McRaeTek

Customer Feedback

2011-04-27T13:32:00.002-04:00

A few kind words from our client's about their experience with McRae Technologies, LLC...

"Nick,
You’re the man! It looks like it is working perfectly! This should fix months of confusion, and profit losses due to incorrect freight calculations.
Great work!"
B. Bosgal
Custom Software - Client

"While managing the Application Development team at Synovia, I had the opportunity to engage Nick and his company on multiple occasions. Nick’s work was always of a very high quality with very few bugs and a genuinely solid feel. In conversations with Nick and in viewing his work, I can attest that he is highly skilled and a top notch developer. The professional manner with which he handled communication, invoicing, and all aspects of business were nothing short of spectacular. Nick and his company easily outpace the competition by being extremely flexible, easy to work with and delivering outstanding results. I would welcome the opportunity to work with Nick and McRae Technologies in the future and highly recommend him to anyone seeking custom software development of the highest quality that is delivered on time and on budget."

T. Sherfy
Software Development Manager

"As a project manager I generally feel that there is a need for more oversight of contractors. This was definitely not the case with Nick. He was a great asset to our team. He took his role seriously and kept the project on track and communicated well. He volunteered to work any additional needed time to meet the needs of the customer.

He was a pleasure to work with and would recommend him for any company. "

A. Bridgeman
Project Manager, PMO

"...Nick has finished the work we requested. We have gone over the new links and everything works perfectly!
Nick did a fabulous job. THANK YOU!"

C. Rhodes
Custom Software - Client

"Please pass along my special thanks to Nick. He was impeccably courteous and responsive. Nice to know I am working with a professional group of folks."

D. Harms
Custom Software - Client

"Hi Nick,

Happy New Year!

We have just sent an email out to everyone telling them about the website … you name will also be mentioned in the meetings. The website is great. Thank you so much. "

D. Carpenter
Web Design - Client

Why I'm Passionate About Software Development

2011-04-25T15:20:00.001-04:00

It occurred to me the other day that as a 3rd grader, my answer to the standard elementary-school question of "What do you want to be when you grow up?" was always to become an inventor. I don't know exactly what book or movie I must have seen to influence that answer as a child, but I distinctly remember my vision of an inventor as wearing a lab-coat all day long and coming up with new inventions or ideas that would help people do things better or accomplish things easier. I finally connected the dots and realized that I achieved my child-hood dream of becoming an inventor by pursuing software development as a hobby/career.

I have a very determined attitude towards most things that challenge me in life. For example, I spent hours learning to juggle just because it didn't come easily to me at first. I did the same thing when learning to ride a uni-cycle. Playing the piano has become more of a stress reliever for me lately, but growing up playing by ear forced me to focus a lot of time on new songs to ensure that the chords I heard matched the song I was learning. The process of learning how to develop software was very similar for me as it was a challenge and a different thought process than I was used to. After the logic of coding started to make sense, there was the challenge of mastering a new coding language (and then another and another, etc...) There are always new technologies, libraries, frameworks, etc... that will keep me challenged in the future and it satisfies my need to learn and master things that aren't immediately clear to me.

Even more than the personal satisfaction I get from the challenge of software development is seeing the impact my solutions have on the end-users. When a process consumes a great deal of an individual's time and my software is able to automate it or improve it by some measure, I feel a large sense of accomplishment. In terms of opportunity cost for the end-user, the time they WERE spending dealing with the problems that used to exist as opposed to focusing on other issues now means they can be a more effective employee or business owner. It's probably a stretch, but when a client of mine succeeds in the future after having implemented a solution to save them time, save them money or increase efficiency, I feel that I was a part of their success.

I feel very lucky to have a career/business that I could easily classify as a hobby and I hope others are as fortunate to enjoy what they do for a living.

First Ride

2011-04-11T16:09:00.000-04:00

I bought brand new motocross gear almost 1 month ago in preparation to start riding/racing motocross this year. It's been sitting in my loft in my new Fox racing bag staring at me and making me wish the weather and my schedule would cooperate so I could finally make use of the gear. You can see the gear I purchased here: Moto Gear

My older brother, Micah McRae, has been racing motocross for something like 15 years now and I grew up around the sport watching him race on the weekends. For me, I had always been interested in riding, but not to the extent that I ever made an effort to acquire the gear and a bike until recently. For the past few springs I've considered taking it up as a hobby. As I have become more established, the dream seemed more attainable and realistic to start spending the money it takes to get into the sport. This year I finally had to pull the trigger because the only thing worse than starting when you're 25 years old is starting when you're 30 and time sure isn't going any slower these days.

So my first ride was at Saddleback in Bedford, KY. It was a very scenic drive to get there and it's a beautiful piece of property that holds the motocross track(s) and trails. The track itself had quite a bit of rocks on it and some of the jumps would pitch your front end down as soon as you came off them simply because they had not been kept up with regularly. At my skill level, I probably shouldn't have been jumping anything but it was hard not to try after I gained some confidence on the bike.

We cut off through some trails just to take a quick break from the track after a while. Exploring some of the trails was neat and some of the hill climbs were a bit challenging, but all in all I'd be glad to stay on the track majority of the time.

Now that I've finally had a chance to ride, I've learned a few things that will help as I continue. I understand how my gear fits now and what is/isn't comfortable. Fortunately, Micah has all of the tools/equipment/spare parts so that is not something I'll need to concern myself with immediately. Strength training and conditioning will be paramount to continue on any course toward competing and/or racing. And the last thing I learned is how satisfying it can be to get away from everything else and think about only 1 thing; riding!

2nd Annual Hike

2011-03-23T15:40:00.002-04:00

It's the Wednesday before the 2nd annual hike that my friends and I have put together at Knobstone Trail in Southern Indiana. I'm starting to check out this week even though I still have a lot of work left to do before I take off for Saturday and Sunday.

I had just quit smoking 2 months before the hike last year and was trying to keep up with the rest of the crew who not only didn't mind the 10+ mile hike, but had a soccer game the following day! I've been running more and feel that my lower body strength and endurance levels will be a bit more prepared for this one. No matter how I hold up, I won't be sitting in front of a computer all weekend so I'm happy for that.

I've loved every second of running my business for the past year, but as of lately I have "over-extended" myself and been working a LOT of hours. I actually released a closed-beta version of the product I've been developing for over a year now. It has Timesheet functionality which has helped me log and substantiate my time spent working. Last week I logged 79.8 hours and this week is on track for at least another 55+ (which would be another 80 if I was in town this weekend).

It's inspiring to see other business owners who have positioned themselves in such a way that they can rely on their staff and step back to actually look at their businesses rather than being buried and owned by it all. I didn't realize paying dues could be so expensive, but it beats the hell out of working for the man and leaving my career and personal growth to chance.

I'm also bringing all of my moto gear and with any luck we won't be too exhausted and the weather will be suitable for me to ride.

All around, it should be a great weekend!