November 10, 2010

Where I’m at now

My parents’ health issues didn’t work out as I hoped, and my parents wound up dying 53 hours apart. I’m dealing with the aftermath, and expect that to continue pretty much until Thanksgiving. Thus, for a while I’ve stopped taking briefings, writing my usual kind of blog posts, and all that stuff. I’ve been responding to quick client inquiries, but that’s about it.

Naturally, when I get back to work, there will be a massive backlog. Highlights include:

To make things simple, 2011 Monash Advantage terms and conditions will be completely unchanged from 2010. That’s never been the case before; if nothing else, I’ve raised prices every year. But even if I’d had more time on my hands, I might have made only minor tweaks this time around, as the current version seems to be working well for vendor (that would be me) and clients alike. If I find the time, I’ll edit the contracts for typos and so on.* But what you get and what you pay will be exactly as they have been this year, except to the extent I can persuade you to make better use of what’s always been on offer to you.

*First two on the hit list: “Action, MA” should be “Acton, MA”, and some people dislike the actually sensible reference to the year 2019.

Obviously, various schedules I was trying to work to are no longer operative. But I really, really want to move forward promptly on the Privacy 3.0 project I mentioned to some of you. All the other stuff — post-print journalism and so on — can happen when it happens.

Comments

12 Responses to “Where I’m at now”

  1. Doug Henschen on November 10th, 2010 5:03 pm

    My deepest condolences on the loss of your parents.

  2. Tim Nickason on November 11th, 2010 1:19 am

    Curt,

    I’m so sorry for your loss. I urge you to take plenty of time away from work for yourself while you grieve.

    Best Regards,

  3. Curt Monash on November 11th, 2010 7:02 am

    Thanks, Tim & Doug.

    I’ve already taken a lot of time away from work trying to help my parents while they were still alive. I’m going to throw myself back in after Thanksgiving.

    What I will NOT do is try to catch up 4 months of work in 1 month, or anything like that.

  4. Conor Mc on November 11th, 2010 8:44 am

    Curt, deepest condolences from this regular reader in Dublin, Ireland.

  5. Paul Johnson on November 11th, 2010 11:44 am

    Curt, deepest sympathies for your loss.

    Like many others, I’m sure, I have been impressed with how you have soldiered on bravely over these last few months despite letting your readers know about your personal difficulties.

    Best wishes from the UK.

  6. Curt Monash on November 11th, 2010 1:22 pm

    Thanks, all. Your support has really been touching.

    Work has been a welcome distraction for the most part — as well as a responsibility. 😉 I cut back just because of time issues, but I tried to keep going with the core parts.

    This several-week period is the big exception. I’m pretty absorbed in the aftermath of my parents’ death.

  7. scott yu on November 12th, 2010 3:01 pm

    I am sorry about your loss.

    scott yu

  8. Mahesh Iyer on November 12th, 2010 3:40 pm

    Hi Curt,

    Sorry to hear about your loss. Please accept our heartfelt condolences…

    – Mahesh

  9. mike d. kail on November 14th, 2010 1:11 am

    Curt,

    Very sorry to hear about your loss. 🙁 Please accept my, and the rest of the Attensity teams, condolences.

    Best,
    /mdkail

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    […] the writing for several reasons, the biggest being that I stopped working for almost a month due to family issues. Please forgive its particularly choppy writing style; having waited this long already, I now lack […]

  11. I’m partway back | DBMS 2 : DataBase Management System Services on November 29th, 2010 5:14 am

    […] on blogging (and taking briefings) a couple of months ago as my parents got sicker, then suspended work altogether a month ago when they died. I am immensely grateful to be in a line of work where choices like that […]

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