getting a handle on things

Its kind of funny to be going through what I'm going through, having come back to the US and all. A few people close to me, or I guess not so close as to ask me this, have asked if I'm planning on telling everyone that I've moved back to San Diego. I can only guess that they mean that because I am moving back (if thats what you want to call it) I am sending out a different message of who joe walsh is. I was wondering who I was too just two days ago, on Sunday, when I stood at the Home Depot on Sports Arena and took in the new invention to enter my life: an automatic check-in-your-empty-propane-tank and check-out-a-full-propane-tank machine. Wow. I still haven't figured out how to check myself out of Home Depot on my own, but I see everyone doing it and I get pissed that I have to wait in line. I guess the fact that I just checked myself in on my last flight from Costa Rica to SD the night before is progress, so I shouldn't be hard on myself.
Check me out on the porch this evening with my brand new Native 6'1 fish. If there is one thing that I love to do it must be to buy locally. I love indy business owners much more than franchises. That doesn't mean I still don't love Moons Over My Hammy from Denny's though...and I don't care that I have 150 new Witch's Rock surfboards in a customs warehouse in Costa Rica either. Surfing is all about surfing and nothing more. A bonus was seeing that this fish was shaped by Hank Warner, who shaped the longboard that I took on my first surf trip to Costa Rica ever. I was sold.

another great start to another great day

There is something quite amazing about having a family. Even after all of the movies and tv shows and tv commercials with mommy doing the dishes and daddy washing the car, and the kids running around the house, and me saying "why the hell is everyone so happy" I now know why. This morning was unique in no way whatsoever, and to make every day start off as awesome as this morning did...well, thats just perfect. I have to be the luckies guy in the world to wake up in the morning to such a great family.

encino man

Its been quite a few days since I've written my last blog, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel like a fish out of water. Living in the middle of the jungle and then living in a commuting, consuming city is quite an extreme. I'd like to say that I'm residing part time in Central America and part time in California these days, and its going well. People have asked me if I've moved, or where home is, and I'm not really sure I even know what home means. Is home where you work all day and come home to all of the crap you have to do to your house? Or is home where you get to rent a house from someone else and call them up when your oven doesn't work? I like to think that home is where your dog lives.

For the last almost seven years Holly and I have been living in Costa Rica. It wasn't until about two years ago that I decided that the earth was flat and that I could drive anywhere, and we began our first (of now three) cross country trips across America. One thing that strikes me is how common strip malls are across America. Home Depot, Taco Bell, Holiday Inn, the Healthy Back Store? I've been to Lima, Peru three times in the last year, and the same big company stores are there too. I was shocked to be watching the news up here and see the earthquake reports. Then I see the tsunami warnings. Things like this are supposed to have a deeper meaning, like "do I have my tsunami insurance up to date?". Everyone in Tamarindo evacuated to the top of the hills in town. This happened the day after I left, and since then I've been wondering how different my life could be today.

We went to Ikea, it was last Saturday, and crap was I not in total hell. Its back-to-school time up here I realize, and the way they herd you through that store with about a million people, its just nuts. And I noticed that there are a couple of shortcuts, like if you want to cut over from lights through the rug section or whatever that area is where the posters are, out to the exit. Then Holly and I find a tv stand that we can't live without and she asks me how to spell it so she can write it in her Ikea order form, and how the hell do you call the letter A with a circle coming out of the top? Swedish words like hamgoblit and svork and daanksurbach. Is that Swedish for futon couch? Are they just fucking with us and we don't know it??

I've made some very good progress with my life and how I view the surf camp. I feel as if I'm more excited about what is about to happen at WRSC than I've ever been before. I've made a personal decision in regards to the empty side lot next to the restaurant. I think I told you before, maybe I didn't, but I've paid $45,000 to the owners and I owe them $405,000 by a week from Friday. It sounds like a movie, right? Yeah, thats the surf camp business these days in Tamarindo, wheeling and dealing with the Italians and the Costa Ricans and so on. To tell you the truth, I decided that I don't even want the surf camp to buy the land. It would be better to use the money that the surf camp has to make what the surf camp currently has even better. So thats my decision. On the other hand, if you're the money fairy and want to lend it to me to buy the property, of course I'd borrow it to buy the land. OR, if there are 405 of you and you each have $1000, I could take your money and give you 1/450th of a sweet beach front lot. I could then find a way to have the surf camp rent that small piece of land from you, and you could tell all of your friends that you have beach front property in Tamarindo. You know, the internet is so crazy that things like this actually happen. It reminds me of that movie UHF with Weird Al Yankovic where they have to raise money to buy the television station. Am I the only one who saw that movie? Well, if WRSC is going to grow its restaurant and bar so that we can build a big ass stage and have live music every night on the beach, I'm going to need to put it over there. We have until next Friday, everyone. Don't every say I didn't tell you.

So I got an email from James regarding the WRSC phone system, you'll be happy to hear that we now have a new pbx system that automatically answers your calls and sends them to the department that you want. So now if you call the front desk and the gardner answers you'll not get all pissed off when you can't get in touch with Kattia. I also got the new photoshop files of the new WRSC website. The new site is streamlined so that it can be used just as much for booking a vacation as it can for teaching yourself about the area and how to surf. We're pretty excited about it. I'm trying out a new blogging environment where my key Directors like Matt, Colin and Marcela will each have their own industry blogs to keep all of us (myself included) posted on the daily happenings at the surf camp. Believe it or not, we actually have a company that tries every day to make itself better. You should have seen what we had when we started (or ask Will Pirkle, as he actually slept UNDER the school bus in the old old days).

Now that we've decided to spend more time up in San Diego, I'm getting through the uncomfortable times when my lack of "new knowledge" rears its ugly head. The amazing thing that I did was sign up for Netflix on Tuesday and then receive the first three movies the next day. You're probably over this phenomenon but pretend you just woke up from a seven year coma. Craigslist is my new best friend. As you know, we're furnishing two of our beach cottages in Ocean Beach so that they can be rented short term. I'm literally driving a moving truck around PB and OB and picking up furniture, futons, recliners, you name it. And really nice stuff too, believe it or not. Need the garbage hauled out of your yard? craigslist. Need someone to give you a foot rub? craigslist. I'm hooked on craigslist. Oh, and if you want to see what our website for the rentals looks like, go here http://theoceanbeachrentals.blogspot.com It took me about an hour and a half using blogger.com's free software, just as a point to myself at how easy it is if you really want to get something started online, and its already made the phone ring nonstop. The places are getting totally pimped out, so if you're passing through SD you should crash at our place.

So, between cleaning up our beach cottages for labor day weekend and moving into the house that we rented (its totally dope by the way), we're in San Diego and enjoying the end of summer. I'm going to Costa Rica in a couple of weeks, because as you know I can never stay in one country for too long. The seasons are changing and there is some surf on the horizon. I actually just checked the OB pier before sunset and it was starting to come in. See you out in the water, either here or there.

Using blogs to increase communication, and therefore business awareness

what is a blog?

A blog, officially called a web log, is simply a website controlled by a content management system that allows authors like me to update information online as often as we want without having to rely on IT guys, web designers, or any real programming experience.

how does a blog compare to a normal programmed website?

Depending on the use of the blog, it may or may not be apparent that what you are reading online is actually generated from a blog. In most cases blogs offer viewers the opportunity to post comments regarding a topic being discussed (similar to a discussion forum). Blogs that are inundated with content can often be searched via a site-specific search engine. There are many blog search engines such as Technorati that excel in delivering search results based off of the most recent postings found online. Blogs are a great way for finding out what people are thinking about right now, where as normally programmed websites usually represent more dated information.

what are some of the advantages of a blog?

1. authors don't need to have web design or other programming skills to publish their work
2. publishing content is accomplished quickly in a matter of minutes, so getting your thoughts out to the world is really only a few clicks away
3. communication barriers are removed as customers, potential customers, and employees communicate directly and openly
4. search engines often rank blogs higher because their content is being updated more frequently, attracting and educating more online visitors that, if done correctly, results in a higher conversion rate of customers

what are some of the disadvantages of a blog?

1. blog websites are normally a bit text heavy and leave much to the imagination as far as site design is concerned
2. currently 15,000 new blogs are posted online each day, so simply posting a blog does not necessarily ensure more site traffic
   

how do I start blogging?

There are plenty of blogging websites out there like typepad.com, wordpress.com, and blogger.com. These sites give you a free content management system to manage your blog. You can utilize their free hosting services (example- http://yourblogsname.typepad.com) or you can point your blog to your own domain name (example- http://www.yourblogsname.com). There are many advanced blogging software packages that you can host on your own website, even to the point of publishing your entire website with one. Blogs can be used to keep your website's visitors more updated with your business or personal affairs. You can utilize blogs to allow different parts of your business team to update one another (and the rest of the world if you want) as an alternative to email communication. If you're like me, you have tons of ideas constantly streaming through your head. Blogs are a great way to get these ideas out of your head or notebook and to organize them once and for all. I mean...you've somehow found this blog, which actually surprises me as I haven't even begun to tell the world about these business articles! Good luck blogging!

Safer than driving

Last night around 9pm I decided that today would be a good day to travel back to San Diego. The rain was really starting to depress me for some reason, probably because I was missing Holly and Otis. Holly and I are about to visit a doctor to find out if we're having a boy or a girl, which is crazy exciting and probably one of the reasons why I've been so anxious to get back. That, and we've found a house that we like a lot in OB and have decided to rent it, moving in tomorrow. Yes its true that we have three beach cottages next to the ocean, but they are truly best as rentals. I'm feeling like I need a house that has connected bedrooms and more of a feeling of being at home, something that I wasn't getting while at the Abbott Street address. The best part is that the house has a huge basement which will be perfect for jamming out loud music!

My flight was scheduled to leave this morning at 7:20am. At 6am I was still about 45 minutes from the airport, stuck behind a long line of cars that weren't moving anywhere. I then got out and walked up the road a bit, to find out that there had been a terrible car accident and that someone had died after striking a tree. Here I am, always a bit tense about flying (I'm actually in the air right now going to Houston) but getting better since I do it all of the time now, realizing once again how much more dangerous driving a car can be, Especially in Costa Rica where people drive like crap and heavy rainstorms can make it super dangerous. Seeing that car accident this morning made me realize how fortunate I am to be alive, and how excited I was to be back with my family again later today. After finally making it past the police/CR FBI/rubble from the accident, I was stuck behind about a hundred cattle in the middle of the road not even two minutes further down the road. The typical Costa Rican traffic jam. I'm surprised I made my flight, and I'm thanking myself that I took the time to check in online and print my boarding passes. Its funny, since I'm so interested in the internet and since I fly so much, that today was the first time I actually checked in online. I never used to, probably because I never have a printer where I'm at. Recently I've realized that once I get to the ticket counter all of the good seats are taken and I'm forced to sit apart from Holly and Otis until we find someone to switch with us. Its funny that I buy a seat for Otis, and then the airline seats him by himself. At 16 months he's not quite ready for traveling by himself. Then I realize that technology once again is passing me by and that I need to catch up. If I hadn't printed my tickets I wouldn't have made the flight, so thats good.

Now that my mind has been cleared of the madness of WRSC, where I'm constantly on display and it sometimes gets really really old, I'm relaxing and thinking about what I'm going to do in San Diego over the next couple of weeks. I had had plans to travel back to Panama on a surf trip with Colin and Matt, and then Holly and I had been talking about going to Argentina on a late season snowboard trip for my birthday. I'm now thinking that it would be best to do that snowboarding trip when Holly can snowboard with me, maybe in a few months at Tahoe or Mammoth or ? As for the surf trip, I'm putting it off until after the end of the month as I have to figure out how I'm going to come up with $400,000 by the end of August. Yeah, thats what I said. Its funny to say this, because a year ago I paid off a surf camp debt where I was responsible to pay $500,000 within 18 months. Now I have another surf camp debt of roughly the same amount but instead of 18 months I was given 3 months. I guess I do it to myself, as at the end of the day what I'm doing is investing in the future of WRSC, which equates to my future and Otis' future and so on. Its just kindof crazy to be 29 years old and having to figure this stuff out through trial and error.

jumping another plane

I'm getting tired of all of this traveling, in the last three and a half weeks I've flown five times and driven 2500 miles, tomorrow I fly to San Diego. Holly doesn't know yet, hopefully its a good surprise and not a "crap! daddy came home and ruined all the fun" kind of thing :-)

I'm getting bored of work

Yes, its true. Just like you, I get sick of my job too. I've been sitting on my couch with my laptop since 9:30am this morning meeting with Colin regarding the new Witch's Rock Surf Camp website. I am so sick of talking about it, my head literally won't take any more.

When I woke up this morning there was a guy on tv who had implanted a chip in his arm and was using it to communicate with computers. He was claiming that within 15 years people would be getting microchip implants in their brains so that as they thought, they would be communicating with computers. What the hell is going on?

The rain hasn't stopped for three days and its depressing me. I'm looking for a flight to San Diego as its just about time to skip town. Nothing else to report from the Skybox...

Its nice to be back in Costa Rica

its 2AM and your arm is bleeding

As you know, I've just returned to Tamarindo from being gone for three weeks. There was a new guy named Steve who was working at the front desk, actually a really cool guy. He is married to a tica who is quite hot, and I guess pretty interested in other guys from what Steve says. I get back to Witch's Rock Surf Camp from Bill and Emily's wedding and post party, its about 2AM, and Steve is at the hotel's front desk with his arm dripping blood. It was so nasty. After just having some stitches myself I told him that he had at least four cuts that needed 8-10 stitches. He was in shock, saying that he had gone to the Best Western and caught his wife having sex with some guy in a hotel room, and that he punched through the window in an attempt to get in. I gave him my extra basketball shorts as a blood rag (yeah, its nasty) and sent him to the hospital.

Yesterday, the morning after, I wake up and look for my basketball shorts. No, it wasn't a dream at all. I'm having a coffee and start talking to Colin. Colin tells me about how he ran into an old friend who was staying in a hotel in town. The guy goes on to say that he went to the bar the night before and some little hottie comes up to him and says "hey, you remind me of a guy I know, only hotter. Want to go back to your room??" So then of course Colin's friend does just that, and is doing this chick when some crazy guy punches through the window.

Isn't life full of funny little stories like that? Poor Steve probably doesn't think so.

my head still hurts

The current time is 12:31am, so I guess its already Sunday and not Saturday. Bill and Emily's wedding was a success despite the rain showers, and I'm still feeling it 24 hours later. When you mix champaign with beer with rum with copious amounts of marijuana and then sleep it off on the most uncomfortable couch known to mankind you've got last night just about summed up. Now that I'm back in Costa Rica I want to take this opportunity to thank all of my friends for making my homecoming that much better. I left my toothbrush back in Avellanas and my teeth feel hairy, maybe I should go to bed and worry about it in the morning.

tools for working remotely- a brief overview

When I talk about working remotely, I'm talking about working where you want and when you want. Some of you are entrepreneurs like me and you already are your own boss. Others of you, a vast majority I'd assume, work for the man. I've got a little insight for you and your job security (it isn't secure). Whoa! Did I just scare you? I hope not. I just want you to realize that sooner or later someone younger than you will probably take your job from you, and then someone overseas will probably take that job from them. Its a vicious cycle where the large corporation is looking out for number one, and you're not number one. In a world that has become flat, just understanding the position that you're in is giving you an advantage over most everyone else. Doing something proactive about it will help give you the edge to actually keep your job. That is, unless, you're ready to stop working for the man and start working for yourself, which I entirely suggest that you do. If you prefer punching in and out and are happy doing what you're doing, thats great too. Either way, working remotely will help you create more free time so that you have more time for your family and friends, to travel, to start new hobbies, and so on.

We as humans have evolved over millions of years, but our work methods have evolved annually. The internet has made anything possible. We can now call tech support for a printer that doesn't print and Apu in Bangladesh can walk us through step by step. Or Apu can simply log in to your computer and do it for you. With wifi hotspots and mobile devices doing more and more, submitting a cost analysis from Yosemite on your Blackberry last year or from your iPhone last month is as easy as clicking a few buttons. Internet technologies are dumbing down and as a result more and more people are becoming productive members of our worldwide online community. You're probably quite internet savvy because you've found my blog, but maybe someone printed this article for you or you found it while searching for "Blackberry" or "iPhone". I'll assume that at least part of what I'm saying can help you out. Here are a few tools that I've found helpful as I strive to work remotely:

Email- duh! Probably the biggest advance in communication technology, email allows you to send information to someone at 4am and not piss them off. I'll assume you figured this one out already.

Skype- This program is just awesome. A VOIP program that acts as your phone service provider, connecting you to any phone number in the world with predetermined cost per minute. If I'm in Costa Rica, I sit in the restaurant of my business Witch's Rock Surf Camp and use the wireless internet and my headphones to call my parents in San Diego, my friend Adam in England, my lawyer in Panama, and my clothing factory in Honduras. The price is less expensive than a traditional phone or cellphone. This service is quite convenient if you're traveling between countries and rely on the internet as your sole means of communication. Other features that I use from skype (www.skype.com) are its call-forwarding features. Basically, I have a US-based phone number and then forward that number to any phone that I happen to have at the time, or borrow, or even to a friend or family member's phone while I'm at their house. And if I don't answer, it goes to voice mail and I can check it later. To the caller, they figure I'm in San Diego and have no idea that I'm in Peru. You can use your computer's internal speakers and microphone, or you can be a big spender and buy a nice headphone/microphone set. Check it out if you haven't already.

Efax- Just like it sounds, this is a fax service that sends faxes to you by email. I'm sure it does more than that, but for me I simply use it when someone needs to send me a fax. I have a San Diego based fax number and picking up faxes is as easy as checking your email. The downside is that viewing the fax requires an efax viewer, which even though is free can be a bit of a pain if you don't have your computer and are checking your fax via web mail. If this is the case, try using a USB key (see next section).

USB key- a small hard drive that fits on your keychain, this small piece of hardware is great for storing vital documents that you may need in multiple locations and/or if you don't have your computer. You can keep it password secured, and then keep all of your other passwords on it. You can use it if you're on the road and need to print or fax a document from your hard drive at the local Kinko's. USB keys are a great tool, although as I write this I realize I forgot mine on my VW Jetta keychain in San Diego this morning.

credit cards- yeah, of course credit cards, but for a few other reasons too. First, when you pay with credit card you have a record of all of your purchases. This is great for space cadets like me, who lose receipts faster than you can say W2. Another good thing is that, with a good credit card company, you can collect air miles and get free travel the more you spend. Capital One offers 2 air miles for every dollar spent.

mac vs pc- OK, some of you will like me and some of you will hate me, but I'm a mac guy all the way. I didn't used to be, and two years ago when I switched it was a frustrating first couple of ways. Perhaps the mac's simplicity is what confused me more than anything. Some great things for the remote worker are a super long battery life of 4-6 hours on average, a stronger-than-pc wireless antenna that picks up wifi where a pc doesn't, no viruses or virus software constantly reminding you of how unorganized you are with your downloading of new anti-virus scripts, and so on. Trust me, mac will one day rule the world, and not just because they're cool looking. If you want a better-made machine, buy a mac. I NEVER shut my computer down more than twice a month, I simply close it and open it as needed and it RARELY crashes. This is after two years of use, and if I remember correctly, I've never had a pc work for two years period unless I never traveled with it.

A great book on this topic is called "The Four Hour Work Week" by Timothy Ferris. I suggest that you read it as soon as you can. Even for seasoned veterans, this book makes you realize that you're touching the tip of the iceberg in regards to what is possible. I was motivated by it and have made changes in my life to clear up more time, allowing me to do tons of things including writing this blog! There is of course an entire bookshelf full of books on this topic. All I've really done is make a short list of some of the tools that I use personally in order to work effectively without being in any given place at any given time. I run a 65 employee surf camp in Costa Rica, and over the last three weeks I've flown to San Diego, driven up the California coast and over to Montana, flown to Tennessee, back to San Diego, and then back to Costa Rica. Work didn't stop and neither did I!

another time zone

I'm getting sick of talking about all of the traveling I've been doing, as you probably are. I'm even more tired of actually doing the traveling. Right now I sit in the Houston airport between connections, heading to Costa Rica in a couple of hours. I tried passing the time by in the airport Border's Books. The fact that there is a book title "the Idiot's Guide to Amazing Sex" scares me a bit and makes me wonder how many copies have been sold. I tried to find a good business book, as for some reason reading about work seems to interest me when I'm not working (very sad actually). All of the books were about how to get rich, how to get promoted at work, to invest, buy and sell real estate, not piss your boss off, and so on. I saw a copy of "the Art of the Deal" by Donald Trump, which I read a few years ago and remembered liking quite a bit. That was suggested to me by my friend Dean Warren, the same guy who believes that global warming doesn't exist. Well, maybe he does now, as it was two years ago that we had that talk, and its been getting warmer and warmer, hasn't it? Our time in Nashville was dampened by the 95-100 degree temperatures with no wind. It is actually cooler in Costa Rica than the midwest scary enough. Holly, Otis and I flew to San Diego on Sunday, one of the longest days I can remember in recent months. At 2AM we were up and leaving for the airport in Tennessee, by 1PM I had been to Home Depot on Sports Arena Blvd in San Diego and was preparing to paint one of our units in OB with my dad. I keep going back and forth on whether or not I want to start renting our places on a nightly basis now or wait until next summer. It has proven to be quite hard to get things done to the place with us traveling all of the time. I posted a craigslist posting, http://sandiego.craigslist.org/apa/392215922.html , so if you know anyone who wants a sweet place in OB tell them to check it out. Holly, Otis and I (effectively called "we") stayed in my parent's camper in their driveway when we returned from our trip. Well, we got to our place in OB and realized how much work needed to be done. The homeless guy Ron from previous posts had moved out, which was good, and so had Justin. Our neighbors told us that Ron had been driving our car while we were gone, so that was super news also. I'm not sure what it was exactly, perhaps a combination of things, but this particular trip has been more of a culture shock than ever before. I guess I'd start by reiterating that I'm almost 30 years old and upon returning to my own home I was unable to allow my family to stay there but instead opted to stay with my parents, in their motorhome in their driveway. To me that is a sign of regression, but I can get over it. We hadn't been in our place for 8 months and everyone else had been apparently using the place, so you can imagine the state it was in. Then compare that to our family reunithon, where we see family we haven't seen in years and realize that we've spent all of our 20s living in the jungle. It is hard to explain how that makes you feel, especially with things seeming to advance so quickly. I moved to Costa Rica when Clinton was President and the dot com bubble was just starting to burst. Holly and I have been talking for quite some time about spending more time back in San Diego. Now that we're pregnant again it seems even more of a solid option, at least once the baby is born, as my folks are there and can help out quite a bit. Then I start considering things like the new Simpson's movie, that I'd like to see it and that I've missed the last 500 good movies or so. I've never owned a Tivo or DVR and am jealous of all my friends who have one. There are tons of magazines I'd love to have subscriptions to, and having them sent to my address (past the second river in Avellanas, on the right, Costa Rica) just doesn't seem to work. I wish to God I could have Netflix... When I'm in the US I get overwhelmed by people talking on blue tooth enabled devices about their myspace blogs and, even though I'm writing a blog right now, I'm miles away from anyone I know who is doing the same. Its like that story about the person in India who stumbled upon an advanced physics textbook and became a physics expert without ever having any experience with it before (except that writing a blog requires no expertise whatsoever). Maybe I'm just missing some of the practicalities of life back in San Diego. I mean, if I want something I can just go and get it while I'm up here. It sounds simple, but after almost seven years of living in Costa Rica I'm just feeling a bit left behind. The last few months have been scattered around the continent looking for long-term solutions to an inner struggle between me and me. Then I realize that I'm about to have a second child and that my first child and my wife don't have health insurance, nor do I, nor do I have a retirement account or a stock portfolio or most things that people my age are "supposed to have figured out". And now this morning I leave Holly in San Diego as she is deathly ill with her pregnancy, nothing to worry about except to receive this reality check of what I'm doing and where I'm going. I guess life has many crossroads and I've been standing at this one for quite some time and didn't realize it completely. It must sound completely incoherent so I apologize for that, but sometimes its nice to just talk to you and not really know who you are. Just an fyi, I'm amidst a website overhaul. I've seen the light and it looks good. This blog has nothing to do with my business Witch's Rock Surf Camp, so I'm taking it down and putting it onto another site. Don't worry, I'll let you know what it is. I've started a business blog as a way to not only clear my mind of it's never-ending thought process, but also to share with anyone who wants to gain insight towards doing whatever the hell they want to do. You can find the start of this project at http://joewalshproject.blogspot.com . Trust me when I say it isn't much, and soon it will reside elsewhere and include my personal blog and other tidbits as well, I hope it helps you moving towards where you want to be. I saw a guy with a t-shirt on this morning in the security checkpoint line of the San Diego airport, and it said "one life one chance", and I thought to myself, holy shit, he's right! aloha- joe

The importance of always working under contract

I've had a lot of different business transactions since starting my surf camp business in Tamarindo, Costa Rica. These experiences have taught me a lot about business strategy and making sure that things happen how they are supposed to happen. One thing that always remains the same: I am always turning an agreement into a signed contract.

Lets assume that it is January. You've just agreed to a business deal with your friend Todd and everyone is stoked. You start working together, excited about the prospects of success but neglecting to put your working agreement into a contract. By June or July your business is starting to see some level of success. Todd feels that he is working harder than you are (or vice-versa) and the issue needs to be addressed. One or the other feels that they should be getting a majority of the profits, or that the other needs to do what they initially agreed to be responsible for. At this point in time a contract would be a great tool to revert to, basically acting as a description for the two of you of what is to be expected. After six months it is very easy to forget what all of the details to the agreement were, and things can become very complicated. A conflict between parties based off of what each one "remembers" isn't very easy to resolve and usually ends with poor results. Without having drawn up a contract, both parties are able to unofficially re-negotiate the deal. Again, this usually leads to some bad feelings.

Don't worry if you're in this position because its never too late to make things official. You should only start worrying if the person you're working with or who is working for you doesn't want to draft a contract. Contracts make it easier for everyone because its all written out and everyone knows what is expected of them. You don't necessarily need to pay for an expensive lawyer to draft a lengthy contract that you don't understand. Depending on the complexity of your website, try the legal document website www.legaldocs.com. This website offers many low-cost legal document templates that you can fill in to generate what you need. If the construction of your garage, your partnership, a working agreement with a friend, or any other situation that would benefit from a contract is too detailed for one of these templates, I suggest the following:

1. Make a list of the important points that you want to include in the contract

2. Ask the other party (parties) to read through your list, to add any points that they want to include and to highlight any of the terms you included that are questionable to them in any way.

3. Revise the list into a second draft.

4. Ask a third party (could be a trusted family member, close friend, or hired legal counsel) to look over and make any suggestions.

5. Sign and date, and have the other party (parties) do the same.

In my seven years of running Witch's Rock Surf Camp I've needed to create contracts for property purchases, the hiring of employees, the scheduled purchase and delivery of food, drink and retail products, the construction of buildings, the repair of vehicles, boats and other mechanical and electronic things, people watching my house while I'm out of town, the vet and what he does when he checks up on my dogs, and so on. The list is literally endless and I feel that I wouldn't have accomplished nearly as much as I've done if I didn't have a contract to uphold my expectations.

You can write a contract on a napkin and sign in with lipstick, it really doesn't matter. The most important thing is that you have a signed agreement of terms. This alone will be the main tool should any complications arise (lets hope that they don't). Its really hard to express the importance of working under contract until you've experienced the negative outcome of not having one. Don't worry, it will eventually happen as it does to everyone. I hope this article prepares you for the next time you enter any working agreement and that you benefit as a result. Good luck on your way to financial independence!

You can't get rid of me that easily

I feel like I died and then came back to life, and who knows, maybe I did. The reason I decided to get hand surgery was pretty good, even if it was a spur of the moment type thing. You see, a year ago my parents were in Montana visiting our family when they noticed a lump that was growing on my dad's neck. Worried, they went to the doctor in Butte, Dr Kaufman, who advised them to return to San Diego for immediate testing. Later we found out it was Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a common form of cancer. Fortunately my dad didn't hesitate a bit and started chemotherapy and radiation treatment, and today he continues to live a cancer-free life. So, back to my story, I've noticed a lump on my hand over the last few months. It started growing bigger, which started to scare the crap out of me. Maybe it was me being in Butte a year later, and then meeting Dr. Kaufman and showing him my hand. That was on Sunday. Monday morning I woke up to a message that I was having hand surgery at 3pm in the afternoon.

I'm not afraid of needles or people cutting into my body or anything like that. At least I don't think I am. As I sat on the hospital chair in a semi-reclined position, the nurse shot me up with tons of procaine until my hand didn't seem to be attached to my body. My dad is in the room and we're talking with the doctor as he's digging around, doing his thing. I feel them hit a nerve and I tell them. And then it happens again and I tell them. Then I slightly feel the nurse begin shooting my hand up with more and more procaine. My stomach tightens up and my head rushes, I feel like I'm going to be sick, and the last thing I remember is saying that I wasn't feeling very good. It was more like "I'm nooot feeeeeeeeliiiiiing veeeeeeeeeeeeeeryyyy goooooooooooooo...". My dad explained to me later that I then went into a seizure that lasted 15-20 seconds. I was coughing, almost choking, unable to breathe, and then began violently convulsing in the chair. I lunged forward, up in the chair, and this is where I start remembering what happened again. Everything burned back into perspective and I'm looking at a doctor and nurse in their medical clothes, and my dad, all starting at me scared and telling me I'm ok. "Where the hell am I?", I ask a few times. I had no idea why I was there, or where I was, that I was having surgery, that I was even in the US, for a couple of minutes. It was messed up. Not to mention I felt awful. This was about halfway through the procedure, and as I sat there I started to realize that my entire body was still in shock and shaking. I can't really explain it any better than that.

Looking back on it now, I wonder if what I experienced was an allergic reaction to the anesthetic. You hear stories about how you've got to sign papers in the dentist office because every once in a blue moon some poor soul dies while getting their teeth cleaned, or during lasik surgery, or while getting a mole removed, and so on. I'd like to think that I just passed out for a few seconds, but what I saw between passing out and waking up was crazy enough that I can't begin to explain it. It was crazy enough to wonder if I died and came back to life, all in those 15-20 seconds. I'm not going to spend too much time worrying about it, because I'm still here, so I guess if nothing else I've got a good bar story if ever on the subject. Oh, and the lump on my hand was a cyst, so thats good news.

Right now I'm sitting next to a lake in Tims Ford State Park in Tennessee. This is the true south, and where they lack in teeth they more than make up for in hospitality and fried catfish. I'm pretty burned out on the whole family reunion thing, I mean seriously, why did I plan such a long trip away from surf? I don't know. Today we take the ski boat and get pulled behind the boat while riding surfboards, so thats about as close as its going to get. I've just got to find a way to do it without using my right hand. So far I've driven by about a million churches (they sure praise the lord a lot down here), seen a thirteen year old girl sucking her thumb (reminds me of the movie Deliverance), watched (I swear not for long) as some guy tried to get his boy horse mate with his girl horse, and, uh, well, thats about it because I'm stuck in Tennessee.

We fly back to San Diego on Sunday morning. I'm excited to finally get our beach cottages there set up so that I can rent them out to friends, family, wrsc guests, basically anyone who wants to go on vacation to San Diego and stay in Ocean Beach a block from the ocean. Justin finally got the homeless guy to move out of my driveway so that was nice. I was trying to explain the story to one of Holly's cousins last night around 1am. It sounds more and more crazy every time I tell the story. I mean come on, where were my SD friends through all of this? We hadn't been back to San Diego since last November, which is quite some time, but hey, I was busy. Someone could have called me in Costa Rica or sent a quick email explaining that I had a homeless guy living in Justin's van in my driveway, that he had used my yard to disassemble his own van's engine. He even built a fire pit and some storage shelves there, and would have other people come by the house and work on their cars there. Are you f#%king kidding me? No, I'm not. I swear, its like a funny part to a bad movie. The fact that my friends knew about all of this and figured that I'd be ok with it shock me, but I guess thats what happens when you never make an issue out of anything. I mean, I was letting them brew beer in the front yard while the homeless guy Ron was changing neighbor's oil in the back yard. It reminds me of my college years living on Poole Street with Doug Cole.

So, anyways, no more homeless dude, no more beer factory. I'm painting everything, we've gotten some great furniture for our surf cottages (they come fully furnished) and will be renting them out starting next weekend (Friday August 10th). If you or anyone you know wants is planning a trip to San Diego and wants a great place to stay, send me an email. The beach cottages go for $120/night, they are on Abbott Street between Cape May and Brighton in Ocean Beach, 92107. There is tons of surf right out in front, plus great local hangouts on Newport Avenue three blocks up. OB is definitely the last remaining local beach of San Diego, so if you haven't visited you should. I'll have a website up shortly and will include it in my next blog. Until then, I'm going to try and make the best out of this family reunion thing, its actually pretty cool to be forced to hang out with people you don't know. I just sometimes get tired of it as I've been doing it for as long as I can remember. hasta la pasta- joe