Career change: first 90 days

I remember when I was little, I used to walk around telling people I was going to grow up and be this, or that, but never really knew what any of those things were except maybe a Police Officer or Fireman. When I was 12 or 13 my father bought me a Commodor VIC20. It came with all the cool stuff, tape storage, a basic compiler, and other things I'm sure I'm forgetting.

I spent the better part of a summer typing every line of code I could find from the manuals, computer magazines and books. It was awesome. I knew right then I wanted to be a programmer. I didn't know how or what that meant but I was hooked.

I suppose many young men who grew up in the late 70's early 80's were hooked on computers. It opened doors, and heck, even let us create doors, which lead to long time careers in the computer field. Aside from the old iron and many of the headless computers of the 70's I've pretty much seen it all and been part of it all.

Lately, I've been involved with a company who sells a software program that has given companies the ability to control security and use of mobile computers. It's amazing the things I've seen and been a part of. The amount of intelligence required to come up with and build computer software these days is amazing. I've worked with some of the best minds to bang out code. I wish I had half their ability.

As changes are an everyday occurrence in the computer industry, it's time a made a change of my own. I'm heading down a new path that isn't directly related to anything computers. Yes, I will be able to use my skill set to help past clients and even help new clients, but that isn't what I will be doing on a daily basis any more. I've learned a lot more about business over the past 20 years than just how to write code. So that's where I am focusing my attention; building and improving business.

I'll continue to have my finger on the pulse of the computer world, stay in touch with my network, and build new relationships that will help me succeed in this new world. I have every confidence this is the right thing and is what will take me to the next level.

So I'll try and document my ramp up in this new position over the next 90 days and beyond. I was told that you have 90 days to get your stuff together in a new position or it will be an uphill battle the entire time. So I know how important it is to make an impact as quickly as possible. And that's what I intend to do.

read more...

St. George Triathlon - SGTRI

My wife was courages enough to train for an finish her first Triathlon. I spent several months training with her, and although I didn't participate, it was very fun and I had a blast. My effort in this whole endeavor was the support person. I helped make sure all the gear arrived, the bike was in good shape, and she had all the food and drink she needed.

Everything was going good, until the morning of the race. I figured I would get up, run across the street from our Hotel room and pick up some scrambled eggs and oatmeal from the Village Inn. Where we live, Village Inn is open 24/7, so I didn't count on walking out the front door at 4AM to see all the lights off. Crap, now what do I do? So I started walking up and down the main road to see if there was anything open. And as luck would have it, there wasn't. So I was faced with getting something from the corner gas-n-mart.

After picking up some power bars, water and gum, I run back to the room and made her eat and drink. Hydration was the key since it was going to be near 100 degrees F. during the race.

For Her, all went well. She took her time with the goal to just finish. And that she did. Time from start to finish was 2:59:56. She wanted to finish under 3 hours and she did. Awesome job honey.

Here are some pics from the race:

Just out of the water one and two.
One the run.
General race pictures during the race.


Even though everything turned out well for us, there was a problem with another athlete, who ended up dying after the swim portion of the race. You can read more about there here.

read more...

Realtors: Do your peers trust you?

There are very few professions where you character and integrity are called into question on a daily basis. A Realtor is one of them. Its funny almost. You have this love hate relationship with the general public. Your very existence relies on people trusting you enough that you will help them get what they want. Your every action, words and decisions are scrutinized. It can be uncomfortable. Most of this stems from the average person not knowing the real estate process. That's your job, to educate customers so they know exactly what to expect and reduce your risk.

There is risk you understand. Selling real estate, negotiating contracts, puts us in a very liable position. If we screw up, it can cost us a lot of money. If the customer screws up, it can still cost us a lot of money in lost fees. But the one thing that you can always control is you. How you come across, what you say, how you treat people. All of this is under your control. In most cases, we can earn a customers trust very quickly and never have a problem, and the customer will come back over and over again.

But I am seeing a trend in the real estate business. Realtors deliberately causing problems for other Realtors. I don't know about you, but there are enough things in this business to worry about and having to watch my back isn't one I care to endure. Sure, this is a competitive business, but it's also one that occasionally calls for us to be friends and help each other out. I can't even count how many times I've helped a fellow Realtor out. As long as it doesn't put my client in a bad position, then why wouldn't we want to help each other.

Another thing to remember is reputations precede us all. Think about the agents in your area. Are there ones you enjoy working with and ones you don't? Why don't you want to work with these people? Were they verbally abusive? Did they try and undercut or undermine you? Were they incompetent? There could be many reasons, but the simple fact is you can't stand to work with them. Don't be this person. Be the one we all want to work with.

Take my advice, we all have to get along. We all need to help each other to get what we want. And karma is always in play. You will reap what you sew, and always get whats coming to you.

read more...

USB thumb drives, the good and the bad

I blogged the other day about Must Have Gadgets. Reading LifeHacker today I ran across this article. The good news is that almost every PC has a USB port these days. The bad news is that not every computer has the software necessary to open your data or documents. But there is hope.

I found this great site, portableapps.com. The reason this is such a great site is you can download just about any kind of software that will run right off a USB Thumb Drive. So, here is what I have on mine:

1. PortableFirefox #1 must application (web browser, with my book marks imported)
2. PrtableOpenOffice (word processor, spread sheet)
3. PortableGaim (Instant Messaging for MSN, AOL, Yahoo!)
4. PortableFilezilla (FTP Client)
5. EssentialPIM Portable (Contact Manager)

I have PortableThunderbird loaded (email client) but since I use Gmail as my primary mail client, all I need is an Internet connection and I have email.

There are a few things to consider when using a USB drive, and the biggest is security. Don't forget, if you lose it all of your documents are vulnerable. There are a couple of products out there that will lock your drive and I would suggest investing in one if you are going to use your USB drive a lot or use it while on vacation. You can also purchase drives that have Biometric access (use your thumb print) to gain access. So, check these out, and do as the article says, go on vacation and leave the laptop at home.

Good luck.

read more...

Realtors: 5 must have gadgets

Everyone has their favorite techno gadgets. After years of field research, here is what I think every Realtor should have.

GPS
This goes out to all those who are map illiterate. No really, I mean it. Being a Realtor frequently requires you to find a home address, an office or a vacant piece of land. Do you know every street in your city? Every office building? I doubt it. Even if you're familiar with the terrain, a good GPS system will get you there faster.

A portable device is a better value than a permanent one mounted in your car. Why, because you can use it for more than just finding an address. You can take it camping, or biking or hiking. These are real safety items.

Most of the GPS systems on the market today not only help you find locations, but can help you get to locations faster by give you driving directions, and if linked into commuter systems can help you avoid traffic jams and road construction.

Laptop
There are finally enough entries in this market to make having a laptop a must. This versatile machine will be your best friend. It will become the most valued member of your Real Estate team. Everything from Intel based small portable laptops, to large monitor desktop replacements, to Apple iBooks. And lets not forget the biggest mover, the Tablet PC.

A Tablet PC has a lot of advantages, especially for Realtors. For one, you can use it in presentations because most have swivel monitors allowing more people to look at the screen, and two, it acts as a portable writing device. This is important because there is software that I will talk about in another article that allows you to have clients sign documents right on the Tablet, bypassing the need to print, sign and fax. Do it all from your Tablet. It's some of the most exciting technology to come along in quite some time.

Smart Cellphone
The reason I didn't include a PDA as a must have gadget is because I think the Smart Phone technology has matured enough that theres no need for a phone AND a PDA. Client list, email, appointments, notes and maybe some music, your set. You have a small mobile office that will serve you well. Take the time to evaluate several models. The leaders at the moment are the Palm based phones such as Treo, the Windows Mobile based phones and the BlackBerry based devices. I prefer the Windows Mobile devices because they are the most compatible with desktop and laptop PC's.

Thumbdrive Media
This very small but powerful device can come in handy especially if you don't take my advice and use a laptop. Even if you do have a laptop, it's important to have a mobile storage device with a connection that almost every computer in the world has, USB. Putting important documents on a USB drive does a couple of things; it allows yo take documents into environments where you can't use your own laptop, like the library, title company, clients office or a printer.

You can also use the USB device as a backup. Put all your sensitive documents in it and put it away for safe keeping. Blank CD's are good for storage too, but most of the time you can't reuse a CD.

Voice Recorder
Now, you wonder why in the world a voice recorder is a must have. Tell me this. How much time do you spend on the go, in the car, meeting with clients, open houses, closings, shopping? Most of your working time I imagine is spent somewhere other than the office. You want to minimize the amount of time you spend in the office. That's not where buyers and sellers are. Anyway, back to the voice recorder.

If you're like me, my mind is going a million miles an hour and thoughts, ideas, information pass by me all the time. I don't always have the luxury of stopping and writing things down, but you can always press record and start talking. Then, when you get back to the office or during your appointed review time you can transcribe your voice notes.

Being able to capture your thoughts, ideas, actions, or tasks gives you more time to focus on what you need to be doing and less time trying to remember everything. Try it, it's cheap and easy, especially if your Smart Phone has voice recording built in.

Agree or disagree? What do you think. Let me know.

read more...

Giving everything you have in life

My Brother-in-law sent this to me today, Author is unknown. But if it was you who wrote it, I'd totally give you credit.

"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, 'Wow, what a ride!'"

read more...

My Jazz Podcasts

I started hosting The Jazz Show on The Podcast Network. I'll be posting all my Jazz shows there. Come on over and take a listen, and try a few of the other podcasts, like:

The Jazz Show
The Rock Show
The PSP Show
The Digital Photography Show
The Personal Productivity Show

Many many more. See you there.

read more...

Update on Tony Stuart long over due

Wow, it's been a long time since I updated my Tony Stewart results:

Aaron's 499 - 2nd
Crown Royal 400 - 6th
Dodge Charger 500 - 12th

Overall in the point standings - 2nd

So, not too bad going into the 12th race of the year on May 28th.

read more...