Oddball Update

Here I am, back at it — on Windows XP. I do love Acronis TrueImage — it’s the software that enabled me to save an exact copy of my entire 21 GB OS drive, then flawlessly restore it in one hour when I decided I was done being Vista’s whipping boy. As an extra special bonus, the restoration was done from an external USB hard drive — no messy DVD swapping. Also, I’d like to add that the “faster application startup times” advantage I mentioned having with Vista appears to have been a placebo effect. Once I got XP back on here, I noticed everything was starting up much faster than I remembered — and certainly faster than it did under Vista. Hmph.

Anyway, the subject of today’s post — made completely at random — is my ever-morphing workload. I recently wrote about the longtime client that wanted me to redesign his website, and then concocted a number of rather grandiose ideas about the project — user forums, mini web applications and soforth. Well, after writing up my very extensive estimate and explanation of conditions and considerations, he decided to pare things down significantly — several times — until now, all he wants is for me to put some new photos up on the same old, stale design he’s currently running.

Well, I’m not going to complain — whatever floats your boat there, dude. When people see the real-world costs of their grand plans, if they previously had no frame of reference as to that cost, it tends to dial them back a notch or two. Sticker shock, if you will. But I believe I said once in recent memory that I won’t be a charity case anymore — I’m no longer a college kid, and I’m done with that.

And hey, this means I get to actually relax this weekend, and maybe even the next eight or nine too, as opposed to working them all like I was otherwise gonna have to do. (It also means I get a lot less money — just having me add some photos won’t cost my client much — but in the endless time vs. money debate, I’ll take time…every time.)

Meanwhile, a recent gig for my former employer went off (almost) without a hitch this morning, despite their calling me yesterday and shaving a day off the timetable I’d given them. Originally I’d promised them their deliverables by Friday, but they informed me yesterday that their office won’t be open on Friday, and requested that I make it Thursday. Curiously, they weren’t open last Friday, either — are these guys working four-day weeks now? Anyway, I met their revised deadline, and to my pleasant surprise, they decided almost everything was perfect as-is. I just have to add a couple more banners, and make one particular image stand out with some kind of animation. Other than that, job done. This is good, because I’ve worked on it every night so far this week, and I’m tired of it.

Bonus gaming tidbit: In my leisure time, of which I haven’t had very much lately (I had to do that Windows XP restoration at 3 a.m. last night), I’m continuing to make rapid progress in Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition. I love this game. In fact, I love it so much that I think I’m seriously going to play through a second time, and unlock all the “Second Round” bonuses. I very rarely do things like that, but this game is just fraggin’ awesome! There’s also the “Separate Ways” chapter to play after I beat the main story, plus a couple of minigames that were also included in this edition. Best $30 I’ve spent yet on a game for the Wii, no doubt.

Categorized as Life, Life/Work