road warrior – Page 3 – PDRater – Permanent Disability Calculators

Best of October 2008

By Jay Shergill Posted on November 3, 2008 Posted in Author, Calculators, PDRater, Technobabble, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources No Comments Tagged with Backpack, Bailout, Barak Obama, Calculator Features, Car Road, Credit Default Swaps, Economic Turmoil, Footnotes, Heathcare, John Mccain, kitten it, Martini, new year, Photoshopped Pictures, Post Mortem, Presidential Election Coverage, Race Cars, road warrior, Search Engines, Second Presidential Debate, Third Presidential Debate, Wooden Arrows

October was another pretty good month for PDRater.com. During the month of October, the traffic for this website increased by about 25%, I added a few new calculator features, I completely changed the look of the website, and we passed the 200 registered users mark. ((At the time of this post, 227 registered users!))

In no particular order, I’m including my favorite “photoshopped” pictures from October on the right side. The footnotes below link to the original photographers. None of them are to blame for the photoediting. ((Special thanks to the kind people who use Flickr for making their photos available for use.)) ((Photos courtesy of richardmasoner, C_Dave, and mikewade.)) ((Photo courtesy of DaveHogg.)) ((Photo courtesy of Daniel Martini.))

Road Warrior Checklist – Appearances

By Jay Shergill Posted on October 22, 2008 Posted in 1997 PDRS, 2005 PDRS, Author, Business, Workers Compensation Resources No Comments Tagged with Additional Equipment, Backpack, Bare Minimum, Bart, Batteries, Car Road, Cell Phone, Copy Cards, Deposition, Dictaphone, Excerpts, Forethought, Legal Pad, Obviates, Page Manuals, Permanent Ink, Phone Number, Quarters, road warrior

Mr. Road Warrior, Esq. — Road Warrior, Esq.

Appearances, whether for a hearing or deposition, require additional equipment, preparation, and forethought. Here’s what I carry with me when I’m scheduled to appear.

Cell phone
- Phone numbers for the office, destination, and client programmed in the day before.
- Photocopier code programmed into the phone.
- Includes calculator. ((Since workers’ compensation is really just math.))
- Alarm. When parking at a meter, set the phone’s alarm for 5 minutes before time expires.
GPS
- Address and phone number of destination programmed in the day before.
Money
- $5 is the bare minimum, in case I need to be across a bridge on short notice.
- Quarters for parking.
- Bills for photocopies.
- Copy cards.
  - Every time I use a copy card, I write the date and amount remaining on it in permanent ink.
BART tickets
- I consider $5 a minimum, in case I need to be in S.F. on short notice.
Dictaphone
- Extra batteries.
Leather bound folder
- Legal pad
- PD chart
- Mini-rating manual for 1997 and 2005 ((I’ve created my own “mini-rating” manual. Its basically comprised of excerpts from the 1997 and 2005 manuals. Carrying this obviates the need for the 100+ page manuals.))
Settlement documents.
- You never know when a case might unexpectedly settle.
Record release forms.
- You never know when a settlement might fall through.
Backpack

Previous “Road Warrior Checklists”:

Best of September 2008

By Jay Shergill Posted on September 30, 2008 Posted in Author, Calculators, EAMS, Laptop, Not Workers Compensation, PDRater, Technobabble, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources No Comments Tagged with Backpack, Checklists, Document Type, Dow, Dwc Forms, kitten it, Laptop Repair, Martini, new year, Retroactive Benefits, road warrior, Survival Guide, Virtual Real Estate

*PDRater up, the Dow down — PDRater up, the Dow down

September 2008 was a pretty good month for PDRater.com. Yay! ((Original photo courtesy of Daniel Martini. Mad photoshop skillz, all mine!))

Not so good for the economy. Boo! Perhaps this website needs a new, darker, tagline? How about: “When you’ve lost everything else, you’ve still got PDRater.com”

Here’s my favorite posts from this past month.

I had the most fun with the “End of the World” posts from mid-September. If you read nothing else, check out the one labeled, “The End of the World: A To Do List“. That one is worth a look for my mad photoshop skillz alone.

For the more practical minded, the Road Warrior Checklists might be helpful. I think I’ve got at least one more “Road Warrior Checklist” in me. Also, I’ve provided some advice on what to do when your laptop stops working.

Six new calculators this month!

The World Ended on 9/10/2008

Laptop Repair Saga

Road Warrior Checklists

Virtual Real Estate (since the non-virtual kind is dead)

Road Warrior Checklist – The Backpack

By Jay Shergill Posted on September 16, 2008 Posted in Author, Business, Conference, PDRater, Workers Compensation Resources No Comments Tagged with Allergy Pills, Backpack, Black Pen, Breath Mints, Briefcase, Business Card Case, Business Cards, Flap, Gel Pen, Highlighter, Laptop Case, Lifeline, Napkins, new year, Notepad, Permanent Ink, Portable Phone Charger, Purse, road warrior, Sticky Notes, Suitcase

In earlier posts I gave my “road warrior checklist for the car” and my “road warrior checklist for the techie.”

My backpack is my lifeline when I’m out and about. Some prefer a laptop case, rolling briefcase/suitcase, suitcase, or purse. I find that a backpack with a laptop section works best for me. I can carry a medium file, laptop, and the essentials.

Here’s my road warrior checklist for my backpack:

Front flap
- Notepad
- Pens
  - 2 blue gel, 1 black pen, 1 red gel pen, 1 permanent ink marker, 1 highlighter
- Business cards, business card case
- Eyeglass cloth
Front pocket
- Medication – allergy pills, etc.
- Granola bar
- Sticky notes
- Portable phone charger
- Breath mints
- Batteries
Side pocket
- Napkins
Main pocket
- Laptop

What do you take with you?

Road Warrior Checklist – Techie

By Jay Shergill Posted on September 15, 2008 Posted in Author, Business, Technobabble 3 Comments Tagged with Additions, Battery Power, Cable Wire, Cdrw, Database Program, Ethernet Hub, Flash Drives, Hub Installation, Installation Cd, Laptop Backpack, Laptop Hard Drive, Portable Hard Drive, Ports, Power Cord, road warrior, Trunk Space, Twist Ties, Usb Hub, Velcro Ties, Wire Crimpers

In an earlier post I gave my “my road warrior checklist for the car.” Within the last year I occasionally worked as computer tech support and/or mobile techie.

Sometimes I was on location fixing a problem, writing a database program, or doing a small bit of programming on a friend’s larger program. I enjoyed being a techie, but wouldn’t want to do it for a living.

When I’m a road warrior techie, here’s what I carry with me:

Laptop backpack
Laptop, extra battery, power cord
Portable hard drive, 120 GB (Actually a laptop hard drive in an enclosure)
Flash drives (4G, 128meg)
CDRW – rewriteable CD’s
DVD-RW – rewriteable DVD’s
USB hub, 3 ports
USB cable, A to B
USB cable, A to mini
Ethernet cable, 6′
Phone cord, 6′

If I had to keep a techi backpack stocked, here’s what else I’d put in it:

Zip ties, twist ties, and/or velcro ties
Labels
Small screwdriver set