Will Bridges

Generally, I trust everyone till they give me evidence that they cannot be trusted. A lot of people say ‘trust no one’ and make people earn your trust. But, I make people earn my mistrust. I have a problem with ‘trust no one’ because it gives the impression that most people are bad and out to get you. If you believe that way I think you draw those types of people to you. Everyone should be innocent till proven guilty. Even when people break my trust I tend to look at their circumstances closely. You can only expect a person to act a certain way given their circumstances don’t change drastically. Given the wrong circumstances even a good man can do evil things. There are no evil people but evil actions are widespread. You’re good could be my evil and my evil could be your good. Life is relative that way.

I do have a certain level of assumptions that the people I associate with will act a certain way. However, I don’t expect those people to always act like that and when they don’t act the way I assume they will I closely look at their circumstances and ask myself “Would I act that way given those circumstances were upon me?”. If the answer is ‘yes’ or ‘maybe’ then I’m understanding but I may tell them I am displeased. However, if the answer is ‘no’ I will let them know I wouldn’t act like that towards them and don’t want them to act like that towards me. I believe this way gives me more empathy and allows me to be very diplomatic. It’s problematic to have solid expectations of people because if you know them long enough they will let you down and you will find yourself very disappointed. If you act on that disappointment without thinking about being in that person’s place then you could lose some very good friends, allies and supporters.

It can be difficult to have faith that most people are actually kind hearted and well intentioned but I’ve seen for the most part that is true. Others will help you if you are willing to help them without question. Have a little faith and a positive outlook and you will draw others in your life that have faith in you and have that same positive outlook. If you are always looking for what you can get out of people then people will do the same to you and you will always come up hungry, without fulfillment and short handed.

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I jumped on the Behavior Driven Development (BDD) band wagon for development not to long ago. Also, before that, when doing Test Driven Development (TDD) I worked at this company called Outdoor Central. They had it setup where if you committed code to subversion and the tests failed the whole group would get an email saying that you broke the build. That was entertaining and worked okay. But, what if I don't want a commit to be put in if the specs/tests don't pass. Well, that's why I built a pre-commit hook script in ruby and put in in subversion. Now, when someone checks in the server checks out the most recent version of the respository to a temporary location, applies the subversion changes via 'patch' to the temporary check-out and then runs specs against it. If they don't pass it doesn't let them commit. If it does pass they get to move on right along. It's pretty cool. Further it emails me, the admin, a pretty html report of the rspec results so I can see what's going on. I was thinking about implementing an rcov email with every successful commit too but I don't see a need for it yet. However, if you would like to implement it, go ahead. Heres's the scripts for my pre-commit hook:

#!/bin/sh

# PRE-COMMIT HOOK # Save as 'pre-commit' without the .txt in the hooks directory of the subversion repository

REPOS="$1"REV="$2"

# Might need explicit path to ruby instead of just 'ruby'ruby /path/to/runtests.rb "$REPOS" "$REV"

http://wp.invisiwill.com/files/runtests.rb

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So, my partner has left the organization and the flood of incoming work occurs. I still have him part-time at about 80-100 hours per month. But, the lack of a full-time programmer is something I'm handling in stride. It does mean that until I find an accpetable solution to my human resources problem I will be wary to accept new projects without start dates that put the start of any new projects in November at this point. But, it doesn't mean I can stop the company's natural progression. So, there's a fine balance between work load and ability to do that work load. However, now that I have less time all the possible clients are coming out of the wood work with new work. It's like someone turned the faucet higher after I just went to get a smaller bucket to receive the water. But, you know, life must go on and I cannot fret too much about more business.

I do have a very strong candidate I am interested in for my partner's replacement but I'm still unsure if he will be coming aboard or not. So,temporarily, I'm going to post an ad on jobs.rubynow.com and look for some contractors that may be worthwhile. This has turned out to be less than useful in the past but it did provide some very good information on the market forces in regard to Ruby on Rails work. This time I actually intend to find someone. I think it will go a lot smoother. And hey, it's free to post a job offer.

I find myself looking at my new computer system setup and realizing that it has improved my efficiency. I don't doubt my ability as a good business man never doubts his ability but still seeks to improve it. I feel very positive about what's going on right now and I feel that this is a golden era for my company and my family. I know that I will still need to find someone soon that has even more to bring to my company than my old partner. But, hopefully a new set of tools (computer system) and a new outlook with a fresh chance to go back on my own for a couple months may be just what I need now.

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I have now, fully functional:

2 Computer systems (laptop: compaq C571NR, $450 retail & 2 year old desktop, cheap, custom built)
2 Operating systems: Latop is running ubuntu linux and desktop is running Windows XP
3  Monitors (22 inch widescreen acer p221w, $330 retail, laptop 15.4 inch monitor and old 19 inch flat screen monitor from wal-mart  $200 about a year ago)

I have all 3 screens and both computers running at the same time. I am using a program called Synergy to be able to use my keyboard and mouse on my laptop and be able to navigate both systems. (Can copy and paste from windows to linux and back, awesome!)
The laptop was a bitch to get working with the proper resolution (1680×1050). Had to hack it but got it working and that took some time but it works now. I'll put the documentation at the end of this on how I got it working.
I have a 750GB external hard drive that cost me $200 at Best Buy, watch those sales…
I have a logitech camera (5000 pro or something) Using it on xp. It was like $70.
I have surround sound logitech speakers. Can't remember cost but less than $50.
I have an HP Officejet 5610 all-in-one which works great with windows or linux. It was about $100 or so when I bought it.

So, on the cheap. Maybe a combined value of $1400 I have one of the best systems I've had in years and can be mobile because of my laptop. A truly incredible combination.

• Ubuntu, of course… http://www.ubuntu.com
• To get the laptop working I followed this document…  http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=560087
• To get the monitor working I followed this document but had to modify it for my monitor slightly… because they are not the same. I have an acer p221w but if you use common sense and a little know-how this article will help http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=2702458
• Got synergy working…  https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SynergyHowto & for the latest version stuff (maybe not necessary but I started here) http://eightpence.com/install-latest-synergy-on-ubuntu/

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We just finished developing a promising new site called 'Friendly Table'. This website can be found at http://www.friendlytableonline.com. It's a site that promises to match people up of similar interests to go to dinner and meet in person so that new friends can be made. An actual person (the owner) picks the people who she thinks will best match up and then picks the restaurant based on common cuisine type and the time. Then that group of people goes out to dinner and hopefully makes friends with one another. It's a cool concept and I believe she will do well. So, round of applause for the new website.

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Last night I got the notification that my partner wanted to move on to a new company. The good thing is he is returning all of his shares back to me. So, I can find another partner without being impeded by the amount of shares I have given out. On this day I feel relieved  and exhausted looking at my company's future. I'm relieved because I can find someone with more business sense and really take this buisness to it's next level. I can find someone interested in 'Building A Legacy'. I'm exhausted because of the sheer amount of work that needs to be done and the main resource I have to do it is gone. However, I can double up on my programming time. It just could make it difficult for a while to run the business and manage client relationships while I have my head in code.

However, I'm not new to this. I managed my business when it was a third of this level just fine by myself. But, now it is 3 times larger. I think I may have found some reasonably priced contractors to assist me in the programming tasks. Also, I think I may have found the best candidate for a new partner. I never panic and that's the key to staying stable. You must take everything in stride, stay confident and strong. Panic will bring on more panic and will create a spiral effect. I'm pleased with the way things have worked out so far and I'm sure that this time next year my former partner will greatly regret his decision and my new partner and I will be the leaders of a very strong company. 

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Over the last few days I have been having some issues with one of the employees of our corporation. He basically created a bidding war for himself. At first I was all about giving him whatever he wanted to stay because he's been a vital part to our business for so long. Then I actually discussed the issue with some colleages and family/friends. Their take is that he is a part owner in the company (he has shares) and for him to go to our client and ask for a job, which is what caused this bidding war, was not only a bad move but it was an embarrasment to the company which he in part owns. So, I basically ended up offering him two documents. One document is a complete removal of his relationship with the company aside from any contracting and the other is a complete renewal of his relationship with the company with new terms not allowing him to look for employment from our clients and also making him give the company a 60 days notice before ending his employment with the company.

My response was not to enter the bidding war. I didn't offer more money, more vacation or financial incentive as the competition is. My response is "If you want to make more money then work harder, come up with more ideas, sacrafice because  you are one of the two owners in the company." If it were an employee who did not also own the company and help control it's direction I may have offered more to him. But, if it's his company too I can't come up with any logic that says the company can give him more. Him asking for more seems to be like asking me to take less and generally I already take less than he does. Another thing I did was look back on his actual work and I noticed the time spent over the past couple months was not over or above by much on the normal 160 hours a month. So, it seems to me if you are complaining about pay, risk or insonsistancy you are not an entrepreneur but an employee posing as an entrepreneur. If you are an entrepreneur you don't complain about these things instead you work to fix them and stomach the risk while you are working on it. Entrepreneurship is not for everyone and I will say as I have said before stop saying "I want my own business because I want to set my own hours and I don't want a ceiling on my pay" if you can't take the risk necessary to make that happen and you aren't willing to take on a little temporary hardship to make it happen.

This whole article gives the impression that we may not being doing very well. When actually, the opposite is true. Most businesses take 3+ years to get where we have gotten in 9 months.  We've grown our monthly income 300% in those 9 months and have learned some very good lessons about pricing which made us increase our prices over the past two months. We have full coverage health insurance and are starting to now build some savings and pay off some of our early start-up costs with vendors we were in debt to.  We have enough clients and respect from our clients to build an even stronger and higher paying client base over the next 9 months. I feel we are in a very strong position and leaving a position of power in this company is a a foolish move. If he leaves then so be it. I can brush up enough do his job but he cannot do my job and I'll find someone soon enough that sees the potential and wants to replace him. There's no hard feelings here. This is business and the first one to get emotional about these type of things is the first one to lose. If he does leave he has left this company in a great position and he deserves an outstanding reference. 

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People used to think I was a really good poet so I figured I haven't wrote in a while. Why not put something down this morning? 

Thoughts wandering in chaos across the world inside my mind's eye.
Truth on my thought's wagging tongue not allowing me to whisper faintest of lie.
Reaching a crossroads near the river of mystery with both directions quality unseen.
Showing benevolence towards my seed so his roots will take and his leaves will be green.

A new way of life before my senses but not quite scribed in any stone.
A path that is mine but a path forgotten that I may have to walk alone.
How good can I be if my words of the past are lost in the depths of my confusion?
Maybe I'm found and it is my uncertainty that is creating this wayard illusion.

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Most of us learn at a very early age that square pegs do not fit in to round holes. Why then, Do many of us attempt to actually do this later in life? It may be because we have a deep desire to change the way things are and/or that we like a challenge. Though I believe strongly in change for myself and hope that others change regularly many people do not actually change. They are much like pegs. They find their form and shape when they go through their youth and feel they are done changing after that or that because they went to X school and paid X amount and get their piece of paper and they are then done with the majority of their learning. Some people are suited for certain things and not others because of their background experiences and lifestyle. To change would send their life in to turmoil and most people resist change anyway so they don't change or go outside of their box.

If it helps, I consider myself a peg as well. I just don't consider my form or shape set in stone. I'm good at a lot of things and not so good at some other things. I promote my good attributes and work quietly on my attributes that don't serve me so well. I don't deny my bad attributes and I listen to all, including my enemies. If all my enemies are saying something bad about me I want to look at that bad thing and see if their is any truth to it and if then I can change it to be something more positive. So, some pegs are stone (hard to change shape, solid, rigid), some are wood (hard, but can easily be chipped or cut to a new shape), some are clay (easily pliable but can become as hard as stone) and lastly some rare folks are not pegs at all but fluid (easily moving and changing without ever obstructing). I'm some where between wood and clay depending on the day and my mood. Most of the time I'm clay. But I always work to be somewhere between fluid and clay. Some folks are happy being stone but most would be happier if they learned another way.

I enjoy working with clay cause it's pliable and will hold shape when I need it to. However, I tend to try to change wood or stone to clay quite often and that is a difficult thing to do. I should really just go looking for clay but it's in my nature to change things, work towards perfection and help all those in the world who are rigid and stuck. Can you change your inate nature? Yes, of course, but the feeling of changing your nature is much like removing a band-aid. It's painful if the area is hairy, unless you remove it very quickly it's more painful and afterwards you will be glad it's no longer on. I've done this with ease before but this seems to be a struggle for me that I choose to keep doing. Notice, I am not a victim of this problem I have but I am mindfully choosing to change stone or wood to clay from time to time. Sometimes I do change stone to clay or at least to wood but most of the time I waste time, energy and spin my proverbial wheels in the sand. Is it worth the rare time that I do change things or people? I am pretty sure it is and that's why I haven't changed the fact I do this. Change is a wonderous thing and it's great to see people benefit from it. However, at this time in my life I want more folks I don't feel the need to mold or help in my life but are on the same level of development as I am and can handle most difficult situations with grace and ease. 

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Below is the video of my son’s first hair cut. He had a big curly fro. Yendis wanted him to keep it because she was afraid it would make him look too grown up but I really felt we had to do it. She wants to get his ear pierced now too. So, I’m sure we’ll be doing that soon. He was really good though and sat still the whole ten minutes. A great video!

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