Today, scottgalvin.com and I ate lunch together in the kitchen of the data center. We shook hands on a deal.

Two weeks from now, I will begin a trial period as a salaried employee of x13.com. I will fill out a W2 form, with tax deductions and all. During the two month trial period, I will be paid a wage that is lower than normal market value. Scott would like it to be higher, as would I, but he gave me an offer based on the current realistic numbers of the company's revenue stream. He'd like to give me a raise in July, but we'll have to see how things are doing by then. He wants this to work for both of us, and so do I.

The salary will be based on a 20 hour work week. I am not a full time employee, but a part time one, with flexible hours to fit my schedule.

Scott told me he read the rambling I wrote last night (I had emailed him the url), and he did some thinking about it, and we had a good long chat on jabber.

I believe the offer he has made me is within his means. Either way, during this trial period, it will be very easy to tell whether he has kept his end of the bargain, because the number is one simple figure, and it will certainly beat the sporadic randomness that has characterized payments to workers of his companies in the past.

As for my end of the bargain, I have agreed to be available on call, answering the phone during business hours on weekdays. And I will work the 20 hours, helping clients as a first priority, and using the rest of the time to make improvements to our internal software system.

Though the money is not yet enough for me to comfortably move out from my parents' residences, I feel pretty good about the deal. I know that as the business grows, scott will make a good faith effort to pay me more, as well as offer other benefits. He, like me, has lots of good ideas, but not always enough time to follow through on them as soon as he'd like.

Tonight, I plan to once again drive to Boulder. There, I will spend time meditating with a group of people, we will listen to the teacher, and we will discuss whatever the profound topic of the evening is, and probably quite a bit of other stuff too.