JPU4 (James Ussery)

Lack of time or inspiration?

jpu4 — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 18:01:00 GMT

I'm not sure if I can tell which it is.

Plenty of things are going on in my life, but I think I'm too lazy and then I cover it up by saying I don't have time because of the activity.

Aidan's now 2 and half years old. He's reading, running, playing with his bat and ball. He's an awesome kid and we are completely in love with him. As do other children, he learns at such a fast pace, and we love that about him. When we correct him on his speech, he's always making sure we follow our own rules. "Don't say 'Yeah' papa, say 'YES'"

Living in India has made us pay more attention to the English language. There are grammatical errors, missing words, misspellings, all over the place. So we've made a point to train our employees as well as Aidan about proper speech and communication.

We understand we're not perfect, but I guess we're doing our part of supporting some kind of etiquette and clean practices.

I'd love to be able to keep a consistent account of my activity and thoughts. But I suppose that concept gets tossed in the backseat with all the other things I'd like to do in my life.

So according to the date of the last time I wrote in here, we're almost up to a year since.

In the time passed, my Indian developer has moved on to a new job that brought him to London, so he's happy about that. Luis f***ed me over with a web project he was assigned to. I firmly believe he owes me like $10K. It would be easier to work up new business than to go chase his ass about it.

I won't be taking any new small development projects on anytime soon. My trust factor is pretty damn low right now. I don't think we can successfully motivate remote developers. If they don't work because they love it, and they don't work for money, then I have no time to go studying the psychology of it all. I'd rather continue on a different path, getting me closer to success than to drag my company down on BS paths that lead nowhere.

I do have some long term people that we can trust for large scale projects, but I think I'm done with the little stuff for a while. It's either a tough economy, or I'm attracting the wrong audience. People sign up for projects and then when it's nearly done they some how know everything about development and want to tell me how do my job, run my business and how to invoice. Unbelievable. It's times like those that I wish development companies had insurance claims to fall back on. Some kind of assurance that we'll get our money. Healthcare has it pretty nice. We heal you, we don't heal you, you still pay. Love it...

Anyway, Machus SEO is all fired up. And that's probably the only way I don't go crazy on those other topics on a regular basis.

We've got an excellent crew, solid packages, and a growing sales staff.

We're partnering up with a company out of New Mexico at the moment. He's all sales and he's looking to sell our packages as his own, and outsource to us at discounted prices. So far it's working out. He'll hit the streets next week with his updated material. So I'm excited to see how this works out.

Imran, Farrah, Aidan, and I attended Datta's wedding this week. He's our SEO manager that's doing an excellent job. Imran is one of his analysts. The wedding was my first non-christian wedding ceremonies that I've experienced, (that I know of). It was interesting. I'm white, and his boss, so people were surprised to see me there and were acting like it was the biggest honor for them. I certainly appreciated the hospitality. It was fun. They asked me to wear a turban called Pagadi, which was fine but it was PINK of all colors. People back home laughed it up when they saw the pics on facebook ;) but these guys see pink a different way. Not gender related.

WishList: Men's Wearhouse

jpu4 — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:49:00 GMT

I'm thinking that I'm a fan of Men's Wearhouse these days. Yes, they are "affordable" suit-type clothing, and I'm sure the guys that can, do spend more elsewhere, but I'm not there yet.

Back in the day I wasn't a "suit guy". I was a t-shirt and jeans guy. I have a backwards ball cap and was content with just that. Well it's 10 years down the road and I'm in a different position visibly and actually "feel" better when I show up to the office dressed in clothes that are sharp. It's a personal thing.

So I would have to say that this wish list item would be a Men's Wearhouse gift card:

Starting a wish list with AKG

jpu4 — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 10:56:00 GMT

There are things I see that I like and I end up forgetting about them later. So I decided to add a category to my blog to accommodate that. This way I can run a query or post an RSS ;) (wink wink) for those that want to get me something and don't know what.

This week's topic is a better headset. Here in India these guys just don't understand my passion with my music. They're actually afraid for me that I'll hurt myself. Heh. The volume that my ears are used to from my past is SLIGHTLY higher than these guys ever imagined. As far as I'm concerned, the laptop is not capable of pushing out what I'm looking for.

Back in Dallas I hooked up my PC to my receiver with 2 4 feet high speakers, 2 tweeters, and a woofer. At that point I could successfully code or play chess in peace. These days, I'm bound to a laptop with crappy speakers, frankly I don't know of any laptop with good speakers, and a headset that does a below average job of something called bass.

So I put out some feelers on Facebook and Twitter and asked if anyone could recommend some options.

I got a few options, Sony, Skull Candy, AKG, etc. I read about Ultrasone, Sennheiser, and Denon as well.

AKG is in my price range, and gets high ratings. The company has been in the TV and audio business for over 50 years.

The model on my list is: AKG K 702 Black

I Believe

jpu4 — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 19:39:00 GMT

BELIEVE...

I Believe....

That just because two people argue, that

doesn't mean they don't love each other.

And just because they don't argue, that

doesn't mean they do love each other.

I Believe...

That sometimes when I'm angry

I have the right to be angry,

but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.

I Believe...

That we don't have to change friends

if we understand that friends change.

I Believe...

That no matter how good a friend is,

they're going to hurt you every once in a while

and you must forgive them for that.

I Believe...

That true friendship continues to grow,

even over the longest distance.

Same goes for true love.

I Believe...

That you can do something in an instant

that will give you heartache for life.

I Believe...

That it's taking me a long time

to become the person I want to be.

I Believe...

That you should always leave loved ones

with loving words.

It may be the last time you see them.

I Believe...

That you can keep going long after you think you can't.

I Believe...

That we are responsible for what we do,

no matter how we feel.

I Believe...

That either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I Believe...

That heroes are the people who do what has to be done,

when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I Believe...

That money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I Believe....

That my best friend and I can do anything, or nothing,

and have the best time.

I Believe...

That sometimes the people you expect to kick you,

when you're down, will be the ones to help you get back up.

I Believe....

That maturity has more to do with

what types of experiences you've had,

and what you've learned from them...

and less to do with how many

birthdays you've celebrated.

I Believe....

That it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others.

Sometimes, you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I Believe...

That no matter how bad your heart is broken

the world doesn't stop for your grief.

I Believe...

That our background and circumstances

may have influenced who we are,

but we are responsible for who we become.

I Believe...

That you shouldn't be so eager to find

out a secret.

It could change your life forever.

I Believe....

Two people can look at the exact same

thing and see something totally different.

I Believe...

That your life can be changed in a matter of

hours by people who don't even know you..

I Believe...

That even when you think you have no more to give,

if a friend cries out to you..

you will find the strength to help.

I Believe...

That credentials on the wall

do not make you a decent human being.

The happiest of people don't necessarily

have the best of everything;

They just make the most of everything.

Thank you God for all the wonderful people

who help us throughout the journey of life...

We are spiritual beings having a physical experience.

jpu4 — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:39:00 GMT

I'm not sure why i'm compelled to write when I get off the phone with Chance. He's just that kind of guy.

He told me there were a large number of people at the wake yesterday. Of this i'm sure. I have no doubt of how many people Patrick has knowingly or even unknowingly touched during his time on this earth.

Chance was getting upset on the phone while we were talking.

The only thing I could think to tell him, was to not be so hard on himself. He was there on the scene after the fact. He saw the worst of Patrick. But what was important at that time for him to understand is it doesn't matter how we go, the memories stay.

There are some slightly cheesy things that come to my mind while we talked, I told him that that body was no longer Pat. It wasn't. How could it be? He didn't get up and dust himself off and say "Well THAT was one hell of a ride!" That incident allowed him to break out of his cocoon.

I've been apart of a good number of people that left this world. I grew up in a sleepy town with at least 2 generations that I had the pleasure of knowing before they passed on. As a young person, that becomes the experience. I understood at an early age that we are here for a short time and then we move on.

"We are spiritual beings having a physical experience"

You have to have faith to understand that statement, but I'm sure you'll manage.

Once our time is done here, and we can't know when that is, we move on. Although we do leave our loved ones behind they must CELEBRATE the LIFE of that person and cherish the memories.

PLEASE don't be concerned with the how and why. It's a waste of time and dishonors the memory.

Be grateful for them and the time that God deemed you worthy to be there with them while they were here.

This is the way of life, we cannot change it, and it's sad that we try to fight it. Once you are able to open your hearts and minds you will see with different eyes what the truth is. Yes we hurt from their absence but we are thankful they were here with us for as long as they were.

Patrick Murrell June 29 1966 - July 24 2010

jpu4 — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 00:18:00 GMT

I woke up this morning at about 3:45am, something I almost never do, I got the call 2 min later, Nat said "call chance now." I hung up the phone and called him immediately.

I met Patrick back in '90 or '91 I can't remember which and it doesn't matter. You don't realize the effect people have on you sometimes until something bad happens. Actually, isn't the old saying; "You don't know what you've got until it's gone" Well that's not something the Willis' are saying right now. They knew what they had. Gold.

Patrick is Chance Willis' brother in law but brother by choice. He was DEFINITELY loved. He was such a great guy. He literally made friends everywhere he went.

The ironic part about how he died is that unlike all the times he was in danger on the oil rigs, from the shooting and hostage take overs in Africa, to the leaks, explosions, clean up, storms, helicopter flights landing at night etc, Patrick died riding passenger in his friend's Corvette.

According to (CenlaNews.com)

"A 1998 Corvette speeding on Williams Lake Road goes airborne twice before crashing, claiming the lives of two Pineville men Saturday Morning.

Troop E State Police identify the victims as 41 year old Jeff Brossett and 44 year old Patrick Murrell, both pronounced dead at the scene. Brossett was the driver, Murrell the passenger.

The accident report states Brossett was driving at a high rate of speed when the Corvette went airborne, launching from a dip in the road. The vehicle rotated, ran off the right side of the road, hit a private driveway, went airborne again before crashing upside down on top of a sheared tree.

The fatal crash occurred about 10:50 AM Saturday."

Today's the first day and Chance was really upset over the phone. But he said if he didn't sleep in this morning, he'd be in that car too, riding with them. Close call true, but I say that's a wake up call.

Laken was out of town, she's now on her way back into cenla. Jason's already in from LSU. The family is distraught. It's terrible news.

You hear people described as a "nice" guy. I hate that actually, being blanketed as "nice". It's not fair, nice is something you say when you don't really know someone and you have no other way to describe someone thats sounds positive.

Patrick would do what he could for people. Period. He was an honest person, kind, and yes had an genuine gentle way about him. He loved God and his family and that's all that was important to him.

My heart goes out to the family. This really is a hard time. His wife, Tye, son, Jason, Daughter, Laken, and of course Chance, Brandi, Roy and Opal. They are going through a literal disaster in their world. A hole has been ripped open.

He'll be buried on the Willis land in Kolin, Louisiana. I've asked Momma and my brother's to try to be there as our families were connected and I can't be there.

Not a happy day.

Still fighting with internet

jpu4 — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 18:37:00 GMT

It shouldn't be this difficult. Getting online took nearly 6 months, staying online is hair-pulling. Internet here is very frustrating. There are several ISPs to choose from but what sucks is that none of them are "good", there's something wrong with every one of them.

BSNL (our current ISP) - Government guys, means the facilities and the people are run down. They don't get off their @$$ for anyone. Internet goes off about twice a week, and is slow about 40% of the time. Call to lodge a complaint, as they instruct, and IF the line isn't busy, you'll get someone on the other line telling you to call someone else, here's the number, blahblah. So you call that number and it's dead, call them back and they give you another number. That number no one answers. This repeats until you just give up and wait for it to come back on, or to speed up. After some time you really don't know if the complaint you were actually able to leave, will actually do any good anyway, because they don't know what the problem is to "fix" it. Just in case you're wondering, we haven't quit them because they are the fastest option in the area, when it's fast. The package is "up to 8Mbs" Leaves them a little play in the line huh?
Reliance - Worthless. Maximum speed is 2Mbs on Land Line and 3.1Mbs on USB, Support will not listen to you unless you have fullfilled their protocol list, reboot, reinstall; after that you're on your own, poor technology, may over-charge you and will fight to the death to give money back. They offer a USB device for mobile connectivity. Barely works with Windows Vista, and not at all with Windows 7, crashes non-stop after 6months. Don't even get me started on the Fair Usage Policy they hide behind. They get their kicks from marketing and selling an "unlimited" plan but you can't exceed 10GB a month. Do the math on that one and hit me back if you figure it out.
AirTel - Up to 16Mbs, nearly American standards. Have no idea how they are, they're not in this city. :*(
TATA - Maximum 2Mbs landline, and 3.1Mbs on USB, heard better things for customer support and up time, cost is a bit higher, but seems to only be useful for mobile.

Ranting is over, I'm burned out. May have something good to write about next time.

Getting back into writing

jpu4 — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 11:22:00 GMT

It's not easy to sit down anymore like it used to be.

I really need to work harder at an everyday affair. If I don't then I'll get lazy once again.

There are so many things to write about I guess I feel slightly overwhelmed. Will I remember everything? Will it be accurate? Can I write some things that are questionable, will someone read it and be offended?

I have been making summarized journal entries, bullet points. As bad as my memory is, that's a bad idea.

Aidan's growing so fast, he constantly learning new words. I had to put that down because these are the times that move at an alarming rate. I remember my baby brother, Matthew the same way. The problem is I can't remember much, I didn't write ANYTHING down in those days.

Pandora Gadget in Windows7

jpu4 — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:45:00 GMT

Running Flash-dependent gadgets on 64-bit Windows

Because Adobe does not provide a 64-bit plugin for their Flash player, gadgets that require Flash (such as Pandora) will not operate on 64-bit Windows. To get around this problem, you can run the 32-bit version of the program that manages the gadgets.

Windows Vista

In the System Tray right-click on the Sidebar icon and select Properties Uncheck the "Start Sidebar when Windows starts" option
Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Sidebar
Drag and hold Sidebar.exe over the start orb
Then drag and hold it over All Programs And again (drag and hold) over startup
Now drop it into startup

Windows 7

Right click on the Desktop, go to View, and uncheck "Show desktop gadgets".
In Windows Explorer, go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Sidebar and open sidebar.exe.

I believe that Windows will then continue to run the 32-bit version automatically even after you log off and log back on.

If you subsequently hide the desktop gadgets again, you'll have to manually re-launch the 32-bit version.

The only problem I've noticed with this so far is that Windows 7's weather gadget won't run in 32-bit mode for some reason.

Pandora Gadget

Easter in Bombay

jpu4 — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 14:21:00 GMT

Woke up Friday morning freezing. The windows were open as usual but the cold wind had made it's way in. We already put the blanket away because the summer was here. But I suppose we need to keep it handy. I grabbed it and went back to bed, must have been about 4am.

Woke up at 6:24am to get ready to catch the train to Bombay. The little guy had peed last night and so he was sleeping next to me in just a shirt with no chudi. Shaving and showering the night before was a good move considering we were supposed to leaving the house at 6:20 not waking up.

We drove to the station and left the car for dad. He's actually coming back from Bombay a couple of hours after we arrived. So he'll have a way home without paying for it.

He was supposed to meet us at (VT) Victoria Terminal but sent Borgay, his "trusty" guy instead. :) I didn't recognize him at first because we were looking for dad. He was waving to me and I just looked behind me and assumed he was looking past me. Nope it was Borgay, relieving me of my bag.

He had saved us some time by purchasing the tickets for the Bandra train before we got there.

We arrived in Bandra and caught a rick to Salim Uncle's house, Aidan finally passed out but woke up about 20min later. He should sleep good tonight. I was hoping to head to Lamington road to get Fufujahn's new pc parts. Suraj doesn't get off work until 4:30/5 this evening. So hopefully the shops will still be open.

Saturday was a full day, we met Maheen Apa for lunch and ended up staying about 6 hours. It was good. Aidan played with Zoya and Inaara took a nap had lunch and played some more. We talked about all kinds of things and caught up. Last time we were here, we didn't get a chance to hang out.

We met Mark about an hour after visiting Maheen Apa. We headed to Sea View Hotel at Juhu Beach. Had some beer and Masala Poppard. We talked for a couple of hours, and then we headed to Andari for some Bombay Chinese place called Stomach "II" seems the first Stomach was in Bandra.

We got in around 11 or so and passed right out. Very good day. It was good to visit with real people and real conversation.

1 Year Anniversary in India

jpu4 — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 08:19:00 GMT

Survived 1 year in India. Landed Apr 1 2009.

Summary: If you don't need to have anything done for you, you're fine. Once you need something, you face hardship, frustration, and happen to find a solid number of idiots who don't understand what they are actually doing at their "job". Customer service comes only if they have seen or talked to you a few times, otherwise there's no need to bother putting any effort out.

There are barricades acting as medians which are really just 4 foot high concrete separators because people WILL go in opposite sides of traffic to get to their destination. It makes sense to them though. If the barricade is there they can't access a shop back the way they came without making 2 U-turns. So in their mind it's easier just to drive back the other way in a one way in order to access it. Hmmm well I GUESS IT 'S OK as long as you don't hit anybody. Everybody knows that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

Things I noticed in India:

Society is over populated and chaotic at best.
Dirt gets everywhere, all the time, no exceptions
- Wash your feet and hands upon entering any location as well as before and after eating.

All 4 wheels of a shopping cart at a grocery store turn. So you ice skate through your grocery shopping on polished tile.
Public corruption where cops are taking money from the people they pulled over.
They're fascinated by how many people they fit in a small space. You see it everywhere.
- 5 member family on a motorcycle.
- 4 member family on a scooter
- No stop signs and only major intersections have signals. How many people can you fit in the intersection? Lets find out.
- Small Grocery store creates a maze they call isles. Entrance and exit are 2 doors, people inside are shoulder to shoulder as they check out from 2 registers.

People walk on the roads, because rickshaws and motorcycles are on the sidewalks. Well, that's not entirely true, If you find the side walk, you may have to go around the over grown trees, dogs or people sleeping on them and jump over the 3 foot deep holes they leave open for easy access to cables or the small children that fall in them.
The phrase "Traffic Rules" is an oxymoron
Vehicles honking means "I'm about to pass you." Why do you think you need that?
- People drive literally in the middle of 2 lanes. (You're right…what lanes?)
- If you can fit a person, scooter, motorcycle, car, van, diesel in the space they WILL.
- They don't use mirrors: most are removed or closed because they could get them knocked off when they drive 2 centimeters between 2 other vehicles.
- They don't look to the side because they are too busy looking ahead because any number of things could be an obstacle.
  - A person
  - A family
  - A cow
  - A family of cows
  - A hole big enough to swallow the family of cows
  - An elephant
  - A dog
  - A parked car (in the moving traffic lane)
  - A stopped car (in the moving traffic lane) (whose driver is now answering his phone)
  - 1 car seeing a clearing and making a run for it to pass the intersection
  - 25 cars seeing the same clearing and making a run for it to pass the intersection

People are HIGHLY emotional here. Emotional about their pride, emotional about their car, emotional about their religion. Logic rarely plays a role here. That's not actually fair to say because they have logic, I've seen it. But it's distorted. If you grow up here that distorted way of thinking becomes "What makes sense". If you leave for long enough and come back, you can now "See" the distortion like Neo sees the matrix.
Get a receipt for all payments.
- If not, it doesn't mean that you paid your bill. It means you paid that guy, he smiles and you never see him again.
- About half the economy is based on business in cash. They'd rather not report "some" earnings

Most people are non confrontational.
- Outside the common man, even people that "appear" intelligent are still "part" of the culture so there are still blanketed by these thoughts.
- If you're in the middle of a deal or a decision and you don't hear from the opposite party then it remains on hold with little to no follow up. Thought: "It must mean they backed out" Second party is waiting for a call because they were talking instead of listening, once again little to no follow-up and they repeat... Thought: "It must mean they backed out"
- I want to help some of them. It's hard. They speak little volume, look away, or mumble. I like the guys that look you in the eye speak with confidence, and are courteous with your time.

Indian Standard Time (IST) ACTUALLY means "Whatever time I tell you,+ 30min."
Don't eat European or American style Desserts in India. They lack taste…and I personally think they are mocking us ;)

And India knows about these things. My father-in-law says "Welcome to India" still to this day if we experience something that doesn't add up. You can't fight this place it's too set in it's ways to change. So in order to "deal" with it you either "get along or move along".

On the streets, you can see the fruit and juicewallas. People walking are dressed in any bright color you can imagine. The things that you can see growing in India are some of the most beautiful plants God gave this earth. There are fruits that look colorful and unique and gives your tongue a taste not to be matched.

As we head out of town, through and around the hills you see the setting Indian sun. Which happens to be one of my good friend's name (Suraj). We drive under the trees that are bending over the road creating a perfect shaded path. Our destination, any number of local popular places, Goa, Bombay, etc.

On the highway we go through tunnels inside the mountain, we see families of monkeys, people parked on the side of the road over looking the cliffs, or peeing over them, whatever they happened to be doing at the time. If the trip is long enough, we stop for some chai, chikki and a stretch.

We come into the city, curse the heat, traffic, and people selling us things as we wait bumper to bumper. But once you get past that, it's an easy walk at Jogger's park in Bombay, some kulfi in the heat. Catch a rickshaw to uncle or auntie's house, visit and sit down to some Mutton Briyani, Palak paneer, and daal with roti. All that's good but then we finish it off with my favorite, Gulab Jamin. The food here is extraordinary.

In the evenings in Goa we eat fish with beer on the beach. While the food is being prepared we take Aidan to see the water, roll up our pants and let him stick his toes in the sand. In the day we can fly up in a hang glider pulled by a boat and take a few rounds. And if you're swimming in Cidade Goa let me know if you find my wedding ring :D

All in all just like any place we plan to live, there are pros and cons to people and places no matter who you are. These just SOME of our experience. I really need to write more when things happen. But I do what I have time for.

Things to live by

jpu4 — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:33:00 GMT

ONE. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully

TWO. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

THREE. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want..

FOUR. When you say, 'I love you ,' mean it.

FIVE. When you say, 'I'm sorry,' look the person in the eye

SIX. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

SEVEN. Believe in love at first sight.

EIGHT. Never laugh at anyone's dream. People who don't have dreams don't have much.

NINE. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.

TEN.. In disagreements, fight fairly.. No name calling.

ELEVEN. Don't judge people by their relatives.

TWELVE. Talk slowly but think quickly.

THIRTEEN. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, 'Why do you want to know?'

FOURTEEN. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

FIFTEEN. Say 'bless you' when you hear someone sneeze.

SIXTEEN. When you lose, don't lose the lesson !

SEVENTEEN. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and responsibility for all your actions.

EIGHTEEN.. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship...

NINETEEN. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

TWENTY.... Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.

TWENTY-ONE. Spend some time alone.

New Year 2010

jpu4 — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 18:14:00 GMT

Everybody says "Wishing you a prosperous year". It's starting to sound redundant and devalued.

I intend fully to have an excellent year. I feel it so strongly, it's incredible. Surgery is scheduled for Tuesday Jan 5. An estimated 4-6 weeks has been prescribed for recovery. I'll spend some if not more time in Physiotherapy. I want to work my hamstrings and calf muscles back to normality. I need to start walking heel to toe as soon as possible.

If my health is returned then I can take that off my concern list. I can start focusing again. I've not been able to focus in some time. I've let the pain negatively effect me in more ways than I'd like to admit.

My brain needs to return. I feel that it's connected to my health. I've actually read that recently. Matthew gave me a book to read, (that I haven't even thought about in weeks). It's about fixing the broken brain through a health solution. I may need to pick that up again.

Things I plan to start on as my health and focus begin to return.

Chess
- I'll be contacting my new friend Pramod for some local face to face playing
- I'll start walking to the destination center, a small shopping center here, to play chess on Saturdays

As I hire developers in the coming months, I'll be able to hand off a lot of my work load and start concentrating more on RUNNING the business, rather than working IN the business. (EMYTH 101)
- Marketing is the key to this. There are some big ideas I've had but have not been able to pull the trigger on because of lack of time. I'll work on a few things and then tire out for the evening, because I couldn't sit up much longer for the pain. This will change.
- We need more conversions. As we pick up brand recognition, the marketing will increase, we need to be able to convert those viewers of the site to customers. I need to work with the new developers and marketing person to modify the site in such a way to keep it fresh and appealing. New ideas and product sales pages.

If I can set the company as close to autopilot as possible 2011 will be something we've never experienced before. Health, Wealth, Profit, Passive income, these will all be things shaping a new beginning of the rest of our lives. I'll be 31 this year, I'm running a tad behind, but I don't see it as a fault. Everything happens in it's perfect time. I'm confident in God's plan for my life and my family.

If I can prove to God and myself that I am responsible, then I will start to see more of God's vision for my life as his plan unfolds because I am able to take on more.

Bob Parson's 16 Rules

host — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:46:00 GMT

Get and stay out of your comfort zone.
Never give up.
When you are ready to quit, you're closer than you think.
Accept the worst possible outcome.
Focus on what you want to have happen.
Take things a day at a time.
Always be moving forward.
Be quick to decide.
Measure everything of significance.
Anything that is not managed will deteriorate.
Pay attention to your competitors, but pay more attention to what you're doing.
Never let anybody push you around.
Never expect life to be fair.
Solve your own problems.
Don't take yourself too seriously.
There's always a reason to smile.

5 years and counting

jpu4 — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:09:00 GMT

Our 5 year wedding anniversary

5 years married and 12 years together. My God it's been a roller coaster!

Times are changing. We're changing them. We move around and change our environment quite often that we need to give ourselves to time adapt.

Our relationship is stable. The thing that's bothering is that we need to spend more time with each other. Running the business and caring for Aidan takes over our lives lately. We've adapted pretty well to living here in India.

There was a crash course when Farrah's parents headed to the US to visit family. We had to create a schedule that worked for us. It worked for us but didn't leave time for US.

My time at the gym from 7:30a - 9a
Change and feed Aidan
shower
let the maid in to clean
I start work or do some chores before starting work
Farrah's with baby all day
maid asks how to make the food
i may or may not eat lunch
Put Aidan down for a nap
Farrah tries to nap or tackles a couple of priority items for the day
Aidan wakes up Farrah keeps him company and does more items
7pm dinner start winding Aidan down
7:30 bathe Aidan
8:30 put Aidan down to sleep
Farrah bottles next day's milk
10 or so we're beat and have to get up early to repeat

So I'm basically working the whole day and into the night. Not healthy for us. We did have a talk recently that was about planning time more for us. We do go to movies (with Aidan) and swim in the summer but its not enough. We don't have enough FUN in our lives. I've got to start spicing it up a bit. I need to take the initiative to look up things here other than just letting the days pass.

I love my wife. When she's not fully happy with me or the time she spends with me, then it's my duty to change the status quo. I've committed myself to her and this relationship. I've laid my cards on the table, I'm "All in".

Comments moved over from previous blog site:

Re: 5 years and counting

I LOVE that the quote "I"m ALL in" and that is what it will take.

Y'all can do it together.

LOVE Y'ALL FOREVER!!!!

By mom on 7/15/2009 7:19 PM

Aidan Rohan Ussery

jpu4 — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 11:52:00 GMT

November 5th 2008 9:31am PST 7lbs 10oz 20.5 inches

For obvious reasons, I didn't blog yesterday. She was in labor 22 hours before mandating the epidural. There was a lot of excitement going on at that time. We were both exhausted. I was walking her through her contractions, holding her hand, making sure she was warm when she was cold and cool when she was hot. She was so close, but about 10 min after 2nd stage began and she started to push she expressed the amount of pressure and that there was a lot of pain. I got her to get on her hands and knees because we understood that he was head down but face up inside. So getting on all fours would relieve pressure on her back.

Changing position was right approach as I massaged her and it was better relief, but it didn't do the trick fully. She got to the point where she was completely fatigued because we started so early. She didn't have the energy to go any further. She demanded the epidural. I was concerned because of some negative after effects that we've been told, but she was not going wait. The nurse looked at me, so I nodded the approval.

The baby was at head station 0 at the time the epidural was issued. . They had me leave the room, which I wasn't very happy about. Of course I had been up over 30 hours so happy wasn't in my vocabulary. When they let me back in about 20 min later, she was pretty subdued and apologizing for being forceful. Surprisingly, and those of you that know Farrah will agree it is a surprise, she worked with me the whole time. As we moved from stage to stage, through contractions, changing positions and walking she was VERY easy to work with. She never talked about any pain, it was just discomfort. I really think the Bradley class is to be thanked for this. We were educated that we knew and expected everything that was ahead of us.

We let her sleep after that because she was so fatigued the shaking didn't stop for a bit. As she slept, the contractions continued, but she couldn't feel them anymore. Several hours later, about 6am I think, she woke up and the nurse checked her dialation and the station. So as she slept she went from 6cm dialation and station 0 to 10cm and station 3. So the pushing begins.

Her body was still numb, she had almost no power to push. They stopped the flow of the epidural medication so that feeling could come back into her body to feel the contractions. She needed to push through each contraction. She pushed for a little over 2 hours. Her father on one leg and me on the other. Her mom, silent in the corner, praying. Her dad was cracking jokes thinking that would help. She wasn't laughing. I advised him the down time between contractions should be spent resting for the next one.

We could finally "see" his hair and some percentage of head. She wasn't getting too much progress after the second hour of pushing. The doctor opted for the vaccuum pump. So he would attach and pull as she pushed. It was only assistance as the work still had to be done by her. I was standing right next to him on her right leg. He's obviously done this a few times. To be fair to Farrah his head seemed a bit bigger and I'm wondering how she would have managed without the vaccum pump. The doctor looked over at me and said that he didn't want to but if he had too, then he would prep the OR for a C section. I said lets give her a few more tries and we may have to do that. So I turned to her, with her O2 mask on, and said "This is it, baby. Lets finish this up now instead of later." So she pushed, he pulled, dad and i held the legs and we all were rooting for her. "Push hard baby, get loud, 'K-i-y-a' like karate" we told her all kinds of things, and she did them all. Finally with the help of the episotomy the head literrally popped right out. The with a little tug the body followed. It was UNBELIEVABLE how that was SUPPOSED to work. His head was a good size larger than she had energy to push him through the opening. The next minute was a bit of a blur. The doctor clamped and handed me the scissors to cut the cord. There was blood all over the place from the episotomy. He immediately began to sew her up. And so I followed the baby to the next little booth to check out vitals.

He came out nice and clean, with just a little stuff here and there. Farrah started to cry a bit, it was all very overwhelming. He looked so big the second he came out, but now looks so small as we hold him. We weighed him, I got to bathe him with a little cloth and water and some shampoo. We suctioned out the mucus.

We have been getting compliments on him right and left. "He's a quiet baby", "he's a good looking boy", "he's latches for breast-feeding like a pro", all these things make us feel really good that there are no concerns to deal with.

He really is quiet. He only gets pissy when I don't swaddle him tight with the blanket. Other than that he'll stare at me while I'm holding him and look around, and he'll look around and stare at Farrah when he's feeding.

He makes these little mouse noises I'll have to get some recording uploaded.

I also understand that some people aren't able to view the silverlight technology gallery I have on the "photos" page. So I'll post a shot here to let you see what he looks like :)

Comments moved over from previous blog site:

Congratulations!

CONGRATULATIONS on the birth of Aiden! I'm glad everything went well. Looking forward to meeting the little guy someday!

By Paul G on 11/6/2008 12:04 PM

Re: Aidan Rohan Ussery

Opps, make that Aidan.

By Paul G on 11/6/2008 12:05 PM

Re: Aidan Rohan Ussery

Ya it would be awesome to visit there again!

By jpu4 on 11/6/2008 12:09 PM

Re: Aidan Rohan Ussery

Congrats!! Im so happy for you both. he's a cutie and I can't wait to see more pictures. I hope Farrah is doing well.

By Ashley on 11/6/2008 12:18 PM

Re: Aidan Rohan Ussery

Yay!! He's amazing!! Congratulations to you both!!

By Jenn on 11/6/2008 7:06 PM

Re: Aidan Rohan Ussery

Congrats on the birth of your little boy Aidan. Hope you are all recovering well ... especially Farrah who must be exhausted after all of that! Looking forward to seeing more pics of your little man!

By Jennie Wicker on 11/6/2008 7:51 PM

Re: Aidan Rohan Ussery

thanks ya'll she's doing great. Looking forward to going home tomorrow. I'm starting to call him little mouse...because of his squeeking

By jpu4 on 11/6/2008 8:31 PM

Re: Aidan Rohan Ussery

Um, it was nice and comfortable in there. Put me back in, please. Love, Aidan.

By Aidan Rohan Ussery on 11/7/2008 6:18 AM

Re: Aidan Rohan Ussery

Congrats guys!! Knowing yall for so long and just remembering the day that I meet Farrah, it's just crazy to see how far yall have come.
Hurry up and take some more pix, or come to texas and I'll do it!!!

By Z on 11/8/2008 3:55 PM

Re: Aidan Rohan Ussery

Congrats to the proud parents ! Aidan looks just like you both. We wish you'll all the blessings from our family to yours.

By Mark,Rosie & Anjali on 11/9/2008 8:58 AM

Re: Aidan Rohan Ussery

Congratulations you two!!! Welcome to the world Aidan! More pictures please!!!

By Kris & Stacy on 11/9/2008 2:06 PM

Re: Aidan Rohan Ussery

Congrats! Aidan is so handsome!!! Can't wait to see him!!!

By Emily R on 11/12/2008 12:51 PM

Re: Aidan Rohan Ussery

Congratulations James and Farrah!!! Thats a good looking boy ya'll got there. Hes soo handsome. Can't wait to see more pics.

By Cathy Burkhalter on 11/13/2008 6:46 PM

Re: Aidan Rohan Ussery

Congratulations!!! Welcome Aidan!
I can't wait to see the blessed family.

By Sahil Kumar on 11/15/2008 10:47 AM

Google Talk Crash with Winamp

jpu4 — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 16:31:00 GMT

Google Talk - "Show current music track"

I've been an avid winamp user since it's version 1. Since version 5.5 Google's chat client, "Google Talk" has had a bug when setting your away message to "Show current music track". Here's how to fix this bug on your pc until either party find and rebuild the fix.

If you don't have this combonation of chat and music clients then disregard this small amount of tech talk.

Navigate to your winamp's root directory
- "C:\Program Files\Winamp" or "C:\Program Files (x86)\Winamp"
Create a new text file
Rename the file to "winamp.m3u"
- make sure you can view and make changes to the file extension, if not you will need to uncheck hide file extensions in Tools > options
Restart Google talk and winamp and enjoy

Comments moved over from previous blog site:
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Re: Google Talk Crash with winamp

i think this is a great program for playing your music and vidio files i have no complaints at all.

By חוקר פרטי on   10/18/2009 2:31 AM
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Re: Google Talk Crash with winamp

Gr 8 post wroked like charm for me .............. Thanks

By - on   12/30/2009 8:37 AM
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Re: Google Talk Crash with winamp

This problem has been plaguing me for such a long time. Problem solved.
You and the hot chick have a good time.

By Alpha Shark on   2/19/2010 5:57 PM
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Re: Google Talk Crash with winamp

Thanks for this!
rapidqueen.com

By Dino on   4/8/2010 12:21 AM
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Re: Google Talk Crash with winamp

Wow! Amazing that something so simple could cause so much grief. Good on you, mate, for making my day much less frustrating.

By Isaac Lyman on   4/10/2010 11:11 AM