*** US-FL-Boca Raton- Year 2000 Systems Analyst ***
SILCO Software Technology, Inc.
Immediate opening available for a Year 2000 Systems Analyst in the Boca
Raton, FL area. Candidates must have 3-6 yrs. mainframe COBOL
experience with 1-2 yrs. experience with IDMS/ADSO and/or DB2/CICS +
VSAM. Experience with large system conversion, large-scale system test
efforts, PC, UNIX and ViaSoft tool set is a plus. Pay rates are very
competitive!
Please respond or send resume to any of the following:
Joe Bedits
SILCO Software Technology, Inc.
(813) 939-0603 or 1-888-745-2646
Fax: (813) 939-0703 or 1-888-745-8844
e-mail: jbe...@silcoinc.com
http://www.silcoinc.com
SILCO Software Technology, Inc. is a dynamic, fast-growing software
services company with focus on growing the business in Internet/Intranet
Web Technology, Object Technology, Client-Server Technology
marketplace. SILCO's growth and market leadership is due to our strong
ethics, professional integrity, skilled employees and ability to offer top pay.
SILCO is staffing multiple projects in various locations. SILCO is constantly
seeking Software Professionals, Team Leaders, DBA's, System
Administrators, etc. at various levels, for both contracting and full-time
placement, in the following areas:
* Object Oriented Technology
* Client-Server Technology
* Internet/ Intranet Technology
* IBM Mainframe Technology
* AS400 Technology
For specific job openings, please refer to our web page:
http://www.silcoinc.com or forward your resume to: staf...@silcoinc.com
H1B candidates are welcome to apply.
If you are ready to accept the challenge of a great opportunity, please fax
or e-mail your resume (e-mail is preferred).
Attn: Staffing Dept.
SILCO Software Technology, Inc.
(813) 939-0603 or 1-888-745-2646
Fax: (813) 939-0703 or 1-888-745-8844
e-mail: staf...@silcoinc.com
http://www.silcoinc.com
Dave Eastabrook
In article <33fdd...@207.49.135.12>, SILCO Software Technology
<?.?@silcoinc.com> writes
>
>Immediate opening available for a Year 2000 Systems Analyst in the Boca
>Raton, FL area.
??? Money Joe Money ??? I don't have time to waste emailing every
chancer offering me a job or contract, or looking up every web site
we're asked to look at :( None of us do. Are you a spam harvester?
Next time you want to talk to me in public, please make an appointment
with my scheduling secretarty. Hmmm, I like that spelling. Don't think
my wife would ...
Yippee it's the weekend, and Monday's a *holiday* :)
:D
--
Dave Eastabrook
http://www.elmbronze.demon.co.uk/ /IBM/ or /year2000/ or /telework/
Dave Eastabrook
In article <34106...@207.49.135.12>, SILCO Software Technology
<?.?@silcoinc.com> writes
>
>Immediate opening
One-way cell. Terminal, food trough, water on drip, bench. Throw away
the key.
> available for a Year 2000 Systems Analyst in the Boca
>Raton, FL area. Pay rates are very
>competitive!
Thousands of applicants expected from Cardboard City.
Apparently they're offering US$ 22,500 per annum. No benefits, you pay
their medical, bring your own desk and prayer rug :(
:D
>
>Joe Bedits
Apparently he does
Tony Toews
SILCO Software Technology, Inc. <jbe...@silcoinc.com> wrote:
What? How many newsgroups did you xpost this message too, anyhow?
> Pay rates are very competitive!
Not good enough. Please post the rates to the c.s.year2000 newsgroup.
>SILCO Software Technology, Inc. is a dynamic, fast-growing software
>services company with focus on growing the business in Internet/Intranet
>Web Technology, Object Technology, Client-Server Technology
>marketplace. SILCO's growth and market leadership is due to our strong
>ethics, professional integrity, skilled employees and ability to offer top pay.
Good for you. But what are your rates?
>H1B candidates are welcome to apply.
What's a H1B?
>If you are ready to accept the challenge of a great opportunity, please fax
>or e-mail your resume (e-mail is preferred).
Yup, Y2Ks gonna be heckuva challenge.
Tony
----
Message posted to newsgroup and emailed.
Tony Toews, Independent Computer Consultant
The Year 2000 crisis: Will my parents or your grand parents still be receiving
their pension in January, 2000? See www.granite.ab.ca/year2000 for more info.
Microsoft Access Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm
Eduardo Garcia
tto...@telusplanet.net (Tony Toews) wrote:
>SILCO Software Technology, Inc. <jbe...@silcoinc.com> wrote:
>
>What? How many newsgroups did you xpost this message too, anyhow?
>
>> Pay rates are very competitive!
>
>Not good enough. Please post the rates to the c.s.year2000 newsgroup.
>
>>SILCO Software Technology, Inc. is a dynamic, fast-growing software
>>services company with focus on growing the business in Internet/Intranet
>>Web Technology, Object Technology, Client-Server Technology
>>marketplace. SILCO's growth and market leadership is due to our strong
>>ethics, professional integrity, skilled employees and ability to offer top pay.
>
>Good for you. But what are your rates?
>
>>H1B candidates are welcome to apply.
>
>What's a H1B?
Temporary inmigration visa, working permit.
Dave Eastabrook
In article <3411567b...@nntp.ix.netcom.com>, freemuse
<free...@ix.netcom.com> writes
>
>Dave Eastabrook <ne...@elmbronze.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> Thousands of applicants expected from Cardboard City.
>>
>> Apparently they're offering US$ 22,500 per annum. No benefits, you pay
>> their medical, bring your own desk and prayer rug :(
>>
>
>Pgmmers 23k+ (yes, that's a year) and Sr. Pgmmers 28-33k (but only if
>you have a lot of experience).
Wow - experience of *what*? Does it need to be relevant to IT?
Experience of welfare checks? Kiddies meals? Eggs sunny side over? :)
>
>Needless to say, I didn't interview.
>
>Karen
Good grief, I thought I was kidding. CSC aren't exactly good payers
here in GB - I've been to a load of leaving does after they took the
outsourcing of the GGHB IT dept. But that is just sheer exploitation.
:Dave
--
Dave Eastabrook
Specialising in year 2000 remediation work. 24 years IBM experience.
cory hamasaki
In <3411567b...@nntp.ix.netcom.com>, free...@ix.netcom.com (freemuse) writes:
>Dave Eastabrook <ne...@elmbronze.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
>
>> Thousands of applicants expected from Cardboard City.
>>
>> Apparently they're offering US$ 22,500 per annum. No benefits, you pay
>> their medical, bring your own desk and prayer rug :(
>>
>
>I just got a quote from CSC in Albany NY that they will be paying
>Pgmmers 23k+ (yes, that's a year) and Sr. Pgmmers 28-33k (but only if
>you have a lot of experience).
>
>
>Karen
That is rediculous. Secretaries get more than that. The Burger King
pays flippers 15K/year, NO EXERIENCE. The guy who mows my lawn gets
$40K/year (20-25/hour). I know people who pay $7.00/hour for after
school child care... and the people are watching 3-4 children so
they're getting 20-30/hour for letting some kids play in their back
yard.
Repeat after me. Experienced Programmers get about $100K/year.
Knock off 15-30K if you don't have a degree and don't have anything
beyond COBOL and JCL.
Conversely, COBOL and JCL, $70K/year on salary with benefits. Add 15K
for a degree (and presumably some design and team leader
responsibility) Add another 15K for IMS, DB2 or some such additional
speciality.
Cory Hamasaki
David K. Bryant
Dave Eastabrook <ne...@elmbronze.demon.co.uk> writes:
>Yippee it's the weekend, and Monday's a *holiday* :)
Not here.
There's a strike at the BART system. (UK: Underground)
Unless I want to take a place in the linear parking
lot (UK: car park) which will be all roads into San Francisco
and orbit the city looking for a parking spot (which I damn
well don't), I won't be working on Monday.
Read: no work; no pay :-(
Tuesday I will have to get up early and make that trek.
I have to be there for the all-important project meeting
where we will be reviewing and refining the Powerpoint
presentation for the client organization on the 17th.
(really) :-(
And the car AND the Jeep are due for smog inspections. :-(
So hold down the rejoicing & revelry.
cory hamasaki
In <dbryantE...@netcom.com>, dbr...@netcom.com (David K. Bryant) writes:
>There's a strike at the BART system. (UK: Underground)
>Unless I want to take a place in the linear parking
>lot (UK: car park) which will be all roads into San Francisco
>and orbit the city looking for a parking spot (which I damn
>well don't), I won't be working on Monday.
>
>Read: no work; no pay :-(
>
Contractor Tip #1. Have an office convenient to your home if not in
your home. Make frequent reference to it in conversations with the
client. "I'll rough out the spec's back at my office and we can
finalize them in a week."
Contractor Tip #2. One of the touchstones of Contractor v. Employee
is the Contractor is NOT directly supervised by the client's
management. IE, the Contractor comes and goes but is on the hook for
deliverables, meeting schedules.
Putting 1 and 2 together... I see a guy at home, feet up, notebook in
his lap, yes, working hard but working in comfort and not sweating the
strike.
Another fallout from this is the BART time. If a contractor can
produce work while riding BART, that work-time is on the invoice.
>Tuesday I will have to get up early and make that trek.
>I have to be there for the all-important project meeting
>where we will be reviewing and refining the Powerpoint
>presentation for the client organization on the 17th.
>(really) :-(
>
Go in real early and get a good parking space, get some work done in
addition to the meeting, bill that time. leave at noon and take a nice
nap. As a contractor with odd sleeping habits, I like transportation
disruptions.
>And the car AND the Jeep are due for smog inspections. :-(
>
>So hold down the rejoicing & revelry.
I feel your pain but it should be joy.
Cory Hamasaki
The Goobers
cory hamasaki wrote:
>
> Contractor Tip #1. Have an office convenient to your home if not in
> your home. Make frequent reference to it in conversations with the
> client. "I'll rough out the spec's back at my office and we can
> finalize them in a week."
>
> Contractor Tip #2. One of the touchstones of Contractor v. Employee
> is the Contractor is NOT directly supervised by the client's
> management. IE, the Contractor comes and goes but is on the hook for
> deliverables, meeting schedules.
>
> Putting 1 and 2 together... I see a guy at home, feet up, notebook in
> his lap, yes, working hard but working in comfort and not sweating the
> strike.
It works nicely in theory but... in my small experience it does not
hold, for the same reason that so few companies have workable
telecommuting policies... I think it is a holdover from Industrial
Management, a kind of 'a Keyboarding coder is a Productive coder'
mentality.
I was once asked to put together some routines to calculate valid
Business Days... across different countries. I said 'Hmmmm, how
interesting... I think I'll head out for a smoke' and out I went. I sat
next to George Washington's statue (this was on Wall St) and I had *two*
smokes... I then went back, pounded on my keyboard, printed out some...
stuff and walked into the project leader's office for the following
interchange:
Me: 'Here's the print-outs, the source is in (libname)... give it to
Jimmy and see if he can break my code in testing it.'
PL: "oh... we gave that to Bob to do because you didn't get Right To
It."
Me: "Hmmmm, of *course* I did not get Right To It, I had to *think*...
so I went out for a smoke. Tell me... is Bob ready for testing yet?"
PL: "Ummmm.... no."
Me: "Maybe he should have stepped out for a smoke, too."
DD
Dave Eastabrook
In article <dbryantE...@netcom.com>, "David K. Bryant"
<dbr...@netcom.com> writes
>
>Dave Eastabrook <ne...@elmbronze.demon.co.uk> writes:
>
>>Yippee it's the weekend, and Monday's a *holiday* :)
>
>
>Not here.
>Unless I want to take a place in the linear parking
>lot (UK: car park) which will be all roads into San Francisco
>and orbit the city looking for a parking spot (which I damn
>well don't), I won't be working on Monday.
>
>Read: no work; no pay :-(
>
>So hold down the rejoicing & revelry.
>
Just read Cory's post - and agree 110%. I wish I had the time for a bit
of revelry - that'll come when I make my first million. Well, hundred
thousand then. Doing some preparation work - unpaid just now - but I
can always hope :) I really do want to work mostly from home - here's
my office, lighting just so - extra power points I installed a few weeks
back, all used, but an hour or so and I'll have another 13 amps at 230V,
whenever I need it. 17" Iiyama Pro - I didn't economise on that. Soon
to make myself a server in a couple or so months. Printers and scanner,
TV and hi-fi. Backup PC and modem. There's even a coffee-maker spare I
could use. Plenty of table space as well as my desk. And a sea view.
What more could I want - just the little item of work to do from home :)
And then I can do a *real* week's work without all the interruptions and
time-waste associated with a 9-5 office. In fact I could do two easily.
Maybe you can work around to that by just doing a few chargeable hours
at home to start with. And then *I'll* be jealous !!
Dave Eastabrook
In article <341400...@erols.com>, The Goobers <docd...@erols.com>
writes
>
>I was once asked to put together some routines to calculate valid
>Business Days... across different countries. I said 'Hmmmm, how
>interesting... I think I'll head out for a smoke' and out I went. I sat
>next to George Washington's statue (this was on Wall St) and I had *two*
>smokes... I then went back, pounded on my keyboard, printed out some...
>stuff and walked into the project leader's office for the following
>interchange:
>
>Me: 'Here's the print-outs, the source is in (libname)... give it to
>Jimmy and see if he can break my code in testing it.'
>
>PL: "oh... we gave that to Bob to do because you didn't get Right To
>It."
>
>Me: "Hmmmm, of *course* I did not get Right To It, I had to *think*...
>so I went out for a smoke. Tell me... is Bob ready for testing yet?"
>
>PL: "Ummmm.... no."
>
>Me: "Maybe he should have stepped out for a smoke, too."
>
>DD
Yes exactly, exactly. And one more exactly. Even if they don't say it,
you can see they're thinking it. Yet another reason to get the hell out,
stay home and get some real work done. The only problem is getting it...
There was an ad on TV for the Primera where Mr Jones gets in his car and
drives around a bit before going to his office - back home. I captured
it, it's only 39.5mb for an 18 second clip - should I post it to the NG?
Honest, I'm only kidding :)
Eugene A. Pallat
The Goobers <docd...@erols.com> wrote in article
<341400...@erols.com>...
>
> cory hamasaki wrote:
snip
> I was once asked to put together some routines to calculate valid
> Business Days... across different countries. I said 'Hmmmm, how
> interesting... I think I'll head out for a smoke' and out I went. I sat
> next to George Washington's statue (this was on Wall St) and I had *two*
> smokes... I then went back, pounded on my keyboard, printed out some...
> stuff and walked into the project leader's office for the following
> interchange:
>
> Me: 'Here's the print-outs, the source is in (libname)... give it to
> Jimmy and see if he can break my code in testing it.'
>
> PL: "oh... we gave that to Bob to do because you didn't get Right To
> It."
>
> Me: "Hmmmm, of *course* I did not get Right To It, I had to *think*...
> so I went out for a smoke. Tell me... is Bob ready for testing yet?"
>
> PL: "Ummmm.... no."
>
> Me: "Maybe he should have stepped out for a smoke, too."
Read "The Psychology of the Computer Programmer." The author describes the
losers who immediately start coding and ending up with bugs and usually a
program which doesn't run. The ones, like you, who think through a problem
first, usually have the fewest bugs and the largest REAL output.
Remove the '-glop-' for sending email to me.
Gene eapa...@orion-glop-data.com
Orion Data Systems
Solicitations to me must be pre-approved in writing
by me after soliciitor pays $1,000 US per incident.
Solicitations sent to me are proof you accept this
notice and will send a certified check forthwith.
The Goobers
Eugene A. Pallat wrote:
>
[snippage of my 'go out for a smoke' story]
> Read "The Psychology of the Computer Programmer." The author describes the
> losers who immediately start coding and ending up with bugs and usually a
> program which doesn't run. The ones, like you, who think through a problem
> first, usually have the fewest bugs and the largest REAL output.
>
Hmmmm... I have several responses. The first is... *I* don't need to
read it, a PHM needs to read it. Second is... 'I read a book, once...
wasn't nothin' special.' And thirdly... gawrsh, I would blush were I
able to remember how... the only reason I produce fewer bugs is that
I've made a bunch o' the same-old mistakes already... so when I make an
error it is a new, unusual one which is damn-all to find!
Thanks for the compliment, though... funny thing is... folks write books
about the life I lead without even meeting me... durn it all, Maw, I
done becomed one a' them sturrio-types... now, let me get anothe cup of
black coffee, fire up another Camel and read a dump.
DD
Steve Frost
Some time ago kiy...@ibm.XOUT.net (cory hamasaki) wrote:
>Contractor Tip #1. Have an office convenient to your home if not in
>your home. Make frequent reference to it in conversations with the
>client. "I'll rough out the spec's back at my office and we can
>finalize them in a week."
Good point Cory ... a home office has all sorts of benefits. I'm
leaving my employer at the end of this month to 'go solo'. Here's
the guts of a letter I'm sending him. They wanted to know what it
would cost them to get me back from time to time on an ad-hoc basis.
I'd be interested in comments from other contractors. I've never
done this before. My former boss *can* be trusted ... he is an
ethical and reliable person. There's no question of that.
-------------------------------------------------- start excerpt
Rates
· $16.25 per 15 minutes or part thereof (i.e. $65.00/hour).
· To be re-evaluated at my discretion in the absence of an
agreement stipulating a minimum number of hours per month
for a fixed number of months.
· 14 days notice in writing will be given prior to any rate
increase.
On-Site Work
· Minimum of 2 hours per callout.
· Where billable time on a callout is less than 4 hours, travel
time from my office to the site and back again (i.e. both ways)
to be charged at 50% of standard rate.
· Where billable time on a callout is less than 8 hours, travel
time from the site to my office (i.e. one way) to be charged
at 50% of standard rate.
Telecommuting
· No minimum charge per callout. No travel costs.
Payment Terms
· I will invoice you monthly, terms "Net 7 days from date of invoice".
-------------------------------------------------- start excerpt
Now, leaving discussion of rates aside, would anyone like to comment
on other aspects or maybe make some suggestions?
Getting back to the 'home office' concept ... I've set myself up
with a "family trust" that (in effect) runs a company (Frostbyte
Computer Consultants P/L). The company employs me to work in an
office which is in my home. The office is a room specifically
set aside for work and is not used for any other purpose. As
such, I can claim a percentage (based on floor space ratio) of
the heating, lighting, hot water. I have installed separate
phone lines for 'Net access, fax, etc. My next intention is to
get one of those 'voice mail' systems that come with a voice modem
so as to give a more professional impression to incoming callers.
With the 'home office' ... I wake in the morning, get ready for
work, and then *walk* to the office. After all, it's a lovely
day for a walk, and since it's undercover (about 15 feet down the
hall) I can even do this on rainy days!
After reaching my office, I check my email, pack my briefcase,
and then am despatched to my first job of the day (assuming I
am working onsite that day). All my travel becomes claimable
which makes the Fringe Benefits Tax on my 'company car' much
less than it would otherwise be.
I'd like to hear from other consultants. Tips about making your
life, your office, more efficient and more effective. I plan on
working just 4 days a week after 2000 ... there are many things
in life that I want to achieve, and working 5 days a week until
I'm 60 isn't one of them.
Cheers
Steve
*** Please edit my email address as noted below if replying or
your mail will be bounced by my anti-spam software. Replies
to the newsgroup are preferred actually.
--
********************************************************************
Stephen Frost Stephen Frost
Managing Director Technical Consultant
Frostbyte Computer Consultants Pty Ltd OzEmail Limited
Melbourne, Australia (ACN 078 000 030) Sydney, Australia
--------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.frostbyte.com.au "Faith is the evidence
fros...@shell02.ozemail.com.au of things unseen."
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Please remove the 'shell02' if emailing me or the mail will bounce.
Jim Rivera
Lynn Wilson wrote:
>
> Steve Frost (fros...@shell02.ozemail.com.au) wrote:
> : Some time ago kiy...@ibm.XOUT.net (cory hamasaki) wrote:
> : >Contractor Tip #1. Have an office convenient to your home if not in
> : >your home. Make frequent reference to it in conversations with the
> : >client. "I'll rough out the spec's back at my office and we can
> : >finalize them in a week."
>
> : Good point Cory ... a home office has all sorts of benefits. I'm
> : leaving my employer at the end of this month to 'go solo'. Here's
>
> Not to burst anyone's bubble, but I've been telecommuting for just under 4 years
> and I'd go back to an office environment in a second! I work 100% out of
> my home office as an employee of a company 700 miles away. There are nice
> things about it but beware of:
>
> 1) There is NO office social interactions. No one to talk to at the coffee
> pot about last nights soccer game, etc.
>
> 2) Is is way too easy to sit down after dinner to look into a small work issue
> and suddenly you find it's 11:30pm!
>
> 3) There is no one (except the Internet) to bounce quick ideas off of.
>
> 4) you feel obligated to be near the phone in case the boss calls.
>
> This may just be personality issues with me, but just be aware of them.
> They are very commonly spoken of when telecommuters get together.
>
> Good luck with your dream.
>
> lynn
My feelings exactly. I have been working for a very small (<10
employees) company for the past couple of years, and working at home for
them since the beginning of the year. I like working with software, and
one of the reasons I like it is the people I run into in the software
biz - almost uniformly intelligent. There are some aspects of a
late-night effort that are just more fun when shared. And some of the
most exciting times are the shared show-and-tell sessions when neat
things are brought out and someone says "Yes, and maybe you could change
it so that..." There is less of this when working at home.
I have been in the opposite situation however, a small company where my
desk was at the crossroads of the company's space. Constant meetings in
my face meant I always knew what was going on, but was not so good for
my productivity at times. The best situation for me is to spend most of
my time at my desk but to have the option of working at home if I have
ticklish coding/debugging to do. So it is six of one & half a dozen of
the other.
JR
Jim Rivera
Steve Frost wrote:
>
> Some time ago Dave Eastabrook <ne...@elmbronze.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
> <snip>
> >>Telecommuting
> >>· No minimum charge per callout. No travel costs.
>
> >I think you should have a minimum charge - otherwise 100
> >5 minute phone calls get you nothing. Maybe an hour minimum
> >charge - but throw in a few short freebies at your discretion.
>
> What I intend here is to record the time taken by each call
> and any follow up work. At the end of the day I'll add it
> up, round up to the next 15 minutes and bill it as a single
> amount. I know what you mean ... I'm already working for
> them part time (3 days/week) and I do get the occasional
> 5 minute call. Fortunately not 100 of them!
>
> <snip>
> >If you're going to be spending a lot of hours at your home terminal/PC,
> >get the lighting right. Last April, while developing the web-site and
> >other stuff, I was 16 hours a day for a fair few days with no eye-
> >strain. Where I'm working just now, my eyes sting in about 10 minutes
> >flat because the lighting's crap :(
>
> Good point. Thanks ... I probably need to improve that. My
> office window looks out on a brick wall (boring eh?) and the
> light is minimal. I'll get some soft fluorescent lights I
> think.
>
> >I also sit with my back to a wall of bookshelves, which means I can
> >swing round and pick a manual, dry wipe, floppy or dickshonairy. What
> >else - plenty of power points.
>
> Same here. I got 6 power points put in when I had it built.
>
> >Plan for a backup PC with modem if you've not already got one.
>
> First big cheque I get I'll get a new Pentium Pro (or II) server
> to run NT. I'll be doing a lot of dev work on NT so it's essential.
>
> >First upgrade is a top-range monitor if you've not already got
> >one - and a graphics card to suit.
>
> Sony 17" is planned ... or would you recommend a 20"? The
> graphics card will probably be a Matrox or maybe an STB
> with 4 or 8 MG of RAM.
>
> >Backups!
>
> Plan to buy a 4-8GB SCSI tape drive.
>
> >TV - it's amazing how much you can get done while watching
> >whatever it is that you don't want to miss. What else - Oh
> >I dunno. Enjoy.
> >
> >One thing I've read here and there is that you should force
> >yourself to set aside some time every week for marketing.
> >Seems reasonable.
>
> Good point. I'm also budgeting for additional skills by
> doing some extra training.
>
> Thanks for your input, especially about the lighting. I hadn't
> thought of that.
>
> Cheers
>
> Steve
>
> --
> ********************************************************************
> Stephen Frost Stephen Frost
> Managing Director Technical Consultant
> Frostbyte Computer Consultants Pty Ltd OzEmail Limited
> Melbourne, Australia (ACN 078 000 030) Sydney, Australia
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> http://www.frostbyte.com.au "Faith is the evidence
> fros...@shell02.ozemail.com.au of things unseen."
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> Please remove the 'shell02' if emailing me or the mail will bounce.
The bigger the better, IMHO. Due to physiological factors, a 14-15"
monitor will feel like a monitor, a 20" like a desktop. If you get a
20" be sure that both monitor & video card will do 1600x1200 res at
minimum 72hz refresh as slower refresh = eyestrain. And 80hz or higher
is better yet.
JR
cory hamasaki
In <5v22ck$ss3$1...@proxy5.proxy.ozemail.net>, fros...@shell02.ozemail.com.au (Steve Frost) writes:
>
Have you discussed the rates with them on an informal basis? Do you
know what they pay other contractors? Do they and you understand
overhead and the cost of doing business?
I don't need the answers but hopefully you have investigated this and
the answers are Yes.
>Rates
>· $16.25 per 15 minutes or part thereof (i.e. $65.00/hour).
Just make it $65/hour and forget about the 15 minutes.
>· To be re-evaluated at my discretion in the absence of an
> agreement stipulating a minimum number of hours per month
> for a fixed number of months.
>· 14 days notice in writing will be given prior to any rate
> increase.
Give them a fixed rate for 9 months since they are your insurance
policy. I'd try for a guarentee from both sides for 80 hours/month.
You promise that to them, they promise that to you. Now you're
covered for $65*80 and can tell any other client, $100, $120, or
forget it.
Tell these guys that your rate is 100/hour but since they are your
pals, only $65 to them. The quid pro quo is they have to be willing
to be your reference. "That Frosty is one ripper of a systems man."
>
>On-Site Work
>· Minimum of 2 hours per callout.
>· Where billable time on a callout is less than 4 hours, travel
> time from my office to the site and back again (i.e. both ways)
> to be charged at 50% of standard rate.
>· Where billable time on a callout is less than 8 hours, travel
> time from the site to my office (i.e. one way) to be charged
> at 50% of standard rate.
Is this just for emergencies or will you be working on regular tasks,
projects, etc?
>
>Telecommuting
>· No minimum charge per callout. No travel costs.
>
>Payment Terms
>· I will invoice you monthly, terms "Net 7 days from date of invoice".
I do net 30 days and invoice twice a month.
>
>-------------------------------------------------- start excerpt
>
>Steve
Cory Hamasaki
Lynn Wilson
Steve Frost
>know what they pay other contractors? Do they and you understand
>overhead and the cost of doing business?
Yep. I'm working on a ratio of about 1.4 or 1.5 to convert
between 'employee' and 'contract' rates. My old rate as an
employee was, wait for it, $25/hr.
Trouble is, I'm busier than a blue-arsed fly at the moment
doing web-related work. I literally have customers queuing
up at the door waiting for me to work for them. Only 12 mths
ago I was charging $45/hr. It went to $55/hr last Christmas.
It went to $65/hr back in April. I'm just about to put it
up to $75/hr.
Spoke to a friend yesterday. He's been running his own business
for ages, and recommended some of the following as a rate setting
strategy:
1) The Robin Hood principle.
2) The AC1/AC2/AC3 strategy. AC stands for 'annoying customer'.
The more annoying they are, the higher the rate goes.
I think I'm more in favour of the first, but you never know. I do
make a point of discounting my standard rate in certain circumstances.
It depends on the customer, how much work they want done, whether
there is the possibility of an on-going relationship, etc.
>I don't need the answers but hopefully you have investigated this
>and the answers are Yes.
Oh well, others might be curious...
>>· To be re-evaluated at my discretion in the absence of an
>> agreement stipulating a minimum number of hours per month
>> for a fixed number of months.
>>· 14 days notice in writing will be given prior to any rate
>> increase.
>Give them a fixed rate for 9 months since they are your insurance
>policy. I'd try for a guarentee from both sides for 80 hours/month.
>You promise that to them, they promise that to you. Now you're
>covered for $65*80 and can tell any other client, $100, $120, or
>forget it.
I don't want to work for them though. It's what I'd call non-
productive. When I'm working for them, I'm helping THEIR
clients and building THEIR business. When I'm working for me,
I'm helping MY clients and building MY business. If I do a
good job for one of my clients, I might get a recommendation
for another job or another potential client. When I'm working
for someone else's company they will get the leads.
You are correct though ... they are in one sense an insurance policy.
I fully intend to maintain a good relationship with them after I go.
They'll be very busy in their own right. Maybe we can come to an
arrangement about sharing work between us. Not sure.
>Tell these guys that your rate is 100/hour but since they are your
>pals, only $65 to them. The quid pro quo is they have to be willing
>to be your reference. "That Frosty is one ripper of a systems man."
Mmmm ... I'd rather tell 'em that they're being charged a standard
rate. They might not like it, but I've never lost out yet in the
long run by being 100% straight with the people I deal with. They
will want to know what I'm charging others. I'll tell them. At
least then if they choose not to use me we can still get together
once in a while to play golf and be able to look each other in the
eye without flinching!
>>On-Site Work
>>· Minimum of 2 hours per callout.
>>· Where billable time on a callout is less than 4 hours, travel
>> time from my office to the site and back again (i.e. both ways)
>> to be charged at 50% of standard rate.
>>· Where billable time on a callout is less than 8 hours, travel
>> time from the site to my office (i.e. one way) to be charged
>> at 50% of standard rate.
>Is this just for emergencies or will you be working on regular tasks,
>projects, etc?
I expect it'll be the odd job of maintenance programming, bailing
them out when the Accounts Payable system won't reconcile, that
sort of thing.
As I said above, I don't want to do any new work for them if I can
help it. I'd rather be busy elsewhere.
Thanks for your thoughts on the other points too. I'll take them
into account.
Dave Eastabrook
In article <5v22ck$ss3$1...@proxy5.proxy.ozemail.net>, Steve Frost
<fros...@shell02.ozemail.com.au> writes
>>your home. Make frequent reference to it in conversations with the
>>client. "I'll rough out the spec's back at my office and we can
>>finalize them in a week."
> My former boss *can* be trusted ... he is an
>ethical and reliable person. There's no question of that.
I've a feeling that telecommuting and trust go hand-in-hand. From a
little experience, that was certainly true.
>
>-------------------------------------------------- start excerpt
>
>Rates
>· $16.25 per 15 minutes or part thereof (i.e. $65.00/hour).
>· To be re-evaluated at my discretion in the absence of an
> agreement stipulating a minimum number of hours per month
> for a fixed number of months.
>· 14 days notice in writing will be given prior to any rate
> increase.
>
>On-Site Work
>· Minimum of 2 hours per callout.
>· Where billable time on a callout is less than 4 hours, travel
> time from my office to the site and back again (i.e. both ways)
> to be charged at 50% of standard rate.
>· Where billable time on a callout is less than 8 hours, travel
> time from the site to my office (i.e. one way) to be charged
> at 50% of standard rate.
Plus expenses at cost (A$0.70 per mile?) if over $xx cost to you.
>
>Telecommuting
>· No minimum charge per callout. No travel costs.
I think you should have a minimum charge - otherwise 100 5 minute phone
calls get you nothing. Maybe an hour minimum charge - but throw in a
few short freebies at your discretion.
>
>Payment Terms
>· I will invoice you monthly, terms "Net 7 days from date of invoice".
>
>-------------------------------------------------- start excerpt
>
>Now, leaving discussion of rates aside, would anyone like to comment
>on other aspects or maybe make some suggestions?
>
>Getting back to the 'home office' concept ... I've set myself up
>with a "family trust" that (in effect) runs a company (Frostbyte
>Computer Consultants P/L). The company employs me to work in an
>office which is in my home. The office is a room specifically
>set aside for work and is not used for any other purpose.
In Britain we're allowed a reasonable amount of normal family usage;
your office is in the family home, perhaps the (ex-) dining room. And
where else do you wine and dine your guests to celebrate your new
Freedom?
> As
>such, I can claim a percentage (based on floor space ratio) of
Surprised at this - we count the number of main rooms and take a
fraction. When permanently ensconced in my home office, I intend to
increase the percentage based on some business use of other rooms.
>the heating, lighting, hot water. I have installed separate
>phone lines for 'Net access, fax, etc. My next intention is to
>get one of those 'voice mail' systems that come with a voice modem
>so as to give a more professional impression to incoming callers.
>
>With the 'home office' ... I wake in the morning, get ready for
>work, and then *walk* to the office. After all, it's a lovely
>day for a walk, and since it's undercover (about 15 feet down the
>hall) I can even do this on rainy days!
I have my fingers in my ears. I can't hear this.
>
>After reaching my office, I check my email, pack my briefcase,
>and then am despatched to my first job of the day (assuming I
>am working onsite that day). All my travel becomes claimable
>which makes the Fringe Benefits Tax on my 'company car' much
>less than it would otherwise be.
>
>I'd like to hear from other consultants. Tips about making your
>life, your office, more efficient and more effective.
If you're going to be spending a lot of hours at your home terminal/PC,
get the lighting right. Last April, while developing the web-site and
other stuff, I was 16 hours a day for a fair few days with no eye-
strain. Where I'm working just now, my eyes sting in about 10 minutes
flat because the lighting's crap :(
I also sit with my back to a wall of bookshelves, which means I can
swing round and pick a manual, dry wipe, floppy or dickshonairy. What
else - plenty of power points. Plan for a backup PC with modem if
you've not already got one. First upgrade is a top-range monitor if
you've not already got one - and a graphics card to suit. Backups! TV -
it's amazing how much you can get done while watching whatever it is
that you don't want to miss. What else - Oh I dunno. Enjoy.
One thing I've read here and there is that you should force yourself to
set aside some time every week for marketing. Seems reasonable.
> I plan on
>working just 4 days a week after 2000 ... there are many things
>in life that I want to achieve, and working 5 days a week until
>I'm 60 isn't one of them.
>
And the very best of British to you (sorry about that!)
Good Luck
Steve Frost
Some time ago Dave Eastabrook <ne...@elmbronze.demon.co.uk> wrote:
<snip>
>>Telecommuting
>>· No minimum charge per callout. No travel costs.
>I think you should have a minimum charge - otherwise 100
>5 minute phone calls get you nothing. Maybe an hour minimum
>charge - but throw in a few short freebies at your discretion.
What I intend here is to record the time taken by each call
and any follow up work. At the end of the day I'll add it
up, round up to the next 15 minutes and bill it as a single
amount. I know what you mean ... I'm already working for
them part time (3 days/week) and I do get the occasional
5 minute call. Fortunately not 100 of them!
<snip>
>If you're going to be spending a lot of hours at your home terminal/PC,
>get the lighting right. Last April, while developing the web-site and
>other stuff, I was 16 hours a day for a fair few days with no eye-
>strain. Where I'm working just now, my eyes sting in about 10 minutes
>flat because the lighting's crap :(
Good point. Thanks ... I probably need to improve that. My
office window looks out on a brick wall (boring eh?) and the
light is minimal. I'll get some soft fluorescent lights I
think.
>I also sit with my back to a wall of bookshelves, which means I can
>swing round and pick a manual, dry wipe, floppy or dickshonairy. What
>else - plenty of power points.
Same here. I got 6 power points put in when I had it built.
>Plan for a backup PC with modem if you've not already got one.
First big cheque I get I'll get a new Pentium Pro (or II) server
to run NT. I'll be doing a lot of dev work on NT so it's essential.
>First upgrade is a top-range monitor if you've not already got
>one - and a graphics card to suit.
Sony 17" is planned ... or would you recommend a 20"? The
graphics card will probably be a Matrox or maybe an STB
with 4 or 8 MG of RAM.
>Backups!
Plan to buy a 4-8GB SCSI tape drive.
>TV - it's amazing how much you can get done while watching
>whatever it is that you don't want to miss. What else - Oh
>I dunno. Enjoy.
>
>One thing I've read here and there is that you should force
>yourself to set aside some time every week for marketing.
>Seems reasonable.
Good point. I'm also budgeting for additional skills by
doing some extra training.
Thanks for your input, especially about the lighting. I hadn't
thought of that.
Cheers
Steve Frost
Some time ago ly...@swcp.com (Lynn Wilson) wrote:
G'day Lynn,
>Not to burst anyone's bubble, but I've been telecommuting for just
>under 4 years
I'd say that certainly makes you qualified ... if not a trail blazer!
>and I'd go back to an office environment in a second! I work 100%
>out of my home office as an employee of a company 700 miles away.
>There are nice things about it but beware of:
>1) There is NO office social interactions. No one to talk to at the
> coffee pot about last nights soccer game, etc.
True ... although I'm a social Philistine. I can take it or leave it.
At least, I *think* I can. For social interaction I have my wife and
two children to talk with (although one can't talk football with a
12 month old!).
>2) Is is way too easy to sit down after dinner to look into a small
> work issue and suddenly you find it's 11:30pm!
Very true. I've been working 'after hours' building my home business
and I tend to work too long at times. Then again, I balance that
by taking a half day off here and there to play golf.
>3) There is no one (except the Internet) to bounce quick ideas off of.
Phone?
>4) you feel obligated to be near the phone in case the boss calls.
I'm usually in the bath with my mobile phone close by! 8^)
>This may just be personality issues with me, but just be aware of them.
>They are very commonly spoken of when telecommuters get together.
>Good luck with your dream.
Appreciate the feedback. I know I need to be very careful about
deliniating (spel?) between home life and work life. It's much
harder to do that when you work in the same building. One also
needs to be very disciplined about work time. When it's work
time you should work. Then down tools at the end of the day and
have some home time.
David K. Bryant
Dave Eastabrook <ne...@elmbronze.demon.co.uk> writes:
>I really do want to work mostly from home - here's
>my office, lighting just so - extra power points I installed a few weeks
>back, all used, but an hour or so and I'll have another 13 amps at 230V,
>whenever I need it. 17" Iiyama Pro - I didn't economise on that. Soon
>to make myself a server in a couple or so months. Printers and scanner,
>TV and hi-fi. Backup PC and modem. There's even a coffee-maker spare I
>could use.
Make sure the Mr. Coffee is on an UPS. Wouldn't want
to have a caffeine outage.
>Plenty of table space as well as my desk. And a sea view.
>What more could I want?
Maybe a kilt that fits just oh, so well? :-)
cory hamasaki
In <5v2cl1$fm2$2...@proxy5.proxy.ozemail.net>, fros...@shell02.ozemail.com.au (Steve Frost) writes:
>
>Good point. Thanks ... I probably need to improve that. My
>office window looks out on a brick wall (boring eh?) and the
>light is minimal. I'll get some soft fluorescent lights I
>think.
I have halogen incandescent lights pointing at the ceiling. The trick
is to get even, wide illumination.
>
>>I also sit with my back to a wall of bookshelves, which means I can
>>swing round and pick a manual, dry wipe, floppy or dickshonairy. What
>>else - plenty of power points.
>
>Same here. I got 6 power points put in when I had it built.
I have a 10 x 14 ft living room with two book shelves and two
plastic 4 foot by 18 inch shelf systems from the hardware store. One
shelf holds parts and supplies, the other has three computers on it.
The MVS box sits on the desk, the server is next to it.
I have a monitor and keyboard on a 4-way switch.
>
>>Plan for a backup PC with modem if you've not already got one.
>
>First big cheque I get I'll get a new Pentium Pro (or II) server
>to run NT. I'll be doing a lot of dev work on NT so it's essential.
My server is a twin Intel Pentium P166 machine. I'm standardizing
generic S3 ViRGE 4 meg PCI video and Northgate keyboards.
My development machine is an AMD 486DX120 but I have a Cyrix P200+
32meg ready to slide in.
>
>>First upgrade is a top-range monitor if you've not already got
>>one - and a graphics card to suit.
>
>Sony 17" is planned ... or would you recommend a 20"? The
>graphics card will probably be a Matrox or maybe an STB
>with 4 or 8 MG of RAM.
>
I use a 17 inch Sony at my client but my home systems use 14 inch
monitors at 800x600x64K. Half of my systems won't do better than
that.
>>Backups!
>
>Plan to buy a 4-8GB SCSI tape drive.
I don't back up, I keep multiple copies of source on the various
systems.
>
>>TV - it's amazing how much you can get done while watching
>>whatever it is that you don't want to miss. What else - Oh
>>I dunno. Enjoy.
Sony LCD 4 inch diagonal screen.
>>
>>One thing I've read here and there is that you should force
>>yourself to set aside some time every week for marketing.
>>Seems reasonable.
>
>Good point. I'm also budgeting for additional skills by
>doing some extra training.
I keep up by doing projects.
>
>Thanks for your input, especially about the lighting. I hadn't
>thought of that.
>
>Cheers
>
>Steve
>
>--
>********************************************************************
>Stephen Frost
I didn't realize that you had so much work backlogged. With all that
work, you don't need as much 'insurance.' I thought you were getting
ready to step off a cliff. I see you've been there.
Cory Hamasaki
G Moore
On 8 Sep 1997 21:24:44 GMT, "Eugene A. Pallat"
<eapa...@orion-data.com> wrote:
>> Me: "Hmmmm, of *course* I did not get Right To It, I had to *think*...
>> so I went out for a smoke. Tell me... is Bob ready for testing yet?"
>>
>> PL: "Ummmm.... no."
>>
>> Me: "Maybe he should have stepped out for a smoke, too."
>
>Read "The Psychology of the Computer Programmer." The author describes the
>losers who immediately start coding and ending up with bugs and usually a
>program which doesn't run. The ones, like you, who think through a problem
>first, usually have the fewest bugs and the largest REAL output.
uhh yeah. but usually it takes so long to start outputting code while
figuring out the design that it makes employers angry...
Rick Cowles
Steve Frost wrote:
> >First upgrade is a top-range monitor if you've not already got
> >one - and a graphics card to suit.
>
> Sony 17" is planned ... or would you recommend a 20"? The
> graphics card will probably be a Matrox or maybe an STB
> with 4 or 8 MG of RAM.
FWIW - I had a 20" NEC for awhile. I have a tendency to work in very
close proximety to the monitor, and honestly, the 20" turned out to be a
case of severe overkill. Just too darn big (note that I don't do a lot
of graphics work, either...) I went back to a 17" and have been very
happy.
My $.02
--
Rick Cowles
"Electric Utilities and Y2K -
Partying like it's 1999 or Dancing in the Dark?"
http://www.accsyst.com/writers/ele2000a.htm
Y2KHouston
In article <dbryantE...@netcom.com>, dbr...@netcom.com (David K.
Bryant) writes:
>y2kho...@aol.com (Y2KHouston) writes:
>
>>I've been evaluating my own division's Y2K compliance. Our core business
>>application is a very popular third-party "enterprise resource planning"
>>package (hereafter called MegaERP to protect the innocent). Client-server,
>>Unix/NT, Windows, the works.
>
>Let me take a stab.... SAP?
>
>
>
And Steve Dover commented:
>I take it that you have a concern with
>Spelling Acronyms Properly. <g>
You are both correct. My personal favorite is the unofficial German
translation:
SAP - SanduhrAnzeigeProgramm : Program to display an hourglass.
"MegaERP" is descriptive of the corporate indigestion experienced when
trying to move away from legacy systems and reengineer the business to use
one of these packages. A lot of change to digest all at once. It's not
easy. At least our projects were successful and implemented on schedule.
That's not always the case.
As far as Y2K risks mentioned in my original post, I think similar risks
apply whether using SAP or another vendor package. The more "middleware"
that is involved, the greater the risk of unexpected Y2K problems for which
your vendors will be blaming each other (and not helping you). Not fun to
be in the middle of that.
CJ
********************************************************************
The opinions expressed are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of
my employer.
Eduardo Garcia
fros...@shell02.ozemail.com.au (Steve Frost) wrote:
>
Hi Steve, you finally took the jump. You will feel better now. I am doing
the same for some time now but mine is more defined. I can work from 40
to 60 hrs a week and get paid travel time for weekly meetings.
>
>Rates
>· $16.25 per 15 minutes or part thereof (i.e. $65.00/hour).
>· To be re-evaluated at my discretion in the absence of an
> agreement stipulating a minimum number of hours per month
> for a fixed number of months.
>· 14 days notice in writing will be given prior to any rate
> increase.
Can they call you at any time/day? You can schedule with either stand-by
for some weekends or nights or raise your rates if callout is outside 8
to 5 on weekdays.
>
>On-Site Work
>· Minimum of 2 hours per callout.
>· Where billable time on a callout is less than 4 hours, travel
> time from my office to the site and back again (i.e. both ways)
> to be charged at 50% of standard rate.
>· Where billable time on a callout is less than 8 hours, travel
> time from the site to my office (i.e. one way) to be charged
> at 50% of standard rate.
You know the environment in this case but if you get a new account you
better plan to bill them for several hours on-site to get familiar with
the client's system.
>
>Telecommuting
>· No minimum charge per callout. No travel costs.
>
>Payment Terms
>· I will invoice you monthly, terms "Net 7 days from date of invoice".
>
>-------------------------------------------------- start excerpt
>
>Now, leaving discussion of rates aside, would anyone like to comment
>on other aspects or maybe make some suggestions?
>
I have my office in one room in the second floor (I didn't plan to
receive customers) and I am complete isolated from phone calls and ring
bells. My wife takes care of screening calls. I found that I can produce
almost twice as if I was on-site.
>
>I'd like to hear from other consultants. Tips about making your
>life, your office, more efficient and more effective. I plan on
>working just 4 days a week after 2000 ... there are many things
>in life that I want to achieve, and working 5 days a week until
>I'm 60 isn't one of them.
>
Maybe you will not want to work at all after 1/1/2000, all depends in how
you invest your earnings these next years.
Good luck,
Eduardo Garcia
Austin, Texas
>
David Martin
fros...@shell02.ozemail.com.au (Steve Frost) wrote:
<snip Cory>
.>Rates
.>· $16.25 per 15 minutes or part thereof (i.e. $65.00/hour).
.Big work by the hour ... phone calls by the 15-minutes
.>· To be re-evaluated at my discretion in the absence of an
.> agreement stipulating a minimum number of hours per month
.> for a fixed number of months.
This sounds a bit agressive ... be nice ... go for a minimum of 10
hours per week
.>· 14 days notice in writing will be given prior to any rate
.> increase.
Just state ... rate review 6 monthly [alright Cory 3 motnhs]
.>On-Site Work
.>· Minimum of 2 hours per callout.
.>· Where billable time on a callout is less than 4 hours, travel
.> time from my office to the site and back again (i.e. both ways)
.> to be charged at 50% of standard rate.
.>· Where billable time on a callout is less than 8 hours, travel
.> time from the site to my office (i.e. one way) to be charged
.> at 50% of standard rate.
Forget this second one, if you drive, bill 'em.
.>Telecommuting
.>· No minimum charge per callout. No travel costs.
15 minutes minimum ... but if you want to chit-chat tell them that's
you are doing so on your own time
.>Payment Terms
.>· I will invoice you monthly, terms "Net 7 days from date of
invoice".
Try for 14 days + 14 days.
.>-------------------------------------------------- start excerpt
.>
.>Now, leaving discussion of rates aside, would anyone like to comment
.>on other aspects or maybe make some suggestions?
.>
.>Getting back to the 'home office' concept ... I've set myself up
.>with a "family trust" that (in effect) runs a company (Frostbyte
.>Computer Consultants P/L). The company employs me to work in an
I think you got this the wrong way round ... you work for the trust
which disperses [spelling?] any money to the beneficiaries (wife,
children, you [maybe]) and the company is the trustee of the trust ...
check with your accountant and solicitor (you need _both_ to set up a
trust / company structure and be covered by their liability insurance)
.>office which is in my home. The office is a room specifically
.>set aside for work and is not used for any other purpose. As
.>such, I can claim a percentage (based on floor space ratio) of
.>the heating, lighting, hot water. I have installed separate
Remember, if you sell the house sometime, you have to pay capital
gains tax on this percentage of the difference between the sale and
purchase prices.
.>phone lines for 'Net access, fax, etc. My next intention is to
.>get one of those 'voice mail' systems that come with a voice modem
.>so as to give a more professional impression to incoming callers.
.>
.>With the 'home office' ... I wake in the morning, get ready for
.>work, and then *walk* to the office. After all, it's a lovely
.>day for a walk, and since it's undercover (about 15 feet down the
.>hall) I can even do this on rainy days!
.>
.>After reaching my office, I check my email, pack my briefcase,
.>and then am despatched to my first job of the day (assuming I
.>am working onsite that day). All my travel becomes claimable
.>which makes the Fringe Benefits Tax on my 'company car' much
.>less than it would otherwise be.
Get the compliance of this in writing from your accountant, and check
it with the ATO ... remember, the ATO is your friend ... your taxes
pay for their time, their answers are legally binding and they don't
charge $120/hr for advice.
.>I'd like to hear from other consultants. Tips about making your
.>life, your office, more efficient and more effective. I plan on
.>working just 4 days a week after 2000 ... there are many things
.>in life that I want to achieve, and working 5 days a week until
.>I'm 60 isn't one of them.
.>
.>Cheers
.>
.>Steve
.>
>*** Please edit my email address as noted below if replying or
> your mail will be bounced by my anti-spam software. Replies
> to the newsgroup are preferred actually.
>
>--
>********************************************************************
>Stephen Frost Stephen Frost
>Managing Director Technical Consultant
>Frostbyte Computer Consultants Pty Ltd OzEmail Limited
>Melbourne, Australia (ACN 078 000 030) Sydney, Australia
>--------------------------------------------------------------------
>http://www.frostbyte.com.au "Faith is the evidence
>fros...@shell02.ozemail.com.au of things unseen."
>--------------------------------------------------------------------
>Please remove the 'shell02' if emailing me or the mail will bounce.
Remember to get out a bit ... if you have regular customers, organise
to deliver 'deliverables' personally, no added charge, _see_ with your
eyes, not your ears, what they think of it.
Good luck.
David
----------------------------------------------------------------
_--_|\ PO Box 139, Belair, South Australia, 5052
/ \ Tel:+61 3 5173-2273 Fax:+61 3 5173-2991
\_.-*._/ email: djma...@netspace.net.au (Work things)
^ v : dav...@adam.com.au (Adelaide stuff)
| "Don't fight the decision, fight its basis!"
'----<---<---<---<---<---<---<---<---<---<---<---<---<---<-
Eduardo Garcia
fros...@shell02.ozemail.com.au (Steve Frost) wrote:
>
Hi Steve, you finally took the jump. You will feel better now. I am doing
the same for some time now but mine is more defined. I can work from 40
to 60 hrs a week and get paid travel time for weekly meetings.
>
>Rates
>· $16.25 per 15 minutes or part thereof (i.e. $65.00/hour).
>· To be re-evaluated at my discretion in the absence of an
> agreement stipulating a minimum number of hours per month
> for a fixed number of months.
>· 14 days notice in writing will be given prior to any rate
> increase.
Can they call you at any time/day? You can schedule with either stand-by
for some weekends or nights or raise your rates if callout is outside 8
to 5 on weekdays.
>
>On-Site Work
>· Minimum of 2 hours per callout.
>· Where billable time on a callout is less than 4 hours, travel
> time from my office to the site and back again (i.e. both ways)
> to be charged at 50% of standard rate.
>· Where billable time on a callout is less than 8 hours, travel
> time from the site to my office (i.e. one way) to be charged
> at 50% of standard rate.
You know the environment in this case but if you get a new account you
better plan to bill them for several hours on-site to get familiar with
the client's system.
>
>Telecommuting
>· No minimum charge per callout. No travel costs.
>
>Payment Terms
>· I will invoice you monthly, terms "Net 7 days from date of invoice".
>
>-------------------------------------------------- start excerpt
>
>Now, leaving discussion of rates aside, would anyone like to comment
>on other aspects or maybe make some suggestions?
>
I have my office in one room in the second floor (I didn't plan to
receive customers) and I am complete isolated from phone calls and ring
bells. My wife takes care of screening calls. I found that I can produce
almost twice as if I was on-site.
>
>I'd like to hear from other consultants. Tips about making your
>life, your office, more efficient and more effective. I plan on
>working just 4 days a week after 2000 ... there are many things
>in life that I want to achieve, and working 5 days a week until
>I'm 60 isn't one of them.
>
Maybe you will not want to work at all after 1/1/2000, all depends in how
BarbaraKE
> The best situation for me is to spend most of
>my time at my desk but to have the option of working at home if I have
>ticklish coding/debugging to do. So it is six of one & half a dozen of
>the other.
I agree 100%. I find I get a *LOT* more done at home without the constant
interruptions. A perfect situation would be maybe 40% at the office and
the rest working from home.
Eduardo Garcia
Dave Eastabrook
In article <qge0MFAQ...@elmbronze.demon.co.uk>, Dave Eastabrook
<ne...@elmbronze.demon.co.uk> writes
>In article <5v22ck$ss3$1...@proxy5.proxy.ozemail.net>, Steve Frost
><fros...@shell02.ozemail.com.au> writes
>>Getting back to the 'home office' concept ... I've set myself up
>>with a "family trust" that (in effect) runs a company (Frostbyte
>>Computer Consultants P/L). The company employs me to work in an
>>office which is in my home. The office is a room specifically
>>set aside for work and is not used for any other purpose.
>In Britain we're allowed a reasonable amount of normal family usage;
>your office is in the family home, perhaps the (ex-) dining room. And
>where else do you wine and dine your guests to celebrate your new
>Freedom?
Just saw a posting in misc.business.consulting about this, and it
appears in the States it does have to be totally dedicated, with a door,
no TV unless for business (I use mine for teletext), and no kids. I
think that's a bit drastic - maybe in Oz it's different too. Worth
checking up with either a good accountant, or even th tax people
themselves.
By the way - something else I forgot is a couple of paintings,
ornaments, old cardpunches, rubber plant (!) etc. No need to have it
just spartan. And it's all, including redecoration, tax deductible.
Once you've got a fair bit computer equipment, you might need to think
of a burglar alarm. And check your insurance - you might not be covered
your PC kit if used for business. When you sell the house, you may get
that fraction of your house assessed for capital gains - in Britain our
lower limit is high enough I'm not bothered.
cory hamasaki
In <42C7E3CF31F242D4.BD044FE0...@library-proxy.airnews.net>, k...@airmail.net (Kevin) writes:
>On Tue, 9 Sep 1997 22:07:09 +0100, Dave Eastabrook
><ne...@elmbronze.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
>Yes, it must be a totally dedicated room in order to write off
>utilities, rent, house payment, etc. Sounds like Cory might be able
>to write off his entire house but I know of someone who got a visit
>from the IRS to verify.
I should deduct part of my house but I don't. I rent an office in a
commercial building but I do most of my work at home, on the road, or
at clients facilities.
>
>I've thought about writing off my pc but it has personal software for
>the kids. I got a second phone line today just for the pc (cheaper
>than a divorce) and am questioning whether it could be a write off.
>Probably not and there's no need to raise a flag for an auditor just
>to save a few bucks.
>
I don't have that much in dollars invested in iron or software. I've
been buying way back of the leading edge. My server uses Intel
P166's, much cheaper than Pentium-Pro 200's. I do the assembly and
integration. The sole big ticket item is the MVS box.
>
>Most insurance companies in the US exclude computer equipment even for
>personal use unless you get a rider on the policy. Yes, buy plenty of
>velvet Elvis paintings and hang on the walls as a write off.
>
>Cheers,
>
>Kevin........."Due to SPAM, remove KEV and replace
> with KKLT1 when replying by email"
Cory Hamasaki
Kevin
>In article <qge0MFAQ...@elmbronze.demon.co.uk>, Dave Eastabrook
>
>Just saw a posting in misc.business.consulting about this, and it
>appears in the States it does have to be totally dedicated, with a door,
>no TV unless for business (I use mine for teletext), and no kids. I
>think that's a bit drastic - maybe in Oz it's different too. Worth
>checking up with either a good accountant, or even th tax people
>themselves.
>
Yes, it must be a totally dedicated room in order to write off
utilities, rent, house payment, etc. Sounds like Cory might be able
to write off his entire house but I know of someone who got a visit
from the IRS to verify.
I've thought about writing off my pc but it has personal software for
the kids. I got a second phone line today just for the pc (cheaper
than a divorce) and am questioning whether it could be a write off.
Probably not and there's no need to raise a flag for an auditor just
to save a few bucks.
>By the way - something else I forgot is a couple of paintings,
>ornaments, old cardpunches, rubber plant (!) etc. No need to have it
>just spartan. And it's all, including redecoration, tax deductible.
>Once you've got a fair bit computer equipment, you might need to think
>of a burglar alarm. And check your insurance - you might not be covered
>your PC kit if used for business. When you sell the house, you may get
>that fraction of your house assessed for capital gains - in Britain our
>lower limit is high enough I'm not bothered.
Most insurance companies in the US exclude computer equipment even for
personal use unless you get a rider on the policy. Yes, buy plenty of
velvet Elvis paintings and hang on the walls as a write off.
>
>:Dave
>--
>Dave Eastabrook
>Specialising in year 2000 remediation work. 24 years IBM experience.
>http://www.elmbronze.demon.co.uk/ /IBM/ or /year2000/ or /telework/
JCJ0347
>>
>>I'd like to hear from other consultants. Tips about making your
>>life, your office, more efficient and more effective.
Coffee pot. A good one. One that keeps a pot of hot
water on board, so a fresh pot only takes about 3 minutes.
Grind your own beans, it's the little things that count the most.
Treat yourself well. Be a little elegant.
James
Roger Barnett
In the UK you have to be careful about allocating space in your home
*exclusively* for your business - especially if you claim some share of
the domestic expenses (e.g. electricity costs) against business costs.
The risk is that when you come to sell your house that the tax people
decide that some proportion of the price you get corresponds to business
premises and becomes a taxable item.
There may also be an issue with the lender on mortgaged properties
- although over here these usually come down to a worry about the
number of visitors, additional fire hazards, etc.
Oh yes, and check the terms of your house insurance.
Obviously this has no direct relevance because its country-specific,
but it may be worth a quick check for mantraps laid by your friendly
neighbourhood IRS. :)
I would also echo the comment about reserving time each week for
specifically working on sales and marketing - probably the most
important activities, it is too easy to let these slide in order to get
on with the interesting stuff !
Oh, and get a lock for the office door if you have kids !
--
Roger Barnett
Steve Frost
Some time ago djma...@netspace.net.au (David Martin) wrote:
<snip>
>..>Getting back to the 'home office' concept ... I've set myself up
>..>with a "family trust" that (in effect) runs a company (Frostbyte
>..>Computer Consultants P/L).
>I think you got this the wrong way round ... you work for the trust
>which disperses [spelling?] any money to the beneficiaries (wife,
>children, you [maybe]) and the company is the trustee of the trust ...
>check with your accountant and solicitor (you need _both_ to set up a
>trust / company structure and be covered by their liability insurance)
<snip>
>..>After reaching my office, I check my email, pack my briefcase,
>..>and then am despatched to my first job of the day (assuming I
>..>am working onsite that day). All my travel becomes claimable
>..>which makes the Fringe Benefits Tax on my 'company car' much
>..>less than it would otherwise be.
>Get the compliance of this in writing from your accountant, and check
>it with the ATO ... remember, the ATO is your friend ... your taxes
>pay for their time, their answers are legally binding and they don't
>charge $120/hr for advice.
Good advice ... I'll take it! I've always been very careful not
to do anything that I wasn't sure was 100% legal. I've always
told my accountant "If there's even a sniff of uncertainty about
what I'm doing, I don't want to do it". It's not worth getting
the ATO all upset when all I'm saving is a couple of lousy bucks.
Cheers
Steve
Steve Frost
Some time ago jcj...@aol.com (JCJ0347) wrote:
>>>I'd like to hear from other consultants. Tips about making your
>>>life, your office, more efficient and more effective.
>Coffee pot. A good one. One that keeps a pot of hot
>water on board, so a fresh pot only takes about 3 minutes.
>Grind your own beans, it's the little things that count the most.
>Treat yourself well. Be a little elegant.
Very good idea. Thanks! I might even invest in a cappucino
maker too come to think of it.
no...@no-.way-spam.breath
freemuse wrote:
>
> kiy...@ibm.net (cory hamasaki) wrote:
>
> > >I just got a quote from CSC in Albany NY that they will be paying
> > >Pgmmers 23k+ (yes, that's a year) and Sr. Pgmmers 28-33k (but only if
> > >you have a lot of experience).
> > >
>
> > That is rediculous. Secretaries get more than that. The Burger King
> > pays flippers 15K/year, NO EXERIENCE. The guy who mows my lawn gets
> > $40K/year (20-25/hour). I know people who pay $7.00/hour for after
> > school child care... and the people are watching 3-4 children so
> > they're getting 20-30/hour for letting some kids play in their back
> > yard.
> >
> > Repeat after me. Experienced Programmers get about $100K/year.
>
> I know Cory. But this seems to be the story with most of the places
> I'm contacting. With 7+ years experience (with more than COBOL and
> JCL) there's no way I'm accepting a salary like that. Frankly, I'd
> rather starve.
>
> There's a lot of DENIAL out there and a strong belief that someone
> just out of school with minimal experience can do the job properly.
>
> There was an outrageous AP article in yesterdays paper regarding the
> "President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection". The
> term y2k wasn't mentioned once! They are seeking $500M in budget.
>
> A very interesting and telling article but unfortunately I haven't
> been able to find it on the net anywhere. If I do I'll post the URL.
>
> Karen
An ad in this Sunday's Hartford Courant from a Jersey consulting company
looking for Year 2000 people: starting salary? $150,000
Look it up if you don't believe me.....
Some places understand what is about to happen....some places (i.e. Boca
Raton) obviously STILL don't have a clue.....
Chris Anderson
y2kho...@aol.com (Y2KHouston) wrote:
>"MegaERP" is descriptive of the corporate indigestion experienced when
>trying to move away from legacy systems and reengineer the business to use
>one of these packages. A lot of change to digest all at once. It's not
>easy. At least our projects were successful and implemented on schedule.
>That's not always the case.
>As far as Y2K risks mentioned in my original post, I think similar risks
>apply whether using SAP or another vendor package. The more "middleware"
>that is involved, the greater the risk of unexpected Y2K problems for which
>your vendors will be blaming each other (and not helping you). Not fun to
>be in the middle of that.
A wonderful package when you wish to lie to your auditors.
Financials only may be ok and good enough for beancounters,
but when you are in Manufacturing and want to actually do work?
Not such fun when what you really want is to run your business
effectively. It's like a giant Lego set gone mad. I have yet to find
one usable report. And never believe promises from the supplier.
I have been waiting four years for basic features which are
always promised as being "in the next release".
Provided you have set up to use the YMD format (second screen
of User Options) before you load any data into your files you
may be ok, (and once you have set it don't change it). If not,
archiving and MRP will be an interesting challenge.
Hitlers revenge was not the Volkswagen.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Anderson email: sl...@fast.co.za
Y2K Cinderella Project webm...@cinderella.co.za
http://www.cinderella.co.za Striving for Year 2000 Compliance
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Rivera
Mark J. Levy wrote:
>
> nomad@no-.way-spam.breath wrote:
>
> Would love to find out which company was doing the advertising....
About 4-6 week ago on one of the New England jobs Newsgroups I saw
multiple listings for Y2K project leaders. Salaries were given, $135k
to $150k.
JR
Mark J. Levy
Dash Langan
In article <5v7p54$1aso$1...@node17.cwnet.frontiernet.net>, mark...@frontiernet.net (Mark J. Levy) wrote:
> >> > >I just got a quote from CSC in Albany NY that they will be paying
> >> > >Pgmmers 23k+ (yes, that's a year) and Sr. Pgmmers 28-33k (but only if
> >> > >you have a lot of experience).
> >> > >
> >>
> >> > That is rediculous. Secretaries get more than that. The Burger King
> >> > pays flippers 15K/year, NO EXERIENCE. The guy who mows my lawn gets
> >> > $40K/year (20-25/hour). I know people who pay $7.00/hour for after
> >> > school child care... and the people are watching 3-4 children so
> >> > they're getting 20-30/hour for letting some kids play in their back
> >> > yard.
> >> There's a lot of DENIAL out there and a strong belief that someone
> >> just out of school with minimal experience can do the job properly.
Quoting salaries for various occupations from a standpoint
of comparable worth is nonsensical because outside observers
do not determine values in markets, only bona fide buyers in
the respective markets do so.
However, it still makes sense from another standpoint to quote
various salaries.
If the incentives are not high enough for people to enter
the programming profession, then the $40,000 landscaper
salary becomes relevant because it, in many cases, will
induce would-be programmers to become landscapers instead
of programmers! In fact, the $5,000 compensation of being
a mall mime may very well be an inducement for people to
eschew the programming profession if programming salaries
are too low (even if they are ten times the compensation
of a mall mime).
By the way, I consider $150,000 per year for an accomplished
maintenance programmer to be low. If you take compensation
of the past and adjust for inflation, you should be looking
at a figure well in excess of $200,000 per year.
And a couple of other thoughts: yes, it is possible to
get entry level people who are more capable and talented
than highly experienced personnel. However, do you trust
the current crop of fogged-brained management to know how
to hire such entry level people? I think not! When it
comes to hiring, the preferred method of selection is to
go eenie, meenie, miney, mo! Secondly, it has always been
the school of thought that maintenance should be relegated
to the most inexperienced greenhorn programmers. Absolutely
false! Maintenance programming is the most demanding
intellectually, and it invariably ends up on the desk of
the most proficient programmer. Good maintenance programmers
are worth more than their weight in gold, but this is not
exactly a widely acknowledged fact, and for this reason
Y2K endeavors will fall flat on their faces. Y2K IS A
MAINTENANCE ENDEAVOR requiring the utmost talent, talent
which has NOT been groomed nor culled for the event!
Anyway, this is my philosophy. I consider computer programming
to be the easiest thing in the world. However, when it comes
to compensation, there is an overriding consideration which is
this: data processing is the subbasement of hell, and if the
money isn't there, then neither am I!!
In any case, at this point in time, I will not consider Y2K
assignments. First of all, it's lousy bottom-of-the-barrel
work. Secondly, if management let Y2K go this far, then
their environment must be exceptionally stupid, hellish, and
crazed. Lastly, why should I be interested in a temporary job
even if the compensation may be halfway attractive; I would
expect to be used and then put out with the trash at management's
earliest possible convenience.
Dash Langan
Jim Rivera
Dash Langan wrote:
<previous post snipped>
>
> Quoting salaries for various occupations from a standpoint
> of comparable worth is nonsensical because outside observers
> do not determine values in markets, only bona fide buyers in
> the respective markets do so.
Right, market value rules.
>
> However, it still makes sense from another standpoint to quote
> various salaries.
I find it interesting that the salaries are given at all. I think it
shows great urgency if not panic. I think that the hiring crunch for
lowere levels will come as soon as the managers are hired.
>
> If the incentives are not high enough for people to enter
> the programming profession, then the $40,000 landscaper
> salary becomes relevant because it, in many cases, will
> induce would-be programmers to become landscapers instead
> of programmers! In fact, the $5,000 compensation of being
> a mall mime may very well be an inducement for people to
> eschew the programming profession if programming salaries
> are too low (even if they are ten times the compensation
> of a mall mime).
>
> By the way, I consider $150,000 per year for an accomplished
> maintenance programmer to be low. If you take compensation
> of the past and adjust for inflation, you should be looking
> at a figure well in excess of $200,000 per year.
Supply & demand - I wouldn't give anuthing per hour for a buggy-whip
maker, lately the demand has been in gee-whiz stuff like C-S.
>
> And a couple of other thoughts: yes, it is possible to
> get entry level people who are more capable and talented
> than highly experienced personnel. However, do you trust
> the current crop of fogged-brained management to know how
> to hire such entry level people? I think not!
Careful there, if you think the current management is any different
from the previous bunch...
>When it
> comes to hiring, the preferred method of selection is to
> go eenie, meenie, miney, mo! Secondly, it has always been
> the school of thought that maintenance should be relegated
> to the most inexperienced greenhorn programmers. Absolutely
> false! Maintenance programming is the most demanding
> intellectually, and it invariably ends up on the desk of
> the most proficient programmer.
Umm... having done my share, it just requires a different mind-set
from new development. Just like in cabinet-making, restoring an antique
piece of furniture takes a different attitude thatn building a new one.
>Good maintenance programmers
> are worth more than their weight in gold, but this is not
> exactly a widely acknowledged fact, and for this reason
> Y2K endeavors will fall flat on their faces. Y2K IS A
> MAINTENANCE ENDEAVOR requiring the utmost talent, talent
> which has NOT been groomed nor culled for the event!
Nobody's an expert here, this is a a one-time only special.
>
> Anyway, this is my philosophy. I consider computer programming
> to be the easiest thing in the world. However, when it comes
> to compensation, there is an overriding consideration which is
> this: data processing is the subbasement of hell, and if the
> money isn't there, then neither am I!!
Which circle of hell you are in depends more on your fellow denizens.
I have been on some tough projects that were OK, others were not. If
you have that rare thing, a good manager dedicated to the art of
managing well (they are rare, they usually get promoted out of their
line management slots before they have a chance to do any good) then
even death march projects are OK. Bad managers can make even a routine
project awful.
>
> In any case, at this point in time, I will not consider Y2K
> assignments. First of all, it's lousy bottom-of-the-barrel
> work. Secondly, if management let Y2K go this far, then
> their environment must be exceptionally stupid, hellish, and
> crazed.
Not. The basic problem in Y2K is that too many managers left it for
too long. By definition that means that they weren't exceptional.
>Lastly, why should I be interested in a temporary job
> even if the compensation may be halfway attractive; I would
> expect to be used and then put out with the trash at management's
> earliest possible convenience.
>
> Dash Langan
It' a free market. But the company whose payroll system you save might
be the one that employs your buddy down the street. And yes, when this
is over there will be layoffs, keep your VB/C++/Java skills current if
possible.
JR
David Martin
fros...@shell02.ozemail.com.au (Steve Frost) wrote:
> It's not worth getting
>the ATO all upset when all I'm saving is a couple of lousy bucks.
'Truer words were never said'
David
Tony Toews
fros...@shell02.ozemail.com.au (Steve Frost) wrote:
>Sony 17" is planned ... or would you recommend a 20"? The
>graphics card will probably be a Matrox or maybe an STB
>with 4 or 8 MG of RAM.
Actually I'm likely going to dual 17" moniters using a special card
(www.stb.com). Looks to be cheaper than a 20" moniter and 50% more
usuable area.
But then Optiquest just came out with a 19" monitor so I may get that
first as it looks like it's quite a bit cheaper than the 21" series.
Then I'll get that card and a second moniter! <grin>
Tony
----
Message posted to newsgroup and emailed.
Tony Toews, Independent Computer Consultant
The Year 2000 crisis: Will my parents or your grand parents still be receiving
their pension in January, 2000? See www.granite.ab.ca/year2000 for more info.
Microsoft Access Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm
Tony Toews
k...@airmail.net (Kevin) wrote:
>Most insurance companies in the US exclude computer equipment even for
>personal use unless you get a rider on the policy.
Up here in Canada PC's are covered by regular house or tenants
insurance. Unless you're using them for a business. And, like Cory,
I buy slightly behind the technology curve. Currently my fastest
system is a Pentium 75 but that's getting real slow now what with
Access 97 and all. (Yes, I'm now an Access clicker.)
Arthur M. Kent
In article <34138...@news3.ibm.net>, kiy...@ibm.XOUT.net (cory
hamasaki) wrote:
>
> That is rediculous. Secretaries get more than that. The Burger King
> pays flippers 15K/year, NO EXERIENCE. The guy who mows my lawn gets
> $40K/year (20-25/hour). I know people who pay $7.00/hour for after
> school child care... and the people are watching 3-4 children so
> they're getting 20-30/hour for letting some kids play in their back
> yard.
>
> Repeat after me. Experienced Programmers get about $100K/year.
>
> Knock off 15-30K if you don't have a degree and don't have anything
> beyond COBOL and JCL.
>
> Conversely, COBOL and JCL, $70K/year on salary with benefits. Add 15K
> for a degree (and presumably some design and team leader
> responsibility) Add another 15K for IMS, DB2 or some such additional
> speciality.
>
> Cory Hamasaki
Well said, Cory!!! I could not agree with you more. You are "right on"
with your observations. Unfortunetly, the narrow-minded, tunnel visioned
hiring managers do not understand the market. Sooner or later, however,
they will need to come to their senses. Of course, the "later" this
happens, the more it will cost them.