Bedtime Blues OR Juvenille John

I am presently at a Starbucks in Rowlett.  I woke up at 4:30 AM this morning, woke up in Tyler and drove 2 hours to get back to Garland.  30 minutes of those 2 hours being lost and going back and forth between 3 sets of streets.  

Now, I am snotty nosed, sitting at Starbucks, running off of 3 hours of sleep drinking my cup of awake tea, which is running out (which means "I" am running out) prepping for the work day.  A blog might as well have been to do today so here we are!  And I thought to myself, how much sleep am I getting?  How much sleep do I REALLY need?  Because if I could, I'd run off less, but I feel that I can't.  Let's find out:

Here's a pretty good link actually.  The first one I found on Google after searching "How Much adults sleep" (Just as a testament to my tiredness, I was about to type the word "searching" phonetically instead of 'correctly'--"surching").

http://www.sleepfoundation.org/site/c.huIXKjM0IxF/b.2419131/k.6C23/How_Much_Sleep_is_Enough.htm

Looks like I should be getting about 7-9,which on average is what I get.  But sometimes it feels like too much, and other times like too little.  Like, I never want to get up.  I wonder if that just stays with you the rest of your life though.

I thought it was interesting that it suggests sleeping after a regular "relaxing bedtime routine".  Interesting.

It's interesting to me because I felt out of whack the past few weeks because I bought a new video game--World of Warcraft (WoW).  I know, I know.  It's juvenille.  But I'm a boy.  Well.  A man-boy.  And boys will be boys.  Right?  I think all the gentlemen out there (and their ladies as well) can testify that we just like toys.  

Well anyways, this past week or so, my pre-bed routine changed.  I usually read my Bible and sit on my bed and read my "Dance Bible" and just contemplate things before I turn out the lights.  Well, lately, it's been "Video Game Fest 2009" in the living room.  I'll sit in the living room and play WoW until late in the night.  And maybe that's why I feel a little bit funny and just ... unbalanced.  

And I don't like imbalance.  If there's one thing I've learned is a key value of mine, it's balance.  Strange, I know.  

Well.  Time to go back to the usual "pre-bed" routine.  Maybe I'll feel better.  Well, and maybe after I get the remaing 4 hours of sleep I'm missing today.

john.

Satisfaction OR "I Work for my Mom"

I've been working for my Mom for nearly two years now.

Yeesh, two years!  That's a long time.  Rather, it feels like a long time to me.  

In that time, occasionally I ask myself--

"John, seriously, what are you doing here?"

I mean, I love business and I love working for the elderly.  I love figuring out new things for the business to do, and I love event management.  It's just that I know that it's not something I'm gonna do forever.  

It's also a little awkward sometimes when your Mom's also your boss.  I mean, it's like, when does work end?  Especially if you're still living at home like me.  It's like, never getting away from your boss.  Well, except I love my work... and we actually had to set up a rule at home that we aren't allowed to talk business.  

Because we will.

Anyways, all that to say, the other day, I was working on some stuff for my Youth Group and my youth pastors have just been overwhelmed and overloaded with the stuff that's going on in their life.  One of those things is that we have a talent show coming up and they're doing all the event management and they're just swamped.  So I told them in our meeting on Wednesday that if they need anything as far as event coordination and stuff like that, that I can kinda head it up.  I mean, I do it at work all the time. 

Well, that seemed like it was a really big load off their shoulders.  And honestly, I was super excited to do some administrative work.  Figure out the tasks, put people to work, I felt like a glorified slave master.  

Just kidding, truth be told it really was more fulfilling than I figured--to help the my youth pastors and my youth group accomplish something using a skill set I've honed at work.  It's funny because administration and advertising and social networking, it's all so intangible that it's hard sometimes to gauge it or record it as a skill.  But it really is.

And I'm super happy to have it and to be able to use it to help people.  

Suddenly, knowing all that, I know why I'm doing my job again.  And I'm sure in the future, I'll be doing a lot of this stuff...

john.

Thoughts on Networking OR "I'm NOT CHEAP!"

So, today I was working at Starbucks and it suddenly came to me.  

"Is networking the same thing as brown nosing???"

I mean let's look at it.  I feel like, the tactic is, I go up to you, make you feel good, feed you, and then ask you for your business or the business of those you work with.  

Now doesn't that just make you feel like a guilty unethical business person?

Well, I texted a buddy of mine who's a bit more business savvy than I am about the whole thing and we had a chat on the phone about it, that no!  It's absolutely not brown-nosing.  Perspective, it's all about perspective.  

I mean, you can certainly take networking from that standpoint if you like, and I'm sure it'll help you a bit, but people know when you're not genuine and when you're just leeching off of them.  The answer, I believe is this perspective: Networking is not about you.

I mean, that's why it's called NETWORKING.  It's not a one way thing that helps me.  It's supposed to help the other guy, too!  If I network with you, it's because maybe I can help you, and hopefully, you can help me.  This was a really nice conclusion to come to.  I didn't feel guilty making networking plans, I feel like I'm a genuinely nice person who just wants to help someone out.  

And I mean, I can honestly say, I'm just a social guy who loves relationships!  So, if I ask about your life and stuff to "open you up" then it's completely genuine.  I mean, truth be told, I'd rather be out running or cycling with you or gleaning knowledge from you or asking you for life advice than trying to sell you something or exchange business information.  Knowing this and being sure of this makes me feel like I like what I do because what I do is about having lots of friends who do different things, granted, they're older than me.

Too bad doctors generally scare me a little bit.  In the sense that I'm very artsy, emotional and they're usually clinical, factual people.  Hmm, well opposite tracks though, right?

And now for something completely different:

So I feel bad because I always come into Starbucks now asking for a cup of hot water because I just bring in my own tea.  I feel so bad, though!  Like I'm cheap.  So I always feel guilt-tripped into ordering chocolate or biscotti or anything cheap really. 

It's not that I'm cheap... Hardly.  If anything, I'm quite the opposite.  Ask my parents.  I'm high-maintenance.  But I AM in college with a part-time job doing a million things that don't pay--yet.  And I only drink tea.  I don't drink coffee.  So I mean, come one, cut me some slack here.  

Ugh, I guess that's the downside to being social.  You care a lot about what people think.  Including the barista at starbucks who you think thinks you're cheap.

john.