Ted Talks – Rives at 4 a.m.

Additionally Boonex Dolphin comes with many features not required by the client at this time but could become needed in the future.  Since features such as chat and video are already built in to this system the client can keep costs down if and when we decided to turn these features on.

In the mean time I am also using this software to create a site for graphic designers and artists at my domain www.visualcreature.com  More to come as I get deeper in to this system.

I had all the bigs wigs from the company present.  The CEO was the most skeptical.  He felt that he was already overwhelmed with email and in order to use the social networking tools he would need to pay someone to monitor and maintain these tools.  At the end of the presentation the skeptical CEO decided that they should all attempt to get on LinkedIn.

I have decided to network with other web devlopers, designers, family and friends on Facebook but not so much with customers.   Iconnect to customers on LinkedIn and follow them on twitter if they have an account.

My LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook Id’s are all CanDoThat and I have added these to my website.  I also added a twitter feed on my front page.  I am starting to recommend to my clients that they use twitter to help bring traffic to their sites.   I have decided to network with colleges on Facebook but not so much with customers.

Dear Mr. Architect:

Please design and build me a house. I am not quite sure of what I need, so you should use your discretion. My house should have somewhere between two and forty-five bedrooms. Just make sure the plans are such that the bedrooms can be easily added or deleted. When you bring the blueprints to me, I will make the final decision of what I want. Also, bring me the cost breakdown for each configuration so that I can arbitrarily pick one.

Keep in mind that the house I ultimately choose must cost less than the one I am currently living in. Make sure, however, that you correct all the deficiencies that exist in my current house (the floor of my kitchen vibrates when I walk across it, and the walls don’t have nearly enough insulation in them).

As you design, also keep in mind that I want to keep yearly maintenance costs as low as possible. This should mean the incorporation of extra-cost features like aluminum, vinyl, or composite siding. (If you choose not to specify aluminum, be prepared to explain your decision in detail.)

Please take care that modern design practices and the latest materials are used in construction of the house, as I want it to be a showplace for the most up-to-date ideas and methods. Be alerted, however, that kitchen should be designed to accommodate, among other things, my 1952 Gibson refrigerator.

To insure that you are building the correct house for our entire family, make certain that you contact each of our children, and also our in-laws. My mother-in-law will have very strong feelings about how the house should be designed, since she visits us at least once a year. Make sure that you weigh all of these options carefully and come to the right decision. I, however, retain the right to overrule any choices that you make.

Please don’t bother me with small details right now. Your job is to develop the overall plans for the house: get the big picture. At this time, for example, it is not appropriate to be choosing the color of the carpet.

However, keep in mind that my wife likes blue.

Also, do not worry at this time about acquiring the resources to build the house itself. Your first priority is to develop detailed plans and specifications. Once I approve these plans, however, I would expect the house to be under roof within 48 hours.

While you are designing this house specifically for me, keep in mind that sooner or later I will have to sell it to someone else. It therefore should have appeal to a wide variety of potential buyers. Please make sure before you finalize the plans that there is a consensus of the population in my area that they like the features this house has. I advise you to run up and look at my neighbor’s house he constructed last year. We like it a great deal. It has many features that we would also like in our new home, particularly the 75-foot swimming pool. With careful engineering, I believe that you can design this into our new house without impacting the final cost.

Please prepare a complete set of blueprints. It is not necessary at this time to do the real design, since they will be used only for construction bids. Be advised, however, that you will be held accountable for any increase of construction costs as a result of later design changes.

You must be thrilled to be working on as an interesting project as this! To be able to use the latest techniques and materials and to be given such freedom in your designs is something that can’t happen very often. Contact me as soon as possible with your complete ideas and plans.

PS: My wife has just told me that she disagrees with many of the instructions I’ve given you in this letter. As architect, it is your responsibility to resolve these differences. I have tried in the past and have been unable to accomplish this. If you can’t handle this responsibility, I will have to find another architect.

PPS: Perhaps what I need is not a house at all, but a travel trailer. Please advise me as soon as possible if this is the case..

(author unknown)

Even if I have fun on vacation, I will feel awful when I get home and do my checkbook to see that I am down by another 1000.00.

Well one good thing now is that I can take my beautiful laptop with me and keep up with any work and my distance learning classes while I am on vacation.

The DHL delivery arrived at 9:30am. I proceeded to open the boxes and plug in my new laptop. She is a beautiful raspberry pink and the mouse matched perfectly! I love it.

Here she is:

I had a picture of this model hanging on my cork board since last year. At the time that I hung up the ad they didn’t even make the pink laptop, so when I saw the catalog with the pink one right on the front cover, I decided it was a sign to go ahead and buy it now! Of course the 12 months with no interest also gave me that incentive.

It shipped last week from Sparks, NV then on to Salt Lake City, Utah. When I tracked it I expected when it left Utah it would be headed to Albuquerque, but NOOOOO. Even in 2008 New Mexico does not rate with DHL. They went on to Co. It left there at 2:28 am and I am hoping that means it will arrive in Albuquerque tonight so it can be delivered tomorrow.

Perhaps it will go to CA first. Ughhh…..