[Anastas]

Alright, here's my situation: I almost can't afford to live. I am in desperate need of work, and I am now at the point where I will take any job.

I'm very proficient in PHP/MySQL, several years experience. Unfotunately, most of my work has been small jobs and rarely a full site so I don't have much to show. I have a few testimonials though:

"I chanced upon Anastas one night, in need of someone to code something urgent for the following day. He delivered without fail, and even surpassed my expectations by providing clear and commented code. As we did more projects together, I found Anastas to have a very deep and thorough knowledge of not just PHP but SQL, not found in that many programmers today. He has consistently provided the highest quality work imaginable. He even suggests improvements and new features for my code. I know that I can always rely on him if I'm in need of something fast, it will always be cleanly delivered, not rushed."
Luigi Masi
http://www.bunx.com
http://www.ookt.com
http://www.stream49.com
AIM: l.masi[at]mac.com
e-mail: l.masi[at]mac.com



"Anastas is a fantastic web site developer. He was able to get my site up and running within a week of giving him my design. He has always been easy to get a hold of and easy to work with. Anybody looking for a web developer should strongly consider him."
Timothy Foor
http://www.theguiltybystander.com
AIM: timmymfoor
e-mail: timothyfoor[at]walsh.edu



"I posted on ProgrammingTalk.com in hopes of finding someone to write a script to take care of gigs for a band's website. Anastas replied to my request and offered his services at a very affordable price. At first, I was sketchy about hiring someone over the internet but Anastas assured me that he was legit. Not only was he truthful to his word, but he made sure that my complete satisfaction with the script was his highest priority. Anytime I was confronted with a problem in the script, Anastas took care of the problem promptly. I'd highly recommend his services and look forward to working with him again."
- Derick Ulac
http://nextphazeonline.com/
AIM: heyy derr

I'll take any web job, excluding adult-related sites, and I will offer very competitive prices.

My contact info:

AIM: anastas5425
YIM: SurrealPrdctns
MSN: sp_admin@hotmail.com
e-mail: anastas@promethian.info

[Anastas]

I've gotten an offer for very, VERY cheap work. I'm in need of a source of income but do not expect me to stoop to outsourcing prices.

I live in the USA. I cannot match outsourcing prices but I can guarantee you the highest-quality work, with free support/bugfixes for as long as you need it, and at the very least I am fluent in English.

[Helljumper]

I also have worked for Luigi Masi, lol. He owns. >_>;

Anyways, do you have a PayPal e-mail address?

If so, PM me it. I've got a few PHP jobs and crap, and I'll be making a hefty sum of money. Maybe I'll send some your way when I get it...

-- Mike

[Jefforpresident]

How does that whole thing work? Do i give you what i want and you give me a quote for how much the work will cost? Or, do i give you a job and tell you how much i'm willing to pay? Thanks.

[Anastas]

Helljumper: Yes, I have a PayPal address, and some of those jobs would be highly appreciated. Thank you.

Jefforpresident: It works either way. How about this, PM or e-mail me the info, I'll give you a quote, and we'll go from there. Thanks.

[mikaelf]

go rentacoder, elance, scriptlance, and other various freelancing site. i think you will find decent work if your skill is superb.

regards,

[splanters]

For a guy that is desperate for work, you would think he'd be a little more willing to communicate.

Here's the deal. I came across his post in the forum last night as I came to the hotscripts.com website in search of a script for a project I'm working on. I happened upon his post, stating he's in dire need of work. Now, I'm always willing to help someone in need, and his post seemed sincere. Since I have an abundance of work, I gave him a small job - incorporate my very own resume website into wordpress.

We negotiated a price and all was well. I stated I wouldn't pay until he completed the work - if he focused on the job it wouldn't take him too long. He stated he's been burned before and would like 50% before starting. Seeing how it wasn't a large sum to begin with, I agreed.

Now, I'm familiar with MySQL/PHP - very familiar but not intimately familiar with Wordpress, so it's possible my expectations on that are not realistic. Having said that, what is entirely realistic is that once I fork over 50% of the payment, I would expect at the very least a little communication to know when I could expect completition of the project, etc... No sooner had I sent over payment and he was off with the girlfriend - maybe he was just waiting for someone to pay his way for dinner?

In any event, none of the actions I've had with him would lead me to believe he's "desperate" for work. What my feeling is that he's desperate for payment, and he'll get to your work when he has time.... and as far as communication, well, it's when it's convenient for him apparently.

I just wish I would have checked his references before hiring him. Suffice it to say, his references are less than stellar. Sometimes wanting to help someone clouds your judgement a little. It did mine, please don't let it cloud yours.

I'm hopeful that he'll respond sometime yet today. In any event, I'm feeling a little duped. Lesson learned.

[splanters]

Update on this story. I spoke with him. He's a stand up young man. It certainly was a situation where he didn't communicate very well, however he did refund the money.

After chatting with him a little I think he's learned to do a better job of communicating. However, i will say that I'm impressed with his honesty - he refunded the money; and it wasn't the money as much as it was the principle of the thing. He passed the principle test, but needs a little work on communication. However, I get the impression from our chat he learned his lesson.

My take is this: He's still young and learning life's lessons. I think he's learned if you don't communicate, people can and will assume you're dishonest even if that's not what you intended. Again, I'll repeat I think he's honest. He refunded the money and we had a nice discussion. I'm going to give him another shot and see how it goes. But I'm not paying him until the work is complete. I'll post again when that happens. In the mean-time, I'd encourage others to give the kid some work...(once my stuff is done) lol...

[Anastas]

I'm very glad that splanters was reasonable about the whole thing; I certainly wasn't doing a good job of communicating when I should have, and that is my fault.

I'd just like to clear something up, though; last night was my girlfriend and I's 3 month anniversary, and we wanted to do something. I had saved up a tad extra money for that evening a few weeks ago, because she means a lot to me and I wanted to make sure we'd have a good evening. That being said and done, I'm still in a bit of a bind.

Anyhoo, off to finishing splanters' site.

[splanters]

I would encourage anyone to give this kid a shot. He's proven himself a man of his word in my book. Does good work and I honestly believe he's learned a good lesson - if you make a mistake, and learn a lesson, all the better.

Thanks Anastas!