We’d love it if you could stop by our booth (either #23 or #22 depending on the diagram you’re looking at) and say “hi”.  We have plenty of candy and pens to give away, and would be happy to discuss how our software development and IT consulting services could benefit your small business!

He’s been helping me out on occasion since May with some IT work, and he’s been diving into some WordPress customizations and even a little Python code recently.

As you can see, I’d found him wandering around on a riverbank, trying to catch fish by hand, and to my surprise he’s much better suited for sitting in front of a computer writing PHP code.

Now with that in mind, here’s how my days usually go, or at least here’s how I’d like them to go, barring any major distractions or interruptions.

I usually wake up somewhere between 10 am and noon. I rarely set an alarm, because I know I’ll just turn it off and sleep even longer if I do. About half the time, I’m usually woken up by a phone call or text message that finally kicks me out of dreamland.

I usually reply to emails, return phone calls and catch up on some tech news first thing. If I have lunch plans, I’ll head out for that “speculative meeting” as the essay describes it. Sometimes I’ll even attempt to do something resembling physical activity, in hopes of getting into a shape slightly more defined than my current shape.

I spend a few more hours in the afternoon on both personal and work errands — responding to additional emails, IMs, phone calls, and other busy work. I even find it to be a good time to buy groceries, go to the bank, even do some yard work or housework. I tend to avoid getting myself sucked into coding until everyone else is finished with their work day.

And then, somewhere around 4-5 pm, the fun begins. I can finally dig in for a 5-6 hour stretch of work with relatively few interruptions. I’ll break for dinner and even a short nap around 9-10 pm, and I’m usually back at it by 11. I’ll put in another shift until 4-6 am, or until my eyes can’t stay open any longer.

Sure, this kind of schedule may kill my social life, but since it doesn’t bother me to go a few days without much human interaction, it may not be so much of a problem. And if any of you who know me find me avoiding you in the evenings, now you know why. The end of the day for you is when I’m just getting started. If I lose that focus and motivation early on, it tends to throw me off for the rest of the night.

And now back to the grind. I have at least 3 more hours left to go.

No, it’s not that time of year when I teach my cat new computer tricks. In this one, from over a year ago, she’s learning how to update Internet Explorer on a new install of Windows XP, running in a VM, of course. She’s since lost interest in operating systems, and moved on to more exciting hobbies, like destroying my Christmas tree.

It’s actually that time of year when my nocturnal productivity is at its best. The extra darkness and coldness just make me want to stay inside, and I end up on the computer most of the night. Instead of becoming lazy and turning into a couch potato, I’ve decided to work on some of my side and personal projects.

So here it is, the first post on the new ninemoreminutes.com! I’ve customized the default WordPress theme and turned this site into a blog and a few other pages of information about my little one-man company. This blog will be a place to write some technical articles related to the kinds of work I’m doing. Stay tuned!