Jul 17, 1999, 5:00pm

You should have seen the intro I wrote... :-) My better judgement told me to replace it.

Let's just say I don't like watching rap videos much. It makes me pity certain types of rappers.

This past week has been really, really weird. I dunno why, but I've been going through some really weird emotions and thoughts. As I said, I really don't know why either. I guess it's Richmond, life in general, and other assorted crap.

I'm trying to wrap up 4 concurrent jobs. Which brings me to a point - I hate it when I'm forced to wait 30 days or longer for checks. I'm not some big company, with a healthy bank account and money sitting in some slush fund. I'm a small operator, and sometimes I live from client check to client check. I do give a grace period of 14 days to allow for the writing and mailing of my payments, but more often than not, 30 days rolls around and I have to send out reminder notices...

One thing I've noticed in the past few years is that the term "the check is in the mail" has been replaced by "it's in the billing cycle". I hate that term. But you know what I dislike the most? I hate it when I have to wait 30 days or more for a company to pay me, when that company is in the service or retail sector, and they themselves demand immediate payment, no 30 day net crap from their clients.

Because of all this, I'm thinking of changing my billing procedure. Right now I charge 35% deposit before starting work (and believe me, sometimes getting this deposit is like pulling nails), and the rest due upon completion, with a 14 day grace. Because of this policy, I typically don't get final payment for a job until at least 60 days after I started it - most jobs I do take about a month, once you factor in feedback response time, editing, and final signoffs (most of the time I could complete a website in 10-15 days, but the delays are due to waiting for sign offs from clients).

And while some jobs take 60 days from the contract signing to final payment in my hands, a few take 90, 120 or more days.

Because of this, I've been mulling around the idea of a 30% / 50% / 20% payment scheme. 30% paid as deposit. 50% paid once the site beta is delivered (that's when approximately 80% or more of my work is done), and 20% for final payment once the site is signed off on. And I'm going to be stiff on the 50% payment - I won't do any more work (with exceptions) until I get that payment. Probably won't go over well with a few of the budget jobs I do, but I don't think this is unreasonable. Do you?

(PS - if you're one of my clients and you're reading this, have a heart eh? I need to be paid in a timely manner - pretty please? You don't want me to start having to eat dogfood or something, do yah? :-))

Okay, with that out of the way, yep, it's time for the first "story" on this site since I dunno, a year and a half?

Some time ago, I ran a serial story in these here pages - it stretched out over 4 editions. It was raw, but I also think it was one of my better works. Here it is, in it's own place and time.

Okay, so now *that* is out of the way too. Ever try to write a FAQ?

It's damned hard. I always wondered why there were so many crap half assed FAQs out there in the Internet world, and now I know why... it's damned hard to write a good, informative, and complete one. Currently I'm trying to co-author a FAQ for Sunbeam Coffeemasters. Yeah yeah, coffee crap again. The Coffeemaster was as much a part of the 40s kitchen as a toaster or a kettle was. But do you see them in kitchens today? Nope. Why? Because they were crap? Naw... several reasons - one - they were a bit of a pain to clean, two - to mass produce them today would make them cost in the $100-$200 range, something most consumers wouldn't pay, and three - the auto drip coffee maker (Mr. Coffee et al) killed off vacuum brewers like the Coffeemaster.

But they are having quite the revival amongst hardcore coffee lovers. Very unique looking devices, very kitchy, art deco, solid as a rock (the typical 4 pound Coffeemaster would make a great home robbery deterrent if it was thrown), and in good shape, they make superb coffee. The fact that so many are still used (and sold for good prices) today is a testament to their longevity and great tasting coffee.

I own 5 of them, in various states of repair. 3 are completely working units, two are for salvaging. Jean thinks I'm nuts, but hey, I know of at least three people who own 40 or more! Now that's dedication! (or is it fanaticism? :-))

So we're trying to write a FAQ for them because there's a real dearth of info online about the Sunbeams, or vacuum pots in general (can you even imagine finding out something that isn't talked about on the Web?? I mean, there's a million porn sites about people who screw dogs and eat shit during sex, yet not a single page on Sunbeam Coffeemasters or vacuum brewers worth a salt!), and we have run into so many roadblocks. We are currently waiting to hear back from Sunbeam, the company, on many of the details, but like most corporations, they take their time. Probably have their lawyers pouring over it, trying to figure out if we have a hidden agenda or something :-)

And you have to think about this for a second. By writing a FAQ, you're setting yourself up as some kinda expert. You're opening yourself up to criticism, especially if something in your FAQ is wrong. There's actually quite a bit of pressure associated with writing a FAQ.

But not everyone feels this pressure. I've seen plenty of FAQs in my time that are so full of high and mighty bullshit it's not funny. People who think they are the be all, end all of FAQs on their subjects. I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but I think that a fair amount of people don't realize the responsibility that comes with writing one of these things, and they just toss them out, continuing the number one adage of the net: don't believe 95% of what you read.

I'm under pressure a bit (by myself) to get this thing done well. I want it to be as accurate as possible. So I'm double and triple checking my facts. I'm doing research on the Net and in the library. I'm writing letters (not email, but old fashioned letters!). I hope someday to turn this FAQ into the be all, end all of vacuum brewer FAQs (baby steps for now... baby steps). But I want to do it right.

And that's about it for now... till next time....

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Mixelania

Photos from Algonquin Park
Photos from my trip to Algonquin Park this fall with my Mom and two brothers.

War Stories

Making Snow for the Fortress
One of the worst jobs I ever had... till I got out.

Webiffied

Tools I Use
The tools I use to build websites and lead a tech life.

iPod and iTunes Offline

iMark's iTunes and iPod isn't iPlaying anything right iNow.

Most Recent Songs

Fiddlers Green by The Tragically Hip

Around The Bend by Pearl Jam

Here With Me (Rollo's Chillin' With the Family Mix) by Dido

With arms open wide by Creed

truffle pigs by Matthew Good Band

In the News

Burundi and Beyond - NY Times
Great article by Peter Meehan - provided some background.

St. Petersburg Times
Side mention in an article about good machines

AP Story on Espresso
Background and information provided

NY Times - Grinders Article
Especially proud of this one - got the reporter to focus on grinders

Globe and Mail
LOL - showing bad reporting, dude says I'm an American-based site!

The Olympian, WA
Talks about my love for the El Sal Siberia Pacamara

Seattle Times - Clover
Interviewed for comments on the Clover brewer

NY Times - How it Works
Background and information for various espresso machines

Time Mag Article
Just a brief mention, article about roasting beans.

NY Times
Front page article about consumers getting into specialty coffee.

Washington Monthly
Quoted reference to what I wrote in an article at CoffeeGeek.

USA Today - Barista Jam
Intereviewed for my thoughts on what the epitome of espresso is.

WSJ Article
The Wall Street Journal has interviewed me 3 times. This is the first time my name got in a story.

Reuters Interview
Interview with Reuters, Jan 2 - this is the USA Today version.

My Other Stuff

CoffeeGeek
Launched Dec 22, 2001, this is THE online community for espresso and coffee fanatics.

CoffeeKid Website
It's all new, as of March, 2002. My personal coffee obsession site.

WebMotif Services
My company's site - needs an update!

Amazon WishList
Hey, if you feel the need to buy me something, check here!

Daily Visits

enGadget
Great gadget site run by the guy who used to do Gizmodo.

Google News
This is how I get my daily news fix.

DPReview Forums`
The most active forums for digital photography online today.

Daily Zen
Need my Daily Zen fix!

Jalopnik
A blog about car stuff. Vroom Vroom.

MoCo Loco
An industrial design blog. Very cool stuff.

Friends and Family Plan

Beata Blog
Beata's got her own blog! She updates it most days.

Riddla on Flickr
Matt Riddle's flickr account, updated regularly

Irdy Photos
Irdy, my friend from Jakharta, on Flickr

Recent Acquisitions

Canon EF 24-105 f4 L Lens
The best lens I've ever owned. Super sharp and quick.

Canon 5D
A full frame dSLR, with luscious colour reproduction.

Alzo Digital Lights
Some amazing florescent cold lights for product photography

Canon Xsi dSLR
Amazing technology and image quality in a tiny package.

Canon 40D
Latest prosumer camera from Canon - a much better upgrade than the 30D

Fujitsu P1610
Great 2.2lb computer that does most of my travel / writing needs

28mm f1.8 Lens
A great lens for closeup work and full picture photography

Foodsaver Advanced
Finally got the right tools for freezing green coffee.

Canon 50mm 1.4
Most amazing lens I've ever owned. Produces stellar photos.

Canon 10-22mm
Super wide angle (full frame fisheye) zoom for my Canon 20D