work fun

So last week I joined the ranks of the gainfully employed. I've been doing bookkeeping for Stoneline for years now, just a couple of hours one evening a week. They asked me to come in half-days for the next couple of months, to help them get the office and computers organized at the factory. It's not exactly a career-track job for me, but it's good steady money which is nice to have. If I complained about having to drive to work every morning, you all would (justifiably) get out teeny tiny violins and start playing "Cry Me a River" to express your teeny tiny sympathy. So I will spare you, and just say that it's an adjustment. I am glad that I've been in the habit of getting up at 7 and getting to work by 8 every morning. So at least I'm not having to get up earlier than normal. The adjustment has been a little tougher since my freelance work has heated up lately too. Last week I ended up working late almost every night, and much of the weekend, which is why I didn't post at all. By the time I'm done working I just want to get away from the computer (and into the garden! more on that later). But this week I feel much more on top of things which is good.

One of the things we're doing at Stoneline is upgrading their Filemaker Pro database. Which they use to run the entire company, so the stakes are a bit high. The current database isn't relational, which is limiting what they can do with it. Also we need to switch from only one person (my boss) using it to being multi-user from multiple locations. I know a little bit about databases, but not nearly enough to tackle something like that on my own. Plus I've never used Filemaker Pro before. Fortunately my boss knows that his database needs to be entirely rewritten, and that he needs to hire an expert. Isn't it nice to work with people who recognize when a job is complex, and are willing to pay for it to be done right? We met with the database person this morning. She seems to really know her stuff, and only betrayed her just-out-of-college status by chewing gum during the meeting. I'm looking forward to learning from her (and I'm willing to overlook the gum if she lends me the book on database design which she offered).