Every once in a while, I get approached to do custom programming or design work. I just finished one such work, where I did about 90 hours of work over three months of time to create a custom web site for a local company to help manage the quotes they do for their customers. I had to integrate complex Sales, Use, and Excise tax laws across multiple states into an easy interface for the quoting package, and the output goes into dynamic Excel spreadsheets. I use XML to create the spreadsheets, which isn't something I see many programmers do. Most use a third-party reporting package of some type or another, but the beauty of using XML is that I can do any depth of customization necessary to achieve the look and feel that makes sense for the need. The work is interesting, and it can lead to solutions in other projects. Another fella recently approached me and asked if I could create some EDI-type output for his retail chain. The object? Take the sales data, compile the items sold within the last week, create records in the EDI-type output, and upload the finished file to a custom server in New York every Monday. I spent a few hours in my Sunday afternoon today pulling in the data and creating a sample output file for testing it. So many companies need help automating processes through a simple interface. It's fun to help a few. | 
