> That's what I thought. All that paperwork would have simply fed  
 > the lawyers. But even a simple written agreement between you  
 > and him with basic terms of expectation and reward may have  
 > sufficed. However, I suspect he treated your work as a  
 > volunteer (ad hoc, or "off the street") and hence no pressure  
 > to document any changes.  In return you simply get enough for  
 > lodging and living - and in your case -- long enough until you  
 > got back on your feet.

I handled all matters, including colecting the revenue & paying the
landlord(utilities included) & suppliers(I sold snacks for some extra, but
generally ate whatever I earned that day *LOL*)

 > When all is said and done, I don't nearly earn that much at  
 > all.  I can cover expenses reasonably well (depending on the  
 > retail season) but I don't pocket as much as some people on  
 > steady guaranteed gov't pensions.

Fair enough; I'm not one of those that assume, "You have your own business; you
must be one of the rich we're supposed to hate"

& the NDP would deny you even what little you're earning, by taking control &
giving you a stipend, amount independent of your actual investment/promotion.

I compared the preanble of the BDP Constitution with thast of the Communist
Pasrty -- hard to tell the difference -- both aim for complete government
control of all ownership. (business, home, property, job)

 >  GP> My old rate as a freelance computer geek was 2 hours for
 >  GP> $150, but I was generous with discounts even of all,
 >  GP> especially for seniors & pretty girls)

 > I did the odd computer computer thing for $60/hr max.  But was  
 > infrequent and over 8 years ago now.

Same, was infrequent, more than 12 years ago now.

It was handy.  Now I'm pretty much doing it as a volunteer for pensioner
seniors aroundbouts.

There's the story of this old retired gent(call him Frank) who used to pain for
retired ladies.

One day, a young (30s, 40s) gent from town saw him & asked, "How much would you
charge to paint my fence?"

Frank smiled and asked, "What do you do for a living?"

"Oh, I'm retired," answered the youngh executive.

Frank looked him dead in the eye & answered, "Then paint it your own damned
self."

 >  GP> I probably averaged $30-$40, as I'd fix whsatever it was
 >  GP> fort he flat fewe of $150, if I could do it in under 4
 >  GP> hours.  Any more, I'd give an estimate for the remainder,
 >  GP> after fixing the mnost important things for the base fee.

 > Yes.. I mainly worked on software issues: a stuck Windows  
 > update, going back to a Restore point, removing a virus. If the  
 > machine could support extra ram, I'd investigate that model and  
 > top it up if possible.

I did some of that, too; loved Belarc Advisor to tell me what kind of RANM they
had & how much.

Typically they only used the computer for email & letters, so I just had to
clean up the crud & optimize things (auto updates for antivir, antimalware, &
hard disk maintenance)

Maybe some ABClessons on how to best do their usual tasks.

Showed one old gent(friend) how to have a Portuguese translator tab open when
emailing his Brazilian cousins.

Those littlet hings that make the computer more fun than chore. . .

I'd get someone more into the computer by discovering their favorite passtimes,
& installing games for such (Bridge, Golf, et al)

I remember being in my first post secondary course learning computers, & I was
playing Solitaire in Windows 3.0 when the instructor appeared at my shoulder
asking what I was doing during her lecture; I thought quick & said,
"Acclimating myself to the tactile interface device"; she was partly impressed,
but made me explain; I showed her how I use all mouse actions in the game
(single click, double click, drag); she then assigned playing Solitaire to the
class!

Your friend,

<+]:{)}
Cyberpope, Bishop of ROM
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