Me

At heart I am an entrepreneur. I find calculated risks exciting. I prefer taking on life in my own unique way. I like to feel secure and well taken care of. I enjoy traveling, vacation and sleeping in. When I do something new I love to soak up all the emotion and experience and I try not to forget what it was like the first time. I always want to know why. Being a genuine person comes naturally. My lack of a facade is very attractive to some. Others would prefer that I “act the part” more often. I refuse to let somebody ruin a good time. I prefer being in a small group of close friends. I like people to know who I really am. Sometimes I innocently reveal things about myself that are deeper than the level of friendship. Often that makes things awkward. Other times a new friendship grows deeper. I never worry about things. That worries some people. I love riding my motorcycle on a beautiful summer day.

Church-ianity is bad for Christianity

Well, this is in the “Thoughts on Life” category. You’ve got to give me credit for sticking my neck out like this. I’m a software developer. Not a preacher. Nonetheless, I’m jumping in a ring with guys who have 12 years or more worth of religion degrees. I’m used to heavy opposition on controversial and highly-polarizing opinions. It will be fun to watch people who don’t have any real arguments try to chip away at my credibility instead of proving their position. Here we go . . .

I guess I just don’t see where the church has to be the first priority when considering how to use your gift. If I want to give money to a missionary why can’t I just mail it to him? If I want to witness to somebody, why can’t I just walk up to them and do it? It seems like 95% of churches always want you to commit your entire spiritual (and secular) life to them. And the other 5% at least want your entire spiritual life.

Most church’s purpose seems to be to create a program for every possible thing one could need to do. Then preach that the Lord wants you to go through the church’s programs to get everything done. Yes, teach your family about the Bible. But no, not if that means missing Sunday School. Yes, witness to people. But no, not if that means missing visitation. Sure, have fun times with the family. But not if you have to miss “Family Night” at church. Seems like the more time a family spends together the more their “church faithfulness” rating drops.

Btw, a family at church scattered all over the choir loft, sanctuary, and various Sunday school rooms is NOT “together.” The moment a family steps inside the church building they scatter. To rejoin only once church is over and they leave the building. In fact, the more involved the family is the more we see the phenomenon of family members all driving to church in separate vehicles.

For the highly praised and highly involved Christian family, Sunday is anything BUT a day of rest.

This paragraph is going to sound bitter toward preachers. But it isn’t. It’s just an observation I’ve had that I’ve never understood why more people don’t’ take it into consideration. I guess being here in Greenville gives me a huge sample of preachers and “preacher boys” to discern a pattern from. I believe that when any pastor stands in the pulpit and makes any mention of his opinions on tithing, church membership or faithfulness in church program attendance he must always provide the verbal disclaimer that there is the very real possibility for a conflict of interest. Everybody knows that the preacher personally benefits (job security, paycheck, etc.) from an increase in any of those 3 things.

Pastors are not immune from bias. There are many self-serving pastors. It is in many pastor’s personalities to be seekers of the limelight in one form or another. It can be very intoxicating to be the pastor of a large active church (or other Christian organizations). These are all very real things that any pastor has to deal with. A lot of them are seduced by these temptations in various ways. A smaller number actively guard against the temptations. The problem is that a pastor would prefer as little disagreement as possible on his decisions. Therefore he just points to a verse in the Bible as the reason why he wants this or that. Then nobody can argue or voice opposition. True solid Biblical support is almost non-existent for so many universally accepted practices in churches today (ie: membership, Sunday School, prayer meeting). Like Sunday School; where in the Bible is that?!! But you’re not a faithful church-goer if you only attend the main worship service! I could continue. But nonetheless, there seems to be a substantial “conflict of interest” argument for why churches are run the way they are these days.

And it’s so easy to persuade somebody that the church should be huge and well funded. After all the more money and the more locked-in the members, the more resources to spread the Word and train. On the flip side, The more super-glued to the church and dependent the congregation becomes there is less need need and less free-time to persue digging your own spiritual wells.

 So what scripture do I have to back myself up? Well let’s see, Sunday School? I’ve got no scripture verses. Church membership? None for that either. Prayer meeting? Nope. Youth groups? Nope, there’s no verse or passage for that either. Why? Because there are no scripture verses or passages that indicate that any of the above are required, necessary or ideal. All of this stuff is totally extra, non-required and, not based on any Biblical precedent.  

Sure, there are recorded instances in the New Testament where Christian people got together and met for different purposes and on various occasions. But there’s no indication that any of it it was required on any sort of regular interval. Sure, “the first day of the week”. But does it say “Every single week on the first day of the week?” And does it say that people who only came once a month were considered sub-par Christians and in need of spiritual counseling? No. If you think, so where’s the verse? Nobody’s been able to produce one yet. Because there isn’t one.

So where did all of these church-based “requirements” come from? That’s a whole separate entry. But it sure wasn’t from the Bible. I present that it probably comes from the thousands of “Pastor’s” over the last 60 years or so and their wrong opinions based on their personal “conflict of interest” that leads to this endless list of required church-based programs that every Christian must participate in. Or risk being labled a “Nominal Christian” for whom prayer is requested every Wednesday/Thursday night.

Let’s stand up and be strong for the true Bible-based church. Let them gossip about us behind our backs when we spend time with friends and family instead of going to “the [fill-in-the-blank-non-Biblically-required] church service.” Church-ianity is a disease. And the cure is to stop going to church when non-Biblical services are being held. And to not be a “regular” attender for non-Biblical services.  We want nothing to do with non-required church activities that sap the soul out of our family and consume endless productive hours of our lives! A man’s responsibility to his family is more important than caving and letting the church programs do what God has told you to do for yourself. It’s pure and simple. Husbands and fathers, it’s up to you to be the spiritual leader of your family. Don’t let the “pastor” or church be your family’s spiritual leader.

I’m wholly in favor of de-centralizing Christianity and scaling church all the way back to the ultra-simple way it was in the New Testament.

The Dark Side

It’s a little easier now to understand why women don’t like to marry entrepreneurs. It’s not hard to understand. Imagine a man who spends a hundred thousand dollars on a concept that never goes anywhere. Now imagine that he and his family was counting on the profits from the successful venture. Add to that that he went into debt for the project. Now imagine that creditors are calling his house wondering when the payment is coming in. Where’s the money coming from? What does he do now? He’s taken his family deeply into the hole on a dream. He is a failure who isn’t providing for his family. And in many cases the family is destroyed because of his dreaming.

 This is the story of many people who try to truely step out on their own. Not somebody who merely joins a corporation or other business that is already established and proven. But somebody who tries to go it alone. Someone who makes his own success. Builds from scratch. Builds everything from nothing. That’s that’s the essence of an entrepreneur.

Why does that require so much brass? Because it can be very risky and failure is a clear possibility. That’s what most women think of when they hear of guys trying to do it themselves. Without the help of a any pre-existing successful company.

“So how do you know it’s going to work?” she says. “I don’t.” he replies.

“How much could you lose?” she says. “I could lose a lot.” he replies.

“What happens if it doesn’t work?” she says. “I start from the bottom.” he replies.

What woman understands that? I think I probably only know 1 or 2. There’s a lot of girls out there. But they don’t want to have to explain to their family and friends what he does. “Well, he works for himself.” That doesn’t sound so secure.

Growing Seeds

Well, today was another good day. I put in an order for a hefty server. It’s a sweet custom-built machine. My needs have grown to the point where I can’t rent shared servers anymore. I need more bandwidth, more control, more services and more features. I’m dying to tell the world the specs on the machine. Ready? It’s a four-core dual-processor Intel Xenon machine. It’s got 8Gb of ram and 8 hard drives for a total of 1.5Tb of fully redundant disk space. It will run Windows Server 64-bit OS. I’ll be running my own email server, web server, SQL server as well as a few other servers.

This will knock down a couple of roadblocks to development ideas I’ve had. I couldn’t do certain things because my hosting environment restricted that type of usage. But now I’ll truly have full control. The fact is that I run a web software development company. Everything I develop requires a server to run on. So it’s really a central requirement to my biz. Plus, this server will generate monthly/yearly recurring revenue. I’ve already got 2 more clients in the pipeline waiting for me to get it online so they can host with me.

As I was saying, my current solution leaves much to be desired. Email goes down, websites go down occasionally, the processor is slow, the bandwith is inadequate and the server resides in Australia. Which means that every web page request has to be sent to the other side of the planet and back. Most of my customers are in Greenville and the south east. So this will provide a much better response time overall for every web page load. I can’t wait to see how much faster my websites are!

Well anyway, I was looking at one of the websites I use that contains templates and examples of different website layouts. One thing struck me, most of the male businessman models look like they are about 45 years old. There’s just something about a 45 year old man that just looks professional and credible. Just think, when I’m 45 I’ll have 25 years of experience in my field. I can say that my company has been in the business for a quarter century. That’s some pretty solid credibility. That’s only 16 years away. Ouch! That doesn’t seem that far away.

By that time I hope that I’ll have a well-developed network of friends and biz collegues. I’d like to have a hot wife and some kids too. Gotta get a hot girl! Girls are way more complicated than business. I wish you could just save up and buy the one you want.

Haha! Oh no my friend. They can’t be bought. At least with money. Tears, embarrassment, nervousness and many sleepless nights - that’s how you get a girl. Now, how to keep a girl? I haven’t figured that out yet. I’ve got some friends who actually married their girl. They’ve got one up on me.

Oh well. As far as guys go, I am a very free man. I can do whatever I like, whenever I like. So I’ll enjoy it while I can.

Oh yea, this post was supposed to have something to do with “growing seeds”. Yea, well that’s just about me buying servers and stuff that will help me grow my biz. Anyways.

Ah Yea, Baby!

Okay, so I’ve talked to several people over the past few days who have, without realizing it, let me know that they’ve told other people about my blog. Yes, this very blog. And since I’m feelin’ so good this early Tuesday morning I figured that I’d share my thoughts about the purpose of this blog.

Ya ready? Honestly, I don’t have any grand purpose whatsoever. It started by me wanting to have a place post entries and pictures about my trip to Hawaii. “Trip to Hawaii?” you say? Yea, I’ve cancelled it for biz reasons. But since then I’ve enjoyed jumping on late at night to tell my tiny audience vartious random things I’ve been thinking lately. It started with just my family knowing about it. Now a few more people have discovered it. It even pops up in the top Google listings for various search terms. Want a laugh? Do a Google search for “lostwithme daryl” and see what comes up! The helpful little GoogleBot picked a wonderful little sentance from a random post that has to do with “hotties” and “rubbing”. That’s all I’m gonna say!!!!

So now that I’ve gotten off to a serious note with this entry I figured I’d share why I picked the title “Lost With Me”. First of all, it’s because I don’t want ANYBODY to take this blog seriously. If I’m practically admitting up front that I get lost all the time, that should clue you in that it may be hazardous to your health to follow any advice you find here. So I’m hoping when you read my posts you’re just relaxing and want a good laugh more than anything. I’m a peculiar guy with a different outlook on life. And I hope it’s entertaining. If you ever get offended or feel like your feathers have been ruffled by a post just take a deap breath. I promise I didn’t mean to offend you. Maybe I’m just blowing off steam or something. I get in moods sometimes. I promise you, if I ever met you we’d probably have a swell time.

Also, and this is a big one, I don’t have any single person in mind when I’m writing. So if you read something and thought to yourself, “I bet this is about me. ” You can bet your boots that I was not thinking about you. Sometimes I just come up with these broad generalizations and decide to tell the world how it ought to be.  Hey, here’s a tip . . . there’s this little red “X” at the top right of your browser window (if you’re a Mac person I have no clue what shiny little button is up there on your browser). Just click that button. If it makes you feel better you can even pretend that it instantly sends me an email that says, “Somebody was majorly ticked off with your insensitive post.” I promise I won’t do it again. [fingers crossed]. Hey, there are about 6 people in the whole world that have known me long enough to know that I’ll slip up and just run my mouth about some seemingly insensitive opinion of mine without realizing that if I was talking to anybody else they would probably take offense. They humor me when I do that. And I really appreciate it. Because they know I’m about as harmless as a BB-gun. It stings from time to time. But you gotta love the guts of somebody who’ll at least take a shot like that. Rest assured, after about 15 minutes I’ll realize what I said and maybe I won’t take the extra effort to qualify what I said, but nonetheless I do feel bad about it.

I really do. When I was in highschool (a christian highschool) I rarely felt bad about anything I said. After all, I had scripture to back it up, right? Of course! And my interpretation was ALWAYS correct! But since then I think I’ve mellowed a bit. I realize that anybody can think their interpretation is correct. Hey, whatever. You know, I think everything’s better when we both just realize that either of us could be right. Sure, we’ll find out someday who’s right. But let’s just be friends in the meantime. Hey, you could even be a tree-hugging Green Party member. Yo, it’s cool. We can be friends. I’ll laugh and nod my head agreeably when you talk about saving some wildlife by voting against some oil rig or someting. I just ask that you just be agreeable when I talk about how tax cuts are good for everybody too.

Maybe this blog ends up containing more than a few insightful entries, but always keep in mind: I’d probably like you if I met you. In fact, many times, I enjoy meeting somebody who’s belief’s are totally opposite of mine. It gives me a chance to ask questions and see if I have good answers to any of their responses. I may not voice them. But, to tell you the truth, I am very convinced about my convictions. And it’s wonderful! If you make a great arguement against something I believe in strongly, I really cheer you on! Wow! The way you voiced your opinion was very effective! On the other hand, if you make a strong stance for your opinion, occasionally I get special satisfaction from the knowledge that, even though I may not say anything, I know I’ve got all the ammo I need to blow you off the face of the universe.

So now that I’ve said that, I am 100% aware of what this blog could do. This blog could be the sole reason that people, 10 years from now, laugh and say something like, “I knew this really opinionated guy one time and you know what absurd statement he made about this topic?” I know. I know. That’s the downside about putting your thoughts out there for the public to have their way with. But you know what? That risk briefly flutters past my mind with every post I make. And each time I decide that it’s worth it to go ahead and leave whatever I say posted.

I fully realize that in 15 years I might look back on some of my entries and feel a little weird about them. I’ll think to myself, “Boy should I delete that post? I don’t really think like that anymore.” But I know I won’t delete it. Why? Because I hate censorship. I don’t like it when somebody changes their opinion and tries to convince everybody, “What , No. I never said that!!!” Yea right. Believe it or not every one of us has different beliefs than we did 15 years ago. Not every belief is different. Maybe even 90% of them are the same. But we will have lived a little since then and are willing to admit that we were a bit narrow-minded back then.

Ahh, anyways. I’m done talking about that. I think one word comes to mind now about the previous topic. What’s that word? “Exhausted.” Right. On to another topic now.

Yea, so when I’m writing a blog entry what are my surroundings like? Well there are several requirements, like having my trusty laptop nearby. But I almost always have some delecacy present. Yep, like right now, it’s my “Extra Sharp Cheedar Cheese”. I love that cheese. I’m not gonna lie, it’s Cracker Barrel brand. Right, you can find it in most grocery stores these days. I wish it was some gormet brand of cheese. But, alas, it’s all the goodness I need right now. Just nibbling and typing. Ahhhhh! It’s quite heavenly. The only item to add to my blog ambiance is some choice tunes. Nope, I’m not gonna tell you what’s playing over my reference studio-quality speakers right now. I’ll leave that up to your immagination. (Hint: No, it’s not rap.) Hahaha! That leaves a LOT of genre’s to guess from though!

Yea, Daryl’s world is a lot of fun. I really do enjoy my single life quite a bit. Why, you ask? Mostly because I’m in that male stage where I don’t feel like I deserve a girl yet. After all, I’m not making millions yet! What respecitable girl would feel at home with me if she couldn’t afford the best? So, I probably won’t feel good about dating till I’m making a boatload on the stock market and own at least 2 serious businesses. Like I was talking about with a friend tonight, “I’m not going to marry no ugly chick.” I’ve had several pretty x-girlfrieds. But unfortunately, I didn’t feel comfortable about my situation in life at the time I was dating them. So I’m still looking for a gorgeous girl. Are you a gorgeous girl? Are you single? Hey, wait, woah, woah. When I say gorgeous I don’t mean average. I mean drop-dead. I mean you have to use all of your feminine tactics every day to keep the guys off you. Like, you have had to change your cell number at least 2 times because you kept getting calls from guys you now put in the “stalker” category? Lol! Well, truthfully, I really like “cute” girls. I’m probably about 5′9″. So if you’re in the 5′0″ – 5′4″ range that is just perfect! Perfect for what, you ask? If you have to ask you’re obviously not a girl. Or you’re just a curious one ) What’s with girl’s always getting away with calling themselves “curious”? When guys do the same thing it’s called “nosy”. Grrr!

Boy, this post is quite the ramble, isn’t it? I always end up taking things to their limit. Ahh, sorry. Since I’m on the topic . . . Um. . . Second though  . . . Okay, well I’ll save that for another post. So nevermind. (sorry) Yea, well, I think I’ve run out of things to talk about.

So are you now convinced that you should just be in a lighthearted and fun mood when you read my blog? I hope so. See, I practically typed this whole entry in a single breath (figuratively speeking). It just flowed out. Boom, done!

My Recipe

I started writing this entry probably over a month ago. I was driving home from somewhere (I don’t even remember). I was so excited to get home and blog about My Recipe and such. I got home and started writing this. Then an email popped up and I got distracted. But I’m back to my ”My Recipe” entry now! I guess I’m just in a blogging mood. Lol! 

Okey dokey, I’m gonna take this opportunity to share with the world a valuable insight to the way my brain works and the way I communicate with my own self (which is what this blog is about). The way I motivate myself. I suppose that this entry will be quite lengthy. But don’t nestle in for a nice long read because you probably will get fed up with this entry before I’m done. This post can be summed up by one word: “opinionated and abrasive”. So if anything, you might want to get the Rolaids.

All right people. This entry really amounts to nothing. Know why? Because I’m not trying to start a religion with my blog. My blog is for me. My thoughts are for me. I made this thing public because I enjoy knowing that people can find out what I really think if they care to know. What does that do for me? It makes sure that I don’t go around acting like somebody I’m not. As I develop relationships with people I could put on an act. But I’ll be a bit more genuine if I know people can find out the “real” me when they hear about my blog from somebody.

So what does that have to do with “My Recipe?” Nothing it was basically a disclaimer. And, no, nobody said anything about my blog or about being offended by it or anything like that at all. I’m just writing this because I want to get it down in bits and bytes for the record.

So here’s My Recipe. My own personal recipe for navigating this world from birth to death. Note that I said that this is “MY” Recipe. I realize that this recipe suites my tastes. It probably doesn’t suit yours. Has anybody ever told you that it is wrong to not like the taste of some food? No. Think about it, “It’s a sin to not like chocolate.” How absurd. The thoughts in my blog are My Recipe. I don’t expect you to like my recipe. Nor do I think you are somehow stupid or dumb or making a mistake if you don’t follow My Recipe. My Recipe is for me.

So where am I getting the ingredients for My Recipe? I figure that if I want to be successful I need to learn from people who have been successful. So I’m seeking out people that are good at what I’m trying to do.

What am I trying to do? I’m not going to lie or cover it up at all. I’m trying to make millions and millions and millions. I’m talking about hundreds of millions of dollars. Some day I will hear about a CEO of some company getting a rediculous salary of $5 million and I’ll just smile to myself because that’s how much I made in the last month. Who in the world has dreams this big? Me. Why? Because people do it. Yes, it’s rare. But there’s no reason I can’t do this.

I’ve already taken some necessary steps to make sure I am on a path that can lead me to my goal. I quit my corporate job. That was the most important thing I’ve done since I graduated from highschool. I’ve taken two crucial courses (at my own expense) in the last couple of months. A Real Estate course and a Stock Market investing course. Who are the 3 most notable richest people alive today? Let’s see, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Donald Trump. What are their fields of expertse? Software, Stock Market Invsting and Real Estate.

And what are the 3 things I’m focusing on now? Software, Stock Market Invsting and Real Estate. You got it! Every wonder why I picked them? Because there are a lot of people who make millions in each. There aren’t really other fields where a true mint is being made these days. I want in on the millions. “The journey of a million miles starts with the first step.” Well my motto right now can be summed up by a similar statement. That statement is:

“The journey of a hundred million dollars begins with the first step.”

I am in training right now. I am learning what is out there. I may decide that Real Estate is not for me. Or that Software isn’t for me either. Or I may find a unique way to combine all 3 to form something powerful. Who knows how it will all pan out. But you’ve got to start somewhere.

I am also building a mentality. A rich person’s mentality. Why? Because I have to know what to do with money once I have it. The funny thing is that I am really working off of something I’ve had since I was a kid. My dad always used to say, “You’ve got wine taste and a beer budget.” And he was right. Someone recently also said, “Your way of looking at life is out of sync with your surroundings.” He’s totally right also.

Right now I think like somebody to whom money is no object. Yet my surroundings indicate that I am not made of money. In fact, I am not rich right now. But I totally understand that. I know that I’m “In launch mode” like a freind recently told me. I’m not in orbit yet. But at least I’m not sitting on the launch pad simply thinking about outer space. Or like other people who haven’t even built their rocket or even thought that they could even make it to outer space. No folks, I’m in my rocket, the flames are propelling me upwards.

Each of the past few months since I left the corporate world has taken me to a whole new level. It’s amazing. My goal is for that effect not to just to continue, but to compound. Each month gets it’s power added to the past months. Every month I can do more and make more $$$ than I could last month. I want to have record breaking months every month till I’m making a hundred million a year. Then I’ll put my rocket on auto-pilot.

So all of that is out of the way now. Here are the details of My Recipe. It’s actually quite simple.

The highest priority is learning to be a successful Stock Trader. This is the most important simply because it is “scalable”. When I learn the ropes I can do the same trade with $1,000 or with $10,000,000 and the technique is the same. Eventually this technique will become second-nature to me. In addition, I can trade stocks from anywhere in the world. There’s also the beauty of it being a simple one-man operation. Software and Real Estate both require cooperation with other people to make money.  The final and most compelling one is that I can make money in bear as well as bull markets. Secure, comfortable and exciting are some words that sum up what it’s like to be an expert in this field. Learning to be a successful trader is the foundation for my other pillars of success.

So that being said, my next priority is Real Estate. This is because I want to have the inside track on the most beautiful/valuable property that I can invest in. Investing in Real Estate is a great instrument for storing your wealth. There’s also another reason. Based on research I’ve done, the USA is headed toward a 20 year or so depression. It won’t be sudden like in 1929. It will be gradual, starting around the 2016 timeframe. During this time Real Estate will become very cheap. I want to “know the ropes” so I can be right on top of these great investment opportunities when they become common. Most people will be flat broke and struggling just to keep their head above water during this time. The people with the money will be able to have almost anything they want at a realtively inexpensive price. I want to be in position to be on the good side of that.

The third ingredient of My Recipe is Software Development. The main reason is simple. It’s how I am currently making good money. It is a field that I have become an expert in. I’m specialized in this field. If the stock market disappears and the USA turns into a Communist country where the government owns all property I’ll still be able to make good money with my software skills. Software is also a good way to lock in recurring income. If I’m able to capture a niche market or two with an e-commerce website of some sort that is money that keeps rolling in without me having to do much. I just hire some employees to maintain the biz and everything keeps running.

 _____________________

Okay, by now any normal christian person is thinking something along these lines, “Well . . . he sure thinks he’s invincible, doesn’t he? We’ll see what happens when the Lord decides he needs some humility and sends something his way that he doesn’t exepct. Then he’ll be in the same boat as all the rest of us. You know, there’s a reason that most people don’t think like that. It’s because it’s arrogant and unrealistic. You should have faith instead. Just trust the Lord. Let the Lord bless you. Don’t try to do everything your way. Like Cain in Genesis. He’s trying to use ‘the arm of the flesh’ to get what he wants. I won’t be a bit surprised if the Lord knocks him back on his butt at some point.”

Ahhhh, yep. I’ve dealt with this for years now. I don’t believe that the Lord is evil and is only looking for reasons to punish his children. “Look at that flat broke christian family with every sort of problem you can think of. The Lord must love them because he’s putting them through all those trials.” WHAT!!!! The first blessing he gave every human is also the most important one. YOUR BRAIN!!!

And I think he wants us to use it. The answer to most of the problems we encounter in life can be solved by simply taking a second or two to use OUR OWN BRAIN. There’s nothing “arm of the flesh” about that. God gave our brain to us to help us. After all we wouldn’t be able to read our Bible without it. We make dumb mistakes when we don’t use it. We end up in trials when we don’t use it. We never get out of our ruts when we become content to continue not using our brain. Some christians think it’s more virtuous to be a spiritual-vegitable. They are always playing the faith card. They talk about life in such impotent, helpless and pitiful terms. “Having faith” and plain laziness look very much alike these days. It’s too bad. God’s already given them the solution to their problems right between their ears. But they just want help the easy way. They want a blessing to be provided just because they had faith. That’s what I call looking for a holy handout. Or maybe we can call it the Wednesday Night Welfare program.

So I’m taking this brain God’s given me and am trying to use it to the fullest. I’m taking this body of mine and am going to work it hard and get the most out of it.

______________________________

Here’s the reason I’m doing all of this. The reason I want to be highly successful. The reason I want security, a comfortable lifestyle, and riches.

It all started in around 9th grade in High School. I realized that I had the same desire that Soloman had. I wanted wisdom more than anything else in the world. No, I didn’t make a promise to God that I’d try to want it. I just wanted it. I liked observing everything I could. I loved asking “why?” I was always trying to figure everything out.

At about this same time I realized that what I wanted was to be the world’s best father. I realized that this is the primary goal of every Christian man. Some guys think that they have to put their ”religion” above their family. I think that is flat wrong and a sin. It’s God, Family then Church. These guys that can barely feed their families but have a big library of theology books absolutely disgust me. They drive around in embarrasing cars. Their kids get made fun of because of their Goodwill clothes. Their wives can’t even afford decent makeup. They spend their time perfecting the art of thinning out powdered milk instead of just figuring out how to make more money. It’s quite absurd if you think about. The effort people go to to make due with what little they have. I’d rather use that same energy to just figure out how to make more money.

Anyway, I want my wife and kids to know that their father/husband takes care of them. That they do not lack for anything because “Daddy” is successful. They don’t have to understand anything about what I do. I just want to know that I take care of my family. This also includes my parents. I hope to be able to take care of them in grand style someday.

These religion-first types (notice I didn’t say God first) that put acting and looking religious before even their family end up dying broke. They saw their parents put in a nursing home with nothing they could do about it. When asked if they could help they always recited the laundry list of problems in their life that left them with no time, energy or money to help. This is NOT what the Lord wants.

I want to be like Abraham. If any of Abraham’s friends or family needed anything they could count on him to help. He always had the means. He was a hard worker. He didn’t just sit in a cave and pray. He used his brain and body that the Lord gave him to literally fight for what he wanted.

And that’s what I’m doing.

Finally got it!

I have finally unlocked the secret of an exquisite gormet French recipe I’ve been working on. Yes folks, I pulled my All Clad fry pan off of my pot rack tonight, fired up my $2800 gas range and started working. First I scrambled the eggs and cooked them up to a perfect yellow hue. Then I held the trusty stainless steel Rosle can opener in my right hand and carefully gripped a special can of the most delicate perfection in my left. After carefully removing the can’s top the hearty smell of corned beef hash wafted in the winter’s air. This time though I did a few things different. I turned the heat up to 7 (instead of 5). Then I stood there and gave the corned beef hash something everything delecate requires – TLC. Yep, I just kept stirring it and tossing it around in the pan. And after about 10 minutes it was evenly browned and crunchy. Yep, I mixed in the scrambled eggs grabbed the pan off of the range and reached for my faithful thick blue oven mitt. I took the whole fry pan and a large soup spoon over to my Italian leather feather stuffed sofa and partook of a hearty feast fit only for a bachelor at 2am. Lol!

Yep yep yep. I was talking to my friend M about a biz he wants to start. I’ll tell ya, it’s pretty cool to feel somebody else’s entrepreneuristic energy. I never quit with that stuff. I often wonder if people get sick of hearing about “my plans”. But I don’t run into many people who are trying to kick the day job for the freedom of being on your own. It’s pretty cool though. I can’t wait to hear about his small successes that start to pile up into a big ol’ pile of success. Success in the face of risk and doubters is so sweet when acheaved. Success makes you feel like you feel when you are looking at yourself in the mirror wearing a brand new perfectly-fitting sport coat. You’re just like, “Dang, I never knew I could look so good!” Haha! Yea, it also feels a lot like what you feel like when you’re speeding past all the surfers at Mailbu on Hwy 1 with the top down in your convertable. Success even smells good. Ever ridden in a brand new sports car with a leather interior? That bucket seat just grips you tight and you can feel the stitched leather stearing wheel. You’re in control. Where do you want to go? How fast do you want to get there? Want the windows down or up? Want the stereo up loud or nice and soft? No, don’t check with the boss. He doesn’t care any more. He’s sitting in his soiled office chair rubbing his bald head wondering where all those years went. He’s 55 now and all he can think about is how he can “save” $25 on a new refrigerator because his just went on the blink. Oh yea, and his daughter left a viocemail about getting together for Christmas. But he’ll probably have to work because he used up his vacation on doctor’s visits. Uh where were we? Oh yea. We were in our sports car driving down the highway with nowhere to go. Might as well pull into a quiet little Mexican restaraunt and stare out the window while eating chips and salsa. Why not? What else do we need to be doing? Oh yea, we might want to get home before 8p so we can get ready to head over to the spa for a dip in the hot tub. But that’s 5 hours away. Most people don’t eat lunch at 3pm. So since you’ve got the whole place to yourself you don’t feel rude about reaching for your phone to call a buddy and chat for a while.

As I hoist my Dr. P. I raise a private little toast to all those with the courage to stand up and say, “I choose a differnt path. Ya’ll all have a good one, k?” Yep. It’s a fun adventure. It’s not for everybody though. And it’s not necessarily easy. But it’s sure worth it to me. Hey, I may even fail at a thing or two that I’m going for. But at least I won’t fire myself for it. Speaking of getting fired. It’s 5:30am. I better get to sleep. Hey’ I didn’t go to bed till about 7am yesterday. So I’m improving! But who’s keeping track? And, no, I don’t have a $2800 gas range. Lol! Ah, what a mess I am. Yep, a mess. Who understands a punk like me? Maybe a hot chick somewhere. That’d be nice. Okay, time to slip off into dreamland. ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz . . .

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Time to upgrade CC

Yea, sorry people. Another biz post.

It’s time to upgrade CC to support “The Network”. I was in the middle of typing this email to send to some BJU admins about thinking of ways to open up UYS to non-BJU people. After I got it all typed up I just sat there and stared at it. Wondering what would happen to it after I hit the Send button.

You know what would happen to it? I’ll give you one guess. Okay time’s up. Right, nothing would happen. Months would go buy and nobody would really care too much. So then I started thinking about some ideas I had about basically letting users of my different ConvenientClassifieds websites “share” their listings with the The Network. This would let any CC user searching on any CC website see listings on the other CC websites if they want to.

So guess what. CC 2.0 is coming your way sooner than anybody expected. Yea baby. That’s my style. By the time I go to Hawaii I’ll 1) be a certified Real Estate agent 2) I’ll be a certified mortgage broker 3) I’ll have The Network built into CC. Snap Homie!!!!!!!

 You gotta keep movin’ forward. If a day passes where it gets to be 3am and you’re sitting there wondering what you got done and nothing comes to mind. Guess what? Everybody else took a step and you didn’t. What does that mean? Yep you’re one step behind. To get ahead you have to work so hard you’re taking daddy steps while everybody else is taking baby steps.

Good Sunday

Ahh, nothing like a Sunday night when you can sleep in on Monday! I had a very good day today. Let’s see I volunteered to write my church’s website for them. My friends Mike and Dolly who were staying with me for the weekend left to go back home. I went out to dinner at Flat Rock Grill with my good bud Ben P. I booked my plane fares to Honolulu and back. And now I’m relaxing on my back porch eating some slices of my favorite cheese and listening to the crickets chirp and the wind blowing.

Life is good. Since it’s Sunday I’ll share some layman thoughts from my little brain. Okay, ready? Well, is it okay for a Christian to say that life is good? Or are we supposed to view this present world as full of trials and tribulations and only talk about earthly life in derogatory tones? I believe that, for a Christian, we should savor every moment of our lives. There’s no use in acting like you are just biding your time on this wretched earth till you die. God has created many things on this planet for our enjoyment. So enjoy them! And tell people that you enjoy life. Pick your head up and smile about all the little things too. Like the chirping crickets and the cool breeze. When something doesn’t go as planned just see the humor in it and joke about it. There’s really no virtue to being stone serious about everything all the time. Chill out a little bit and take time to just relax. Soak in the highlites of your life as they occur. If something cool happens, dwell on it. If something bad happens, dwell on that too. Let it soak in. It gives you character. People who always have a plastic smile are so flat and lifeless and fake. Anyways, if you find that you look around from day to day and can’t believe how the Lord always blesses you, consider yourself fortunate! God just picks certain people to bless constantly.

Maybe you should consider asking God to bless you constantly. Not just to help you out of ruts that you find yourself in. But that He would keep you out of ruts and let you enjoy the wonderful and fun parts of living more often. You’d be surprised at how fun life can be!

 Anyways, I’m not a preacher or anything like that. I’m a businessman. So just take the above as an interesting perspective. I hope you enjoyed my thoughts though.