Credit Card Grumbles

Saturday night I decided that accepting credit cards was more expensive than it was worth:  at minimum it costs $280/year, and I don't think being able to accept credit cards has brought in that much in additional sales, much less profit. 

Growf.  It's only been two years since I started taking them (seems more like three).  My contract has a three-year term, with a $295 early-termination fee.  I was thinking it was two years, but the paperwork says three.  And the salescritter that assured me that insufficient sales to support the cost would be an adequate reason for early termination of the contract was apparently incorrect.  My bad for not getting it in writing.  At least I think I don't have that in writing, I do have to dig out my notes and double-check.  But I'm pretty sure it's only in my scribbled notes. 

The customer rep. I talked to did offer to take back my terminal in lieu of the early termination fee.  That's a possibility.

There is one possible out, which I need to the paper copies refer to my latest statements about - last year about this time I argued my way out of an extra $100/year fee for security hoo-ha.  If they try to push that one through again, I will be canceling, I was thiiis far from canceling over it last year (as in, I told them to cancel my account, and they managed to get me exempted so I wouldn't).

Event Schedule

Yeah, I know, there isn't much of an event schedule. I was looking through my e-mail for a couple invitations I'd gotten to SCA events, and it turns out both are on the same day, which is also the same day as the April MuseCon meeting. Which is also the day of Robin's 2nd-degree Black Belt test.

It's been several years since Robin last tested, and it's pretty certain Master Villari will be there. You can guess which we're going to. :)

New Website Branch - Under Construction

I think I've finally figured out what I want to do when I grow up. Is there a problem with the fact that it took me until age 43 to do so? Hope not.

Anyway, my current day-job is not it. I want to Design Things. I'm not, I'm reviewing other engineers' work. I suppose I could try to break out of my rut and jump over to the design side of Civil Engineering, buuuuut . . . I'm so not up on Structural issues. I wouldn't know a Finite Element if it walked up and bit me on the backside. I haven't cracked open a design code book since I graduated. Yadda yadda yadda.

So, helloooo typography. Hello publications design. I like you. You're fun. I like putting words and stuff on a page and making them look good. And maybe someday Otter Necessities Design Services will actually generate some money.

Except that the page looks like carp. I can do page-layout for print, why is website design so hard? It's still just words, I don't get it . . .