10.21.98

    I wish I could've written yesterday. I was on some euphoric wave of energy that just propelled me into midnight without even trying. However, manic energy is not always conducive to writing. Not for me, anyway.

    Things have been happening fast around here. I am so thankful for the movement because I was beginning to feel really bogged down. So... where to start?

    On Monday I filed my claim against The Jerk™ for not paying me for my work. That was a whole hassle and I almost wrote about every last annoying detail but I decided that a soothing entry full of memories would be better. All that matters is that it has been filed.

    Tuesday, I started some work for those guys I mentioned a few days ago. I'm doing some touch-up work on a site and adding some new pages. Actually, the touch-up work is fairly substantial since I'm redoing almost every graphic on the site. I'm also fixing some coding problems but thankfully whoever did the site had a solid grasp of code just not a very good idea what they were doing graphically. Graphics are more fun to fix than ignorant coding.

    I also went with one of them to a client meeting which I think went over really well. I contributed to the meeting and was able to discuss various issues and back up my guy on some sales points.

    Sometimes I am totally amazed at the things I hear coming out of my mouth. I really have been exposed to the business side of web design and I think I have the intuition and creativity to make up a lot of what I haven't learned directly. I feel confident. It's a really nice feeling.

    Did I mention that they gave me a hat? My first day in and they gave me a baseball cap with their company's logo on it. It's a cool hat, too—quality, baby.

    In addition to the site updates I'm going to be designing a whole other site. I'm excited and nervous. I really want to impress these guys. It's difficult, though, because in many respects I'm so unsure of myself. I'm learning about bookkeeping and taxes and how not to get screwed by inscrupulous jerks. I'm feeling my way through rates and time management and all the other things that you need to do when you're working from home. I have to remember not to make myself too available.

    Today I had a job interview for a part-time job. It's a really fun job and I'm totally jazzed about it. A friend of ours had a job this summer walking dogs. (If I've talked about this here already, please forgive me.) Basically, she works for this guy who runs a business walking dogs of the rich and famous. Well, rich at least since who else can afford a dog walking service? Anyway, she has all the great stories to tell and it really sounds like a lot of fun.

    I was really looking for a light at the end of the tunnel and I think this is it. At the time I had few options. I was completely out of money (still am) and feeling hopeless and used and so incredibly frustrated and angry. It was going to kill me if I had to go to a temp agency and work bit jobs in data entry or phone answering. So, my thinking is this: I get out and get a ton of exercise, I get to see L.A. and when all this is over I have stories to tell. Plus, I get a steady amount of money coming in. If this freelancing takes off then I can decide what my next step will be but until then I need something that gets me up in the morning and keeps me energized.

    So, you know, I got that going for me.

    Tomorrow is another packed day. I'm taking digital photos for the new site and working on the overhaul of the other site. Then I have yet another Webgrrls meeting. What I'm really looking forward to is this weekend during which I'm going to carve pumpkins and drink a giant margarita.