UltraCrepidate

Todo list (Updated April 30)

Encrypt and hide laptop data

Decide files to bring along

Finish shopping list

Shop appropriate stuff

Print boarding pass information

Possible route (Updated April 26)

Casablanca to Marrakech to Fes. Then north east to Melilla & Spain. probably to Malaga cause we only have 3 weeks. Then down the coast of Spain to and Gibraltar. Cross over to Ceuta and eventually back to Casablanca

Packing list (Updated April 30)

• Papers
• Passport
• Medical Immunization info
• copies of all document
• Embassy phone #
• Insurance phone #
• Boarding pass info
• Sleeping
• Mat ($15)
• Sleeping bag
• mosquito net
• Clothing
• 5x underwear
• 7x socks
• 5x tshirts
• 2x jeans
• 1x jakcet
• Electronics
• Camera
• Camera batteries
• Camera battery charger
• eee PC
• eee PC charger
• External HDD
• ethernet cable
• Electric plug converter($11)
• Medicine
• Pedialyte powder ($12)
• Imodium ($3)
• Cipro ($4)
• Pepto Bismal ($4)
• Tylenol ($3)
• NyQuil ($7)
• Band-Aid ($4)
• Survival
• Fire starter
• Emergency water filter (straw water filter?) ($12)
• Iodine water treatment ($17)
  
• rain coat
• Med kit
• Forever flashlight
• Magnesium
• Utility knife (Checked baggage)
• Electrical tape
• Duct tape
• Convenience
• Sunscreen
• Tooth brush/paste
• Soap
• Sunglasses
• Bandana
• Thread/Needle
• Swim suit
• Mosquito repellant

Progress (Updated Jan 31)This is my initial forecast so far and will be updated as I put in more detailed items. With the informations I currently have (and not factored in the list yet), the cost will definitely be higher. Jesse told me that daily spending averages $40 to $100 instead of the $20 advertised by back packing guide “Lonely Planet”. I will also have to factor in the vaccination costs which, according to Jesse, values at “a couple hundred dollars.”

Health (Updated Jan 14)Vaccines to get: Diphtheria, tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella and polio and hepatitis B, hepatitis A, meningococcal meningitis, rabies and typhoid.

YELLOW FEVER AND CERTIFICATE!

Costs-cutting (Updated Jan 14)

Plane ticket will be the biggest cost of the whole trip so it’d most productive to cut cost from there. I am therefore manually going through each booking company and determining the cheapest ticket. Royal Air Moroc seem to be the way to go.

Financial planning (Updated Jan 14)

Current cost estimate: $3700

Since this is going to happen in May, right after the tax report and at the same time when I have to repay a semi-huge investment loan. I have to evaluate the spending against my RRSP contribution. The questions I have to ask are:

• Will I be able to contribute enough to RRSP or should I leave the credit to next year?
• If I borrow from my HELOC, Credit Card, RRSP Loan, will the cash flow be sustainable?

I will definitely have enough cash for it, but I also want to contribute to my RRSP. I have a gut feeling that I won’t be able to pull off both trick, but that’s still up for detailed review.

Data gathering (boring stuff)

Budget:

Morocco: $20 x 21 = $420

Spain: $60 x7 = $420

Total: $840

Emergency: $1000

Air Fare research sites(Updated Jan 31)

Tips for buying tickets: Wired

Meta ticket search Bookingwiz

Helpful ticket price tracking sites: Farecast.com, SeatGuru.com

Air Fare monthly average price (Updated Jan 31)

Data from Cheaptickets using CMN (Casa Blanca) as a benchmark

YMQ to CMN

January $1099 ~ $1148

Febuary $$984~$1069

March $984~$1290

April $984 ~$1145

May $1013~$1069

June $1148~$1125

July $1322~$1422

August $1069~$1607

September $1148~$1223

October $1020~$1259

November $1020~$1060

December $1020~$1069

Plane ticket: ~$1500

Actual air fare price research (Updated Jan 31)

YMQ -> AGA (Agadir):

$1564 (Flight networks)

$1287 (cheaptickets) Royal Air Maroc 207 421

$1291 (Orbitz) Royal Air Maroc

$961 (cheapoair) Corsair Flight 901 330

$1678 (ravelocity) American Airlines Flight 4762

$1281 (Kayak) Royal Air Maroc Flight 207 423

YMQ -> RAK (Marrakech):

$1459 (Flight networks) Multi airlines

$1631 ( Travelocity) Delta Airlines

$1289 (Travelation) Royal Air Maroc Flight 207 401, Return Flight 404, 206

$1234 (Orbitz) Royal Air Maroc Flight 207 401, Return Flight 404, 206

$1230 (CheapTickets) Royal Air Maroc Flight 207 401, Return Flight 404, 206

$1223 (Kayak) Royal Air Maroc Flight 207 403, Return Flight 400, 206

$1249 (Cheapoair) Royal Air Maroc

YMQ -> CMN (Casablanca Mohammad V):

$1295 (Flight network) Air France Flight 345 2196, Return Flight 1697,344

$1308 (Travelocity) Northwest

$1147 (Travelation) Air Canada Flight 884 Air France Flight 2496, Return Flight Air France 1697 Air Canada 885

$1072 (Orbitz) Royal Air Maroc Flight 207, Return Flight 206

$1068 (CheapTickets) Royal Air Maroc Flight 207, Return Flight 206

$1063 (Kayak) Royal Air Maroc Flight 207, Return Flight 206

$1028 (Vayama) Corsair Flight SS901, SS2515 Return Flight SS2514, SS900

$1035 (Cheapoair) Corsair Flight 330, 737 Return Flight 737 330

$1072 (ATI Flights) Corsair Flight SS901, SS2515 Return Flight SS2514, SS900

YMQ -> RBA (Rabat):

$1293 (Flight Network) Air France Flight34, 2958 Return Flight 2759, 344

~ $1400 for everyone else

YMQ -> TNG (Tangier):

$1299 (Travelation) Royal Air Maroc Flight 207 662 Return Flight 471, 206

$1244 (Orbitz) Royal Air Maroc Flight 207 662 Return Flight 471, 206

$1240 (Cheap Tickets) Royal Air Maroc Flight 207 662 Return Flight 471, 206

$1233 (Kayak) Royal Air Maroc Flight 207 664 Return Flight 471, 206

YMQ -> FEZ (Fez):

$1165 ( orbitz) Royal Air Maroc Flight 207, 652 Return Flight 653, 206

$1161 (Cheap Tickets) Royal Air Maroc Flight 207, 652 Return Flight 653, 206

$1219 (Travelation) Royal Air Maroc Flight 207, 652 Return Flight 653, 206

$1154 (Kayak) Royal Air Maroc Flight 207, 654 Return Flight 653, 206

$1179 (Cheapoair) Royal Air Maroc Flight 207, 652 Return Flight 653, 206

YMQ -> NDR (Nador)

~$3000

YMQ -> OZZ (Ouarzazate)

~$1200

YMQ -> EUN (Laayoune Hassan I)

~$1500

“Peeked at the watch, 30 minutes has already gone by so I just left.” ~Causalien on what he did after he got stood up

Reflection

My experience with cold calls shielded me from getting really down because of a failure. I am actually happy that I didn’t feel anything at all throughout all these events that’s supposed to put my ego on the line. Or perhaps I am still numb from the setbacks. Suffice to say that I didn’t feel anything when the possibility of being stood up becomes greater as time goes by. It further strengthened my belief that in the world of venture capitalist and angel investors a “yes” means a no and a “no” means a no while a “definitely yes” still means no. It’s never a yes until what both party agreed on is physically in front of you and you are holding it in your hand.

The facts

I met Surjit at the mall while typing on my Asus eeePC laptop while waiting for my mechanic to change car’s rear wheel mechanisms ($590). He seems generally interested in my small and ultra portable laptop so we chatted. He turns out to be one of my big boss’s classmate in Engineering. With that, we talked even more and the conversation veered into starting my own company and some of the ideas I have. By then, his wife came by having finished with her medical exams and they got ready to leave. So, not wanting to miss any opportunity, I asked for his card. I knew that he was probably just passing time, getting some ego boosts while waiting, but the final comment he dropped encouraged me to go to the next steps. He said: “Call me.”

“What the fuck am I doing? What if I sound stupid? What if he thinks I am stupid? What if my friends find out of this shameful moment? Am I annoying if I call him now? Why would he want to talk to a nobody like me? What am I going to talk about? My ideas are not fully developed yet. What if he laughs at my naive idea? What if he rejects me and tells me I am worthless? What if I start stuttering again? Am I going to say something that makes me sound stupid? Will my mind be blank when I need ideas?” ~Causalien

Two days later, I called and setup a lunch between us at an expensive restaurant across the street. I also promised that I would call him the morning of, to confirm the meeting. Which is why, today I got suspicious when I couldn’t reach him on his cell phone in the morning and get his voice message when I attempt to call his home. The facts are there. Everything seemed so positive until today I even excused myself out of an important in house training to meet him just so that I can tell myself that I’ve done all I can. I waited and waited, indifferent of the prime computation my subconscious spewed out from all the facts. I don’t care either way. This is just another step to get through, I will learn from it no matter what the outcome is.

What I benefited from this

I noticed that I have more confidence in calling up strangers now, a side effect of my current job. It is also better than having things bite me in the behind when it doesn’t go according to plan. At least for this, I only wasted 30 minutes.

The second thing I noticed is that I should trust my gut feeling more. Right away I have this feeling that something is not right. Looking deeper, I noticed it’s because that everything I ever earned up till this point in my life, I had to fight long and hard for it. This is simply too easy.

The third benefit is that I get to sit down and look at my long list of ideas accumulated since year 2000 and filtered through them. Some of them are already in place and some are just outright ridiculous. I managed to narrow it down to 8 ideas in the end. Four that are more mature and four that are wild and unknown. I also took some time to evaluate how their financial modal should be and marked out their potential competitors and niches. And finally, some time to practice pitching it to people.

2008 marks the year of blog deflation while 2006-2007 sees the peak of blog creation. A quick analysis of any bubble-bust cycle says that you can tell it’s a bubble when every other dump human being is doing it and trying to make money off of it. Just like you can tell a housing bubble burst is imminent when your cashier hands you a business card and tells you that she’s going to be a real estate agent next year. Nevertheless, it just proves the basic theory of “how to get rich”. 1. You inherit it 2. You win a lottery 3. You do something well and you do it again and again.

Signs of the Bust

I’ve been surfing through Blogmad and Blogexplosion in an attempt to bump into some random quality blogs. In 2007 I see mostly blogs that are devoid of content and filled with ads that no one ever clicks. In 2008, it gets even harder to stumble upon some quality blog because I keep on hitting deleted or abandoned blogs. Based on the statistics obtained while cleaning up my archived bookmarks, 95% of the sites I used to visit in 2000 have disappeared off the face of earth.

I also saw the demise of PayPerPost (now IZEA) as Google demoted most of the blogs that got paid to write about whatever the advertisers want. I am guessing that the name change to Izea is another failed attempt at avoiding the Google hammer. In the beginning, it was used by bloggers as a fast way to get incoming links and in turn, increase a blog’s google page rank.

People also started grabbing every domain name they can find as if they are hot real estate. I am pretty sure that at the time of this writing, every word in the English dictionary has already been taken. There are news that Network Solutions actually grabs and registers your domain name once you searched for it so that you are forced to register through them at 6 times the original cost. Google is putting the axe on this practice by not allowing adsense to work on domains less than 5 days old (You can cancel the registration within 5 days)

Implications

What will be the negative consequences of a blog bust? I think the immediate impact will be on these domain name hoggers because it takes money to keep these registered. Then a few startups that relies on blogging.

Web design and web hosting companies are next in line to see some earnings decrease and we will see a cool down in demand of web apps. Seriously I think I am just about saturated by web 2.0 applications. There’s almost a new tool everyday that help do the same thing but in a different manner. So the software industry will go down along with it and we’ll finally see a cease in hot demands of software programmers.

Since SEO only represent a tiny part of Google’s searches, I believe that even if that notion got wiped out, it still won’t affect Google, so google stays.

Ever since I started engineering, I’ve been fascinated by the inner working of our brain. Thinking that there might be a correlation between computer brain and the biological brain. One of the mysteries that needs to be explained before I can reach that ultimate solution is: Why do we need sleep? It’s been on my mind forever and is the cause of my 1 month fiasco in a Triphasic Sleep schedule. I will attempt to write down.

One possibility is that the conscious and unconscious can be explained in terms of Hard Disks and RAM. My theory is that consciousness (RAM) resides in the RAM part of our brain and a copy of it is loaded each morning from the subconscious every morning when we wake up. The information is then sorted and written to the subconscious (or hard disk) when we sleep. Since the amount of information is equal between subconscious and conscious, we need sleep to “write” to the subconscious.

It makes sense because the sleep state shuts down the need to be conscious so that the brain can take advantage of the extra space in “RAM” space to do the sorting and linking before comiting the “write” to the “hard disks”. In computers, if RAM and Hard disk have the same size, then it’s most efficient to perform the copy this way. It would explain why the last information we try to learn at night is usually reconstructed best the next day and also explains why we are sharpest in the morning. The dream state can store the most recent information directly to the “hard disk” to free up “RAM” space since they suffered the least distortion. Then use this space to sort and make sense of the rest of the day as it traverses the informations backward in time to the morning. Since this sorting and making sense happens in the part that are usually associated with consciousness, we experience dreams.

This will mean that the brain needs two different type of matters. One specialized in long term storage with one write per day and numerous read and another temporary state that’s good at fast operations and communications, but requires daily recharge. No problem, it’s been long known that we have both Grey and White matter in the brain. One for “hard disk” (Subconscious) and the other for “RAM” (Conscious).

The above mentioned theory is mine and mine alone. It is how I, as an engineer, would go about designing a brain with the hard constrain that the size of memory has to remain the same all throughout life.

I’ve established a grind list based on some of my aspirations which will eventually turn into the 2008 resolutions list. However, unlike the resolution’s list, the grind list deals with genera areas of my life. It has been tested and refined to materialize in its final usage form. Since it took me a while to design and refine the whole process as well as the reward/compensation program. I feel like some explanation is needed, otherwise you’ll just end up with some big ???

The time limit rues are as follows: X Days, Y inactive.

Variable X means the amount of days I have left to perform the said task. It also acts as a point system. So a 4 day task will have 4 points if I complete it right away. However, if I decide to put it off till next day to complete, I only get 3 points. The points keep decreasing and goes into the negative if need be. This system gives me an incentive to not let things slide into the negative while focusing on tasks that score more points. The 1 point per day decrease gives me some slack so that the system is not too rigid. This is crafted because human’s natural tendency to give up if the task is impossible. By giving some slack (but not too much), there’s more of an incentive to judge which task is more important while allowing some flexibility on how I schedule the day.

Variable Y is the amount of time that has to pass before I can attempt the same activity again. This is a safety measure against my own natural tendency to go 100% all the way on one particular activity.

The activities in each categories are listed as: Name, condition for completion

The name is self explanatory. I try to stick to one word for the sake of simplicity and expediency of logging

Every Condition for completion varies based on the activity. How I determine them is based on data taken from when I performed the tasks. Basically, the average time I spend in a task before I start losing too much focus. It is also balanced against the importance of the skill it helps to improve.

Here’s a sample of one of my recent week from google calendar. I spend about 10 min each morning to mark each task as completed and create another one after the cool off period. I also log the points into a spread sheet so I can track my progress.

Just another prediction that I want to write down for verification purposes.

AMD is developing a lot of processors to be embedded into TVs. This could only mean one thing that the plan is to bypass the traditional desktop + monitor and shift to entertainment system + big screen TV. I agree. Why stare at a small monitor when you have a big screen HD TV?

OH MY FUCKING GOD!

How do you express shock with words? The shock that precedes what we call extreme disappointment. It’s that sinking feeling which seems to sink forever. The last straw, the final nail in the coffin.

That’s it, I give up trying. It would’ve been nice if the adverse effect of trying is just not getting anything back. No, the adverse effect of trying is getting pushed backwards twofold by the effort you put in. This happened on EVERYTHING!

Fuck this, fuck it all.

This weekend, I was in flow state for two days straight. It was an euphoria of continued creation as well as progress in life. I might have viewed it as having no life once, but not anymore. Going out is not the be all and end all of life at this stage.

The sore muscles all over my body comes as a consequence of staying in a flow state for two days straight though. They added to the unexpected drowsiness I felt today when both the mental exertion and my body’s need for repair clocked in a great 3 hour nap after I got home from work. This coming from a guy who’s record for staying awake is 52 hours straight (The most recent all-nighter was one that clocked in at 38 hours). It seems that I can survive mental and physical exertions by themselves, but when both happens together more sleep is needed. That’s a downside for going into flow state that I have to consider from now on. It makes sense when I look back on my life on similar days. You can go on staying awake, but it’s not really efficient.

At least I learned one good thing out of the physical exertion. Swinging a baseball bat should be able to increase your wrist girth. I found it out after inspecting all the sore muscles today and found soreness in a place I thought only tendons and bone exist. It is a good exercise for the whole forearm in general and works the inferior rotary muscles in-between the two bones.

So between baseball and bowling, I might have a chance to actually increase the girth. Which is when I decided to log my progress. I measured my wrist at a specific point based on skin wrinkles and logged it for future references. Today, they are 16.3 cm in circumference.

I like to make predictions of the future. An act of vanity I enjoy entertaining in order to challenge my analytical side. I also write these predictions down on this site so I can look back in a few years to see how accurate my predictions were.

This one is the result of a conversation at work and showcases a part of me which isn’t normal. The fact that I am not constrained my normal morality.

“Looking for a hot a steamy night? Bored of your companion doing whatever you ask it to do? Try out our revolutionary new personality firmware. Guaranteed to turn your sex bot into the goddess of karma sutra.”

According to the advancement in sex doll development. This will eventually come true within my lifetime. Which brings up a good question. What will happen to all these porn sites serving pictures and movies when everyone can just get a robot? What will happen to email spams about penil enlargement, become an animal in bed? Well, this is one possible scenario.

“You are intense.”

Sae said to me one day out of the blue.

“Even though you don’t act intense, I can see that the core of you is very intense.”

I was still taken aback by the first remark while Sae continued to dissect me under his easy-going guise of his. It stroke fear into my ability to act out the role of the biggest slacker. Am I that transparent or is he just that good at seeing through people? But before I can say anything, he added another knocker that rocked me off my feet.

“Whatever you do, find something to focus those intensity on soon.”

But avoiding being too intense was exactly what I set out to do 1 year and a half ago. The day I stopped dancing. I value Sae’s experience and judgment. So am I going at improving my life in the wrong manner?

Ever since that time, I’ve branded the intensity with which I go after anything as the major reason for some big mistakes. The fact remains that my tendency to go all out after one thing needs to be balanced out by the eyes that sees opportunities. What an interesting year this will turn out to be.

Serenity for me exist in the moment after extreme sadness. When you are numb from which ever tragedy that overwhelmed your emotions. In times like this, I’d always remember the three Hebrew words: “_Gam zeh ya’avor_” This too shall pass.

Moments like this changes my words. It also acts as a buffer protecting the reality outside from the turmoils within. It is because I am extremely vulnerable that I am able to write with emotions. I wish I can feel like this all the time, to be able react so extremely to any emotion. But I am afraid to face the pain when it comes to hurting.

So another moment, another day. Reciting these words like the litany against fear. A price you pay for going after what you want. The alternative is a life not worth remembering and this too shall pass.

Well, I am not as wishy washy as when I first stepped into the real world (i.e. last year). Which I would say, is the reason my list got significantly shorter. I am focusing more on consolidating my skills rather than acquiring new ones.

I’ve purchased most of the necessities and reached the 4th stage of my environmental upgrade. Meaning that the items I do desire are in the list purely for my own indulgence. I do need a way to blow money after all.

There won’t be any point of writing a whole post out of this if I just went ahead and buy these don’t you think? But here I am, writing a whole post about it. Why? Because it is part of my 2008 plan. You see, ever since I started treating my life as a game, I also started a point system that serves to facilitate my desires in achieving certain goals. Life would be boring if I simply grab anything I wish with money. The details of th plan will be revealed later. For now, I simply wish to assign points required to purchase these items.

• Lock picking toolkit (1,000 points)
• Cologne for me (5,000 points)
• Pants/cloths x5 (10,000 points)
• Winter trench coat (20,000 points)
• Camera, Canon Rebel XT (20,000 ponits)
  

It’s strange on the metro these days. All these people with their new gadgets: ipods, PSP, more ipods and mp3 cell phones. These gadgets used to be reserved to the elite geeks who’d jump in joy at the news of the first ever PDA.

Now, every punk from rich to poor has something to occupy their mind with. It feels tainted. Maybe this is the actual reason why I decided to become an ex-geek besides being immerged knee-deep in tech. It lost its exotic charm when the general population adapted to it.

I am amazed at this new sight though. Just a few years ago, we were still using walkmans and only a decade since everyone came to terms with a ringing cellphone. I remember getting pissed off on a bus by someone’s cell, now it’s just another sound that’s loss in the filtering process.

So what does this mean for business? Gadget fashion is the industry.

Been dreaming quite a lot lately. Interesting ones serving as a great fountain of enlightenment. For starters, I noticed that the dream self has become more direct and with a commanding presence. It doesn’t run away from troubles, but doesn’t attack either (I secretly wish it’d be more predatory). It doesn’t feel scared when people harass it either which accurately reflect my real world response. I used to have to suppress the fear and embarrassment in a difficult situation first, now I feel more anger and righteousness which doesn’t get so overwhelming that it prevents me from thinking.

I still have some relapses of waking dreams in which I was aware that I was dreaming. The problem with waking dreams is that they are very mentally taxing and gets even more so as the objects and events you try to influence in your dreams increases because your conscious mind has to track them and check against my own preconception. “The feel of skin is this way, the sound of a train is that.” But I learned the the biggest lesson from these waking dreams only when I meditated one day and reflected on some of the unconscious dreams I remember. There were no sensory inputs. Everything that happened in dreams were just perceived events. I realized that it was after I woke up from the dream that I associated sensory information to them. If I look deeper at moments I thought I had “seen”, “heard” or “felt” in my dreams I couldn’t remember exactly what was felt.

It is passed on to me from a more experienced dreamer that with more practice, I should be able to put things on automatic but the eventual outcome of that is boredom. You can’t learn or experience any unexpected things from your dream if they are all under control. The trick is to let go, but remain conscious enough so you can reflect on the experience when you do wake up. Dreaming is a learning experience to perform the unexpected, it is also a window into your true self without the bravado and stripped of any armor you have. It is your naked self in its ugliness and glory.

If 2006 was the year of change, then 2007 is the year of maturity. I have gained a general direction in life as well as the confidence in achieving the objectives I set for myself. Gone are the sense of loss which usually accompanies the search for a purpose in life.

Goals

I pretty much failed all the new year resolution I’ve set for myself, but a lot of it can be blamed on my naïveté and a general lack of purpose with which I set them. The goal I set for 2008 will be more purposeful and realistic using the knowledges that I have gained about myself and my supposed limits. I am abiding by my established limit in order to charge up on energy reserves until the time when a raison d’être comes to me and I deem it to be worthy of my devotion. I will then, burn myself out like I did when I joined a startup to get it.

Finances

My net worth is in shambles as this year sees the collapse of US financial system. It just happens to be my rookie year in investing. Same bad luck as graduating engineering only to come face to face with the tech bubble. A general observation I made on my own life is that I can always assume the worst outcome on any luck based event. I don’t believe in superstition, but I do believe in management of luck. I should start expecting the worst on my first tries and plan my strategies accordingly. I started the year expecting at most 10% growth of my portfolio. Yet I surprised myself when I reached that goal half way through. So the second half the year sees me adjusting my portfolio into a more aggressive one. I now plan on a 3 year 30% growth and invest with stocks that has that potential.

Some good news on my financial front. It seems to me that my analysis was correct and I have bought in a year where real estate properties saw a 10% growth and is projected to have another 3.8% growth next year. It is slowing down but is not going to die. Last I checked, unless you are a first time home buyer, a 20% down is still necessary for a new house and the bank’s credit check process is still solid enough to drive me to the brink of craziness. I can actually afford this place without needing to take in an extra flat mate to help pay the rent. Very non-frugal of me. How long will my analysis remain correct? I don’t know, but it certainly won’t encounter the same mess as in the US for the near 3 year.

Projects

My site has grown past my expectation in terms of what I wanted it to be. I also acquired a new skill as well as gaining insight in tuning my own body’s schedule when I went through the Triphasic Sleep experiment. I can now go through a day with as little sleep as 3 hours and perform my duties with the same sharpness as if I had a full night’s sleep. Grogginess, is a human concept. Believing in it is a gate that limits your own level of wakefulness. In reality, once the internal gate limiting my conscious control of sleep is opened, I found that consciousness the distribution of energies to different part of your self. You can direct all effort into feeling awake and make you feel refreshed, but that takes energy away from say, analysis. It’s an old concept often discussed in Chinese martial art, except they deal mostly with the physical. What I’ve been talking about is the manipulation of consciousness. It is not, however, a license to ignore sleep all together. The experimental observation is that wakefulness has properties like a battery. You can deplete it, but it must be charged up afterwards.

Conclusions

It’s a good year. I am more and more comfortable with the idea of spending money to get my projects going. I think part of the reason why most of my projects didn’t get completed was because I was too frugal. Then again, I didn’t have these projects in motion at the beginning of the year either. I definitely need to work on my goals, especially the part where I want to get my six pack. The personal goal front seems to be my biggest failure. Finance wise, I am fine, only $7,000 away from equality of assets vs liabilities although most of my stocks tanked.