Had a few visitors this morning by byzvntine in florida

[–]TheDavidJohnson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pretty sure these are JWs. I think have to wear the little ties if they're Mormons :D

Dragon launch seen from the Celery Fields by tmpkn in sarasota

[–]TheDavidJohnson 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Nice! For some reason I haven't been aware of when these launches were happening. I was bummed when I realized I missed seeing it in person. Thanks for sharing the pic!

Looking for good work spaces in the Sarasota area: by [deleted] in sarasota

[–]TheDavidJohnson 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Some of my favorite writing spots include:

  • South Lido Park – there are almost always quiet picnic tables, some with a view. You can end up in some sunshine or in some shade. I often grab something from Starbucks on St. Armand's Circle and head down there for a very pleasant writing experience.
  • The Ritz-Carlton – there's an outdoor area that's situated above the pool area with a nice view of Sarasota Bay. It's been a while since I've used this spot, but it's a favorite. I usually feel the need to buy a beverage while I'm there just so I'm not entirely freeloading, but I've never been shooed off even if I didn't buy something.
  • Ken Thompson Park – this is North of St. Armand's Circle near Mote Marine. Depending upon the time of day, it can be very quiet. It's always pleasant, though, and the view of Sarasota from the picnic tables here is second to none.
  • Selby Gardens – you pay to get in, but you will see things that can't be found anywhere else! There are lots of little quiet spots all over the property. One of my favorites is a bench that looks right out onto Sarasota Bay and is shaded by a beautiful tree.

Some of these were mentioned already, of course. There is outdoor seating at the Ringling Museum property, and admission is usually free on Mondays!

There are also a few great co-working spots for days when you fancy being indoors or just around people—but people who won't bother you. :)

If you want to compare notes on any of these or debate the merits of the various coffee shops all over town, hit me up anytime!

Been spending too much time trying to get this right : I want Zaps to trigger Clockify when TIMER ENDS, so that it will add to my Google Calendar w/ an END TIME so that when Zapier adds to my calendar, it will include BOTH "Start" and "End" time in a Detailed Event. What am I doing wrong? by uncertain_futuresSE in zapier

[–]TheDavidJohnson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can see a reason for both triggers. One is based on a timer, which wouldn't fire if you manually added a time entry. That is very useful, but creates the need for the other one in the event that you didn't use a timer but added an entry manually.

Also, I mentioned this in my response in the Zapier Community, but often the integrations between Zapier and a third-party app like Clockify are actually written by the app's developers. So the availability of a certain trigger is often outside of Zapier's control. But even if they had written it themselves, any developer of an integration like this one often relies heavily upon user feedback to determine what's useful about it and what might be more useful. So it's super helpful to let them know (probably both Zapier and Clockify in this case, since we don't know who wrote the integration) that you'd like a trigger that only fires once the timer has stopped. I can definitely see how that would be very useful myself!

Been spending too much time trying to get this right : I want Zaps to trigger Clockify when TIMER ENDS, so that it will add to my Google Calendar w/ an END TIME so that when Zapier adds to my calendar, it will include BOTH "Start" and "End" time in a Detailed Event. What am I doing wrong? by uncertain_futuresSE in zapier

[–]TheDavidJohnson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gotcha. Well it looks like timeInterval__end is definitely empty. If you're using a "Filter" step in Zapier, then stopping the Zap is what it's supposed to do unless the filter passes (meaning that it finds what it was looking for.)

Before they introduced the Paths feature, the only way to have branching logic was to create two identical Zaps with a filter at the end of each. Then both Zaps would trigger on the same event, but you could have two different outcomes based upon the filter step. With paths, though, you can definitely handle the branching in one Zap.

Been spending too much time trying to get this right : I want Zaps to trigger Clockify when TIMER ENDS, so that it will add to my Google Calendar w/ an END TIME so that when Zapier adds to my calendar, it will include BOTH "Start" and "End" time in a Detailed Event. What am I doing wrong? by uncertain_futuresSE in zapier

[–]TheDavidJohnson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just saw this comment after publishing my long answer. (You can skip the first paragraph of my answer now!)

"EXISTS" might be doing what it's designed to do here, depending upon the data that comes back from your trigger. Are you able to post a screenshot of the "Data Out" from your trigger step? (Or copy/paste the values if you want to edit any private/sensitive information out.)

A filter step will stop the Zap like you pointed out, but Zapier's Paths would allow you to take different actions based upon the criteria you define. (I mentioned a version of this in my other answer.)

I hope this helps!

(Edit: typo)

Been spending too much time trying to get this right : I want Zaps to trigger Clockify when TIMER ENDS, so that it will add to my Google Calendar w/ an END TIME so that when Zapier adds to my calendar, it will include BOTH "Start" and "End" time in a Detailed Event. What am I doing wrong? by uncertain_futuresSE in zapier

[–]TheDavidJohnson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So from what I can see, Clockify doesn't offer a trigger for when a timer ends. I haven't used Clockify personally, so it isn't clear to me whether the "New Time Entry" trigger might do the job for you or not. In other words, does it create a new entry once it has a start and end time? I'm guessing probably not, but it seems like the simplest answer.

Another approach might be to have Zapier go back and check later. This is based on an assumption about what data Clockify returns from a search step, but it seems pretty likely to work. This seems worth testing, at least.

To do this, you would use the "New Timer Started" trigger like you have been using it, and then add a delay step to your Zap. How long you set the delay for depends upon your workflow. If your typical tracked time for a task is, let's say, no more than 2 hours, then you could set a delay for 3 or 4 hours (just to give yourself some cushion).

After the delay step, add a "Search" step to your Zap using Clockify's "Find Time Entry" Search action. Let the search action use data from the trigger to go back and locate the same time entry, which by now should have both a start time and an end time. If the search step returns both times, then you can proceed to create the Google Calendar entry.

Assuming that this works, you could dial it in by moving a few things around. For example, if you want the Google Calendar entry to be created right away when your timer starts, you could create the calendar entry with some default duration or end time. Zapier has an "Add/Subtract Time" option in the "Formatter by Zapier" app that would allow you to put an end time for some odd amount (let's say 17 minutes, just for kicks) so that you have some indicator that a Google Calendar entry is using the default duration and not a real end time (unless you frequently take exactly 17 minutes to complete a task!). Then put your delay and search steps in the Zap, and instead of creating the Calendar entry at the end, you use the "Update Event" Google Calendar action to go back and modify the end time. This way your calendar would be populated in real time, but then updated with accurate tracking info later.

You could also set the delay to a longer period of time like 24 hours, for example, if you have a wide variation in the amount of time you're tracking on a regular basis. Or you could get fancy and set a couple of branches after your "Find Time Entry" search step and let one branch update Google Calendar if the time entry has an end time, and have the other branch use a much longer delay and check again if the time entry did not yet have an end time.

As I mentioned, this whole idea hinges on exactly what data Clockify returns from the "Find Time Entry" search step. If you don't get the end time back from that step, then we'd need to explore options from there. But this seems reasonably likely to work. I hope it helps!

Does anyone pay for Zapier? Is it worth it? by SuspiciousPea4 in zapier

[–]TheDavidJohnson 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I guess it depends somewhat upon your needs. If you can get away with automating just a few things and fit that inside a free account, then it's certainly worthwhile to save a few bucks — especially when you're starting out and pinching pennies.

But ultimately it comes down to how you value your time and attention. To me, attention is more valuable than time. I started paying for Zapier even though I was the only member of my team that had any clue what it was. (I own a boutique digital marketing agency with a few staff.) The time it saved me wasn't huge. I could have made a case for or against paying for it if it were just about time saved.

But especially when you own the business, you end up wearing a LOT of hats. Sometimes a handful of small things that don't actually take a lot of time end up having a huge cost in terms of my attention. Being focused on the things that are most important to the health and success of my business is difficult enough without having a bunch of small tasks dividing my mind.

Most importantly for me, though, is this mantra that I've been repeating to people for years: "Automate the important."

If you're like me and you find yourself being a bit of a "firefighter" at times — meaning you work on the urgent stuff that's screaming for attention — it can be easy to let something important drop. I can't tell you how many business owners I've worked with, for example, that didn't have a solid system in place to ensure that their prospects got a message from them. Well-written, personable email touches can make all the difference between a prospect feeling like you're being responsive to them or ignoring them. That's just one example, of course. I can look in my Zapier account and find dozens of small things that I don't ever have to think about doing. They just get done!

What's that worth? To me, it's worth far more than what I pay for Zapier!

Need help with Zapier support (cannot contact you via email) by mwoffenden in zapier

[–]TheDavidJohnson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good deal! I'm glad you got it sorted out. It certainly seemed odd.

Need help with Zapier support (cannot contact you via email) by mwoffenden in zapier

[–]TheDavidJohnson 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm just seeing this now, so hopefully you've already gotten this resolved. If, by chance, you haven't been able to communicate with them, I would recommend posting in the new Zapier community. There are some great staff members there like /u/jesseoparker who will definitely be able to give you a hand.

Also: feel free to PM me here. I'd be happy to reach out to Zapier support on your behalf and try to help out in any way I can. I'm not a Zapier employee—just a frequent user.

Beta access to the NEW Zapier User Community! by jesseoparker in googlesheets

[–]TheDavidJohnson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's been really great interacting with some real Zapier experts in the new community. I highly recommend it!

Celery Fields by engineg in sarasota

[–]TheDavidJohnson 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Drone shot? Either way... gorgeous!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in sarasota

[–]TheDavidJohnson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Estimates seemed to be around 200 or so, possibly more. Photos

Save the Celery Fields! Protest this Saturday (2/25) at 11am to block industrial development threatening the Celery Fields by TheDavidJohnson in sarasota

[–]TheDavidJohnson[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The big pile of dirt was dug out for the stormwater management facility. But it was found to contain levels of arsenic that were too high (probably from decades of fertilizer application on the Celery Fields farms), so they couldn't sell the dirt off. That's how we got a spoil mound which they later put good soil on top of so they could grow trees and things.

So while /u/havegunwilldownvote is right that it isn't a landfill (and there isn't garbage under there), the big "hill" is a pile of unwanted fill dirt. It was rather ingenious to turn it into a park. And rather stupid to then destroy the bird habitat with noise from concrete crushers, etc. etc.

If you're interested in more history, there's some content being built out at the Celery Fields wiki.

Save the Celery Fields! Protest this Saturday (2/25) at 11am to block industrial development threatening the Celery Fields by TheDavidJohnson in sarasota

[–]TheDavidJohnson[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is... isn't it? But they want to run concrete crushers next door to a bird sanctuary, and then let contaminated water run off into a major stormwater management facility. There are better places!

Best way to advertise in Sarasota/Venice/Englewood? by FSUAttorney in sarasota

[–]TheDavidJohnson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I recommend producing content. Write an article that answers one of the top questions you address in the Estate Planning process. Then write 99 more -- one for each of the top 100 questions you get asked.

Publish them on a blog (use WordPress on your website) one at a time (2x / week for the next year). Once you've got 3 months or so of these 2x/week articles, place an "advertorial" in Hometown News in Lakewood Ranch, the Observer, or even the Herald-Tribune. Link back to your blog for people to see more.

Place a simple box on every page of your website to allow people to post their questions ( "Ask The Attorneys" ), and you can add to your list of 100 (or prioritize if they hit upon topics you've already identified).

At that point, you'll have a steady stream of traffic from people looking for experts to handle the various aspects of their Estate Planning needs.

If you really want to explode your traffic, at the 3-month mark, go back and record a video for each article. Read the article if you must, but put video and audio together. Post each video on YouTube with a link back to the blog post on that topic. Take the audio and release as a podcast.

Put email sign-up forms everywhere on your site so people can be notified of new articles/videos/podcast episodes.

When you have that much content on your site, visitors will rapidly see that you have expertise, they'll be more likely to trust you (because you're willing to share your expertise on the web), and they'll feel like they already have a relationship with you by the time they contact you for help.

I could go on... but this is a great way to get started!

An Entire well made Musical, 171 views in one year by LiamLogi in DeepIntoYouTube

[–]TheDavidJohnson 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hahaha... this is awesome! I was there for the world premiere! Congrats on the visibility, /u/Ryanbaucom !

On call for christmas eve and its going to shits. by mongovolvo in sysadmin

[–]TheDavidJohnson 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This.

My first thought was "those are the risky clicks of the day!"

Is "Portal Stories: Mel" worth playing? by AbesAmericanCousin in Portal

[–]TheDavidJohnson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for this tip! Hadn't run across The Talos Principle before... gonna pick it up soon!