Can't get online

On Tue, 16 Jan 2007 20:26:21 -0800, "goPostal"
<agutgopostal RemoveThis @hotmail.com> wrote:

>
>"Folk" <Folk RemoveThis @folk.com> wrote in message
>news:k2liq21jnupko54rsod4k648tora1cmrqv@4ax.com...
>> On Fri, 12 Jan 2007 18:41:17 -0800, "goPostal" <none RemoveThis @dont.try> wrote:
>> Contract programmer specializing in the IBM midrange environment.
>> AS/400, iSeries, System i... whatever they're calling it these days.
>> The language used is called RPG. I also do a smattering of PC
>> programming, but only to support a client that has a point-of-sale
>> system written in Clipper (an early DOS based language). About 75% of
>> my time is spent supporting existing "legacy" applications with the
>> rest of the time doing consulting and new development.
>>
>> Virtually all of my work is done from my home office. It's a snap to
>> develop remotely on that platform and most stuff can be worked out
>> over the phone. I have clients where I haven't been on-site in years.
>> My client base is varied.... retail, local government (mainly county
>> tax offices), manufacturing (tool and die, plastic injection molding)
>> and some medical practices. I have a core base of about 15 clients
>> with maybe a half-dozen that keep me busy. It's fairly intense work
>> mentally, so I usually only work about five hours a day. And I work
>> from home, so that's nice.
>>
>> The rest of the time I dote on our Shih-Tzu, collect fossils, keep up
>> with the tech industry and harass people on Usenet.
>
>I'm pretty jealous dude. I'd love to be my own boss. Not sure about doing
>programming all day though as I can get really frustrated when it comes to
>running down a problem with my computer.

There's up's and down's associated with doing your own thing...
especially with this gig. Problem #1 is there is a limit to how much
you can make. No bonuses, stock options, paid vacation or other
perks, so it boils down to your hourly rate and how many hours you are
willing to work. Problem #2 is health insurance, but I'm on my wife's
policy so that's OK for now. Problem #3 is no paid vacations or sick
leave. If you don't work, you don't get paid. But the commute is
good and my boss is a swell guy, so it kind of evens out.

>If you like fossil hunting you should see my neck of the woods. In eastern
>Oregon there are a bunch of fossil beds and along the coast you can find all
>kinds of fossilized wood, shells, etc washed up after storms. I honestly had
>to quit collecting stuff because I was running out of room to put it. My
>best piece is a megalodon tooth. What's yours?

The majority of my collection is purchased. You get much better
quality that way. My favorite pieces are functional designs with
embedded fossils, such as bowls with ammonites and trilobites
embedded. Other pieces are "in matrix", which basically means they're
still in the stuff they were found in, but cleaned up so that they
stand out from the material they're in. I have a nice piece that's a
megalodon tooth that's still inside a round piece of rock that comes
apart to reveal the tooth.

"Folk" <Folk.RemoveThis@folk.com> wrote in message
news:ilmsq25n7b12oj881uruis4ueetpgn6hu4@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 16 Jan 2007 20:26:21 -0800, "goPostal"
> <agutgopostal.RemoveThis@hotmail.com> wrote:
> The majority of my collection is purchased. You get much better
> quality that way. My favorite pieces are functional designs with
> embedded fossils, such as bowls with ammonites and trilobites
> embedded. Other pieces are "in matrix", which basically means they're
> still in the stuff they were found in, but cleaned up so that they
> stand out from the material they're in. I have a nice piece that's a
> megalodon tooth that's still inside a round piece of rock that comes
> apart to reveal the tooth.

Wow, I'd love to see the piece. Most all of my stuff is purchased but I do
have a few things I've found that I am especially proud of. Once I was
walking a field looking for flint and found an absolutely beautiful hematite
spear effigy. It's got little "beauty flakes" nicked out of the sides and
the whole thing is about four inches long. Best I can tell is that I found
it in a flood plain and it was probably buried with an Indian of some
importance and was disturbed by water flow and left in the field I found it
in. Living in Kentucky you can find lots of arrowheads and chert.

I understand your appreciation of leaving things in their original matrix. I
take a lot of pictures of arrowheads I find before I disturb them. This is
called "in situ" photography and it's a nice way to add to a collection. In
many cases there may have been 8-10,000 years elapsed between a human hand
touching a point.

I'm glad to know we share such appreciations!