A client received replacement printer yesterday, so I'm installing it first thing in the morning. Then back to workshop, have a brekkie, and then off to one of the clients I wasn't able to visit yesterday. Wireless network problem solved! The client just reset the modem and didn't know how to set the username and password back again. When will internet service providers (ISPs) realise they should stop instructing the clients to reset their modems? It's (for most) too technical, so most users can't perform new setup even with ISPs guiding them through the process over the phone (no wonder as phone support can be very confusing... trust me). Anyway… it looks like my timing is much better today :) I'm back to workshop and, after tying up a few lose ends (and having lunch and coffee), I'm off again… another desktop is repaired and ready for delivery. I spoke with this client earlier today and said that I'd be coming over this arvo, but will give him a call to confirm. He said "it's fine, I'm home this afternoon". So I'm in the car on my way to him (and he's seriously outside our service area), I'm calling his mobile and there is no answer :( Sigh! I call Alisa for help. She manages to get in touch with the client. He's home, so I'm good and don't have to turn around (or rather change the route as I've got another job booked).

Back in the shop, Alisa is looking for a recent (handwritten) invoice that we issued, but she couldn't find it in our accounting system. Then she looks for another one, and another one… and none of them have been recorded. Rick!!! Yes, he's coming back late this afternoon to fix this. Hmm, I wonder how much this will change his GST calculation done yesterday :( Alisa also doesn't seem happy as she was planning to leave the office early today. Oh well... in a computer repairs shop unexpected things happen all the time and we're used to this, so there is (almost) always a plan B.

Alisa is publishing a blog post today (not this one though… she'll be nagging me about this one again and again until the post is "perfect" as she would say). Did I mention that she's well-organised? :) Today's post was ready days (maybe even weeks) ago, so she just has a (yet another) read, polishes it here and there, and it's now online. It also automatically (how awesome) publishes on EUROBYTE Twitter page and then Alisa also publishes the post to a few other social networks like Facebook, Google+ etc. It's quite an effort to run a blog when I think about it. Some hire professional blog writers, but we like to do things in-house :) I hope you're enjoying our stories (at least somewhat). Anyhow…

Rick (our bookkeeper) is happy as "paperwork is perfect, as usual", which makes Alisa very happy :) He's also happy with "his" new office. We've set up a little sanctuary at the back of the workshop that will be rejuvenating us when a break from fixing computers is needed… I wish :) Let's try this again. We've set up a little office at the back of the workshop for such things as admin work. It's not quite ready yet. It actually only needs a few finishing touches… such as our kids' artwork (Alisa's idea). And we're still tripping over empty boxes (or remains of) and hoping we'll clean up everything soon or we'll go nuts. This actually makes me rethink my idea of updating the workshop layout. But Rick seems to be happily doing his magic in the new office, so it looks like the room fits the purpose (a perfect test).

It's quite cold today and here (in Hunters Hills) it rained all morning. Not exactly a perfect day for doing (any) work. It's not at all helping that I started late as I'd had to take Alisa to the (Sydney) City to a meeting with one of her web design clients. And I'm staying in Gladesville at a client's longer than expected. It is (often) very difficult to predict how much time I will be onsite. Sometimes I go to fix an email issue, but then I get question after question after question… and, before I know it, I'm late for my next appointment. This time (and unplanned) I had to set up a Group Calendar for an entire organisation, which proved to be a pretty strenuous exercise that made havoc of my schedule. Apart from zillion voicemail messages on my phone (that I can't even think about at the moment), I'm supposed to go to two more clients today. I (honestly) don't see how I can make this happen. Did I mention one of them lives in Lane Cove so, although not far, not exactly next door either. In this (crisis) situation it doesn't really help that other client is right here in Boronia Park. Anyhow, one reported no internet connection. I'll try to connect remotely to confirm the issue because, and this happens more often than you'd think, users believe there's a problem with internet as they can't open their browser, but the internet is actually working fine and the problem is with something else. Fixing this remotely would save me quite a bit of travel time and (quite possibly) put me back on schedule. The other client has a problem with wireless network in her office. She just called advising she'd be happier if I could visit tomorrow as she unexpectedly has to leave the office. Phew! I'll spend the rest of the day looking at a couple of laptops and a desktop, which are all nearly fixed and ready to go, so I'm aiming at having them ready for tomorrow. Oh, and I still have to check all those voicemail messages.