Lately I've been spending a lot of time working on a book idea. It's 17 pages long now, which isn't bad. The important part is what you learn when you write a book. You solidify what you think about a subject and you deal with subtleties that you've never thought about before. It's an interesting undertaking that I recommend for most people. In my field of internet marketing there are thousands of changes every year so writing a specific step by step book is suicidal. It would be outdated within a few weeks and yet that's what people want. My approach is to write about general guidelines directly related to internet marketing. Ignore the hype and look at the new product through a filter. It's not about getting rich quick it's about building a bMy second goal is to include plenty of stories. I love a good story plus it has the ability to draw an audience into the reading. I really want an involved reader.

We took the kids to the dermatologist yesterday. Everything went well except for Mallory. Apparently Mallory has an invasive mole that runs beneath the surface of her face. Removing one mole on her chin would result in a 3 or 4 inch scar on her face. We are forced to take her to a cosmetic surgeon to get it removed. There's another mole on the top of her head that the dermatologist thinks is suspicious. We are concerned especially when they use the words Melanoma to explain it. UGH!

My workers have been problematic lately. In the 2 years that I've done web design this has been the most inconsistent period. It's causing frustration for me and my customers. I need to look at it with fresh eyes and try something new.

Ron

I'm in the process of writing a book. (you know everyone should do it) The first 11 pages have flown by in rapid succession. I didn't have to work too hard for them. After asking for opinions on a specific topic from a forum, someone said something that stopped me. I was confronted with a thought that I haven't thought before. Do I really believe what this guy is saying? It sounds a little candy coated for my tastes. Do I go with the prevailing opinion or spend time dwelling on that thought? Dwelling makes for better reading even if you come to the same conclusion as the norm, because you understand more deeply. At around 4 am this morning those thoughts flooded through my head...always 4 am. Why can't I have a creative flash at 9 am? (or sometime more reasonable) So I'm trying to work through that.

Yesterday was an ugh day. It starts off with 3 emails in rapid fire order from a customer complaining. The weird/ironic thing is that he was complaining because I didn't notice HIS mistake sooner. If that had been me, I would have accepted responsibility for my actions and moved on to complete the task. This guy goes on a paragraph rant. I did want most people do who don't want drama, I typed a response that said everything mean I could think of, then I saved it. After an hour or two I went back to that email and deleted it. It's good to have it off your chest but not so good to alienate customers.

At 12:20 I had to take Mallory somewhere across town. She was asking me if it was cancelled. I checked my email for a cancellation notice...nothing. When we arrived, it was cancelled. I'm guessing that Mallory knew something more than she was saying because she asked me to wait before leaving. In essence I wasted an hour driving across town when I had customers who needed help. To further add to the "ugh" day, Mallory and Griffin fought the entire trip. Everything Griffin did was greeted with disdain and a mean spirited comment. Griffin's response was to push Mallory's buttons by repeating annoying phrases over and over again. Fun!

Finally I tried to hire a new designer to finish some website projects for me and he didn't respond. We talked back and forth all day, then when I offered him a job and a task. POOF, he's gone. Hopefully this morning he will reappear. I think he's going to get a nickname really fast. I present the Magician. Now you see him, now you don't. We'll see.

On a day like that I try to think about the good in my life, the things that are noble, the things that are amazing, the things that are beautiful. That puts an "ugh" day into perspective and keeps me from biting everyone's head off. Double bonus.

Have a great day,
Ron