Simple America

The hardest part of marketing is pushing myself out on to the world. I am naturally shy and happy to hide behind numbers all day. Problem is when you are self-employed, you have to find someone else’s numbers to hide behind. If you limit yourself to your own numbers, your grocery shopping shall be limited to peanut butter crackers.

I now have to consider marketing to be a part of everything I do. Finding prospects. Introducing them to my services. Convincing the client  that I can improve their business. Making these folks aware that I have helped them as promised and hopefully more. I must constantly find new ways to help them. And get them to share me with others. Everyone I meet could be my next hot lead. I can ill afford to be caught off guard or act a fool in public.

Awareness is the key to my future. I must make others aware of my offerings. I need to know how I am doing this as well as where and when. I must continually maintain this effort. Marketing is a constant and can fail in the instant you slacken from the task. I must believe in the importance of marketing me, therefore I must believe in me. Beliefs become behavior and I must behave well.

Now I should reflect upon my hospitality background. The professors taught service is paramount. Service means the guest is satisfied. Well now I deal with clients and they too must be satisfied. Every effort must be geared toward their satisfaction. Anything less is failure. I must know the client’s needs, anticipate them, and fulfill them. No matter how tired I may become in these pursuits I must find the energy to carry on and persevere.

Ultimately, the toughest client is me. I too must be satisfied. There is no room for failure. Losing the marketing war is not even a consideration.

My goal is not to be rich or live a Fatt Hao life. The goal is to satisfy each and every client and know I have done the best I can do when I lay my head down to sleep each night.

Changing subjects. Shifting gears.

A little proud of my daughter. She has become a volunteer at the Lighthouse of the Blind in Houston. Last night she went to the orientation and is preparing to help with an Outreach camp this summer. This camp helps High School graduates make the transition from school to University or the job market. Girl can still make me proud between bouts of scaring the hell out of me. 

I’m told there was a month of March and April. Turned fifty years of age in March and there was ice cream cake so I must have aged. I definitely fattened up. Can you say soo-ey pig?

Miss writing here everyday as I used to do and reading the words of others. Looking at pictures, smiling at children’s antics, drooling over food, dropping my jaw, crossing my legs, and scratching my head.

Business was fair this tax season. It was my best ever, which is good, but I need more if I am going to survive. But considering I had only word of mouth marketing I cannot complain. Currently I am mailing out postcards to businesses that I selected from the Houston Business Journal’s Book of Lists. I also learned how to access the County’s database, which allows me to see businesses that register in Fort Bend county. Learned how to mail merge and soon I hope to be answering phone calls and emails. Otherwise the missus wants me to get back in the work force and earn a paycheck instead of spending her money on marketing materials. Cannot blame her. But I have no intention of kowtowing to a boss again.

My kids are winding down their school year.

My girl is looking at colleges to send applications to. Going to visit some universities here in Texas, Colorado, and maybe New York. Though the only way she can go to Cornel is if she gets a scholarship and I think she goofed off to much to be considered for a material gift. She has such a wonderful mind, but I think she has allowed herself to be distracted from the mark. And she sticks things in her ears, where her piercing is. Scared she shall have a permanent gouge or get infected as she puts all kinds of stuff there. Pencils, eyehooks, and plastic are just a few of the things I have seen. Really bugs the missus and me, and anything spoken on this subject goes in one ear and out the other. Bit frightened of what she may become. Even her scout leader told her that he would not hire a person with piercings and gougings. All I know is the first tattoo she gets or additional piercing and she can pay for her own college. I am not supporting that lifestyle.

My son is getting ready to graduate Middle School. Well I hope he can graduate Middle School. He simply does not do his assignments. This stems from a combination of inattentiveness and laziness. And once again teenage angst abounds when you try to talk sense to him (just like his sister). If he does graduate, he has been accepted at St Thomas High School in Houston. It is a probationary acceptqnce, but I am so glad that he is attending one of the better college prep schools. First he has to graduate from St Frances De Sales. I feel like I am going to crack the whip on him every day for the next four years. At least until he attains a decent study habit. Too much like me at that age. But no one was spending five figures in US dollars on me for education. Somedays I just want to spank his lazy ass, but he can look me in the eye almost. He might spank my ass instead.

Enough of the scarey urchins. They are good kids when they are asleep after all. And both are striving to advance in their scouting programs, which pleases me. Plus the girl is going to do some service projects for the Lighthouse For the Blind soon too. I can still get a little happiness from the wee bairns. And she is going to spend a week this summer at University of Texas, attending a girl’s only introduction to computer science.

The missus is working as hard as ever. I don’t know how she makes it without me though. Brewing coffee in the morning. Making sure she eats lunch and gets snacks. She starts working early and does not seem to stop until late in the evening. Chinese work ethic is damn scarey somedays. But appreciated.

My game publishing company is driving on and up too. We opened an internet shop to sell our books. Today I made some moves to open up some more markets too. We want to become the one stop shop for horror fans. Movies, posters, and books from that genre for example. I think it is exciting and there is a lot of potential. Might be enough to fall back on if the firm does not work out. We’ll  have to wait and see.

So what have you been up to. I miss you. Yes you!  And you too. Big hugs to everyone. It cheers me up to see you folks come by. Faceback is a nice place to gather and get poked, slapped, tickled and have a giggle. But the blog is where the heart is. Can you hear my heart beat? Breathe in. Breathe out. I can smell you near.

I am having to rewrite this post as the original was lost. This means I lost the entire month of February to blogging. Thought I had been saved by the leaping day, ut no, that was not so. At the time I wrote I had only one contac in my left eye, while my right eye was extremely irritated. That is where one eye blind line originated.

February was so busy. Trying to get the marketing plan moving. I have a website up at “W” cubed dot geraldblakemorecpapc dot com if you wanna take a peek. It is not looking the way I want either. For some reason the site does not fill the browser. Working on that issue. I am hoping to create a niche by installing and supporting QuickBooks, an accounting software package. I would accept tax work too, and consider that a cash boost when I get those opportunities. But the majority of my marketing shall be aimed at local businesses. If things go well I may have to hire bookkeepers to help me keep pace. A couple of Indian companies have contacted me offering these kinds of service support, but I am thinking why not see if there is not the same company in Malaysia or Singapore. I like this area more and then I would have a valid business reason to visit Makan Makan land. Sounds good, ya?

Kids are keeping me busy too. My son is really challenging his school. Not doing his work, or completing it and not turning the work in when done. Problem is he is a perfectionist and he refuses to turn in the work that makes him feel uncomfortable. He also refuses to speak in speech, which is not good. Spent a few hundred dollars on high school admissions tests and application fees and fear that he may not even pass the eighth grade. I hope he opens his eyes. When I mention that he better like the seventh graders a lot as he will join them next year, he thinks I am just teasing him. I wish that was the case.

My daughter is doing well in school. She sat for the SAT last Saturday and we are isolating the schools she shall apply for. She intends to apply for all of the major Texas universities and she also likes a couple of schools in Colorado and Cornel in New York. Currently, she has expressed an interest in studying architectural engineering.

She and I went library hunting on Saturday. First we went and got a Houston Public Library card. That took an hour as they were very busy. Then we went to the University of Houston Downtown campus and they would not accept that library card. My daughter looked at the info wrong online. And I needed an alumni card to get any access to that library branch. So we drove over to the main campus and parked in the visitor’s parking garage. Very nice for a parking lot and there is a Welcome Center (which is closed on Saturday) and we found the Information Booth was also closed. From there we walked across the street to the University Center which had an open information center. I asked for directions to the new Alumni Center, which is located on the other side of campus. A little over a mile (couple of kilmoters) from the UC. When asked if that location was opened, the young man assured me it was. So the girl and I walked over passing the begging squirrels, dodging student joggers and inhaling second hand smoke from brainiacs that understand science, but not health. A beautiful day, a slight breeze and lots of sunshine to cheer our merry jaunt. And when we arrived at the Alumni Center it was open, allowing us to enter, but closed in regards to getting an alumni card.

So we walked back. We chose a different return route and I showed my daughter the Underground, also closed, and told how some jerk made her mom cry there once. A rude fellow that did not want to do a survey and was more than blunt in refusing. Surprised my daughter, as she has never seen her mother tear up. We stopped by the library so I could get the policy for checking out books. They said alumni card or Texshare card would do the trick.

So that is my task today. Go to my local Fort Bend library and get a Texshare card. Then I will get an alumni card and go visit some of the faculty at the Hilton College. Drop off a few business cards and offer to give some accounting chats for the students if they like. And make myself known a bit to any restaurants that might need my services. Also want to see if there are any new books on managing that I should get add to my library.

The missus is doing well. Saturday with my daughter took a lot longer than I planned, so I had to stand her up for “Hello Dolly” that evening. She went with her friend and they had a nice time. The kids and I watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Five. Really was a sad season with Buffy’s mom and all. *snif snif* Sunday her brother invited us to dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant and we had a nice time. Honestly, I thought they were going to pull a surprise party for me, but no go. She still has until tomorrow to pull a rabbit out of the hat. But then the hat may not exist either.

And I am so glad the primary is tomorrow. After the voting is finished, I can get a break from all the political commercials for a few months. Please!!!

I better find some clients soon or I am going to have to get a real job.

I am so late with posting this. But I want to let you know that we have the second charity auction listed. This charity benefits the Autism Research Institute in their efforts to find a cure.

What are we offering to the winning bidder this time? The chance to play a role in our upcoming ETU adventure. I posted the beta of our ETU emblem for all to see. I think it is pretty wicked looking. Me likes it. Do you want to be immortalized in Pinebox? You know, not just another tomb stone by the student parking lot.

I feel better today. Still have a 100 F (37.8 C) temp but I feel like some food. Anything beats crackers and applesauce. Perhaps I’ll have a piece of toast. The smell of food has really unsettled my stomach the last couple of days so I look forward to anything different. The missus wants Korean tonight. I don’t know if I can be that adventurous with my tummy yet.

This morning I also fixed the Simple Warcraft comments problem. Thanks Giddy Tiger for making me aware of this problem. I reset my permalinks to the default setting and that cured all. Phew.

Hoping I can spend less time in bed today. So far so good. Thanks for all of your support.

I don’t know what I did but I have been sicker than a dog. Temperature got up to 102 F (38.9 C) yesterday. Have not really been able to eat or even drink for that matter. Got miserable down pat though. Feelinb better at the moment. Only 100 F (37.8 C) at this moment.

All I have been able to do is watch DVDs in bed. So I am on Season 4 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I tried to sit up yesterday and that just put me off in a bad way. The bright side is I am ill this week and not next week when the family shall be on the road. Phew!

What caused this? Either I got the flu, had a reaction to pork, or I breathed in some bad mold while cleaning my fish tanks.

I am no longer employed by the College. Yesterday I tendered my resignation and left Lake Jackson. No more hour long drives. At least that is my hope.

Now I hope to limit myself to a short jaunt up the stairs. My goal is to make money through my writing. This includes fiction for print or media. The gear chapter of the ETU book is on my to do list. Writing for blog ads and such will probably increase. The firm is there too and I see the coming tax season as a chance to make some money too. And there is eBay also. So I’m going to be hustling.

I hope to use some of this time to catch up on visiting around the blogs too. There are some folks out there that are long over due for a visit. If I can get the Warcraft blog running and I think I’m getting closer, it shall be followed by a Writers Journey blog. Simple Warcraft is going to be an open blog, while the Writer’s Journey is going to require a subscription. No charge, but I want to control access to that site.

It is strange to feel free today. I hope from here on out the only jerk I have to work for is me.

Well the girl has been driving back and forth without a hitch. No detours. No ditching her brother off in the middle of no where. Really is nice to have another driver in the house.

She had a Girl Scout meeting on Sunday. Her mother asked me if I would drive her. Old reflexes die hard. The missus thought about it again and then she remembered the girl could drive herself. And she did.

Dad is proud of her.

And happy to have some more time to try and figure out little things here and there. Why did it take 11 disks to back up my lap top? Had a blue screen of death shortly afterwards, so I am glad I have a back up. The laptop revived. Technology is a pain some days.

Trinity wanted to know a bit more about the J-named people on her blog. So naturally that would include me.

So on with the tag!!!

1. A movie that made you laugh. Victor Victoria always manages to put me in stitches. Even though it is an 80s movie, I still enjoy watching it today.



2. A book that made you cry. I know it might make you scratch your head. I really liked Anakin Skywalker and to see him turn into Darth Vader and his first vile actions really hurt my heart.



3. A best friend. Well that has to be Ed. Since he has moved to the country we do not get together very often. I really was happy to go to with him to Origins last summer. Wish we can get together more often in the future. 
4. A favorite childhood memory. In Fifth Grade I played the drum on the Little Drummer Boy at the Christmas program. Was nice to do this before my family and classmates.
5. Your favorite animal. Dogs. I just love ‘em. Wish I could own one. As soon as my daughter leaves home, I may get one. She has a horrible allergy to dog fur that prevents me from having a pooch now.
6. Your favorite food. I love all of those little dim sum dishes. Lets go yam cha!!!
7. An item of clothing you cannot go without. My underwear. So please stop stealing them in Facebook. kekeke!
8. Something you collect. Dice! I love my dice!
9. Your favorite store to shop in. Best Buy. They have all of the games, music, and DVDs a guy could hope for.
10. Your favorite flower. Bluebonnet. I’m a Texan for sure!

That completes this tag. No time to share. Do this if you like. I can see the weekend at the end of the day. Woo hoo!

Anybody that has read me for any length of time realizes that I am a major game geek. I play board games, role playing games, card games, and video games. It is rumored that I play Scrabulous too (and getting abused there too).

When I got my Xbox 360 I figured that I do not require any other platform for my video game needs. All of the games I want to play should be produced for Xbox. The months went by and there are a lot of good games developed for XBox. But I was missing a few games that would really entertain me. So I bought Half Life 2 and World of Warcraft to play on my laptop. And it was fun. I purchased a wireless keyboard and mouse so I could have better control while playing. But for both games I had to play at minimum graphics. And there were crashing issues. I could count on crashing every two hours while playing World of Warcraft. That is really bad when you are part of a group working through an instance. It can get you kicked from the group real quick, and it kills the fun as you stress through the five minutes it takes before I can return to the game’s server.

Another thing that has always irked me is that I cannot load Burning Crusade, the World of Warcraft upgrade. I have been wanting to play a Dranei shaman for the longest time, which is impossible without Burning Crusade. Then I looked at the money I have been depositing in my Paypal count from Blogging and I said I can afford the power.

But I did not want to just go to the store and buy a box and bring it home. I wanted to have a computer that I knew exactly what was on it and provided flexibility for me to adapt as technology progresses. I don’t really need the best state of the art boards right this minute. My goal is to run the games that I want to play that are going to be coming out over the next year. 

For a couple of months I have been visiting all of the techie sites reading about Core 2 processors, Radeon versus Nvideo, and how it all connects. During the process I focused on assembling a budget that would allow me to be a power player under $800.

Last Friday I picked up the paper as I always do. I pulled out the Fry’s Electronics sales section and I could not believe what I saw. The major components that I wanted were on sale. They offered the motherboard I had been stalking with a Core 2 chip for $98. My jaw dropped to the floor. The processor I had budgeted was 1.867 GHz and here they bundled a 2.0 GHz processor with my board of choice. My budget for these items was $98 and $67 and here I was getting them both for $98. Fry’s also listed the Antec 9000 case for $75 bucks, which is five bucks more than I was budgeting as I had been eyeing a Coolermaster case. But the Antec lists for $150 and it is just a dream. There is enough space for nine 5.25″ bays, and it comes with four fans and space to add two more if I need them. They also had a 500 watt Antec power supply unit for $60, and I had been budgeting this at a hundred bucks. When I picked up my son from school we went to Fry’s and shopped.

This is what we came home with. In addition to the previously mentioned items, I picked up two 1 GB 667 GHz RAM memory, which is the max this board can hold. Cost is $70. That foil package holds a Maxtor 300 GB SATA drive for $80. I picked up a Pioneer 18 X 18 RW DVD for $40. I grabbed an e-Geforce video card for $80, though I have a rebate for $30 that I can mail in. This uses a Nivdeo chip for those that are interested. I bought the Windows XP OEM for my operating system at $100 and the Burning Crusade for $30. I was so happy to see the final total came in under $700. That’s more than one hundred under my budget.

I put everything on the dining room table, so I would have plenty of room to assemble the parts. First, I took out the case, which is huge.

Front view.

Rear view.

The top of the case provides jacks for head phones, microphone, firewire, and two USB connections.

Left side panel off. The case provides a great deal of space for large mother boards and lots of peripherals. Plenty of space for air to blow through to. Cables conveniently provided for the ports and fan electricity. I anticipate using this case for many years. Long after the other components have been scrapped.

Right side panel removed. This lets you have access to secure devices within the bays such as DVD players, and hard drives.

Antec 500 watt power supply.

The power supply fit in quite snuggly in this case. I just pushed it under the metal tab and I am certain it cannot bounce.

Here is a view of the case’s rear, where the power supply fan , on/off switch, and electrical outlet can be seen. It secures to the case with four screws.

We have power. Nice and snugly fit. More to come soon on the assembly of my new power player maker.