And now for some heavy stuff...

In yesterday's episode, I left you with the impression that I was heading off to this incredible adventure in Oregon. I have to say I was really looking forward to it. The plan was to visit Nick and Carmen and Eric at their very hot shot restaurant in McMinnville. 4 or 5 star, serious restaurant. I figured I would stop in Ashland then continue on up to McMinnville.

First of all, you need to understand this was a last minute thought. I was supposed to go to Dallas for a graduation, not mine. That wasn't working out. So then I got crazy and thought about Sevilla in Spain. Sounded good, getting crazier. I came back to earth and, after talking to some guy outside a bathroom in Healdsburg (men wait in line sometimes, too), he tells me how great Salem, OR is. He makes it sound pretty appealing. I link that with my friends' restaurant not far away from Salem and I have made a decision. Maybe, I think, pretty sure, not really, I'll head out to Salem. What the hell. What am I doing. The girlfriend needs some space anyway. Space is a good thing. Check out the guys working on the Hubble. That's getting away.

So I am off to Ashland but I keep going and finally land in Medford, a few miles further up the road. I don't know why. It seemed like a good idea. I walk in to the Comfort Suites Hotel and begin a very short conversation with the manager. She checks the database to make sure I get points and she sees that I am a "Taxguy." What exactly do you do, she wants to know. I deal with ugly IRS tax cases. And, of course, she proceeds (as everyone does when they hear what I do) to tell me about her ugly tax case. I won't go into detail except that, after she hit me with the part about how she cares for her mother who has Alzheimer's, I sat down and helped. She was extremely grateful and explained to me how she had been praying the last 2 weeks for help with this problem.

Now, I am probably the least religious person around. And I do not believe the Lord (whichever one you go for) sent me to help her. BUT, I do find it very interesting that the next day, I wrenched my back and had to turn back and head for home. My entire trip turned out to be about that woman who was barely making ends meet, trying to help her mom and believing that someone would show up and help her. She was convinced I was the guy. In my eyes, the drive was almost worthless until I focused on helping that woman. Cause and effect. Cause and effect. Cause and effect. All the little decisions that took me to Medford to sit with that woman. It's really amazing.

We see this sort of thing happen in our lives all the time but rarely is it so blatant, where the cause and effect stands in front of you, about 50 feet high, and is screaming, "Figure this out, Bozo." Of, course, He did get my name wrong. Makes you think. Strange stuff.

We won't go in to the part where I lock my keys in my car at a Starbucks.

Quick note about some cool things

In my last post I wrote about walking and working.  Well, yesterday as I am browsing through LIFEHACKER, I bump into an iPhone app called Email n'walk.  The screen turns into a camera but with email text over whatever you're viewing.  I tried it.  It's a little nuts.  Rubbing your head and playing Beethoven.  But, it is interesting that someone even thought about this.  It is at least fun to check it out.  

The other gizmo, is something called Eeerotate, via Teleread.  It literally changes your view of the web.  It turns the screen to landscape view.  Great for reading.  Very cool.  

Ok, that's it.  I'm in Oregon. Taking pictures while driving is NOT a good idea.  I'll never do it again.  Ever.  Really.  I'm checking out this work and drive thing.  I'll let you know.

Still thinking about all this...

I really think the point of this blog is to look at how to deal with your work when you'd rather be doing something else.  Obviously, it would be very difficult to do what I do if I were not self employed.  My employer might go looking for me and wonder where I'd gone.  Where's Steve, he might ask.  Steve is in Costa Rica, would be the reply.  And you could carry this conversation on in your head about Steve is supposed to be at his desk.  Right but he's not.  He's in Costa Rica.  I mean Barcelona.  Then the conversation turns to, well, where the hell is he? Costa Rica or Barcelona? He's in Lisbon.  Or, maybe he's just out taking a walk or driving to Seattle.

So maybe that's what this is all about.  Getting away.  Seeing somewhere, someplace new but, at the same time, doing your work.  I don't want to wait till I retire to see the world.  I want to see it now, dammit.  BUT, maybe I just want to take a walk or a ride.  I don't really want to look at my home office today.

Yesterday, I decided to run to the post office, literally run.  I would walk back.  But there was work to do.  Soooooo.  Once I started walking after that run, the work began.  Out came the iPhone and the emails started flying, a few texts, too.  I made a few calls but passing car noise was a problem so the calls were few.  I did call my assistant, Susan, and asked her to make a few calls for me and request some docs I needed.  All the while I am cruising down the road, taking in the sunshine.  I think, though, that driving would be best.  Quieter.  You don't fall off a curb because you're texting.  Of course, there is no texting while driving.  Really. 

I also have found in doing this (the driving part) that you really need an assistant.  You may be having a conversation with a client but you may need someone to type the notes or look up a piece of info.  

This is crazy stuff.  I know.  But the idea that I can go. That I will not miss a beat in my work.  The idea is liberating.  Off again tomorrow on the run/walk/work or drive to Seattle/work.  We'll see.

I am constantly on a search for better, more effective ways to get things done.  A better gizmo.  A better way of doing things.  A better idea.  Sometimes I'll see something come across my Google Reader and I'll just stare at it for a moment and think, "How can this help me?"  There are great ideas out there.  Great technology.  But many times there is technology just for the sake of technology.  It really doesn't solve any problem.  Maybe for someone else it does.  So after a few moments of staring/thinking, I either delete or continue.  I suppose what I'm saying here is that there's a lot of wasteful time going on just looking for effective things and instead finding cool but useless things.  It takes some sorting out.  Hence, the following:

The iPhone.  If you cruise the internet, you have already found that many people believe the iPhone is a great computer but a rotten phone.  None of us with iPhones really want to believe it but I have come to the conclusion that it's true.  Some believe the problem is with the network but I don't think so.  I had a Nokia E62 and if I had not been ripping my jeans off to jump into a pool, well, my lovely Nokia would not have popped out of my pocket, bounced onto the rubber matting that surrounded the pool and floated gently to the bottom, still working all the way down until I had a clear shot of the screen fading to black. Pffft. Gone. Tried everything. Dead.  I even waited 3 days hoping it would come back.  It's a Catholic thing.  Didn't happen.

Shortly afterwards, I bought the iPhone.  Sound quality sucked.  Signal sucked.  Speakerphone really sucked, almost non-existent.  BUT, what a great little gizmo that had so many apps that did so many useless and useful things.  Checking them out is half the fun.  

I don't believe AT&T really ever realized what people would figure out down the line.  I finally asked myself why, if the phone was so bad, why was I using it as my primary communicator.  Why was I paying $100/mo. for a rotten phone?  So I decided to make use of the computer/otherness of the iPhone.  The timeliness of my discovery could not have been better.  It takes me a while but I do figure things out or, at least, I tell myself that I do.   Google Voice arrived about the same time of my new thinking.  GV lets you manipulate phone calls and messages.  It does it very well and, knowing Google as we all do, better ways are on the way.

I decided to start handing out my GV number and, begin routing my calls to my home voip or Skype.  The cell would only be used if it had to be used, e.g. my son calling to let me know that something else has gone wrong or my exwife calling to say that aaahhhh, something else has gone wrong.  Anyone with AT&T might get my cell phone attention because I don't pay for minutes with other AT&T users.  I also would use the JOTT app to record a message to be  uploaded then sent out as a text message.  Very cool and yet still no use of minutes and my message is very much to the point.  My iPhone voice communication cost would drop substantially (so I hoped) and, in the process, become extremely effective.

The result? My 90 minutes a day cell usage is now down to between 5 and 8 minutes a day.  My cell plan has gone from $99.99/mo. to $39.99/mo.  $720 a year in savings and I am sooooo much happier and getting so much more done.  

Something to think about.    

The problem that arises...

This may sound very odd but the problem with realizing that you really can work from anywhere in the world, at least anywhere with a decent connection is this.  You often are wondering why you are home.  Why not be somewhere else? Home is nice but home can be where you are.  I felt very much at home in Madrid and Buenos Aires.  

I haven't told you about Madrid yet.  I was there in June of last year.  I stayed with a wonderful couple, both in their early eighties and both sharp, knowledgeable and generous.   They lived in a flat about 3 floors up.  Retiro Park (Madrid's biggest, I believe) is only 3 blocks away.  

I would wake up about 8am, go for a run in the park, comeback for breakfast with my hosts, have a great conversation.  I would spend the day at museums and long walks through amazing and colorful parts of the city.  By 4pm I was ready for lunch/dinner.  I would eat like a horse and write notes.  No glass of water in Madrid.  There was always a full bottle of wine and drink what you will.  First few days, I was slightly hammered by 5.  

I began work at 5:30 and kept at it till 9:30.  Then off to the flamenco clubs till 130am.  My God, it was great.

Within just a few days, I had met most of the people  and store owners on the street where I stayed. (I was going to say "on the street where I lived" but thought you might break out in song.  Keep your day job.) The pastry shop lady would poke her head out the door reminding me that my favorite meat quesadillas were ready and the knick knack store manager with the thick curled mustache would yell out, "Don Esteban."  

I spoke to my friends back in the US, daily, as I normally would.  We would talk about the same old rock and roll but throw in a few new riffs here and there.  

The point is that I felt at home and, good or bad, the people around you make or break wherever you are.

More on Madrid later....

New Year's Eve-Buenos Aires

Really, what more could you ask for?  Buenos Aires on New Year's Eve. Holy Cow. What a vibrant city.  These people are wonderful, accomodating, a pleasure to be with.  

I need to stop for a moment with all this gushing and talk a bit about the point of this blog as it relates to this trip.  I am ALWAYS amazed at the fact that I can be in another country and experiencing another culture while still getting my work done.  My biggest vacation problem in the past (we won't talk about all the other problems) has been my anxiety level.  Without fail, every day of my vacations in years past, I worried about my clients and my work.  Yes, I know it's stupid.  I deserve a break.  I should be able to walk away. Blah Blah Blah.  Just never happens for me.  I worry. That's just the way it is.  So the idea that I can open my eyes in another country, have a great time all day, work a few hours then go back to the party, is an incredible breakthrough.  Most people wait till they retire for this stuff but here I am, staring at the tango dancers in the park.  One more Holy Cow, if you don't mind.

The ideal living situation on thyis kind of trip is to have a nice bedroom and a separated office with a great internet connection, preferably a plug in.  However, a strong wi-fi will do though not as well.

In Buenos Aires, I came close to the ideal.  No plug in, however.  I played from about 9am until 3pm then worked until 7 or 730pm.  Those times translate to waking up at 3am and working 9am until 1 or 130pm Pacific.  Not bad.

I have found that Skype is inconsistent in its signal.  Sometimes good.  Sometimes a lot of echo or the other side simply hears nothing for a few seconds.  Callvantage by AT&T seems to work well but all these services work best when you are plugged in not wi-fi.

What about snail mail?  Yes, it still is a slight problem.  I have an assistant who picks up my mail at a pobox then faxes it to me which I receive as an electronic file.  The paper mail is probably the only real problem but easily solved with a little help from my friends.  There are a couple of services that will scan and send to you.  Earthclass Mail is one example.  The problem with it is that you are charged by the number of pages they scan and send to you.  So, suppose you get a letter from the IRS and IRS includes a letter to you that says your world will be ending on a particular day.  IRS will also send a couple of publications that are generally worthless and probably don't pertain to you.  The only page you need is that letter, one page.  However, the mail service will scan in the publications as well.  Needless to say, your bill just went up significantly and you really need 40 scanned pages in publications you don't need or want.  I believe the problem will be worked out  soon or, at least, so I am told.