Odds and Ends

November 2002

Yes, I'm back! Been a while, I know; being a mom is a lot more work than I  ever dreamed possible. We also sold our cabin and bought a house, which  really threw us into a quagmire of work. Things are settling down now, I'm  starting to get my new office organized, and winter seems to have arrived  before fall even got comfortable here. That means it's time for me to get  back to work!  

Please keep in mind my rates for the coming year! 

All services are charged at $25.00 per hour.

Travel is charged for both directions, at my hourly rate, for all travel,   including within the canyon area.   

If you need your system cleaned, formatted, and an operating system  installed, and can bring it to my office, there is a flat fee of $50.00 charged,  barring unforeseen issues with missing drivers - in which case I will contact  you first before proceeding at my usual hourly rate.   

I do hope to focus more in the future on web site design and maintenance,  as well as other services that I can provide from my home, simply because it  is easier than trying to bring Matt along on jobs, or find a sitter for him. If  you offer to watch Matt for me while I work on your computer - or have  someone in your home do so - please don't be offended if I decline, it's  simply that having him along is a major distraction, no matter how great a  sitter is provided on location. As a mom, my mind will still be distracted with  him, and often I find the customer is too distracted with wanting to play with  him, when they need to be focusing on what I'm teaching them!   

The big news making the rounds lately in the support arena focuses on two  things - viruses and junk mail. I cannot emphasize enough how important it  is that you have a good antivirus program installed, and that you keep it  updated at least once a week! But if you enjoy paying me to clean up the  viruses, then by all means, disregard the previous statement! On the note of  junk mail, or spam as we call it, I'm currently investigating various options  to help reduce this obnoxious irritant. There are a number of programs  available, but what I'm looking for is the easiest to understand and most  effective. If you are using Bigsky.net as your ISP, then they do have a very  good filter available, at a cost of $2.00 per month. It not only catches spam  mail, but also catches virus infected email. I highly recommend this option.   

It is possible to set up filters in your own email program, but considering the  amount of spam out there, you would be spending most of your time on the  net just setting up filters - you'd never have time to read your own email,  much less surf!   

I hope to have more information for you very soon on the spam filters that  are available, so keep an eye out for my next ezine. In the meantime, I hope  you stay toasty warm and have a great holiday season!

 This site maintained by The Computer Counselor