Monthly Archives: May 2008

Minimization Monday

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Minimizing and Untangling the messI’m on a rampage. It started in my closet at 3 a.m. (Couldn’t sleep, dunno why.) I have been reading Unclutterer (I find it inspiring most of the time). And I came upon a post about simple clothing. Now, I’ve already “simplified” my clothing a number of times. But something hit me (in the way things can only hit during the wee hours of the morning) and I started tearing into my closet.

With my family size cut in half, I’ve discovered that the extra hangers lurking in my closets are like the extra baggage I’m carrying around in my head. And it’s time to purge physically as well as mentally — which helps with the empty I feel in my heart at the moment.

I decided it’s time to take the next step. So, I started with the closet. I’m just anal enough to like matching hangers, so I’m getting rid of the ones that don’t match. I’m giving them to my mother. She knows how to distribute goods as needed throughout the family. I fuss at my parents for all the excess “stuff” they store and organize and maintain, but the fact is the rest of us (extended family included) go to them for that odd little something we need (from a replacement computer cord to a dress belt for a new skirt). Or maybe for some extra hangers.

So, as I clean things out and minimize my needs and my wants, I wonder if I’m able to do it only because I know they are my safety net. I fuss at them for the stuff they keep. I act all holier-than-thou about my smaller footprint, my smaller amount of “stuff” and my simple life goals. Yes, I give most things to Goodwill, and I’m starting to eBay some of the larger or more expensive pieces that I no longer need or want… but the other stuff, I always offer it to my parents first. Then, I give them crap about all the stuff they keep.

I’m sure there’s some deep psychological something going on here, but for now, I’m headed back to my room to finish my most recent purge. I’m far too busy to think too hard about too much on a holiday Monday.

Cheers!

The Wisdom of Waiting

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My son on Graduation Day, Before I got so sad.I’m told (by my father) that this is not the best time to make huge, sweeping decisions. He says I should give it a couple months. He says things will look different as I “settle in” to my new life.

There has been so much change of late, and yesterday my youngest son graduated and left for his apartment in Lexington. I don’t know what possessed me to allow him to leave on the same day he graduated. That was especially stupid of me.

But, he was chomping at the bit, wanting to go, ready to start his life as an adult. He wanted to get a job or two this summer and begin saving up the cash he still needs to meet his bills at the University of Kentucky. He’s a good boy, and I could see the irritation in his eyes as I asked him for the unthinkable… to stay with me a week after he was “free” from high school.

So, I whined inside (as quietly as I could) and gave him his freedom.

Now, I have been surfing the waves of self-pity as the tiny house I inhabit now echoes. With only a 10-year old and a puppy to occupy me, I’m looking long and hard at my life.

The “simplify, simplify” philosophy in me is growing stronger. And I find things like this: http://www.cagefreefamily.com/ both enticing and a form of personal validation for my current purge urge. I don’t know what is enough, but I know right now what I have is too much. WAY too much.

I’ve even decided against the Airstream and have listed it on Facebook’s marketplace. A 24′ long RV to be pulled behind a gas-guzzling truck is too much for just two people. I’ll be putting it on Craigslist this week, and probably on eBay by next week, if it’s not already sold. I had a buyer for it, but he decided to buy an SUV instead. (Don’t ask me, it made NO sense to me, especially after he checked my asking price against the market price and told me how low mine was.) “I was gonna try to talk you down, but then I looked them up and they are mostly much higher.”

Yeah, I knew that. :O)

My son, the graduate, in robesI still want to travel. I have just been re-evaluating the mode of the transportation. I’ll know more when I purge a bit more. I’ll be able to figure it all out once I let the dust settle and once I sell many of my current belongings and donate the rest. But, right now, I’m thinking a Class C is the direction I need to go. I don’t want to have to “climb out” of my RV in order to trot around and get into the cab of the truck to drive off. Traveling as a single woman means I need additional safety features… like an attached cab.

Right now (and for the years to come) what I want most is time, the health to enjoy that time and less of my energies going into obtaining, caring for and protecting “things.” It sucks the life out of me. Literally.

So, despite the fact that my son didn’t stay with me this week, I’m not going back to work quite yet. I’m going to enjoy this week away from clients and business projects. I’ll be spending it with me. I’ll be spending it with Alex. And we will both be learning to adjust to the changes. I’ll get caught up on sleep (I’ve been creating a debt there for at least three decades), cleaning, organizing and determining where I go from here… now that my children no longer outnumber me. Now that being a “single mom” seems more like just being single.

I’m sure I’ll get used to it… eventually.. but right now, it just feels weird. And sad. And I find myself feeling a little lost.

So, while my son struggles to navigate his new life, I struggle in my own way to navigate mine.

Another facelift for WickedBlog

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Bear with me as I work around WickedBlog to make it a bit more “clean” in appearance and function. I’ve always gone dark with graphics and the visual impact of my blog, but I think it’s time to let a little light shine in.

As I’m struggling to simplify my physical, psychological and personal surroundings, I’m also simplifying my online and digital existence.

So, the look of WB will be changing for the next few weeks as I figure out how to clean things up, keep it easy on the eyes, easy to navigate and find what you want, make sure it validates properly and take special pains so that my “simplification” kick doesn’t get offset by a too-low text to code ratio or any of the other search engine “no-no” paths.

Hopefully, when I finish up, I’ll have a better product for my readers and an easier to maintain platform for myself. (I’d appreciate any feedback on what works and what’s not working here as I make the changes.)

Glad the price of gasoline is soaring!

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While gasoline prices top $4.00 per gallon and the economy pundits’ projections dip and sway, I’m glad that my business is already established and runs from a home office.

I’m also pleased that I’ve taken the time to evaluate my clients, services and my business expenses and trim them all back neatly. My next big “trim” will be the number of days I work per week. I’m preparing for it now and hope to implement my new, shorter workweek by the end of July.

Determining how much I should make this year made it easier to look at how many days a week would be required to make that target income and to plan accordingly. It’s also made me re-evaluate my original numbers and trim them back even more.

I credit the price of gasoline for encouraging me to take some steps that are improving my business and my life.

Dovetailing Errands

I’ll be spending one day out of the office per week to get the things done I need to do. I visit with my parents once a week and spend the day. They live two hours away. On the way up, I run errands for the business and pick up anything I need that’s only available in their city while I’m there (that way the trip can be expensed). They have an office supply store and a general merchandise super-store there. I don’t have either of those here.

I get an early start so I can arrive at their house between 9 and 10 a.m. In the late afternoon, I head back to the house and do my grocery shopping and other personal errands on the way home.

Living a deliberate life

It means I only get out once a week now, but it also means I accomplish the bulk of my non-client related to-do list on that one day. These choices aren’t purely financial. I’ve actually started recycling. (Dropping it off is another item on my errands list each week.)

My new push to live life more deliberately and to think things out before jumping and running helps me to minimize the ecological impact of my life. I watch the extra packaging and purchase fresh foods locally as much as possible.

I’m actually saving money

Making sure that I never make a trip out for just one or two things requires me to plan ahead, make lists — and an unexpected bonus is that I’m avoiding impulse purchases and using less gas every week. By doing the shopping on my way home from my parents’ house, after I’m already tired, I’m not tempted to participate in “entertainment” shopping.

I don’t stay in the store long enough for the bright packaging and the multi-million dollar ad campaigns to do their job. I go in, get what I need and get out. My shopping lists are pretty basic and fairly healthy.

An improved way to measure success

For years, I emphasized making more money. It was a “marker” of my success. It helped me to feel that my little cottage industry was real, sustaining and important. It meant that leaving my corporate job was the right decision.

Now, I’ve changed my approach. Now, I look at what I really need and am honest about what can do without. I weigh my purchases more carefully and I bundle all my travel into a single trip. Now, I realize it’s not how much I make that really impacts my quality of life — it’s how much I spend. Continue reading →

Frugal Mobility 101

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While the price of doing business (and everything else from driving a car to buying groceries) continues to soar, there are several new developments that make it easier to do business from any location.

Many of these mobile tools are remarkably effective and some of them I consider essential. Even better (considering today’s economy) many of them are low-cost or free!

Take advantage of online apps

You all know about some of the more popular online web-apps like Google’s suite (Gmail, Google Docs and GCal), but you may not know some of the more recent additions.

Desktop: Interested in having a web-based desktop that you can customize and access from anywhere you can launch a web-browser? That dream is now a reality thanks to the good folks at eyeOS. A simple log in will create your personal desktop that is universally accessible. It’s an awesome idea, and it’s brand new.

Music: Pandora lets you carry your favorite music with you and listen from any browser. You can sample your favorite artists and get exposed to new ones based on your tastes. By ranking the songs in your personal “radio stations” the system learns what you like. I work with music and this helps me to feel “right at home” anywhere I’m working. It’s wonderful — and it’s free.

Accounting/Timer: Keeping the books and keeping up with your billable time has never been easier. I can work from any Internet capable machine by simply logging into my Cashboard account. The timer keeps my records, and I can shoot off invoices and get an instant overview of my accounts (who owes me money and who I owe time). Working somewhere else isn’t the hassle it once was. This one isn’t free, but it’s reasonable and it adds enormous flexibility.

Thumb drives are cheap and convenient

If aren’t an early adopter, you may not have an ongoing love affair with your own personal “lipstick” (aka “jump” or “thumb”) drive yet. Today, with the prices plummeting on these little gems and the available storage space moving up, it’s time to begin the romance.

Owning one will open up new mobile worlds. If you are buying your first one, get the largest one you can comfortably afford. An 8 gig is ideal.

If you are worried about security, consider TrueCrypt. It’s not a simple setup, but it’s bulletproof. Be sure to back up your thumb drive to your computer once a week.

Keep your personal stuff with you

Bookmarks: If you feel lost without your Firefox bookmarks, you can now take your bookmarks with you too!

You can use Foxmarks to sync your bookmarks from anywhere to anywhere else or you can use a portable version of my favorite browser to carry it all with you on your thumb drive, external hard drive or iPod. I’ve tried several bookmark sync extensions over the years, but none are as sweet as Foxmarks and you can access them from any webbrowser (even IE) by logging into My Foxmarks, once you set up your account.

Quicklaunch: The bookmark toolbar in Firefox is probably one of the most productive tools I’ve ever set up. I use it to keep my most often visited sites a single click away. Syncing with Foxmarks or using my portable Firefox means I have this information at fingertip access. I use this for my Google calendar, Remember the Milk (task list program that merges with GCal), Cashboard, twitter, Facebook, financial sites, Pandora, W3 validation site and my own websites.

Email: By setting up IMAP email, and running it through gmail, I’m able to take full advantage of the superior spam filtering and search options offered by Gmail and I an access my email from the web from anywhere. I can also check it from the portable version of Thunderbird I keep resident on my thumbdrive.

IMAP means that I’m looking at the most up-to-date version of my email from everywhere. The changes you make on one machine are visible anywhere you log into your email accounts. Ask your host if IMAP is available for you. It’s a bit tricky to get it set up, but once it’s running, it’s maintenance free.

Research: I adore Zotero! If you do online research and use multiple machines, get Zotero and store your database on your thumbdrive and take it with you wherever you go.

As such, I can point my Linux Firefox browser to the same collection area that I use in my Windows Firefox browser. If I’m at someone else’s machine who doesn’t have Firefox, I can boot my portable Firefox and use the same database from inside my thumb drive without leaving a trail of personal information on a machine that doesn’t belong to me. Unfortunately, for IE lovers, this genius Addon is available for FireFox only.

Passwords: Do you find that you often get out and need tiny snippets of personal information, usernames, and passwords? KeePass Portable to the rescue!

I use the same method for keeping a central (and always up-to-date) database in KeePass as I do in Zotero — I have the Linux version and the Windows version both point to the database on my thumbdrive. I also carry a portable copy of this secure, opensource program on my thumbdrive, in case I’m using someone else’s machine when I realize I need the info. It really is one password to rule them all!

As open source programs, web-based apps and compact media storage continue to improve, so does the ease with which technology workers can live and work. Now that’s nice!