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. 

The difficulty in writing a blog of this type is that you are constantly trying to find newer technology that does more and more.  So you start facing added costs.  Like I really need 6 computers.  I think it all becomes an addiction.  What can I get that is lighter and faster and, without saying it, cooler.  Por exemplo (gotta practice the Espanol), I'm at this very moment using a new Dell Mini 9. 9 inch screen. Actual dimensions about 10" by 7" by maybe 1".  Very small, keyboard is a bit cramped.  Just a bit.  But this little guy only weighs 2.5 lbs.  When you're dragging a bag through the airport, 2.5 lb. sounds and feels very good.  HOWEVER, why would that be a concern if you have a bag that has wheels on it.  Sometimes I think I get this stuff just because it's soooo cool.  I feel like I'm arguing with myself.  Who do I think I am, Barack Obama?

So what am I down to on this thing?  It may be a bit small.  I feel like I need a bigger keyboard.  BUT THE WEIGHT.  I may have this figured out. Go for something under 5 lb. WITH the adaptor. Bigger keyboard.  Bigger screen.    

O Give Me Room, Lots of Room....

One of the things I did not think about too much was the amount of space I would need to
work. I figured I would stay in bed, answer a few calls, type out some notes. I would be the David Ricardo of the 21st century. Ricado stayed in bed till about 1pm and sent runners all
over to make his day trades. Those were really day trades. He would decide what he was
going to buy (pork bellies, whatever) and send some poor young waif out to the streets, on
to the trading market. It literally took all day.

But then again, I'm not David Ricardo and this is the 21st century. Staying in bed is great
for sleeping, reading and, oh right, sex. Jeez, I'm getting old. I almost forgot about sex.

Getting scary.

So bed is not the greatest place for work. OK, let's not go there again. Bed is not the
greatest place for most kinds of work, certainly not mine. The laptop gets a little too hot
on the lap and there is a constant positioning for better position. Never really works that
well. So give me a hotel room, b&b room, never a hostel, that has enough, well, room.
It's not that I want a full blown office next to my bed. Hotels sometimes have "business
centers." What a waste. Too much room. Too much equipment. It says "office" all over it.
It says, "You can't get away from me. I am WORK. I am OFFICE. I am the 4 WALLS OF HELL."

Maybe I'm getting a little dramatic but I don't want the office as the primary focus of my
travel. Work is secondary. I'm not traveling to Madrid or Rome to be in an office. I'm
traveling to see places and people I've never seen before. Work is secondary. Five hours a
day, tops. I'll work those 5 hours the best I have in me. But I'm not in Rome to WORK. I'm
there to SEE and EXPERIENCE and make friends with a different culture. I'm there to see
what I've only read about. I want to touch a wall in Pompeii, sit on one of Gaudi's benches
in Barcelona.

I have found that a small desk off to the side is good but not ideal. You actually need a decent sized room that has a small desk and chair far enough away from your bed that you don't get claustrophobia. If you're working on your laptop and your right leg is touching the bed and left leg touching the wall, that doesn't work. I get a little crazy. I can do it but all the while my eyes are getting twitchy, my heart rate pops up a bit and I start thinking I might be better off out on the ledge of this 8 story building. Not good. Conducive to an unflattering death and more unflattering open casket funeral.

It doesn't take much room but 8x10 won't make it.