43Folders is a great site (created by Merlin Mann) based around the "getting things done" model proposed by David Allen in his book "Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity." 

While reading some entries on 43folders, I decided it was time to dive in. I needed to be more productive, less stressed. I was going to go all in. I had nothing but spare time to lose, and seemingly everything to gain. I was going all in, balls to the wall, wide-fucking open, going all the way. I bought David Allen's GTD audio book and rented "The Complete Idiot's Guide to: Getting Things Done" from the local library. I has aspirations of being a getting shit done ninja.

To understand the hurdles between me and accomplishing this feat, one only has to watch me attempt this blog entry. I started this entry nearly twenty minutes ago. I realize how sad that is, but my obsession with perfection is so overbearing that I can't stand to attempt learning to touch type. I am so tied to not making a mistake that I have taught myself this weird four finger thumb method of typing, that also incorporates a science of watching both the keyboard and screen simultaneously. It's almost sickening how I've mutated mundane tasks to fit my mental illness. This also doesn't take into account that I'm also fucking with iTunes, talking to Tara, listening to the hundreds of voices in my head, and contemplating my blog entry for the Colt's loss in tonight's SuperBowl. Are we noticing a trending pattern?

Long story short, I listened to the audio book while studying the accompanying PDF, read the idiot's guide, as well as looked into some stuff on 43folders, as well as LifeHacker. I gave it my all. I tried putting all of these ideas into play. An inbox, an incubator, and a reference file, I tried to force all aspects of this thought process into my daily existence. I even tried working Gina Trapani's "todo.sh/todo.txt" into a rails application that I could run in Safari, so I could break down things into a manageable webpage. I think I may have jumped the shark with that one. It was the last straw. I spent more time working on that project than I think I could have saved utilizing it. 

At the end of the day, I believe a number of my quirks kept this from being a fruitful venture. Possibly, my ADD kept me from fully absorbing all of the material I set in front of me. I also think that a lot of the "set it and forget it" methods based in the Inbox theory were fought tooth and nail by my OCD. Ask anyone who has had the privilege of me working on their computer/car/bicycle/etc.. I have a hard time not setting up their things the way I think they should be, and not argue that their way is fucked up. 

I took some things from GTD, and I'll add in some of my own. I suggest that others look into it, even though it didn't completely work for me. 

I had a dream that involved two people that I'm not sure that I am comfortable discussing. One being my paternal grandfather and the other being my biological father. Now, I realize that this isn't odd in most circles, but I haven't had physical interaction with my grandfather in twelve or thirteen years. My biological father is someone I have never really had any interaction with since I was about eight years old. Now, he did have the occasional drop into the picture for a couple of days, every ten fucking years, just to let you know I'm alive, but that's about it. Not exactly Ward-fucking-Cleaver. They both left the physical plane of existence last year: Grandpa in April and my father in August.

Now for the dream (and I'll paint a rough picture the best I can). There were a bunch of people, all pretty unremarkable, except for the fact they didn't have faces and I didn't know any of them except for my father and grandfather. Throughout the entire dream none of us said a word to each other. My grandfather was cooking at a barbecue grill, my father talked to other people that i did not recognize. It was quite short, now that I think about it. In the end of the dream, I pulled my father aside and asked him, "why are you here?" "I thought you were dead." He then told me, "it was a joke, I was joking." It was then that the dream ended.

Now what in the fuck does this all mean? Are they dead? Was I dead? Did I do some kind of out of body experience visit to the netherworld? Is it just my brain fucking with me for no good reason? It's really good at that. Any inspirational comments will be much appreciated. 

Back in the days before Snow Leopard (ok, I know it was only about four and a half months ago), Ares, Leopard, and I lived a great existance with Safari 3. We laughed, we played, we surfed, we watched Macbreak Weekly and surfed Fake Steve Jobs on Blogspot. It was an enjoyable time. I learned of the Safari 4 Public Beta and downloaded it right away. There was absolutely no issue to speak of. All was great until that fateful day, August 28, 2009.

I drove out to Syracuse and picked up my copy. On the way home I grabbed some munchies and Dew. Once home, I drew the shades, grabbed all manner of storage devices and good luck charms, and began my daylong task of upgrading to the "latest-and-greatest." In less than an hour I was up and running, and spent the rest of the day weeding through needed and not-needed files and programs.

I think it was within the first hour that I noticed something was amiss. It seemed mostly with the native Safari 4 that came with Snow Leopard. I got more beach balls than a fucking neo-hippie concert circa 1994. Every time I started Safari it would hang for about 10 seconds, unusable, with that fucking Spinning Beachball of Death.

Now, I have tried moving on to Firefox (fucking memory hug), Camino (not much better and kind of flaky), and lastly Google Chrome. I love Chrome! My biggest issue with Chrome (though it's not really their issue) is that I use this wonderful piece of software called 1Password. It is the BEST password management doohicky ever dreamed of. It has plugins for many browsers, nearly every one I have used... except... you guessed it, CHROME.

Tara and I have both been rebuilding our lives. It has been a massive reconstruction project in all aspects but the one tying us together, and even that bond has been strained at times. We have persevered through it, and have news! Tara is pregnant! She is only a couple of months along, but "expecting" nonetheless. With all of this change, I have been trying to make all of the lives connected to this venture a little easier. 

I have been studying David Allen's "Getting Things Done."  It has been insightful, as well as mind-numbing. This will be a drastic departure from my current stress-filled organization practices. With any luck this will work for us, and maybe even clear up a little more time from daily-grind life, and open it up into real life.

Tara and I both recorded video throughout this trip, and I present the edited version, for your viewing pleasure.

Tara is the proud owner of a new HTC Hero. It took very little convincing once she got it in her hands. She had been lusting over the Palm Pre nearly forever. Once she got the two of them, in her hands, side by side, there was no question for her. Now she can Twitter, check email, text, check Facebook, Flickr, and play Farm Frenzy... all in one place.

Now, currently looking at 00:34 in the first quarter,  the Raiders just had an awesome drive to the endzone, but turned it over. It's the Jet's ball... and they faked a punt for a 16-yard first down run. Ugh! It's a sad season for Oakland Raider fans. 

We have too many young guys, in too many positions, without the veterans to teach and lead the team. We also have a quarterback that is too green, too unexperienced to lead the offense of this team. We have too many turnovers. In my opinion, there really needs to be a reworking of the offensive line and quarterback positions, in the off-season.

I can't complain about the defense, however. In the last few games, the defense has really stacked up against some of the better offenses in football, and have stopped them. With players like Asomugha, Branch, Scott, and Huff, I am sure that they will continue to keep scoring low (as long as JaMarcus Russell can lessen his turnovers).

Honestly, it isn't the job itself. What the misery comes from are the people I have to deal with. This is a call-center job. That being said, I am not irritated by the customers. I am still in their classroom, and have yet to speak to the customers. The people I have issue with are the schmucks that I share a classroom with. 

Some of my fellow students want to take aspects we are learning in class, and compare every-fucking-one of them to something they did in their previous vocations. 

The biggest irritation I have are the people who have a bit of tenure there. I have no issue with people who want to make this their livelihood. If you want to work in a call-center all of your life, cool shit. My issue stems from all of the people who live, breathe, sleep, and shit this place. The last thing I want to listen to when I'm enjoying my lunch (on MY time), is some grand thing that happened to these fucks on a call they had earlier. 

The best analogy I can use is the one from Ron White, with the bouncers and the movie "Roadhouse." It's like they fondle themselves while talking about credits, overages, and phone plans.

Sorry for the bitching, hopefully I'll post some content worth your time, soon.