These are starting points, not invoices. Every project gets a real quote before anything begins, and I'd rather tell you a job is small than pad it out.
You describe the problem, I tell you whether it's a weekend, a month, or something you shouldn't pay anyone to do. Occasionally the answer is “there's already a tool for that” and you leave without a bill.
Scoped in days, not months.
Several weeks of work, broken into pieces you approve as we go.
For a project that's already running and occasionally breaks, or a department that wants a technical person on hand without hiring one. Cancel whenever; no annual contract.
For work that genuinely can't be scoped in advance. I'll usually push you toward a fixed price instead — it's better for both of us.
Grad students, adjuncts, and small departments: tell me your budget and we'll work from there. If the problem is interesting enough, the number is sometimes zero. Dissertation work especially — nobody doing a Ph.D. should have to also become a systems administrator.
What moves the price: how messy the source data is (usually the real cost), whether anything needs to stay running afterward, how many people need to approve it, and how firm the deadline is.
What's always included: the source code, in your account, with notes on how to run it. Nothing I build depends on me sticking around.
Ready when you are
Send a paragraph about the project. I'll come back with a scope and a number, or a straight answer that I'm not the right person for it.
Describe your project →cjcjameson@gmail.com