My daughter and son have shown their creative sides this month in preparing for their schools project “Reflections”. Connor took a great closeup of Emma with her new braces. Emma used a sun printing kit and made some beautiful cyanotypes for her entry. The Cyanotype is a beautiful prussian blue toned print that is created using 2 iron salts applied directly to the paper. When exposed to the sun dark areas or blocked areas turn white while other areas turn various shades of Blue. Cyanotype is one of the earliest forms of print making is one of the few permanent print mediums. I am sure we will be experimenting with it again one day.

Work has been extremely busy with a major project involving a huge database to be managed by 100’s of users. We are building the interface using Coldfusion/HTML, Javascript, CSS and SQL. The database is a mix of Oracle and MS SQL. It is one of those projects where initial design requested failed user scrutiny so the whole process is being redesigned. The tester group was supposedly the smart group so we have to trust their judgement. Simplifying the user interface makes the back end more complicated to manage. But the project must be completed within next 10 days. So work work work I must.

A note about the economy. I am officially debt free except for the mortgage. And while my retirement savings are diminished I am confident the market will return to its all time highs within a reasonable amount of time. In the mean time I have found new outlets for generating income such as selling books on Amazon and other items on CraigsList or Ebay. I know others who have lost large amounts because they were not diversified. I recently remapped my savings and retirement accounts to spread my risk and to acquire areas of the market which are bargain priced. If you can keep buying during this down turn you can profit later when the market returns to normal. My retirement is still 20 years away so I am hoping to see a long term return.

Thanks to all those who visit esearing.com and read my blog.

I have decided to list these on Amazon for a few months to see if anyone wants them. If not, I will donate them to the local library.
You can view the collection here. Thanks for looking.

UPDATE 7/22 – Made the first sale. Yippee…

“Eric has done an outstanding job since joining the group and has had a high degree of success in his tasks. He has taken very complicated things and been able to complete them with little supervision required. He is very focused on user needs and efficiency and that has benefited this department greatly.”

I am currently migrating a project from an IT group to a development group within finance. In this project I am recreating a form using a ton of javascript, calendars, and some interesting hierarchical select boxes.

I finally found a use for AJAX that I could understand and apply. The hierarchy of select boxes requires that I first run a query and output the results to select box #1 (highest level of hierarchy). Upon selection (onChange event) within the select box #1 I have to display the relevant choices for selectbox #2. In order to do this I have to query the distinct values for selectbox options based on the selection in box#1. This requires I run back to the server without refreshing my current form. AJAX does this in the blink of an eye. So my select box#2 gets populated and that feeds the query for select box#3, and so on and so forth until we get to the 8th select box and the final query. All of this has error checking and sets default values along the way. Very nifty stuff.

The calendar function I incorporated was easy enough to find and uses a pop up window to allow selection of the dates. By making the date input fields readonly I was able to require the user use the calendar icon to pick a date thus insuring valid date selection. I also had to make the dates populate various sections of the form with the main date, but still allow users to change individual dates if desired. JavaScript for each date field gives me complete control.

I mastered several nested show/hide functions which keep the user from filling out items they do not need to. All of the Select options are fed via a reference table which is lightning fast. Separating the Form, JavaScript, and CFQueries into separate files is helping me stay organized. One other cool feature in the form is a mock multi-select using check boxes and a couple of div layers for styling purposes.

Upon submission I am doing a ton of form validation and if the user is successful will write all the form elements to 4 different tables. Some of the form items are multi selects or have an array of answers for one variable. For this I get to loop through the array and write to the table. One even requires nested looping to break apart a field value with pipe(|) delimiters. The final output writes all the fields passed and their values(including multiple selections as arrays) to a text file they can then print for their records.

While sometimes frustrating to manage all this code for one form, it has been a fabulous learning experience. Next I get to add an edit feature for all the values submitted.

The first thing I wish to tell you about leasing is that the terms are written in favor of the leasor (the credit company). They will give you a nice low payment and promise the car will still have a high resale value at the end. The section that deals with mileage overages and scratches will be as small and hidden as they can possibly write it. There is NOT a death clause in your lease. You will be responsible for the lease until the bitter end and will still likely owe the company money even after termination.

The first lease we entered into was a 2000 Volvo. We put a little down and made payments for 52 months with the expectation we could either turn in the car and walk away at the end, or purchase it for the estimated market price of $16,000. Sounds like a deal. So we made our payements faithfully every month. Near the end of the lease we contacted the credit company about turning in the car. They sent out an “appraiser” to assess any damage. We had 15 total inches of scratches, each no more than a 1/4 inch long throughout the car. The cost to turn in the car was an additional $2000. So we looked into selling the vehicle or purchasing it. Funny thing, the current market price on the car was a mere $13,000, so we would be paying more than $3000 above market. Negotiating with the credit company was useless. Since we knew the condition of the car was mechanically excellent we purchased the car for the $16000, rather than turning it in. After all the payments it turns out I have paid about the same amount as if I had purchased the car outright for a 7 year term.

The other lease story is my mothers. In 2003 my mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer. We only expected her to live for another 6 months, but year after year she held on. She had always leased vehicles from Ford Motor Credit which she used as her work car, and was able to write off most of the expenses. In 2006, bald and obviously suffering from her cancer she turned in her current vehicle and attempted to buy a new similar vehicle, due to the “trade in special offer” she had received from Lincoln.
Her credit was not adequate to afford the high interest payments of a conventional loan so her long time leasing agent convinced her to Lease again.

Now knowing her condition is terminal she requested what the conditions would be upon her death should it occur before the end of the lease. The agent informed her that her heirs could take over the lease or merely turn in the car.
Unfortunately the “turn in” part is only partially true. FMC lease requires that the lease be paid in full if the car is turned in early, written in light grey on white paper so you cant read it well.

Upon her death in 2008 we contacted FMC and the Leasing agent at the dealership and both suggested we return the car as a “voluntary repo” and “pay nothing”. In March we received a bill from FMC’s collection agency for $9000 with no breakdown of the charges. Had we kept the car and made the 10 remaining lease payments it would only have costs us about $5800. So what are the remaining $3200? Late fees and the lower selling price of the car than the termination value when sold at auction. The purpose of turning in the car was to avoid paying the remaining payments, and we thought that the verbal agreements with FMC and the dealership would be binding. But it is not.

The only possible out for this will be to settle for a lower amount and/or tie it up in court while dealing with the estate probate process. GA does allow for spousal years support which may make the amount uncollectible. We are not really worried about credit ratings at this point.

My advice for anyone considering a lease.
1) Don’t do it! Not even for business tax benefits.

2) If you don’t follow #1, read the fine print. Examine the likelihood of your ability to pay should you lose your job or have health issues.

3) Save up cash for the end, do not roll expenses forward to the next loan/lease. You will get upside down quickly.

4) Never buy cars from FORD, LINCOLN, or MERCURY. There is a reason their sales are declining, and it has little to do with competition or market conditions. Other companies leases may not be much better so do your homework.

5) Buy a used beater for $1000-$2000 in good mechanical condition and pay yourself the equivalent lease payments for 3 years. You will have enough to pay cash for a good used car. $400×36months = $10800 (plus what ever interest you earn). You will also save on insurance costs. Avoiding dept and leases will help you become wealthier. As Dave Ramsey says “live like no-one else today, so you can live like no-one else tomorrow”.

6) Drive your old car until it costs more to repair it than to replace it. A car is not a reflection of who you are, it is a mode of transportation. While there are minimum personal comfort and size requirements you should not be emotionally attached to a car. If you have grown tired of your car, have it painted or replace the interior carpet and seat covers. It will almost feel brand new and improve the value. Or swap cars with your spouse for a while.

7) See #1.

The back Story: Having seen other apparel shops I created for my web clients, my daughter wanted a “Croc” store so she and her friends could buy the latest styles, but I convinced her we should offer more than Crocs and that she learn to run an online business. Utilizing Amazon’s Associate program and the Associate-o-matic software we were able to create an online store featuring girls apparel, shoes, accessories, jewelfy, and other Girl Gear. Emma was included in the design and selection of images for the site. Emma will be the princess of marketing and will be solely responsible for its success (with a little help from search engines). I hope the site will inspire her entrepreneurial spirit and provide her a view of the world other than working 9-5 the rest of her life. She already has plans for a business card.

The commissions Emma earns from the site will be applied toward her college savings. So please stop by, and if you have a girl that needs a little something, please make a purchase and help Emma get growing.

AllAroundAtlantaCatering.com is an expansion of beetlesbbq.com. into the world of catering. Operated by Restauranteur, Bill Beadle, the new company has expanded its menu beyond barbeque to include Southwestern Cuisine (Tex-Mex) and Italian Dishes. All are made with the same quality and freshness that is Bill’s specialty. For your next catering event please give them a try.

CallInspectAll.com specializes in Home Inspection, Termite Prevention, and Pest Control Services in the metro Atlanta area and areas east to Athens. Brothers, Brian and Brandon purchased the business from their father and are looking to expand it. They provide Commercial Services, Residential Services, and support Builders and Realtors.

More sites in the works so come back soon.

A quick recap of the year:

• BeetlesBBQ.com added a calendar feature for their live performances. Coming in 2008 they will be expanding their catering business featuring more than just barbeque.
• I won a couple of different contests at Sitepoint.com which awarded me the design for sites, adattsi.com, mortgagesukwide.co.uk, and the design for meetinguniverse.com. This allowed me some international exposure as well.
• The relationship with meeting universe expanded to development for their newsletters and promotions via constantContact.com.
  


• A relationship with Neighborhood Leadership Initiative led to the development of theFutureForce.org website which helps poor children with high potential get the help they need to succeed. NLI also provided an opportunity to work with another charity, developing a database application to help them manage their programs.
  


• The owner of bluehavanacigars.com expanded his online presence with HavanaBananas.com a blog about cigars, politics, and life of the owner. Dave’s writing style is very funny so worth adding to your RSS feeds or a visit.
  


• Late in the year I developed SailingJournals.com, a multiuser blog for those who live aboard their sailboats or dream of doing so.
  


• A couple of personal projects were started and will get more attention in 2008. Petscratch.com and webdevelopersBookStore.com.
  

On a personal note, I have been very healthy this year but family members have not been so lucky. I have seen my share of hospitals this year. We lost our dog, Cinder this summer, but she provided 14 years of joy to our family. My Koi fish also did not survive the summer thanks to a few herron. I started a new 9-5 job which allows me to do application development and some web design work.

Thanks again to all my clients and friends who make this business a success. I look forward to working with you all again and new clients in 2008. Happy new year and best wishes.

I have consulted for one site owner to improve and document a botched redesign. While we ultimately did not change much of the design itself we did make it work. If the client had a larger budget I would have redone the code to bring it into standards and a table-less design rather than the 3 nested table designs he had. If you are going to run a web design business, please take the time to learn new techniques and make sure the site is fully functional before you hand it over to a client. Take pride in your work and make the clients happy.

I am also getting to do some database architecture work which fits in nicely with my day job, yet is something I rarely get to do in my freelance business. I am also changing my day job to get to do more web work + reporting systems. Should keep me a lot busier during the day.

And just because I do not have enough to do, I have started trading options in the stock market. I am very risk tolerant with a small amount of money and it gives me something new to explore. It is fun, though sometimes stressful, to watch a single trade fall $1000 then rise $1500 in just a couple of days. I like to trade the big name nasdaq stocks that I am familiar with like Google, Amazon, Apple, and other tech companies I deal with every day. I will probabably lose it all in the end, but I treat it like going to Vegas and sitting at the black jack table, you pay to play and see how long you can sit there, but sometimes you win.

New site developed for my friend David of BlueHavana brands. He has a new blog and cigar site called havanabananas.com. David will be launching a custom cigar and will be selling related merchandise. It should be a fun read as Davids humor is not so politically correct, and he generally speaks his mind.