#editorial | Logs for 2014-09-20
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[16:27:44] <n1> hey Bytram
[16:29:01] <Bytram> n1: g'day!
[16:30:02] <n1> how are you good sir?
[16:31:03] <Bytram> good thanks. laundry calls. brb
[16:31:09] <Bytram> hope you're well too!
[16:40:24] <n1> things are ok here, been a full on couple of weeks
[16:42:32] <Bytram> oftentimes, being busy beats being bored.
[16:43:22] <n1> often that is true, this time not too much
[16:43:53] <n1> after doing this for a few years, i'm now at the point where people have decided they just dont have to pay me.
[16:44:06] <Bytram> but being TOO busy isn't good, either. :/
[16:44:50] <n1> so im busy, money is going out to keep up with obligations, but not much at all is coming in
[16:46:49] <Bytram> oh. nod nod
[16:47:32] <Bytram> that's not so much fun. I hope that your efforts are at least starting a later revenue stream coming in for you?
[16:47:52] <n1> trying not to bitch but it's not that great when you go the extra mile just to get fucked over extra hard.
[16:48:06] <Bytram> yuppers.
[16:48:41] <n1> hopefully things will fix themselves in the next couple of weeks, more work is coming in
[16:48:46] <Bytram> what gives me some comfort is knowing that I gave it my *best* shot. All I am responsible for is making the effort... I am powerless over the results.
[16:49:06] <n1> Bytram, usually i would take it like that
[16:49:11] <Bytram> also, what seems to be the result, now, may not be the *final* result. Can't tell ya how many times
[16:49:18] <n1> but i dont think my bank manager is going to see it the same way
[16:49:42] <Bytram> I'vew had a realization or awareness years after the fact along the lines of "Oh! I never realized." ... yeah
[16:49:50] <Bytram> banks are funny that way. :/
[16:50:12] * Bytram has had more than his share of rice and peanut butter lately.
[16:51:11] <n1> highs and lows all round
[16:52:04] <Bytram> yup. Still, at the end of the day, I know for me, that a clear conscience makes the softest pillow. others may be different, but *I* need to know that I didn't shortchange someone in my dealings.
[16:52:21] <Bytram> it's a too-slippery slope.
[16:52:36] <n1> i agree
[16:53:06] <n1> i just can't do it, things would be a lot better if i just went with 'what the market allows'
[16:53:07] <Bytram> more importantly, the day will come when the truth comes out and I know I have nothing to fear. They will get their's in due time.
[16:53:12] <n1> rather than what my own moral compass will allow
[16:53:14] <Bytram> exactly!
[16:54:22] <Bytram> I remember our earlier conversations... you're in a rough spot competing against those who are not, ummm, so honest.
[16:54:50] <Bytram> too many customers are penny wise and pound foolish.
[16:55:05] <n1> yeah, well it may have come the other way around
[16:55:15] <n1> the customers are now the ones fucking me over
[16:55:32] <n1> because i'm honest and easy going
[16:55:55] <Bytram> sometimes, though, it's all in how things are presented. It'll cost this much up front: $x, or, you can pay me $x/10 for 12 months. The customer sees improved cash flow. you see more cash. =)
[16:56:10] <Bytram> assuming, of course, that they pay up. :/
[16:56:44] <n1> the situation ive been in is... if i do the $x for y months
[16:56:47] <Bytram> ugh. look at the time! gotta shower and get going for an appt in an hour.
[16:56:53] <n1> that means i'd get the first payment, and then nothing
[16:57:02] <n1> because they can prove they've made 'efforts to pay'
[16:57:14] <n1> so they can then delay the rest forever more, as they have paid something on the balance
[16:57:16] <Bytram> not if you install, and tell them about, a shutoff switch. =)
[16:57:56] <Bytram> it's no longer a sale -- it's a *service*! You're paying me for continued availablility. No pay, stops going.
[16:58:07] <Bytram> =)
[16:58:28] <n1> i'm trying not to be adversarial, but you have a point
[16:59:18] <Bytram> likewise. I appreciate your understanding that I'm only trying to offer another perspective. It's HARD in the trenches!!!
[16:59:45] <Bytram> Having been in sales for a number of years, and hearing about different approaches, I tend to take note of the things that seem to work and those that do not.
[17:00:07] <Bytram> anything I say here is just an attempt to pass on any wisdom I may have gleaned from those experiences.
[17:00:45] <n1> it's amazing, in sales for years and you're still a person of ethics and morals...
[17:00:47] <Bytram> it's NOT at all a judgement on what you've done or where you're at; just an offer of ideas that you might find useful or interesting. that's all.
[17:01:03] <Bytram> I gotta sleep at night.
[17:01:34] <Bytram> and I have a quarter century of experience testing and developing software -- I cannot lie to myself for long!
[17:01:57] <n1> heheh
[17:02:12] <Bytram> that permutation generator in my mind just keeps spinning and the analyzer won't stop if it comes up with a shortcoming.
[17:02:48] * Bytram invokes the image of Robbie the Robot uttering "Danger Will Robinson" with flailing arms!
[17:02:56] <n1> lol
[17:03:03] <Bytram> =)
[17:03:23] <Bytram> wht I *do* have some control over is my attitude - how I *look* at things.
[17:03:47] <n1> on a different, but also ranty subject.... never, ever, ever buy or hire a toyota aygo (may not be available in the US).
[17:03:52] <n1> very true
[17:04:03] <Bytram> I can be filled with self-pity and how the world is unfair. Or, I can try to find things to be grateful for and try the harder to be of service with a smile and a gentle heart.
[17:04:47] <n1> attitude makes or breaks in a lot of situations
[17:05:09] <Bytram> Don't get me wrong, I can be persuasive, but I don't have to push. I am candid about the product's features and shortcomings. Point out the features and benefits, answer questions... and even more importantly ASK questions, and leave it to them.
[17:05:14] <Bytram> nod nod
[17:05:26] <Bytram> there's a story comiong out today... hold on
[17:05:47] <Bytram> take a look at this one: http://soylentnews.org
[17:05:47] <monopoly> ^ 04SN article 03 Close 04(/stats.soylentnews.org/piwik/"; comments):
[17:06:11] <Bytram> and follow the link to the blog article. In a way, it hits on what we are talking about right here.
[17:06:28] <Bytram> and with that, I really need to be getting going. =(
[17:06:44] <Bytram> I've really enjoyed the chat and I wish you the very best!
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[17:07:47] <n1> take care, Bytram|away
[17:07:49] <n1> always a pleasure
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[23:07:55] <nick> Bytram, should i move the stories queue around a bit
[23:08:12] <nick> as you've put home depot to publish this evening
[23:08:33] <Bytram> oops! NOT intentional. My bad! I go fix.
[23:08:47] <nick> quickly
[23:08:53] <nick> it's just about to go live
[23:09:03] <Bytram> btw, FYI: the link to NYT at Ars was incorrect and pointed back at ARS instead of NYT. I trimmed it out.
[23:09:18] <Bytram> good catch!
[23:09:38] <nick> good catch on that link
[23:09:53] <nick> i should have just not bothered adding them lol
[23:10:05] <Bytram> thanks... I'm sensitive about it as so many NYT links now get hit by the subscription wall thingee
[23:10:43] <nick> i wasn't aware NYT has a paywall
[23:10:45] <Bytram> now I just assume they are NOT going to work unless I *try* them, and even then I try to find a backup link.
[23:10:49] <nick> but it's not a source i check very often
[23:10:59] <nick> i will remember it in the future
[23:11:21] <nick> noted
[23:12:07] <Bytram> it's not so much a paywall... more like reserved for subscribers... there's known workarounds (like deleteing your cookies which does not always work, or setting your referrer in your browser to emulate google) but I am not a fan of that.
[23:12:39] <Bytram> one can often just do a search on some unique-ish words in the story and find an alternative posting on the web.
[23:13:06] <Bytram> like the Alibaba story. Found much the same info in a blog on the NYT site, so posted a link to that, as well.
[23:13:14] <nick> google makes it very easy most of the time
[23:14:31] <Bytram> took me a while to realize who it was behind the 'nick'
[23:14:43] <Bytram> next time, you might want to come in as 'knack' =)
[23:14:54] <nick> lol
[23:15:03] <Bytram> okay Home Depot story rescheduled. thanks for the heads up!
[23:15:21] <Bytram> I added some links... you want to check it for me?
[23:15:26] <nick> now that's team work ;)
[23:15:27] <Bytram> http://soylentnews.org
[23:15:27] <nick> sure
[23:15:27] <monopoly> ^ 04SN article 03 Close 04(/stats.soylentnews.org/piwik/"; comments):
[23:15:48] <Bytram> poor monopoly -- all confused!
[23:16:09] <chromas> doesn't have permission to read the page but doesn't properly check
[23:16:28] <nick> links all good
[23:16:30] * chromas makes an update
[23:17:03] <Bytram> chromas: thanks for trying!
[23:17:58] <chromas> It turns out that writing hackish code makes bugs. Maybe I /should/ learn perl and work on slash
[23:19:33] <paulej72> perl is just like any language. just google for the correct syntax
[23:21:04] <Bytram> paulej72: yeah, maybe, but my experience has been that it favors write-only programming... there's too darn many ways of saying the same thing!
[23:21:42] <Bytram> that means that most anything that you think might work, probably will, but not necessarily exactly the way you think it does it.
[23:21:48] <paulej72> sure and you will see them all in slashcode
[23:21:53] <Bytram> LOL!!!!!!!!!!!
[23:22:11] <Bytram> Constants: aren't; variables: won't
[23:22:26] <paulej72> usually all in the same sub