uvageek

So I’m relapsing into “sappy” Dan.  Just finished watching the movie “The Bucket List” starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson and I have to say that it gives yet another perspective on life.

I’ve worked for the past seven years of my life and I have to say that I’ve worked hard, taking very little time for myself.  The movie (and sure it’s a movie) really gets at the heart of the matter that we need to take life by the horns and enjoy it - we only have one life to live.

If you haven’t seen it, I’d highly recommend it.

It’s been a while since we’re digested any of Ferris’ work, but I figured that with Summer starting that it was time to dive back in and start realizing just how far off my personal compass is from True North and to figure out what my pace count should actually be.

Chapter Four, titled “System Reset” has quite a bit of food for thought - hence the reason it’s taken so long to digest.  Of the two quotes that he begins the chapter with Ferris truly does make the reader think about the life that they live, their actions and their level of comfort.  Of the opening quotations, the following definitely makes one think.

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself.  Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” - George Bernard Shaw, Maxims for Revolutionists

I read these words and my first though is that this is common sense, however what I’ve also come to find is that what I find as common sense ends up being above and beyond what commonality holds.  Granted, there is something to be said with relation to adapting to the world in which we live within.  This logic is reasonable and modern in thinking.  Taking the world and molding it to my own needs, using what is best for me, brings me to think in some way that George Bernard Shaw was a man ahead of his time living life as a post-modern visionary.

It is key to realize that being a master of one’s environment is what allows man to have an edge on those around him.  Adapting nature such that nature revolves around you and you are its master rather than being mastered and preyed upon by nature, in as much as the world.

As an Information Technology Consultant, it is very easy to work toward the mediocare and learn the basics of a system’s architecture, but by dissecting it and understanding the underlying functions and how it is tied and interwoven with the platform allows for creativity.  Understanding this relationship between functionality and method provides for the ability to modify the basis upon which the system is derived, allowing for true mastery to synthesize something new and outside the box rather than conforming to the determiniant of a matrix.

So I know that your first thought when you read “Land Shark” is probably in reference to the Saturday Night Live skit that originated during the first season of SNL with the voice of Chevy Chase as the land shark and narrated by John Belushi.

But no, actually I’m referring to something different that when served with a twist of lime is probably one of the best potent potables around.  Yes friends, I’m referring to Margaritaville’s Landshark Lager.

First off, let me say that I didn’t have my first alcoholic beverage until I was 21 years old and I am in no way shape or form advertising underaged drinking - follow the law, it’s there for a reason.  Nor am I stating in anyway shape or form that it’s okay to over-drink or binge drink as this only leads to further problems in life.

Nevertheless, not only is it one of the smoothest lagers I’ve ever had, it’s tasty with a lime and it doesn’t have a “mean” after taste.  So if you’re in the mood for something light and tasty, I recommend trying it out

Now Playing - John Mayer - Heavier Things - Wheel

Alright, so I’ve been doing a bit of thinking and basically what it comes down to is that there are many unfinished threads in my life right now and until I can reasonably say that I’ve completed those threads, I’m holding off on procuring the MBP.

From a financial standpoint, I’ve got the money to invest in the MBP, but from a usability standpoint I already what meets my functional requirements (wow, I’ve been a consultant for too long).

Nevertheless, current threads that I’m working to accomplish:

• Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator 2003 - One more exam, 70-291, studying for it this weekend
• Finishing Analysis of Tim Ferris’ Four Hour Work Week
• Reading Andrew Connell’s Web Content Management Book
• Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer 2003 - three exams past the MCSA
• Microsoft Certified IT Professional 2008 Enterprise Administrator (equivalent of MCSE 2003) - three exams past the MCSE

Somewhat aggressive plans prior to MBP, sure, but I see this as a time of financial responsibility.  Who knows, maybe I’ll crack next week and go over to Tyson’s Corner and pick one up O:-)

Now Playing - Jack Johnson - Jack Johnson: Live In Japan - The Train to Osaka

 
From XKCD - 439

So for those of you that are avid XKCD readers you may have come across this.  Needless to say, I’ve been in this situation before, the only difference being that I didn’t jump through the window

Now Playing - Charlie Haden - Land of the Sun - Solamente una Vez (You Belong to My Heart)

So I’ve been contemplating buying a MacBook Pro for a while now.  And yes, I realize that there will be a hardware refresh sometime in the next six to eight months… though I also realize that in the past whenever Apple has done a hardware refresh that there are typically some small problems (warping of cases, etc.) during said releases which means that the current MacBook Pro which is nimble and quick is at the height of its refinement.

What to do… Thoughts? Recommendations?  I know, go read a forum and make my own decision, but those are coming from folks that I don’t know

Now Playing - Charlie Haden - Land of the Sun - Sueno Solo Con Tu Amor (I Only Dream of Your Love)

So after several months of forgetting to cancel my Vonage service, it’s finally disconnected, and $25 a month are going back in my wallet.  The account was originally opened to use the V-Phone USB device - pretty slick implementation.  If only it worked “properly” on Windows Vista.  I was truly amazed that Microsoft would blame Vonage and vice versa; Vonage posted a work around, but I could never get it to work.  On the brighter side of things, it’s done and over with in a mere 9 minutes and 30 seconds.

I probably shouldn’t mention that I used my SkypeOut account to cancel it should I?

Now Playing - Kaki King - August Rush (Soundtrack) - Ritual Dance

As we continue in our dissection of Tim Ferris’ book,  The Four Hour Work Week we continue onward into Chapter 3, entitled "Dodging Bullets."  Typically each chapter starts off with a few quotes, either from pop culture or from historical figures.  One of several quotes within the chapter is by none other than Star Wars’ Yoda:

Named must your fear be before banish it you can.

Quite a true sentiment that I have come to find is quite true - most of the time not wanting to own up to the fears that define particular parts of my personality.  The more that we dwell on those fears and let them own us, the further that we continue to set into a sedimentary state - breaking free of such requires extreme circumstances.  Typically we talk about hoping that someone gets a wake up call sometime to shake them out of something, whether it be an alcohol addiction or video game addiction, in this case, hoping that a person will own up to their fear and walk out on the ledge and face it and grow from it.  One of the anecdotal stories that Ferris uses retells stories of a former LA lawyer and how he faced his fears learning to let go while hang gliding…

He had realized something while arcing in slow circles toward the earth - risks weren’t that scary once you took them.

We live in circumstances that define our lives.  We live in a society that beats us down from taking a step toward confronting our fears for the most part, telling us to just accept life the way that it is.  I ask myself the same question the lawyer asked himself, "What the hell did he [I] want?"  Without knowing what I want, it’s hard to confront the circumstances that I live within to break free.  But then again, stepping out on that ledge and just taking the plunge, whether in a relationship, with regard to work, or toward an alternate reality (not in a drug induced state mind you) makes one truly ponder when they get to that level… is this what I was so afraid of?

Ferris moves on to push the read to define their nightmare, leading into it with a quote from Benjamin Disraeli, the former British Prime Minister…

Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.

How true this is.  We sit with shackles binding our wrists together, typically self enforced, refusing to take action in our circumstances, staying where we feel safe rather than thinking to see what we can do if we unbind them and be a little adventurous.  The question we then must ask ourselves is if we choose to sit shackled and not remove them (our fears), will we be happy?

Most people will choose unhappiness over uncertainty… I was just as insecure and scared as the rest of the world… Pure hell forces action, but anything less can be endured with enough clever realization.

Defining the fear, the nightmare, stepping past it, we begin to see through the clouds, the haze begins to lift, the light streams through.  What’s the worst that can happen?  Rejection, it’s normal.  Unhappiness, at least venturing out and finding that it’s not something that is pleasant we don’t have regret.  Some might say that being content is the way to be, I argue this and would say that being content and living within your means is definitely good in a financial sense, but if you move outside the physical contentedness into what is commonly referred to as the perimeter around your comfort zone, the benefits and dividends (tax free at that) are priceless.  So often we continue to just live one step away from hell, not taking the action.  Finally once we move past the shackles and step out, we realize:

There was practically no risk, only life-changing upside potential, and I could resume my previous course without any more effort than I was already putting forth.

My challenge to you the reader, think about the fears in your life, think as to what they are preventing you from doing.  Sure there are those fears that aren’t just fears in the physical sense, we wonder what the future will hold for us.  And obviously there are several facets and factors to live, not being close to those we love does cause there to be separation issues which are hard to mend even with time.  Additionally, taking into consideration the relationships of colleagues - yes it’s fine to bolt for a few weeks and go exploring, but if in a position that is edifying, leaving it for a year probably isn’t the best thing to do while exploring by backpack the mountains of Chile.  Rather than attempting to conquer the capital Fears in your life, I challenge you to look at the little fears, even they define you in your personality.  Resolve each and every day to work on living up to those fears.

As I continue to digest Tim Ferris’ book,  The Four Hour Work Week, I’ll dive into my thoughts regarding the second chapter of the text.  The first chapter at best whets your appetite, yet the second chapter begins to break down the walls, making you really start to think about reality and how you are defining it (yes, I know that sounds like the Matrix in some way shape or form) but it’s time to start thinking what’s important in your life and stop wasting time filing things into folders.

Ferris starts the chapter with a little anecdotal story regarding his own rise to fame in the world of kickboxing - interesting story regarding tricks of the trade, continuing onward to "Challenging the Status Quo versus Being Stupid."  There are several points that Ferris brings up, of which the following I find to be quite interesting in application to my own situations.

Point 3 - Less Is Not Laziness is a point that definitely makes me stop for a moment and consider what I see in the world of work - focusing on several things, attempting to multi-task, taking on more than one should, over promising and under performing.  As Ferris points out:

Doing less meaningless work, so that you can focus on things of greater personal importance, is NOT laziness.

I agree that this is something that is very hard for most people to accept, primarily in that it has been bread into the minds and souls of previous generations, "Working hard is what matters."  Recently several companies have grown quickly with great substance and power such as Google as they attract the brightest in the world to work and be creative - working smarter (and albeit hard) than most other companies in the technology business.  As MarketWatch’s John Dvorak mentions, to beat Google you won’t just have to work smarter, you’ll have to work harder - with the forethought being that in your working harder, you focusing on the strategy rather than just doing the typical American thing of taking an old process that doesn’t work and just working it.

Innovation - something that every company likes to think that it is, is probably the key.  Innovative solutions that are creative, more than likely you won’t have these unless you’re able to clear your mind and have less "busy-ness" on the mind so that you’re able to be more productive.  As Ferris mentions, "Focus on being productive instead of busy."  This is something that I have to remind myself and my colleagues of, "Let’s work to be productive, not necessarily busy."

Point 4 - The Timing is Never Right - how true it is.  As Ferris mentions

…the timing always sucks.  Waiting for a good time to quit your job?  The stars will never align and the traffic lights of life will never all be green at the same time.  The universe doesn’t conspire against you, but it doesn’t go out of its way to line up all the pins either.  Conditions are never perfect.

I keep having to wonder if I’m in the right spot, it I’m just waiting for something incredible to happen, some miracle to pop up and the opportunity come about where I’m suddenly a millionaire, however I think much as Ferris mentions, just get up and go.  We tend to sit back and let things come to us, we feel as though we should receive things, that we’re entitled to them.  We’re entitled to nothing, it’s time to get up and take the risks and adventures that we want to take - no one is going to do it for us.

There are several other points that Ferris brings up, these are just two of them that peek my interest most.  The ending of the chapter with the Questions and Actions definitely makes one ponder…

How has being "realistic" or "responsible" kept you from the life you want?

For me, I would say that it’s kept me from overselling myself, keeping me from being boastful.  It’s kept my feet on the ground rather than traveling here and there - time to revitalize the soul and get back the youthful nature of a child.

Quote of the Day:
Your heart often knows things before your mind does.
–Polly (Pearl) Adler

So on a whim, I took the advice of my brother and picked up a copy of the The Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris from audible.com and listened to it over the holidays while at the gym, listening to each chapter once (or twice sometimes if I inadvertantly set it to repeat the track) and decided that I wanted to get a little more out of it, so I ordered a copy off of Amazon.com and thought, "let’s start putting this into action" or at least start letting it affect the way that I work and the way that I live.

The first chapter, definitely an interesting read, though nothing really lept out at me, springing off the page and making me go, "Whoa, how true it is."

It did catch my eye however when Ferris was discussing the difference between the Defferers (D) and the New Rich (NR), specifically on page 23 where he states the following:

D:  To have freedom from doing that which you dislike.
NR:  To have freedom from doing that which you dislike, but also the freedom and resolve to pursue your dreams without reverting to work for work’s sake.

This hits me squarely in the chest, primarily the "working for work’s sake."  Stop and think for a minute, and I’m not saying that you should cut corners and leave your jobs or do anything drastic that could get you fired, but what is your passion?  What is it that drives you?  What motivates you to work hard?  For me, I would definitely say that I work to the best of my ability to support others to make better decisions.

Though I cannot say that I am a member of the NR yet, I do seek (and dream) to get to that way of life here soon.  I want to be able to have 90% of my time working from my home office or St. Louis Bread Company or local coffee shop whereever I’m off adventurering rather than in the corporate workplace, constantly being pulled aside to assist with tasks that don’t provide benefit to me.

So what’s that mean?  Right now as I continue to parse through these interesting notes, it’s time to replace assumptions of life - people seem to say things to scare us off from adventuring, time to break down those relics and illusions.