Ounces Make Pounds, and Competition is a Good Thing

My mom is the President of the Robbinsdale Chamber of Commerce, which leads me to do some thinking about my position on business. So I've narrowed my philosophy down to a simple formula, and it is... 1) Ounces make pounds. Basically, business should be thinking in the margin always and forever, never taking on more weight than they can handle, slowly building, and always making forward progress. 2) Competition is a good thing. There should be at least 2 similar products in every business, and 2 similar business in every industry. This gives credibility to the leader, allows for differentiation, solves supply and demand spikes, and is a natural way of providing variety. So, this is the culmination of years of thinking about business, I will likely change my mind tomorrow, but today this sums it up well.

Real Men Blog...Happy Thanksgiving :)

I had a wonderful day today. Seeing my family with beards, and having new conversations, and generally having a merry time is a great feeling. The food was filling, warm, and tasty. The dogs helped us keep energy throughout the day. I do feel slightly guilty missing Dad Chris's house, but I will call him soon. One particularly fun experience today was when John (Kathy's John) and I were making coffee, we weren't exactly sure how many beans to use, then we ended up dumping full grinder into the metal filter without a paper insert filter. I am able to keep my energy level up to par, and I'm having a great time with it. Listening to Sheldon speak on Big Bang Theory is irritating, wait...Leonard just threatened him, now I feel better :)

Wonderous Phone and Would Like to Find Tracks of Piano and Fretless Guitar

So, I'm happy to inform everyone that my phone is working well. I hope to have good conversation, plenty of entertainment, and some ammount of time with it. I love the Fretless Bass Guitar and the Piano, my ego says go for it and get into them, but my pocketbook AND my rationale say "stick to the rivers and lakes that you're used to." I'll see if I can up the ante on my guitar practice and play for longer ammounts of time.

Reap What you Sew

It's disheartening when people misuse their voice, intentionally confuse language, and expect results that look nothing like reality!

Looking Back, Looking Forward

So, recently I've been thinking about money and time a lot, primarily because I want things, and my own place, and to spoil a girlfriend. A few professions that strike me are Barrista, Barber, and Cook. I beleive I can truly make a difference in these professions, turn a profit, stay humble, and feel accomplished. Plus I believe I can give to these professions without losing anything in the enjoyment of coffee, haircuts, or food. I could work at a number of coffee shops, starting at $7.50 plus tips. I could work for Na on the corner of 63rd and 81 for minnimum wage plus tips. This would also take some schooling. And then I could cook for a restaurant in Robbinsdale, starting at minnimum wage plus tips. If I plan on getting a minnimum wage job, I'll need to be better at managing my money and my health.

I dream of decking

If ever I can afford a house of my own, it's going to have an unussually large back deck and front porch. Not one of these fancy screened in things, but open to the wild. A deck is like a portal between a house and nature. It's the stage that let's one raise both, at the same time. Like a window that can be stood on. I like big decks and I cannot lie.

Dream Jobs

I'm thinking about what my dream jobs would be and here are a few ideas in order. I really want to attempt these jobs during my life. There is a star next to jobs I've tried and would like to continue working towards. 1> Barrista for Caribou* 2> Taxi Driver for Suburban Taxi 3> Pit Musician at the Ordway 4> Sub for the Washington Generals 5> Prop Dancer at a Club 6> Extra as a Professional Wrestler 7> Remodeling Worker* 8> Ebay Salesman* 9> Full Service Web Designer 10> Net Estate Agent 11> Poker Dealer 12> Writer 13> Barber* 14> Cook*

I would love to have the 2011 WNBA Minnesota Lynx victory on DVD

I wish that there is a DVD produced, collector's edition style, like they do for the World Series, for the WNBA Championship. I would like to see how the Lynx 2010-2011 season went and the complete games of the playoffs and final. Wouldn't hurt to make a legacy film for the Minneapolis Lakers either...

Spending Less Time Overwhelmed

I figure I can spend my time overwhelmed, or spend my time cleaning house, bringing myself to the tipping point of action! I'm happy for my Grandma, she got her hair fixed up at a salon. THIS IS A STREAM OF CONCIOUSNESS ENTRY! Now that I've sold a couple more igo sets, I might spend some of the money buying paint, Winsor & Newton.

Realization in Arizona

I'm come to the realization that rich people get schizophrenia too. I've always thought that if I have a chronic disease, that I'm lower class. Not really looking down, but rather thinking that I'm missing out. Now, I'm coming to assept that I can lead a classy, "rich," life in spite of my shortcomings. I'm really working hard at seeing and feeling the positives in most any situation. It takes a bit more use of the old memory and imagination, but it's doing me wonders. Flexing a little is helping me enjoy the social aspect of life more! PS. I just tried Boar's Head Pastromi, it's very tasty :) What is pastromi anyway?

Cleaned up, Organized office, Looking forward to AZ

4 days, counting today and the day I leave, till AZ. I'm getting my affairs in order, in preparation for the trip. And I started reading a new book, Thinkertoys, it seems prety cool. Also, I bidded on a couple rare coins, Mint State 67 Lincoln wheat cents, to be precise. I want to get my knic-nacs organized so I have a little wiggle room for things on my furniture. It's tough going through things that I've grown attached to when I want to simplify and mature and I want new shiny things and I want things I've thrown out. I'm starting to really feel good about my responsibilities, from cleaning up after dinner, and cleaning my cat's litter, and shelving items at ARC, in addition to the things that we encounter every day, people, conflict, restriction, moods, emotions, construction, etc.... I've also been wondering if my relationship with Keith, while rooming with him, would have been better had I more money, or were less horny (not for him :p, or had more structure to my day.

Dirty and Greasy

Ok, so normally I'm calm, cool, and collected, AND I want to be clean. But, lately I've been noticing that I have greasy hair and I smell. I'm going to be responsible and respond by cleaning up when I get home, preferably before dinner. And then, volunteer for ARC. I wonder if they carry the gold jolly jester costume. I'm tired, don't know why, don't care, I want my life back!

Tea Time

The sleepytime extra tea with the bear snoozing on the box, with a little honey, is sooooooooo relaxing. I think its got valerian root and chamomile. Now I'm going to stay up because I'm so relaxed from spending time with Mom and Dad and having dinner and tea.

Pruning My Goals

I keep a list of goals on my computer, and sometimes it gets longer and sometimes it gets shorter. My reasoning is that the shorter my list of goals the more focus each goal gets. I'm trying to get the list down to about 30 items. Also doing laundry today, I had to put on a pair of long white socks, cause that's all I had left.

My Parents are Married and Happy, I'm Happy for Them

My mental illness makes me find a happy balance of appreciating the time I have with my parents, appreciating every moment I have with them, and also giving them their space. PS. I'm using the dev-ices I use more effectively, reading books on the Nook App on my laptop, and hopefully getting my online calendar figured out.

inspiring music lesson

This came at the end of an article from one music instructor to another, who was having a tough time with teaching a student. I'll save you the details of the first part of the article. Here it is, from music instructor Jerry... "People who can function in this realm are usually called “talented”, or “artistic”, and are thought of as special. I have written voluminously on the fallacy of this belief system. The fact is that it is not that your student cannot learn, it is not that he cannot focus his mind or be aware of his body, he simply will not, and is presently suffering the effects of a lifetime of such behavior. I am sure it feels to him like he cannot do it, and it probably looks to you like he cannot, but if he is functional enough to drive to the lesson, and remember to show up on time, then I feel confident in saying he has the capacity to focus during practice, but simply will not. Teaching him, making him aware of the fact that he must, and he could, but he WON'T pay attention, is the first and essential step in saving him from “hopelessness”." VERY Inspirational... If you want to review the article, or see what he suggests for the student... here's the URL. http://www.guitarprinciples.com/taking-lessons/322-is-this-guitar-student-hopeless.html

A day of bedrest, not as restful as it sounds.

Yesterday, I stayed in bed all day, thought I was resting my mind and body...Today, I have a terrible bedrest hangover. OK, me and pills don't agree, but ibprofin helped the bedrest hangover.

Why don't laptops have built in radios?

Ok, I've covered this before. But, why don't laptops have built in radios? It would be a very simple addition to the motherboard that would add value right out of the box. I'm not an electrical engineer, but the only thing that would need to be added would be a copper coil to pickup the radio waves. I think the motherboard has the other components already accessible. I can see how the natural progression of computers from desktops where it was easy to add a radio card to laptops with a design similar to desktops has kept the radio out of reach. And with the availability of the internet and internet radio there isn't really a need for "analog" radio anymore. Still, as I see miniature radios and radio schematics, I can't help but wonder...Why do computers not have radios built in? That being said, there is a very simple solution to this problem. The USB radio. Simply buy a usb radio, plug it in, and you have access to your favorite am or fm radio station. The "classic" brand seems to be a company called ADS, and the reviews are positive, the price is about $15 give or take. This device is one that I would really like to smash open and look at the guts, because of its small size...but who knows how it works, I haven't tried it. Ok, now I'm mad, I'm going to see if there's an app that does local radio without the internet...don't know how it would work...

A guitar at 1/30th the cost of a Belucci, made by me, with a little help from dad

I found a really neat alternative to the $3,200 Renaldo Belucci South American classical guitar. First, let me tell you what I've been looking for. I wanted to build it myself, or at least purchase it as close to home as possible. Also, I want it to have a full soundboard, not a cutaway, and a full fingerboard, not hanging over the sound hole. Lastly, I want it to have an electric jack and equalizer. This last part is going to be a challenge to install into the already made body of the kit I'm looking at. So with all this in mind I've found a $72 kit with $50 piezo electrical setup at grizzly.com. It's going to take some work to get the electronics into the body, and there's always the possibility of a sound port on the upper bout. I'm looking forward to this project and may save my set of EXP strings for this setup. :)

New Watch, Fixed Van, New Me

I got my old Citizen watch fixed up by the Citizen Repair Team. It works great. It's going to be interesting, telling time without numbers on the dial. My van is running well again. Me and my parents are splitting the cost of the repairs and now if it rains I'll be able to see out. I'm trying to stay engaged in life no matter how hard and boring it gets. And I'm really trying to quit scratching and picking at my skin. I believe that if I can take better care of my body, I'll feel better, but it's going to take determination to really live the best life possible.

Two Things I've Learned

First, and funnest, blogger offers your blog being made into a book. And, it's really reasonably priced. I'm not sure when or what format I'll do this, but it seems really neat.

Second, and slightly sad, if I follow someone else's recipe it may turn out well, it may not. But, when I follow my own recipe it's likely to turn out stinky.

A Better Way

I found that Winona State College has a luthery program. If I or my parents ever earn enough money to buy a custom guitar, I'd want it to come from a student of the Winona State College luthery program. It would be a Minnesota made guitar, less expensive, and built to spec. Not to mention I would be supporting minnesota schools, haha, not really, but kind of. Heck, I wouldn't mind being a Winona State College luthier, I think my auntie Beth went to Winona State College to become a music educator. She let me play her guitar once, it was the first time I played a, in tune, classical guitar.

PS. I feel like my family has sheep dogs...haha...expecially Oakley :)

If Life Gives You Lemons... Make Lemonade

There seems to be endless troubles, curve-balls, and fear. But, it seems, when there are more troubles, curve-balls, and fears... There is more opportunity. It may just be a collossal coincidence. I believe there's much more good than bad, and I'm very thankfull for that.

3 Things Laptops should Include

1. Better speakers, not just for playing cds and dvds, but for reasons 2 and 3 below.

2. An AM/FM tuner. Instant media out of the box.

3. A 1/4" input jack for electric guitar, and other instrument, amplification.

Wow, a Two Post Day, Dream Jobs

I'm getting a bit discouraged with the whole small business, American Dream so I wondered what I would do if I had to work for someone else. Here's the prioritized list I came up with.

1. Pro Basketball Guard
2. Pro Hockey, (not goalie)
3. Pro Baseball National League Pitcher (because pitchers bat in the NL)
4. Pro Football Defensive End
5. Broadway Guitar Player in Pit Orchestra (this would be a lot of fun)
6. Broadway Piano Player in Pit Orchestra
7. Actor/Singer Hollywood/Broadway (edit: actor in a musical)
8. Coffee Barrista (edit: coffee shop manager)
9. Waiter at Family Restaurant like Perkins
10. Receptionist (edit: this might be too boring)

Third Post is a Charm (actually an afterthought edit)
11. Web Page Creator
12. Construction Worker

Drinking Coffee and 7-Up

After a long peaceful nap, I'm having some coffee and 7Up; I'm not sure what I'll do when I get completely rested up, but I'm sure it includes guitar playing, shopping the internet, and organizing books :)

Late Lunch...Makes Andrew Residence Look Appetizing

Little things are throwing me off. I've been wearing my watch and ring to keep me grounded and to keep away mean spirits. And today I ate lunch at 1:30pm which is a little late for my stomach schedule. I get a bit crazed and out-there when I miss a meal, and then to make matters worse I eat two sandwiches with Catalina sauce, a Regular Coke, and TWO Grandma's chocolate brownie cookies, now I'll be a slug for the rest of the day. Plus, I forgot to take Zoloft this morning, I'll take it when I get home.

Today, I was impressed with Mellisa, my new case worker's frank and forward talk. And her ability to get my treatment plan faxed over, right away.

Tonight at supper I'm going to bring up the merits of Andrew Residence. I doubt my parents will let me go, but I want to share my enthusiasm, and concern with them.

Extending a Moment

There are those wonderfull moments when things seem to be working out, sometimes it's a smell, or a view, or a touch, but it's when there seems to be a positive outlook in the air. Now, I'm wondering, how to keep that feeling for a longer time.

Love Affair with the Classical Guitar

There's something about the Classical nylon stringed guitar that has me a bit seduced. Its range is more limited, and the strings tend to go out of tune more compared to a steel string, yet it's tone and playability are awesome. It's hard to keep practicing away on fundamentals when I find people on youtube and mangore.com playing complex, sweet pieces for the classical guitar. I know how to read music, kind of, and I'm just starting to be able to translate the notes on the staff to notes on the guitar. Soon enough, it will be me on youtube with the wicked-cool songs :)

A Little Sleepy

I really should be out front pulling weeds, I'll go out there and pull another patch in a bit. They are really dense considering we layed weedguard last year.

I want a custom built, Renaldo Bellucci guitar

So, I guess this guy is from Italy and he moved to South America. He makes custom guitars. The one I want costs $3100 and is wicked cool, electrified, and traditional all at once. I looked into the 10 string classical guitar, by the same builder, but it seems tough to play and costs nearly twice as much. Classical guitar music has a full and clean sound with carefully composed notes. I think it would be fun to be in a guitar concerto, even though I've never heard one, haha.

Been a while since my last entry

So, here's an observation about myself. When my guitar is out of tune, instead of simply tuning it, I imagine new strings, a new guitar, or amplification, God forbid will bring me back into tune. So, then I tuned my guitar and it sounds good again.

Vacation was fun, I washed up, rested up, and now I'm back to the grind.

ACT team manager stopped by

The manager from the ACT team stopped by and was observing. It wasn't too bad, but I think my case worker was nervous. I've decided against converting my AZ guitar to fretless. And I might not get to posting the chess video, but maybe I will.

I'm in pre-vacation mode, I'll be leaving to Arizona on May 15. I'm looking forward to lots of fun and relaxation, and a bit of productivity.

Fretless Guitar Purchase

So I ended up going with a Lyon $50 student classical guitar. I'm having it shipped to my grandparents house. I will remove the strings, then remove the frets, then sand down the nut, then restring. It may not look prety when it's finished, but I'm sure it will sound great.

Nasty Heartburn and a Win at the Robbinsdale Chess Club

I won a hard fought victory at the Robbinsdale Chess Club, with the queen's gambit declined as white. I will post a youtube video today or tomorrow with the details.

I'm considering all of my options for my Arizona guitar that my Grandpa is buying me. I'm seriously thinking about the Ibanez AEG10NE Nylon String acoustic-electric for $299. It has a nice orange finish giving it a Spanish look. I'm also considering the Dean Boca 12 string for $299 and the Agile Fretless 12 string for $399. The Agile is a bit more expensive, is foreign made, would require an amp, but seems like a prety cool guitar.

I believe I need to jump start a healthier diet to get this heartburn to go away. Too much sugar somehow causes the stomach acids to rise up the asophagus, I'm guessing.

A Case of the Mondays

I had a fun weekend, and now I have a case of the mondays "blah". My guitar lesson went well, but John is moving to Indiana, sad. I guess he'll be flying back to Minnesota and I'll still be able to take lessons, yah. I have this dream of being a rock star, probably more pain, temptation, and agony than what I picture, but it wouldn't be all that bad. Finally starting to warm up...very cold for May 2nd.

Looking Forward to the Weekend

Feeling good about the weekend coming in 20 minutes. I hope to play some basketball at the park, do some yoga(push ups, sit ups, and sissy squats), do some laundry, and maybe read, knit, watch baseball, and play The Godfather II. I figure if I do positive things I'll have a positive perspective.

The Fire Inside

The lack of sleep, combined with the annoying features of life are making me a bit edgy. Today's dilbert.com comic has a guy snapping from having too many passwords, sometimes I feel like that guy. While I never gave much credibility to the affects of nicotine and caffiene, it seems they do have an effect on my anxiety level, but at the same time my morning coffee, and when I'm thristy, a dew, make me somewhat relaxed.

I made a second video of the Robbinsdale Chess Club and posted it on youtube.com, it's a great game where the balance of the two armies flows back and forth. I hope to continue making these videos for a long time to come.

Cleaning and Creating Video

I'm cleaning my office now, tonight I look forward to hanging my new Betty Paige poster, and making a chess video for youtube.com.

I've been doing Ken Ken puzzles lately, they are strangely engrossing. It's a number puzzle similar to soduko, but with math equations.

Feeling a bit better

I'm feeling a little bit better since my "vent" post this morning, so if there's really anyone out there reading this, thanks for sticking around.

Communication Problem

I'm having trouble answering my phone and emails. I know I should get back to people but it's hard. Mental illness is not fun. I'll just do my best, and if people don't like it, then too bad.

Feeling a Bit Better Today

I'm feeling a bit better today, made a sale on ebay.com, and ordered some inventory for custom go sets from shodanimports.com.

I also went number 1 in the woods behind my house, that always makes me feel better :)

Gotta go to group today, I hope everyone is doing well. I also hope that Anthony is there, he likes movies, and sports, and pretty women. I feel like I can relate to him.

The burning sensation in my eyes is a little better today.

Overwhelmed

Feeling a bit overwhelmed today. The Visine helped my burning eyes. I look back on my past, and those lives that I've touched, and can't help but wonder...what if I had been more logically compassionate, more in tune with time, better prepared, had asked for help sooner, had been more responsible. What if my relationships were better, what if I had saved my money, what if I had never touched a computer, what if I cared more? What would life be without war, without famine, without sexual assault, without guns, without cigarettes, without illness?

On a brighter note, I look forward to hearing how Tom likes his go set.

Second Day not Picking at Skin

I'm actually very pleased with not picking at my skin. I thought it would relieve pressure at the places where I had acne, but the pressure was in my mind. And I feel better about myself by not picking at my skin. I may be a bit manic, shopping online is a lot of fun, I guess it's my generation, and making two blog entries in one day, but I'll take mania any day compared to painful picking.

Nice Surprise this Morning

I sold a go set on ebay.com...it sold relatively quickly and at a good price. Now I need to have it engraved and ship it. It's exciting to share my love of the game and make a little coin in the process. Also, my Mom told me that Cody's hand wasn't broke which means he can play the game he loves. Plus I'm making an effort to stop picking at my skin, and I'm being successful. I wonder what my future holds?!

Sick and Tired of Mental Illness

I feel like I'm becoming my illness. I go to treatment, I take my medicine, I journal, I get plenty of rest, I eat regular meals, I stay away from drugs and alcohol, I don't know what else to do. I guess I'll keep on keeping on, living for today. I believe that if I make some exercises part of a daily routine it would help.

Well, that's my complaining for the day, I think I'll go to Cody's baseball game, even if I can't follow it.

Strangly Rested and Content

I woke up this morning feeling strangly rested and content. Maybe decreasing the ammount of nicotene I take in is helping. There are truly many things I'm thankful for.

I'm planning the best way to put chess videos on youtube.com. What I'm thinking is I will find the score sheets from the games played at the coffee shop, then play through the moves in Fritz looking for brilliancies and blunders, save the game, then go through the game, making arrows and highlighting squares, with commentary, then upload them of course.

I hope the weather clears up for Cody's game tonight. I love baseball season :)

I also hope to sell the go set on ebay.com, maybe I could record my progress in go and post it on youtube, and scrabble, I really like my new screen recording software.

I read an article today, which alleged that a card collector was weighing packs of cards looking for "relic" cards. I'm sure this is satire, and it's funny! These relic cards, with autographs seem to be selling well on ebay. I'm still a bit leary of this market because it seems so sterile compared to the way I got autographs myself, handing over my stuff to be signed.

PS. The coffee is tasting really carmelly and nutty today :)

A Little Healthy Medicine

Me and Paul had a great time getting into our blitz games of chess. I won a couple lost a couple...but a good time was had by all. I was getting a little vocal during the last game, I hope it didn't upset any of the regulars. I think Paul or Barb would say something if I got out of hand. Dan was nice enough to lend me $2 so I could buy something.

It's good medicine for mind and body, playin a couple games of chess at the coffee shop.

I've installed a few new programs on my computer, The Godfather II, BSR Screen Recorder, and Fritz X. It's always fun installing new programs. Sometimes I think I like installing programs more than using them.

And gas prices keep rising. My neighbor's house burned down.

Life reminds me of "A Tale of Two Cities," "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

Seasons Change

I'm taking the day off. Maybe it's like the Dilbert strip where the guy's brain shuts down, or that I imagine that I'll feel better after some time off. I've got a nasty boil on my thigh. If my body and mind are going, and I have trouble relating, and technology is driving me crazy, what can I do but lay here and attempt to feel well? I hope the changing season warms me up. I'm going to volunteer tonight, that's kinda fun.

Sick then Bed Sores

So what do you do when you're sick? Get lots of rest, right? Then after getting a lot of rest I've got sores on my thighs. The only explaination I can come up with is too much time in bed.

Almost garden season, this makes me very happy. Garden fresh tomatoes, beans and peppers.

I've got the Godfather II computer game that I might try tonight.

Sick Yuck

I don't know what brought it on, but I've been a basket case the last couple days. Stomach, eyes, anxiety...the whole 9 yards. I'm feeling a bit better now. I'm going to try to get hydrated, I'm gonna have some water and 7-up.

Michael Jordan Autograph Deal

This is the first time I've felt that the invisible hand of the economy may be working in my favor. I've got a deal cooking to buy some really good condition Michael Jordan autographs. I know that I will need to find a buyer which may be tough, in this economy, with gas prices, for a high end item like this, but forever the optimist, I'll enjoy displaying them until I find the right buyer. For something this valuable I may need to send them off to PSA authenticators. I'll be looking into a membership, the last time I looked it seemed kinda pricey.

Sunny Days Again

The weather is really nice here in Robbinsdale MN. I'm going to play some basketball at the park after dinner. As a follow up on yesterday's post, my appointment went well with my nurse practicioner. We discussed the relative merits of Depakote and she asked me to push through and get some exercise. Even though I'm tired and having plenty of mental issues I'm going to push myself at exercise.

I'm really excited about business at versaglobe.com today, I bought electroniccigaretteguide.com and I think it will have a lot of traffic. I may just resell it for a profit. Also my ad in City Pages runs today. I can't wait to walk over to the corner mart and pick up a copy.

The Robbinsdale Chess Club hosted by Coffee on Broadway was a hit yesterday, with Barb the owner playing, and a few speed games.

Psychiatrist Appointment Tomorrow

I see Natalia my Nurse Practicioner tomorrow. I hope she can prescribe some Depakote to help me manage my fluctuations in mood. The last time I was on Depakote it dulled my senses enough for me to have more calm feelings and process in a more linear fashion. Or, maybe I'll try the Valium again to calm down. I bet it would help if I took the coffee and nicotene out of my diet, but at the same time I don't want to be all Quaker and stuff.

On a more positive note, I have 100 lookers and 5 watchers at the Go set I'm selling on Ebay. It would be fun making a living selling things that make life more enjoyable for people of all ages. And, the fun of Ebay has far from worn off :)

Feeling Calm Finally

After a frantic morning, I'm feeling a bit more calm after having a tuna fish sandwich on light Italian bread, and a regular pepsi. I think Easter is making me nervous. I haven't heard from the Y yet, even though I answered their million-question interogation. Another thing thats been bugging me is my hands shaking all the time.

I complain about my environment, even though most of whats bothering me are second-hand accounts of bad things happening to good people, and that's my environment. I feel like I'm able to focus on longer term goals when I'm calm. I'm considering going camping this summer, maybe with coffee shop Nick, it would be a nice change of environment. Lately I've been feeling very steam-punk, cyberpunk, goth, city-side, etc.

I forgot to take my Zoloft this morning, I guess I'll just take it when I get home. This would be a great day to shoot some hoops.

Application to the YMCA

I would really like to become more fit and I believe getting a job at the YMCA is the ticket. I went to the New Hope YMCA with my case worker Rana and the manager on duty was Zabrina, she told me about the available jobs and where to apply online. So I sent in my resume for a Fitness Center position where I would be keeping the machines clean, answering questions, showing people how the equipment works. It would be a great way to make money, at least until my webstore takes off.

Tired

I've found that with the medicine I'm on, Zoloft and Zyprexa, I get tired when I miss a meal. Combined with not sleeping well lately.

My case manager Rana is making me go to the YMCA tomorrow for work, I see it as an opportunity to play basketball, but it would be cool if I got a job there and membership was included.

"My life's in books written pages"

"I've lived and learned from fools and from sages." (Aerosmith)

I've decided to chronicle my journey through debt, mental illness, and starting a business. My goal is to post pictures, video, and words that describe the ups and downs of paying off my credit cards, living with schizophrenia, and starting a business with very little startup capital.

Today I'm shipping a few ebay items, cleaning my office, and going to a Timberwolves game. I'd like to get the list that World Wide Brands offers for sourcing wholesale product, but it runs $299 and if I were to pay interest on that for several years it would mean it cost me much more. I'd like to get some of my debt payed off before taking a chance on new products. Also, I think that selling electronic cigarettes may be a way to make some money.

Diggin the Y

Maybe I sound like a village people when I say the YMCA is a very fun place. Today I met a fellow basketball player Dan. We played PIG and around the world, it was very fun and I lost track of time, when I looked at the clock it was already noon, a couple hours had passed. I made dinner for my mom and me, it felt good to cook, I hope to make a habit of cooking for my family. Also, the Robbinsdale police caught the crooks that stole Broadway Awards computers. It makes me sad that anyone would want to break into a business in Robbinsdale and steal computers. And I'm getting kind of nervous about gas prices, I know they fluctuate, and there's not really anything I can do about it, except maybe buy a more fuel efficient car. I wonder what people living on strict budgets do when gas gets expensive.

Back to Basics

I've been trying to stay busy lately and have been prety good at it. I've joined the YMCA and plan on getting together an exercise bag and going tomorrow. I reinstalled Linux and the programs that power my server. Also, I reinstalled Windows on my desktop, although I'm still getting interference on my second monitor. I'm selling some card plaques on Ebay and I've added some products to www.versaglobe.com. It's hard to sell anything with all the competition out there. But, my products are unique so I hope to sell a few. I've been very tired lately, and I'm forcing myself to get out and do things. Lately, I've felt like I'm in an alternate reality, I'm prety sure that this reality is the same one I've always known, but it's weird. I'm going to watch some star trek tonight. My goal for tomorrow is to wake up to my alarm tomorrow morning, make coffee, and eat breakfast.