It feels like forever since I’ve written in either of my blogs. Every day, I thought about how I wanted to write but just couldn’t make the time. This deadline had me all wound up and I really had to focus.
But, believe me, I wanted to write. I’ve found that writing out my thoughts really helps me to stay organized and gives me a good mental recap on past days’ events.
Even though it’s been nearly a week since I last wrote (my longest break since starting this blog), I can summarize in just one post. This is because I -mostly- just worked on my presentation which is due on Monday. The International Managing Partner is coming to the U.S. on Monday to hear what I have to say. As of Friday, I was very disappointed because I was so unprepared -despite much work and efforts- and had so far to go.
However, yesterday, we really focused for about 8 hours and progressed well on the content of the presentation. I was also able to organize it more effectively, and when I went through the dry-run this time, I felt quite a bit more confident about what we had to show. I believe that I have laid out our plan so succinctly that it should be a “no-brainer” for this potential client to select our services moving forward.
This has a two-fold effect on my companies themselves. First, if they accept the entire proposal we have put together, then I will be getting a decent but not huge chunk of investment money towards my “Web Crawler” and I can use a little bit of those funds to finally get my other servers for my “thumbnail generator” (Shrink The Web) up-and-running. And actually, as of today, Shrink The Web delivered its one-millionth thumbnail. So, that’s definitely an achievement in such a short time. I think that service will go mainstream -especially once I get the new servers running.
So, working 12+ hours per day on the presentation pretty much covers my week. Now that I feel the presentation is ready, I will be practicing all day today. I hope to have memorized the entire 4-page script of my notes by end of day today. That way, I can relax tomorrow and just let it flow naturally.
Oh, I almost forgot that I’ve also learned several phrases in French and have been practicing my pronunciation. This is because the International Managing Partner is from France, so I’ve been learning their culture somewhat. If we get this deal, then I will become fluent in French within 3 months and be traveling to France, Belgium, and other parts of Europe to kick off this project. I will also eventually learn to speak Dutch.
I did also manage to work on another client project on Friday evening for 3-4 hours taking pictures of their band for a new “Bluegrass band” website I’m making for them. Barring the fact that I was so sleep deprived, I have to say that the band was fun to watch. 
Aside from that, Leah got pulled over in my car on Wednesday… expired tag. Hmm… that was surprising since I paid for my tag well BEFORE it was due last year. The problem is that you cannot depend on the U.S. government to do anything right. People who work for the government rarely take pride in their jobs and even the “little worker bees” feel like they are above the law -in my experience. So, anyway, they sent my tag sticker to my address last year but omitted the “Suite xxx” portion. Therefore, it bounced back.
Since I only deal with things as I see them, this meant that I did not realize anything was wrong. In other words, I didn’t have a note that said, “Make sure the gov’t does their job and sends the tag.” And, as you may or may not know, government policy stipulates that any correspondence sent by them to you is your responsibility to receive. How’s that for ridiculous? If THEY mistype something, omit something, or have a general breakdown in delivery, it is YOUR problem. Nice.
After further investigation, I discovered that they omitted the “Suite xxx” portion, because I am not supposed to use a “business address” as my address for government mailings. Why not? Well, so they know where to find me, of course. Sorry, but I don’t trust our government (not after all I’ve been through), so they will never know where I really live. So, they forced me to say that I DO live at that address and I raised a big hooplah about it. Fortunately, they do not actually check to ensure an address is residential, so they eventually re-issued my tag and updated my address.
Once I get to a point where I have time to write my autobiography, I will show you why you never want the government to know where you really live. I will also divulge some “secrets” on how to achieve virtual invisibility. Some of you reading this may not have ever experienced anything remotely close to what I’ve seen, so you may think me a bit paranoid. However, if the proverbial dung hits the fan, you may one day wish you had not been so “by-the-book” and honest with our government. Believe me, they will not return the favor.
Anyway, so in recap, this week flew by and was filled with tons of work. However, I think I’ve made great strides and I’m excited about my presentation tomorrow. The tag situation is cleared up, so hopefully we’ll have no more run-ins with the law anytime soon.
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