Well, I had but four remaining shifts to get this – yesterday I managed it. I don’t know how, but it probably had something to do with:
Phew, I was beginning to think I would have to rewrite that goal.
Today I put in my resignation at Woolworths, thanks to working full time with QC Seminars (for now at least), and made pancakes to celebrate.
On Australia Day I had a picnic on the grass with Allyson.
When I made this list, I quite playing bejeweled right away. Now that it’s been almost a month since then, I think I can safely tick it off.
It seems like yesterday that Allyson and I moved out of home and into our little villa for $250/week rent. But lo and behold, last week we were served a notice to vacate by the 17th of February.
See, we signed a 6 month lease, which runs out on that date. The owner, who had just bought the home, used her First Home Buyer’s Grant, which has a catch: you must live in the home for 6 months in the first year of ownership, or else you lose the grant. Hence why we’re getting kicked out.
We are going to miss that place.
But it’s not all bad news. This time, we are going to move away from Warilla, to somewhere closer to Wollongong, so that if either of us get a job in Sydney it will take significantly less time to commute.
Looks like 2010 is going to be a year full of change. Just like last year was. And the year before. And… the year before that. Yes.
Anyway, we’ve spent the past 5 days or so going crazy with looking at places and submitting applications. The earliest response we’re going to get is this afternoon. If it’s good news that would be awesome. For that place, in Figtree, right near Westfield, would be a really good place to live.
We can also expect a response on Wednesday for a place in Mangerton. It is an average location, but the house itself is FAB. I’m talking dishwasher, lots of space, split level and quiet as. If we were to be offered both, we’d take Mangerton, even though it’s 2 bedroom and the other one is 3 bedroom. However, should we be offered Figtree but not Mangerton, we’d still be very pleased.
Those are our two top ones. There is another terrific one in Unanderra, but there were too many people at the inspection – it wouldn’t be likely we’d be offered it.
The units we looked at were all very so-so. There was one in Wollongong that had absolutely amazing ocean views and was only $260/week… but the apartment was filthy and not very big, and the doors were all unpainted and ugly. Also there wasn’t any storage space.
We have a bit of time, but obviously we don’t want the 17th to creep up on us, as time likes to do when I’m in a hurry.
Today, I was challenged by my English friend Skippy to participate in Project 52. The concept is to make at least one blog post per week for the entire 2010. Knowing that I need challenges such as this to actually be motivated, I accepted. I have never been able to get into writing a blog- maybe this will help me?
Given that today is the 7th of January, the week is nearly up so I’m getting in right away!
You might also have notice I still have not updated some of the pages on this site… I really need to get that done but first, I have to finish off some client websites. I was told off by one client for taking time off during the holidays. Heaven forbid I get a break in my work schedule.
Yeah, you might be able to tell I am having a lot of troubles with my business. I didn’t realise people could be as fussy as they are, and I never realised just how hard it could be to communicate. But that’s not the worst part. I am just not cut out to work for myself. I haven’t got enough of a work ethic to pull it off. I can work for a boss, but I am a terrible boss of myself. Does that make sense to anyone else?
Hey people! I gave up on my blog when it was all weird with bizarre symbols. But I was going through my email spambox when I found a comment on one of my entries. So I popped on over here and like magic, it was as though nothing had ever happened. Sweet.
Well, I don’t have much time right now as I have to get ready for work soon, but suffice to say that there is A LOT to catch up on!
So that’s a quick update on my life right now. Will try to fill it greater details when I have a bit more time 
Later!
I have two Website clients as we speak!
Sure they’re not getting me much money, but the more sites I do the more my name gets out there, and that can only be a good thing.
Dad signed me up for Barter Card a few days ago – and that’s what brought one of my clients to me. It’s not “real” money, but it doesn’t matter, so long as I find things to buy with my BC credits, and others see my little icon at the bottom of every website I build so that cash customers find me.
Not only that, but the more clients I get, the better it will be for my whole system. I’ll learn the ins and outs much quicker since I’m a Barter Card member and attracting more jobs. Barter Card isn’t for everyone but I think it can certainly benefit me in those ways.
So… I’m pretty happy with business right now. Never mind my lack of actual money form the business. That’s what NEIS is for anyway.
I ordered a brand new, fully customised PC yesterday, because my laptop’s power stopped working. AGAIN! Apparently, I’m doomed to forever have broken power adapters, if indeed that’s the problem this time around.
Never mind though, because this new computer is giving me a geekgasm. Check out the sexy spec.
… All for $1600.
On top of that, I’ve spent a few days setting up a home office in my bedroom. It’s looking good but not yet finished. I’ll try to remember to post a photo once it’s ready.
Obviously, my website will be the greatest asset in my business. So naturally I’ve spent loads of time getting the design just the way I want it. But, it’s only the design so far and it’s not complete yet (link styles are undefined, for example).
Click the thumbnail to have a sneak peek.
Edit 4/2/09: I have changed it a bit. Turns out the style for the .lightbg div was lacking the capability of expanding with my left and right main columns. This is an experimental fix. I have Firefox 3, IE7 and Opera 9 and it works on all of them. I need to find out, however, if it works on other browsers. Can anybody help me out?
The main reason I ask is because it made Dreamweaver 8 go a bit bonkers. What I did was changed the float property of .lightbg to “left”. I couldn’t find any other way of fixing it.
Well, I slept on it.
Repeatedly.
Still thinking about it.
I have a very strong leaning right now, though, to the reseller hosting of FlexiHostings. It has huge stats, the price is quite good, and there are unlimited client accounts, something which the other hosts don’t offer. The highest on NetLogistics is 30 (which is just too small if I want to do this long term) and the highest on MD is 100 (better, but the reviews are still bad).
The only question I have is about support, which I am waiting on a response for.
I will need to wait until next weekend to get the weekend special (buy 1 year get 2 years worth).
Until then, I have registered http://www.siteflight.com.au on MD. Yes, MD Web Hosting. It’s okay though; it’s only going to be my domain registrar.
On Friday, I got an ABN, Business Name Registration and potential client! I was text messaged by a girl that is also doing the NEIS course, and wants a quote. I’m waiting on an email from her explaining what she wants exactly. I’m not really ready to start trading yet, but whatever!
Oh man, there are so many hosts out there, and I don’t want to rush into things.
In my comments I’ve been recommended two hosts, plus there are some more that I have been looking at and may also be good, but it’s hard to tell. Some have very few reviews, some have some bad reviews, some have good reviews which may be suspect – how do I know they didn’t pay someone to write that review?
So, I am going to really have to think about this carefully, since it is something very important to my business. Now, my current international host servage.net has a lot of bad reviews out there, though except for the hacker I haven’t encountered any problems, and their support system is great. So it’s not only the good reviews I have to take with a grain of salt. Some decent companies can have their names tarnished by just a couple of angry customers – and given how huge Servage is, it’s natural that there are a handful of people that aren’t satisfied.
So I’m brought to a point where I may just have to fling myself at a host, and if I’m not satisfied with it, I’ll need to move.
Here are some of the plans weighed out. Included are the things I consider somewhat important.
| Host: | MD | Flexi Hostings | Net Logistics | Web City | XKO |
| Disk Space | 0-20gb | 1-300gb | 1.5-2.5gb | 5-100gb | 0-10gb |
| Bandwidth | 1-20 gigs | 50-4,000 gigs | 30-50 gigs | 50-500 gigs | 1-40 gigs |
| PHP and MySQL | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Add-on Domains | 0-10* | 0-3* | 2-6 | 0-5 | Unlimited |
| cPanel | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reseller or Referral Programs | Yes | Yes | Yes | No (apparently, this comes from a reseller program!) | Yes |
| Price/Month | $3-$40 | $5-$23 | $20-$40 | $7-$20 | $10-$55 |
| Reviews | Bad | Not Great | Good | Not Great | Good (but lacking in general) |
Now, I don’t necessarily want to be a reseller, but it might be good to have that option there.
So looking at these laid out this way, I can see that each company has its strengths and weaknesses. I suppose I have to ask myself what is most important to my business, taking into account the most balanced plans in the table.
MD Web Hosting has some awful reviews, but the cheapest domain registration (not shown in table) and okay plans. It also has a large reseller program.
FlexiHostings is, ironically, the least flexible when it comes to Add-on domains, offering no more than three. However, it is great in most of its other stats. If I chose this, I wouldn’t be able to host any client websites through my account if I wanted to do so. It also has the odd scathing review. Bonus: I have had a personal recommendation.
Net Logistics is well-rounded, but can be pricey. It offers a reseller program, but comes short of FlexiHostings in terms of most of its stats. It may allow for up to 6 domains, but that hosting is $40 per month, which is simply too much for my fledgling business. I can actually get better value, in respect to this factor, at FlexiHostings.
Web City is apparently an offshoot part of the Enetica reseller program, and supposedly may have congestion problems (though I’m sure it’s probably better than Servage). It is quite good in its other respects, however. This is heavily edited thanks to comment #1; I was misinformed. Bonus: I have had a personal recommendation.
XKO is a little bit of an enigma. Its plans aren’t spelt out that well, but it seems like a nice little business. I think it may be a small operation compared to the rest, which I do want to support. Plus they have the whole “green web hosting” thing going on, which is pretty cool.
I just don’t know. I will sleep on it. Feel free to help me out if you want, but I guess the decision is ultimately my own.
