The Finish Line

I'm glad you posted something Riani, so that the last _3_ posts wouldn't all be mine. :)

I agree. We really haven't been holding each other accountable enough. We talked about this at the last meeting that we finally had again, but now with Nick overseas too this blog takes on additional importance as a way to keep everyone up to date with whats going on. Well anyways, next meeting will happen June 29th or 30th I believe we decided.

Everyone knows where I'm at -- Release is on July 4th, and I'm scrambling like mad to make it all fit together. But things are looking very up -- next meeting we'll talk more about the marketing side of things, but I had a really good talk with Danie about the ways I've been failing to market the product so far, and ways to dramatically scale up the impact of the release.

Off to Yellowstone for a week tommorow for a working vacation, then back home and the next meeting!

It's June already.

Wow. Six months has flown by and I have nothing to show for it. Crazy huh? I think all of us are lagging behind and we're not being good about being accountable to each other... How can we fix this?

Here's what I've done and my plan for the next thirty days. Let's all get on each other's asses and make sure we stick to our game plan, ok?

1. I decided to start with my line of stationary, called "dear uncle stu" because it's simple, easy to ship and something really personalized. I will be posting my first-draft collections to this blog by the end of the week. Please scream, kick and yell at me to make sure I get this done.
   
2. I've booked a meeting with a supplier of stationary for Friday morning at 9am sharp, so that I can start planning the finances on how to get the project off the ground. I'll be calling and meeting with one more, just to make sure I'm not getting screwed with the price.
   
3. I'm sourcing a web developer for my store, since I'm looking for someone to create the "skin" on an already existing system. There are two likely candidates at the moment, I'm reviewing both their resumes.
   
4. I'm making it a point that my next trip out of the country will be to Thailand, where I'm going to buy the first lot of sample jewelry that I want to sell on the website. I'm going over this with my boss.
   

So those are four things that I have lined up, I'll post again in a few days. How are things going with you guys?

Doldrums of Zeno's Paradox

We STILL haven't had a meeting lately. I'm feeling the lack most keenly as they are great mileposts for me to set progress by.

In any event, my personal TAP report is here:

As of today, 5/19, code is about 98% complete. There are still some fair bits of polish that I really need to attend to, mostly in Layout View. But the real work is pretty much completed.

I've changed my attention to documentation efforts for the moment, still putting in a side order of bugfixing and polish as well. There are 2 weeks left before June -- I want to be effectively done with all work by June 1st and be able to announce a release date for the sometime soon after that.

Can I finish all this crap up in 2 weeks? We'll find out!

Stephen

Emotion Vs. Ration

This week has been one hell of a ride, as I feel both loved and lonely at the same time. I'm struggling to "settle down" and find peace within myself, which is making it hard to concentrate on my objectives. I miss the ease of hanging out with you boys, and regret that I took it for granted. =(

My ability to think rationally, I've found, relies on my emotional stability. I'm frustrated with myself, but as my (new) great friend Homer (as in Iliad, not Simpson) said - I've only been here 3 months. I need to give it time. So, for the next week I'm going to try to book appointments with my new friends. Friendships are easy to strike for me, but getting them deeper has always been hard.

On a business front, the first batch of photos for the website are done. They are in post production and I'll get them on Monday. I'm working on the website, and it'll be ready by the time Monday rolls around (at least that's what I'm telling myself). I'm meeting with the folks at FedEx next week too. Wish me luck.

Lonely but at least not homeless. =D
Riani

Period 4 -- A Diplodocus

A Parable for Accountability


Once upon a time there was a big dinosaur. It ate lots of food in the form of leaves and bugs and grew big and strong. There were plenty of trees to eat from, and life was good.


Then he ate all the trees, so all that was left to eat was insects. The bugs didn't taste nearly as good as the sweet tasty nectar from the feature tree.

Now he's trying to eat all the bugs quickly before the tyrannosaurus arrives and swallows him whole.

And that's this month in a nutshell!

Kuala and Bali Count?

Hi boys,
in these last two weeks I've:

• Gone to Kuala Lumpur to hang out with some girlfriends. This has been good for my soul because it let me recharge and be around strong women entrepreneurs. It's given me the energy to push me again to start my online boutique.
  
• Gone to Bali for the weekend. This was good because I met a lot of locals in the area, and some that own villas there but live in Jakarta. I'm sure that if worse comes to worse, I can go work for one of these guys. In Bali. Not too bad me thinks.

So really, I've just been playing tourist. But having a great time doing it. I have however:

• Scrapped my old provider for my boutique. I found a better one which is easier to use, and on which I can build my own visions without too much fuss. I should have it up and running by the end of the week.
  

• Secured the US wholesale rights for a local jewelry company coming out with brilliant designs. I'll be able to sell them at retail and/or wholesale within the US market and anywhere else I want. I'll add that to my collection, which allows me to save money by not buying inventory.

• Contacted a guy who makes these awesome rattan bags, hopefully I'll be able to photograph them and add them to the site, and sell them at retail price. (I'll negotiate for wholesale pricing).
  

• Contacted a business development manager at Pasar Raya, which is a huge department store. They have beautiful stuff, and I want to see if I can start selling some of their stuff online.
  

My goal is to get product on the website, sell it online and ship it from Indonesia. In a couple of months when I have a better idea of the sales velocity, I'll ship to the states and have a fulfillment center take care of all that crap.

Anyway, that's it for now. I'll update you guys when I've started. =D

Watch Out! Unicorns abound!...

"The unicorn is the only fabulous beast that does not seem to have been conceived out of human fears. In even the earliest references he is fierce yet good, selfless yet solitary, but always mysteriously beautiful. He could be captured only by unfair means, and his single horn was said to neutralize poison."


What does this have to do with accountability, you say? I'm not sure yet...Give me until the end of the post and I'll come up with something. I surely couldn't pass up using this sparkleiscious graphic.



As for productivity over the last 2 weeks...
I recovered from two months of painting for the first week
I was sick for the second week
I got a bunch of small things done, but not much progress on the macro-goals
Grade: C+

Things for next time (2 weeks this time, dammit!)

Post my to do list...I'm doing that now
Develop specific curriculum and materials for spanish test
research spanish test requirements

Contact deck painting client
Research and act on photography income/display
Create new '100 things I like...'list
Try to fill out days with specific events
back to the gym
plan trips

begin planning/implementation on evil present blog and car painting blog
help parents plan/schedule home restoration project
fix car...again
finish mustang!!!
photo/document/internetize/sell mustang
review other online pursuit ideas

The unicorn is there to inspire and symbolize our not-so-selfless, but valiant efforts to 'neutralize the poison' in our lives...or maybe we're just horny.