Computer problems

Ok, yesterday I made a stupid mistake. Being in IT I should have known better. In the middle of my day, I get an email from our email server saying that it has detected a virus on my computer and in order to remove it I needed to update my virus protection. We'll almost immediately after clicking the attached zip file, I knew I had unleashed a virus on my box. My virus protection software starting going bezerk; throwing up messages about infected email messages. Ahhhgg, how could I have fallen for the oldest trick in the book?

The basement project...

Sunday turned out to be a great day. Not because of the weather, it rained non-stop all day. Not because the Patriotes won big on the road against the up and coming Bengles. But because I finished the last big task left on a much bigger six month project. The big project was finishing the basement. And as my son's birthday approached, my wife decides that we should have it finished in time for the September birthday party. So for the last couple months, I've been working non-stop on it -- paiting, sanding, poly'ing. Then their was the pool table disaster that I'll share some other time. Finally, we get the basement finished, bring out all the old funiture, do some quick decorating, and have it looking mint in time for the party.

So just what was this last task? It was cleaning up and organizing the 'other' side of the basement. The unfinished side had turned into a complete and utter disaster after six months of treating it like a storage shed. And now Holleigh wants to use it for a work area for her jewlery. Even after taking out all the old funiture, we had so much crap stored in that area that everywhere you looked there where piles of stuff. It was almost completely overwealming just trying to start.

So I put my blinders on (as in tunnel-vision) and began with organizing the paint shelf. It was at this point when I had a emiphenany of sorts. It occured to me that when I was young, I remember helping my dad organize his paint shelf. And although I'm sure there are plenty of basements in America with used paint buckets -- mine was unique. My paint shelf was an exact copy of the one my father had in his basement. Paint on one side, stain on the other. The small cans piled on the top of the larger cans of paint. And the rule was to save every gallon of used paint - no matter how little was left -- in case of an emergency that might require some touchup paint. I took this rule to the ridiculous, having saved gallons of paint from our old house. I thinks it's safe to throw those out now :)

Then I looked at my work bench - covered in tools, things in need of repair that I hadn't had time to work on - just a huge and utter mess. And it was then that I realized that in a small way I had become my father. The similarity was far too great to be coincidence. Same piles of unused lumber. Same boxes of electrical crap. Even the way in which I stored all my tools and odds-and-ends was the same. Did I inherit the 'basement' gene or was it the many nights spent with my father in the basement helping him with his many projects?

Basements can reveal a great deal about a man. A basement absent of tools and left-over project materials belongs to a hands-off type. Someone who would rather call a professional than try to fix or do something themselves. A basement chaulk full of crap - to the point where you can't even walk around -- belongs to the guy who's life is equally a mess.

But like my father, I like to keep a robust set of tools, a closet full of nuts and bolts, and boxes of odds and ends. You never know when you might need all this crap - you may never. But at least you are prepared in case you need to make an emergency repair. Having all this junk provides a weird sense of security. I can't explain why; especially in this day and age of Home Depots and Lowes on every corner.

Pulp Fiction, what a fantastic movie!

Happend to catch Pulp Fiction on cable last night. Was the dubbed version so the lines where pretty cut up; but still -- what a awsome movie. The dialog in that flic is unlike anything.

Anyways, got something to work out; one of those situations in life that always seem to manifest themselves every so often. I'm talking about money....money owed to you...money you can't seem to get the person to pay you. In my case it was my first paying gig at web development. The client was referred to me by a friend. Spoke with him several times about the project and he didn't even flinch at my horly rate. Everything seemed to be on the straight-and-narrom. He didn't come across as someone I couldn't trust; so we made our business arangement on a verbal promise -- no written contract? Yes, I should have been smarter than that.

Anyways, he agrees to my proposal and sends me an email saying he'll fund a po for 5K to cover the cost of the project. And then the client immediately introduces scope creep by proposing some new functionality. I gave the client an estimate, and he still didn't bulk. It was still a go. So I started by creating some web templates of the new site's home page. I did it in html so that it would appear to work -- yet all the links where dead.

Then I submitted the design to the client and he doesn't give me much feedback. Out of the two designs, they like one better than the other. At the point I submit my first invoice for about a grand. The client had originally promised to pay me within a week. So when a week went by, then another, and still no check, I sent the client an email asking about the payment. He said it would go out Friday, Monday the latest -- and I should have had it by Wednesday. Well then Wednesday came and went, and on still nothing. On Friday, now four weeks into the project - about half way done, I submit my second invoice -- with a note that asks where my first check is. I get one line answer; payed 9/18 send 9/19. So once again, I wait a couple days and still nothing. Now I'm pissed. My head is telling me that I got taken; that this guy is just stalling. I had some doubts before, but now I'm sure I've been had. But why? Why would he scam me - and the project still is only half one.

Three days later, on Webnesday, he sends me an email saying he forgot to mail the check and that it went out first thing in the morning. Now I'm ballistic - out of my mind angry. I draft a response but end up sending it to my wife, who rewrites it for me. So I send the thing and it says how I've stoppped working on the site until I get payment on the second invoice and that I don't trust him anymore. I did write that I would finish the project if he promised to pay my last invoice before taking delivery for the final site (and the files). Nothing too bad. We'll I haven't heard from him since; and my check came yesterday. Now I'm starting to feel like I made a mistake, like I was a little harsh. My wife thinks so. I'm reserving judgement until the check clears. If it does, I'll send him a note next week asking where I stand. I'll let you know what happens.

First day of the rest of my life...

Ok, I realize how cliche my title is - but at least I didn't use the proverbial 'my first post'. That's always the kiss of death to any blog. With these blogs, sometimes you see a couple entries after the first, but then it's just dead air. The authors run out of steam pretty fast. The net is just filled with these dead blogs. I hope mine doesn't fall victim to the same cause; lost ambition.

I had been thinking of starting a blog for a long time. I just could never figure out what it was I wanted to write about. There was just too many things that interested me; subjects that I wanted to explore; things that needed to be said. But it was a post in a traders newsletter that made me see the light. The guy writing the newsletter likes to write about issues in life that can impact your decision making when it comes to trading. Some of the big ones he talks about are death of loved ones, sickness, and stress; and how to handle such situations in life. The key (he wrote) to handling all that life can throw at you, and being at your best (in trading and anything else) is 'living in the present'.

This is not a new concept. In fact, authors who have nothing to do with trading such as Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, Robbins, and others all use the same theme. He explained quite eloquently that to be our best self, we need to live in the present moment as it offers us a unique opportunity for success that we've never had before and will never have again. We may have other opportunities, but never quite the same as the one in front of you. He emphasised that not every moment offers us the opportunity to be successful in business or trading. Some opportunities offer a chance to build better relationships with our spouses, our family, or our friends. Other opportunities afford us a chance to rest and rejuvenate. Just as we are mind, body and spirit we also must work at balance so we can be around for the long run.

He also wrote about a creativity coach, Julia Cameron, who works with artists that are stuck and gets them back into their 'zone'. According to Cameron, the problem stems from the fact that "we think too much; we tend to think about all the problems facing us at any given moment". This kind of thinking is all left-brained, and in order to get in the 'zone' you need to engage your right-brain. She suggests we get up every morning and write three pages. The purpose of doing this is to allow our critical thinking to release so we can get on with the process of being in a flow state. The newsletter author learned that by writing the 3 pages, he had stumbled into a tool that helps him release a lot of mental garbage. He writes "what happens is whatever feelings or thoughts that may be brewing just below the surface, float harmlessly to consciousness where they can evaporate into the air."

When you write those 3 pages you'll become very aware of every one of your thoughts. They'll be on a page right in front of you. It will be the truest form of living in the moment. The best part is you'll be able to build from there.

And another benefit to this daily exercise is that you can record your life in a journal to help you remember all the events, all the lessons, all the special moments that happen during the course of your life. For someone like myself who can hardly remember what it was I did yesterday, this is gold. Not only will I have a tool for keeping my mind 'in the moment', but I'll also have a chronological diary of my growth as a human being.

This is why I have decided to take up the art of 'blogging'. I believe this strategy will offer tremendous rewards -- it already has!