It could all change by the end of the day

But right now, things are looking brighter.

On the not so important side of things, you may have noticed that my G3 iBook is happily running iPhoto 6. This is good. However, I'm striking out on being able to put my .tivo files on a DVD that plays. I stripped them to .MPG but its apparently not a .MPG iDVD can read. It's frustrating and I haven't figured out another option, although not for lack of trying.

On the organization front, I'm still really enjoying the whole Plan Plus thing. It's a fact of life, despite the 20 moleskines I have on my bookshelf, I'm really an electronic kind of gal. With the addition of the tablet PC, I'm slowly transferring my whole life over to OneNote and Outlook. I'm really enjoying checking things off my life each day. Right now, I get a little tingle of satisfaction when something gets checked off. I hope that feeling lasts. Hell, I'm only on Day 2. I'm enjoying reading other people's blogs on different approaches to organization & prioritization; I find it incredibly helpful. Why is it so much easier to get things done when they're all laid out and prioritized? I actually picked up the phone and contacted a client yesterday, even though I was dreading the answer. In the end, it was definitely worth my while, and I got a check mark.

My projects are letting up a little.
I still haven't received my stuff back from Client A. My main contact had a crisis in another state and was called away. Another contact is just really busy and doesn't have time for this. Another contact is everyone else's boss and, although he's available, I can't go over everyone else's head straight to him either. I'm starting to think that they're not in any rush to get this project done.

Client B is having contract issues with their own client (my sub-client, you could say). I doubt I'll be able to start on Client B's stuff until April 1. This is good and bad. Good, because it gives me more time to work on other clients and bad because I'll have less time to work on Client B, once it starts. The contract may be delayed, but the deadline isn't going to slip.

Client C is the client I know I shouldn't have taken. However, there's so much potential work that could come out of that client, even in my subcontracting capacity, and once you're in, you're IN. It's a huge local client and I'd be stupid to turn it down. The important thing here is that I'm subcontracting. Someone else is landing projects and negotiating terms, then hiring me to carry them out. I've had a bad experience with this particular contracting firm before, and yesterday I laid some ground rules. I specified that I can only work 20-30 hours on this project, that I'm working from home other than necessary meetings, and my per hour rate. I also wanted a clearly defined scope - no scope creep! The last time I subcontracted through this firm, I suffered major scope creep, was paid less than I should have been, and my 20 hours a week ended up more like 60. That can't happen again. Even if I lose the client, I need to be clear about what I can deliver as quality. I'd rather skip the project than deliver poor work. I think the contracting firm appreciated my honesty. They'll let me know today if I actually get the project or not. If I don't, they're going to continue to look for other projects for me and want me to contact them in mid-May about summer projects. I do spend a good deal of the summer staring at my ceiling.

If all three clients get going, I anticipate a 2 week overlap in April where I pull my hair out and there's no sleep. Maybe not. Maybe I'll be so organized that won't happen. I doubt it though - no organization plan can add extra hours to a 24-hour day. ;-)