Paid for writing at last...

[fifty5]

OK, not for writing 'literature', but computer code - and the actual fee hasn't yet been agreed - but a guy has said he'd pay me for my work, and comments so far imply that he's pleased with what I've done (despite an odd fuck-up).

A small victory, but after recent defeats that's still very welcome.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Congratulations!

 

[fifty5]

Congratulations!

Thanks. And ... er ... Thanks. It does feel good.

 

[amicus]

I echo the congratulations....my first, a zillion years ago came about as a result of a letter to the editor in a newspaper...he contacted me and asked if I wanted to write for the paper...came as quite a surprise...

Good luck!

Amicus...

 

[rgraham666]

Good going, fifty. http://bestsmileys.com/thumbs/7.gif

 

[impressive]

Kudos!

 

[SensualCealy]

Pat on the back for ya!
C

 

[fifty5]

Thanks folks.

Well, the stuff works now (the job was to fix some problems with a database driven website). Now I wait for the man to say he's satisfied (or not). Then make the new code live.

Then I wait for another bit of info... He originally said he had 2 jobs to be done. Will he want me to do the other one too?

Oh yes - and how much he's paying. The thing is that while I've been hacking code in a variety of languages since the 80's, it's never been in a competitive environment. I started (like so many in those days) playing with BASIC for fun. Next some formal study with the OU. Then my department (Management Services in the NHS) wanted some standard work measurement data implemented as a programme for the micros that were around in those days. The joys of CPM - with different codes for each different display and printer and umpteen different, incompatible disk formats - meant that when I left that job, there was some consultancy work continuing to tailor the code for different systems, until 'IBM compatibles' brought in uniformity. The next step came because a mate of mine ran a dinghy/windsurfing shop and he wanted to run some sail-board events to publicise his shop. For a season, my code was the national standard for timing those speed events.

Since then it's all been amateur stuff - websites for voluntary organisations to which I belong.

The point is that throughout, I've been the only guy on the spot. The code got done as fast as I could do it, whether that was up to the standard of 'professional' coders or not.

In this case I know I've been soonest (job done less than 3 days after the guy asked if anyone was available), but still haven't a clue about my productivity per hour. Would a 'real' programmer have taken an afternoon instead of the 24 hours or so work it took me? The money he pays should tell me something about that.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I have a chronic problem with the 'professional' - 'amateur' dichotomy. Some of the giants of science, for instance, were amateurs. Gregor Mendel, for one. Maybe even Darwin. Amateurs are explorers. Professionals are cartographers who map what the amateurs explore.

Professionals worry about their paychecks too much.

 

[fifty5]

Professionals worry about their paychecks too much.

I worry about my pension. Does that count?

 

[Stella_Omega]

Amateurs have to worry about paychecks as well.

I know exactly where you're coming from, fifty5.

I've always worked freelance, and sometimes there is NO work, and sometimes you have to make a choice between jobs that conflict.
And you always have to worry about; Will this job be better than that one on my resume? Will this job LAST longer? Will it, or the other one, lead to more work?

Someone asked me once, how things were going, and I blurted out these same questions. She got very bitter and said something about how at least I had a choice of jobs. But she meant long-term, salaried work-- I meant "gigs."

 

[fifty5]

Yeah, Stella, either too much or too little, never a steady flow.

Over those two days, my son needed me to pick up my grand-daughter from school and one of my oldest mates wanted me to pick up some set building material and fix the floor in the container from which he feeds the homeless. I just got there in time for her and put him off till today (when one of the builders' merchants was shut).

Still, freelance has its advantages, so I'm hoping this gig will lead to more. With a few years left until the state pension, other acceptable job opportunities are thin on the ground...

 

[jomar]

Way to go. Good luck with it. I'm also very familiar with the ups and downs of self-employment.