[dba-SQLServer] Syncing Virtual Machines

jwcolby jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com
Wed Oct 26 23:17:22 CDT 2011


http://www.youtube.com/watch?**v=O3E4aY7KDCM<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3E4aY7KDCM>

And then you run into the VM that can't be backed up in any easy manner and you spend X hours doing 
stupid crap, trying to figure out how to do the backup, which it appears simply cannot be done in 
any reasonable manner.

And you run into the SQL Server stuff that you haven't a clue about and you spend X more hours doing 
stupid crap.

And then you...

As I said, time spent on non-billable stuff is time spent on non billable stuff.  Pure overhead, for 
which you yourself *claim* to understand, cannot simply be billed for.  So you spend more hours of 
your day doing non-billable stuff.

My point is simply that just because person A can do X all day and bill accordingly doesn't mean 
person B can do so.  You trivialize this stuff in order to be argumentative but in the end ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?**v=O3E4aY7KDCM<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3E4aY7KDCM>

 > If you can sell your services at that rate for the estimated hours, you survive.

I do "survive", I earn roughly double the median.  I just have to spend too many non-billable hours 
doing stupid crap, wrestling with things that should have been addressed long ago.  This is not 
"just jc", I go Google to discover how to do this stuff and find long threads with 47 different 
answers that work for this person but not for anybody else and 47 different people saying how stupid 
this is.  I can't export a VM to a share because... no one knows for sure, but if you can't export 
you can't import it back in.  After a couple of non-billable hours searching for the answer, I just 
give up.  None of the suggestions worked (for me), although all of the suggestions worked for 
someone.

 > If you can't sell your services at that rate - get out of the business.

You trivialize this stuff in order to be argumentative but in the end...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?**v=O3E4aY7KDCM<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3E4aY7KDCM>

The unemployment rate hovers around 12.9% and I think I will just "get out of the business".  Yep 
Stuart, I do believe I will take your stellar advice.  The unemployment line sounds infinitely 
preferable.  ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmSQogb4wCE

;)

LOL, you're welcome to just suck it up Stuart.

Personally I'm OK, I enjoy my work, in fact I love what I do, I just have to spend too much time 
doing non-billable crap.  I make way more than I would selling vacuums at Sears or standing in the 
unemployment line.  And the best part is I get to say...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmSQogb4wCE

with gusto!

;)

Nice chattin with ya Stuart!


John W. Colby
Colby Consulting

Reality is what refuses to go away
when you do not believe in it

On 10/26/2011 4:54 PM, Stuart McLachlan wrote:
> You are correct. This stellar advice does come from a sole
> proprietor who is intimately aware of the problems of marketing your
> business, setting your billing rate, what the market will bear and all
> of that,
>
> Lexacorp is Me. There's no one else.  It's been that way for the last 18 years.
>
> I said "required", not "desired".
> You determine your minimum required income to cover all costs and an accceptable wage
> for yourself.
> You estimate your minimum billable hours factoring in all those other things and that
> determines your minimum billing rate.
> You then look at the market to see how that rate stacks up.
>
> If you can sell your services at that rate for the estimated hours, you survive.
> If you can sell your services at a higher rate or sell more hours, you will do well
> If you can't sell your services at that rate - get out of the business.
>
>



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