The Ruby Freelancers Show 037 – Overcoming Isolation




The Freelancers' Show show

Summary: Panel Eric Davis (twitter github blog) Evan Light (twitter github blog) Charles Max Wood (twitter github Teach Me To Code Intro to CoffeeScript) Dicussion 02:50 - Overcoming Isolation Working from coffeehouses Lunch dates 06:25 - Recruiting others with similar interests 07:40 - Talk on Twitter 07:46 - Evan’s Apprentice 09:46 - Pairing Remote vs Physical 11:19 - Personality Types 12:13 - Coworking Spaces Creative Work Busy Work 14:51 - Walking and Driving 15:33 - Meetups and User Groups 17:53 - Commiserating and Ranting 19:08 - Attending Conferences 23:26 - Working Onsite for Clients Picks Strong VPN (Eric) Cloak (Evan) OS X Server (Evan) The Ruby Object Model and Metaprogramming by Dave Thomas (Chuck) New Media Expo 2013 (Discount code Wood20) (Chuck) Transcript EVAN: What's the background noise that... Is there any? CHUCK: I hear people talking. It’s OK. EVAN: OK. Why can’t I crank my volume up louder than this? What the hell? Oh, well that might be why. Now say something. CHUCK: Something. EVAN: Good! You did exactly what you were told to do. Thank you. ERIC: Right. EVAN: Right. Actually that should have been my response, “Right!” CHUCK: So what we are talking about… last week we were talking about-- EVAN: [inaudible] CHUCK: Right. EVAN: Right. Talking about “right”? CHUCK: We were thinking about… talking about— EVAN: [laughs] We were thinking about talking about— CHUCK: OK! ERIC: I think Chuck is stuck on a loop. [Are you a busy Ruby developer who wants to take their freelance business to the next level? Interested in working smarter not harder? Then check out the upcoming book “Next Level Freelancing: Developer Edition - Practical Steps to Work Less, Travel and Make More Money”. It includes interviews and case studies with successful freelancers, who have made a killing by expanding their consultancy, develop passive income through informational products, build successful SaaS products, and become rockstar consultants making a minimum of $200/hour. There are all kinds of practical steps on getting started and if you sign up now, you’ll get 50% off when it’s released. You can find it at nextlevelfreelancing.com] [Hosting and bandwidth provided by the Blue Box Group. Check them out at bluebox.net] CHUCK: Hey everybody and welcome to Episode 37 of The Ruby Freelancer Show! This week on our panel, we have Eric Davis. ERIC: Hello! CHUCK: Evan Light. EVAN: I love my brown pants. CHUCK: And I'm Charles Max Wood from devchat.tv. This week, we are going to be talking about Combating Isolation and Loneliness -- since we work from home and stuff. So I have to say, I'm a little bit punch-drunk because I've been pulling insane hours for my client. EVAN: So you are rich now? CHUCK: Uhh… EVAN: [inaudible] Oops, we can leave the singing out of the transcript please. Thank you. CHUCK: [laughs] Yeah not yet. They haven’t paid me for all my work I guess. ERIC: --- on paper. EVAN: The only one who is punch-drunk today. CHUCK: Wow. EVAN: Real drunk might be better. CHUCK: Real drunk? EVAN: --- actually be topical. Oh wait -- sorry, folks this is what happens to you when you have too much isolation. CHUCK: [laughs] Yeah. So, any who, so we all work from home -- mostly generally. EVAN: And coffeehouses. CHUCK: Right. EVAN: Right. CHUCK: So, what do you do to combat that? How do you overcome the working in a room by yourself all day-- EVAN: I thought you were going to say “overcompensate” instead of overcome because somehow that seems more appropriate right now. [laughter] Second, you record a lot of podcasts like Chuck. I had to get that one out there. Third, you start recording more podcasts like me. [chuckles] OK. Seriously, so you go out to a coffeehouse which is where I am -- which is why if you hear background noise, well,