Category: business

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business

“Bureaucracy is the death of all sound work” – Einstein

Fell victim to the planning fall ofcy just a little while after I mentioned it.

Issue’s that I mixed up two due dates for two projects; the one due later, handed in earlier and vice versa. Normally, it’s not that big a deal, but the ice storm that just hit us means that I lose another 24 hours to get this done on time.

Thing with being in a service industry’s that if you screw up one time, you’re gone.

The kicker’s that I just need one nugget of information but the city official I call in this small town won’t give it to me. So I gotta drive up two hours on icy roads and then repeat on the way down – just for a single line of information.

This fella named Javier Pascual Salcedo said that, Bureaucracy is the art of making the possible impossible.

That sounds about right to me.

Location: heading to kitchen for coffee
Mood: annoyed
Music: keep the chill from freezing our own free will
YASYCTAI: Make some more phone calls and hope you can convince someone to help you. (120 minutes/1 pt)
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business personal

Over three years later, still hate mice and AT&T

Mona Lisa on a NYC Building

The snow just keeps coming. Parta the reason I live in the city is because I thought I wouldn’t have to shovel. This is not true.

In other news, was all over the city and beyond this week: went to the boogie-down Bronx, Yonkers, White Plains, Queens and Long Island. All on the same day. So at least work’s picking up.

Been thinking about canceling AT&T for some time now – over three years actually – since my reception is horrid is non-existent stinks sucks bites leaves much to be desired. But they’re like the mafia; they keep pulling you back in. I’m like a crow with my love of new shiny.

But then PB sent me this link and I rang them up. Spoke to a nice young lady and convinced her to send me a 3G microcell free of charge.

I’m telling ya, the most valuable skill y’can have is an ability to talk to people.

But since this @#$@#$ comes from AT&T, of course it doesn’t work. Can’t believe I left Sprint all those years ago and got into something worse.

Guess that’s my project for the day.

Location: in fronta more blinking lights
Mood: frustrated
Music: So I traveled back, down that road
YASYCTAI: Try to resolve that issue. (120 mins/1 pt)
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business personal

2011 – Who ready? I’m ready.

Two years ago, said that my feet were pointed home. It’s been quite a slog, what with the economy and all the drama the past several years.

Said it lotsa times that all of your troubles can be neatly packed into health, wealth, & relationships.

Lemme add to that with a quote from a clergyman named Edward Everett who said, “Never bear more than one trouble at a time. Some people bear three kinds – all they have had, all they have now, and all they expect to have.” It’s hard, to be right here, right now.

Think for the past several years, been bearing all three types of all three times at once. Think I spent the last two years mentally unloading as much as possible to just concentrate on the troublesa right now – which, admittedly, isn’t much. This is a good thing.

There was this study called The Fox Farm Experiment where they found that if you stress dogs out about their survival they began to look more and more like wolves/foxes; and it happened hella fast.

Think that’s true for us too. When we bear all three types and of all three times at once, we turn greyer and more vicious. It’s just a survival thing, I think, and probably a necessary thing. But who wants to be greyer and vicious forever?

About two years ago, sat down and mapped out where I wanted to be – did it in this entry, even though there’s no explicit mention of it. See, y’can’t get to where you wanna be if y’don’t know where you’re going, yeah? Even through all the muck and mire, kept following that map and ended up starting the ascent earlier this year.

Just wanna keep on track for 2011.

To that end, spent the last few days refining my map for 2011 – suppose I’ll tell you about it soon enough. For now, lemme say, I’m excited for us.

It’s stupid, really – December 31st is an arbitrary day and essentially no different than any other. But we say it’s different, yeah? What we say of things in our heads make them real or not. Makes us wolves or men. So we say that 12/31’s when we reset and try something new, great or small.

Who ready? I’m ready. You ready?

Location: 2010
Mood: excited
Music: Came to party till I can’t no more Celebrate cuz that’s all I know
YASYCTAI: Make a new map (120 mins/3 pts)
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business personal

My three business credos

Birds on a wire; pigeons on a streetlight, NYC

Think I’m gonna stop writing for Technorati. No major single reason but a few little ones:

  1. Been crazy busy with work and those articles take me longer than anticipated to write – plus they make change requests that eat up more time
  2. Kinda feel like there’s no real support for articles since they run them all equally without any promotion
  3. There’s no means of auto-publishing. This I understand cause they want some editorial control but it has ramifications for me.

My three business credos, which’ve enabled me to not have a “real job” for decades yet still live comfortably, are:

  1. Underpromise, overdeliver.
  2. Save 10% of everything you ever make.
  3. Be a man of your word

It’s the last one that causes my friction with Technorati. Said to readers that we’d publish weekly on Fridays and yet, no; the editors manually put up each entry so articles’re published when an editor gets around to it.  They completely missed publishing last week.

It’s not as if I think people’re waiting with bated breath for my next installment; it’s that I said I do it.

When I say I’ll do something, it gets done. Even the people that can’t stand me know that if I give my word, it’s done.

Figure that my job’s to write and their job’s to publish. Y’can’t keep bugging someone to do what they’re supposta. Ergo, no more column.

It’s a shame – liked writing it and they weren’t bad fellas, just maybe understaffed.

Maybe I’ll move it somewhere else – any ideas?

———-

Him: How do we get to the museum?
Me: Just walk down Broadway and make a left at 79th Street. Keep walking straight until you see a large building that looks like a museum.

HG’s brother stayed over the other night and enjoyed hanging out in the city enough to stay for another dinner. We ended up doing Vietnamese the first night and pizza the next.

It’s nice when your significant other’s siblings and relatives aren’t jerks. Hoping they think that it’s nice that their sibling’s fiancee’s not a jerk too. It’s rough when that’s not the case.

Went to wrestle the other day and now my neck’s all jacked up; can barely move right now.

Man, the holidays’re gonna leave me a porker.

Location: at my desk, immobile
Mood: in pain
Music: I guess action speaks louder than words
YASYCTAI: Go to the doctor for a physical. (60 mins/1 pt)
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business personal

Acres of Diamonds

A stoplight in NYC

Just started working with a new client so it’s busy once again. Suppose it’s not possible to just live a life of leisure while engaged or married and not filthy rich.

Was used to making just enough to pay the mortgage and have some spare scratch for the occasional electronic dohicky and rum-based beverage. But 2007 took mosta that life away.

In some way, maybe it was a good thing.

There’s this old story called Acres of Diamonds my dad told me once. It’s about this dude who sold everything he had to travel the world in search of diamonds. He died penniless, the story goes, but on the property he sold to fund his world trip, was found to be a diamond mine he never knew about cause he never looked.

Guess 37’s as good an age as any to grow up.

Location: midtown
Mood: uncomfortable
Music: flying like a bird but I can’t get higher, Nothing I can do
YASYCTAI: Poke around the backyard (10 mins/1 pt)
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business personal

Brian Regan, Thanksgiving part 1, Drama, and Cars on Demand

Tickets to Brian Regan in NYC

Me: Do you wanna fool around?
Her: No.
Me: (10 minutes later) Do you wanna fool around?
Her: How many times are you going to ask me that?
Me: Evidently twice.

Finished up 95% of that crazy batch of work. It’s a good feeling when you’ve finished up a large project.

On Friday, decided to buy my office some beers so I brought a half-case of small batch brews in. Turned out to be fortuitous cause our law clerk passed the bar and I got another major client. So the bosses picked up some Maker’s Mark and champagne and we pounded until it was time to go home. Sobered up with the girl in front of Iron Man 2.

Saturday, HG got us tix to catch Brian Regan at Lincoln Center. It was a perfect night and he was hilarious.

He’s onea the inspirations behind this blog. He doesn’t curse at all in his set but both HG and I were frequently in tears laughing. There’re 880,000 words in the English language, and it’s not the words you use but the manner in which you use them that makes you a good artist. It’s easy to toss around an expletive here and there and sometimes it’s funny.

Most times, it’s just lazy.

Sunday, went to see HG’s family for an early Thanksgiving – her bro’s in town and won’t be able to come for the actual date. We’re in the DriveMint program which’s like a NYC-centric ZipCar service; they had more garages near us so we picked them over Zip.

Anywho, the @#$@#$ who had our car before us left it BONE-DRY. Our car conked out in the middle of Broadway in front of Lincoln Center.

Me: Oh this can’t be good.

We managed to get it to the side of the road and called Mint. The guy we spoke to got told us to leave the car there, walk over to 59th and pick up the Mercedes sitting there, which we did. He went to go get gas and pick up the car to drive it back.

As for us, we hightailed it out to HG’s family place; we lost like an hour but gained a Mercedes. The stuffing was great – both the noun and the verb.

Afterward, we played some modified Trivial Pursuit 80s version. I did the best, which is understandable since I was the only one that could remember the 80s.

Me: I just wanted to call to say how much I appreciated how you handled the situation earlier. If it was done any differently, you would have lost a customer.
Him: Thanks for being so understanding.
Me: It wasn’t you that caused the problem but you took ownership of it and came up with a solution. I respect that. I’d like to send an email to your company to tell them that how you dealt with me and the situation professionally and quickly.
Him: (laughing) I’m actually a partner in the business. But thanks, I appreciate it.

Location: yest., driving down route nine
Mood: still full
Music: you too and stuff
YASYCTAI: Reward someone that does a good job. (10 mins/1 pt)
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business personal

Halloween 2010 NYC

Docks restaurant in midtown, NYC

(c) Someone else

Me: (to cook) Did you just dunk the bread into oil before frying it?
Him: (nodding)
Me: Niiiiiice…

Last Thursday night was not the best night I’ve had.

Submitted the five projects that night – still dunno if I’ll get paid. Anywho, turns out I missed one key piece of information. So I slept for four hours, woke up at the crack of dawn, redrafted and then resubmitted it while HG went to the Caribbean without me. As soon as the paperwork was in, dashed to the office to put in a full day at work on Friday.

Was supposed to meet up with Paul to catch the Jaymay concert downtown and was gonna bail but somehow found my second wind with four hours sleep. Had a grand-ole, rum-filled time. The opening act was way cool too and were dressed like the band in the Muppets with a twist! They wore a joker grill on their teeth so they were “evil Muppets”! Jaymay put on a great show as always.

Felt awake enough to over to his pad and pick up some street Halal food, just like I did last year. Next day, wrestled where the guy I used to school proceed to whup me every-which way.

That Saturday night, did what most geeks do when their fiancees’re away and the women in NYC are tarting it up for Halloween – stayed home with some pork rinds and assembled a quad-core, triple-digital input DVR with 3.5TB of harddrive space and dual 32″ extended desktop display.

Sunday worked again; on the train to meet a client, this four-year-old girl dressed up as Snow White got into an argument with her older brother dressed as Batman. She ended the argument by reaching down and firmly grasping his privates and violently yanking.

Every man watching did a collective sympathy groan.

Quite the dweeby weekend.

Docks restaurant in midtown, NYC

Location: in fronta screens
Mood: still insanely busy
Music: You see, there’s just too much I know already
YASYCTAI: Get out and have a life (after you’re done with work). (120mins/1 pt)
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business dating personal

Love is… or Why you should be dating online

Online dating versus offline or regular dating

Statue in Tribeca NYC

Went out the other night with my buddy to some local watering holes – the first time in a while. We’re having a mild disagreement about online dating.

The way I look at it, it’s like having a relative named, for example, Aunt eMatch that says, “I’ve got a girl I think you might like.” In fact, it’s better; it’s like Aunt eMatch saying, “I’ve got a girl I think you might like – and here’s her resume, a buncha pics, and a writing sample.”

My buddy says that interpersonal vetting’s the best way to meet someone; can’t disagree with that BUT he also feels that’s why online dating seems to fail – because of the lack of connection, meaning a common friend. But the connection isn’t a person, rather, the stuff you’ve got in common.

When you’re a kid, you think love’s looking at someone and going, You’re so awesome, and she looks back at you and says the same thing. Adults are different.

Adults don’t stand facing one another but side-by-side. It’s why I always say that you want someone on your side.

That, in turn, is from that French dude that wrote The Little Prince: Aimer, ce n’est pas se regarder l’un l’autre, c’est regarder ensemble dans la même direction, which translates to To love is not to look at one another: it is to look, together, in the same direction.

Love’s when you’re both looking at stuff y’love – like a Firefly episode you love, how you want to raise your kids, or your plant Harold -and you go, Do you see what I see? and she goes, Man, I *totally* see what you see.

That’s love. How you get it – online/offline – depends on how life puts it in front of you, but it’s always the same thing.

 

Location: going to New Rochelle
Mood: insanely busy
Music: look into their eyes, and you suddenly know
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business personal

The dangers of working for yourself

Docks restaurant in midtown, NYC

Me: Just signed up for automatic delivery of 18 bags of pork rinds every six months. The future has arrived. And it is delicious.
Her: What are you going to do during the five and a half months that you’re waiting for your next delivery?
Me: I’ve done the math. I get 18 bags for six months, or 24 weeks. This means if I pace myself @ 3/4 of a bag a week, or approximately 10% of a bag a day, I should make it. Barely.

First batch arrived on Sunday. Sunday delivery of pork rinds. Oh technology, is there nuthin you can’t do?

However, contrary to the above conversation and stereotypes, not all Asians are good at math – I’m assuredly not. Heartgirl, who’s not Asian, apparently is.

Me: You were the winner of the math award in your school?
Her: Yep.
Me: Wait, you beat the Asians in your school?
Her: Yep. (pause, laughing) Suck it, Asians!

———-

Been working non-stop on five projects when the client said he might kill the deal. Find out later on this week if the deal’s alive or dead. It’s one of the pitfalls of what I do. No much to do but wait.

Went out with my law firm on Friday for drinks at the local bar; it’s nice hanging out with co-workers again since I’ve been a lone wolf for a while. That’s another drawback of working for yourself.

Sunday, went to wrestle. A guy I introduced to the class and I used to school now ranks higher than me; one might think I’d have an issue with that but wrestling’s a pure meritocracy – either you’re good and you win or you’re not and you lose.

Got no problem with someone that does something better than me if it’s deserved. It is and he’s just better, that’s how it goes.

Suppose that’s why I like to wrestle and fence. They’re self-correcting types of activity; no one tells you if you’re good or not. Get choked or stabbed enough, y’gotta figure your game’s not what it could be.

My pursuit of scratch is pretty self-correcting too. Do a bad job, never hear from a client again. This latest drawback with the client’s because of the economic climate and that’s why it’s annoying – it’s something that’s got nuthin to do with my ability.

The waiting’s no fun either.

Location: a greenish couch
Mood: hopeful
Music: I awake all sweet and sound, without a care or woe
YASYCTAI: Get more clients. (always/2 pts)
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business personal

Making decisions

Gated Apartment downtown NYC

Spent the weekend working like mad. My Sunday started out in the West Village and ended up in a church in the Upper West Side about nine hours later. The search for scratch knows no weekend. Did run into an old law school buddy downtown though with her kid and husband.

There’s no place like New York for the random meetings.

Speakinga law school, there’s this saying that goes something like, B students work for C students – the A students become judges.

The concept’s repeated in other quotes but the idea is this: The really smart people in life are paralyzed by their need to think everything through and end up doing nuthin.

My old boss in CNET once said something in all seriousness to me that I remember to this day, “You’re onea the smartest people I’ve ever met – hope you don’t let that hold you back.” For a long time, didn’t think it did.

Expected to be a millionaire by the time was 30. Ended up going in  the opposite direction. The fiancee (weird writing that) seems to think I mention all of the things that happened to me a lot. Maybe. It’s definitely defined me for a while and still does.

It’s affected me more than I previously thought – things are a lot more daunting for me. It’s also the age I suppose.
The people who are wildly successful, I find, aren’t necessarily the smartest or the bravest, but the people that see the world for what it is – with all the opportunities and glory and all the unfairness and crap – and then just make a choice and run with it.

Forcing myself to do that more again. It’s a bit like working out a muscle you’ve not used in a while. It takes a bit.

———-

Wrote a new entry for This Post-Modern Love – take a look.

Location: yest, all over Manhattan
Mood: rushed
Music: the things you’re thinking, are they false, are they true
YASYCTAI: Make the decisions and run with it. (1 min/1 pt)
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