Author Archives: Jason

Eight Lunches, Second Draft, Instructions

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I just finished the second draft of Eight Lunches.  Whew.

If you want to review it, leave a comment here and I’ll email it to you.

Here are the instructions for the review:

  1. I’m sending a word document in case you are dying to leave anything specific in the document (with Track Changes).  I do not want too much of this, though, because last time I was overwhelmed to the point of paralysis and didn’t know how to digest it.  So, do it if you must, otherwise, see #3.
  2. I’m sending it to my editor after I compile the feedback… so don’t worry about grammar, spelling, flow, etc.
  3. I’d love one or two paragraphs, or some bullet points, of your feedback. I’m specifically looking for feedback that will help me make this tighter, better, stronger.  Feel free to be critical and negative… so I can find out what bugs people about what I’ve done.
  4. IF YOU WANT TO ENDORSE THE BOOK I CAN PUT YOUR ENDORSEMENT IN THE BOOK… with a link to your company, etc.

I think that’s it… pretty simple… again, if you want to see it, please leave a comment on this other post.

I’d like to get this to the editor in the next 30 days… so I’d appreciate any thoughts in the next week or two. If you are a deadline person, consider July 31 your deadline 🙂

ElectroCloseOut Projector: Optoma HD66

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In November I bought a projector from Electrocloseout for presentations… I was uber-excited about it because, well, real companies have presentation projectors, right?

It took way to long to get it (I think I finally got it in January :((((((), but it was cool, for about a week or two.

Then we got a white dot on the screen.

Then we got a few more white dots on the screen.

Then the screen started filling with white dots….

Now, in July, check out what our screen looks like:

Today I finally got in touch with the warranty company… I’m really hoping there is a “happily ever after” to this story… we’ll see how it goes!

William and the Tarantula

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On our road trip we stayed with family in Midland, Texas.  When I was a kid I caught some horned toads (aka, horny toads, which are some of the coolest lizards in the world) there, and have fond memories of hunting for stuff.

My son, about the age I was when we was there last, regularly went out to the yard to see what he could find.  We were told the corner of the 1/2 acre, with a wood pile, was the best place to look for critters.

One morning William ran in, barely able to speak/yell, but it was clear we had to run out to see what he found… a freaking awesome wild tarantula!

Why aren’t we lucky enough to get this stuff in our yard in Utah?  Dangit.

Anyway, we took a few pictures… this is my favorite… I kept saying “put your hand closer… closer, closer…” until he finally said, with anxiety, “DAD!”  Like, “DAD, you are freaking crazy!  I like animals, but I don’t like posing like this!”

Nonetheless, the picture turned out great, don’t you think?

Smart Spammer Move: BE CAUTIOUS!

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Here’s a new thing I’ve seen in spam recently:

1. This is the first email I’ve noticed where they CUSTOMIZE the dormant account holder. Normally it is a deceased general or president or something like that, and I’ll get millions of dollars.  This time, though, it’s a supposed relative!  I’m guessing this is just enough to get the unsuspecting to start the scam process 🙁

2. and 3. Why is someone from an “international bank” using a Yahoo account?  It doesn’t match up… red flag.

There are a few other red flags in this email – but I hate listing them all for fear the spammers will only use them to make their messages better.

Starting a New Blog: Blog Post Critique

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Monday I gave feedback to Brad Merrill about HOW he let others know about his blog… today I want to write about a blog post (his second post).

Brad titled the post What is Ethical Behavior?  It’s a good question which really came out after the Enron thing… as an accountant Brad should have some good thoughts.

First Thought

It is toooooooooo loooooooooooooooong.

This post has 1,535 words and would print of on almost four full pages!

I couldn’t read it.  It’s simply too long.

Here’s an idea, though: take this four page post and break it up into three or four posts.

Call it a series and make it easier to read for ME.

The beauty of this idea is it is now easier to write for Brad.  Why?  If he takes one “post” and breaks it down, he now has one to two weeks of blog posts already written!

Let me say this another way – if he spent an hour on that post, and then thought about spending an hour on every post, and wrote two to three times a week, he’d spend quite a bit of time writing blog posts.  Okay sometimes, but sometimes that hour just isn’t available.

What if he took this one hour and had all the writing for one or two weeks done?

That is more sustainable, over the long haul.

Second Thought

Give me more personal stuff.  The first page (above the fold) has two references to dictionary definitions… I have to scroll down before I see if there’s some Brad Merrill personality.

Instead of starting off with a page of sources, I would have liked to see him launch into a story from his past rich work history:

  • I was consulting a client when _______
  • I remember being faced with an ethical dilemma when my boss _______
  • My first major ethical conundrum came when my client _______

Wouldn’t a line like that be more interesting?  I’d want to read what an accountant has faced … not the bean counting boring stuff, but some conflict, how it was handled, what he had to think through, etc.

My point is, make it personal.  I want to read about BRAD MERRILL, not what the dictionary says.

So these are my thoughts as Brad Merrill starts his blogging journey.  Really, he has a great start… I’m excited to see him mature and evolve as a blogger 🙂

Starting a New Blog: Letting Others Know

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My friend Brad Merrill took the plunge and started a blog.

It has the potential to be an awesome personal branding tool for himself, and I applaud what he’s doing.

This is the first of two posts where I’m going to give feedback (with his permission) on his nascent strategy.  Today I’ll talk about how he let me (and hundreds of others) know about the blog.

It’s important to let others know you have a blog… not just once but frequently.  Be careful how you do it, however, because no one wants an email each time you write a new blog post (unless they opt in to a newsletter, or something like that).

Here’s Brad’s message I got last night:

There are a few things I like about this email, and perhaps a line or two I don’t care for.  Instead of critiquing the entire thing, I want to focus on TWO things:

The Length.

The length of this message is PERFECT.  If it were any longer I’d get lost, or not read it, or save it for later, or something like that.  If it were shorter I might feel like he’s just spamming me and a million others with “read my blog!”  It is sincere, concise, and very focuses.

The Question in Yellow.

This jumped out at me the most.  At first I thought “COOL, a professional blog” (as opposed to a personal blog).

But then, when I read the question “if you have some things you would like to (to) see me write about,” tell me.

That’s when I thought “where’s the focus?”

Indeed, reading through the email again I realized I had no idea what the theme, or topics, of the blog are. Is it a personal blog? Is it a professional blog?  What exactly does Brad do, or think about?

If Brad could help me understand this, even if it’s just a reminder (some people know, but a reminder doesn’t hurt), he would have used this email as a branding tool, and helped reinforce his personal brand to his contacts (whether they clicked over to the blog or not).

At a minimum he could have said:

I am going to write about ______ and ______.  My last post talks about ethical behavior.

To take it up a notch he could have said something like:

As a professional accountant I see a lot of interesting things.  I’ll write posts about my expertise (sales and use tax and financial accounting) and keep it interesting with stories and examples. I will probably write about my passions, including watch collecting) and try to always tie the posts back to business ideas. Whether you are an accountant or just interested in business, I hope to have relevant content for you.  If you have any ideas or questions, please let me know, as I begin this journey.

In the first email he reinforces his brand.  In the second email he drills down a bit more so people understand more of his breadth and depth… even if they don’t become blog readers they will know what some of his specialties and passions are.

“Where’s the focus” was my first thought, the second thought was: missed branding opportunity.

Next post I’ll critique his second blog post.

Recognizing Miraculous Events

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Last night in family prayer my wife gave thanks for a “miraculous event.”

My first thought was that it was a miracle that such event was going to take place, because no one thought it would happen.

Then, I realized she was referring to another aspect, which really was miraculous, and quite a serious issue.

I was going to joke about the event and why it was a miracle, until I realized the aspect she was talking about, and knew it was best to not joke about it.

Where I saw funny, she recognized divinity.

I’ve been thinking about miraculous events since the prayer.  Miraculous is defined as:

heaven-sent: peculiarly fortunate or appropriate; as if by divine intervention; “a heaven-sent rain saved the crops”; “a providential recovery” (wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn)

and

A miracle is an unexpected event attributed to divine intervention. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miraculous)

I like two elements of these definitions:

  1. Divine intervention, and/or heaven sent. Regardless of what faith you are, to recognize a miracle is to recognize something given from on high, usually something positive.
  2. Unexpected. When we expect it we give credit to [ourselves/circumstances/our preparation/others]. When it is unexpected it’s easier to give credit to divinity.  I saw this in abundance in Mexico, where people expect little. Even the simple pleasures of life, like a hot meal or a somewhat-comfortable bed, are recognized as miracles, and appreciation is expressed.

To often I see things happen in my life that I credit to circumstance, happenstance, coincidence, or my own efforts.  Not to say I don’t work hard to get results, but maybe the results come more as blessings, indeed, miraculous events, than because of ME.

I love the saying:

Work as if everything depends on you. Pray as if everything depends on God.

This gives you responsibility to do what you can, but recognize the hand of God in the results.

In my life there have been many blessings. The big ones have been easier to recognize as miracles.

The small things are easy to discount, forget, and not recognize.

I’m going to try and recognize more of the miraculous events around me – how about you?

My New Toys: iPad 2 + bluetooth keyboard

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I’m sitting on my couch plucking away on a Microsoft 6000 keyboard I just got in the mail, writing this on my iPad 2.

I feel like I’m such a techie, although in reality I’m usually quite behind on new technology.

But this is pretty cool, I’m really enjoying it. 80% of the coolness of having an iPad 2 is that, well, I have one! Most iPad people only have the grossly outdated iPad 1 :p This is my first real apple product (not including a non-touch iPod), and I’ve had to figure out how it works… I’m slowly falling in love with it.

Here are some things I love about my iPad 2:

1. It is fast to turn on and turn off! I LOVE this for when I’m on the plane… as soon as we hit 10,000 feet I pop it out and turn it on and I’m ready to go. No watiting to load up.

2. It is small, small, small! Normally I like big, big big! but on a plane (I guess I spend a lot of time on a plane!) I find it more comfortable to collect my thoughts (work on a book, etc.) than using a keyboard… where my wrists and elbows are bent at unnatural angles.

3. It definitely has a “cool” factor that I’m not used to. Everyone wants to ooh and aah over it…

4. I love my first exposure to Apple design. I find some stuff to be non-intuitive, but once I figure it out it’s easy to navigate and use. Sometime’s it’s just hard to figure out :p I’ve already given a few design ideas to my JibberJobber dev team based on the interface I’m experiencing on the iPad.

There’s more I like, but I’ll stop here.

I don’t see this replacing my laptop (for on the road) and my PC, because they have different purposes, but it is really cool technology for someone who group up before cell phones, GPS and the rest of the amazing technology we have today.

I hope I can find some older iPads at discounted prices for my family… it’s pretty amazing!