Project update #14 - Not breaking the streak

by Lukáš Petr

Today, I really considered taking a break from my regular schedule and not writing a new post. I had one very compelling reason to do so:

Since last Wednesday, I am ill. And as of right now, I am laying in the bed and sweating; typing this post on my iPhone.

Nevertheless, I've decided that I will write this new post. Because the rule I set in the beginning sounds quite clear:

No excuses.

As a result of that unusual setup (publishing it from the phone), I won't be able to spell-check this, so please bear with me as there probably will be some typos and errors in spelling.

Anyway..

What I've been up to these last 4 days

As a result of being sick, not a whole lot.

Apart from two short walks outside, I was at home. Getting rest and trying to cure myself.

But there still was quite a lot of 'turbulence'. Mostly because this one particular thing.

If you've followed this series from the beginning, you know that I've had huge problems with this client job. It was a huge pain to finish it, and now the client decided that he want to ensure I will continue to work for him, and essentialy what he did is that he blackmails me:

Either I sign another contract with him for the next six months that is one-sidedly very advantageous to him and extremely disadvantageous for me, or he won't pay me for the work that I'd done and finished, based on the original contract that we have. There is almost half of the entire amount that remains to be paid, so this is obviously extremely annoying.

Unsurprisingly, after all the struggles I've gone through with him, I won't sign anything until he pays me. So that leaves us in a dead end situation. Next Wednesday, I'm going to consult a lawyer about this and hopefuly there is something that can be done.

Because if he really ends up not paying those money, then in the following months, for me, there will be:

  • no vacation(s)
  • no Apple Watch
  • no used iPad for testing
  • much less time for my new app than I planned

I will basically have money for my most basic expenses for the next two months, and that's it. Then I will have to find another freelancing work or some other way to at least cover my monthly expenses. Which is ironic, because the whole premise of this client work was that I will have some more time, and be able to afford those things mentioned above.

This, combined with my sickness and with other things that are not going very well (like for example the sales of my apps on the App Store dropping significantly in the last week) resulted in severely bad mood, mostly during Thursday and Friday.

I was the most annoyed and pesimistic that I've ever been this year.

I might really not get paid even though I rightfuly should be. And it just seemed so unfair. I felt like a complete fool. I was just desperate.

But on Saturday, I've looked at it with a fresh set of eyes, and while it still sucks, the situation is not as terrible as I thought the days before. I should be able to build and release the new app in this time span. And I can borrow a little from my parents. Which feels shitty, but at least I know the possibility is there.

Plus, it certainly is a huge cautionary tale for me. Mostly in this sense:

If you have a bad feeling about taking the job, walk away. It's much better option than to risk loosing several months and potentionally not getting paid.

Apart from that, I've made some plans for what I will work on in the near future. I'm really considering making Routie update 2.9 with HealthKit and Voice cues. Users have been asking for it for a long time, and this update might prove them that Routie is not abandoned. Plus, the 3.0 version that I planned for this summer will most likely have to be postponed quite a lot, because of this somewhat shaky financial situation. And I don't want to let Routie un-updated for so long, because it seems like letting the users down.

Another lesson from this is that I want to completely change the attitude I have toward client work. It used to be "not look for it, and just decide whenever something comes my way". Now I will look for it myself, be much more picky, and I will charge a fair price. But now that I'm thinking about it, I've probably said that in one of the recent project updates already. Sorry.

Alright, this will be it for today! As always, thanks for reading and for making it to the end of the article. I am aware that this post was maybe little too personal, I will try to do a better job next time! But hey, I've typed this entire thing on my 4" phone! As always, don't forget to come back here next Wednesday. In the meantime, have a great start of the week! I'll focus on getting healthy.