Pullin’ Me Back

“We about to shut em down when we drop this year”…Das EFX (Lyrics from the song Diggy DAS)

Actually, I do not feel like writing today…

Last week was one of those weeks…You know, the one that you do not get movies to watch over the weekend, you realize your friend has been back stabbing you, my websites are pretty much stalled and all my mentors keep making money while I stay broke. Sucks…SUX big time.

How’s your store going on man?

I got a few ups with regard to my store….Not that I am making any money yet with any of them. I’m just happy I have recorded some progress. One of my stores got indexed on Google. The competition is not tight so I am not worried about ranking. I’ve had some drawbacks though:

1. I’ve been too lazy to write any articles for the store. I simply don’t find time with my busy work schedule as a freelance writer

2. I’ve been unable to install a blog on the store. I just don’t know how to do it. The store is running on OpenCart. If you have any ideas who I can install a blog (preferably WordPress) on it, tweet me.

That’s about one store.

I am still 50-50 on whether I should use 2Checkout for payment processing. I mean, PayPal is alright but if you have been online for some time, you’ve probably heard of the infamous PayPal horror stories.

I am hoping I will have made a decision by the end of this new week.

It’s not all gloomy though…

Today marks the 3rd week that I am writing for one of the top auto loan companies in US. I’m fortunate to work with a very understanding boss who is NOT afraid to spend. I churned a couple of articles for him and made $100 in a day.  You know BMR articles? Well (self-promotion), I got 100 percent approval rate. If you  need to build some links to your sites, I recommend you join Build My Rank. The company has a network of blogs that can give you quality backlinks to your website.

Remember to tweet me when you need the BMR articles written 🙂 I’ll give you fair price, I promise.

My primary source of writing income has been from content mills. I know most people are against these networks. Well, my thoughts about them won’t surprise you. However, I have been too lazy to set up my copywriting website or blog so I guess the mills will do for some time.  I already have my copywriting website designed. You know what is keeping me from putting it online?

A DOMAIN name…A freaking domain name.  I just can’t get to choose the right domain name. Previously, my domain name was crystal-copywriting.com Well, it’s a long story why I cannot use the domain name anymore. What name do you think will work for a copywriting website?

This Coming Week’s Goals

I shouldn’t be writing my goals for the coming week because I do not owe any of you readers anything. Anyway, I feel if I write them, at least I’ll have motivation to see them through since it will be like a promise to accomplish them.

So, here’s my to-do list for the coming week:

1. Upload one page of my web hosting business website

2. Write at least 5 articles for my active health niche store.

3. Change my Twitter picture

4. Build a couple of backlinks to my website.

5. Increase relevant twitter followers on my business’s accounts

I think these goals are enough for the week. If I finish them early, I’ll do a couple of other things.

My biggest fear is that 2012 will pass and I will not have achieved most of my goals. Yesterday I was going through some documents in my computer and I came across goals/projects I was supposed to do in 2010. (SMH)…Too much to do leads to nothing being done. So, this year, I’m all about breaking my tasks in simple easy-to-do steps. I hope by the end of the year, I will be looking back and saying, ‘wow, I did it”

Until my next post, stay sharp as a porcupine!

Adios.

-The Dapper Don

Why I Am Not Leaving The House That Mom Built – Part 2

To me

Continued from Why I am Not Leaving The House That Mom Built – Part 1

When I was a kid, I lived with my mom at SOS Village. In 1998, I was taken to boarding school, and that I where I started drifting from mom.  The only time I was at home was during the long holidays (usually 2 weeks, since I had to open school early for tuition). Anyway, when I was not in boarding school, I lived with my mom,  until 2000, when I finished primary school. I was 14.

From there, I moved to a boy’s hostel, still under SOS, where I stayed with other age mates. That was (and I believe is still) the policy of the organization. So, I was in touch with mom regularly, but not just under the same house. I went to boarding school during my high school years. In 2004, I finished high school and got out of SOS Village.

So, I went to live with my brother at Kapsoya in a house that mom had rented for him.

Overview of Kapsoya

We moved about 3 times in Kapsoya but last May, we decided to move to our own house. The House that Mom built.

Writing now, the house is looking pretty nice. But come to think of it, it took time….years. And along the way, many happenings:

1. Mom contracted someone to do the writing for the house. Since the person had already done some work before for mom, we expected him to do a good job. We paid him Ksh. 10,000 to buy some wires and switches to add up to some that we already had. Anyway, a few weeks later, mom told me the person stole the wires we had and left for the country side. He switched off his mobile phone…We had to do the wiring all over again (read: extra expenses)
2. The first construction workers who were making the house were really a set of foxes. At that time, I was busy setting up my business, my brother was busy doing his work and of course mom had work to do. We did not have anyone to supervise the construction workers. Anyway, long story short, they  put incorrect sand, ballast and cement ration…with the sand way higher. I remember us buying a lot of cement packs and not seeing where they were going. Come to think of it, the construction workers were stealing them. Anyway, we fired them. When we hired new construction site workers, nearly all the walls had to be brought down. Poor workmanship was evident. Anyway, that was more expenses.
3. Finally, a few weeks ago we hired a person to come and tile up the house. The person had been recommended by one of mom’s friend’s so we were confident he would for a good job. Anyway, let’s just say don’t trust anyone whom is recommended to you.

DEBT (IOU)

When I was in university (2006-2010), I used to work online. The first time I got a client was through the website Freelancer.com , you can see my profile here. If you are looking for online work, I recommend starting at Freelancer.com

However, if you are a professional, I will not advise you to go to that market place.

Back to the issue at hand…I used the money I got doing freelance online work to support myself when I was in university. I had been lucky to get the Higher Educations Loans Board (HELB) Loan too, which I used to give mom to use for the house. I think I used to get about Ksh. 65,000 per year. Last time I was sent a statement by HELB, my debt stood at about Ksh. 165,000/ This is not much considering that I am not full time into self-employment.

Anyway, I haven’t stated paying back the HELB loan yet. I just find myself having to think of too many expenses at this time. But I will pay back ultimately.

LESSONS LEARNED

Some things take long…others take longer. And building a house is one of them. Most of my friends are shocked when  I tell them that I am not  in a hurry to move out of Mom’s house and ‘start life”. Well, I do not blame them.

If you have been living in your parents’ house since you were in Kindergarten and have never gotten away from them, you will definitely have the urge to leave home.

Not me though…I haven’t lived with my mom since 2000. I am still not living with her. When she retires in 2 or 3 years and comes to live in her house…that is when I will start living with her.

And that is why I am not in a hurry to leave the House that Mom Built.

-The Dapper Don

Why I Am Not Leaving The House That Mom Built – Part 1

I’m wanna set the world on fire, until it is burning bright for you – Britt Nicole (Lyrics from the song “Set The World on Fire”)

Sundays are good. Today I am feeling particularly good. It’s how Sundays are supposed to be.

Today, I had written a blog post on Word 2010, and then posted it on the blog. I don’t know what happened, but the post disappeared. I think it’s a WordPress bug or something. So, as I write this post, I am trying to reword everything that I had written before…feels robotic.

Anyway, I rarely spend time at home. I am only at home maybe 2 days during the week. The rest of the days I am usually in the office. I eat, work, shower and sleep at the workplace.  The reason is simple…we do not have electricity at home. We haven’t had electricity since May, last year.

Over the past few days, I have learned that blogging is not for the faint at heart. Not that it is scary…it’s just so tempting not to write. Most of the time I’ve felt I’ll be wasting valuable work time when I start to jot a post. Other  times I am left wondering what to blog about keeping in mind this is a personal blog which has no niche. This is a personal journal. I do not know who people who blog everyday keep it or how the manage to get the time to blog.

Side FLash…The Movies I watched yesternight

SOUL SURFER – I am not a drama or romance movies person. I prefer action, you know, guns blazing, sirens in the background and fast cars. It’s just me. So I rarely watch romance or drama movies. However, yesterday I watched Soul Surfer and I have to say this is one of the best movies I have seen in a long time.

The movie is based on a true story…I guess that I why it has impacted me. It’s the story of Bethany Hamilton, a teen who survived a shark attack but lost her arm. It basically shows her struggles to be a pro surfer (which she is) after the attack and her belief in God. Inspiring movie is all I can say.

I even Googled her up, I found her on Wikipedia and here is her website. She is only 22. INSPIRATIONAL

Here is real picture below

Get the movie.

TRANSFORMERS- REVENGE OF THE FALLEN-Now, when I said I love action, I did not mean the kind of action in this movie. Basically, I found the story weak, the action bland and too much scrap metal on my laptop screen.

What happened to the storyline…or is it me who just did not get it. DissAPOinTInG is all I can say.

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE – Once in a while I check the Oscars and Grammys. I just don’t follow them up much. I understand this was the first Indian movie to win an Oscar. Well, I can say I loved it. I think it’s mainly because there was not the traditional dancing that takes about 30 minutes in the middle of the movie. If you have watched Bollywood films, I guess you know what I mean.

Nice story…I love the way the story is not Hollywoodish…But still, it is not my favorite Indian movie of all time. I’ve watched a couple that I think are better than it. One is “The 3 Idiots”. This is a pure comedy film. I loved it.

The next Indian movie that I love, which also happens to be my favourite of all time (at least until I get to watch another one) is The Game. You should look for it. The story has a nice twist.

BACK TO MY MOM’s HOUSE

So, we (me and my brother) moved to the House that Mom built in May, last year. It was pretty incomplete. No, that is not the right word to describe it. It was REALLY incomplete. No windows, the floors not cemented, workmen tools scattered all over, etc.

If you have ever moved in to an unfinished home, then you know what I mean. Here are some pics of how the house was.

I’m 25, and no, I am not in a hurry to move out of Mom’s house. Mom lives at her workplace at SOS Children’s Village (Eldoret). She will be retiring in a 2 or 3 years, and then she will come to her house. That is when I will start living with her.

To be continued…not next week, but tomorrow 🙂

-The Dapper Don

How Tuesday Fcuked Me!

I’m only 26 playing with serious cards…Prodigy of Mobb Deep (Lyrics from the song Can’t Complain)
I’m only 25 playing with serious cards ( for real). I’ll be 26 in Aug., and will be playing with serious cash!.  Search for that classic tune by Prodigy. If you get to hear it, that’s pretty how a typical day is for me (except for the guns and drugs!). I keep clean!

Me: Time clerk, what’s the time?

PC:11.01pm

Ok, let’s get it on.

Tuesday was fcuked. I should say, today was FCuKED in all ways. To begin, yesterday at around 10pm,  my ISP suddenly decided I am downloading a lot of pirated movies and shut down my Internet connection. I watched one movie (Kill List – The 2011 Brit flix), one documentary on Auschwitz and another documentary on ghosts caught on tape (I don’t remember it’s name as I deleted it as soon as I was done.My hard drive is pretty full).

Movies till 3am and that’s when I went to sleep. I would have posted something yesterday but you now know I had no Internet.

Ok, morning, woke up crossing my fingers that the Internet would have been reconnected. I guess I did not cross the fingers tightly enough. So, I decided to call the customer care…the usual “turn the modem off and then on again” followed. After yelling at the customer care ladey on the other end that I’s done that already and wouldn’t be calling if that was the only reason, she gave me a reference ticket for my problem. One thing that I don’t understand is why they always have to give me a reference ticket instead of sending over the goddam technicians in a jiffy!

Anyway, by noon I still did not have any Internet. I have daily articles to submit so I had to go to th next door office (it’s a cybercafe) and work from there.

By 2pm I must’ve been turning blackish-blueish from the anger and frsustration. Anyway, I do not expect anyone who does not work online to understand how having an active Internet connection is a prerequisite to my business.

Armed with all the sarcastic words I could remember from Hostel 6 (remember that hunter dude?), I walked to my ISP’s office (Orange Kenya, although I still find myself calling them Telkcom Kenya). To be honest, the mangers at Nairobi should at one time make an impromptu visit to the Eldoret office to see how customers are served.

Here is a recreation (as accurate as I can remember) of the attendants at the office:

NB: I know their names but I won’t mention them just to protect their jobs in case someone decides to do something. I understand getting employment is hard…even the beggars are complaining the donations have decreased by 47.39 percent since the onset of the recession. It’s getting tough to survive in this country.

Ok, I enter the Orange painted office, which gives you a calm feeling. It’s a nice office, a couple of chairs, spacious and full of Orange Kamata Goodu Goody Xmas posters. The walls are literally filled with posters. ( some of you may have seen your friends’ houses filled with newspapers on the wall. That’s the most accurate comparison I can make.

I approached the lady at the “customer enquiries” desk. She looked at me, and her eyes immediately dismissed me as she took a personal call. I had to look at myself from up to down. Was it because I was in Jeans and didn’t look official? She goes on with the call, bubbles about a supposedly failed marriage with the person at the other end. An boisterous laughter follows and I was getting uneasy.  I want to bang the desk but I’m not the drama type. So, I’m like “Don, breathe, breathe, keep your cool”.

SO, ORANGE REALLY HAS FREE CALLS FROM 10am to 5pm?

You should take advantage of this offer and piss off people you do not like just like the lady was doing. And just a random question, wasn’t speaking in vernacular outlawed in government offices and parastatals?

It’s really hard for people to take you serious if you are not in a suit. I stood there like amannequin for about 15 minutes before another Orange employee ( a gentleman) tapped me at the back and asked “umesaidiwa?” (Translation: have you been helped?”

That must have been the best word I had that afternoon. After a very heavy NO nod, I explained that my Internet connection had been off since Monday night, and that I had called in the morning and no one had been sent to come and check the connections. Th gentleman directed to a technical team, and I was told to ask of a certain head of tech and explain my problem.

PSSST:

This post is getting awfully longer than I thought. Guess, I am not good at summarising information.

Anyway, let me do it in point form:

1. I contacted the tech guy. he promised to be in my office in 20 minutes.

2. It’s 11.29pm right now and he still hasn’t been to my office.

3. I am stealing Internet from the next door cybercafe. They do not have a password for their wireless 🙂

Such a long post…I hate reading long posts.

If you made it this far, you must really have a knack for boring stories….I can’t even barely write.

Catch you tomorrow of Thursday…I will give you updates on my online stores.

Signing off.

-The Dapper Don

 

 

Life Seems Good on Sundays

Are you still down (raise ’em up)- 2pac (Lyrics from the song “R U Still Down”)

I know, the song is a total contradiction of blog title. Just for the record, I do not write excerpts from lyrics that will go well with what I am about to post. I simply write write excerpts from a song that I am listening to as I start writing the post. Thus the reason for the lyrics excerpts that seem misplaced.

Time: 1.50am (Monday, Jan 116th)

I am about to close working for the day. Today, I am feeling usually good. I don’t know why.

Perhaps it’s because I spent the better part of the afternoon texting with my girl, perhaps it’s because my Grandma seems to de recovering from the eye surgery and she texted me a few hours ago, or perhaps it is because it’s just Sunday.

Sundays have a way of making me feel holy and relaxed. I am not particularly religious and the last time I set foot in church was when I was a freshman in Maseno University in 2006. The sins I’ve been committing since then will shake the preacher should I decide to step into a church. I believe in God though.  And let’s not start arguing about religion.

Speaking of that, here’s a poem I thought was cool:

That’s not me…I just thought I should share it. Any comments, please direct it to the poet!

HOME ON SUNDAYS

I can’t really tell you much of what I usually do on Sundays. I’m a couch potato, I watch a lot of TV. However, of late TV has become a luxury that I cannot afford.  And it’s not because I am too busy…and it’s not because the TV broke down…and other reasons that you think. The is simply no electricity at home.

 Regular readers may at this point understand why I’ve been saying that I usually sleep in the office.

Question: WHY DID CENTER THE ABOVE LINE? Answer: This is my Blog.

Don’t get shocker. You see, back in May, 2011, we decided we had had enough of paying the landlord our hard-earned money as rent. So, we decide to move to your yet-to-be-finished house that we have been building at snail-pace over many years. With over 6 months without watching TV, I’ve come to learn a few things:

1. I can survive without TV

2. I do much constructive work thanks to no TV

3. I don’t keep up with the Kenyan politics, which spares me from the rhetoric bubble of the people we elect to represent us.

The NEW ADDIcTION

However, with the TV out, I have not been able to stay off the Internet. I am virtually 24 hours  online. I never switch off my laptop and I’m ever signed in on the popular IMs.

What so I do online? Easy; chat, work, read Mashable, Facebook and Tweet a little bit, read some stuff in SEO forums, read Forbes online, and download tons of musics and movies. (Ok, not really a lot).

I also work online. With my article writing, web hosting, web design blogging (yet to commence), and e-commerce ventures, it is logical that I stay online for the better part of the day and night.

BACK TO MAIN STORY

I love pets (cats to be specific). I guess it is because they are the only pets I’ve had my entire life. Recently,(during the Christmas holidays) I acquired a dog. That’s the new member of the family now. His name is Busta (like the rapper without the Rhymes). He was pretty big when he came but it’s clear he still has a lot of growing to do.

He’s a sweet dog…very heavy but doesn’t know how to back yet.

We also have cats at home and as the days go by, these two folktale enemy species are becoming friends. They eat and drink from the same bowl and even play around. I’m just worries that Busta is going to turn into a big Feline. I need the Canine in him.

On a serious note, how do you poop-train a puppy? Busta can really mess the house. You don’t want to know.

You see, sometimes I think kitts are better than pupps because  kitts know how to clean (read: hide) their mess. I wish pupps would do something like that.

Anyway, I will look up some info on how to train pupps to poop.

DON’T LET THE INNOCENT FACE FOOL YOU

Busta can be a real prick. Last week, he did not want me to leave home for work and thus took my socks and refused to hand them over. I uploaded the video on Facebook. You can watch it Here.

Anyway, I like the Puppy. Sometimes I wonder how he’ll be when he gets big. Will he bite me? Will he be too feline to protect me? Will he lose his cute face? I don’t know. What I know is that he is a cute Puppy and apart from the pooping thing, I really enjoy his company.

Here is a gallery of some more of him..a typical day at home:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Anyway, the  pics are taking too long to upload. I should have resized them first before I started to upload.

Its 3.05am. I have to be awake on my workdesk by 9.00am so I am going to let this post end here today.

I’ll share more about Busta sometime later.

With this, I wish you a great week ahead.

Adios.

-The Dapper Don

Fridays Make Me Feel Old

No more iron horses coz I’m buying Porches...Big L (From the Song “MVP”)

Don’t you just love Big L. Man, two separate worlds connected through lyrics. I do not know why I do not feel most of the local lyrics airing on the radio. I’m a golden 90s dude, what do you expect?

Friday comes without a bang…In fact, it comes with its scare of growing old and poor. That is why I am seated here on my laptop penning my thoughts. I actually think when I say “penning” it will sound more Mark Twainish!

Business had been slow for the better part of today and yesterday. Have you ever had a set of tasks and all of them are unpleasant? You should have seen my workmate’s face when I told him of the articles were had to write. Anyway, I decided to ignore yesterday’s task and instead work on some dentist website that I am hopping to get it ranking on Google page one, and  then sell it to some monied dentist in US for about $2000. How I am going to do it, I will let you know when the time is right.

Today, we ( me and my workmate) had to write about DUI and bankruptcy lawyer articles. I’m thinking these are some good niches that I should tackle perhaps when I am done with the current projects.

What about your stores man? What you doin’ about it?

Ok, for you, I will tell. I have basically done NOTHING significant. The keyword here is “significant” but I upper cased “nothing’ to get you confused. Actually, I am working on three stores. Here’s the drill: one niche pet store, one niche toy store and one niche electronics store. All of the stores are using one theme, which obviously I will have to customized for all of them.

LESSONS LEARNED EVERYDAY

“Nobody said it will be easy”…I frankly don’t know if this is a movie line or some lyrics. My best guess is that it’s some lyrics to a song by Fat Joe ft. Diddy (Don Cartegena, I believe).

Along the way, I’ve come to know of what to expect when making my store.

1. First is the issue of suppliers. You cannot stock a store without knowing where to get suppliers. After much Googling and sending emails here and there, I have come to know that I will definitely need to form a US company for me to work with some suppliers.
2. I am increasingly getting to know that I will need a merchant account for my business. Authorize.net is the No. 1 trusted merchant account online but  getting approved for their account is nearly IMPOSSIBLE is you are a non-US person.
3. PayPal issues also came in. If you haven’t heard of PayPal freezing funds because of a sudden influx of cash in someone’s account, you haven’t been researching well enough.

Small DIVERSION…PAYPAL CALLED ME

Ok, so I got a call from PayPal on Thursday (yesterday). I do not have any problems with my account and frankly I was expecting the call. It was about a refund that I had asked JustAnswer.com to make since their services did not help me. Anyway, to cut the long story short, the lady on the other end was really helpful, spoke nicely and for a moment I felt I was talking to those many blondes in the 2000s Teen Movies.

One thing that got my attention is that she could pronounce my name CORRECTLY…I’m not stereotyping but most non-Kenyans cannot pronounce “Omondi” the way it’s supposed to be.  A few years ago, I thought I heard something about a Luo dictionary. I think it can help you with the pronunciation.

BACK to BusinESS

So, I really haven’t done a lot for the stores. The only thing I have done is writing the menus. Getting the products and their descriptions has been a not-so-nice task. So I have been trying to avoid tackling them. Anyway, it’s a Friday, I am getting older, and with the sudden fear of clocking 30 when I’m broke, I think I will upload some products today.

Some good news though, I have found some good suppliers who’ve not had any issues with me being a non-US person and have agreed to work with me.

And I’m HATING Tweeter & Facebook

Like really….I just hate the vast information that I get from these two social networks. In Tweeter, its some hush tag trend that I usually do not understand. Why do people tweet things like “Childhood Movies” instead of retweeting Kenya Red Cross tweets?

On Facebook, why is it that people always want to show you how your life sucks…I mean, SUX!

Maybe it’s my life that sucks…

A lil bit about My Grandma

If you remember my Grandma from Oregon…well, she has diabetes. I am thinking it’s some form of chronic diabetes. Last year she had one of her toes removed. A few weeks ago, she was informed she had to go for an eye operation. After the operation, the chances of her seeing would be 50-50.

I was, and still am, scared for her.

Today early morning (about 1am GMT+3hrs), she updated on Facebook that she was scared to go for the operation. I sent her a brief text telling her God was in control ( I truly believe that).

Anyway, as I was asleep, I guess it was about 4am or 5am, she sent me a text telling me she was done with the operation. Her words were something like “The surgeon pinned a needle in my eye. The pain was so excruciating that i would rather give birth four times than go through the operation again”.

Those are not her exact words, but that is what she basically meant. And the giving birth part is directly her words.

I love my Grans. I hope she gets well soon.

We live in different continents and time-zones, but the love is one.  She doesn’t read my blog. Most people I know don’t read my blog. I prefer it that way.

NOW PLAYING: Arise by Don Moen…You should listen to this song.

Have a great weekend!

Signing off

-The Dapper Don

2 Much 2 Do

My Squad gets dumb and Jim Carey you out the building…messing with God’s children…EPMD (From the song “Pioneer”)

I don’t feel like writing anything today. It’s 2.44am, mosquitoes have been attacking me like am a late night barbecue and I am feeling really sleepy.

Today has been a busy day..Had a lot of articles to write, web hosting clients to attend to and stuff to do for my store.

I finally added all  menus and drop-doen menu items in my pet niche OpenCary powered website. Today, during my course of researching online, I came across some news that may mean my project will face major hurdles. Basically, it seems like the manufactorers of the brand items I  want to carry in the store are old school and do not accept working with non-US suppliers.I’ve been contemplating whether I should quit the project while it is still early to do so.

After much though (actually it wasn’t muct thought. It was short. REALLY short), I decided I will go ahead with the store. Who knows what lies in the road agead unless you tread it. Moreover, I can carry some less popular brands and still get some nice sales, although not as much as would be the case if I had the major brands.  One of my unofficial mentors is called Amir Khella. I like the guy, mostly because of his approach to business. One thing he told me, “if you are afraid of doing something, do it!” I’m striving to live with the quote this year.

Anyway, with the menu links done, the site is still far from looking presentable. I have to upload product images and modify the theme a little bit to look more like a pet store. I contacted a designer I found in one of the major Internet marketing forums and his price was $250 for modifying the theme. The dude is talented. He even sent me a few links of Open Cart themes he has made and some that he is selling.

$250 NOT for NOW

Starting anything from scratch without any financing usually puts one in an awkward position. Anything that you can do, you will do. So, while the freelancer is really talented, i choose to modofy the them on my own. I know HTML and CSS and I’m really good at using Google. So, I think I can play around with the theme to finally have something pet-like.

The only thing I cannot do on my own is buy a domain name. I mean, I have to pay for it…If I had a way, I would just register one myself…get it?

I hate letting people down. And I have a long list of people that I don’t want to let down. So, in a way, they keep me focused on my goals. All of them deserve a silent thank you, lest they start thinking they are really valuable in my life (Which they are, really, in the real sense).

Am heading to sleep with EPMD’s Out of Business playing. I really hope the title is not subliminally meant for me.

Sleep eyes.

Signing off.

-The Dapper Don

A

Monday….Nothin’ Changed

400 pounds but I move ass – Big Pun (Lyrics from the song “Watch Those”)

Yes, I was bumping Big Pun at this late night. The post title says Monday but it is actually Tuesday, 1.37am

I’ve been busy trying to finish some articles this late night. Today, I did not really feel like posting anything. I guess life is too ordinary to be exciting everyday.  Like today, I just feel tire. You should see my hands…veins screaming to burst out for the hours of writing I’ve had.

Anyway, I was not supposed to sleep in the office anymore if you have been reading my previous posts. But today I decided to stay back. Only this time I told my brother to lock me in so that the night guards will not suspect there is someone in the office. My lights are also switched off ( I really don’t have a problem with this, I’m used to working without the white florescent glare.)

My role model is not Steve Jobs. Actually, I never knew him till he passed. (RIP).

My role model is Pete Cashmore. If you don’t know him, just Google him. Ok, he is the founder of Mashable. And if you don’t know what Mashable is, you seriously have to Google that.

Why Pete?

Easy..it’s the age thing. Pete will be 27 this year. I will be 26 this year.

In 2005, when Pete started blogging at Mashable, I had just finished high school the previous year and was a graphic designer for one of the local businesses here in Eldoret.

It took 5 years for Pete’s blog to be among the top 5 blogs in the world with millions of ad revenue sales… I want to take one year to make $10,000.

Why the difference? Easy..we live in different worlds, we are working under different circumstances and are connected to different people.

Towards the end of 2010, I had some pretty good ideas about a design blog. I had it pictured out. Funny that plan seems to be fading from my grip day by day. A few days after switching hosts, I  realized I did not back up the WordPress databases for the site. This means I had to install it afresh for it to work.

Right now, the site is just lying around…no posts…with the usual “Hello World” comment staring blank on the home page. Here’s the website DesignVance.com  Check it out.

I have  to create time to write some web design articles. I have a wealth of knowledge but finding time  to write is difficult. With clients constantly requiring articles for their websites, it seems like all my projects have to take the back seat for now. That is the easy thing to do, but I have to work on them, slowly by slowly.

Is Having Too Much Projects on My 24 hours a day Too Much?

This is an easy question to answer depending on how you look at it. More of it in another later post.

So, my pet e-xommerce site is up. At least I added some menu items on Sunday. Yesterday (Monday), I did not touch it. I just did not get time. A few minutes from now, I will purchase another domain name for some toy niche. My goal is to work with two niches at a time.

Is building two e-commerce sites too much?

I guess so, especially when I do not know even if I will make any sales.  But the main reason for building two sites is about sourcing for products. You see, for the pet niche, I am not sure if I will get the products that I need. All the suppliers I have contacted wanted to see a website first before  they supply any products.

For the second site, I already have a willing supplier who is only waiting for me to get the website running  to supply me with the product list.

What Plans Do You Have for the Morning bro?

I honestly do not know. I guess I will wake up and see what the sun has in store for me. If I will be energized to write, I will crank some few articles. If I won’t be energized, then I will get working on the second e-commerce site. I also have to make a few basic changes on DesignVance.com

Have you ever heard that country song by Don Williams called “Senorita”? That’s what’s playing on my laptop as I write. I love the strings. Sometimes I fancy being in the Cowboy era…You know, the horses, pistols like Lucky Luke, etc.

That was a by the way.

God grant me the stregth to blog more often,

PS: One thing I learnt is I do not have to blog everyday. I can blog anytime I want and as few or many times I want. It’s MY blog. If you want yours, start a Blogspot or WordPress.

Signing off,

 

-The Dapper Don

I Did Not Post Yesterday!

What if the whole world prayed? – Casting Crowns

I missed to make a post yesterday. I really do not know what happened. I was prepared to write but I guess I got distracted along the way. Without knowing it, it was already midnight. Got this 2007 documentary “Riddles in Stone” talking about the influence of the Masons in designing Washington D.C.  Fascinating stuff, at times seeming like a horror movie…I mean, with all that beautiful architecture, who would have though the Masons had some hidden symbolism all over the capital.

After the docu, I got started on the next one, “The Ten Plagues of the Bible”. This was around 3am. Too bad, last thing I know is that I was waking from the chair to switch off the laptop. Sleep had crept on me like a silent wind. I’ll find some time to watch the docu again.

The past 3 days have been a mix of good and bad fortune for me. The bad fortune is that I have not been able to get my OpenCart theme to work. I am thinking maybe I should just get another theme. Today, I am going to try to install a few other themes I have. I also read a report that recommended Magento for online shops. From what I gathered, Magento may actually be a good alternative to OpenCart.

FAM TIME:

My candies came…from my Grans way in Oregon, CA. Here are the pics of the Christmas candies!

Had some chit chats with my Grans yestenight. She’s really cool. Maybe I’ll tell you more about her some other time.

Ok, so the weekend is almost over here and I haven’t finished my store. I really feel like I have wasted the whole 2 days.

BROKE

I also happen to be broke at this time. Between me and poverty, I only have Ksh. 200 (Apprx $2.5) Tried making some calls yesterday to people who can help me but it seems everyone is broke. Funny when I need something is when everyone I know doesn’t have anything. One of my friends was like “Damn, did you finish all the stack” (Trust me, I had mad money a couple of months ago. I didn’t burn the money, I just have too many responsibilities. So I guess the money wasn’t really enough. My friend was like “Uhm, I’m headed to a wedding right now, but I’ll send you the cash in the evening”. It’s 1.44pm the next day and I’m still waiting.

But life is easy…

Especially where I live. I’ve done my calculations…I am getting paid on Wednesday so I can survive with the $2.5 dollars till then. I only need to pay for transport to and from work. This will cost me Ksh. 50 (apprx.  $0.63) per day. This will keep me going up to Wednesday. I just hope I don’t step on one of the eggs or fruits of some of the vendors a few blocks where I have to pass through everyday as I go to get to the matatu (a passenger vehicle) to take me home.

In the morning, I was listening to Casting Crowns. It’s always good to listen to Gospel especially on Sundays…and stay away from sinning. But right now I’m listening to Masta Ace. All I can say is that he is dope!

I find myself biting my nails a lot as I work. I guess my 2012 resolution of stopping the habit is going to be an uphill task.

It’s an easy day today..No one is working in the building apart from the few hustlers like me who are still looking for the “big break” (Is there even anything like that?!) My desk is so full of junk food, notebooks, used soda cans etc. I am reallt bad and keeping the table neat. Here is a pic of the desk to end my post 🙂

Enjoy your Sunday!

BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: Just got the OpenCart Theme installed in teh correct way. Actually, I’ve realised I had installed in the correct way all along. I just needed to change a few menu tab links to customize the theme to fit my requirements. I can’t believe I installed and uninstalled the theme nearly 24 times and I never noticed.

Lesson Learn: Always read the instructions of installing a theme! ( But I guess you already knew it). Guess no my weekend isn’t wasted after all. Catch you tomorrow. I’ll give you an update of my store.

I’m bouncing off. PEACE

PS: This is the day that Beyonce gave birth to her daughter Ivy Blue Carter. I just don’t understand the fuss. No one makes noise on Twitter when the neighbor gets a child. And it isn’t like Bey’s kiddo got 2 heads  or an aura with her. (Ain’t hating, just saying it as it is). Anyway, congrats to them. I hope Twitter will also be jammed when my girl  and I will get our first kid 😀

-The Dapper Don

Yesterday’s Aftermath

Bonjour, baby here goes my brochure – Rakim

Ladies, nothing but the finest ones, the lavish ones..Yeap, that’s DJ Clark Kent representing for the ladies with Rakim. I love that song.  (Google it, it’s called Finest Ones. Rakim feat. Clark Kent). I don’t have time to post the link.

Friday came and I’m feeling kinda happy. It must be the liquor. Finally, got a taste of Magic Moments, a Vodka straight from India. I must say I love this  not so oriental drink.

Update on yesterday’s project. So, I was supposed to install an e-commerce store  for my pet niche. Truth is I did not get to do it yesterday. And I’ve spent the whole day trying to get the e-commerce store up. I chose to use OpenCart since it’s good for SEO and I found a theme that I really liked, which can work great for my store with a little customization.

SIDE DISH:

I did not do any writing today. My workmate wrote some articles for a Bellevue dentist client that is looking to improve his SEO rankings. For me, I was on the phone offering support to one of our webhosting clients. I am good with support, especially on the phone. It just amazes me how much people think the cPanel is a complicated tech thing. C’mon, it isn’t programming or software development. No coding guys…just look, click and make the changes you want!

Back to the main topic…

At the time of writing, I am still trying to get the OpenCart theme to work. If it doesn’t work, I guess I’ll look for another theme. Google doesn’t seem to help me much with this problem. Rakim is bumping in the background. If you do not know who Rakim is, you must be born in 2002. I mean, even metalheads know the dude!

About an hour ago (4.52 pm), the caretaker called me  to the office. I could immediately sense something was wrong with the cold rock-hard stares I was getting from the security company employees I saw in the office. So, apparently there was an attempted break-in at one of the offices on the ground floor. With this coming hot just a  day after the “bulb” incident, it did not look mice.

ONE QUESTION MR> SECURITY GUARD: How the hell can the padlock be hammered without you hearing anything? Simple answer: You were sleeping on the job. I really did not understand why I had to be in the meeting. Just becuase I sleep in the office doesn’t mean I have intentions of breaking into a boutique that is on the ground floor. (PS: My office is on the second floor).

And why the hell didn’t the guard hear any hammering? No one seemed to be interested in addressing that question. My landlady is a good woman. She understands the hustle I put and all the late-night working I have to do. She was clearly on our side (me and my workmate).

Anyway, to cut the long story short, I have decided I will not be sleeping in the office. This will make everyone happy. So, you can expect me to be blogging much earlier.

I’m back at the office, feeling like I should bring out the Tyson in me but the vodka is helping to calm my nerves.

Ok, I know there is no much traffic coming to this blog but if you happen to stumble upon it today and are an expert in OpenCart, holla at me. I need help! Emergency! SOS, Mayday! I need to get the e-commerce store up and running this weekend.

Mom called me today. My Christmas presents from my Grans in Oregon, CA just arrived. I feel really loved but then I am so down that i couldn’t send a preset to Grans. She and the kids love me so much and at times I do not feel I do enough to show them how much I appreciate them. Grans, if you are reading this, just know that I love you. Things in this part of the world can be hard. I love you.

UPDATE: A couple of minutes ago, I have been skyping (in fact, I still am) with  the client that I told you was referred to me yesterday. His name is Cavin, and he seems like a nice guy. For a start, I will be providing him with 14 articles per week for $105. Not a bad deal considering the niche I am writing about is easy. Starting the work tomorrow, so, you can guess how happy I am.

On another note…remember the client that I told you I wrote articles for his site that is on page one of Google for the term “auto loans”? Well, yesterday I’d updated my Skype status saying that I am getting more interested in e-commerce everyday and guess what? Today he sends me a message that he has been doing online marketing for 12 years. We’ve discussed a couple of things like how to source for products, the challenges facing non-US people when it comes to dealing with US suppliers, how to source for products, etc.

BOTTOM LINE: I am feeling really positive about my pet niche store. I will update you on my progress. And yes, I believe in God (what some of you refer to as good fortune). I mean, who would have known that someone who hired me to write articles for him will be giving me this valuable info? It’s not a coincidence.

Ok, I have to stop here. Let me get back to try to get the OpenCart theme to work.

Catch you tomorrow.

-The Dapper Don