So this last week....

How can anyone be so grateful and so challenged at the same time?

My class this month is history something, cultural diversity.  I love history, I love diversity.  I hate the liberal slanted book and professor I have.  OK hate is a bad word.  I'd prefer a more balanced approach to the topics, but in this case, the topics really dictate a liberal approach.  I'm not entirely anti liberal.  Everyone needs to be responsible for themselves.   I know there is discrimination.  I know minorities get the short end of the stick at times.  Guess what?  So do perfectly middle of the road average white folks!   But we certainly can't call that foul discrimination.  Women still earn less than men for the same jobs, minorities earn less.  I get all of this.   I chose NOT to use it as a crutch.  I choose to make my own opportunities.  I choose to have 4 or more jobs to make ends meet.  I make a lot of choices that afford me opportunities that I really think others have, but choose not to take advantage of.

I am challenged with my multiple jobs.   I'd love to have one job bringing in what I am used to making in a month.  The fact of the matter is, that is not happening.  So I am challenged.  But I am totally grateful for the crazy list of things I do.  I am still learning some aspects of a few things.  I get crazy when I am not automatically great at something.  This discomfort has been good for me no matter how much I hate it!

Point being, be grateful, be challenged and get uncomfortable to get ahead.

Foursquare Rocks

As a local search expert, it’s on me to know it all. Because of this anytime a new site comes online, I sign right up and learn the ins and outs. Foursquare became known to me several months ago through industry contacts and the fact that I kept seeing Facebook friends “checking in” around town. Of course I had to figure it out. I want to check in too. I signed up, never checked in, didn’t find very many friends I already knew from Twitter, Facebook etc. So I kind of forgot about it until this week.
It turns out I’m not the only one that has discovered the total coolness factor of Foursquare. Entrepreneur Magazine has named Foursquare as one of the most brilliant ideas in mobile technology.
For “newbies”, and I am one, I have the badge dammit, here is the concept. You create an account, link it to your Facebook or Twitter and then just check in around town. I went to a Starbucks this morning after downloading the mobile app for my Blackberry last night. I couldn’t wait! I logged on using my mobile app and did a “check in”. Right at my fingertips was almost every local business within a reasonable distance. Starbucks was at the top presumably since I was there. So I check in. Chris is The Mayor. Who is Chris? But then I was notified of a special and I thought somehow I was made The Mayor of this Starbucks. No such luck but for a while I was wielding crazy power (in my mind). So it turns out if you are the Foursquare user who checks in the most at any given location, you are The Mayor. I’ve heard rumors that there are several bathrooms at Qualcomm that have Mayors. It may be that with one million users as of April that I may be forced to claim a bathroom somewhere because I just have to be Mayor of something!

Now that you’re done here, go check out that article, but come back soon.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2010/june/206722.html

Some Advice

How many reading this blog are little red hens?   Meaning, it's just easier to do it yourself than teach someone else how to do it.  Or maybe you like doing it and you don't want to let it go.  I'm all about teaching so I don't have to do and letting go and having independent kids.  I want street smart kids who can figure stuff out.  But I know, it is often easier to do it myself than teach.  OK so question, my kids get almost straight A's......does it really seem like a good idea to clean the bathroom mirror with Windex and toilet paper?   What happened to the common sense instinct in my children?  This is not a blog.  I really want to know, are my kids:

A:  Missing this gene
B:  Growing this gene now
C:  Getting this gene when they turn 18
D:  ????

How many roles do I have

The answer, easy. Too many.  But that's OK for now.  I can't or won't give any of them up.

My latest - board of directors member for Bella Luna Educational Fund.  I'm very excited about this one.  I love non profits and I know I can make a difference.

I'm still working as a senior analyst using Google Analytics and Omniture.  This is old hat and I love the work with numbers and stats.  Fascinating stuff even if it bends my brain from time to time.

The new stuff is the resale company.   http://www.suresellre.com/.  SureSell Real Estate is a new company with a great USP.  100% commission, $95 per month fee and $195 per transaction.   This is the way the real estate business is heading.  Good luck to the Zips and Keller Williams of the world charging an 80/20 split or worse.  It's simple.  It's easy.  Smart agents will make their way to us and quit leaving money on the table.

So what else is new?  School is almost out.  UGH.  That means I work from home and the kids are, you guessed it, home!  We'll find a way to make it work and I will find a way to take days off so we can take Parker Puppy to Dog Beach!

Until Next Time!