Tractor

I'd be interested in finding real information about solar. When I look I find a lot of companies trying to get my info and give me quotes, but not a lot of hard data that I can review.

there's lots of cheap ones on Amazon etc these days.

TV operating temperature ranges are pretty good. There isn't much in them that could be damaged until it gets above 140. Near zero won't hurt them either.

I got the defender HD cameras after searching and a recommendation from another cr member. Very nice quality even in total darkness out here. With my outside lights on its even better. Very easy to install and operate. Home depot has a good price on them as well.

I did my own galaxy S5 repair. Cost me around $10 for a new glass, but it took several hours to replace using a heat gun to melt the glue and lift the pieces of glass from the LCD without damaging it. I wouldn't recommend it for someone who isn't confident, skilled, and very patient. Looking back it would would have been worth it to replace the entire display assembly for about $40.

I have an old reader that can pull the codes and get a little data on some basic things. I'm thinking its very related to moisture. It went away for a few weeks and came back when we had some serious rain here. Its not enough to trigger a code now, but you can feel the power difference very well. I'm not sure where to go except pull all the ignition related connections and clean and seal them.

I suck at growing anything, it never works out. I love eating spicy food though and keep a supply of ghost pepper powder around. I find it's an easy way to make something as hot as you want without altering the favor. Perfect for an uneducated cook like myself.

I have Defender HD wired models at my place and they work great. They do have a wireless version as well.

I use two 32" LED TV's for monitors. They do everything I need very well so don't dismiss them unless you really need something that an actual and more expensive monitor can do. Any mini USB to USB type A adapter will work. You just need to know which types mini or micro A or B to full size USB typically that is called USB type A and is standard and the rectangular one. Here's the wiki on them so you can get even more confused. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB

I do a lot of work for large MSP's who get accounts in my area and don't have techs. One of the bigger problems for IT support is that it has out grown the lone "IT GUY" for a lot of the work. There's just to much now if your trying to support a complete office unless you can get clients to package everything in with you and buy hardware and software that you deploy to all your clients. I'm really strong in troubleshooting, Windows, and MS servers and all the related MS systems within servers. I can handle networking below enterprise level, but I'm not an expert. Then there's the differences in how the gear works such as Cisco, Palo Alto, Sonicwall, HP, etc. I hear the complaints too as the guy walking in the door. The large MSP's get hit for slow response times, oversea's tech support centers, and being generally annoying. Clients are always pretty happy to see a tech walk in the door though. Perfect example yesterday, I swapped out a router in a bank, it crapped out there network and made intermittent disconnections system wide. Tech support had me checking wiring, power switches, etc totally unrelated to anything I touched and never mind the fact that all that stuff was working fine before the swap. I spend hours on the line with tech support constantly for this type of KISS stuff and its almost never the solution. It isn't really I complaint though, I get paid huge for wasting everyone's time/money.

Thanks for the responses guys. I know I have a long way to go and I won't give up. I'm still at the very bottom but I'm paying my bills and if I get this to where I have an employee or two I'll be where I'd like to be. I've met my first major goals of getting the business making profit by doing the contract field service work and I like most of what I'm doing. The next steps involve getting my own clients and getting residual income for things like PC, printer, and network infrastructure maintenance contracts. Once I've done this awhile and have built up the cash flow the company can expand vs paying my personal bills it should be business as usual for the most part as I continue to build the company. I know this can work and I've proved it can work, but the sales part is something I've totally never been involved in on any level. It would be great to find someone who can help on that side and put my skills to work. I have a few people in mind that I'm going to talk to, but in the end it still might end up being my problem, and I'm gonna hit it hard.

I understand what your saying, but any selling didn't happen the way your thinking. I will say I'm good at the marketing side, ie promotional material, thinking of ways to get in front of the clients, etc but I totally fail on the interaction part. I'm a little better on the phone, but not good. With the restaurant company I didn't "talk" to the person I simply happened to be on the phone with them a couple times about issues at sites and they said they like how I'm working for them and that they'd give me more work. I totally didn't do anything to cause this beyond simply doing a good job for them. Even when I worked as an employee I was always told by bosses that they didn't like me at first, but totally glad they hired me because I am excellent at getting things done and doing what others aren't willing to do.

There's non compete requirements that make this risky however I'm getting around it by keeping an eye on what the client has on site, and listening, then going back later to get my own relationship.

When I try to actually talk someone into using my services, I'm way to "nerd", awkward, etc and I really mean that. Its not something I can learn to do easily, but it doesn't mean I'm not going to keep trying. I was raised in a family of people with Asperger's syndrome, paranoia and other fun cluster A disorders and lots of antisocial behavior. Myself I am probably the one in my family that is the least effected and I do have high enough intelligence to know of my weaknesses and I feel very driven to grow. Having said all that and for anyone who understands some of these built in hurdles, you'll know that going out and trying to talk to a person that you have never met and wow them into buying is very difficult and its not going to end well for either person. Its not an excuse this time. My wife has a good laugh at me all the time even in normal social situations like talking to a waitress because she points out my odd body language, facial expressions, tone of voice, and my very odd verbal responses. I've been working on it, but being comfortable isn't likely to happen. I wish I could start every interaction with "I'm a little odd to talk with, but I'll get the job done better than anyone".

Thanks guys, some of this is very useful and then there's the go talk to people part. I really appreciate the comments. I've been working on getting to this point for over 20 years and I finally jumped in and tried it. So far it is growing. Now I'll say I haven't talked to a single person, sold myself to anyone or sold anything at all. All I have done is simply build some great profiles on sites such as WorkMarket.com and I apply for assignments. It was pretty slow at first getting the first few companies to accept my offers, but now that I've built up over 100 assignments I get a lot of the jobs. I have a company that I work with that handles all the Denny's, Applebees, etc in the area. I got to talk to the man in charge of 1099 contractors. I'm also to the point where I know just about everyone working in the dispatch call center.

OMG I'm laughing so hard. I gotta go poo now.

Long post, sorry. So back before the beginning of the year I posted that I was going out on my own instead of working for an employer. Its been about 6 months and I thought I would update you guys and ask for advice since CR is awesome. I started an IT services company and so far I'm not doing to bad. I hit up all the freelance websites and here at Myrtle Beach since its primarily a tourist economy there are tons of things to do for a guy with my skills. The past two months I've nearly entirely replaced my old income when I worked full time. I've been doing IT handyman type of work ie, go here fix this, go here install this, etc and I'm working 10-15 hours per week including the drive time. The problem with this is the pay per hour is great, but its very difficult to get multiple assignments per day due to the nature of field service so one must be careful. Another problem is I'm still working for multiple vendors and I'm not getting the jobs directly with the clients. This isn't a terrible thing, but it mean I'm only barely scratching the surface of the income potential. I'm doing what I'm good at and what I love. I want to get my own clients and I'm completely lost when it comes to the sales/interacting with a buying client. I'm simply not a people person, I'm awkward, nervous, and pretty much an idiot when it comes to that stuff. I like to get presented with a technical problem and be left to solve it. I'd love to find a partner or person who wants to make some cash selling. I'm thinking of putting out a job ad since I see this type of thing posted occasionally anyway. CR's thoughts? My next question is more of how to get general contractor type of work since some of what I do is things like structured cabling, installing camera's, wireless access points, etc. Is there some way to do that that I'm missing? My wife is an expert in sales and people stuff. She doesn't have the technical skill to sharpen a pencil and this type of sales requires a bit of knowledge in things she puts into the realm of magic. Besides she works full time and I really shouldn't have to bother her with this beyond a referral here and there. Thanks guys,

Yeah I don't notice anything.

This link might point you in the right direction http://www.intowindows.com/add-or-remove-all-apps-button-from-windows-10-start-menu/ Not sure how much GPO stuff works with windows 10. I've heard some of it is bugged or had been missing early on, hopefully they have fixed most of it.

By lacking power I mean it goes from feeling like a 300hp heavy pig car to feeling like a 90's corolla. No codes and the problem remains through at least half the tank of gas and then by the time I'm at the remaining few gallons its back to fun again. I don't typically drive far enough to run it down fast, I just take 10 to 30 mile trips every day or so. A possible connection. I had a misfire on #6 that had been coming up when its very rainy for a few days. I replaced the plugs and eventually swapped the coil with #2. I've gotten a blinking CEL a couple times since then, but I can't make it fully code out and haven't had my laptop around at the time to see what pre code is in play. I'm guessing the misfire could have been a dirty connection to the coil and I'm going to clean them with electrical contact cleaner when I get the chance.

I have an 08 CTS with the 3.6DI engine. I've never owned anything like a mustang or camaro, etc so to me this is a fun car to drive. My question though is why am I noticing that after each fill up the car lacks power big time compared to when its on its last 2-3 gallons. I find it kinda hard to believe that 90-100lbs of fuel weight makes that much of a difference in an already heavy all stock car. I've tried searching a few times, but I only get the opposite result "runs bad when near empty = rust in tank". I'm more inclined to think its something very simple like a gas cap, plugged vent, etc. anyway its an interesting exercise of thought and its been very consistent over the past months.

I always liked hitting the 670/315/71 area and then going downtown and just driving slow. around the main areas. Dublin Rd is a nice slow drive too. A little bit of trees and parks and the river.

Cruising is my favorite type of vacation for a very simple reason. I do a lot in my every day life, I see things, I have to plan every move, etc. When I'm on a cruise I just sleep, eat, and sit around just chill'n and usually talking with the crew members. I don't have to do or think about anything to survive. Its totally relaxing especially mentally.

Been a long winter here in South Carolina too.

Looks like the Note 9 is coming as well.