Lack of updates

It's been three weeks since my last post, and it's been so long that I actually had to re-read the post to figure out what's happened since then so I know what to write about now. And I go back and re-read how it was two weeks before that that I had posted. So much for my New Years resolution of posting weekly. And then there's the matter of my Youtube show...

When we last checked in, I had just registered healthinthenavel.com, and that's been going, although more slowly than I had hoped. Although it's mainly me stopping myself. I had told myself I was going to do the 10-3-2 plan, and I haven't been-I haven't even been getting in three conversations a day, so I need to step it up. And my fast track leaders tell me that I shouldn't beat myself up for it. Of course, I tend to do it even though I know I shouldn't. In any case, I've actually gotten some responses from former Team colleagues. Nothing definite yet, but it's something. And today, I finally submitted my site to hireasaint.org, so we'll see where that goes.

I went to NDT and Basic 5 yesterday. The training was good-getting to the hotel where it was held wasn't. It was held in Saddle Brook, which I thought would be a fairly metropolitan location, considering that this was the closest such training around the area, but it was out in the middle of nowhere, and I had to take two buses to get there. Of course, now I do a little more research and discover that I could have taken the train and I would have just had to walk a mile and a half to get to the hotel, which probably would have been a lot less hassle than what actually happened. Oh well. The ECCT on May 31 is at the same location, and Amy said she was going to that one, so I think I'm going to see if I can carpool with her from the train station.

I also had a date with Rosemary last night. She agreed because she had never been to a comedy show. It was a funny show called Delusions of Spandex, and how much better can you get than a sketch comedy variety show hosted by two viruses? :-) Anyway, Rosemary enjoyed the show, and we got to chat a little bit-nothing overly romantic yet, but it's a first date, so I didn't expect too much yet.

I've also used my newfound abundance to finally upgrade to Leopard, purchase an ipod, a new palm pilot, some DVDs, and my roommate and I split for our own cable internet connection as well as a TV and DVD player for the living room. Some may think those are frivolous considering where I was financially just a few weeks ago, and I've had some of those thoughts myself, but I seem to be doing okay. And in fact, I just was tested for a transcription job that would pay very well if I got it. They told me I would know when I left if I got the job or not, but I didn't-the person I needed to meet with wasn't available, so they're going to check in with me on Monday. Wish me luck! :-)

Things are finally happening

I was talking with Alfie recently, and he pointed out to me that my blog was out of date. So here I am updating it. By the time I post next week, I should have my Market America business up and running. I have the tax refund, I've got the products picked out, so it's time to go. The one problem was that Mom doesn't approve. She was still trying to point out all the negatives to warn me about, trying to warn me of all the reasons why this might not work, and also reminding me of our current financial situation. But consider this: I got the tax refund, and it was enough to do this. It wasn't enough to do this and Game Institute, like I had hoped, but that gives me something to shoot for with my first commission check. Also consider that I have Alfie ready to join up under me. And here's the other thing I considered(and tried to explain to my mother but couldn't express because the black hole in my apartment that sucks in wireless signals was particularly severe tonight) was back in my experience first moving to New York-before I mailed off my deposit, people were looking at my Philadelphia apartment, but they always responded that they were looking at other places, and they weren't sure about mine, and they would get back to me-nothing committal at all. However, when I sent off the deposit check, the very next guy responded enthusiastically that he would take the apartment. I likened that to my job search-if we want to notice how, in spite of being perfectly qualified, I have not been getting any job offers, and I've been considering waiting until I had a permanent job to register, it's certainly possible that registering would actually be the catalyst for my job search to bear fruit so that I can at least be assured of maintaining the monthly expenses no matter what my sales may be.

I've also met a girl on LDSSingles, but she's not really a member of the church.  She's a member of the Apostolic United Brethren, so there would have to be a conversion for a marriage between us to take place.  I'm committed solid to a temple marriage, so technically that would mean she would have to convert, which I know is unfair of me to say.  Of course, it would be easier if she were part of a church that didn't believe in eternal marriage already, because I could use the argument that I feel so strongly about her that I want to be with her forever, and not just until death, but she not only believes in that doctrine, but the doctrine of polygamy.

Of course, this is rather confusing, since I think there are several women who could potentially be interested in me(I won't name names, since this is a public forum, after all), some I discovered even here in New York, and even one who is in my ward but that I really got to know thanks to the Taste of New York activity yesterday(which was completely rainy and was also botched up with the groupings and the computer algorithm).  I just need to find out who is open to a relationship with me, in terms of time and interest level.  Something tells me this can happen now.  But with whom?

The marriage prep class started today.  Surprisingly, there wasn't any opportunity to cause controversy.  Aww...  ;-)

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. :-)

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.

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.

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. :-)

Major surprises

First, I think I need to start off this week with a clarification-Katya is not my girlfriend. We have agreed several times that we would not enter into a committed relationship until we met in person. I got a clue that I might not have been clear when Alfie congratulated me on my "new girlfriend" based on what I put in my last post(although Alfie has been known to come to wrong conclusions before ;-) ), so I just want to make this clear. Ironically, just as I was coming home from the Relationship seminar and ran into Sarah Mason on the subway, where we discussed lots of the issues in the relationship domain, and she even offered to try and make some nudges with some of the women in the ward in that area. I appreciate it, and it sounds like a sign that that area of my life is about to break. :-)

Meanwhile, the money area is still stalled. After looking for new restaurants to call for websites, Amy suggested I hadn't been focusing enough on my warm market and suggested I turn back towards that. I did have some success calling real estate brokers about text messaging, and I even reached someone who was interested in looking at it, and by now he's had a week to look at it, so I need to follow up with him. The next step is to look around and leverage my efforts with the people around me and find out who they know who they can connect me with.

This week was marked by two shocking events that have a large impact-Kucinich's abrupt withdrawl from the Presidential race and Pres. Hinckley's passing. I'm rather disappointed that corporate interests were able to recruit opponents in Kucinich's congressional race that were successful in intimidating him out of his Presidential campaign, although on the other hand, if we can use this event to try and muscle Obama or Hillary(of which I think the former is more likely) into adopting the Kucinich platform, since now we've become an undecided demographic, and if they're both smart, they should realize that either one of them could steal us away from the other and nudge the other out on Super Tuesday. And if they were to recruit Kucinich as a prospective running mate and announce it before Super Tuesday, that could, in effect, seal the deal. Furthermore, if they did that, they might even attract some of those who weren't even going to support Kucinich in the first place, because what Kucinich put forth is exactly what they want anyway.

Meanwhile, Pres. Hinckley's funeral is scheduled for Saturday, after which Pres. Monson will be announced as the new President of the church, as well as his new counselors. I suspect Pres. Eyring will be re-called as a new counselor, since he was just called into the First Presidency so recently, and Pres. Monson will have enough to deal with without having to train two new counselors. I was surprised though. I actually thought Pres. Hinckley would make it to 100-he was definitely healthy for his age, and a lot healthier than Presidents Hunter, Benson, or Kimball were when they died. Then again, Pres. Lee's death shocked everyone too, given that he was in such good health when he became the President of the church and he had only been President for such a short time. Meanwhile, I'm not even going to speculate about what kind of Prophet Pres. Monson will be-I never would have guessed what Prophet Pres. Hinckley would have been like when he was First Counselor, and yet his transformation was magnificent. So we'll just have to wait until April General Conference(which seems like an eternity away now, even though it's only two months!).

Speaking of new callings, Matt got released as Elders' Quorum President with his impending marriage, and Joel Richards was called as the new Elders' Quorum President-with no counselors. I have no reason to expect to be called into the Elders' Quorum Presidency, but I have no reason to think I wouldn't be called either. I've been in the Family History Committee for over two years now, and Wayne Van de Graaf did indicate that they were considering giving me a new calling just before Bishop Carter was released. For all I know, they may just shake up the callings to find who the new counselors will be, and I'll just be caught up in the domino effect.

I got a new roommate on Wednesday-just barely before I had to leave for the Relationship seminar. ;-) In any case, he seems all right. I know I'm not that social of a person, and I'm less social around guys, but I don't see any potential conflict. He works in TV and is looking to get a job here in the city.

Leadership school is coming up. This week's task is to cause the money to get myself down to Miami, because that's going to unlock the door to success in Market America, and by extension, with everything else. I am still going to be an Executive Coordinator and complete the pay cycle by the end of the year, no matter what happens. I also am going to complete Rich Dad Academy and start my real estate investing career.