TEOTWAWKIAIFF

Things have been very busy at Natog’s Sekret Bunker. I’ve had to sideline my writing career due to training and certification demands from the “real” job. I’m spending about three hours a night studying for a series of certifications the Job wants me to get. I don’t mind, because these certs are mine, and I can use them to get a different job if things don’t turn around here.

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to starting my own computer consulting business. A LOT of thought. I have the skills, and lots of contacts in the field. Customers would need to be pulled away for the incompetent consulting firms in the area, which shouldn’t be that hard. What I need is capital, about $250k for my pie-in-the-sky project. Most of it would be from Uncle Sugar, as I’m a minority I get special loans for starting my own business. Yes, I’m milking the system, but after all the money I’ve put into Social Security that I will never see, I could care less.

There are a few things holding me back.  First, I would be feeding the system of dependence that I loathe. Second, I would need to gain the confidence, i.e. pay off, politicians to keep my business up and running. Finally, I would need to hire employees.

I can do a lot on my own in this business. I can perform all the technical design, provide our internal IT services, and complete the technical work for the customers. What I am not good at is being a salesman and schmoozing customers. I also am a complete rookie at running a business, and have no experience doing it. I’ve managed people before, that’s not a problem – it’s the day to day financing, cash flow, etc. that I have no familiarity with.

So I would need to hire a sales weasel, a part-time bookkeeper, a cute-sounding girl to man the phones, and a help desk grunt to field customer calls & do minor admin stuff. I also would need to hire a business consultant, preferably a retired businessman, to help me about ten hours a week with the business side of the company.

As I have said I have put a lot of thought into this. I have a business plan sketched out, and I’ve done three out of the ten or so technical designs for the various customers completed. These designs are the foundation for demonstrating profitability, and to show customers the options for services my company will provide, the monthly costs, and the TCO (total cost of ownership) of their existing IT infrastructure.

It is so tempting to go for it, but until I have six months of cash saved to cover bills, and I’ve completed the business plan and all the designs, it’s really a pipe dream. It’s funny in that the idea I have is actually helped by a poor economy. Datacenter space is cheaper, and it’s more advantageous to companies to spend a monthly fee, rather than outlay capital on computer equipment.

The big advantage is it will pay a shitload more than a writer/woodworker’s salary.

Speaking of woodworking, I’ve been a busy beaver in the shop. I’ve been doing a series of small projects to make my home more liveable. I built a storage unit for the pantry so all the cookie sheets and such stand vertically. I’m almost done with a plate rack for the cupboard that will let me stack the plates vertically, giving me a spot to put all my vitamins and supplements. This frees up counter space and makes the kitchen neater.

For the basement, I built a weight bench, with snazzy upholstering and a plate rack to store my freeweights. It’s nothing fancy, two 2″x4″ sides with 2″x6″ verticals. I can’t find the pic of the one I copied, I’ll have to snap a pic when I get home.  Next, I am going to focus on storage and organization in the basement. I will make a few shelves from 2×4′s, and then make wooden boxes to hold stuff on the shelves.

I am going to make a jig tonight to cut through dovetails on my table saw. I’ll upload pics and a diagram on how to build it in a future post. The dovetail is the strongest joint in woodworking that doesn’t use any mechanical fasteners. With some quality plywood, this jig, a little glue, and a table saw, you can bang out piles of these boxes for about the same cost as the plastic bins you buy in Target. The advantage is that you can customize the size to exactly what you need, and when target is no longer around, you can make them from whatever wood you can find.

The idea is for me to go through all my computer crap and organize it into bins on these shelves. I’ll sell what I’m throwing out for scrap because motherboards, network cable, etc is worth big cash now. I’ll buy silver with the money I get. I really, really need to get some more precious metals, but the bills are getting outrageous. I had to fill the oil tank and $550 later I have enough to heat the house until the spring. (The secret is to not have a wife or girlfriend — that way you can set the heat at 63 degrees and not hear the endless bitching about the cold.)

I guess I’ve been focusing more on the woodworking and handyman/tinkering around the house because I am already spending between ten and thirteen hours a day in front of a computer. Writing is more of the same, and my brain can’t handle it. I already don’t exercise enough — the last thing I need to do is sit on my ass more.

I have been exercising fairly regularly, and if you are too then keep it up! If you are not then get off the computer and go for a walk. I have been shortening the belt, matter of fact I need to add another belt notch as my pants are starting to slide off.  Muscles are showing through my subcutaneous fat layer, most notably my biceps, triceps, quads and back muscles. I don’t think I have lost that much weight, but rather converted a lot of flab into lean muscle. I’m getting there, slowly and surely. If you change too radically then your body will bounce back. It has happened to me in the past, when I did the Atkins diet. I lost ~50 pounds in 6 months, then gained 75 back the next six months. The better strategy (for me) is to ignore the number (the pounds) and focus on changing my body from fat to lean muscle.

My body type is like a power lifter’s. I make huge gains in mass and strength, but because of my genetics I’ll never be “Brad Pitt” ripped. I will always have a layer of fat. That is OK by me — it keeps me warm in the winter! The goal is to have enough fat to cover the icky veins, while being strong and fit enough to do manual labor all day, and kick some ass if I have to. I gain motivation by watching the amount of weight I lift increase, by putting more holes in my belt, and fitting into a 2x shirt when I was starting to buy 4x. With my frame I doubt I’ll ever get to an XL, my shoulders are way to big. Every workout I push a little harder, every day I curb the cravings for sweets, every meal I eat better calories. More fuel than sweets, more fat and protein than carbs. I haven’t cut out carbs completely, just switched from “fast” carbs like sugar and flour to “slow” carbs like oatmeal and whole grain.
I’ve been looking around for an Uke, a sparring partner, to start re-training myself in Martial Arts. The few dojo’s in the area I called or visited have never heard of such a thing. Of course, they kept pushing me to sign up for their version of kenpo-kung-jusitsu-karate-dragon-ninja-fu bullshit. I might try other means of finding training partners, if you have any ideas please shoot me an e-mail or leave a comment. I’m very rusty in hand to hand, and could use some practice with uke’s of different sizes and body types to get comfortable with people swinging at me again.

Time is ticking away. The Eurozone is holding together with duct tape and bailing wire. China is trying to paint over the rot in their economy so investors don’t notice it. Our economy is beyond fixing, and is only functioning because investors are so afraid of the EU and China that they are dumping money into our worthless bonds. We do not have a lot of time, and I am doing my best to spend it wisely in preparation of what is coming, while enjoying life and keeping (mostly) sane about the whole situation.