TurboFool (Neither, really)

So what brought you to this site? I’d like to think you came here via a link from some major site where they thought something I wrote was just too amazing not to link to. In reality it was probably something far more mundane, though, such as following the address I gave you on my business card.

So what’s up with my business card? On it, I list a number of professions, which I’ll go over here:

• Actor – I spent the majority of my life as a professional actor. I’ve done television sitcoms, dramas, movies-of-the-week, and commercials, as well as feature films and even a play. In recent years it’s proven harder to find consistent work in this field, and as such I’ve all but given it up for now. And if you ask any actor what it’s like not to act, you may have an idea of how hard that is for me. I’d like to pursue it again down the line, but for now I have no choice but to focus on work that actually pays steadily.
• Epson Representative – Since the middle of 2002 I worked proudly as a representative for Epson, selling and supporting their products inside of my local Best Buy on weekends. It’s a company I truly believe in and care for, and a job I greatly enjoyed. Odds are high if you have my business card, you got it while I was doing this job. Near the end of 2008 my then-full-time job began to need more commitment from me, and I had to leave behind my work with Epson.
• Web Designer – I’ve got to be honest here, this one is a bit of a stretch these days. I’ve done a lot of web design, and in the days when it was just all about HTML, I think I did some pretty good work. As things shifted to XML, XHTML, most of the layout shifted to CSS, .php started becoming more visible than .html, I started to lose track of the current technologies. I’m hoping this blog, and my efforts to redesign it myself, will help encourage me to get back into the current stuff. But I’m still good with static designs, and I’m really proud of some of my work.
• Computer Repair, Training and Consulting – This is something I’m pursuing more directly, and it ties into my most recent weekday job as a network support technician. I love computers, I love working on them, and I know them darn well, IMO. Since I always build my own, and have built them for others, I know the inner workings pretty well. And since I’m always tinkering with the software and modifying and tweaking everything, I learn how to fix a lot of software issues. So over the years I’ve started doing computer repair work, as well as training people to use their computers or the software they have on them, and consulting on purchases, plans, network layouts, and more. Professionally I expanded my knowledge greatly into larger business environments, working on and maintaining servers (running every version of Windows Server, in addition to experience with the incredible VMware ESX), network environments, specialized applications, backups, and a great deal more. It’s good work, and I enjoy it. If you’ve got my card, this is likely. I’m hoping to expand this work in order to fill out my days that are now left mostly open due to recent cutbacks at my former employer. I’ve developed a loyal base of personal clients, and hopefully I can continue to grow my business. My rates are clear and fair, I’m honest and forthcoming about my work, and I’m not inflexible. I’ll find the right solution at the right price, and do whatever it take to maintain a happy and loyal customer.
• General Know-it-All – I’ve got a reputation, especially around Best Buy from my Epson days, of knowing everything. Now this is quite inaccurate, as I actually do not know everything, much to my disappointment. But I seem to have a surprising knack for knowing the answer to whatever question I’m asked, even if I just happened to learn about it only a couple of days before I was asked. It comes in handy, and it’s honestly not a reputation I mind. So I threw this on there as a nod to that, and as my touch of humor.

So that’s a brief breakdown of my business card. If you’ve got one, you’ve also got my contact info, so feel free to use it if you have use for any of my services. That’s why I gave it to you. If not, feel free to email me at turbofool(at)turbofool.com, or leave a message for free in my Google Voice box by clicking the button below and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.