Preaching Marathan has Begun

In early May, I sat in a meeting with local pastors and church speakers. It was the group's final meeting of the year and I told a friend that I had a very open preaching schedule if he wanted a break sometime. He has yet to contact me, but the open schedule has disappeared. Starting tonight, I'm scheduled to preach somewhere five out of the next seven weeks.

When I was young, nearly every church had a morning and evening service every Sunday. Now, only a small number of churches still hold evening services and they are mainly attended by people past retirement age. A congregation very close to my home recently lost their main pastor due to him moving to another church. Therefore, I am scheduled to fill one evening a month through September, so far.

Tonight I will be starting a series looking at the book of James. Since I normally only lead a certain church every few months, or less, I rarely get to do a sermon series and look in depth at a passage. I'm excited for the opportunity, but it also creates a problem. I will not be able to recycle these messages to use in other churches. I am scheduled to preach at my own congregation next week, which means I need a totally different message. The final quad life wrinkle is that I didn't have a nurse last night, which means I'm preaching this evening while I am tired and my parents are as well.

This last week has been interesting in finalizing and reviewing one message while preparing another that is totally unrelated. I am then scheduled to preach in the evening again on August 10, and that sermon only exists as an idea for the next message in my series. I also have to keep in mind web development with two new sites I've been working on this week.

My passage tonight is James 1:1-12 and looks at persevering under trial. I am in a busy time of my own doing, but I'm thankful to primarily be back to regular health and to know God gives wisdom to all who ask. I pray for wisdom and energy these next several weeks as I work to do the tasks God has given me and serve Him faithfully through it all.

Recovery Week

Another week has gone and I'm finally feeling back to normal, primarily anyway.

As I wrote in the final entry for my hospital stay, I was starting to improve. The first four days home felt like a struggle to do anything for more than 15 minutes without feeling completely exhausted. In the last ten days, I think I've taken more purposeful naps than I have in the last ten years. What bothered me most, was knowing I had work to do.

Most of the web work I do doesn't have a big impact on business and waiting an extra week, or more, for an update won't be a major problem. Yes, it means people won't get to preview their church bulletins early or review the latest sermon as quickly, but they will come eventually. Of course this round of hospital stays couldn't have been worse for one client.

A few weeks prior to my medical hiatus, I had been working with a long-term client and a web designer to get their new site online. We had communication trouble at first, as well as some challenges in getting logistics figured out, but the client's site finally got moved for the world to see. The next day was when I had my first ER visit.

My friend John has access to my email and business information and was monitoring everything for me. Unfortunately, a problem came up that potential customers couldn't contact my client due to a form not working. In my head, I knew exactly what needed to be done, but it has been several years since John helped with any "hands on" web development. Trying to explain the necessary steps with little voice didn't go well. It was the first thing I forced myself to do when I got home, but one of the steps didn't work as usual. The issue was finally resolved Wednesday, but I feel bad it was delayed over a week because of my health.

Part of hospital stays also include getting blood tests and an I.V. However, I'm a very hard stick and my right arm looked like I had lost a fight when I got home due to all the bruising. Thankfully, it has also returned to normal and doesn't look like any permanent damage. 

Now, I need to find a way for my parents to get time to recover. They had hoped to have a day on their own Friday, but my day caregiver was only able to do half her shift. Such is the story of the quad life family, but I pray this new week will be back to normal routine.

Small Town Life

Yes, this is Thursday evening instead of my usual Sunday afternoon post. Something happened in the past few days that I wanted to write about, so I guess this is my early Christmas bonus blog. In short, I'm thankful I am able to live in small-town Iowa.

Two days ago, Tuesday morning, I was scheduled for my regular haircut. Since my barber is in downtown, I also take the opportunity to run errands while I'm out. I hadn't deposited my paycheck from November yet and planned to visit the bank after getting a trim.

Before leaving home, my caregiver and I prepared the required documents and I signed everything so we could just go in, deposit, and leave. When we got to town, my preferred handicapped parking wasn't available and we had to use alternative parallel parking nearby. It took some work in tight quarters to get me unloaded, but we managed after some bumping and careful driving on my part. Soon, I was sitting in front of a large mirror getting my hair shortened.

At this point, my caregiver noticed my deposit wasn't in her purse where she put it. We concluded it must have fallen out in the van when getting me unloaded. However, when we returned to the vehicle, it wasn't there. It was a windy morning, and our next thought was that it must have blown out of her purse. After some careful looking, my deposit slip was found stuck on a fence post about half a block

from where we parked. That was a good find, but my fully endorsed check was nowhere to be seen. My caregiver looked around a nearby gravel parking lot and alley, but didn't see the missing document. As we drove away, I continued to look as well, but without finding our goal.

Back at home, I called the bank to see what it would cost to have the check held so it couldn't be deposited. That expense was close to the full amount of the note, so I opted to wait and see what happened. The event near dad's workplace, and he also made a thorough search, but without success. I went to sleep Tuesday night still wondering my best course of action.

Wednesday morning, after finishing my Bible reading, I went to post the daily verse on Facebook and saw I had a message. It was from a friend of some of my friends, but nobody I knew. I hesitated to open the message, but decided to read it. The note said she had found my check on her driveway, nearly three blocks from where I parked, and wanted to arrange how to pick it up. Later that day, dad retrieved my wondering payment and everything was in its proper location by this afternoon.

It is unfortunate that the worst is expected, and excitement is found when the correct response happens. I'm thankful everything turned out well and lessons were learned for the future. Part of living in small, rural towns, is that many people know each other and how to get in touch if needed. Doing some Facebook investigation, I saw that the finder is a graduate of the same high school as me and works at the local hospital. Therefore, it's very possible we have met before, but in different circumstances. Most of all, I'm thankful for God's provision and demonstrating again we do not need to be anxious for anything.

So Much with So Little

Those who are self-employed talk frequently about times of feast or famine. In other words, times of plenty of work vs. times with little work. Technically, I work for mother's business, but it's basically the same thing. The last few months have been blessed with a lot of work, and falling behind.

I advertise my web development services very little. The only promoting I do is listing the business name at the bottom of my client's sites. It's a practice most web developers do and I just follow the trend. Formal advertising is also expensive, plus I'm not allowed to have much income. Therefore, I am thankful for what work I have been provided.

With all that said, this has been a busy summer for site work. A few of my existing clients have had their sites redesigned and I also gained a new client. The new client has an existing site with different functions and it took time to see who had access to everything. After I started building the new look, it went well. The largest part of the project is nearly complete and I hope the site will be live to the public by the end of August. Once this site is complete, I have at least one more that needs to be made completely from scratch.

For most people, the projects I'm working on would go quickly and be done in a few weeks. However, I continue to only sit for 60-90 minutes and then be flat for 1.5-2 hours. This is better than I used to do, but it is still a short time period. In addition to web work, I have also had sermon preparation, work on my autobiography, health maintenance, and several meetings with a disability advocacy group.

Friday was my first of two times at the Iowa State Fair (next week's topic). It was a hard day and I was glad to get home. However, when dad changed my wound dressing Saturday, my skin had a large tear in the area. Therefore, I really need to decrease my time sitting and stay flat even more. This has also been a recurring them this summer.

It can easily get frustrating with setbacks and not being able to do everything I would like. Unfortunately, it's part of the quad life and I know that God allows good times as well as testing. This week's fair trip may be even shorter than my first, but I still can serve God and speak to others.

Job Prospect

Sometimes, I look around and dream of possibilities of how life could be different. Last week, I had a few minutes to fill between other activities and started looking around. I wish I hadn't, but the results did get my mind spinning in realms of "what if."

While on Facebook, I saw an advertisement from Answers in Genesis talking about job openings. If I ever was able to work anywhere again, this would be high on the list of organizations I would consider. I scrolled through the list of 102 openings and browsed the headlines. Most of them were seasonal needs for summer, but some were permanent positions in various departments. One opening near the end of the list caught my eye.

The title said it was an entry position for a content manager for the company's web presence. Clicking on it for further detail, it was like I was reading my own qualifications. Required education was a 2-year degree, which I have, and experience with HTML and CSS. The person would work with a content management system to get videos, pictures, and text on websites, social media, and various electronic platforms. In short, the exact thing I do for my clients already. However, the position is for full-time work, including some weekends, in northern Kentucky.

It has been nearly 20 years since I last worked full-time in a regular office environment. With the trouble I have with pressure sores and other issues, I know I can't physically work that much anymore. Also, due to using my dad's employer's insurance as well as Medicaid through Iowa, I am extremely limited in what I can earn. For example, if I lost my caregiver funding through Medicaid, that cost alone would be around $200 per day ($6,000/month).

I would love the opportunity to allow my parents to be free from having to provide so much for me, and be less reliant on government support. Unfortunately, the system basically requires me to stay just as I am with doing very little paid work. 

In any case, it's sometimes fun to dream and wonder. God has given me the quad life right where I am and I will serve Him wherever He leads me.

Crossroads

Most days, my home phone gets junk phone calls. The caller ID will come up as spam, name unavailable, or various other oddities. While biking Tuesday morning, a call came with an odd name on the ID. I expected a robot voice or someone that could barely speak English and had some scheme to get my personal information. To my surprise, it was an actual local person that wanted to speak to me.

It was someone from one of the golf courses in town offering an advertising spot for the year. He said it would be in front of business owners for a full year, many who don't know how to do websites, and potential customers. The rate I was offered wasn't as bad as I expected, but still nearly four months' worth of regular expenses. I thought briefly about taking the offer, but declined it.

This isn't the first year I have let the same advertising opportunity pass. Marketing my web development work sounds good, but it hasn't ever helped before. For the last several months, I have only had between 2.5-4 hours of paying work per month. More work would be great, but it's a catch-22.

My funding for nurses and medical care is partly through government assistance. I can only have very little income and my caregivers can't show helping me with anything job related. Therefore, I would like to earn more of my own income instead of just getting government assistance, but I can't without jeopardizing what I do receive.

Friday was my second school visit out of four this month, two more are later this week. It feels like I'm at a crossroads of staying with web development and trying to keep up with the industry, or going more into speaking and writing. I'm much more inclined to try the latter and see if I can stay busy with it. If this summer stays open to meetings, it may give the opportunity to test the waters.

Whatever comes, I can always strive to keep busy in the quad life and do what God allows. I have been asked some interesting questions at schools so far this month. Next week, I will see if I can decide which was the most unique.

Preparing for Possibilities

It has been a busy week in the quad life, and I have enjoyed it, at least somewhat. However, wondering of changes to come has also required a bit of learning new things.

For the last few years, web development work has primarily only been declining and I have had little opportunity to flex my programming muscles. I had the opportunity to build a site from scratch this week and enjoyed getting into it again. The designer did a very good job in preparing it and made my job easy.

Within just a few hours, spread over two days, it went from start to finish for design. Now, it's down to approval and a group of people adding content to the pages. While it was a short-lived project compared to some sites I've made, it was still a good feeling getting back into it again.

Some of my friends, and conservative news resources, have been getting either temporarily suspended or completely banned by social media platforms and tech companies. Therefore, alternative options have been suggested and utilized in hopes that free speech will be allowed on them.

I made accounts on a couple platforms, but am learning how they operate and finding friends, and channels, to follow. With all the time I spend laying flat, I frequently use these sources for keeping up with friends, including other quadriplegic families, as well as education and entertainment. Adjusting to new sources without a list of areas I follow takes time to learn.

One of the companies having issues with Christian related content is the provider of this blogging platform. I have a small enough following that I don't think it will get removed too quickly, but is still possible. Therefore, I'm trying to download backups more frequently and consider alternate locations.

My own website, joelvm.com, is capable of having a blog like this. I'm not sure if I can transfer earlier posts from here if needed, but I will look into it further if needed. Until then, have a great week ahead and I will continue to remember God is in control of everything.

Outdated

I am 35 years old. Depending on what age group you talk to, that's either young, old, or just right. After this week, I'm feeling on the old and outdated side.

In early 2003, I graduated with my Associate's degree in Information Technology (IT) from a local business school. A few years later, I noticed that the degree was no longer an option. Last year, the entire school was bought out by a state university and was closed. So not only did my college feel they could offer my degree anymore, the entire school went away. It really feels weird to say your degree no longer exists and then to give an explanation to what the school was.

The unofficial slogan for an IT degree is "I can Google that for you." I unfortunately agree with the statement and lived it last week. My mom's computer started having problems, so I used Google to find potential solutions. After finding a few possibilities, none of them worked. In order to try to make faster progress, I had her call a computer help person in town. It turns out her computer should have never upgraded to Windows 10 and therefore it was only a matter of time until it died.

You can read all you want for education, but for me the best teacher is working with your hands (or mouth stick in my case). With being down so much these last few years, I don't get much time to do anything, let alone learn something new. I'm even feeling it with web related technology in not having opportunity to work with more options. It feels like I'm back to being a kid just playing computer games and watching TV (Netflix or YouTube actually).

Hopefully the latest trouble with one of my client's sites will at least allow an opportunity to try something new. In the mean time, I think I'll try to increase my school talks and work from my experience of living the quad life. Whatever God has planned, I'll be along for the ride another week.

Creative Scheming

Work has been pretty slow this year and I learned last week I am losing two more clients. Neither one were very busy, but they were some work in any case. With warm temps and nice days almost upon us, my mind has been contemplating things to keep busy.

I really can't do anything that would require extra sitting, so that eliminates long-term volunteering with anything. With only being upright for 5-6 hours a day, it also limits what I can commit to for activities. Keeping these in mind, I have been praying and brain storming for ideas.

Ideas so far have been getting back into more writing. I did the school newspaper for two years in high school and worked for a local newspaper for a year as well. A few years ago, I also wrote an article for my church denomination's disability newsletter that received several good comments. It's likely that it wouldn't go out anywhere, but it's a possibility.

For the next several months, a slow schedule will allow for easier troops to Des Moines for riding bike and possibly a few Saturday train watching trips. With my new chair, I need to remake parts of the video I use when I speak at classes. I think having one specifically made for that purpose will be helpful in explaining life with a disability. Maybe I could get real ambitious and make a video that can be viewed independent of my presentation and go to more schools than I can visit.

Whatever God has in plan for me, it definitely feels like I'm beginning a transition of some sort. I can't imagine getting completely out of web development, but I may just not be seeing God's plan. As I tell school kids, the quad life can do a variety of jobs. Probably not making pizzas or selling food door to door as some suggest, but not only one career choice.

This week is already shaping up to be an interesting one. Next week's post will see how it continues through the next few days.

Continuing Education

Every field of work that I'm aware of has some sort of continuing education. Nurses continue to learn about new medications and techniques, accountants keep up on new tax laws, and mechanics keep up with new engine components. Web development isn't any different than these other careers.

Technology continues to change, and so does the way you program for it. One thing that I'm doing now is making sites so that business owners can do their own updates. This was something I barely heard of when I started working on sites, but now it's common practice. In order to do this, I, and a lot of web developers, use a program called Wordpress.

Wordpress was originally designed as a blogging platform, but is now behind more than 74.6 million web sites according to one source. In another month or two, I will likely be having a site redesign project that will be using this platform. That's not unusual, but the site designer and I will be using an addition, or plugin, that allows for streamlined control over the site's design. This plugin is what is new to me.

Therefore, I have been learning how to use it with two other sites I have been working on this month. So far, I'm liking the opportunities it provides in terms of site layout. However, it's taking time to figure out what goes where to make everything work. I learned yesterday that it also doesn't use a certain programming language I'm familiar with for design aspects. Yesterday was spent looking through the changes and finding a program (such as Microsoft Word for text) that can read the code and let me work with it.

Learning new things can be a fun challenge and I'm thankful I have the opportunity to learn before I need to be working quickly. I can see this being something I'll use quite a bit, at least until another replacement comes. That is what has been going on in the quad life.

Labor Day 2014

Today is the day of labor, the time every pregnant woman looks forward to. Well, maybe that's a different subject.

This year has felt like a labor of different sort for me with all the work of trying to keep funding for my caregivers and stay at home. My actual labor of web development continues to be on the slow side, but that's not bad.

In laboring to keep my body in good shape and down to the appropriate number of holes, I continue to spend a lot of time flat. I got to thinking the other day, and realized I only sit for a total of around six hours a day. It's no wonder that even short jobs for VMT seem to take a lot longer than they should. Yesterday dad said that he noticed the one wound is half the size it used to be, so working to be off the back side is helping.

Friday afternoon, we learned that the funding that was set to expire yesterday has now also been extended to January. However, we don't know anything beyond that. Due to this, I've been working on scheduling my school talks this fall instead of spring as usual. It will be different doing them early in he year, but it may work out better. If funding does continue beyond January, maybe I can try for more schools at my normal time. Before that time though, I need to continue to work on new insurance that is more affordable and will cover my needs. If that is even a possibility will remain to be seen.

We read in Colossians 3:17, "Whatever you do in word or in deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus..." As this labor day ends and I look toward changing seasons, activities, and regular life changes, I need to keep this in mind and work toward the final goal.

Fails

Some weeks, everything goes right, but others are just the opposite. Last week seemed to be a lot of the latter.

After over four years of work and waiting, my new chair arrived last Tuesday. Unfortunately, we should have left it in the crate. It didn't have several of the items it was supposed to, won't fit me, and a long list of problems. After a little investigation, I also found out the base was purchase in 2009 by a company in Florida. The on switch is missing, so I can't tell how many miles it has driven, but it has definitely traveled the country.

I also had a miscommunication with a client a couple weeks ago and I ended up overwriting changes they had made. Last week was spent getting the original changes online again along with the changes I made. Now we're working to get everything correct on the client's computer again so they can continue doing updates. Normally, I'm able to get updates complete for clients within one business day, but not last week.

With the catching up on the one client and still being flat a lot, I let an update request get buried in my email. It was two days later when the client reminded me of it that I finally got it online. I'm supposed to be trying to get more clients so I can help with insurance expenses, not lose current ones because of poor management. Mom also said that if I can't get on my own insurance with nursing coverage in January that I'll need to just go to Medicaid and see what we can do. That will very possibly mean a care facility. With the negative, their also was some positive.

Tuesday also had an interview with a potential new client. If they decide to go with me, it should be a fun site to work on. I also started back into Spanish after more than a year off. I've wanted to for a couple months, but finally took the initiative and did it.

Other than warm, this new week has potential to go either direction. We'll see what it brings by the next post.

ACTS

A few years ago at one of my school talks, a student asked me what was my favorite part of prayer. I thought this was quite the question coming from a second grader and not one I was prepared. My mind swirled for a minute wondering what he meant, the beginning, middle, or end maybe? The confusion must have shown on my face as a few of the students pointed to the board behind me where the four parts of prayer were listed, Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication (ACTS). This now became easy, my favorite and easiest part is thanksgiving.

As soon as I say that I can already hear the voices, "Wait a second, you can't control or feel anything below your shoulders, you can't breathe on your own, you rely on help from someone for pretty much everything, and the easiest part is thanksgiving?" In short, the answer is a resounding yes. No, it isn't always easy, but with very little effort I can always think of something to be thankful for.

One easy one is the multitude of caregivers I have that help me with everything, especially my parents. We also are thankful for a partial answer to prayer Friday. Insurance will now be funding my night care through January 26, 2015. That still leaves daytime hours and figuring out cost for insurance, but it's a lot better than last week.

It has been slow lately, but I'm also thankful for the work I have through VMT. I know a lot of other quads that don't even have that much, so it is something to be glad about. Other items include living outside a care facility, being able to help others, being surrounded by caring friends and family, and many more.

This has been a week of giving thanks for many different occasions, we'll see what comes in the next one.

Trains, Planes, and Tractors

Every so often, a random thought enters my head, finds a lot of open real estate, and moves on out the other ear. Looking back at my grandfather's life last week makes me wonder what I would have done differently in my current situation, and what I may have done if I didn't have a spinal cord injury (SCI).

If I went back about 15 years, I would have studied engineering more than information technology. I tend to quickly pickup on new technology, but I also do so with mechanical items. I love knowing how things work, seeing what ways they can be improved, and thinking how an item can simplify life. One add on I had on my flight simulator was called AfCad, it allowed you to manipulate airports in several ways. I wouldn't dare to guess how many hours I spent placing parking spots, arranging taxiways, and lining everything up to the closest centimeter possible.

However, as a web developer, I can work anywhere I have my computer and a good internet connection. I don't know enough about the industry, and different engineering degrees, to speculate on work conditions. In the case of planning an area for development, like the airport editor, I imagine some could be done from home after getting exact measurements of the land and needs. Completely changing history and imaging what I would have done without an SCI, thoughts really start spinning.

After high school, I think I would have joined the Air Force for a few years. My interest in planes isn't far behind trains, so it would be a good fit. I can imagine myself flying freighters across oceans to supply the troops or soaring across the sky at Mach 2 in an F-16.

The railroads tend to look favorably at veterans, so my next career move after the Air Force would be working for the BNSF, or smaller, railroad. As a locomotive engineer, I could fill my preference for not working in an office, but still enjoy the luxury of heat and air conditioning. What area of the country I would work in though, I couldn't guess. Different areas have varying appeal, but that changes with time. After working a day on the rails, I would come home to my acreage with a hobby farm.

Working solely as a farmer would be a little too much for my liking. However, about 15 acres would be great. I could have a small barn and pasture with about a dozen ship, a pond for fishing and swimming, and a large garden behind the house. This has been my dream house for many years, and would combine several of my interests.

With all these career plans, I would hope to be supporting my wife and a couple kids. Unfortunately, the railroad life doesn't leave a lot of time for family, so I would need to carefully prioritize time and evaluate life choices as the years accumulated.

Speculating about the what ifs can be fun, but I try not to do it often. We live the life given us by God and work toward His plan. The one I've been given is unique and I pray that I can continue to live it to the best of the abilities I have been given.

Work

For most people, myself included, work is a requirement of adult life, but generally not enjoyed. Some are able to do what they love for employment, but it's unfortunately not the norm. As I posted a few weeks ago, working during the quad life is part of a balancing act between priorities.

After I graduated from college, I took the first few months to look for work and had interviews at a number of businesses. During this time, I signed up with a temp agency and shortly after was called in to work at a place in West Des Moines. After bankruptcy, an airline was restructuring how they handled employee benefits. We would take phone calls from employees, pilots in flight, mechanics, stewardesses, and get them signed up for the benefits package of their choice. Phone operation and data entry wasn't what I had in mind with a degree in Information Technology, but it was my first real job. I worked forty hours a week, or more, for a month and a half. It was a great feeling supporting myself and living a regular adult life.

A few months later I had another temp job, but this was one I found on my own. For this one, I did data entry for job counselors at a division of Iowa Workforce Development. I commuted from my apartment to downtown Des Moines and again did a forty-hour work week, generally. The work often ran out before the day did, so I had a few times where I left early. Once again though, the time ran out on the assignment and my position was complete. A few years later, it was found out that the CEO was taking out large sums of money for herself, so it ended up being liquidated and work done by a local university.

It has been over ten years since I worked those positions and I can't see how I did it. Now, if I was working a traditional job somewhere, every 45 minutes, I would have to stop and reposition in my chair for fifteen minutes. In an eight-hour day, that adds up to two hours of tilting. When I'm tilted, I can't run a computer, at least not the way I do it now, I've tried before. At the last temp job I did, job counselors would take fifteen minute smoke breaks every hour, so the time would be similar, but I wouldn't feel right getting paid to do nothing. When I did work full-time, I adjusted when I could, or for longer periods, but not so far that I couldn't work.

Back then (that makes me sound old), my body was more forgiving, so I could get away with it. Now, with chronic pressure sores, there's no way I could. Last month, all of January, I worked a total of about 26 hours. If you divide that into the 22 working days of the month, that's not much more than an hour a day, and that was a busy month. Granted though, I don't record my time as I would in an office, I only record time I'm actually working on a client's site. If I'm emailing clients, on the phone, putting together proposals, working on book work, none of that is recorded. If I did, then I may get up to a few hours per day average.

Worst of all is not doing anything, not having a reason to get up in the morning and do something productive with the life I've been given. Maybe sometime this body will improve, and work increase, to levels more toward real work. Until then, that's this week for the quad life.

Weekly Updates

In my last post, I added a link back to my web site and noticed I said that I blog weekly. That has not been the case, as you can see, so I was going to change the sentence. However, I decided instead to see if I can get closer to that frequency.

One of the bloggers I follow, and have worked with, said the best way to improve your writing is to just write. That obviously makes sense, so that is what I'll try to do. Unfortunately, finding something to write about could be the problem. Every week is pretty similar to the next for me.

During the day Monday through Friday, I mainly spend my time doing work or something to keep somewhat productive. Evenings consist of supper, playing computer games or watching something on the computer, and occasional meetings. Weekends primarily are longer versions of my evenings except with the addition of church on Sunday. Since I last wrote, that is what I've been doing. Maybe this will continue, maybe not, we shall see.

Today's item of interest is that I completed a new web site, Van Ryswyck Plumbing & Heating. The site started back in March with a meeting with the site owner, designer, and myself. It got delayed for a couple months due to scheduling conflicts with the designer and owner, but I finally got it in August. I finished the building of the site and was looking forward to completing it. Unfortunately, about a week later, the designer quit the company she worked for, leaving me with no contact in the company.

Fortunately, the owner and I were able to connect and try to get the site up on their existing domain (web address). However, that was inaccessible without becoming expensive, so it was decided to get a new URL. Today consisted of registering the new address, establishing hosting, and finally uploading the completed site. Amongst the other updates of the day, I was glad to get the project finished and the client's new site available to the public.

The next may not have as much accomplished, but I never know what to expect.

End of the Month

Today is June 30, the last day of June 2012. It means that we have officially had ten days of summer, that July is coming very soon, and in business circles, that end of the month activities are due. For my business, VMT, the last business day of the month is when I send billing out to my clients.

This activity happens every thirty days or so and is a ritual I love to get finished. However, this year, it has gone faster and faster every month. Not because I'm becoming more proficient at it, although possible, or because I'm using some new software, no, it's going faster because there is less to do. January started out the year very busy, but ever since then I have had a gradual decline in work so that hardly any existed this past month.

In some ways, I have been decreasing the work load through my own actions. A couple clients started using a Content Management System (CMS) this year. These systems don't require much, if anything, of web coding knowledge, so they are fast to update. Both clients still have me do their work, but the time needed has dropped. I have also made a custom CMS for another client that they will soon be using to do their own work. Finally, I'm too easy on some companies. When two different updates total 12 minutes, I can't see charging 30 (two 0.25 hour updates) to a non-profit. Therefore, I combined the two times into one.

To help end this cycle of declining sales, I purchased access to a marketing strategy course to get further skills in selling. The premise of this class is to five figure deals from new business, I don't expect that to happen, but the information is still relevant. One item the instructor says is to build a strong core, or home network, of people that know what you do as this tends to be a great source for week. That I completely agree with, the majority of the work I do has come through referrals from friends and those who know me due to SCI.

He also said to blog often, so that people can get to know your work skills, and to use email marketing for consistent reminders to clients. These sound good, and I've heard them before, but I guess it's down to doing everything in increasing numbers.

Therefore, it's maybe time to start a business related blog, and try to think of things to write, and keep trying to be social, and make sure people know what I do.  It is something to pray about and see where God leads me with this reinvigorated skill.

Slow Month

Today is the 22nd of October, the month is nearing completion, and I've had very little work for VMT. In early October, I sent out a newsletter to potential clients that had contacted me and a bonus offer for referral from existing clients.

I'm aware that we're in a poor economy, but it sounds like other web businesses are remaining busy. Also in the last month, I started working with Brian Berry from Calm Chess Computers and bid on jobs at elance.com. To date, none have been won, only rejections.

It sounds like The Write Place may have some projects coming up, so that will be a nice change. Hopefully business will pick up soon. I'm thankful for what I've been given, and pray it will continue.