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Office

Gadgets yield more gadgets

I have helped several people buy new computers lately. I don't sell computers or any other hardware so I am more of a personal shopper than a salesman when it comes to guiding people through their purchase.

I think it's funny how gadgets always seem to yield more gadgets. Here is a short flowchart of how this process works.

1. A client calls and says that they need a new computer. They ask my advice on what they should get for just basic stuff like email and word processing. "I don't need anything fancy."

2. I suggest a basic system that will handle all of their needs and a little more.

OpenOffice – Revisited

I wanted to give a quick update on a product that we started talking about on the show about four years ago. It's called OpenOffice . OpenOffice is considered an open source project which means that no one entity owns it (although Sun Microsystems pushed it hard in the early going), and anyone can use it for free. OpenOffice, as the name implies, is a productivity software. It contains a Microsoft Office compatible word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager and database. I installed it for my kids almost a year ago and have been rolling it out for more and more clients. I can honestly say that I'm impressed with the product.

I’m raising my rates – here’s why

While Rick and I run seperate businesses, we each do the same thing. I spend my day travelling to various homes and businesses all over town to work on computer problems and train people how to get more from their systems.

To do this I have been charging $50/hr. for homes and $75/hr. for businesses. Does that sound like a lot? Probably not if you live in a bigger city, but let's compare that to everything else out there.

As gas prices have gone up and everything else has gone up in price right along with it, I have kept the same rates for over two years. I hate raising my rates. But, after doing some math and some research, I don't feel too bad about making the big move to raise my rates.

Geek Squad is a comin’

Today I had lunch at a local burger place. I try to eat a hamburger a week just so I don't forget how bad they are for me.

While I was eating six Geek Squad guys came and set down at the table next to me. For those who don't know, the Geek Squad is Best Buy's computer repair team. Essentially they are a bunch of kids with book learning but little real-world experience outside of the routine jobs that they do on a daily basis.

As I heard them talk I began to wonder if it is truly possible to Wal-mart-ize computer help. This comes from a very biased point of view admittedly. My business is in direct competition to the Geek Squad.

File Management: Why is it so hard to figure out?

As I have mentioned before on the show and in these articles, I teach the local basic computer classes for the Parks and Rec. department. I teach the classes as a four-part series in which I dedicate an entire two hour session to file management.

Teaching the concept of how your computer organizes information is a huge struggle for me. I don't think it is because if my teaching technique or the inability of my students to comprehend the topic.

The reason that file management is so difficult to teach and comprehend is that it isn't sexy, it isn't tangible and it is isn't universal in it's use. By the latter, I mean that each person can apply the concept differently.

No Shade in Grand Junction

When I first started my business about 10 years ago, I drove a truck around that didn't have air conditioning. I'm not looking for sympathy, we had just moved from Seattle and there isn't much of a need for AC up there. The last couple of summers the Western Colorado desert has been HOT!! Thank goodness I now have AC.

One way I try to stay cool is carrying a 3/4 frozen (the other 1/4 is water) 1/2 gallon water bottle with me when I leave the house. I usually drink it all by the end of the day and sometimes have to stop and pick up another quart. When I stop at my customer's home or office, I place my water bottle on the floor in a place where I think it will stay shaded. After more than 10 years of performing this routine, I miss the shade about 7 out of 10 times! I start it in the shade, try to estimate where the sun will be moving and then place it accordingly.

It’s a computer emergency

Lately, I have seen too many real emergencies. Sometimes I get calls that are "emergencies" like the kind where the grandkids have come over and deleted the solitaire icon from the desktop.

But, then I get real emergencies. Lately I had one client whose hard drive motor suddently quit. Today I saw a dentist's office where the server with all of the software kept shutting down suddenly. Then, the worst yet, I am working a little bit with a local financial institution whose server crashed – not a small business either.

In all but one case, the client has complete and current backup, but even having backup doesn't help keep the ship afloat when a major crash happens. Sometimes the entire ship has to be put in drydock for a week or so to get things figured out.

LED’s

LED stands for Light Emitting Diode. They are designed to last for years and come in mostly green and red. However, you will find orange and blue ones as well. Where? Look on the front of your stove, microwave, TV, DVD, VCR, digital alarm clock, computer tower, power strip, modems, routers, cell phones, printers, electric tooth brushes. They are literally everywhere. At night my office looks like the Las Vegas Strip! Tonight, I decided to photography the lights to see how they would come out. The picture doesn't do justice to the light these little guys can emit, but you get the idea.

Why I like small cars

I spend my day driving from house to house or office to office as the case may be. I can’t imagine doing my job with a large SUV or even a full size car.

I drive an older Honda Civic and I love it for several reasons.

1. It’s a Honda so it is designed for dependability rather than power – I don’t need a lot of power to drive the streets of Grand Junction.

2. It makes tight U turns. I imagine I pass the house or business that I am supposed to be going to about 10 times per week. I love being able to turn completely around on the average street.

3. I can reach almost any point in my car while driving. I can reach a disk in the back seat, a drink in the cup holder and the stereo all without looking away from the road.