PACK RATS

Diner with the parents to celebrate all birthday's this month (Tonbo, me, my dad). Swiss Madrissa, as always, and small exchange of presents.

Since they've decided to put their house on the market this summer, the parents have done a great amount of work cleaning out the carport. You can accumulate a lot stuff in 20+ years, especially when you build on additions to the house so you can store it. ^_-

Mom's advice is to move every 5 years so you'd pare down the amount of stuff. Personally, I took all my stuff with me from my last apartment to my first house. Some of which is still in boxes in a closet. You'd think I'd be able to throw it away, considering I haven't gotten into that box in the past 2.4 years. But as soon as I throw it out, I'll need, I know I will. Doesn't matter that I'm not even sure what "it" is, because I haven't look in the box in the past 2.4 years, but still ...

At least I come by it honestly - Dad is apparently packing everything. Or, as my mom says, "[sigh] everything".

The rule, of course, being that he's going to be the one to unpack everything once they move.

THE NOT SO BIG 3-1

Got up early (not my initial plan for my birthday, but that's typical) to take car into shop again. Been hearing disturbing rattling noises, so Otou-san recommend taking it into the dealer.

Worked in garden and finished off the red tip. Now have a large pile of firewood and a stubby trunk that I can't cut down any more and hope that the recycling guys will take away next week.

Call in afternoon that the problem is the catalytic converter, about $250 to fix at the recommended muffler shop. Tonbo was out working but stopped by to help me transfer Benny to City Garage. Their diagnosis was also the same, and they recommended the same muffler shop.

Guess where I'm going next week?

Did the hot bath and nap thing again (I really like that combination after yardwork all morning :). Was going to scrapbook, but make an omedetou gift for Tonbo instead - chicks with guns to celebrate his 4h/day goal. He really liked it. And it's just temporary until he gets his real photos anyway.

Got a call from a friend asking about an aspect of my business. He's a great guy that I've actually known since junior high, and while he's not interested in being directly involved with my business, he is very encouraging, has introduced me to people who have been interested, and may have a way for the business to benefit one of his organizations. I've got to go ask some questions of people who'll have the answers, but it's exciting to think I'll be able to help him out in return for all the help he's given me.

Tonbo came home and we went to Best Buy to use a gift card he'd gotten for his bday. Looked through all the DVDs and added many box sets to my wish list, both movie, TV, and anime. It's so cool to see so much good anime being released professionally. I'd picked up Big O II Volume 1 and Volume 2 because that would max out the gift card, but then found the second CCS movie - something I'd been wanting since I saw it at a con years ago. Tonbo was surprised at they had the CCS second movie - he'd actually called all the Best Buys in the area looking for it, but they said they didn't have it. He bought it for me as a bday present (isn't he great!?)

Went by Pizza Guy and got a Take 'n Bake for later. I really love those - fresh made pizza that you can cook at the time you need it. We'd thought about just running out when we were ready to eat (I'm outside their delivery zone, but their pizza is the best and worth driving the extra 10 minutes for :), but the weather was getting threatening and we thought it was best to just already have the pizza ready in the house.

Rented Waterworld and had dinner. We'd both already seen it, but it was fun to watch again. I think it's a fun, enjoyable movie, but it was considered an expensive flop when it first came out. It's definitely an older DVD with next to no specials and no commentary. As they say, if you liked the Mad Max stories, you'll probably like this one. And with all the water, it's a good follow-up to watch after all the deserts in MM.   ^_-

I also got an absolutely beautiful painting from my sister in Mongolia, cards from friends and relatives, and a Lara Croft: Cradle of Life movie poster.

Ha-ppy! (as said by Dio on his bday :)

Kept thinking there was something I was forgetting, and it made it's way to the forefront of my mind around midnight - I hadn't gotten into the Angelic Layer trading card boxes I had bought on eBay last year. And I actually knew where they were too.

So that kept me busy for another hour. I only went through one box, and will save the other for another day. I'm still missing a few specials and a few common cards. Nice set, with a huge amount of special cards compared to most trading card sets I have.

GARDEN WORK DAY

Mom came up in the morning to help with the yard. We took inventory of stuff to do in the backyard, and made a trip to Home Depot.

Garden trips to Home Depot tend to be a single trip, unless, of course, significant construction is involved, in which case it becomes a traditional trip to Home Depot.

Traditional trips to Home Depot never, ever constitute a single trip, as things are always forgotten/not thought of/break while you were trying to get it to do something once you got home.

Picked up shade cloth, more pebbles, and some purple petunias for the front. The shadecloth and pebbles got the back path finished off, and a start on the path around the oak tree. Part of the time was taken up weeding the oak tree path and applying liberal amounts of Round-Up. Mom prefers natural methods of gardening to chemicals, but she will resort to Round-Up when necessary. And it was pretty necessary.

Mom went on her way for lunch, and I had a hot bath and a nap. Yes, I'm a wuss.

But it's also my day off, and napping should be a part of anyone's day off, if for no other reason than just because you can. Tonbo got me a wonderful book about the art of napping which I someday hope to implement.

PTO

Took the day off work.

More progress on cutting up the red tip that fell down in my backyard, although I can only chainsaw for a limited amount of time before my hands and arms get sore. Tonbo took a picture of me and whenever it finally makes its way into my scrapbook, it will be entitled Lumber Jill.

It should have been a day of rest, but like with most of my days off these days, it's a day of catch-up-on-everything-that-I-haven't-had-time-for-since-my-last-day-off.

When I get my 40+ hours a week back, this will no longer be an issue, I promise you.

THREE HOURS LATER ...

I know better, I really do.

But I was still restless at 1 am, and didn't have to go to work the next day, so picking up Men At Arms seemed like a good idea. I was almost half-way through, so a few chapters and then I'll go to bed.

3 hours later I finished the book and was rather tired.

But well worth it. I have truly enjoyed every Terry Pratchett book with 2 exceptions: Soul Music and Hogfather. Soul Music I didn't actually finish. Somehow I wasn't getting enough of the references, and my recollection of what I read was that without understanding the references, it wasn't that much fun to read. I'll probably try it again sometime ...

Hogfather is good, but, and this is likely just me, it got a little too creepy. I was also probably reading it way too late at night, so that might have had something to do with it as well.

Overall, I'd recommend Pterry to anyone who likes fantasy, or fantasy parody. The past few months these books have been my air travel staple since I can easily get lost in them and they make a 3 to 4 hours flight much more bearable. Even Ankh-Morpork is a better place to be than stuck on a runway waiting for take-off for an hour.

I also found L-Space, a very impressive Web site off all things Discworld and many things Pratchett. The Annotations for each of the books are really great. It's interesting to confirm stuff I knew and learn new stuff.

Hmmm ... would probably make re-reading Soul Music a lot more fun, now that I think about it ...

POINT FOR KESTREL

Client mtg that ran late so I got back to the office around 6:30 pm. Which actually worked out ok since I was going to attend the business meeting at 8 pm at a location about 15 minutes from work. Heated up the left-over Red Lobster and ate while surfing.

Eventually found the place. Had been there once before, but someone else had been driving and we had gotten there from a different direction. Anyway, still early enough to get a back seat - the most important part to me.

Our group has these open business meetings about every other week. It's a great way to bring someone who might be interested to hear from someone who is very successful what it's all about. I usually don't attend these, but I did tonight because the speaker was the retired dentist millionaire.

Good meeting - again, learning something new, which is why they encourage us to attend as many of these as possible. Even though it is generically the same information, each presentation is different, and something new will usually resonate with you that didn't the last time you heard it.

After meeting coffee at the local IHOP. Nice, informal. Lot of people, but if I don't look at them, they're not really there. And when the millionaire speaks, you really want to listen.

So - full day of work and an evening of business. Kestrel did good.

STICKER SHOCK

Tonbo and I went shopping with his Mom this evening, since she gets an extra discount at JCPenny's for all her years of work there. Tonbo was using his bday gift card to get some new clothes, and the discount made it stretch a little further.

It'll be really nice being able to shop without worrying about the price.

After we went to Red Lobster, because Tonbo and I had a gift card from Christmas. New one that had moved locations and was very nice - liked the fish tanks in between the booths.

We all had a nice entree, and then dessert. Tonbo and his Mom had coffee. I had been adding up stuff in my head, and between Tonbo and I, we had used the gift card up. TMom had said she wanted something a little expense, and would pay for it in addition to the gift card, but she's also been out of work for months and will have to start looking for a job soon.

Anyway, when the check came it was a bit more than all of us expected. It was those $1.50 coffees that did it. :P

It'll be really nice being able to eat out without worrying about the price.

Buying food from the business and eating at home so much, I had forgotten how much a dinner out could be. Of the 14 meals a week of lunch and dinner, we pretty much eat in for 12 of them. And eating out usually means pizza or fast food.

Interesting to think that when Ray Kroc first proposed his restaurant, no one took him seriously because 95% of all meals were prepared and eaten in the home. Now I think it's the direct opposite. But even the fast food adds up.

I did a newsletter for the people in my business group that took an average lunch meal of $5 eaten out during the work week, which means $25/wk, which means $100/month. And that's only for 1/3 of your meals, assuming you have a decent amount of food for lunch and dinner. Not to mention sit-down restaurants and frequent trips to the Starbucks. The average cost per meal when buying from my own business and preparing it at home was about $3.75. Which may not sound like much of a difference from $5, but it adds up over the course of a month, and it's a big difference from $12-17/meal.

Eating in, regardless of where you buy the food from, is cheaper. But it also required effort: to go to the grocery store, to prepare and cook the food, to clean up the dishes. A lot more effort when you compare it to a fast food drive-thru.

Personally, I don't like to cook at all. By the time I'm done, I'm usually not hungry, which kind of defeats the purpose. But I cook all of Tonbo's lunches. I cook all of my lunches. I cook the majority of our dinners.

Because it's worth the time and effort now, so that in the future, someone else will do the cooking.

And we'll eat out a lot. :)

FINALLY SCRAPPED

Tonbo is having a bday party with his friends to night where they will finally get to play The Great Dalmuti using the special Ohtori Edition that I made him as a gift. He said it went over really well, and he had a lot of fun.

Again, parties (ie more than 3-4 people) are not my thing, so I stayed home.

And did a scrapbook page. W00+!

Actually it was finishing a page I started almost a year ago. It's got the floor plan of my house, and pics from when I first moved in and there was nothing here.

It was very fun looking at the pics of the backyard and front yard, and seeing how much work Mom & I have done over the past almost 2.5 years I've been here.

It ended up begin a 2 page spread instead of just one, and I really like the way it turned out.

The next set of photos are from Christmas, so that's probably what I will scrap next. Already got a layout in my head, which means it might actually make it to the real word sometime soon. :)

GARDENS AND GREMLINS

Tonbo is off to a wedding in Bremen, so I went to the Arboretum with my Mom.

She got there early for a Master Naturalist class, and I was to meet her at the gate (she'd picked me up a discount ticket from Tom Thumb) at 11:30 am when she got out of class.

So I'm on my way, and suddenly there is a huge line of cars in the right lane. Not moving. At all. I'm not sure how much farther the entrance is, so I keep my place in line. Still not moving. At all. I'm late now, and it looks like I will be way past fashionably late if I stay where I am, which I've been doing for the past 10 minutes anyway.

"When in doubt, make a decision anyway. Making no decision can be catastrophic, while even a bad decision creates movement, action and can be corrected upon." - Norman Schwarzkopf, bone from the Pit Bull species of Sales Dogs.

So I pull out, make it up to the light, and realize it's not even the entrance people are lined up for, but the service entrance. There is a cop there explaining various things, and for some reason, neither the middle lane (which contains me) or the left lane advance when the light turns green. We sit through 2 cycles of this before the cop notices and waves cars through, looking rather annoyed.

Finally get to the "real" entrance and pay my parking fee. Get stuck behind slow-cruising people searching for parking places. It's pretty obvious you just need to drive to the back of the lot because it's full. Very full. Make it to the back side parking, follow the little flag guy#1 to little flag guy#2, see no available parking spots. At all. Circle around again. Follow little flag guy#1 who waves me down a different path of parked cars and I pull in beside the woodchip pile.

Am now quite, quite late. Get a phone call on my cell as I'm walking toward the main building from a number I don't recognize. Turns out Mom borrowed the ticket lady's cell phone because the batteries had died in hers. We met up and went to the new Visitor/Education Center and had lunch.

We (parents, sister & me) had been here last year but it wasn't nearly as crowded. Finally realized I had had the day off, and we had come on a Friday. Note to self: do not come on a weekend next year. People and kids and strollers and more kids and people and strollers and did I mention the kids and people that were everywhere? Makes it difficult to get a good picture of the gardens unless you just want a close-up on a particular flower.

Walked around the various gardens taking pictures until my battery died. Right in the middle of a cool lizard shot to. Didn't have a spare on me, so I picked up a disposable camera in the gift shop. Then Mom finished her film. I had an extra roll with me, but we weren't sure exactly how to get the exposed film rewound and out of her manual camera and didn't want to risk screwing up the pictures, so we left it alone.

Found a part of the sculpture garden that we didn't visit last year which was really neat. Also took a tour through historical house on the grounds. The kitchen is made out like an English pub, and for as big as it is, it didn't have any guest bedrooms. Guest bathrooms, yes, a ladies and gentleman's. So I guess you could stop by for a while and visit, but they really didn't want you spending the night. Beautiful, floor to ceiling library - hope my picture turns out!

We parted ways after about 3 hours. On the way home, I stopped by a Border's. Tonbo wanted a copy of the Rich Dad's Business School, so I bought it online for him since it's not available in stores. In exchange, he gave me a Border's gift card he'd gotten for his birthday.

Checked out the magazines, but didn't find anything. Then headed over to the sci-fi/fantasy section and found way too much. Beautiful art book from the Dark Crystal with a packet of concept sketches. WISH manga by CLAMP. First book of new Neal Stephenson trilogy, Quicksilver. Finally decided on 2 Terry Pratchett books: Feet of Clay and Men at Arms. I've been on a big Sam Vimes kick lately and know I'll enjoy these book. Night Watch is my favorite so far ...

Wandered over to the Business section. Flipped through the Automatic Millionaire and didn't find anything really new about it. Do take objection to the "you don't need willpower" tag line. Yes, automatic bank deductions/payments do not require willpower. No, restricting your spending, cutting out the Starbucks-a-day habit, etc. is not something people do without willpower. But if that tagline causes someone to pick it up, buy it, and do something positive about their finances, then I guess it's worth it.

Checked out the credit card book out by Kiyosaki. Beginning 2/3 seemed to be recap/re-wording highlights of his other books. Last 1/3 were lists of what to do to get out of credit card debt. Yep. Yep. Uh-huh. Done that. Doing that. Put the book back. Although I'll get it at a later time so I can read it and incorporate it into my KFF site.

That's when I ran into trouble. Mind started protesting getting the PTerry books because they weren't "necessary". They were totally for fun, enjoyment, relaxation, go-away-from-reality-for-a-time reading. I could feel the stress building in my shoulders - kind of funny in a sad way. I'm too poor to enjoy a gift card.

But Tonbo and I had discussed the card when he gave it to me, because I even protested a bit at that time. He knows I'm Stuff Girl, and that Things make me happy, and that my Love Language is Gifts. He said he wants to give me a gift to show me how much he loves me, and how glad he is that I'm in his life. Right now, he needs his money for other purposes, something I completely understand and encourage. But it also makes it difficult for him because he wants so much to show me his love in a way that really sinks in for me.

So that's the voice I listened to. Instead of the gremlins. I got my two Discworld books and left the store.

Came home, dragged a chair out to the middle of the backyard, and started reading Men at Arms.

It was a good day.

WAKARIMASEN

Written in retro, I really don't remember anything memorable about this day.

But I'm sure some interesting stuff happened, which is why I really need to keep up with this thing daily. Or every two days. Maybe every three, but I'm sure I'd miss stuff. Definitely more than every four days.

Oh well.

WARM

The weather has steadily been getting warmer and I like it! Nothing like driving around with the sunroof and passenger window open. I can open the windows and patio door in the evening and if the wind blows just right, I can hear Heat Guy J. And lately I hear crickets - always a sign of warmer times.

Good week for birds. 2 kestreltachi in the morning, had a 6 redrail evening, and have seen Canadian geese a few times on the way in to work.

And turtles - about 5 turtles out sunbathing on a log this morning.

I drive the same way to work every weekday, so it's fun to watch stuff change. A lot of trees are full of blossoms, and some are even turning to leaves already. Days are a little longer, which is nice, since it means I don't come home in complete darkness any more.

Catching up on my project again. I realized the other day that I had written 2 parts of only in my head and had not yet transferred it to a file. I tend to do that - write something out in my head, then forget about it, since it was written well enough that I was satisfied with it.

I want to be a published author someday. It will be such a thrill to walk into a Border's or do a search on Amazon.com and see my book there. And the royalty income will be nice as well. :)

And I want to be a sellable artist as well. But that will take more work than becoming a published author. I think.

Somehow I have more of a block with producing artwork than writing. I think it's because I can do the majority of the writing in my head, while the physical aspect of the artwork holds me up.

I want it to be perfect the first time out, and that's just not the way it's going to go, I know this, and yet it still stops me sometimes. And I know my second/third/fourth attempts are 99% of the time better than my first attempts, but still I hesitate. And it's not like I don't have enough paper or ink or supplies, but somehow it's different to "use them up" on "mistakes" than it is to dump a file in the electronic trash bin on my desktop.

And real life doesn't have an Undo feature. No "Save Game" option around if you really screw up.

Which is why I'm so cautious/fearful of consequences. Pausing is one thing. Stopping dead in your tracks is another, and it's something I have to be aware of because every now and then it happens, subtly, and sometimes it takes me a while to notice.

I've had the dining room table clean for scrapbooking for over a week. And yet I've done a lot of things other than scrapbook. Although I am closer than I was before - I've actually got the album on the table and open to the page I was going to work on. Might actually get to it tonight.

Maybe.

NOT A SLUG

So I did good today, making up for sleeping so much yesterday:

- cut front lawn
- got a haircut
- weeded
- cooked dinner
- returned stuff
- visited friends not seen in months
- printed business reports for recordkeeping notebooks

I vegged for a little under an hour with Free Cell (evil, evil program), and then got stuck on number 454 (under Win95) and put it to the side. So, overall, a very productive day.

ps. taught spell-check the word "vegged"

PRODUCTIVITY VIRUS

Found "Day By Day", a daily online comic from a random blog link. I prefer the relationship/men/women strips compared to the political ones, and have lost several hours to catching up from it's inception to today (still not there, actually :).

I have several that I like, but this one, describes my bedroom.

SLUG

So it's after dinner and anime, Tonbo's out at a friends, and I'm flaked out on the futon, feeling very unmotivated.

9 pm seems to early to go to bed, but I did so anyway. Not too much guilt about it, because I was feeling really tired, and the words from the previous day's blog entry about doing stuff in the evenings only made a small dent. I paused, thought about what I had done today, and then went to bed anyway.

What I did today:
- got up
- went to work
- did my work well, and to the best of my abilities
- earned my paycheck
- which pays for shelter, food, clothing, gas, electricity, water, sewage, garbage pick-up, land line, cell phones, entertainment, and some other stuff
- weeded behind the back fence
- cooked lunch for Tonbo for next week
- cooked myself dinner
- paid bills

Not bad for being a slug and going to bed at 9 pm.

Sometimes you have to give yourself credit for what you do do, compared to beating yourself up over what you don't do.

And then do better tomorrow.

2 PARTS

Meetings and paperwork in the morning.

Meeting and lunch at noon (a common geek characteristic that most project managers in the tech industry have figured out is that free food is a "good thing" and greatly increases the attendance at meetings :)

On-hold in the afternoon.

Caught up the blog.

Did online errands.

One of which was to check my bank account. Both paycheck and business bonus check have deposited. The first is still substantially larger than the second, but that will change over time. And once the second is substantially larger than the first, it's time to retire.

And yet, as small as it is, that bonus check represents about a year and a half of work and dedication to a long-term goal. Passive income that will eventually replace my active income. If I hadn't done that work from the past year and a half, I wouldn't be getting this money now, and for the rest of my life. I want to be better/further along/happier/stronger/healthier/etc. than I was last year.

I've read over and over that "life is a journey".

A journey implies a destination, otherwise you're just wandering around. Some people have destinations - things they want to do, places they want to go, people they want to become. Others ... not so much.

So if you're only "destination" is death, then keep doing what you're doing, you'll get there eventually. And you can certainly enjoy you're wandering around, and there's nothing wrong with that, please don't misunderstand me. I did exactly that for the first 27 years of my life.

But there is also a whole lot more available. But you have to work at it. And at 8pm in the evening after 8+ hours at the day job (not including the commute), it can be difficult to keep focused.

Because there's always tomorrow.

Or the next day.

Sometime on the weekend.

Next week looks good.

And suddenly it's a month later and nothing got done.

Which means a year later nothing different has happened.

There are too few years to the final destination if I wait until I'm 65 to retire.

So, at least for the next few years, the journey is one of effort and constraints and growth and pain on the way to the destination of financial freedom.

Then my journey will be first-class airfare to the destination of a beach.

4 BAGS LATER

Spent late morning and afternoon hacking away at the fallen tree again. Did the chainsawing first, although I'm almost to the point where I'd like Tonbo to take over.

Note when using chainsaw - make sure the path of the blade after it makes it through the wood does not involve contact with your legs. Nuff said.

So ... after about 3 hours, I'm done. Not done with the overall job mind you, but definitely done for the day. My mind can usually keep going, but when the legs start shaking and the wrist start aching, I figure it's time to stop messing with the sharp objects. Filled another 4 of the bio-degradable bags for the recycling guys. Currently have all 8 bags camped out on my patio since it looks like it's going to rain again before collection day.

Tonbo was off at the case-breaking party, so after a hot bath and lunch, I putzed around. Been wanting to scrapbook for a couple of weekends now, but that first involved being able to see the dining room table again, which got me side-tracked into organizing (aka finally putting away) a lot of Seasonal Product packs and other supplies. Which meant Tonbo was home again and it was time for dinner. Maybe tomorrow night ...

The SG-1 commentaries are a lot of fun. More so for me than Tonbo, since I have a film background, but he enjoys watching me enjoy it, so it all works out. :)

Also showed him the second Shrek 2 trailer. Gives a whole lot more plot than the first teaser and still looks funny as ever.

    Fiona: "They're my parents."
    Shrek: "Hello ... they locked you in a tower."

THE BIG 4-0

Otanjoubi omedetou, Tonbo! Yes, Tonbo is officially "old" at 40 this year. I had a card and chocolate rose for him this morning, but need to finish up "the real gift" this afternoon. ;)

Woke up late, he had lunch, I had a snack. Then I left to drop stuff off at the parents house and have lunch with them while he got ready for BDS. We went to Soup N Salad for lunch since we all really enjoy that place. Tire issue, which leaves me confused, but at least they are OK yet again. :P

Finally decided on the thicker laminate, and spend the afternoon laminating all 80 cards. Got home and trimmed them all up, then found a bag and trimmed up the rulebook as well.

Copying SG-1 commentaries so I can get the DVD box set back to Patryn and we can borrow Season 6. Cleaned up a bit, then laid around listening to anime on the iPOD, waiting for Tonbo to come home. Figured it would be late, since the group was going to do special stuff for his bday.

He came home before midnight and we had a snack and talked. The dream board the group made for him was pretty cool - an early junior high photo of him, plus dream-building pictures, and everyone had signed it. They are a good group of people to have as friends and business partners.

Then I gave him "the gift" - a Special Edition Great Dalmuti card set using characters from Utena. I really wish I would have had a camera. He laughed so much as he looked through the deck it made all the work and sore wrists worthwhile.

This is what I do when I can't afford to buy the eBay version of the original out-of-print game cards - I make up my own. I am happy with the way they turned out, and as with most of my projects, the 3rd design is better than the first. And I was only 5 cards into it before switching the look. :P

Pics to come later.

WATCHING THE FIRE

Some work work, some surfin'.

A bit cool again today, so Tonbo made me a fire before he left, but then he didn't end up going, and we sat and watched the flames until they became embers.

Very comfortable, nice evening.

IN THE BOX

Don't know why but had a lot of trouble communicating tonight. Things that shouldn't have mattered, did. Big time. Felt I was stuck in my box and couldn't find a way out. And part of me felt it wasn't my fault, which is part of being in the box.

BTW, this whole "in the box" stuff is from Leadership and Self-Deception, a book I highly recommend.

Dinner with b635 and Tonbo at Flaming Asian Grill - very good Oriental food place where I can get 2 meals out of the bento.

Then a 10 pm drive to drop off some tickets and back home.

Hopefully things will be better in the morning.

STILL RESOLUTE

Changed the Archive settings on my blog to monthly instead of weekly. I've actually written that much. Spiffy! Definitely the longest I've kept up any of my written journals, like, ever.

I wish for archives that it would list the entries as earliest-first. At least, when I want to read an archive, I usually start at the top, but that's the end of the month, so then you're reading through it backwards ...

Anyway, traffic is almost clear so I can go home soon. W00+!

SURFIN 'N CODIN'

Early into the office, but I've missed getting out before 5pm, so I'll sit here instead of in traffic for a while.

Updated my Amazon.com Wishlist by searching for "season" under DVD and then added the frist season box sets of shows I eventually want to get all of. Really cool how many older TV shows are being released to DVD: Due South, Quantum Leap, Forever Knight, MASH, Stargate SG-1, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Kung Fu, etc. Now I just need to wait for Remmington Steele, Simon & Simon, and MacGyver and I'll be a very happy camper. :)

Working on the updated to my KFF site (of which this blog was created to provide some kind of updated and hopefully interesting information). Got the basics of most of the pages done. Small new section to cover my scrapbooking habit. Want to fill out more of the Rich Dad pages before uploading it, but current target date is March 27th, the 29th at the latest.

Again, only scattered work after the initial 1.5 hour early morning meeting, but things should seriously pick up next week.

SURFIN'

Did you know the reason we say we "surf" the Internet, is because the librarian who wrote one of the first articles about navigating linked HTML pages using a browser was searching for a verb, and noticed she had a surfer on her mousepad?

So, it's not really busy here at work, and I've got access to a T1 and the company isn't that strict about where I go - other than stuff they've already blocked, like Live365.com which was a bummer because I really loved listening to Anime Lemming Radio.

Found out they still make a 2-door Blazer. The car salesman was very concerned that I was specifically ordering such a "weird" configuration when I got mine: a 2-door manual transmission. Basically I was saving about $800 by not getting the automatic (which I find boring to drive anyway) which would get me the CD player and the sun roof. This was in 1998. Apparently it's not so "weird" any more because the 2-door comes standard with a standard, and you still pay about an extra $800 for an automatic. Who'd a thunk it?

Not that I'm any kind of a position to buy a new car (yet), but it was interesting taking a look at the current SUV market. My preference for 2-doors leaves me the oh-so-many options of a Blazer, Jeep Wrangler, or a Land Rover Freelander. Unfortunately, the Freelander doesn't come as with a manual transmission (as far as I can tell), which get's it off my list immediately.

I actually learned to drive in a Wrangler, and when I was in high school, it was awesome, and it will make a great 2nd car. But for daily driving on the highway to work for 45 min - 1 hr+, I need to be able to hear by CDs and appreciate a slightly smoother and quieter ride.

Which leads me back to the Blazer. Hopefully they will still be around in 2-3 years when I really do need a new car.

Found a great place for Stargate SG-1 uniforms and props called The Gate Room. Someday I'll have a Samantha Carter costume for Halloween.

Through a Teryl Rothery fansite to another fansite, found The Stuffy Guard Project, which sounds like a lot of fun. The photo gallery of various SG-1 actors pictured with General George Bear is wonderful!

Spent some time on eBay looking at all the very cool stuff that shows up there that I currently can't afford and really don't need but would be fun to have.

Paid my vehicle registration renewal online with my business credit card so it will count towards my monthly volume. Really like that business credit card. :)

Added some items to my Catalog City registry. They are also a Partner Store, and with over 500 catalogs, I can usually find what I need. And get paid for buying it. Sweet!

I did do some work stuff, but it was minimal and scattered throughout the day ... until about 4:45 pm, in which case a bunch of documents came through that I had to review before the 8:30 am mtg. Wah.

WOMAN'S DAY

Karen emailed me that today was Woman's Day - a Russian holiday where the men do all the traditionally woman's work - clean, cook, wash, etc.

Well, I ended up cooking for 2 men, as SpoonPrez came over to hash out some music video stuff with Tonbo for Project A-Kon. It was hotdogs, so no big deal really.

I haven't competed in an amv contest in a long time. If I have anything new, I usually just submit it to the A-Kon Music Video Showcase. Mostly I make my amvs for myself, but I do appreciate the nice feedback I've gotten about them from other people. The lady who bowed to me in the AWA dealer's room was an utter surprise and I don't think I deserved it ... but it was kinda fun to be recognized as Kestrel, maker of amvs, from my con badge.

Someday I'll be known as Kestrel, a very prolific maker of amvs. ;)

GREATEST COMPLIMENT YET

Slow day at work, so I've been going through my emails, trying to get back with everyone.

If people email me about any of my anime or financial freedom-related stuff, I make it a point to answer them back. Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a while. Like over a year for some of the comments in my anime music video (amv) guest book.  ^_^;;

Near the end of February, I received the best compliment about my anime music videos that I have every gotten since putting them online in 1999. It really made my day because the person used the phrase "there wasn't much editing" - honestly, it made my day, no sarcasm here at all.

Because truly great editing is not supposed to be noticed. If you feel jarred, or uneasy, or blink a few extra times because something you're-not-sure-what just happened, or have the mood and flow of the amv broken in any way, then the editing was not good enough.

Now I have a B.S. in Radio-Television-Film from the University of Texas. I was studying and practicing to become a professional editor, so I think I know what I'm talking about. And my editing profession basically completely dismissed music videos and considered them beneath notice as far as the art of editing was concerned.

I happen to disagree.

I think it's far more difficult to take pre-existing footage and create a totally new coherent whole from it. For movies and television and professionally produced music videos, footage is shot with the end in mind. You have coverage - the same scene shot from multiple angles and/or from multiple views (long shot, midshot, close-up). You have a script to follow, and a continuity person to make sure every will match up in the end.

In creating an amv, you are pulling scenes out of order, out of context, out of episodes and OAVs and movie, from the same show, from different shows, from all over the place ... making them match in whatever way you can to form it into what you want it to be. And when I say "amv" I mean the kind of amvs that are made by fans all over the place: take a song and add images from an anime to make what it now traditionally known as a music video.

Making such despairing images flow smoothly is a huge task. So for someone to say that they didn't notice the editing I find to be the finest compliment.

And someday (fairly soon, in the grand scheme of things), I'll be able to make as many amvs as I want, using those extra 40-50 hrs/week I'm going to get back when I retire.

SOMEONE TO TRUST

Tire Saga - Part 2:
Took the car to the dealers. They looked at the tires, said there was nothing wrong with them. Did the tire rotation for free, since I had bought the tires there originally. They didn't bother to inflate 2 of the tires that were obviously a little flat (I've got those colored indicators on the tires and 2 were showing yellow - I noticed them after the tire rotation)

Tire Saga - Part 3:
Took the car back to City Garage to ask what exactly they saw wrong. Talked with the guy at the counter and he spent over 15 minutes with me and Tonbo and scribbled all over both sides of a piece of paper explaining stuff.

End result - I trust him. I think City Garage is correct. They are looking a level deeper than the dealer guys. Also, apparently they have argued with Goodyear on this issue before, and not gotten any results. The tire is not going to blow any time soon, but it will have less of a life than it should.

I know very little about the mechanics of my car, and I don't really want to spend the time and energy it would take to really learn about it. Therefore I need someone to trust about the condition of my car, and what to do about it when. In these past months of dealing with City Garage, they have become the people I trust. I will take all of my repairs to them. I will take all of my maintenance to them. I will buy tires from them. I will refer anyone and everyone to them.

Interesting how a little bit of time, sincere concern, an attentive behavior, and facts can make for a life-long customer.

People want someone to trust. There is so much information about so many subjects out there these days that no one can know everything about a single topic, let alone multiple ones. New discoveries are being made everyday in terms of actual events and ideas and points of view and theories and ... and ... and ...

Therefore, in various aspects of one's life, each person needs someone they can trust. An "expert" whose opinion you rely on because you don't have the time and energy to do all the research needed to make a decision, and sometimes, even have an opinion.

Doctors are a prime example of this. They have dedicated their lives to being educated and up-to-date on the information and practices of their related field of medicine. Their patients trust them to have the correct information to make decisions in the patient's best interest.

And getting different expert opinions is often a good thing to do. Some kind of research or basic information-gathering is usually a good idea. If nothing else, it will help you know what questions to ask to get the information you need to make a decision.

But at some point, you need to trust someone.

And that can be a scary thing to do - whether you're talking about car repairs, surgery, or personal relationships.

Because by giving someone your trust, you also give them the ability to hurt you. Which has happened to me in the past, and will likely happen again in the future. But I still have to trust someone ... at some point ... about a lot of things.

LUCKY

4 bags later I'm done for the day. Not as much of a visible indication of progress as I was hoping for, but I've got to go to work tomorrow and need to be able to interact with my computer without whimpering.

Then again, it's not the day after, it's the day after the day after that is the true result of how sore I'm going to be.

As I stand there, cutting up tree branches, feeling a slight breeze on my face as the sun shines between the clouds and warms my t-shirt, I think how lucky I am to be able to do this.

I bought this house when I was 28 years old (thanks to my savings and a generous loan from my parents :). It's about 1800 sq.ft. and has a great backyard and a good frontyard. Custom built, with a Texas-sized master bed room that spans from the front of the house to the back, 2 side bedrooms, and 2 baths. And, something I searched quite a while to find - wood paneling in the living room that had not been painted white. Sheesh.

Nice, stable, older neighborhood. Friendly, quiet neighbors on either side. Okay, when the teen gets on the drum set, I can hear him if I'm in my office, and sometimes the grandkids scream a lot when they run around in the backyard, but they only come for infrequent visits.

Just under an hour driving time to work (both when I bought it, and now at our latest location). Lower car insurance rates thanks to the county I'm not in compared to my apartment. A garage to protect my car and store stuff. And I will never let it get so full that I can't put the car in. Uh uh. Ain't gonna happen.

I'm damn lucky.

And I've worked damn hard to get that way.

GOOD SALES EXPERIENCE

Had to buy some bio-degradble bags to put the tree remains in, because it was way to much for my little compost pile to handle.

The local Tom Thumb was out. Apparently the nice weather yesterday caused a run on them. Completely understandable.

As I was pulling out of my parking spot, I saw the ACE Hardware sign and dropped in to see if they had any in stock. Pretty deserted, so I was asked by all 3 guys in red aprons standing near the front of the store if they could help me. I do like this place - the guys are always really friendly and helpful. And understanding when the girlfriend gets sent in to pick something up, and only knows a minimal amount of information. ;)

I picked up 2 sets of bags, and was getting ready to pay when one of the guys asked if I ever had trouble keeping the bags open and standing up. I said this would be the first time I had ever used them. He nodded and pointed out a 3 foot tall cylinder wrapped in white plastic.

"If you have trouble, you might want to consider getting one of these," he said. It's a roll of thick plastic with holes for handles that is inserted into the paper bag that keeps it open and upright, something the little hoops popular for trash bag don't do. He said this was the last one left, but they get more all the time.

I asked how much it was, and he didn't know. He handed it to the cashier who scanned it, and then he put it back by the edge of the other counter.

I bought it.

And it was extremely useful.

Happy customer.

So ... let's review ...

Good intro: asked if product has caused any kind of issue/problem in the past. Friendly conversation, trying to be helpful, dealing only with the issue at hand

Good cross-sell: customer is buying one type of product and is introduced to a complimentary, related product that could enhance the use of the original purchase

Knowledgeable: comparison to other, commonly known products that wouldn't work as well in this case

Not pushy: scanned product for price and put it back in it's place. No assumptive close here of leaving it on the counter, or verbal indication that customer was going to buy the product before the customer indicated so themselves.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is a good sale.

And I will be back to that store for any hardware-related items I need. And I will be happy to tell anyone who wants to hear that I like to shop there, they guys are cool, and the products work.

KEEP IT RUNNING

Woke up early for a Saturday ( 7 am) to take car to City Garage. Been having problems with the blinkers for the past 2 days - switch and lights seemed to work fine, but it still make that wonderful clicking sound even when it was supposed to be off.

Anyway, I was hoping for a $50, maybe $100 bill for a new switch. But knew I would pay whatever it takes (unless totally outrageous) because I need the Blazer to keep running for another 2-3 years. And for having almost 79,000 miles on it, they CG guy said the engine was good, and since it a manual transmission, won't have the issues an automatic will, and with regular maintenance, should make it over 120,000 easily.

So ... $600 later, I have 2 new switches, an oil change (which I was going to do later this month anyway), and I now have to take the car by the dealership from whom I bought new tires last June, because while doing a tire rotation, the CG guys said it looks like the belts on the front two tires are broken, and the tires have worn unevenly and much more than they should have, given how new they are.

Yep, one of those days.

On the home front, I'm slowly cutting my way through the fallen tree in the backyard. It actually came down about 2 days before the really bad 18-wheeler toppling storm we had, which I guess was a good thing. It fell into the yard, which means the fence is still fine, and didn't land on anything important.

The small clippers and large tree cutters can only get me so far, and I soon realized I did not have the right tools to complete the job. Dad to the rescue.

I was supposed to meet the parents for lunch to hand over Mom's goods that she buys from my business, but with the car in the shop all day and Tonbo out working, I wasn't going anywhere, so they decided to go to Henk's for lunch, and then came by my place.

With dessert. :)

And a small electrical chainsaw. Really nice little power tool that will allow me to get the rest of the job done. Hopefully by the end of the month. I can only work on it about an hour and a time, then my wrists get extremely sore.

Over a decade on a computer has really not prepared me for yardwork in any way.

But I do enjoy it. Mom moved some plants and identified the weeds from the good stuff. We had to resort to pictures from last year, since neither one of us could remember what was planted in a certain area.

Overall, a good day, which is as it should be.

PRINTING 1 MEG EVERY 6 MINUTES

One of those busy-not-busy days at work. Am helping out a project that has a big presentation next week, so it's a lot of grunt work (copy, print, staple, proof-read, fix typos, back for review, etc.) that has taken up my time on and off all day in about 15 minute increments.

I'm glad to be helpful (and billable :) every 15 minutes. But it also means I can't really work on anything else, because I'm busy with this every 15 minutes.

It's amazing how long a day feels when it's broken up every 15 minutes.

STORM'S ACOMIN

Had a stretch of really fierce thunderstorms come through earlier.

We knew this storm front was going to hit sometime in the afternoon and had been watching the weather online most of the day. When the sky darkened and the rain drops started, I packed up my stuff and left work.

Driving home was ... interesting. The columns of concrete that will some day be a highway were wet. On one side only. Horizontal rain is a fascinating thing to experience. Looking down and seeing the steering wheel slightly turned, but looking up and seeing that I am moving in a straight line, and that the angle in necessary to compensate for the crosswind is also not a common occurrence, at least not around here.

Made it to the light just before my house before I had to slow down to 20 mph because there was so much rain that you couldn't see if you drove any faster. It was so wonderful to pull into the garage and know I'm safe. Called Tonbo and he was packing up and on his way home - it was just starting to get serious out where he was currently working.

Opened the patio door and the front windows, lit a bunch of candles and thought - this is how to enjoy a storm. Watched the lake form in my backyard, and the small whirlpool of water near my mailbox where the rushing water streaming down the street got caught and spun around upon itself.

Then it was over.

And the clouds went away.

And the blue sky was visible.

And birds sang.

And there were (grrr) sunbeams in my backyard.

I will admit I am a Chicken Little about being out in bad weather. I've had my car spin out of control on ice, I've hydroplaned on water, all kinds of stuff. So if it's going to be nasty outside, I want me and my car inside.

So it's a little, um, not sure what the word is, to see a beautiful spring day after about an hour. Not that I don't appreciate the beautiful spring day, mind you. Just makes me feel like I over-reacted. I could have waited out the extra 1.5 hours at work, and everything would have been fine.

But I didn't know that at the time. And you react to the given circumstances in the best way you can. At that time.

And Tonbo said I did right and good, and that meant a lot. As a former professional corporate head of security and one of the best emergency prepared and equipped people I know, I trust his judgment in this more than my emotional reaction.

So, yet another instance of needing to cut my imperfect self some slack.   :)

733+ DRIVING SKILZ

So, here we are, on our way to Pizza Guy, light rain, I'm driving my car, and from a side street, a van pulls out directly in front on my 40 mph moving vehicle.

And everything ... slows ... down ...

Clutch in. Brake. Horn. Van is slowing down (WTF?!). Move slightly out of lane. Can't completely change lanes because of car on my other side. See front right corner of my car barely miss van as it speeds up and changes lanes.

Time returns to normal speed, and I'm shaking with the remains of lots of stress and adrenaline flowing through my body.

As Tonbo later told one of the Pizza Guys, my stunt driving saved us from a bad collision.

And I'll I could think of was ... I don't need this. I don't need more car repairs. I don't need another insurance call. I don't need another slam to a damaged shoulder and neck from a previous car accident. I don't need Tonbo hurt in any way (since it was going to be his side of the car that got the most damage). I just don't need this right now.

So, end result is everyone is okay, both car and people.

And I would bet money the van driver thought they did absolutely nothing wrong, if they even noticed what happened.

LITTLE GIRL LOST (NOT)

Got derailed this morning and haven't been able to get back on track. Not much of a load at work, so I'll be able to leave at 5 pm, which will be a nice change of pace.

Had weather headache last night, and Tonbo was still recuperating from being sick, so we watched some Scrapped Princess and then he went to bed.

I read a little more of SalesDogs and of the sales books I've read, this is the best so far. I know I'm not Big Dog, and I have absolutely no Pit Bull or Poodle in me, which leaves me a mutt of Golden Retriever, Basset Hound and Chihuahua. Don't make a picture.

I haven't spent that much time around sales people, but my guess from his descriptions is that you could walk into any sales force and see these personality types pretty clearly. And it's very clear that it is a sales book talking about sales people and how to better your sales techniques by knowing what kind of SalesDog you are, and what your strengths and not-strengths are.

Unlike The Millionaire Mentor which promoted itself as anything but a book about sales, which I really felt it was. The parable of Oscar being mentored by Roy is an easy-to-read storyline, but Roy taught Oscar to be successful through sales and through the existing system of get a job, get a better job with more money, keep working. Plus he seemed to be a big advocate of the assumptive close, which I personally despise. The example in the book of selling the guy the red corvette was wrong on many levels to me.

But that's just me.

If you want to read about real (not fictional) millionaires, I highly recommend The Millionaire Next Door. Real interviews and statistics from real millionaires. If you like "story", this will probably seem a dry read, but the info is very interesting and enlightening.

And, if you want to learn some of the basics of finances, The Richest Man In Babylon is a must-read. A collection of pamphlets published by a banker in the 1920s, they teach some great principles to govern you money by.

The first chapter is an introduction, but it holds a really valuable lesson - you have to want something to get it. The chariot maker was the best there was ... because that is what he wanted to be. That doesn't mean he was the richest, because that was never his focus. Kind of like the difference between a great writer and a best-selling author - not that they can't be one in the same, it's just a matter of focus.

Started out this post feeling unfocused, but now I think I've got it back. Time to spend some time on getting financially free. :)

BIRD SONG

I think it was a nice day outside today. I heard birds singing most of the morning and afternoon, and it looked clear and sunny when I went to the kitchen and looked out of the window. The guy working on the lights in the parking lot had a t-shirt on, so it couldn't have been too cold.

Yet another aspect of not working for someone else that I am looking forward to is spending more time outside. Spending 40+ hours a week in a cube and I'm not exactly in touch with the daily weather and the seasons.

I check Weather.com, but it's to find out if the rain or sleet will affect my drive to/from work.

It'll be really nice to check to see if it's going to rain, and what the temperature will be, to see if I can stand in the backyard and get drenched and not catch a cold.