Sunday, February 24, 2008

I luvs my Mac! LUVS my Mac!

Okay, my last blog entry warned you that I would be out of commission for a week or two. Turns out that warning was premature. I spoke to the Tech at the Genius Bar, and it turns out that my computer shutting off abruptly was due to a battery not being able to hold a charge, and since it was under warranty, they replaced it right then and there. Well, since I was at that point emotionally prepared to be without my computer for a few days(gosh, that sounds like I'm addicted! ;-) ), I asked him to fix the DVD drive, too. Turns out he could do that by just taking a wedge and widening the opening that had collapsed. He also replaced the case that was cracking.

And at first, he said it would only take three days, and then later he said, "Do you have 30 minutes you can kill?"

I said, surprised, "Sure, can you fix it that fast?"

"Sure."

"Okay, great! Do it!" I smiled.

So I now have my MacBook back, and I can play DVDs in it again! Yay! I have come up with several reasons why this happened:
  • This is a demonstration of the power of prayer-I prayed that my computer would be fixed quickly, and this exceeded my expectations.
  • This is a blessing for paying tithing-Mom pointed out that she got a job and I got my computer fixed right as we pulled the resources together for me to make up the discrepancy in my tithing payment
  • This is definitely the right time for me to start that game programming training(and probably to use all those books that I already own, too!)
  • I came up with the idea for another infopreneuring book-The Subway Warrior!
  • This was just me being silly and not realizing that I could have solved this problem a long time ago without all this worry. ;-)
So which of these interpretations is true? I say they all are. :-)

BTW, my mom did get the aforementioned job and will be starting tomorrow. She's working for Freedom Mortgage which is one mile from her house(she even said she may walk to work on Fridays. She'll get exercise and she'll save on gas! Yay!), and they also have an office in Mt. Laurel. Sure, Mt. Laurel is closer to Philly than it is to New York, but we've discussed getting together when she does have to come to Mt. Laurel. As for my job situation, I had a job interview last Monday-it's part time, but it pays $18/hour, which should keep me at a regular income, but on a stable basis, while also giving me time for my Market America business, not to mention other projects. I've also been asked back for other jobs, but I'm playing phone tag on those. Fortunately, my current temp assignment is a receptionist job, which means basically I answer the phone when it rings, but I spend most of the day online doing what I want to do. And I've been using that to send out resumes and invites to my product preview on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, in the financial realm, I went to Sue's presentation yesterday, and it was pretty impressive. I think my idea of having a MasterMind group to invest in IoFS just might work. There are plenty of people who would want to see this succeed, and if they could put a financial stake in the game, that would generate their interest a lot more. I've read The One Minute Millionaire and signed up for the conference calls on their website, so this should be a good start. And I'm on the fast track, too! Yay!

So things are starting to look up for me. Now all I need is to break through the marriage realm, and even that got a nice opening at Sue's seminar yesterday-someone who's looking to break through as a consultant in "How to be a Ladies' Man." I offered to be one of her guinea pigs. :-)

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Computer in for repairs

Hey, I know I missed last week, and I have no excuse but myself.  But now I'm waiting to turn in my MacBook for repairs, so it will be a little longer before I can get back here.  I hope I can report in with you soon.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

The ongoing war continues...

That war being the war between where I am now and where I desire to be. I have been struggling with the thought of cold calling all week, and finally on Saturday I told myself I was going to do it and buckle down, only to sit down to do it after reading the first chapter in Your First Year in Network Marketing and have an anxiety attack at the thought of making those calls-I never even saw that coming, and I was so angry with myself over it. I was so shaken up over it that I just texted Amy Rivera even though she was in Miami(and I was not-another upsetting failure).

On the other hand, something hit me during stake priesthood meeting. The theme was about living our religion in New York. The youth speaker and the other guy from the youth speaker's ward were pretty standard-keep the commandments and serve in the church in spite of worldly influence. Yeah, okay, fine. I think I have that down. ;-) But then one of the senior missionaries serving in the mission spoke about how he was able to be successful in spite of living the gospel(or maybe because of it!) and admonished us that we should be successful at our chosen careers to better enable us to be an example to those around us. And I understood completely. Sure, living the gospel by itself doesn't guarantee success-there is much more to success than just what is in the scriptures(I'm sorry to those that think that's blasphemy, but it's true), but when we are successful, people are more likely to listen to us. And besides that, it gives us a greater opportunity to serve and contribute. After all, remember how I keep thinking about how that vacation mansion in Greenport would give me a bigger studio to record in, as well as a nice getaway for the Scouts to camp at, to go boating, and then to also work on the landscaping for the environmental merit badges?

Then came Pres. Buckner's talk-his focus wasn't just living our religion in New York, but was about building the church in New York. I actually got a sense of him assuming his calling the same way Pres. Monson assumed his calling as President of the Church at his inagural press conference. He knows what he wants us to achieve, and he knows how to get us there. Of course, building the church reminded me of my other major income-building dream, real estate investing. After all, it would enable me to provide housing for members of the church, building it close to chapels and providing family friendly housing. And while there's more to building the church and attracting members to New York than just that, it's something I feel I've been drawn to for this specific purpose. Now I just need to be able to afford Rich Dad Academy to learn exactly how to do it.

My mom and I were talking, and she specifically mentioned a verse in Mormon 9, which is ironic that one of my favorite verses is also in Mormon 9, and both verses tackle the same thing-asking God in faith without doubt or fear, and knowing you will be blessed. And we prayed about it. Do I feel like Market America is the path I should be going? Absolutely. Have I prayed about it? I have. Have I received confirmation? I believe I have.

I also went to the Leadership Training Broadcast yesterday, and everything I heard and felt confirmed that I should be married, and that I should be married sooner rather than later. I just don't know to whom or how to get her attention. I was at a Chinese New Year's party last night and was able to chat with some women I already knew and meet a couple new ones. I finally wrote Sarah back a response to her email, but she wasn't at church today, so I couldn't follow up in person. I still need to write a response to Brook. And I'm getting more responses on LDSSingles, LDSPromise, and LDSLinkup.

Getting back to Pres. Monson's press conference-I realized that the three members of the First Presidency represent three distinct geographic divisions of the church-Pres. Monson representing the church in Utah, Pres. Eyring representing the church in North America outside of Utah(he had a father who grew up in Mexico, and he himself grew up in New Jersey) and then Pres. Uchtdorf representing the church outside of North America. I also found it interesting that he chose two junior apostles for his counselors, as if to inject some fresh blood into the senior leadership of the church. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in April conference.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

That which we persist in doing...

I'm still going. I'm still seeing what I need to do to launch my Market America business. This week, I created a new profile on Prosper and put up a loan request for the funding. I've already got endorsements from Alfie, Amy, and Amy. If you want to give me an endorsement, my username is 5thofNovember. Yes, that is a reference to Guy Fawkes Day, and yes, that is inspired by V for Vendetta. Quite appropriate for someone who's looking to create an uprising of the proletariat against the 1%, isn't it? :-)

After Pres. Hinckley died last Sunday, there's been plenty of disputes on Wikipedia whether we should make updates indicating Pres. Monson as the new President of the Church, and what surprised me were all the references we indicated saying that the senior apostle always becomes the new President of the Church that only garnered the response that, "it doesn't say that. They could choose anyone." Now, I know Wikipedia is something pretty silly to argue over, but what disturbed me about it is when I realized that it's the people who will try and deny the obvious on small matters that will also deny the truth on more major issues, such as whether Michael Moore is worth listening to, whether we should have universal health care.

Overall, this week has been an emotional rollercoaster. There have been moments where I realize how blessed I am that, even with the financial turmoil, I've been blessed that I can have food in my cupboard, and I'm probably eating healthier than I have been in a long time. Other times, I've just been so discouraged that I'm still trapped under a status quo that doesn't leave me free. The bishop suggested I keep looking for a job while building my business, and I told him I would do it, only to come home afterwards and realize that I have zero faith that will yield any fruit, because the job market is so bankrupt. And then my mom gets so upset that the church doesn't do more to help me find a job, while I'm realizing that they can't do any more. I was so happy when I texted Katya and told her that I missed her, and then she called me immediately, and then we talked tonight and didn't have much to talk about, and that made it feel like a dead conversation.

I don't know. I feel like I should be more grateful, or that would at least help me get my energy focused in a more positive direction, but it's the hardest thing right now.

Well, here's one thing. Yesterday, at Pres. Hinckley's funeral, I mistakenly left my copy of Rich Dad Poor Dad at the chapel, and when I prayed that I would be able to retrieve it, I went to the chapel during the rebroadcast and found it(not at the same place where I had been sitting, but in a clearly visible spot nonetheless). Later, when I went looking for my copy of Think and Grow Rich, I prayed again, and I still haven't found my hard copy of the book, but I did find an ebook copy, which as far as I'm concerned, is just as good. :-)