Friday’s appointment was amazing. Two hours of ripping and re-installing software that the Dell phone support people had totally b0rked. Norton Antivirus. Printer drivers. Logitech webcam drivers and software. All working. He wanted me to stick around while the new virus definitons downloaded over AOL dialup. We installed his brand new Kodak digital camera and one-touch photo transfer base. Taught him how to print, how to email photos from the webcam and from the digital camera. I charged him for the two hours of service, and he expected me to re-charge him for two hours of training ON TOP of that. Well, I didn’t, and he considered it “money well spent”. He insisted on having two copies of my business card so that he could give one to his sister, who just got a brand new computer. AND, he’s going to have me come back to train his wife on all the stuff I trained him on.

I was so geeked that when I came out of the appointment, I called immediately and told him “If I could do this for the rest of my life, I’d be one happy fat man.” Cloud nine didn’t begin to describe it.

That day, I’d sent an email to my mother and father about the business. I’m not going to duplicate my father’s email, but I will say that its negativity sapped every ounce of enthusiasm that I’d gotten from the appointment. I understand his concerns and where he’s getting his concerns from, but I’d hoped for at least an ounce of encouragement. Well, if I have to do this without him, I will. I have plenty of support from those around me.

And I WILL do this.

UPDATE: I re-read my father’s email, and there was one sentance of encouragement amongst three pages of concerns. I’ve sent him a response, and hopefully he understands where I’m coming from. I’ve got my fingers crossed.