Clarkson Energy Homes

I finally was forced to throw out my Microsoft Intellipoint Trackball. If you have never purchased Microsoft hardware you may be unaware of the real problem with them. It’s the same problem I have with Wal-Mart products. If you really like a particular Microsoft product you need to buy a lifetime supply as soon as possible because Microsoft is going to eventually stop making it. Wal-Mart does the same thing. In their drive to make all the products on their shelves cheaper than they were last year, they often force manufacturers to significantly change a product and make it less useful. This is not a coincidence. Product categories in which Microsoft competes see a significantly faster drop in prices than in other categories where they do not compete. (more…)

Well, the an of an era for me. I lost a customer I have had for over four years over this past weekend. I hosted her web sites (6 or 7 of them), designed one web site and did a lot of web programming for her. She is a real estate investor and very successful. About three years ago I discovered that she had developed a curious negotiating tactic which I am convinced she was completely unaware of. I think she used it in complicated real estate deals and have received some confirmation of that over the years. She would dispute her bills to delay payment or to get a price reduction. She would often pay her programming and webmaster bills more than 30 days after I sent the invoice (using Freshbooks). She took almost a year to pay one of them from August, 2007. She often disputed the charges on some bills. I set a bad precedence because I sometimes caved in and gave her a credit on her invoices. (more…)

Rim shot