Firefox 1.5.0.2 is out.

Spidra, do you need help with that? I got Az working with my laptop and router. I have to go looking for my ip address every time I torrent and then set my port forwarding accordingly.

Thanks, le nubian. I can't mess with it for at least a week. I'm up way too late doing my taxes (and getting screwed again because I don't have the right records handy to prove the deductions I *could* take). I'll be out of town tomorrow through Wednesday and a bit busy until next Monday but I would love to take you up on your offer thereafter. I'd like to be able to torrent on my Mac instead of having to use the PC.

okay, I'll just check this thread when you are ready. I need to leave town again (but this time just for a day) so if you don't get a same day response, I'll be back the following day.

btw, good luck on your taxes!

Thanks, le nubian. The good news is that I don't owe anything. The bad news is that the TurboTax fees ate about half my total state/fed refund. Plus I'm pretty sure I'm getting boned as a result of not keeping good enough records of my deductible expenses. I don't know when I'm ever going to learn...

Not sure if this should go here or in Natter....

I know a guy - a sibling of a friend - who wants me to set up his network in his new home office (I think a basic WiFi router). He'd pay me.

First of all, how much should I charge? A flat fee? (if so, how much?) By the hour - at how much I get paid per hour? Less? Should I offer a cash discount?

Second issue - I'm afraid that after I do the work, he'll expect me to come over and fix future problems for free. I see him possibly being a difficult or demanding client. How do I negotiate the limits of my responsibility before beginning the work?

Has anyone had experiences with doing IT work for acquaintances? I don't even like this guy that much, but I don't want to so far as to refuse to work for him - I just want to get my ducks in a row beforehand to avoid messy situations down the road. I figure some sort of contract is essential - I just don't know what should go in a contract.

Has anyone had experiences with doing IT work for acquaintances?

If you are going to do it, set a price before you do anything and make sure that he doesn't expect free maintenance. That will help take care of a lot of the problems I have seen and had.

I will allow others with more and better experience give advice on the price, contracts and how to bill.

Has anyone had experiences with doing IT work for acquaintances?

I do it all the time, and it's freaking miserable. I do it for free, too. I wish I hadn't started, but now all family visits are essentially tech calls. Hate. Do up a contract. Either he'll be offended and won't make you do it, or you'll have some reasonably established (and legally backupable) expectations.

About the rate, I can't really tell you there. The problem with setting up a home network is that depending on his gear and setup, it could be very very simple or totally not, and there's not really any way to know before you get in there. You could maybe set a base flat rate with an hourly overage beyond a set number of hours. Definitely establish any follow-up work parameters from the beginning, though.

Ooh, good question tr. My mother's been trying to pimp me to her friends as "the girl that knows computers," which, while not untrue, tends to put a damper on my visits home.

Good advice all.