LegendaryLife Blog

Seeds are like ideas, they are found everywhere. The real question is do you have the spirit to turn yours into an empire?

From my life’s experience so far, I realized one thing that’s for sure, the moment you are thinking of giving-up, you already have!

Entrepreneurship isn’t easy

Entrepreneurship is a rather misanthropic carreer choice for most of us. You are told by just about everybody that what you are trying to is too hard, demands too much time and is a waste of time… if you happen to get through it, you come-out transformed for the better. You essentially hit your head against the wall until either your head or the wall cracks, without knowing if what you are repeatly hitting is made from concrete or straw.

Developing new ideas is even harder!

Banging your head against the wall is one thing, doing it when surrounded by negavitiy is another and yet again, trying to get an idea adopted by others is an even more daunting prospect. The first two you have control over but the last is the ultimate gamble. You might develop the most amazing XYZ in the world but if nobody pays attention, it’s like being back in that room hitting your head against a concrete wall in a building about to implode.

Each idea has three steps, idea, implementation and adoption

The first one is easy, everybody has ideas! The second is where most people faulter, life gets in the way of their idea and they just never gather enough momentum to get an actualy working prototype in place. The third, is where the spectre of luck plays a HUGE role in. I believe the amount of luck involved in adoption would make even casinos blush with the odds in their favor.

What is luck anyways?

Luck can be defined as answering the door when somebody knocks but it can also be defined as stumbling upon a wallet with a million dollars in it while going for a hike in a remote mountain. Basically, luck is downplayed by far too may successful people who want to make themselves feel more important, smart or savy than regular people. The incredibly lucky ones are people like Larry Page and Sergey Brin (the founders of Google who Yahoo rejected a buy-out of in its early days), Bill Gates (founder of Microsoft that IBM allowed it to own the rights to their source code) and the list goes on. One key event could have forever altered history but, as luck would have it, they happened to wake-up on the right side of the bed that day.

The entrepreneurial game

I believe that it takes 10 years of study to master much of anything, I realized this before the new book by somebody else came-out a few weeks ago. I decided long ago that if I was willing to sacrifice 10 years of my life, I would be able to come-out saying “I tried”. Well, it’s been 15 years now of living the entrepreneurial lifestyle, with enormous ups-and-downs and I am still in the game, addicted even, towards chasing the spectre of luck. During this time, I had thought of getting a “job” a few times, I actually did get a few of them but they always left me with a very bad taste in my mouth… I suck at taking orders and even more at seeing my spirit and creativity go to waste due to lack of use. The idea adoption game is just so much fun! Never during this time though, have I ever given-up or even thought of doing so in my life. It isn’t the money, the fame nor the changes in other people’s lives that I relish but simply the “chasing” aspect of entrepreneurship. To me, adoption is like the woman of your dreams, always just one step ahead that, once you feel you are close enough to touch, gets into a taxi to be lost again.

Reasons for giving-up

At the end of the day, the reasons for giving-up are always going to be far more numerous (almost infinite) compared to continually hitting your head against a concrete wall but that one chip that flies off the wall makes it all worth it. Like a gold digger, the odds are against them even if they do everything right, but the adventure itself more than lives-up to its promise.

The Bottom Line

Entrepreneurship is an adventure, not for the faint of spirit.

This little kid is learning what it's like getting past your fears!

I believe the only thing people should fear in life is death but second to that, would have to be traveling into the unknown.

Metaphores and other illusions

Why is traveling into the unknown so scary for most people? Well, imagine stepping into a river full of sharp rocks and trying to feel your way through onto the smooth rocks to cross, now add the fact that you are in a HURRY to cross. This is what traveling into the unknown is like. No matter how slow or methodically you proceed, everything always seems rushed with many things left behind. For instance, you may have lost your job recently and decide to move across the country to a new position in a new city, new lifestyle etc… no matter what, you are going to experience a fundamental shift in your way of living and thinking at least in the short term. Traveling into the unknown can be seen in the same light as jumping into a black abyss, you don’t know where the bottom lies anymore than you know when you will hit it.

Why is the unknown so scary?

Death is scary because it’s a “once in a lifetime even” that you have no control as to when or how it happens. The unknown is much the same, you have no control as to what will happen or when! I have had more than my fair share of “traveling into the unknown” experiences in my life and rarely, no matter the outcome, is it ever a boring “place” to be in. Jumping on a jet to a foreign country with nothing but a backpack, jumping out of a plane to experience skydiving, swimming in a vast and seemingly endless ocean alone… life is full of scary moments! The unknown usually causes an amplification of the normal day-to-day emotions you feel.

Traveling into the unknown is MUST!

I am NOT going to tell you to avoid the unknown, quite the opposite, it’s very healthy to experience things that are well beyond your comfort levels. I truly believe that you have not lived until you have experienced, at least several times, the anxiety, frustration and exhilaration involved with traveling into the unknown. Not knowing where you are heading while being blindfolded is an experience that will allow you to really see what kind of powder you keep in your cannon. You really don’t know yourself until you have pushed yourself beyond your self-imposed limits in life.

The Bottom Line

Traveling into the unknown is scary… so do it often!

One of the most amazing aspects of being an entrepreneur is the absolute joy you get from being constantly forced to learn new things!

Enjoying the rewards, paying the costs

Honestly, what other type of non-job other then an entrepreneur can you be paid to do what you absolutely love to do and gamble, quite honestly, on all your past success to throw yourself into yet another higher level of possibility! The rewards of entrepreneurship as a lifestyle are as endless as it’s costs but the journey sure as hell is a fun one!

Case Study: WoodMarvels.com - how it began

I started this site after many years of having this idea in the back of my head. I really love wood, I enjoy the flexibility that this material provides and its availability just about anywhere. Nothing beats the smell of pine or cedar… so, I decided, enough is enough… I am going to develop this site right now! That was back in October, at first, it was difficult developing an entire new level of standards and procedures, not to sound too technical but after years of producing industrial 3D animations, switching to wooden toys takes a little bit of work to pull-off correctly. For several years, I also really wanted to get into manufacturing, I have visited some amazing shop floors around North America and to be honest, I LOVE BIG MACHINES!

Case Study: WoodMarvels.com - models from virtual to physical

So, back in October, I started essentially producing new virtual wood marvels on a weekly basis but about two months ago, my second dream was finally made available to me… manufacturing! I built all my wood marvels in my computer, they looked great and I got some great feedback from customers but being able to ship on-demand merchandise anywhere in the world is a whole other level of accomplishment. It took a few weeks but now I am as comfortable in the “manufacturing-on-demand” area as I am in the 3D one. I am not a professional in either by any stretch of the imagination, but I have developed enough knowledge of both industries to easily converse with engineers and other professionals on an even platform.

Just for the heck of it, you can see the evolution of the designs from one of the very first models I created to the second-to-last one (latest one is still rendering).

Shark (September 2007′ish)

Full Armor Gear Bull (June 2008′ish)

Case Study: WoodMarvels.com - book from virtual to physical

Now, this is where things get really interesting, I am a few weeks away from having a book published encompassing 25 of my top models available print-on-demand through BookSurge.com (an Amazon affiliate). Things have gone full circle, the models are produced on-demand in the physical world and now, my guides and books as well! Isn’t this really cool! One of my goals in my life was to publish several books, this is my first, at the age of 32 and I really enjoyed the process and can’t wait to actually hold in both my hands what where once but virtual items inhabiting the deep recesses of my mind.

Where do you go from here?

WoodMarvels.com has been a tremendous success, it has opened several doors in my life and I look forward to developing that property well into the future. My other properties are slowly growing and I am sure they will open as many doors if not more then what I have just shared with you… which is still but a glimpse of things to come. The fact that I managed to do this while traveling around the world, visiting one of my dream places (Cape Tribulation in Australia) and climbing mountains in South Korea really make these successes all the more enjoyable! I already have two other non-WoodMarvels.com books stewing in my mind which I hope to release next year. My priority is to get the next huge goal I have had in my mind for several years now… LegendaryLife.com. I wish I honestly could live a thousand years because I have so much yet to accomplish and experience, trying to cram all of this in one lifetime while still being able to enjoy that life is a very tall task indeed!

The Bottom Line

Nothing beats a dose of entrepreneurship to introduce some vitality into your life!

Buzvia: BookSurge.com (on-demand publisher), Ponoko.com (on-demand manufacturer), WoodMarvels.com (on-demand happiness!)

We are all a product of a dream, whether realized or otherwise, they are among the most powerful mechanisms in our lives that help guide us, give us new ideas and play around with alternative realities!

Why develop Dreamclue.com?

Well, I originally began on this project a little over a year ago now after realizing that there was a huge amount of knowledge we are all acquiring but forgetting nightly! I wanted to create a system that not only makes sense of our dreams but more importantly, allows us to record them for prosperity. Our dreams are also a visual medium, so the site had to be chalk full of imagery to help guide you through the exploration of the dreamworld. The results? Well, launching with over two thousand dream symbols written by yours truly and a quarter of the entries with photographs also taken by me, I have big expectations for this site!

How does Dreamclue.com work?

Dreams are our own business, so it has to be built anonymously, as such, like myfoodcount.com before it, the system has no clue who you are and it’s drop dead easy interface for adding and learning about the dreamworld only helps to make the exploration that much easier!

Other cool Dreamclue.com features

The site features both text and image based navigation, in addition to interesting statistics not only about your very own dreams but all the dreams on the site as well. You can also read other peoples dreams (they are rendered anonymous by our system) and even comment on any interpretation on the site!

What’s next?

A lot, will let all our visitors know when the time is right
The Bottom Line

Passion is a dangerous thing as it can only bread more passion!

I have many passions in life one of which is to allow others to freely share the influenced they have earned online with others. Life is just like the web but unlike life, you can now share your influence with complete strangers… Karma at its best!

Why develop buzvia?

Well, I have had this concept in my mind for a very long time, I believe that humans are at their best when they freely share information and knowledge with one another, just like the original spirit of the web. What has changed over the past decade on the web? Well, walled gardens, people FEAR giving links to sites other then their own because they don’t want to loose traffic. I wanted to change this with a simple and straight forward system.

How does buzvia work?

Each link on the internet has a source page and referral page, what buzvia does is act like a middleman which tracks both source and referrals by simply adding http://buzvia.com/#url#… it couldn’t be any simpler! The information is captured and stats are collected by all those involved. The beauty of this system is two fold, you don’t need an account to participate and everybody knows how to make external links.

Other cool buzvia features

I have a lot of knowledge about the web, as such, I have also launched a blog to highlight trends, experiences and sites in order to help other with their SEO, SEM and whatever other acronym you can imagine. I also look forward to writing about the companies that decide, in all their great wisdom, to join the buzvia revolution and see how much they can truly benefit by breaking down their walled gardens and embracing change.

What’s next?

Ah well, that’s the million dollar questions isn’t it, don’t worry, if things go to plan, I will have something truly special to announce in about two months or three depending on how development goes. It won’t be LegendaryLife, that is still deep in production mode but it will be something I believe equally exciting for a particular demographic of our society I am very happy with how WoodMarvels.com is coming along and am looking forward with great glee to see how this year works out for professionally and personally. Life is amazing when your having fun and everyday is like a vacation! I wouldn’t want it any other way.

The Bottom Line

Passion is a dangerous thing as it can only bread more passion!

Visit buzvia at http://buzvia.com

It can be said that we are all a product of one another’s expressed desires and fears, like a school of fish, each fish has it’s own mind and ways of doing things but the school behaves as if decisions are made by one collective mind.

What are or is a social construct(s)?

You don’t need to go far to see close to perfect social constructs, we are surrounded by them, breath them, feel them… they are as much a part of us as our very own flesh yet rarely do we actually stop and analyze the flawed foundations they originate from. With each interaction we make not only with our fellow human beings but nature itself, it shows it’s face ever so slightly, so vast our eyes cannot perceive them yet so narrow our mind pinpoints them with uncanny precision. Social constructs are the underlying foundation that our societies are based upon, they include culture, language, habits, food, religion… essentially anything that makes a group of individuals feel as it they are part of a collective. If I visited the North Pole, polar bears would think of me as food while, if I was a powerful polar bear myself, I would be accepted (challenged) as part of the polar bear collective. Like the school of fish, we tend to gravitate towards other with the same sense of being.

Social construct examples

Alright, you attend a business conference that is dedicated towards monetizing the internet, how many chiropractors will you see there? My bet is that unless you have several thousand people, the answer will be none. Why is that? Well, now I have set you on an interesting adventure that is a social construct… social constructs ask why things are in a particular way, analyzing patterns and systematics not only about why they came into being but what keeps them together.

Social constructs are fun to play with

When you begin to realize the power of social constructs, you can have fun playing with other peoples perceptions of them. I never joined the military but when I walk around in my military uniform, it causes civilians to “look” and “interact” with me quite differently then if I was wearing ragged cloths with a beard. Soldiers come up to me then they are puzzles, I look the part yet I have no badges, you see, soldiers know who is and isn’t part of their social construct based on certain identifiers that I don’t have on my uniform yet to civilians who don’t know any better, I can assume that persona with total acceptance. What changed? I am the same person, same mind, same desires… but my outward appearance has directly changed how people perceive my value to them to be within their own minds. I have morphed from being part of one social construct into another rather easily unless somebody looks at me closely.

Social constructs is serious business

Ironically, observations about social constructs are what people in the security business (police, army, intelligence… ) look for when assessing a threat level. People may be able to blend with others but what usually gives them away are their actions which don’t mix in with the crowd… it’s what makes them stand out. For instance, if you where a bus driver in Israel and a passenger was about to come on who was sweating profusely, had either an intense gaze or lack thereof, you best get the heck out of dodge ASAP. Knowing who is and isn’t part of a group, on an instinctual level is a skill that few people bother honing. If you want to really get to know somebody in a very quick fashion, ignore EVERYTHING they say and instead, look at their body movements. If somebody leans towards you when you speak, it means they are interested in what you have to say, if somebody is walking in a zig-zag pattern, it means they aren’t “all there” and the list goes on. What I am trying to say is that by analyzing why people of a particular group act a certain way towards one another, you learn how to differentiate those who belong vs those who do not. Body language is an essential part of this.

Benefits of social construct knowledge

Once you realize the mannerisms and patterns of people of a particular social construct, it becomes rather easy to morph to the point where you are accepted by them. Like I mentioned previously, most people are attracted by like minded people… they draw comfort from being around others whom they have shared similar experiences with. Back to my soldiers uniform, as I mentioned, those in the military saw me as kinda weird but not the public… why? Well, if you study enough social interactions in life you will realize one vital thing, most people pay very little attention to what they are actually doing or perceiving. If a civilian looked at my uniform, they would notice there is NO badges, no name tag, no country flag and the list goes on… but most simply accept the color scheme as being enough to quantify me into a particular group within their mind. What’s the benefit to all this? Easy, once you know what to do and when, you can learn to control your own social constructs. Mastering your own inherited social constructs allows you to be far more effective at communicating with crowds of all types… the more people can identify some of themselves within you, the more they will understand what you are telling them. This has proven invaluable to me in both the business world and social circumstances.

The Bottom Line

Study others so that you can learn to control and morph yourself.

I believe we do our entire planet wrong by not realizing how vast the sandbox we all reside in actually is. There is an entire universe, across endless dimensions that evolves at it’s own rhythm completely out of our control and most peoples thoughts. To the universe, our entire solar system has even less value then we place on the the bacteria that lives under our toe nails… harsh? Well, this is the reality that most of us ignore to acknowledge and accept.

The value of life in the universe

If you look at enough images from outer space, even looking up at the stars, you cannot help but be overwhelmed not only at the grand scale of things but at it’s mind boggling vastness. Can you even imagine how far the distance of 15 billion light years actually is or even how a million years is simply a blink in the eye of the universe? It’s absolutely incredible! The moon spins around the earth, the solar system around the sun and if you go large enough, our entire solar system, one of billions, simply rotates around an enormous black hole that is in the middle of our galaxy. All this happens everyday regardless of whether life exists or not. To the universe, a rock is has the same value as life, absolutely none. It doesn’t care, it has no consciousness nor reason for being, it simply is.

Astronomy pictures of the Day

NASA and JPL release a picture of the day on their site, illustrating the beauty of the universe we are lucky enough to inhabit and igniting the imagination as to what could be, here are a few great pictures to expand your mind.

A Beautiful Boomerang Nebula
Credit: Hubble Heritage Team, J. Biretta (STScI) et al., (STScI/AURA), ESA, NASA

This symmetric cloud dubbed the Boomerang Nebula was created by a high-speed wind of gas and dust blowing from an aging central star at speeds of nearly 600,000 kilometers per hour. The rapid expansion has cooled molecules in the nebular gas to about one degree above absolute zero - colder than even the cosmic background radiation - making it the coldest known region in the distant Universe. Shining with light from the central star reflected by dust, the frigid Boomerang Nebula is believed to be a star or stellar system evolving toward the planetary nebula phase. This Hubble image was recorded using polarizing filters (analogous to polaroid sunglasses) and color coded by the angle associated with the polarized light. The gorgeous result traces the small dust particles responsible for polarizing and scattering the light. The Boomerang Nebula spans about one light year and lies about 5,000 light years away toward the constellation Centaurus.

The Strange Trailing Side of Saturn’s Iapetus
Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA

What has happened to Saturn’s moon Iapetus? Vast sections of this strange world are dark as coal, while others are as bright as ice. The composition of the dark material is unknown, but infrared spectra indicate that it possibly contains some dark form of carbon. Iapetus also has an unusual equatorial ridge that makes it appear like a walnut. To help better understand this mysterious moon, NASA directed the robotic Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn to swoop within 2,000 kilometers just last month. Pictured above, from about 75,000 kilometers out, Cassini’s trajectory allowed unprecedented imaging of the hemisphere of Iapetus that is always trailing. A huge impact crater seen in the south spans a tremendous 450 kilometers and appears superposed on an older crater of similar size. The dark material is seen increasingly coating the easternmost part of Iapetus, darkening craters and highlands alike. Close inspection indicates that the dark coating typically faces the moon’s equator. Whether Iapetus’ colors are the result of unusual episodes of internal volcanism or external splattering remains unknown. This and other images from Cassini’s Iapetus flyby are being studied for even greater clues.

Sun Storm: A Coronal Mass Ejection
Credit: SOHO Consortium, ESA, NASA

What’s happening to our Sun? Another Coronal Mass Ejection (CME)! The Sun-orbiting SOHO spacecraft has imaged many erupting filaments lifting off the active solar surface and blasting enormous bubbles of magnetic plasma into space. Direct light from the sun is blocked in the inner part of the above image, taken in 2002, and replaced by a simultaneous image of the Sun in ultraviolet light. The field of view extends over two million kilometers from the solar surface. While hints of these explosive events, called coronal mass ejections or CMEs, were discovered by spacecraft in the early 70s, this dramatic image is part of a detailed record of this CME’s development from the presently operating SOHO spacecraft. Near the minimum of the solar activity cycle CMEs occur about once a week, but near solar maximum rates of two or more per day are typical. Strong CMEs may profoundly influence space weather. Those directed toward our planet can have serious effects.

Massive Stars in Open Cluster Pismis 24
Credit: NASA, ESA and J. M. Apellániz (IAA, Spain).

How massive can a normal star be? Estimates made from distance, brightness and standard solar models had given one star in the open cluster Pismis 24 over 200 times the mass of our Sun, making it a record holder. This star is the brightest object located just to the right of the gas front in the above image. Close inspection of images taken recently with the Hubble Space Telescope, however, have shown that Pismis 24-1 derives its brilliant luminosity not from a single star but from three at least. Component stars would still remain near 100 solar masses, making them among the more massive stars currently on record. Toward the image left, stars are still forming in the associated emission nebula NGC 6357, including several that appear to be breaking out and illuminating a spectacular cocoon.

Earth at Night
Credit: C. Mayhew & R. Simmon (NASA/GSFC), NOAA/NGDC, DMSP Digital Archive

This is what the Earth looks like at night. Can you find your favorite country or city? Surprisingly, city lights make this task quite possible. Human-made lights highlight particularly developed or populated areas of the Earth’s surface, including the seaboards of Europe, the eastern United States, and Japan. Many large cities are located near rivers or oceans so that they can exchange goods cheaply by boat. Particularly dark areas include the central parts of South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. The above image is actually a composite of hundreds of pictures made by the orbiting DMSP satellites.

Z Machine Sets Unexpected Earth Temperature Record
Credit: Z Machine Collaboration, Sandia National Lab, Lockheed Martin, NNSA, DOE

Why is this plasma so hot? Physicists aren’t sure. What is known for sure is that the Z Machine running at Sandia National Laboratories created a plasma that was unexpectedly hot. The plasma reached a temperature in excess of two billion Kelvin, making it arguably the hottest human made thing ever in the history of the Earth and, for a brief time, hotter than the interiors of stars. The Z Machine experiment, pictured above, purposely creates high temperatures by focusing 20 million amps of electricity into a small region further confined by a magnetic field. Vertical wires give the Z Machine its name. During the unexpected powerful contained explosion, the Z machine released about 80 times the world’s entire electrical power usage for a brief fraction of a second. Experiments with the Z Machine are helping to explain the physics of Solar flares, design more efficient nuclear fusion plants, test materials under extreme heat, and gather data for the computer modeling of nuclear explosions.

Wisps Surrounding the Horsehead Nebula
Credit & Copyright: Star Shadows Remote Observatory

The famous Horsehead Nebula in Orion is not alone. A deep exposure shows that the dark familiar shaped indentation, visible just below center, is part of a vast complex of absorbing dust and glowing gas. To bring out details of the Horsehead’s pasture, amateur astronomers at the Star Shadow Remote Observatory in New Mexico, USA fixed a small telescope on the region for over seven hours filtering out all but a very specific color of red light emitted by hydrogen. They then added the image to a full color frame taken over three hours. The resulting spectacular picture details an intricate tapestry of gaseous wisps and dust-laden filaments that were created and sculpted over eons by stellar winds and ancient supernovas. The Horsehead Nebula lies 1,500 light years distant towards the constellation of Orion. Two stars from the Orion’s Belt can be found in the above image.

The Bottom Line

We are surrounded by beauty, from the smallest living things to the largest. The price of entry is simply opening your eyes and mind to the possibilities that exists around us.

Buzvia: NASA Picture of the Day

Life is about adventure and learning about oneself, about 6 months ago I was on a remote beach in Cape Tribulation, Australia right before the tourist flow and this is what it was like.

How I got there

I rented a room from a great family in Cairns who gave me a ride up to Cape Tribulation, I planned on going there for a week before leaving Canada about 5 months prior simply to see what is was like to actually live on a beach for a week. The roads where not bad but one thing I learned quickly about Australia is that in the outback, there aren’t any straight roads. Past Cape Tribulation is pure off-road dirt roads, south is relatively paved but still rough. After taking too many bends to count and starting to get nauseated, we finally arrived! This place, that I so feared never arriving to was finally a reality. The family stayed there for a day then we parted ways.

Survival: Shelter, Food and Fire

In any survival situation, the first priority is shelter, the elements, even in a tropical area can be extremely grueling. This wasn’t anywhere near a survival situation and I had more cans of beans and peanuts, my staple for a week, to last me easily twice that long. At night, there was a communal camp fire but after coming from a night-shift position I took temporarily, to say my hours where screwed up was an understatement. Being use to waking up at 6pm and going to bed around 8am… well, you get the idea. I went from rarely seeing sunlight to being basked in it full time! Back to the story, after checking-in, I got my tent set-up and jumped right into the waves.

The Beach!

Coming from Canada with it’s polluted waterways, Australia was amazing! I never got tired of heading to the beach every few weekends just to BE THERE. There is something extremely peaceful and yet adventurous about the beach. The beaches North and South of Cairns aren’t bad but they sure as hell aren’t a Cape Tribulation Beach! Beautiful white sand, waves full of sea urchins and jellyfish, nothing comes close! This beach was everything I imagined it would be and more. Well, I soon realized that Cape Tribulation had two tides, the first high-tide was around 11am and the second 11pm. I was also surprised by the complete lack of mosquitoes, the constant sea breeze and salt water sure did a number on them.

What to do on a remote beach?

As this wasn’t a survival situation, I had basically all day to do as I wished. About 95% of the time, I had the entire few kilometers of beach to myself, what I mean by myself is exactly that, no other humans in sight! Backpackers where busy getting over their hangovers or their sunrise mates, most people would walk on the beach then the rest of the day, disappear like I would have if I had been in such a remote place with a lover. The fact that this was the off-season just made things that much better in my opinion. At night it was freezing as I caught a fever which took the first few days to combat and during the day it was easily over 30 degrees with full humidity. I kinda wished it was rougher, this was too easy an adventure for me! I spent my days walking up and down the beach, doing some great photography and in between, going up to the coral reef that outlined the Cape Tribulation beach about 100 meters out. Laying around in the afternoons under a palm tree and taking a nap soon became a good habit of mine. The beach is really a cool place, each tide would being in some interesting creatures, one day, it was a huge lobster and another day interesting shells. Regardless, compared to the modern monotony of the cities most of us inhabit, the beach is always different!

Realizations

What do you realize when you have an entire week to just relax and think? Well, quite a bit, this isn’t a confessional but what I will say is that time “off” like this is vitally important to allow your brain to wind down the recuperate. Much like a muscle that worked very hard, a few days to recover pay huge dividends. Things that once seems unsurmountable begin to make sense, the various mental blocks that get created just dissolve away and better yet, alignments in life can be re-orientated.

Next Time…

Now that I know what it’s like to be a beach bum for a week, next time I want something with more of a survival tone to it. I would like to spend a month, yes, an entire month with nothing but a hatchet, netting and an emergency pack full of food just in case my hunting / fishing skills aren’t where they should be. I have a few tropical islands that are sufficiently remote to accomplish this goal with the timing is right in my life. I want to challenge myself, would I actually be able to live off my wit in the face of nature herself? I am confident I could but I have never tested this out and I am eager to get my feet wet. I have found during my travels that it takes about a week for the brain to realize “yes, you are really here” followed by a week of “what the heck are you doing here” then a few more weeks for the reality to be fully accepted. I have many other outdoor survival adventures I want to try as well in different areas of our vast planet, and I look forward towards turning them into a reality. This is something that every human should live through.

The Bottom Line

Life is about living it!

When you live paycheck to paycheck… there is no style nor life to your lifestyle. I am a student of life, and I wanted to experience first hand what life was like for far too many people on this planet.

Background

Business was slow over the holidays last year and so I figure I might as well use this opportunity to find out what it’s like to work at minimum wage for a change. I tried 3 different jobs, all though different job agencies. I substantially dumbed down my resume, removing anything that would show that I had achieved anything in life, otherwise there is no way I would have ever been considered. People are given minimum wage jobs because the employer knows they need the job, as soon as they are not needed – their power is gone. I wanted to guarantee I got the job, and I got one within 5 minutes of stepping into the first recruiting agency. They needed manpower for a quick project, I was at the right place at the right time… $8.25 was the wage without any negotiations!

The three jobs from hell (Canada)

I worked at 3 different spots, the first was through a temp agency, essentially working in a heavy metal stamping plant. I was paid 9$ per hour, I am sure the agency was sub-contracting me at about 14-15$ per hour based on what the others told me they where getting paid. The other was helping to cap wine bottles, yes, putting on one cap at a time after bottles where filled up with their expensive wine. The last job was doing inventory control with a Wizard.

Observations

• minimum wage jobs seem to be generational, I talked to many of the employees and it wasn’t rare when they stated their father, mother, brother or even husband was doing similar work
• minimum wage jobs are exploitive to the tilt! These job agencies where making a living off my efforts, day in and day out, taking away much needed money and putting it in their pocket. I met people working these jobs that where far smarter then the agencies but due to circumstances, stuck in the minimum wage rut
• people fear loosing their minimum wage jobs, this was the most surprising of discoveries, I told one boss I was heading to the bathrooms (it was a factory) and he told me to wait till break time, I told him “I don’t think so” after a lengthy discussion that was going nowhere then proceeded to the bathroom. When I got back, the employees who overheard me where shocked that I talked back to the boss and where worried my job was on the line as a result (???)
• there is a heck of a lot of turnover in these jobs, even during the short term I was working there, those who where smart where taking studies to get out and others where looking elsewhere
• you don’t know monotony until you have done the same damn thing like a robot day in and out, I don’t know how these people do this for years, after a week I felt myself loosing my sanity
• minimum wage people are among the toughest jobs out there and the people are tough both physically and mentally
• I never saw so many smokers in my life! Seems the rates of obesity, ill health and alcoholism are rampant within this segment of the population.
• I never saw such a bunch of unhappy people, who have lost hope in their lives, you see it in their eyes, they want more but are exploited from ever achieving any worthwhile goal in their lives
• you are not appreciated for your work or your creativity, you are but a body that must perform X task over and over and over again, without complaint, without thought and without hope of getting out as you are easily replaced

After doing the above for a little over a month, I proceeded to walk away from each job without even giving them notice, what is there to say when you no longer need to work for a slave master?

One Great Job from Hell (Australia)

In the above jobs, my average pay rate was $8.25 an hour and then there where government deductions so maybe I was lucky to net $7.00 an hour. Australia… wow… most minimum wage jobs started at $9.00 an hour but I was lucky enough to net a job that was union based for a large printing company. My minimum wage job? $23.00 an hour! I was doing the same monotonous jobs, saw just as many smokers and people who gave up on life but wow… $23.00 an hour was nothing to complain about. This job was incredibly boring, the company (other employees) where, for the most part, quite dull with substance abuse problems but I kept my mouth shut most of the time. Unlike the minimum wage jobs in Canada, this job actually had a way out if you worked long enough. During my short few months there, I received forklift training, was managing production for my manager and was becoming a valued member of the staff. I heard a few people complain behind my back, who had been there for YEARS (some 20+) who where not happy that I leapfrogged over them within the first month there!

Overall Observations

As a person who has no lack of self-esteem and self-confidence, minimum wage jobs and my personality just don’t jive. I have no problem telling somebody that they are wrong, standing my ground and even telling them off if needed. I have a very direct managing method, no bullshit, no stories, good or bad, just tell me what is going on. Office politics aside, if somebody stands in front of me, like they did in the factory in Canada, trying to tell me to go to the bathroom just for their own power trip, the best get out of the way. One more thing I noticed that came to me a few months later, just about everybody who worked minimum wage jobs had HORRIBLE ORAL HYGENE. I don’t mean bad, I mean HORRIBLE. Broken and missing teeth, gingivitis was rampant, my only guess is that alcohol, tobacco and poor diet along with a completely loss of hope of every achieving something in life had been made representational in their mouth. These people where branded for life, good luck getting a corporate job with a mouth that looks like it belongs in that of a wild animal!

The Bottom Line

There are many Hells on this Earth… minimum wage jobs is probably among the worst.

All animals that have made it this far on our planet have an innate reaction, one that instantly goes off even before a signal as to what to do reaches the brain, it’s called the “fight or flight” response.

Background

Last week I went up to Cape Tribulation (Australia) to get some camping done, admiring nature and swimming with the jellyfish/man-a-wars when the tide was high in the main bay. When it was low tide, remnants of ancient coral where exposed, long since dead but still as hard as iron. Walking along the exposed reef, I kept hearing a snapping sound all around me, I would then walk a little more, stop and again hear “snap, snap, snap”. Oddly enough, I never heard it “under me”, always a few meters AROUND me. This made no sense obviously, so I just crouched down until I could pinpoint one specific snap and followed it until I discovered what it was.

Fight, Flight or Hide

What I was experiencing on the ancient exposed reef was the reaction of thousands of little crabs, about the size of my fist that where incredibly well camouflaged - I can only guess it was either a mating call or a message to other that “this is my territory, stay out”. Their initial reaction to a HUGE 6ft tall, 160lbs white monster (I was wearing a bright white long sleeve t-shirt) was to stand absolutely still, not make a sound if I was within about a 3 meter radius from them, any further, they would either run off (flight) or cease all sounds/movement hoping I missed them.

Discovery: What to do?

Keep in mind, I had to spend several minutes to simply pinpoint one of these noble little creatures, they are incredibly difficult to find when they don’t move or make a sound - I saw only 5 of them during a 8 hour period, of which only one I was able to get close enough to take a picture. Their initial reaction once it became obvious I was ABOUT to find them was to run away like Armageddon was at their doorstep asking for their soul… they may be very small, but they can sure run/swim faster then I ever could.

Fighting me off

Below is a picture of a brave little crab trying to fight me off as best he/she could. This screams of bravery and this little guy should get a medal but alas, I was just playing with it, I don’t particularly like crab as food so I posed no danger to him. There where Dingos, birds and other marsupials along the beach when the reef was exposed and at night when it was high tide, who knows what lives in the ocean looking for a quick and easy snack. The ONLY way I could ever get a “fight” response from a crab was to corner it, otherwise, it was a futile effort of hide and seek with them having the upper hand. Keep in mind, these little guys are about 1/4 a pound soaking wet - they stand absolutely no chance against me even if I fought them with my eyes closed. Just think, what would your reaction be if a giant about the size of the Eiffel tower was trying to catch you and you get a small glimpse as to how they may have felt about me. Would you stand defiant against all odds, stand your ground and fight?

Also below is a picture I took as to the consequences that are very real to these little crabs on a daily basis, the cost of fighting to the death or hiding to the death. So as you can see, it’s totally logical that if you see a potential predator coming your way, running away is probably better then hiding or fighting them off. You can see this everyday in our own species and countless others.

Brave little soldier!

Life is TOUGH on the Ree

The Bottom Line

We have a lot yet to learn from nature, if we open our eyes and give it the time it needs to reveal itself.