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Attention Web Surfing Infidels!

By ObviousTroll (Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 07:51:05 AM EST) (all tags)

Inside: I bare my soul, such as it is, for your voyeuristic pleasure.

Web Site and Martial Arts

My relationship with the martial arts studio and the owner has entered a decidedly confusing state. I know he's not even making enough money to draw a salary, so I've been comfortable volunteering my time to help out; even before I got my black belt I would occasionally teach if there was an emergency and he had to leave.

What I'm not comfortable with is entering into any kind of employer/employee relationship. Conversely, that's exactly where he's comfortable. I can see why - from his point of view, volunteers are iffy, unreliable and hard to manage. What I haven't been able to bring myself to say to him, though, is that when I consult or do outside work, I bill my time at $100 US per hour. Paying me minimum wage - even under the table - not only doesn't make me feel like a valued employee, it feels intensely stupid - particularly when he isn't paying me to do the website, where I've already put in a good couple grand worth of work.

And, no, just because I haven't actually done a consulting gig since before the millennium doesn't really change things.

Grad School

I went to the orientation session. To be honest, getting a Penn State Masters of Science in Software Engineering looks a damn site easier than I expected, though certainly not cheaper - about $25 grand US, although I can probably get the company to pick up 80% of that if I drag it out over 4 years.

I still haven't applied, though. I can't decided if I'm scared I won't hack it, I'm too lazy to do the work, or if I'm scared that I'm too lazy.

Still, after looking at the curricula, I don't see much difference between going to school and reading some books about project management.

Vacation

Has anybody stayed at one of these? SWHTL and I were trying to find a cheap, local, trip to take the kids on - something more than just camping but a good deal less than Disney World...

< Poem of the Day: "No Sorry" by Catherine Bowman | See how we failz it . . . >

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Attention Web Surfing Infidels! | 28 comments (28 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback

The website's a whole lot better. by ambrosen (4.00 / 1) #1 Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 08:23:08 AM EST

One thing that might be a possible improvement is that the red text sticks out somewhat against what's purely black and white background images and colours. If it were possible to have some reddish colour blocks on the site, it might be nice. Maybe some red fading to white, like the black to white does. Say as the background to the "Welcome to Amerikick..." text, which would then be in black, I guess.

Also, the calendar headings don't match up nicely with the events under them on my screen.

And the page as a whole is short on blank space. Still, it depends how much work you want to put into it. It's good as it is.

I disagree on the red thing. by nightflameblue (4.00 / 1) #3 Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 08:59:57 AM EST

Red is best left either completely alone, or only as an accent color here or there. I think the way the red is now works pretty well. Much more and it could start to become eye-bleeding.

Overall it looks much less cluttered, which was the biggest problem overall before. I'd say that's probably as far as you can push this design without getting into major color changes.

Look closely at the logo - it looks squished now. Make sure you resized it using the proper ratio. Outside of that, I'd say it looks good.

[ Parent ]

I think we mean the same on the red by ambrosen (4.00 / 1) #6 Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 09:21:13 AM EST

Accent colour's the word I was looking for. But I don't think text is the way to add an accent as it just goes fiddly.

[ Parent ]

: So long as it's consistent, I don't see problems. by nightflameblue (2.00 / 0) #11 Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 09:41:40 AM EST

But I'm not a fan of the idea of red blocks anywhere on screen. Closest I ever came to that was, well, not blocks. And I ended up changing it to more of a steel blue before I went live with it because I couldn't stomach the red outlines. But if you have to use red, I think the site he's got has the right idea.

[ Parent ]

It's a tough balance. by ObviousTroll (2.00 / 0) #4 Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 09:18:51 AM EST

My personal color preferences tend towards blue, such as it is, and I also find red a little hard on my eyes. The flip side is that the dominant colors in kenpo are red and black - black belts with red trim, red belts, red and black belts...

Initially I tried to make that top banner red fading to black, but the logo they gave me just didn't work. I've been toying with the idea of using red to frame the photos and thumbnails, but since I also use red for hyperlinks I thought that might be confusing.

--
Has anybody seen my clue? I know I had it when I came in here.
[ Parent ]

I think red fade to white's the one to go for. by ambrosen (2.00 / 0) #9 Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 09:26:32 AM EST

And very little black's needed to make it look like there's a lot, same as with red.

Anyway, it's a pleasure thinking about it. Using the old brain, and whatnot.

[ Parent ]

: I'm going to lean on the owner by ObviousTroll (2.00 / 0) #10 Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 09:28:56 AM EST

I know I've seen plain versions of the logo - white with the guy throwing the kick in black - on t-shirts.
A .tif of that would be hellaciously more flexible to work with.

--
Has anybody seen my clue? I know I had it when I came in here.
[ Parent ]

Oh, and thanks for the feedback. by ObviousTroll (2.00 / 0) #5 Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 09:20:09 AM EST

when it comes down to it, I have the color and design sense of a guy who still prefers green-and-black command lines as a GUI....

--
Has anybody seen my clue? I know I had it when I came in here.
[ Parent ]

IAWTP by wiredog (4.00 / 1) #7 Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 09:23:58 AM EST

But every time I see "AmeriK" I automatically attach "KKA". Because, yo, I'm down with that ghetto stuff. Or something.

Earth First!
_{(We can strip mine the rest later.)}
[ Parent ]

There is a great wolf by sasquatchan (4.00 / 1) #2 Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 08:58:25 AM EST

in my backyard. We went to the grand opening of it to poke around etc.

I wouldn't call it cheap. The printed rates were pretty pricey. You might be able to get a discount off them, and that would help a good deal.

But, where I live, there's a big amusement park with roller coasters, another water park, and then great wolf lodge.. So why pay big $$ for the lodging when you can stay at a regular hotel and go to the amusement park or water park, and still come out less than staying at great wolf lodge ?

I guess it's all relative. by ObviousTroll (2.00 / 0) #8 Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 09:26:01 AM EST

When we priced out rooms for two adults and two teenagers at Wildwood, we got almost $400/night, the package great wolf is offering is about $250/night, including park admission - which would be $120/day...

--
Has anybody seen my clue? I know I had it when I came in here.
[ Parent ]

: Dear Sir, by sasquatchan (4.00 / 1) #12 Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 09:45:55 AM EST

if you are willing to come listen to our sales presentation, we would gladly recompense you for your time with a complimentary stay at one of our fine establishments as well as free tickets to the $LOCAL_AMUSEMENT_PARK.

[ Parent ]

IN SOVIET RUSSIA by debacle (2.00 / 0) #13 Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 10:46:36 AM EST

RED TEXT HATES YOU.

As far as vacationing, at places like Great Wolf you will generally be around way too many people (for my tastes, at least). There's one in PA and it's very eh. It can be fun, but maybe only for a weekend or a day or two.

If you want more than just camping (etc...), why not take a stay at somewhere like Six Flags? It's relatively cheap, and the parks are usually somewhat empty these days. I know the (former) Six Flags by us (Darien Lake) has a few great hotels, a lot of pretty cool camping areas (tent, trailer, cabin), and there are areas nearby which are a bit more rustic for camping, too.

I can't understand the draw of the camping fusion vacations, though. It cheapens the camping experience and it makes you feel guilty for enjoying the other attractions because you should be spending time camping.

You could try a camping resort. We have one nearby that's basically like your average state park, but they have a small lake with borrowable canoes, kayaks, etc (Note I said borrowable, not rentable, which is nice), playgrounds, and the like.

"I'm very responsive to certain stimuli, and pain is pretty much at the top of that list." - BadDoggie

Camping fusion... by ObviousTroll (2.00 / 0) #15 Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 11:20:59 AM EST

Three days / two nights is actually all we're planning. I can't afford to be away for much longer than that.

We actually did the "resort camping" thing last year. In '06 we had two different camping trips wash out hard - one with tornado warnings - so in '07 we told the kids we were going to camping, but then we stopped when we got to the Hershey PA camp grounds and used a cabin.

They told me it was the best "camping trip" they'd ever gone on.

--
Has anybody seen my clue? I know I had it when I came in here.
[ Parent ]

Maybe you're camping in the wrong area? by debacle (2.00 / 0) #19 Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 12:44:55 PM EST

Tornados are never fun.

The last time we had a camping trip wash out was probably one of the best camping experiences of my life, then again I may have been a bit more friendly to the experience than your children.

"I'm very responsive to certain stimuli, and pain is pretty much at the top of that list." - BadDoggie

[ Parent ]

: It's rough when by ObviousTroll (2.00 / 0) #20 Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 02:21:35 PM EST

you're trying to camp on top of a mountain to get nice, dark, skies for your telescope.

--
Has anybody seen my clue? I know I had it when I came in here.
[ Parent ]

grad school by garlic (2.00 / 0) #14 Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 10:52:08 AM EST

main difference between reading the books and going to school is a) external motivation and b) piece of paper at the end saying you did it.

: The piece of paper is the key thing. by ObviousTroll (2.00 / 0) #16 Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 11:22:12 AM EST

I'm hoping it will give me more job security when this job, inevitably, folds.
That's the problem with high-tech jobs - the closer you get to 50, the closer you better be to management even though all I ever wanted to be was a code monkey.

--
Has anybody seen my clue? I know I had it when I came in here.
[ Parent ]

Don't take money by ucblockhead (4.00 / 1) #17 Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 11:34:33 AM EST

If you start taking money, you have to do it. That will just lead you to resent it when you run out of time.

My Stepfather is retired. He "volunteers" at the University of New Mexico and has been told that he could pretty much had a PhD in anthropology for the taking. He always refuses on the grounds that the minute it becomes a job, it stops being enjoyable. There's a lot of wisdom in that.
----
_{ウセーバラケダ}

So far, I haven't. by ObviousTroll (2.00 / 0) #18 Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 12:02:47 PM EST

We have to re-negotiate our membership, though, since we initially signed up for 4 people and only one of us is still officially a student. I might try to get some quid-pro-quo there.

--
Has anybody seen my clue? I know I had it when I came in here.
[ Parent ]

: yeah, i think that'd be good by gzt (2.00 / 0) #21 Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 05:22:52 PM EST

I agree with the previous comment about pay possibly ruining things. But, hey, if you occasionally teach and he wanted to pay you for that but you didn't want to be paid, I'm sure a non-ruining way of doing it is to just get a discount on your membership or even waive the fee. Though if the value of a membership is high enough, there might be "constructive ruination", since you'd have to work so much in order to work off the discount.

[ Parent ]

Dude by yankeehack (4.00 / 1) #22 Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 07:19:39 PM EST

I am kind of going thru the same weighing whether to go get a PMI cert or trying for a management degree.

You are thinking of taking classes down 29 in Malvern at the GV campus? Which if you were, we'd have to hang out or something.
****
Never make someone your priority when you're their option.

Well, in fact, by ObviousTroll (2.00 / 0) #24 Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 11:54:17 PM EST

yes - that's where I'm looking to go; and SWHTL seems to have decided I should do it, she keeps pulling out the application and putting next to me just in case I should want to fill it out.

Not exactly the kind of campus I"m used to, though. No slums, for one thing, and no one's trying to bomb MOVE out of the neighborhood.

--
Has anybody seen my clue? I know I had it when I came in here.
[ Parent ]

: yeah by yankeehack (2.00 / 0) #26 Fri Jun 06, 2008 at 07:04:21 AM EST

the hardest part of that "neighborhood" is the morning traffic and figuring out whether to go to the big Wawa or the small one.

****
Never make someone your priority when you're their option.
[ Parent ]

I wonder by dev trash (2.00 / 0) #23 Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 09:54:40 PM EST

if I could get my employer to pay for that degree. I too have the fears. hmmmm.

--
Click

: My boss actually found out about the program by ObviousTroll (2.00 / 0) #25 Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 11:56:20 PM EST

and was pushing it to us. I didn't realize it, but it seems there are advantages to working for a big company instead of a start up...

--
Has anybody seen my clue? I know I had it when I came in here.
[ Parent ]

wow by nathan (2.00 / 0) #27 Fri Jun 06, 2008 at 05:08:53 PM EST

You must live about 10 minutes from my house.

*freaks out, draws blinds, realizes he is at work in Bucks County in any case*

: And remember, not only am I a clown by ObviousTroll (2.00 / 0) #28 Fri Jun 06, 2008 at 11:29:59 PM EST

I'm a clown with a black belt who smokes cigars.

--
Has anybody seen my clue? I know I had it when I came in here.
[ Parent ]

Attention Web Surfing Infidels! | 28 comments (28 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback