A couple days ago, Yanthor extended an offer on his website. He said that anyone who wants to stay in Lincoln for an extra week after the upcoming fest to job hunt is welcome to do so. In the past, he has asserted that he believes there is more tech employment available in Nebraska than in Colorado. I'm not sure I really believe him on that count, but in any case, that's beside the point right now. The main question for me comes down to something that I put on a poll here yesterday, which has already scrolled away because I've made so many entries recently.

What will happen with scottgalvin.com's business ventures? I still haven't cast my own vote. Is the poll my magic 8-ball? No, because it is just what other people think. (Since I haven't voted, I haven't seen any of the results yet. If I do some database digging, I could find out easily, but that would be stupid.)

The only vote that really matters here is mine. I have now had 2 days away to think about it; even though so much else has been happening almost continuously, I have indeed thought much about it. This is an advantage of running on an overclocked brain.

Things do indeed appear to be taking off. Big clients are being added. I have gotten some money out of it recently. There will likely be quite a bit more money in the near future as well. That said, I have some concerns. I'll plan to tell these things to scott directly in the near future, if he hasn't already read about them here first before I see him.

Though I love scott -- he's a great guy, and a wonderful friend -- one of his weaknesses is that he tends to overpromise. He's done so repeatedly; both to me, and to clients, and I see little sign that this is going to change. He says he'll give everyone the moon, and then later, when the impossible cannot be done, everyone ends up feeling a little bit cheated, but he does the best he can to soothe things over, and he's good at that.

If the business does indeed grow bigger, I don't see this problem going away. I see it getting worse, because it will be happening on a larger scale, and there will be more at stake because of it. Maybe, in this world the way it is, that is the mark of a great business man; could it be that everyone has to cut around a few corners somewhere in order to be successful?

The other misgiving I have is one already communicated to scott. When I work in his physical presence, it is very difficult to get anything done, because as soon as I get psyched and started into working on a task, he gives me something else to jump into; in this environment, it's virtually impossible to get anything of significance done.

At least when we're on jabber, scott's fluxuations can be mediated into a little window in the corner of the screen.

Scott has told me he understands, and will try to be better about it in the future, and I believe he will. Still, though we may be able to control some of our behavior some of the time, there is a part of this that is simply inherent in our natures. It is going to come out no matter what we try to do. If we are to work together for the long haul, we're just going to have to figure out a way to deal with each other's idiosyncrasies.

[Aw fuck, it's 20:20 already. I'm missing Alias. Oh well. Maybe I can download and watch it later.]

These are hard things to write. I'm generally not very good at making direct constructive criticism of people, especially if it's to their face, and even more so if I am in a position to be reliant on them for employment or other considerations. But this has to be aired. The closet must be cleaned.

Now that I have criticized, I shall move to the reasons I am motivated to continue helping scott. In times of hardship, he has been there for me in a way that very few people would. He has helped support me, not only in a financial sense, but emotionally. He is always willing to listen to anything I have to say, and he hasn't given up on me, even when I've turned inward and tried to shut the whole world out.

For this, I do not feel indebted to him, but I am profoundly grateful. He is a good person to know. I do not say that lightly.

If I were to split now, or anytime within the next month at least, scott would be left high and dry. If I stayed in Lincoln an additional week interviewing for jobs, I suspect he'd be in a pretty rough place too. When I'm gone for a few days festing... We'll, he'll just have to find a way to make do for that long, because I ain't giving that up. :)

I have heard it said many times that you should never mix business and friendship. If you do happen to be friends with somebody you are doing business with, then keep the friendship completely separate from the business.

Personally, I have always had a mixed reaction to this philosophy. I can understand the reason for wanting to follow it. But something about it doesn't jive for me. In an ideal world, I want to be friends with the people I do business with. Friendship promotes loyalty, honesty (if the friendship is real), and compassion regarding to the effects of what you do -- something that is so lacking in today's corporate dominated economy.

If there is a chance that I can work in an environment where the people really care about each other; where the business is controlled not by stockholders on a distant exchange, but by the same folks I chat with in the morning every day; where I can have all this and make enough money to live on, even if it might just be squeaking by week to week, I believe it is worth taking some risk, and enduring some struggles to attain it.

Isn't that why we all love Malcolm Reynolds anyway? (The reason I loaned the Firefly set to scott in the first place, was not only because it is a great show, but because the endeavors of Serenity's crew reminded me so much of the way scott's seat-of-the-pants ventures seem to go. But alas, he does not have time to be watching hours of tv. He's too busy building the business. And I'm too impatient to see my episodes again to let them sit around in his possession forever. :)

So anyway, here's my decision. For the next 2 months, I'm not going to seek other employment, but instead, do everything I can within reason to further the success of x13. In July, I'll reassess again. I'll be coming back from Lincoln when the fest ends.

Now I get to go vote in my poll. Guess which option I'm going to choose.