yesterday and other stuff.
Jul. 23rd, 2010 09:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
serynStuff that's happened recently.
Someone I'm vaguely related to, distantly enough to pretend there is no familial connection, sent me an email introducing me to a friend of his who is looking for someone to do tech support.
They want to "get" one person. To do tech support for all their clients. Who are of varying skill levels. They want the person to work from home, but need someone "local"... I'm several hours away, distant enough that I would need to stay overnight should I need to be there in the morning. And during this remote work from home job, I would be expected to take over client computers remotely in order to fix their issues.
1) they're not hiring someone, it's a contract
2) taking over someone's computer is usually considered an attack, so doing so as a third party not known to the client is a massive liability exposure and a violation of my ISPs TOS. Obviously I would have permission, but that's extremely difficult to argue from a jail cell. Big names in internet security have been arrested for fulfilling contracts to test computer protections. It's not hugely likely to happen, but I would be completely idiotic to do this without enough attorney-written paper to cover my ass several inches thick.
3) the equipment necessary to do this as a contract would be all on me. No one buys contractors equipment to use at home. I would need to upgrade my internal network, my broadband service, my phone service, and give up a fraction of my living space.
4) I would need to hire someone to handle the taxes and contracts and liability insurance.
5) the email actually says that the hiring company might be open to training a second person to cover time off. I live in California, but I don't want to check into its Hotel.
The potential client says professional companies who do this kind of tech support are too expensive. But in order to actually do this safely, I would need to run it like a business. Because that's what it would be. If I am running a business, I'm going to have overhead, staffing expenses, benefits, {HR IT legal accounting insurance whatever} issues that I will have to buy piecemeal; I don't see how I could do it cheaper than someone who is already set up unless I was going to cut corners and take insane risks with my security and financial safety.
And, ready? When I politely suggested that they consider a professional firm and said I wasn't considering contract positions, I was told off privately by the nebulous relative.
I can see all these pitfalls with the situation, just from the description, and the only thing insulating this for me is "trust me, we're family". I think it's someone who has no idea what our family is like; abusive parents, rampant dishonesty, stabbing people in the back to get ahead, disloyalty if there is someone better around... They're not actually criminal, but they're not people you tie your fortunes to because they say things and make promises they don't mean. And they screw family over first because blood relations mean you must forgive but other people don't have to.
Why on Earth would anyone take a job like that? I know there are people who are desperate for work, but I'm not willing to destroy everything we've built up just so I stop being ashamed at parties when people ask where I work.
Lastly, I'm not going to be good at tech support. I don't like people. I hate being on the phone. I don't know how to tweak a Windows installation. When something breaks or lames on my computer I whinge about it until I get someone else to fix it. I'm not actually skilled enough to do this without training. And you don't pay to train contractors. That's why you hire contractors, they come in ready to go. There are plenty of tech support people around here. Why would anyone come to me?
I am pleased that people are coming to knitting group who want to make things other than purses. I don't like all the work it requires from me. I got zero knitting done yesterday. Next week I'm by myself. That's always hard to juggle because everyone wants all my time.
It was recommended that I dump this volunteer gig, but it was recommended by someone who then unfriended me because I'm sick of people putting their commentary about racism in place of their stories on fic sites. Apparently it's racist of me to believe that belongs in metafandom channels where I can easily ignore it; fic archives are for fic. And it's hard to extricate myself from my one knitting group. I need a replacement first or I'll never push myself to do anything new.
Yesterday I went out to see if there were any new bras in the sale racks at Nordstrom. They'd sent me a catalog thing saying some things in my favorite brand would be discounted, but I assumed none of them would be things I might like.
I found one on the sale rack. It was discounted 18%. I bought 2 others at full price, but of a less expensive brand. It wasn't a wasted trip, but I am not sure how happy I am with what I purchased. After a while one gets hot and tired and miserable enough to buy things that are only tolerable. Good return policy though, so anything I can't fasten myself after my shoulder stops aching will go back.
Since my favorite brand can actually fucking measure, a 38 is a 38 is a 38, no matter which style. And the same cup size fits in all styles. Plus they're not made in China.
Actually I should check the labels on the other brands of bras. Anything made in China is going to go back. Obviously China isn't worse than any of the other places except for the press reports about heavy metal contamination in toothpaste and children's toys. Economically it's not good for our country to get further into debt with the Chinese. We already owe them a huge boatload of money. The only way to get out of debt with someone is to stop buying stuff from them and pay the debt off.
[I need a new toaster but I'm not buying one because they are universally made in China; everything from a $9 Target sold toaster to the $110 fancy jobs... all made in China. From metal. That gets heated and then touches the food.]
My feet are really hurting today. Probably too much walking and standing. They've been getting worse since my SO's mother was in town and wanted to walk all over. I've stopped doing ellipticals at the gym. I'm wearing socks and my squishy rubber Croc-style shoes all the time at home. But it hurts enough that I'm dreading going grocery shopping.
A month ago I was thinking we should go to Disneyland. I like Disneyland, but it's a lot of walking and last year I wouldn't have been able to do it. Having become thinner and stronger, my feet had been improving. They almost never hurt. I could probably have done a whole day at the park if I didn't need to walk much the next day. Feeling my feet today, there's no way that's a good idea.
Additional physical stuff. I was right to be concerned that the doctor wouldn't be pleased with my progress. Since I hadn't lost any weight, he couldn't see any difference. My blood pressure at home is significantly lower than what he measures. To the point that he doesn't believe I'm using the device right. What he couldn't seem to detect was that I was wearing jeans 2 full sizes smaller and my tummy didn't pouch over the waistband. He saw a fat arsed woman in jeans and then saw a fat arsed woman in jeans several months later. The fact that I'm 3-4 inches less fat arsed is not noticeable except in comparison.
Someone I'm vaguely related to, distantly enough to pretend there is no familial connection, sent me an email introducing me to a friend of his who is looking for someone to do tech support.
They want to "get" one person. To do tech support for all their clients. Who are of varying skill levels. They want the person to work from home, but need someone "local"... I'm several hours away, distant enough that I would need to stay overnight should I need to be there in the morning. And during this remote work from home job, I would be expected to take over client computers remotely in order to fix their issues.
1) they're not hiring someone, it's a contract
2) taking over someone's computer is usually considered an attack, so doing so as a third party not known to the client is a massive liability exposure and a violation of my ISPs TOS. Obviously I would have permission, but that's extremely difficult to argue from a jail cell. Big names in internet security have been arrested for fulfilling contracts to test computer protections. It's not hugely likely to happen, but I would be completely idiotic to do this without enough attorney-written paper to cover my ass several inches thick.
3) the equipment necessary to do this as a contract would be all on me. No one buys contractors equipment to use at home. I would need to upgrade my internal network, my broadband service, my phone service, and give up a fraction of my living space.
4) I would need to hire someone to handle the taxes and contracts and liability insurance.
5) the email actually says that the hiring company might be open to training a second person to cover time off. I live in California, but I don't want to check into its Hotel.
The potential client says professional companies who do this kind of tech support are too expensive. But in order to actually do this safely, I would need to run it like a business. Because that's what it would be. If I am running a business, I'm going to have overhead, staffing expenses, benefits, {HR IT legal accounting insurance whatever} issues that I will have to buy piecemeal; I don't see how I could do it cheaper than someone who is already set up unless I was going to cut corners and take insane risks with my security and financial safety.
And, ready? When I politely suggested that they consider a professional firm and said I wasn't considering contract positions, I was told off privately by the nebulous relative.
I can see all these pitfalls with the situation, just from the description, and the only thing insulating this for me is "trust me, we're family". I think it's someone who has no idea what our family is like; abusive parents, rampant dishonesty, stabbing people in the back to get ahead, disloyalty if there is someone better around... They're not actually criminal, but they're not people you tie your fortunes to because they say things and make promises they don't mean. And they screw family over first because blood relations mean you must forgive but other people don't have to.
Why on Earth would anyone take a job like that? I know there are people who are desperate for work, but I'm not willing to destroy everything we've built up just so I stop being ashamed at parties when people ask where I work.
Lastly, I'm not going to be good at tech support. I don't like people. I hate being on the phone. I don't know how to tweak a Windows installation. When something breaks or lames on my computer I whinge about it until I get someone else to fix it. I'm not actually skilled enough to do this without training. And you don't pay to train contractors. That's why you hire contractors, they come in ready to go. There are plenty of tech support people around here. Why would anyone come to me?
I am pleased that people are coming to knitting group who want to make things other than purses. I don't like all the work it requires from me. I got zero knitting done yesterday. Next week I'm by myself. That's always hard to juggle because everyone wants all my time.
It was recommended that I dump this volunteer gig, but it was recommended by someone who then unfriended me because I'm sick of people putting their commentary about racism in place of their stories on fic sites. Apparently it's racist of me to believe that belongs in metafandom channels where I can easily ignore it; fic archives are for fic. And it's hard to extricate myself from my one knitting group. I need a replacement first or I'll never push myself to do anything new.
Yesterday I went out to see if there were any new bras in the sale racks at Nordstrom. They'd sent me a catalog thing saying some things in my favorite brand would be discounted, but I assumed none of them would be things I might like.
I found one on the sale rack. It was discounted 18%. I bought 2 others at full price, but of a less expensive brand. It wasn't a wasted trip, but I am not sure how happy I am with what I purchased. After a while one gets hot and tired and miserable enough to buy things that are only tolerable. Good return policy though, so anything I can't fasten myself after my shoulder stops aching will go back.
Since my favorite brand can actually fucking measure, a 38 is a 38 is a 38, no matter which style. And the same cup size fits in all styles. Plus they're not made in China.
Actually I should check the labels on the other brands of bras. Anything made in China is going to go back. Obviously China isn't worse than any of the other places except for the press reports about heavy metal contamination in toothpaste and children's toys. Economically it's not good for our country to get further into debt with the Chinese. We already owe them a huge boatload of money. The only way to get out of debt with someone is to stop buying stuff from them and pay the debt off.
[I need a new toaster but I'm not buying one because they are universally made in China; everything from a $9 Target sold toaster to the $110 fancy jobs... all made in China. From metal. That gets heated and then touches the food.]
My feet are really hurting today. Probably too much walking and standing. They've been getting worse since my SO's mother was in town and wanted to walk all over. I've stopped doing ellipticals at the gym. I'm wearing socks and my squishy rubber Croc-style shoes all the time at home. But it hurts enough that I'm dreading going grocery shopping.
A month ago I was thinking we should go to Disneyland. I like Disneyland, but it's a lot of walking and last year I wouldn't have been able to do it. Having become thinner and stronger, my feet had been improving. They almost never hurt. I could probably have done a whole day at the park if I didn't need to walk much the next day. Feeling my feet today, there's no way that's a good idea.
Additional physical stuff. I was right to be concerned that the doctor wouldn't be pleased with my progress. Since I hadn't lost any weight, he couldn't see any difference. My blood pressure at home is significantly lower than what he measures. To the point that he doesn't believe I'm using the device right. What he couldn't seem to detect was that I was wearing jeans 2 full sizes smaller and my tummy didn't pouch over the waistband. He saw a fat arsed woman in jeans and then saw a fat arsed woman in jeans several months later. The fact that I'm 3-4 inches less fat arsed is not noticeable except in comparison.
