was totally unprepared. It was not "Hi, welcome to Bulgarian for Foreigners. This is an introduction class and we will be getting you into it nice and easy".
Instead, it was bend-you-over-the-desk-and-beat-you-over-the-head-with-a-wall-of-text. She didn't speak a WORD of English, which was a shock to everyone in the class, believe me. Me, probably least, because I didn't know WHAT to expect, but I think everyone else, who had taken language classes in other languages before, expected some sort of English introduction. Nope. This woman is hard-freaking-core-to-the-max.
But she's also very good at what she does. I struggled through the 2 hour class on Monday, but understood most of the lesson by the end. I came home, I studied, and on Wednesday night it was nice to not have to look at my lesson book like most of the others did when it came time to brush up on Monday's work.
Felt bad for the Spanish lady because she walked into day 2 and had no idea, and she was in absolute shock the whole class, because she had NO idea where we were at. At one point she asked the teacher something in English, which warranted a HUGE sigh from her and a "Only this once. Never again".
Still...we had a hell of a lot of fun on Wednesday night. Still don't understand the majority of what she's saying, but we have learned enough at this point to be able to ask people names, where they are from, what they do for a living, what languages they speak, and the generic greetings. We've also learned some of the really confusing sentence structure for Bulgarian, such dealing with that damn "li" (if you are Bulgarian you know what I mean).
Thankfully I have until next Monday, so I've got a few days to study. Had a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to getting in there on Monday and rocking out. It'll be extremely refreshing here in a few weeks to actually have a CONVERSATION with someone other than my wife and her friends :) It's been a very difficult situation at times when at family gatherings because I always need a flipping translator. Thankfully I have a very patient woman by my side, otherwise I'd be up poo creek w/o a paddle!
Monday, October 12, 2009
!)(@#$
Seriously.
So, we had three year warranties on our computers when we bought them. Sounded good.
I've dealt with warranties on computers before. I had to have Dell replace 2 graphics cards back in Colorado, and getting them to do so was like pulling teeth. But they did so in the long run.
Evy's power supply crapped out the other day. Still running power, but the internal fan to keep the power supply cooled isn't working and started smelling the room up like lovely melted plastic parts. We called to see about our warranty and found out that they wanted us to bring the ENTIRE box in (as in the whole case), not just the power supply.
We then find out that because we have opened the cases twice to clean them...we've voided our warranty in its entirety.
WTF? You can't even open your computer to clean out the dust ever 6 months or so without voiding your warranty? Even Dell never pulled that one on me.
On the plus side power supplies aren't that expensive. I'm just very irritated that simply cleaning the dust from the parts voided the warranty because we "opened the case".
(Yes, they can tell. There's a sticker on the inside that gets torn when you open the case, so they know if you've opened it or not).
@)_*(@#$
So, we had three year warranties on our computers when we bought them. Sounded good.
I've dealt with warranties on computers before. I had to have Dell replace 2 graphics cards back in Colorado, and getting them to do so was like pulling teeth. But they did so in the long run.
Evy's power supply crapped out the other day. Still running power, but the internal fan to keep the power supply cooled isn't working and started smelling the room up like lovely melted plastic parts. We called to see about our warranty and found out that they wanted us to bring the ENTIRE box in (as in the whole case), not just the power supply.
We then find out that because we have opened the cases twice to clean them...we've voided our warranty in its entirety.
WTF? You can't even open your computer to clean out the dust ever 6 months or so without voiding your warranty? Even Dell never pulled that one on me.
On the plus side power supplies aren't that expensive. I'm just very irritated that simply cleaning the dust from the parts voided the warranty because we "opened the case".
(Yes, they can tell. There's a sticker on the inside that gets torn when you open the case, so they know if you've opened it or not).
@)_*(@#$
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Moving ahead
Finally got around to calling an international tax accountant this morning, and looks like I'll be moving ahead with getting all my 2008 stuff squared away. Yes, I know I'm way beyond the date you are supposed to take care of taxes, but here's the thing...I didn't make any income last year (about 2,000 total), as we were living off our savings account the whole time. Technically I didn't even have to claim any income for the year because I made below the "claimable" level, but I still want to get things squared away so 2009 will flow easier. 2009 will be a little more complex, because I have clients from all over the world, but obviously I can't file for that until next year. The good thing is, they don't charge nearly as much as I originally anticipated, so that's nice.
Website! I finally took the time and started researching hosting and packages this morning. It looks like I'll be getting the groundwork laid in this weekend. I had a friend of mine offer to look into it for me, but after I did some digging I found some rather nice Wordpress tutorials + hosting packages through the LIP website, and it's only about 80 bucks for a year's worth of hosting, and I'm figuring it'll take me the weekend to get the actual website up and running. So...that's another thing that's about to get knocked off the list.
Next item on the agenda is the e-book. I have the general outline done, and I have the "meat" text there. I've already started doing research for the actual numbers I'll be providing in the book, based upon tax figures and worldwide income statistics, and otherwise. I am pretty sure I'll have it done by the end of October. At which point I need to start looking for a publisher.
Now, I could self publish, but if you remember my post from earlier in the year...I don't really think self publishing gives people any credentials. Anyone can self publish. Which means a bunch of absolute crap gets put on the market because there are a lot of people out there who have no business calling themselves writers, but because they can self publish a book and stick their name on it they can call themselves an author. Nevermind the fact that it's never been put past a professional editor before...in their heads, they are writers. I'm not that kind of guy. I whole-heartedly believe that until an editor has taken a look at your work and approved it, then it isn't really credible. Not everyone agrees with me. That's fine. But that's my feelings on it. So if you know any good e-book or even regular book publishers who you think would be a good fit for publishing a book on global freelancing, let me know. Otherwise I'll be starting to shop for an agent in November, and see if I can't get this thing sold in one format or another.
Evy told me I have way too many ideas, far too many passions, and not enough time. I've been stressing out lately about which projects to focus on, because I have dozens of them I want to work on, and I'm spreading myself too thin. So I made a decision on Sunday. For the rest of 2009 these are my goals:
I really hope to cross the 100k word mark on the fiction novel by the end of the year. Maybe. I've been hovering around 80k words since June, so if I can manage to write chapters 13, 14, and 15, I can push past the 100k mark.
A big issue with fantasy novels these days is that publishers are becoming more and more unwilling to publish novels over 150k even from big-name authors like Brandon Sanderson, George R. R. Martin, and otherwise. Sanderson was discussing his issue with hist latest Mistborn novel on his website, and how the book stores were the ones throwing a fit about the size of the novel, not the publishers themselves. They were worried that a 200k novel was going to "take up too much shelf space" and cut into their profits. Now, while I don't think I'm going to be at 200k words...my outline is for 25 chapters. If I'm at 100k words with 15 chapters...well, that's at least another 60-80k worth of words to finish the outline, which will put it at around 160-180k words. For a first-time author. I have a feeling I'm going to have a hell of a time getting an agent to sell that, but it's not going to keep me from trying. I can't break it down any smaller than that, because the outline calls for 4 books and that's the best natural breaking point. I could probably shave it down to 150k, but...well, we'll just have to see when it actually gets done.
In any case, here's to success, and here's to good health. Hope you head into the holiday seasons with good cheer and good luck.
Website! I finally took the time and started researching hosting and packages this morning. It looks like I'll be getting the groundwork laid in this weekend. I had a friend of mine offer to look into it for me, but after I did some digging I found some rather nice Wordpress tutorials + hosting packages through the LIP website, and it's only about 80 bucks for a year's worth of hosting, and I'm figuring it'll take me the weekend to get the actual website up and running. So...that's another thing that's about to get knocked off the list.
Next item on the agenda is the e-book. I have the general outline done, and I have the "meat" text there. I've already started doing research for the actual numbers I'll be providing in the book, based upon tax figures and worldwide income statistics, and otherwise. I am pretty sure I'll have it done by the end of October. At which point I need to start looking for a publisher.
Now, I could self publish, but if you remember my post from earlier in the year...I don't really think self publishing gives people any credentials. Anyone can self publish. Which means a bunch of absolute crap gets put on the market because there are a lot of people out there who have no business calling themselves writers, but because they can self publish a book and stick their name on it they can call themselves an author. Nevermind the fact that it's never been put past a professional editor before...in their heads, they are writers. I'm not that kind of guy. I whole-heartedly believe that until an editor has taken a look at your work and approved it, then it isn't really credible. Not everyone agrees with me. That's fine. But that's my feelings on it. So if you know any good e-book or even regular book publishers who you think would be a good fit for publishing a book on global freelancing, let me know. Otherwise I'll be starting to shop for an agent in November, and see if I can't get this thing sold in one format or another.
Evy told me I have way too many ideas, far too many passions, and not enough time. I've been stressing out lately about which projects to focus on, because I have dozens of them I want to work on, and I'm spreading myself too thin. So I made a decision on Sunday. For the rest of 2009 these are my goals:
- Get the freelance book finished
- Find a publisher for the book
- Get a website up and running
- See where I can get on the fiction novel
I really hope to cross the 100k word mark on the fiction novel by the end of the year. Maybe. I've been hovering around 80k words since June, so if I can manage to write chapters 13, 14, and 15, I can push past the 100k mark.
A big issue with fantasy novels these days is that publishers are becoming more and more unwilling to publish novels over 150k even from big-name authors like Brandon Sanderson, George R. R. Martin, and otherwise. Sanderson was discussing his issue with hist latest Mistborn novel on his website, and how the book stores were the ones throwing a fit about the size of the novel, not the publishers themselves. They were worried that a 200k novel was going to "take up too much shelf space" and cut into their profits. Now, while I don't think I'm going to be at 200k words...my outline is for 25 chapters. If I'm at 100k words with 15 chapters...well, that's at least another 60-80k worth of words to finish the outline, which will put it at around 160-180k words. For a first-time author. I have a feeling I'm going to have a hell of a time getting an agent to sell that, but it's not going to keep me from trying. I can't break it down any smaller than that, because the outline calls for 4 books and that's the best natural breaking point. I could probably shave it down to 150k, but...well, we'll just have to see when it actually gets done.
In any case, here's to success, and here's to good health. Hope you head into the holiday seasons with good cheer and good luck.
Monday, October 5, 2009
The homeless: should you be socially responsible for them?
I'd like to start off with saying that I'm not the type to give hand-outs. When I see a person begging on the street I say to myself, "They lack the desire to succeed in life". And while it's true that I pass those people by without a second's thought or a moment's hesitation, there are those that I feel genuinely sorry for.
Bulgaria is a poor country. It's going to be a long climb to reach Western standards. Perhaps one of the worst parts about the country is the number of people out on the streets in the various cities with nowhere to go, and no income coming in. Now, don't get me wrong...I spent 10+ years in the Denver area, so I'm very familiar with bums. There was a guy in Denver one year (late 90s) who actually proved a point by showing that he could make more money by being a bum than many people make working a full-time job. He went out and spent the entire year living in homeless shelters and eating food from said shelters while begging for money, and at the end of the year he made over 30k USD simply by lowering his standards of living, proving that you could very well be successful as a bum.
But it's more complicated here. The government doesn't really have a Social Security system in place. If you are an elderly retired person you get (correct me if I'm wrong, I'm going off of what I've been told in the past) around 100 leva a month. I don't know the exact amount, although I'd be curious to find out the hard total.
That's about 80 USD. A month. For food...utilities...clothing...transportation...etc. You can't live off of that.
They don't have homeless shelters in Bulgaria, at least not that I know of. They also have bands of gypsies who are basically actual syndicates of beggars who give a percentage of their profits to an overlord of their syndicate. They routinely sell children to each other based upon if the kid is a good pickpocket or not, and they have been known to cut off fingers to give the children a better chance at slipping into people's pockets. There are also some who purposefully maim themselves in order to continue begging, because they know they won't be able to get a job anywhere, and they know the government won't give them enough money to pay for basic utilities, and they know nobody will hire them because they are physically deformed.
Now...I feel pity for these people, but there also has to be a limit to what one person can or even should do for charity. I'm all for helping people out if I can, but at what point do I put myself above others?
Evy and I have started buying food for a few select people we see on our regular routes. We avoid giving them money. Why? Because we have no idea where that money will go. Booze, cigarettes, or to their "pimp"? We have no idea. We also don't give to certain ones. If they can talk, walk, and don't appear to have any ailments, I refuse to give them money. Why? Because there are jobs at nearly every McDonalds. They can sweep streets. They can empty trash cans. They can join a ditch-digging crew. And while the wages might suck, and they are the shit jobs, at least they would be working for their money. By me giving healthy people who should be out there working jobs money, I am only perpetuating the problem by allowing them to continue their way of life.
I do, however, give food to the elderly, or to those people who are missing limbs. I saw one old man, who had to be in his late 80s, literally crying on the steps to one of the subway stations. It literally wrenched my heart, and made me feel physically sick. That was about 3 months ago. Since then we have been actively going out of our way to buy food for five or six of these people that we see 2 or 3 times a week.
I wish they had a homeless shelter in Sofia, but they don't. The majority of people just don't care. They shun these people like they have the plague. I know it's the same in the States because I've been around it in big cities like Denver, Seattle, and San Jose before.
There is also a difference between the "street rat" gangs and genuinely needy people. The gangs are made up of criminals who choose to be that way. They are healthy. They could have real jobs. They just choose not to. However, the elderly have no choice. The government's not giving them enough money to pay for basic necessities, and if they are someone whose family has died off or something, there's nobody to help them out.
Now, it's getting better. They have been increasing the retirement payouts, but it's not high enough to counter the cost of living just yet. Elderly people have to have family members looking out for them or they are screwed. It's the one part of Bulgarian life that I really hope changes for the better. Don't get me wrong...I am not a big fan of the welfare system in America, but at the very least it does provide a service for a lot of people who are worse off. And while I agree that it's not my social responsibility to take care of the people who can take care of themselves, what about those who really have no other viable options than to beg?
I'd at least like to help those ones out. And I know I'm not making much of a difference, but honestly....50 bucks a month out of my pocket to buy sandwiches and food for a few elderly homeless people is the least I can do. What do you do to help the less fortunate, and what do you think could be done to help move things in the right direction?
Bulgaria is a poor country. It's going to be a long climb to reach Western standards. Perhaps one of the worst parts about the country is the number of people out on the streets in the various cities with nowhere to go, and no income coming in. Now, don't get me wrong...I spent 10+ years in the Denver area, so I'm very familiar with bums. There was a guy in Denver one year (late 90s) who actually proved a point by showing that he could make more money by being a bum than many people make working a full-time job. He went out and spent the entire year living in homeless shelters and eating food from said shelters while begging for money, and at the end of the year he made over 30k USD simply by lowering his standards of living, proving that you could very well be successful as a bum.
But it's more complicated here. The government doesn't really have a Social Security system in place. If you are an elderly retired person you get (correct me if I'm wrong, I'm going off of what I've been told in the past) around 100 leva a month. I don't know the exact amount, although I'd be curious to find out the hard total.
That's about 80 USD. A month. For food...utilities...clothing...transportation...etc. You can't live off of that.
They don't have homeless shelters in Bulgaria, at least not that I know of. They also have bands of gypsies who are basically actual syndicates of beggars who give a percentage of their profits to an overlord of their syndicate. They routinely sell children to each other based upon if the kid is a good pickpocket or not, and they have been known to cut off fingers to give the children a better chance at slipping into people's pockets. There are also some who purposefully maim themselves in order to continue begging, because they know they won't be able to get a job anywhere, and they know the government won't give them enough money to pay for basic utilities, and they know nobody will hire them because they are physically deformed.
Now...I feel pity for these people, but there also has to be a limit to what one person can or even should do for charity. I'm all for helping people out if I can, but at what point do I put myself above others?
Evy and I have started buying food for a few select people we see on our regular routes. We avoid giving them money. Why? Because we have no idea where that money will go. Booze, cigarettes, or to their "pimp"? We have no idea. We also don't give to certain ones. If they can talk, walk, and don't appear to have any ailments, I refuse to give them money. Why? Because there are jobs at nearly every McDonalds. They can sweep streets. They can empty trash cans. They can join a ditch-digging crew. And while the wages might suck, and they are the shit jobs, at least they would be working for their money. By me giving healthy people who should be out there working jobs money, I am only perpetuating the problem by allowing them to continue their way of life.
I do, however, give food to the elderly, or to those people who are missing limbs. I saw one old man, who had to be in his late 80s, literally crying on the steps to one of the subway stations. It literally wrenched my heart, and made me feel physically sick. That was about 3 months ago. Since then we have been actively going out of our way to buy food for five or six of these people that we see 2 or 3 times a week.
I wish they had a homeless shelter in Sofia, but they don't. The majority of people just don't care. They shun these people like they have the plague. I know it's the same in the States because I've been around it in big cities like Denver, Seattle, and San Jose before.
There is also a difference between the "street rat" gangs and genuinely needy people. The gangs are made up of criminals who choose to be that way. They are healthy. They could have real jobs. They just choose not to. However, the elderly have no choice. The government's not giving them enough money to pay for basic necessities, and if they are someone whose family has died off or something, there's nobody to help them out.
Now, it's getting better. They have been increasing the retirement payouts, but it's not high enough to counter the cost of living just yet. Elderly people have to have family members looking out for them or they are screwed. It's the one part of Bulgarian life that I really hope changes for the better. Don't get me wrong...I am not a big fan of the welfare system in America, but at the very least it does provide a service for a lot of people who are worse off. And while I agree that it's not my social responsibility to take care of the people who can take care of themselves, what about those who really have no other viable options than to beg?
I'd at least like to help those ones out. And I know I'm not making much of a difference, but honestly....50 bucks a month out of my pocket to buy sandwiches and food for a few elderly homeless people is the least I can do. What do you do to help the less fortunate, and what do you think could be done to help move things in the right direction?
First day of the new month, random ramblings
Ok, technically it's not the first day of October. It's the 5th. But it's my first working day of the month, as I took the last few days of last week off from writing and spent it doing research for a project I'm finishing up the first half of this month.
Without getting into too much because of the NDA, I can at least say that the overall scheme of the project is about poker. Something I had little/no knowledge of prior to this project, outside of playing a few hands now and again at parties and social occasions. Little did I know just how epic in scope the game is, and how much it has evolved in the past century. I can honestly say this is a project that I have learned a lot from. I've spent a couple of weeks working on the project so far, and I've still got another two weeks worth of work, but I will say this: I never knew there were so many variations of the game, and I never knew just how lucrative (albeit risky) the game could be. There are some incredible success stories in the realm of the game. Normal people going from nothing and becoming multi-millionaires, and not just based upon sheer dumb luck. There is absolutely skill involved with professional poker playing, as is evident by the professionals who make their living playing the game.
Onto our new favorite show, Numb3rs. I can honestly say it's made it into my top 5. How the hell did we miss this show? Probably because we never really watched network TV back when we were in the States, but kept to our cable shows. We just finished season 2 of this gem last night, and both of us agree that it's been slotted into our number 2 all-time favorite shows. Absolutely phenomenal, and I have to admit...it's started a craving within me to see if I can somehow enhance my math skills to really learn more about this subject.
We've been blessed with a financially secure position at present, and there are a lot of doors opening in terms of opportunities, and we are having a hard time choosing exactly which doors we want to open. We've also got time for a lot of hobbies, and when I wrap up my language lessons in February I'm looking into taking some math classes.
I really do need to brush up on the subject, not only for personal desires. I've been debating earning a viticulture degree from one of the universities here. One of our long-term goals is property investments, and tied into that is vineyards. Bulgaria is phenomenal wine country, and my enthusiasm for the grape is such that I want to own my own. I'd like to get started on a vineyard in about 5 years or so, so that it has plenty of time to mature and get to the point where it's providing a healthy yearly revenue for us, but I don't want to be just the money behind the operation. I have a passion for the grapes, and I absolutely want to be as hands-on as possible in the daily operations of said vineyard. If there's one thing I really want to do in the next 5 years, this is it. And math does play a part in that. Seeing as how it's my only weak point, time to brush up.
If things work out the way we are planning (and keep in mind that life doesn't always give you what you plan for), working the part-time hours I've kept the majority of this year should give us around 30k USD in the bank by the end of next year, after taxes. If I work more hours, take higher paying projects, sell stories, or etc., then that number goes up. If Evy's work picks up next year, that number goes up. 30k's a good start for an investment. We don't plan on dumping all of it into something, but over half, probably. We are going to buy a piece of property to start, and go from there.
Granted, that's all based upon things the way they are now, which we don't foresee changing in the next few years. The apartment is paid for, and barring a natural disaster, we won't be moving until the houses are built out in the countryside, which is something that is currently on hold until her mother and company can get the wells drilled...which is taking extra time to get permits from the government. Originally they were supposed to be built by 2008...then 2010...and now it's pushed back again until who knows when. We are personally figuring that they won't be ready until 2014 at the earliest, even if they started building next year, because things in Bulgaria don't work like they do back in the States. Things are slow here. Getting better, but bureaucracy gets in the way more often than not.
Which actually ties into our "5 year plan" rather nicely. Yes, we have one. Yes, I know some people say it's a waste of time to have a 5 year plan, because you can't plan "life". That's fine...what you can do is set goals and have aspirations, and that's what we are doing. Our cost of living for 2009 was around 8k USD, total. Closer to 10k USD when you throw in entertainment for the year. That's 100% total.
10k vs. 60k. Same amenities. You do the math.
This was my first year working freelance "full time". As in, I've had work when I wanted it. I've landed most jobs I query for. I've found one client who has kept me busy all year long with steady work, and another client who is keeping me busy until the end of the year. I've taken pet projects between those. When everything is said and done, I'm averaging around 25 USD between high and low paying clients, although I've really only had steady income since May. First few months of the year were shaky as I was still establishing myself, but since then it's been reliable. If I wanted to work full time, I can say with reliability that I could break 50k USD for the year. Which, as far as I'm concerned, isn't too bad of a wage for a second-year freelancer with no college degree and not even a high school diploma. Especially considering only 10k of that is needed for living expenses, and the entirety of the rest goes straight into the savings account, and doesn't even factor in Evy's income.
Work could dry up next year. But I doubt it. We are in a unique place. Bulgaria is on the crux of a big development push. The last few years have seen significant changes in the country as they joined the EU. Government has changed. Money is being spent in the right places. English is more common. Businesses are in the "calm before the storm" phase due to the recession, but things are poised for a giant leap forward. The beauty of being where we are is that we are ready to take advantage of it. Now, it could all go south, but I don't see that happening. Even if my work were to dry up entirely from the US, most of my work isn't from US clients. Most of my work is from Europeans, and the European market is booming in comparison to the US.
I'm also not putting all my eggs into one basket. I'm planning on starting a construction company here next year. I'm also going to be looking into getting a translation company going for businesses. Also tied into that will be more Bulgarian-specific services for websites and companies who want to make an online presence and have a native English speaker and professional writer who can make their websites read the way they need to read in order to appeal to the investors coming into the country from the West. I have the fiction book to finish writing. I have an e-book I'm working on presently. I had a cook-book planned that I still want to do, hopefully in the spring. My freelance writing is going strong. Stories are selling.
It's an interesting position to be in, and I'm incredibly excited to be blessed enough to have the freedom to expand upon those entrepreneurial concepts.
I read something recently about a lady back in the States who was complaining about her job, and I had to ask the question: why are you still doing it? Don't like what you are doing? Change your circumstances. I honestly don't believe that "you can't do anything about it". That only holds true if you believe that you are stuck wherever you are, and that chances don't exist. The only person standing between you and success is you. You either want it, or you don't. I've seen a lot of people complain that "well I can't change jobs because there aren't any other jobs to be had." Stop being so limited. You don't have to live and work in the US or the UK. Europe is a big place, and there are a lot of countries in it. Canada, Australia...they all have similar economies, but they aren't packed full of people all with the same credentials looking for the same jobs. Market yourself on a global scale. Stop limiting yourself by local constraints. The world is your oyster. Get out there and crack it open.
Understandably everyone has extenuating circumstances, but are you going to let those get in the way of living the life you want to live?
That's enough for a Monday morning :) Time to get to work. I hope you all find success in what you do, and are happy with your circumstances. Evy and I have been extremely blessed this year, and I hope to be able to see more people enjoying such success in the years to come.
Without getting into too much because of the NDA, I can at least say that the overall scheme of the project is about poker. Something I had little/no knowledge of prior to this project, outside of playing a few hands now and again at parties and social occasions. Little did I know just how epic in scope the game is, and how much it has evolved in the past century. I can honestly say this is a project that I have learned a lot from. I've spent a couple of weeks working on the project so far, and I've still got another two weeks worth of work, but I will say this: I never knew there were so many variations of the game, and I never knew just how lucrative (albeit risky) the game could be. There are some incredible success stories in the realm of the game. Normal people going from nothing and becoming multi-millionaires, and not just based upon sheer dumb luck. There is absolutely skill involved with professional poker playing, as is evident by the professionals who make their living playing the game.
Onto our new favorite show, Numb3rs. I can honestly say it's made it into my top 5. How the hell did we miss this show? Probably because we never really watched network TV back when we were in the States, but kept to our cable shows. We just finished season 2 of this gem last night, and both of us agree that it's been slotted into our number 2 all-time favorite shows. Absolutely phenomenal, and I have to admit...it's started a craving within me to see if I can somehow enhance my math skills to really learn more about this subject.
We've been blessed with a financially secure position at present, and there are a lot of doors opening in terms of opportunities, and we are having a hard time choosing exactly which doors we want to open. We've also got time for a lot of hobbies, and when I wrap up my language lessons in February I'm looking into taking some math classes.
I really do need to brush up on the subject, not only for personal desires. I've been debating earning a viticulture degree from one of the universities here. One of our long-term goals is property investments, and tied into that is vineyards. Bulgaria is phenomenal wine country, and my enthusiasm for the grape is such that I want to own my own. I'd like to get started on a vineyard in about 5 years or so, so that it has plenty of time to mature and get to the point where it's providing a healthy yearly revenue for us, but I don't want to be just the money behind the operation. I have a passion for the grapes, and I absolutely want to be as hands-on as possible in the daily operations of said vineyard. If there's one thing I really want to do in the next 5 years, this is it. And math does play a part in that. Seeing as how it's my only weak point, time to brush up.
If things work out the way we are planning (and keep in mind that life doesn't always give you what you plan for), working the part-time hours I've kept the majority of this year should give us around 30k USD in the bank by the end of next year, after taxes. If I work more hours, take higher paying projects, sell stories, or etc., then that number goes up. If Evy's work picks up next year, that number goes up. 30k's a good start for an investment. We don't plan on dumping all of it into something, but over half, probably. We are going to buy a piece of property to start, and go from there.
Granted, that's all based upon things the way they are now, which we don't foresee changing in the next few years. The apartment is paid for, and barring a natural disaster, we won't be moving until the houses are built out in the countryside, which is something that is currently on hold until her mother and company can get the wells drilled...which is taking extra time to get permits from the government. Originally they were supposed to be built by 2008...then 2010...and now it's pushed back again until who knows when. We are personally figuring that they won't be ready until 2014 at the earliest, even if they started building next year, because things in Bulgaria don't work like they do back in the States. Things are slow here. Getting better, but bureaucracy gets in the way more often than not.
Which actually ties into our "5 year plan" rather nicely. Yes, we have one. Yes, I know some people say it's a waste of time to have a 5 year plan, because you can't plan "life". That's fine...what you can do is set goals and have aspirations, and that's what we are doing. Our cost of living for 2009 was around 8k USD, total. Closer to 10k USD when you throw in entertainment for the year. That's 100% total.
10k vs. 60k. Same amenities. You do the math.
This was my first year working freelance "full time". As in, I've had work when I wanted it. I've landed most jobs I query for. I've found one client who has kept me busy all year long with steady work, and another client who is keeping me busy until the end of the year. I've taken pet projects between those. When everything is said and done, I'm averaging around 25 USD between high and low paying clients, although I've really only had steady income since May. First few months of the year were shaky as I was still establishing myself, but since then it's been reliable. If I wanted to work full time, I can say with reliability that I could break 50k USD for the year. Which, as far as I'm concerned, isn't too bad of a wage for a second-year freelancer with no college degree and not even a high school diploma. Especially considering only 10k of that is needed for living expenses, and the entirety of the rest goes straight into the savings account, and doesn't even factor in Evy's income.
Work could dry up next year. But I doubt it. We are in a unique place. Bulgaria is on the crux of a big development push. The last few years have seen significant changes in the country as they joined the EU. Government has changed. Money is being spent in the right places. English is more common. Businesses are in the "calm before the storm" phase due to the recession, but things are poised for a giant leap forward. The beauty of being where we are is that we are ready to take advantage of it. Now, it could all go south, but I don't see that happening. Even if my work were to dry up entirely from the US, most of my work isn't from US clients. Most of my work is from Europeans, and the European market is booming in comparison to the US.
I'm also not putting all my eggs into one basket. I'm planning on starting a construction company here next year. I'm also going to be looking into getting a translation company going for businesses. Also tied into that will be more Bulgarian-specific services for websites and companies who want to make an online presence and have a native English speaker and professional writer who can make their websites read the way they need to read in order to appeal to the investors coming into the country from the West. I have the fiction book to finish writing. I have an e-book I'm working on presently. I had a cook-book planned that I still want to do, hopefully in the spring. My freelance writing is going strong. Stories are selling.
It's an interesting position to be in, and I'm incredibly excited to be blessed enough to have the freedom to expand upon those entrepreneurial concepts.
I read something recently about a lady back in the States who was complaining about her job, and I had to ask the question: why are you still doing it? Don't like what you are doing? Change your circumstances. I honestly don't believe that "you can't do anything about it". That only holds true if you believe that you are stuck wherever you are, and that chances don't exist. The only person standing between you and success is you. You either want it, or you don't. I've seen a lot of people complain that "well I can't change jobs because there aren't any other jobs to be had." Stop being so limited. You don't have to live and work in the US or the UK. Europe is a big place, and there are a lot of countries in it. Canada, Australia...they all have similar economies, but they aren't packed full of people all with the same credentials looking for the same jobs. Market yourself on a global scale. Stop limiting yourself by local constraints. The world is your oyster. Get out there and crack it open.
Understandably everyone has extenuating circumstances, but are you going to let those get in the way of living the life you want to live?
That's enough for a Monday morning :) Time to get to work. I hope you all find success in what you do, and are happy with your circumstances. Evy and I have been extremely blessed this year, and I hope to be able to see more people enjoying such success in the years to come.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Pet Peeves
At the top of my list is potential clients who don't bother to check your references or even bother to read your resume and/or your writing samples.
I recently sent a query off to a job which asked for my resume + links to published work. I did so. Within a few days I heard back from the guy and he wanted me to provide him with "additional samples" so he could judge the quality of my work.
........................
I proceeded to write him the following:
If you were a homeowner and wanted to remodel your house, you would send out a query for interested builders. Those builders would show up and give you quotes. Along with the quotes they will give you a run-down of their credentials, which allows you to determine which of them has rates and experience relevant to your particular job. You base your opinion of hiring them upon what credentials they give you.
What you do not do is ask them if they can build your son a tree-fort in the back yard for free over the weekend, so that you get a chance to "judge" the quality of the work up close and personal.
The guy replied to me with this comment: "Well, I've gotten over 30 replies to my e-mail and I just don't have the time to go through every person's resume and check all of their samples and contact their references. It's just easier for me to have you write a sample for me."
First of all...samples were included. The resume includes dozens of links to published materiel on the web and in print. Second of all...you just admitted you didn't even bother to read the resume I sent you, nor did you bother to check the credentials you asked for in the first place.
Way to inspire me to want to work with you.
Seriously. What the hell is up with people who ask you for resume/samples/references, and then don't even bother to check them? Furthermore, I just can't believe the audacity of some of these people when they come up with things like "well, we need you to provide us with some additional samples".
No, you don't. I'm a professional. When I was running a ceramic tile and natural stone company people didn't get free samples. I didn't go in and install an entryway for them for free, just so they could "see my work". They were provided with a list of credentials, which are easily verified through simple phone calls and/or Internet searching, and they were able to base their final decision upon my reputation as an installer, my prices, and the quality of my work. There was no such thing as freebies.
It's the one thing I really can't stand about freelancing. And it's becoming a far more prevalent issue.
People only want free samples for one reason: they want free work so they can use it and claim that "well, your sample didn't make the cut", and then sneak it in somewhere.
If a resume and published articles can't give them an accurate picture of your work, then they aren't worth working for in the first place. Especially if they point-blank tell you that they didn't bother to read the resume they requested from you in the first place...
I recently sent a query off to a job which asked for my resume + links to published work. I did so. Within a few days I heard back from the guy and he wanted me to provide him with "additional samples" so he could judge the quality of my work.
........................
I proceeded to write him the following:
If you were a homeowner and wanted to remodel your house, you would send out a query for interested builders. Those builders would show up and give you quotes. Along with the quotes they will give you a run-down of their credentials, which allows you to determine which of them has rates and experience relevant to your particular job. You base your opinion of hiring them upon what credentials they give you.
What you do not do is ask them if they can build your son a tree-fort in the back yard for free over the weekend, so that you get a chance to "judge" the quality of the work up close and personal.
The guy replied to me with this comment: "Well, I've gotten over 30 replies to my e-mail and I just don't have the time to go through every person's resume and check all of their samples and contact their references. It's just easier for me to have you write a sample for me."
First of all...samples were included. The resume includes dozens of links to published materiel on the web and in print. Second of all...you just admitted you didn't even bother to read the resume I sent you, nor did you bother to check the credentials you asked for in the first place.
Way to inspire me to want to work with you.
Seriously. What the hell is up with people who ask you for resume/samples/references, and then don't even bother to check them? Furthermore, I just can't believe the audacity of some of these people when they come up with things like "well, we need you to provide us with some additional samples".
No, you don't. I'm a professional. When I was running a ceramic tile and natural stone company people didn't get free samples. I didn't go in and install an entryway for them for free, just so they could "see my work". They were provided with a list of credentials, which are easily verified through simple phone calls and/or Internet searching, and they were able to base their final decision upon my reputation as an installer, my prices, and the quality of my work. There was no such thing as freebies.
It's the one thing I really can't stand about freelancing. And it's becoming a far more prevalent issue.
People only want free samples for one reason: they want free work so they can use it and claim that "well, your sample didn't make the cut", and then sneak it in somewhere.
If a resume and published articles can't give them an accurate picture of your work, then they aren't worth working for in the first place. Especially if they point-blank tell you that they didn't bother to read the resume they requested from you in the first place...
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