Ridgerunner Consulting

Update 3/16 2:11pm - Added draft design.

Jill Nickerson & I have been working very hard on creating a skate park on the Island in Blossburg as a Blossburg V.I.B.E. project. She's presenting to borough council tonight. I hope that we've addressed all their questions. We met with Mike Glazier, U.S. Rep. John Petererson's (R-Pa. 23rd) district representative on Friday and gave him a tour of the Island. He said the representative will contribute a letter of support, and that their office is very impressed by V.I.B.E.'s work in Blossburg.

Here are all the documents we've created:

For the public meeting March 5:

• Press release
  
• School announcement We also had a public meeting notice in the legal section of the Wellsboro Gazette and a nice block ad in the Penny Saver.
  
• Meeting Agenda
  
• Other Parks' rules
  

For borough council meeting March 12:

• Draft design of skate park
  
• Prepared resolution that accompanies the DCNR grant application
  
• Q&A
  
• Draft budget
  
• Skate park rules - draft
  
• Letter of support from V.I.B.E.
  
• Binder with the Q&A, budget, drawings of the proposed skate park, pictures of Sunbury and Ithaca skate parks, the NYTimes article about obesity in Blossburg, and the Tony Hawk Foundation grant guidelines.
  

Next Skate Board meeting: 3/22, 6pm, library community room.

I know, I haven't finished this website. It really is a big project and I've been working on other stuff (like the skate park) so much that this hasn't had as much priority as it should. So, until I've got it done, here's my resume (pdf).

I like to help people solve their problems - small businesses, individuals, nonprofit organizations, governments, even corporations. I'm getting more and more experience with financial management and analysis: Is your household or business money messy? I can help you clean it up and figure out where to go next. I strongly believe in confidentiality - your business is your business and not anyone else's. I'm an expert in QuickBooks, but you don't have to have special software to understand and manage your finances.

Is your website dreary? outdated? non-existent? Check out the list of sites I've done or worked on over on the left. Let's talk about how I can help you improve your situation during a free consultation.

Databases... organizing and managing data is the heart of many organizations and businesses. A database might be as simple as a spreadsheet or as complicated as a stand-alone relational database application. I've been designing, building and maintaining databases for over ten years. I offer a free consultation so together we can see how my skills can benefit your organization by streamlining data collection and analysis.

Wireless and wired networks, peer-to-peer or server-based, each home and office needs a different configuration. I've created and administered so many networks I can't even begin to count them. I fix the computers on the network - or standalone home and office computers - to remove pop-up ads, spyware, and other pests, check the hardware to make sure it meets your needs, and make recommendations for new or updated equipment.

So... give me a call or email me - 570-638-2486 or heidi (at) ridgerunnerconsulting.com and let's talk!

Nice list of things in your house that should have surge protectors at minimum by the folks at the surge protector/battery back up company APC.

APC - Are You Protected? Common devices in the home typically at risk

Please don't buy a Vista computer yet. I got to play with a brand new Toshiba Satellite with an Intel Core processor and 1gb of RAM this week. It was pokey. In addition, Vista was annoying as this Mac commercial cutely demonstrates.

It's still possible to find WinXP computers (my friend David Castro at TigerDirect will be happy to help you - 888-358-4437). You can get a great deal on a WinXP computer and be confident that Microsoft will support it for the next seven years (until 2014). I wouldn't advise planning to keep your computer seven years - five is a more reasonable estimate for the life of hardware.

So, if you have to buy a computer right now, buy XP. Don't bother getting hardware that supposedly will allow you to upgrade to Vista - the hardware will change rapidly in the next two years because what's out there right now can't quite handle Vista.

I worked on a laptop recently that was built at the very start of the WinXP era. It's struggling. XP's hardware requirements have increased since it came out. I could only upgrade the laptop's RAM slightly, from 256mb to 384, which helped, but XP is still struggling on that computer.

Jill, who is a member of the borough's recreation board, and I created a PowerPoint presentation to deliver at the rec board meeting tonight to answer any remaining questions about the skate park. Shane helped us out, too. The slideshow is in .pdf format here. (I made one correction to it that the rec board didn't get: I had forgotten to add the reference on slide 9.)

Lisa Fredrick made a motion that the rec board support the grant application and skate park to the borough council. Pete Hall seconded the motion. No one voted against it. (I don't want to say that all were in favor because I think there was at least one abstention.)

My thanks to Mark Getts in Sunbury, Debbie in Lewisburg, Dave Ely from George Ely & Assoc., Carol Tama, and most importantly to Britton Allen!