Archive for July, 2009
Day 3 - Road Trip, East Coast: Last Bit of NYC and Albany, NY
All photos are finally up. From 1400 down to 404 photos, enjoy!
I stayed in New York longer than expected. I was fatigued of walking and knew that I had to continue my journey. The Hollanders could have walked the whole day and not feel exhausted (late teens to early 20’s and in great shape). We finally made it back to the hostel and I quickly grabbed my suit case and headed to Penn Station.
Taking the train to Albany was relatively quick. I was able to write, look along the Hudson River, and reflect on the trip.
Going to Albany
Tags: Albany, east coast, good times, New York, road trip, vacation
Book Review: Young Guns, The Fearless Entrepreneur’s Guide to Chasing Your Dreams and Breaking Out on Your Own
I’ll tell you right now, this review doesn’t do the actual reading of the book justice.
I’ve read many business books in my day. There have been some that have been a total waste of time and some that have helped me along my way of becoming an entrepreneur. This book, however, has been more of a gem than I ever thought possible. This book is less fluff and ‘Ra-Ra’ chatter, and more about an action plan, backed up with personal anecdotal stories from a person, who had a dream, thought, and passion for an idea and did something about it.
Young Guns is broke down into 16 chapters. Some of the chapters are:
The Decision (chapter 2)
The Big Idea (chapter 3)
Day 2 - Road Trip, East Coast: The Road Trip and NYC!
The alarm was jingling around 12:30 a.m., early Saturday morning. I knew it was time for me to do something I’ve never done before, or more accurately, done something that I’ve never done for a long time.
I made some coffee, turned on my laptop, and started writing. I would have to say that I left Ann Arbor before 2 a.m. It was dark, cold, and spooky at the same time. I looked around my surroundings so many times. I wonder if somebody was behind me? I would have probably attacked them with the fact that it was night time and I was defending myself (you would, too).
There were no hiccups on the road-trip. The coffee lasted roughly 4 hours, until I had to stop at a convenient store to load up on more coffee (with tons of sugar), 3 bags of M&M’s, and one crappy egg Mcmuffin, that almost chocked me. I would have liked to stop in the towns along the way and see how the people lived; I guess I will have to save that exercise for next time.
Tags: NYC, road trip, sight seeing
Day 1 - Road Trip, East Coast: Part 2 of 2: Detroit
Link to the photos: Here
Once I finished talking to the man near the river, I was ready for some more exploration. I continued to drive through the no-one-in-sight places of downtown. I got lucky when I managed to make it to the nicer part of the river side. It was more welcoming to me leaving the car, with my camera and extra lense on hand, and my flip video. There were people fishing, walking along the nicely paved walkway, and others, like myself, relaxing and enjoying the cool breeze and sunshine that couldn’t been more than 80 degrees.
I was able to take a couple of photos of the people who were fishing and also the people chilling in the shade. My trip was getting better and I wanted to soak in all that I went through and still marvel in the fact that I came to a city that was getting a bad rap for being poor and all. I stayed at the waterfront for 30 or so minutes.
I decided it was time to drive through downtown. I noticed that it was clean with many bars in the area, and of course casinos. Just by the look of it, I was looking forward to coming back downtown for the night life.
Tags: Detroit, road trip, self discovery
Day 1 - Road Trip, East Coast: Part 1 of 2: Detroit
The first day was slow, but picked up quickly. It is hard to imagine how long a full day actually is.
I woke up around 5 or 6. Started packing and took a shower. Loaded up on bagels (3), a pastry and a half, raisin brand cereal, decent coffee with sugar creme and my pick of sugar and sugar substitutes, a slice of wheat bread, and a cup of orange juice.
I made my calls to my people and began my day in route to Detroit. The airport is 20 or so miles away from Detroit proper, so I started my navigation to Dearborn, Michigan. Dearborn is home to the Ford Motor company. I wasn’t noticing the vehicles much, but they were mostly American cars and trucks. I drove through the headquarters of Ford, went through Ford land, saw the barricade wall that the test track occupied, and continued my drive through the R&D part of the property.
Right when I was about to exit and make my way to Detroit, I noticed a car show of mainly Ford vehicles, here and there of other American cars, and 1, I couldn’t believe it, Foreign car, a first gen RX-7 (which was nicely placed in the back of the event). I didn’t talk to much people. I gawked at a couple of the cars, took many photos, and was on my way.
Tags: Detroit, east coast, road trip
One More Day and Counting Til the East Coast Road Trip
One more day until I start my east coast road trip. My emotions change left and right, and now they are near the scared-as-shit side of the meter. I know it will change throughout the day and also the day of. I still need to get a hotel room in Detroit and New York. I need to call the car rental places to make sure they can hold the car for me, since I will be arriving so late at night. I have to ask a co-worker about what I can do in New York for a day. I also have to finish packing, reading a book, and whatever else I’m stressing about.
Science Experiment
Throughout the trip, I will treat it as a science experiment. I will do a before and after post. Something on the scale of what I plan to do, what I think I will learn, and whatever else I’m thinking or feeling at the time. The next post will consist of what I actually did, what I actually felt, and what I learned about the whole experience. I will, of course, have pictures of all that I do. I will also video record what I see and the overall makeup of the road trip experience.
Concerns:
Tags: airplane, east coast, excitement, scared
Now is the Best Time to Start a Business says Robert Tuchman
This is a guest post by Robert Tuchman.
The task of starting a new business can be daunting. It takes a lot of time, responsibility, and effort. And with the state of national economy, starting your own business can be even harder. In this tough economic climate, there are a few things you can do to ease the financial burden and accomplish your entrepreneurial goals.
One thing you can do to brace yourself is to go back to your suppliers—to your telephone provider, landlord, car dealer—and renegotiate. Go to the people you are paying out to, and renegotiate on the contracts you had made with them. See if they are willing to cut you some slack. Although they are dealing with the same slow-down as you are, you will find that they are more willing to do you a favor than lose you as a customer.
I cannot stress enough the need for products you are selling to be presented in more detail. You must make the clients understand who you are and what your product is. Market better! Understand where people are coming from: be compassionate with their concerns. Be willing to work out payment plans for potential clients.
Save money using technology: take advantage of email and video conferencing. You should email documents rather than sending them via snail mail. This will save you in postage and in paper. Also, instead of driving or flying to meet with a client or vendor, you should videoconference with them. Both of these will save you time and money.
Tags: business, entrepreneurship, marketing, passion, Robert Tuchman
Road Trip Discussed: 4 Days and Counting!!!
When it came time to plan out this trip I had many options. I could have went to the west coast and visited some friends or even took a road trip on the Pacific Hwy (would have taken forever, but who cares), take an exotic trip to a beach town in Mexico, trip to Canada or visit some friends in Austin, and so on. Something about the east coast intrigued me and now, just 4 days away, will be my reality.
I still have much planning to do. I have to get my rental car situation figured out, determine the gear that is going with me and what is staying behind, figure out what I will be wearing, who numbers I have to gather for emergency purposes, and what I’ll be doing in New York. I have time to ponder those concerns.
This trip is to be planned out more than I would like to. I realized that by talking to a couple of friends and girlfriend this past weekend. This convention goes against my ‘winging-it’ ways, but will be good and prudent for a change. The reason why there is more planning is due to the constant movement I have to do, in order to reach my final destination that is 6-700 miles away.
The breakdown of the trip:
Tags: Detroit, discovery, east coast, New York, road trip
What I see… My Apartment
It was a bitter sweet feeling, when I woke up early on a Saturday morning in late November of last year. I knew this was to be my last time with roommates. I knew that I will be in a place where I could learn about myself, take my writing to a new level, and grow. Besides, I could be butt-naked and enjoy my girlfriend without the added pressure of other people to worry about.
Damn, this door represents so, so much.
Move-In Day - Uhaul stops, my friend and I get out, I look around and smile with excitement. I see an older gentleman of 50 or so, who, is watering his plants. He looks puzzled and confused, he doesn’t make much eye-contact, but is aware of my presence. I go up the stairs, I have this smile on my face, I go to greet him - and the fucker shafts me. He looks me dead in my face and proceeds to water his plants…
2 Days Later - Afterwork I’m eager to get back home. I was ready to shout to the world that I was living by myself. I get off the bus, I walk 4 minutes or so to my apartment, and instantly am greeted with more neighbors. Another older guy of 50 or much older said his name, where he lived, welcomed me to the apartment and neighborhood…mentioned something briefly about his partner. I saw other people from time to time during that first day. I didn’t think much about it…
Tags: apartment, photo journalism, what i see
Update of Goals from the last month
I have begun my long 4-day work week. I chose Monday’s off, because I always hated preparing for work on Sunday’s and I will always have a 3-day weekend. This off-day will be spent by more writing, resting, and figuring out what I want to do as a second monetary means of surviving. I’ll fill yall in, of what I”ll learn from this experience. I was able to complete some goals that I set at the end of last month before I started my Monday’s off.
Here is a breakdown of what all got accomplish and what didn’t:
Novel writing - I didn’t get to my goal of 100 pages, but I did get to a point of significant measures. I have got the main character active (he better be active, the story is centered around him) and at the point I’m at now will help me go back and finish the beginning part of the novel. I will soon perform the 24 hours of writing, once I get back from my trip. I don’t know what I will be writing, but should be a fun experience trying.
Business Idea - Figured out that I don’t have the time, money, and more importantly, dedication to recycle paper for profit. So, I am back to the drawing board of figuring out what I want to do, more on the basis of my passions, rather than something I am looking at as an exit strategy.
Tags: goals, Monday's Off, writing
- @YEAdamMcFarland The full screen editor are badass, I get plenty done, but there shouldn't be a reason for so many choices. 12:37:20 PM November 13, 2009
