No free time
Up until about 5pm today my April calendar was surprisingly free. This is very rare. Normally having a free day or week is pretty amazing, let alone an entire month. I had planned to catch up on all those things that I consider overdue — the business paperwork, scuba equipment servicing, buying a wetsuit, harvesting wild plants, investment decisions, writing articles and courses, recreational programming, and a good deal of relaxation.

At 5pm a nice client called and asked if they could book me for the next four weeks. There's a few executive decisions that need to be made their end, but there's an excellent chance that it will go ahead.

The way I figure it is that I'm exchanging one month in return for sufficient funds for five perpetual days. Put another way, this potential month of work means I can five days a year less each year for the rest of my life. That's pretty good.

My next free period is in October, which we have been planning for a holiday since last year.

Higher Order Perl
MJD's new book, Higher Order Perl, has been published. MJ's page on the book recommends buying from Powells.com. It looks like this was a popular choice, as when I tried to place my order for a container of books I was informed that only three were left. Maybe it has something to do with the sale price they're offering.

Those three books are now due to arrive in Australia in a few weeks time, and two of them will probably go to lucky course attendees.

I'd love to find an Australian distributor for Higher Order Perl. While I've got the appropriate contacts for O'Reilly and Manning, I don't for Morgan Kauffman.

Paperwork
Another fun day of paperwork catchup. Invoicing, tax, the joys of running a small business. We're still behind in our investment decisions. Too busy making money to, uh, make more money.

Still, I much prefer having too much paperwork than too little. As long as I'm busy keeping tabs on all the invoices we're sending, I think that we're doing okay.

Journal
I had a colleague remark the other day on my journal; even though all blogs are drivel, this was drivel that he could relate to. While I was pleased that someone could relate to my writings (I guess everyone has to complete their tax), it did start me thinking about all the things that I don't write about. I feel that only the most boring of subjects actually reach the keyboard; everything else is either confidential, personal, bound under an NDA, loses value if publicly known, or sometimes even bordering on slanderous.

All the good things that won't get me sued, ostricised, or hospitalised end up as training materials, conference presentations, or short talks that are foisted upon whatever local Perl Mongers or technical groups happen to be nearby.

Day off
In theory I have tomorrow as a day off. Perhaps I should spend the time harvesting wild vegetables without a mobile phone, so I can actually take it. It should be mushroom season soon as well. Mmmm, wild mushrooms.

Talk to your staff
One important facet of doing business is to talk to the the people who will actually be doing the work at hand. This is particularly important when you're not an expert on the work to be performed. If you don't know the first thing about sonic screwdrivers, but have a staff member who's considered an expert on such matters, it may be wise to consult with them before accepting a large contract for sonic screwdriver maintenance.

Unfortunately, this important aspect is something that often gets missed in modern business dealings. Contracts will be exchanged and signed, and one day the poor tech staff will come to work and discover they're required to implement a system into which they've had no opportunity for review or feedback. It sounds very Dilbert-esque, but I still see this happen from time-to-time.

I also have a sinking feeling that I'm going to be put on the spot asked for a quote for a rather large project, which also carries some rather weighty legal requirements. I've only been given the spec for this project today, and I'm expecting a request for a fixed-price quote tomorrow. The spec isn't very detailed, and while no timeline is specified, I am certain that it will be very strict.

Commuting
I now recall one of the reasons why I started my own business. Regular commuting is awful. I'm doing some consulting for an old client/employer, and it's a 30-45 minute commute each way. Even though it's a relatively short trip, the amount of time the commute takes is disproportionately large.

Running my own business has been a lot of work, but I feel that I've been entirely successful in my original goal to 'have more free time'. Even though I may be doing about the same amount of work I did back when I had a "real job", I'm doing it with less overheads, and less time constraints. No commuting means an extra hour of sleep each morning, and an extra hour of play each evening. That's just lovely.