Yesterday when I was questioning the value of a post that's about a new remote control, I realized I haven't talked much about work lately. Maybe some folks will be interested.

My current full time focus is one video game client I have. I was originally on a contract to help them get their game out on Xbox Live. They decided to use the Torque Engine which caused a lot of headaches because this particular game is nothing like what Torque was designed for. Right when we were really getting a head of steam, the project was "put on hiatus for strategic reasons". Since my client wanted to keep me around for when the project starts back up, I was asked to pitch in on another project they were starting that is basically an overhaul of their proprietary gaming network. Torque was the tech of choice (but a different flavor) and, once again, my first task was making it do things it wasn't designed to do. It's what I call a "blurry task" because it's not quite clear what needs to be done to complete it. It makes things awfully difficult to estimate and track progress because a lot of poking around and experimentation is required.

All of these false starts, throwing away work, and blurry tasks have really been weighing on me. I love that I'm doing video game work and that it's paying all the bills. But after a short while of not making any tangible progress, I was starting question myself and my client. Things all clicked together for me yesterday and I got the blurry task done. What followed was a series of smaller, clearly defined tasks and I knocked them out. It was a rush of relief!

Adding to all of this, my client seems to change their strategic focus often and appears to have some internal organizational issues. It's enough to make me a little nervous since they're requiring my full time commitment and it makes up almost 100% of my company's income. As far as I know, they have as much work as I can handle and they keep paying the bill. If both of those things hold true for 2008, I'll be perfectly happy.

Since I'm always looking a couple steps ahead, I'm also exploring the future possibilities. A couple of those are more work-for-hire game development contracts which are very exciting to me. But I'm also working with a couple of close friends on some new product developments that I'm also excited about. My goal for 2008 is to create at least one passive income stream. Launching a niche product and selling it online and/or through retail is the only way I can see of achieving that in the short term.

I'm working with 2 different people on 2 different products. Unfortunately, all of the parties involved have a more than full time workload. So progress is spotty and slow at the moment. One product is pretty simple and we've actually half heartedly tried launching before with an initial marketing effort and website. The other product is a full on retail packaged item that has huge potential if it takes off. It's been fun trying to figure out all the details and do the research. But both projects are getting past the poke and prod stage. It's time to set aside some nights and weekend time to make schedules and put the business plans together.

For those that remember the baking soda/sand blasting business I started in early 2007, I still own all of the equipment and I have partnered up with a gentleman that intends on buying it all from me this year when he has the money to spare. In the meantime, he's running the day to day operation and we're splitting everything 50/50. If that falls through, I'll at least still own the equipment that I can rent out and use on my personal projects. Since the weather warmed up, my phone has been ringing at least once a day with people inquiring about blasting. I guess my flyers, business cards, and t-shirts worked!

For the back, back, way back burner, I'm also about to sign up for classes to get my South Carolina license to sell property & casualty insurance. The primary reason for this is to have the proper licensing to handle my Dad's insurance agency should something happen to him. But it's also not a bad business to be in at all. Should Blast Off not be able to sustain me full time for some bizarre reason, I'd move over to the family business.

Seeing it all written down like that, it looks like my plate is crazy full. I guess it is, but it doesn't seem like it because they're all things I've willingly taken on. I'm really having fun and loving life!