Back to Quasi-Normal
Posted Wed, 11/12/08
As promised, my political ramblings will henceforth be posted at Sagacity.
We finally have winter weather, for which I'm grateful. Because I live and work in the same space nowadays, the constant running of the computer and other electronic equipment notched the temperature to an uncomfortable level all summer and for most of the autumn despite central air conditioning and even though I kept the window open in the cooler months. Now that the high for the day goes between forty and fifty degrees, my work and living space has come to a decent level. Even though I've blocked off the heating vent and kept the window open, the room still hovers around sixty degrees – which is perfect for me.
Kiki is in heat, so the girls are finally getting along. Rainee is able to lounge on my bed while I work as Kiki prowls the house in search of love.
After catching up on a few web projects, I was able to swing back into writing a considerable amount over the past weekend. I truly want to finish Mind Sweeper before year's end as it is the shortest story in length. While often on the backburner because of it's length, Collective Obsessions also gets a frequent peck or two as I plod along.
Speaking of web projects, last month I put together a site for a non-profit organization as a favor to a friend who was doing some work for them. I did the web site at no charge, which was a big mistake on my part. Not only did I design the pages and create special logos for the non-profit, I also placed the site on my own web space at no cost to them and set up an account at PayPal so they could receive donations online (outside my "job realm" as a designer).
To make a long story short, the non-profit ripped off my friend by not paying her a single dime they owed her, claiming they had only received $20 in donations. I knew that to be an outright lie as I set up the receiving account and was aware of the rather generous donations the non-profit received in only a few short days. Knowing my friend as I do, and understanding the depth of her honesty and integrity, I yanked the non-profit web site and refused to deal with them anymore. I've also made it clear if they use the graphics I created for them on another site, I will take legal action.
It may sound heartless and cruel, especially when dealing with a non-profit, but this does not excuse their dishonesty and disregard for the work of others who are only trying to help them by offering their time and resources. If I had charged the non-profit for the work I did for them, they would owe me $1400 right now. It's as if they use people for all they can and then throw them aside. For their treatment of my friend and in all likelihood the way in which they will treat others, I did the throw aside first rather than having to embroil in a tiresome "he said, she said" battle.
The incident led me to the conclusion that I will offer no more web "freebies" to anyone, profit and non-profit alike. It takes one bad apple to spoil it for everyone else, whether they are legitimate or not.
Sadly, that's the way of it.
Tags: Collective Obsessions; Mind Sweeper; Web Design/Computer Misc