My Other Blog

I'm Tim Coulter. And this is my journey of building a business, seeing the world, and figuring out what it means to be human.
I'm Tim Coulter. And this is my journey of building a business, seeing the world, and figuring out what it means to be human.
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  • Last two weeks

    Alright, alright, so my last post was a little rough. And maybe an inside joke. Sure, I’ll accept that.

    Still, the last two weeks have been crazy. And not the kind of crazy where your-friend-just-didn’t-put-you-on-the-top-of-their-priority-list-and-now-they-need-to-find-a-way-to-talk-their-way-out-of-it kinda crazy. Let’s recap.

    Exactly two weekends ago…

    1. Went to New Orleans. Ate alligator. Had a hurricane. Went to a sex club with a lesbian (I said that provocatively on purpose; more like a “strip club” with a “nice lady who swings the same way I do.” Still fun.)
    2. Started work on a new website.
    3. Had my second week at my new job.
    4. Noticed my wisdom teeth started hurting me Thursday.
    5. Got my wisdom teeth pulled Friday. Due to my new job I’m in between insurances, which means I had to cover the costs out-of-pocket. Luckily I was able to do so but I didn’t have enough money to pay for the IV — another $675. So I opted out. And guess what: It went just fine! No need for the IV in the first place. Barely felt anything and didn’t have to feel all woozy afterward. But, there’s one caveat: You hear your teeth crack during the procedure. Part of the operation is to split them in two.
    6. Following that: Was well taken care of by my girlfriend Shirley. She’s amazing. (Yes, she’s reading this right now. :) )
    7. Continued on the new website.
    8. Third week at ShopKeep. Unrelated, got a high score on DrawSomething! (I kid, I kid.)
    9. Watched Shirley’s pet rats Tznon and Retach (pronounced sss-known and rhet-ah — that’s with my clumsy American accent) while she was away. Rats are great pets. They get a bad rap.
    10. And FINALLY, after two weeks of work — literally all my spare time — FINISHED THE NEW WEBSITE! Check it out. It’s a new promotional site and blog for CorkboardMe.

    —-

    Alright. So the above list is all true, but that’s just it — it’s a list, and it’s in chronological order, and well, it’s an emotional cop out. It doesn’t give you the story. And where’s Tim Coulter’s signature inward reflection?

    Here we go. A few things to cover.

    First, New Orleans was fun but I likely made a few people angry. As my desire to further CorkboardMe grows, I’m finding it’s beginning to take up more of my spare time. Time where I would have originally hung out with friends, for instance, is instead going to work. Today I responded to a text message by saying, “Nah, I planned a lot of work today.” Really Tim? You won’t go out? Which makes me feel both obligation and worry: i.e., “Tim, you should hang out with these people. They mean a lot to you.” Also, it would be fun.

    In the case of New Orleans, I went there with a group of testers to talk about testing, but I spent more time in my own corner developing my own thing. It made a few folks angry but I was compelled to get work done. I can’t spend a weekend without working. (Wait, did I just say that? Ya, um… let’s just not talk about it.)

    Second, the word “girlfriend”. Shirley and I have talked about this, and given that I plan to leave the country for an unknown amount of time it makes things complicated. For instance: “Why get involed?” “Is it worth it?” “Who could we (she) be dating in the meantime?” (a valid concern). And much more. Given that she’s been amazing to me this is the title she deserves. Per our discussions, long distance is off the table. So what do we do? (The situation is deeper than this, but I wanted to give you a taste of it. For now, I’m taken, and that’s just the way I like it.)

    Lastly, I need to add structure to my life. It’s hard to explain. Two weeks seemed like so long ago, and for instance, the pain in my jaw is only barely noticeable. Days and nights have blended together. I’ve been going to bed at three and waking up at eight, recouping on the weekends. 

    Oh, and if you ever need to know about the business of credit card processing, talk to me. Literally waded through 50 companies and price quotes. CardFellow is your friend. But the business is corrupt. Multiple incompatible pricing models with arbitrary fees and ways to snag extra money from customers. Someone really needs to innovate and shake up this industry.

    It’s now 2:30 a.m. Time to start my night ritual. And by ritual I mean not a ritual at all: just downloaded Game of Thrones. BOOM. More later.

    • April 8, 2012 (2:24 am)
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