Alot Can Happen in Six Months

Like I said in my welcome back post, this is the time of the year when I do the most self-reflection and planning for the year to come. Plato once said, "The unexamined life is not worth living." With that here is a quick recap of the last six months.
At this time six months ago, I was wearing shorts and sandals to work at a start-up, driving an old '92 Mercury Grand Marquis and not making too much money. I lived a couple miles from my office with a good buddy from college. I was dating the same girl I had been all throughout college and I was developing a good group of friends and professional contacts. I was beginning to shrug off the college mentality and come into my own. Philadelphia was beginning to become a place that I called home.


Professionally, I couldn't have asked for more (except more money). I liked my job and the people I worked with. I believed in the idea and the management team - especially the CEO. The CEO and I began to think of him as more of a mentor than just a boss. The hammer fell this past February when I was informed that I was being let go (along with 3 other people) to make the financial statements look better to a VC firm that had been interested in us for several months. I could tell he was crushed when he had to tell me. I felt like I had been blindsided by a Mack Truck. I went back to my apartment, that Monday afternoon, in complete and utter shock.
A couple of weeks later my long time girlfriend broke up with me. It wasn't because of the job, but I will save you from the bloody details. I felt like that sphere of comfort that I described in the first paragraph was collapsing around me.
My life is much different now. I live on the doorstep of the Nation's Capital, Washington DC. I have a new, overpriced apartment in Alexandria, VA, a new car, new girlfriend, new roommate (also a good buddy from Villanova) and I am a new member of the Free Masons. Did I mention that I have a new job at PricewaterhouseCoopers, the largest of the Big Four public accounting firms? Ask any of my friends from college and I bet none of them ever thought I would be working as an information security auditor for a Big Four firm.

It has actually been only six months since all this change started happening and I must say, while it has been a whirlwind. I can say the one thing that I am most excited about is developing new relationships both professional and personal in the DC Metro area. When I made to Philadelphia five years ago, I knew two people. When I made it to Washington, I knew one. I know it will certainly be a challenge in this new environment but I am up to it.
The bigger challenge in my eyes will be maintaining the relationships I have in Boston and Philadelphia while working hard to build a strong network of friends and professional contacts in DC.

Notable News

In yesterday's New York Times there was an article entitled, "Medicare Refund Mixup Part of a Larger Tangle" It quotes President Bush as saying that the mistakenly sent Medicare refunds was part of a large scale "computer glitch" is quite amusing to me. I am currently deployed on a client engagement for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. I really wish I could go on about the relationship, between Medicare and the Contractors that administer the drug plans, but independence issue prohibit me from doing so. However, it is pretty neat being in able to see, from the inside, what is being discussed in the National headlines.
In an article entitled, "Here's Your Syllabus, and Your Condom" Stephanie Rosenbloom describes the growing target market of college students as a primary focus by Trojan, Durex and the like. Not that this news is overly surprising, but when I think of back to school, I thought of notebooks, textbooks, dorm living and drunken debauchery - never condoms. Then again, I suppose a night of drunken debauchery dovetails nicely with pack of Trojans!

This isn't notable news, but is interesting nonetheless:
An Atheist Manifesto is a very interesting exposition into Atheism. While I have heard most of these arguments before they are arranged in a very interesting way. I don't agree with the author's thesis but I do respect the argument he is trying to make. The true existence of God is always an important conversation to have, especially when extreme and fundamentalist religious groups dominate todays headlines. I ask that you give is a read, one time, with an open mind.

Below is the Editor's Note:
At a time when fundamentalist religion has an unparalleled influence in the highest government levels in the United States, and religion-based terror dominates the world stage, Sam Harris argues that progressive tolerance of faith-based unreason is as great a menace as religion itself.

Live fully, in This World

Here is a great quote from Joan Didion's commencement address at U.C. Riverside:
I'm not telling you to make the world better, because I don't think that progress is necessarily part of the package, I'm just telling you to live in it. Not just to endure it, not just to suffer it, not just to pass through it, but to live in it. To look at it. To try to get the picture. To live recklessly. To take chances. To make your own work and take pride in it. To seize the moment. And if you ask me why you should bother to do that, I could tell you that the grave's a fine and private place, but none I think do there embrace. Nor do they sing there, or write, or argue, or see the tidal bore on the Amazon, or touch their children. And that's what there is to do and get it while you can and good luck at it.
[hat tip: Ben]

The Web...Embraced

[Written at 35,000 feet - somewhere over the Gulf of Mexico]

I have finally fully embraced the web! I have come to realization that with the amount of travelling most knowledge workers theses days are expected to do there are one truth:

· Less is more

To that point, the less that we have to carry the better off we are both at the security check points and in having less to carry around.

But what is more, I have found myself on the road, spending the night at a hotel or at a client site when I need something that resides on my personal PC back inVirginia i.e. a billing statement, personal file or check book.

Over the course of the past two weeks I have moved all of my personal files to the web using Gmail as my online storage device.  My collaborative calendaring is also handled through Google using Calendar.  It is a great service that works in a similar fashion to an enterprise version of Microsoft's Outlook.  The best feature, though, is that it will send me text messages reminding me that I need to be somewhere.  I wish Google would build in a simple "To Do List" function that would eliminate the electronic Post-Its on my desktop.  I also host almost all of my pictures through Facebook.

All available billing statements are set for e-delivery/e-payment.  Those that I cannot pay via the web are paid by way of the automatic check processing service from Bank of America.  Bank of America will automatically cut a check to the person or entity you designate and drop it in the mail for you with the person to whom you wrote the check for within three days.  This service has saved me on a couple of occasions when I have been out of town when I forgot to leave out a check for rent on the apartment. Best of all - The service is free!

I have even trivialized the need for my Ipod since I have moved to Yahoo's Music Service - Launcast. What's best, I don't have to worry about charging and synching another device. Nor do I have the headache of worrying if my heard drive fails.  I usually always have a high speed connection except in the airport and on the plane.  As such these are the only places that I used said device.  Now I have a completely customizable radio station without the worry of lugging my clunky second generation Ipod around. [I currently have Rob Thomas, Jason Miraz, Jamie Cullum, Maroon 5 and Norah Jones on heavy rotation.] There is one device that I wish I had that has some considerable "clunk" - The Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones. However, I can't justify the cost right now.

I have had some interesting conversations with Sophy about how much I trust the Web and whether I trust it a little too much.  I argue that the companies I have entrusted my daily productivity and data storage to (Yahoo, Google, Bank of America, etc) are not going away any time soon.  She argues that she trusts none of them and she will continue to hold onto her notebooks and check books.  She has a point, some of the oldest documents we have as a civilization are on papyrus.  While, I respectfully disagree, I still love her, but she will just have more to carry!

Back to In an Uncertain World (it is turning out to be a very good book, even though I am in the early goings). Thanks Jeff and Ben.

Did You Even Read the Blog...?

This morning I received an email from a marketer that would like to "partner" with me and help me earn money while referring people to his company. I really think that sending out blind emails like the one below is pointless. He must have a response rate that is much lower than the typical direct mail response rate. Here is what he said:

Hi Travis,
Daily reader and fan of your business opportunities blog. I read it every day along with some of the other recommended blogs from your blogroll.
I wanted to ask you how you decide what to write about each day?
I ask because I work for CreditCards.com, a site to search compare and apply for credit cards online. We just launched our "partnership program" allowing website owners to earn money from approved applications. I though maybe it could be a topic you could blog about. Program Details: http://www.netfiniti.com/partners/credit-cards-com
I guess what I was thinking is that you could become a "partner" of CreditCards.com and earn money from talking about the program in your blog.
Let me know your thoughts on this.
Sincerely,
[Name Removed]Partnership Program Manager13809 Research Blvd. Suite 906Austin TX. 78726

At least he could have started his letter to me with a grammatically correct opening sentence. And let's be honest if he has been reading my blog on a daily basis, he must have been pretty dumb not to realize that there has been no new content for the better part of six months. I have had a couple marketers read one of my posts and make a comment about it. At least that is a start and a way to get my attention longer than it takes for me to scroll to the delete button!

Page Layout Issues

Is this page loading correctly in your browser? I am having issues getting the lists on the right sidebar to display correctly in Internet Explorer. I have no troubles in Firefox.
I have been trying to update links, freshen up the layout and displayed content of the page and I just keep having display issues in IE.

I am such a dork

This was first written on Friday 9/15, but until now I haven't had time to edit and post it!
I am flying back home from my second week in Jackson, Mississippi to Washington DC and I realized it was about the time that the October Atlantic Monthly should be hitting news stands. I rushedthrough security and into the magazine shop in the Jackson airport looking feverishly for the issue. I felt like a little kid rushing to the snack bar after a Little League game hoping to get a snow cone. My tastes have changed since I was eleven, but my reaction to disappointment hasn't. I had no such luck on getting the issue. I was informed it doesn't hit the news stands till Monday.
When I arrived in Washington I was driving around to get some errands done before my girlfriend, Sophy, came down from New York later that night. [Sophy and I read and discuss The Atlantic every month and sometimes it is almost a competition to see who can finish it first]
I happened to be by the local Borders and decided to poke my head in and check it out and see if, maybe on an off chance, they had stocked The Atlantic. Again, no such luck. I went and questioned the customer service rep that was stocking some other magazines as to if they had copies in stock in the backroom. She replied, "Indeed we do, but they are not shelved till Monday." I began to explain how I was traveling and wouldn't have time to get myself a copy. She was smiling at me (I felt a glimmer of hope that I may be able to get one) and probally trying to grasp why I was so desperate about getting the latest copy. I am sure that this kind of thing may happen for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, but not the Atlantic.
I can say that I was able to walk out of Borders proudly holding two copies (one for Sophy) of the October issue of The Atlantic Monthly. I felt like kid coming home after a night of trick or treating-ing holding my full sack of candy.
Who goes to these lengths you ask? - This Guy!
I promptly took out one of the many subscription cards from inside the magazine, checked the box for a two year subscription and wrote them a check so I won't have this problem again!

What was that..?

"Whoa!"
This is what you are probably saying to yourself right now.
"Did I just see the "Odyssey of the Mind" feed go to bold? Did he really post something?"
That's right ladies and gents, my first post in who knows how long. My last post outlined at a very high level what I had dubbed the "Summer of Travis" (blatant Seinfeld mention). Well the Summer of Travis was great. Seeing friends in Boston, Philly and moving to Washington DC were all great but the first leg of my travels proved the hardest to overcome.
My time spent in the Pacific Northwest was nothing short of spectacular. Jeff was a great guide as he provided the quintessential experience. We visited the San Juan Islands, Seattle, Microsoft (I'm a geek at heart), the Public Market, the First Starbucks, Mariners game and we went to Mt Rainier. When I say we "went to Rainier" we REALLY went to it, buy climbing it - not all the way, of course, but to Moon Rocks (about 9,000 feet). Needless to say, a great time and easily the highlight of the summer.
The summer officially ended with me waking up at 4am for a flight to Chicago. Two weeks of training, one and a half weeks in DC, three clients later, I find myself in a Residence Inn in the bustling downtown of Jackson, Mississippi! While I definitely did not see myself in Jackson, Mississippi during any time in my life, I am happy to be afforded to opportunity to travel. Thank goodness because I am on the road for the next two months Jackson, Mississippi; Tulsa, Oklahoma; New York, New York and Omaha, Nebraska will all be traveled to before the end of October.
Every year (around my birthday) I engage myself in a pretty informal goal setting/self evaluation period. What went right over the past year? What went wrong? Where can I improve? What things do I want to get involved? The post Labor Day time frame has always worked well for me because that is when the hecticness of summer ends, I would have been heading back to school, it was around my birthday, etc. It just so happens it is the same time that my development plan is due for the year as well.
So where am I now (besides Mississippi) and what am I doing? Well that is partly the reason I am getting back into blogging. It helps me vet out my thoughts and understand where I stand on various topics. So look out for some of those things to become topics over the next few months.
Cheers.