Unemployed With Style

Posted on August 4, 2012 by Tom Trimbath

Twelve months into looking for a job I received a compliment I never expected. “Tom, I know you’re going through some hard times, and I just have to say that I’m impressed with your style.” (Paraphrased because I was surprised when I heard it.) Evidently, I am stylishly unemployed. The thought came to mind again as I sat with some friends outside the South Whidbey Commons in Langley. The three of us looked like an image from a brochure for early retirement. Most folks walking by would have no idea that we were all struggling to rebuild our financial lives. Most folks may have missed the fact that only one of us had a cup of tea. The smiles and laughter created a reality and a mirage.

For those just recently walking into my story, there’s a quick update back in my post: My Jobs Report Month 11. Since then I’ve had two interviews. That makes a total of four in about a year, only one of which was for a full time position. The recent flurry is appreciated. I know I didn’t get three of the four, and I suspect the silence from the fourth is not a good sign. And yet, each interview is the start of a relationship that might lead to something even better. Stay tuned. I guess you are because you’re here. So, let’s continue with style.

Allow me to be clear. If someone is complimenting my style they aren’t talking about fancy clothes, fine wines, or expensive adventures. I describe my clothes as bland, because beige goes with everything and I don’t have to guess about what goes with what. I do have some finer wines, thank you Whidbey Island Winery, and most of those bottles are from at least a year ago. I switched to box wines when I was hit by my Triple Whammy. As for expensive adventures, I did walk across Scotland back in the fall of 2010, which doubled my living expenses for three weeks. Since then my hiking boots have been used as work boots and even my backpacks are getting dusty because of the price of gas. My style is my attitude. Optimism and positivism are their own brand of fashion.

The friends who sat with me had that attitude and are also handsome (him) and beautiful (her). The tourists probably saw three adults laughing and energetically talking and relaxing on a gorgeous summer day. We were there to figure out how to get through financial strife, how to rebuild or redefine our lives, and to compare notes on opportunities or to discover opportunities that we could create. Some of the laughter came from marveling at how quickly millions can evaporate and come back. Some of the laughter came from the ludicrous disconnects between what people have to offer and what they can be paid for. Engineers direct traffic on ferry boats. Consultants stack firewood. Sculptors lay brick.

Society had visual images of the unemployed. There should be some nervousness in the demeanor. The clothes should be a bit threadbare. Resumes and business cards are always in hand. At the worst, it all degrades to standing at intersections with a cardboard sign or sleeping under a bridge.

Most unemployed folks I know look completely normal. There is no external hint that this person or that is unemployed, unless they decide to make it obvious somehow. If they dressed in style, they still do. I’d like to say that if they laughed with friends they still do, but that isn’t the case. Some do. Some don’t. Some maintain a positive attitude, but some were too strong for too long and have pulled back from public view. Some of them don’t even answer the phone anymore. I know one ex-professional who is cheery and fun until two sentences into any conversation about jobs at which point he quickly turns and walks away. Up until then he looked like any other home owner working on his project.

The reality for many is a mix. Fiorella Barbara was open and honest enough to write this poem and allow me to post it here.

THE MASK

Do you know how hard it is always to look strong,…
while inside you are falling apart?

Do you know how hard it is to look beautiful,
while inside you are feeling empty?…

Do you know how hard it is to look confident,
while you are going insane on the inside?

Do you know the price of wearing the mask and playing the part?

Tears… bitter tears… and the knowledge that you are alone in the battle.

~ Fiorella Barbara

The reason we get together is partly to share possibilities, but mostly it is to assure each other that we aren’t alone in the battle. To quote one of my favorite authors, “Shared pain is lessened; shared joy is increased . . .” – Spider Robinson

I’m glad that I live a frugal and simple life. It is easier to maintain a sense of sanity and self because the things that are in my life are based on my values, not those of some advertiser or peer group. Seeing such a life from economic highs and lows has been valuable. (Hmm, can I get paid for that?) Things impose demands, and living a simple, frugal life means having few things and fewer demands. I couldn’t maintain my attitude otherwise. Maintaining my commitment to my mortgage is my biggest monthly challenge. (My Home For Sale Alas) Without that the simplicity of my life would be even more prominent and powerful. (Want to know more about such a life? Check out New Road Map Foundation and The Simple Living Forums. You’ll find out that you are not “alone in the battle.”)

The three of us had unique stories. Everyone does. You may already know mine: hoping for a portfolio recovery, pursuing my business, selling my home, applying for jobs, and watching for windfalls. Stephen Webber is looking to rebuild yet again by taking decades of experience and seminars and turning them into a valuable and necessary certification process for a troubled industry. (I hope I captured his strategy, goal, and intent. Check his web site to be sure.) Fiorella Barbara is retraining yet again, and will need a job after she graduates, yet again. Their stories are different from Jennifer Hooper‘s and Spencer Webster‘s. None of us fits the stereotype. None of us are just statistics. None of us are abstractions. All of us would appreciate some help, regardless of how good things look. Nice to know we have style though!

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Wrong About Dendreon

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Tom Trimbath

I was wrong about DNDN. I invested in Dendreon by buying shares of DNDN because I thought the company had a good chance of succeeding with their prostate cancer treatment (Provenge). The last time I looked, DNDN was down over 90% from its high, they were going to lay off over 40% of the company, and close a facility. I never expected that to happen; especially, after the FDA approved the treatment, the treatment saved lives, and the company had grown to making hundreds of millions of dollars a year. I was so right and so wrong at the same time.

A quick synopsis for those who haven’t followed Dendreon‘s story. Dendreon is a biotech largely based on a technology that trains the patient’s immune system to fight cancer. The patient gives some blood, an antigen specific to the cancer is connected to another molecule that the patient’s immune system will recognize, the result is transferred back into the patient, and in a few days or weeks the patient may find that their cancer is being treated from the inside. The process is far simpler, less painful, and more successful than traditional competition. The surprise for many was that the price of each injection is about $30,000, and the recommended “dose” is for three injections, but even then the treatment is cheaper than the alternatives. Median life extension was conservatively claimed as four months at the start, but as the treatment has entered the field, the data has suggested a much longer extension. Clinical trials have also suggested that the treatment be used earlier and across more of the patient population. This is all good news.

About this time last year Dendreon announced a 20% revenue miss. The stock dropped 80%. (Triple Whammy) I started looking for a job. I’m still looking. (My Jobs Report Month 11 – Anyone need an aerospace engineer who can write, speak, teach, and consult?) Since then growth has fallen short of expectations and upper management has changed. There has been a lot of inaccurate news reporting that hasn’t helped; but, it is a radical new treatment, too good to believe for some, and possibly too much of a threat to convention for others.

I looked forward to Provenge’s success. If it attained the optimistic projections of a billion dollar treatment, I would have more than enough shares to be more than comfortably retired. Even if they only attained half of that, the stock would still be worth more than enough based on “the Present Value of Future Revenues Discounted for Risk.” Provenge’s success in our decade’s old War On Cancer should have benefited the patients, the company, and the shareholders well enough to launch much positive change. The technology probably works for more than prostate cancer. There are good reasons to suggest that it can also work against lung, breast, ovarian, colo-rectal, renal and bladder cancers. Add all of those possible treatments to the Present Value calculation and even a shortfall in Provenge market penetration would be absorbed into an awesome potential.

That’s where I was wrong. Despite being approved by the FDA, despite being more successful than the conventional competition, despite 60% year-to-year growth, DNDN is valued as if it doesn’t work and as if the future treatments won’t happen. The stock is trading for less than it was before the FDA approval. I figured that even if the treatment was only marginally successful and too expensive, the revenues and technology would be valued much more highly after an FDA approval. For a while that was true and DNDN was climbing past $50. I had a partial sell point at $64. Oh well.

There is plenty of speculation about various conspiracies. Were the FDA’s delays bureaucratic resistance to something new, or were there illegal influences at play, or were they merely dutifully acting extremely cautious? Were financial and trading irregularities a result of the company deciding to go it alone and not play the game by selling a portion of the company to a major pharmaceutical firm, or was there a backlash because they didn’t need to rely on conventional funding, or was the flash crash and short selling totally legal? If Dendreon made a billion, would the threat to multiples of that within existing companies and financial institutions be sufficient incentive for unethical acts? If Provenge is as simple to administer as it has been, does it disrupt existing governmental, medical, and charitable bureaucracies?

The basis of the speculations is that the depressed price is retribution for being different, and possibly a drive to set up someone to be able to take credit for a massive recovery in a few quarters. If DNDN climbed back to initial post-approval prices then someone will claim excellent managerial skills.

DNDN is trading at pre-approval prices. Their price-to-sale ratio is less than two; that’s down in the neighborhood of construction firms, not breakthrough biotechs. The only way I thought they’d get here was if the treatment had massive, negative, unseen side effects. That hasn’t been the case. The opposite has been true. From what I can tell, Provenge is a benign, effective, and cost-efficient treatment for one of the most prevalent cancers.

And I am looking for a job and have my home for sale. Two years ago my holdings were about to become more than enough. I probably won’t have any shares left by the end of this year, unless I start selling some of my other depressed stocks or find significant revenues elsewhere. (Did I mention I am hunting for a job, am selling my home, am working every day on my business, and am buying lottery tickets?) If the company survives and the stock recovers, the people who benefit the most are those who didn’t have to sell.

A month and a half ago I posted a comment from the CEO. He was talking at the annual shareholders meeting. (Corporations Meet Owners DNDN 2012)
“In response to a question about the stock price, the CEO noted that no one else in the room wanted the price to go higher than he did. I almost said something out loud, but then remembered the rules for expulsion. In large part because of DNDN’s collapse I have been looking for a job (see My Jobs Report Month 9), am having to sell my house (see Home For Sale Alas), and have never had more uncertainty in my life (see Too Many IFs). I contend that he is not having to sell his house to find money for living expenses, is not looking for a job, and has not had to sell off 66% of his shares and most of an IRA in the interim. I strongly suspect that returning DNDN to $60 would have a much greater affect on my life than it would on his.”

I’ve had to sell so many shares over the last few months that even if DNDN returned to $60 I’d continue with all of my efforts because I have to. He may benefit by making millions. If I have no shares I won’t benefit at all.

Despite the price of DNDN I have confidence in my research abilities. Dendreon did succeed. Provenge is approved. The treatment is treating patients. The technology may work against other cancers. I was wrong about DNDN, but I think it is because the investment community doesn’t know how wrong they are about Dendreon.

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Unwrapping My iPad

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Tom Trimbath

Oh iPad. How far we’ve come from boxes the size of small furniture and encyclopedic manuals. A box the size of a dictionary, and a manual printed on a half a card. And I got mine for free.

Thank you South Whidbey Record. I wrote about this a bit in the previous posts, Real Optimism and Serendipity and the South Whidbey Record, but wanted to pass along a long time Mac owner and new user’s experience. (Want some history? Go read A Mac Is Not A Toy) Things have changed since my Mac 512, and some companies could learn some lessons. (Hello MicroVision.)

Welcome to Life with an iPad, a geezer geek’s education and introduction to a computer without a keyboard or a cursor.

  • Step one: Peel through the plastic. There’s little enough of that, though some of it was overlapped into a simple puzzle. Careful application of old-tech, a knife, took care of that.
  • Step two: Prepare to hear about the inevitable delay of gratification inherent in any mobile device. Take it out of the box and plug it in for a few hours before doing anything else; except, they don’t require that.
  • Step three: Reconfigure brain for 2012.
  • Step four: Sip some tea, because there’s no rush.
  • Step five: Press and hold the On/Off button for a few seconds. Okay, so that didn’t work.
  • Step six: Review everything up to step five.
  • Step seven: Oops. Wrong button. Yay!
  • Step eight: Slide to setup, English, 66%, United States, Disable Location Services (for now – because I want to see how it works in simple mode), Choosing a Network, Set Up iPad, Skip Apple ID (simple for now), Terms and Conditions (of course I agree because I have no real choice except to use it as a placemat otherwise), Diagnostics (&Usage don’t send), Thank You, Start Using iPad
  • Step nine: Test the internet. Make sure I have at least one bookmark and it is for my blog.
  • Step ten: Plug it in because I want it to have a fully charged battery.
  • Step eleven: Update Software
  • Step twelve: Rest before diving into personalization of mail, calendar, the rest of the bookmarks, and finding out whether I can use this for backup of my books (the ones I’ve written and am writing) and my photos (personal and business). Let’s see how long I can stay away. This Mac, which ain’t a Mac, is more of a toy than the MacBook. And I got it for free! Oops. The screen went black. I woke it up and found that I hadn’t hit Install. Now I’m not sure what’s going on, but there’s an empty progress bar that is glacially slowly filling. Step away Tom. Step away.
  • And go check on Facebook via the MacBook.
  • Step thirteen: It just went “twink” and back to black. Knock knock. OK. It’s alive, and feeding. I’ll step away – really this time. Well, not too far. It’s connected to my MacBook and I am using that right now.
  • Many steps later: I’ve attempted the intelligent customized sync-ing of much of my MacBook. Time to sit on the couch and play. Does it work well enough for me to play? Nope. Apple has decided to follow in the footsteps of Microsoft. The password authentication has kicked me through several cycles, partly from getting used to the keyboard which counts against my log in attempts. So each new attempt results in a new password that I can’t keep track of or type. Grrr. With that much of a hassle I am sure to visit the app store as infrequently as possible. Nope. Downloaded and installed Netflix (a free app) and can’t find it to launch it. Oh, it was on the next page over even though the first page wasn’t full. Go figure.
  • The morning after: Lessons continue. Mobility, yes. Typing this post, no. Everything to its task according to its skills.
  • A few days later: The laptop is still my favorite, but that’s because I am a writer (I want a keyboard and mouse), and because my arms aren’t long enough for the iPad (I’m over 50 and the proper distance to the display seems to be one and a half arm lengths if I am not wearing glasses.)
  • I keep wanting to rotate my laptop 90 degrees after I’ve used my iPad.

I’m learning. What I haven’t figured out is how, why, and when the mail and calendar sync; but, I suspect I’ll work that out eventually. I can see that the real benefit will come from being able to leave my laptop at home and yet have the majority of the functionality available while I roam. Nice mobility. Where’s the handle?

As for MicroVision, compare this experience with what it took to unwrap and fire up my ShowWX. It took three posts in my old blog starting with: MVIS LTBH ShowWX news – Part One. But hey, that was more complicated, right? Nope. The iPad is more complicated than the ShowWX. But Apple probably put more into the user design and that’s why it cost so much more. Nope. The ShowWX cost more, though that’s a bit of green laser history. I nudge MicroVision this way, not to chastise them for my first experience with them, but to encourage them to consider the user a bit more if they ever release another product.

As for the sudden increase in blog posts, this is partly a consequence of being a writer who writes about timely topics and likes to thank people sooner than later, and while news is fresh. Delay a day and something bigger could happen that slides other news aside. The other reason is that I am slightly nervous this morning. (Check the comments on My Jobs Report Month 11) I have an interview coming up before lunch (as I quickly check the clock – whew, no problem) and one way to think about something else is to type. So I type.

Stay tuned. There’s more news to come – and I might read about it first on my iPad.

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Serendipity and the South Whidbey Record

Posted on July 29, 2012 by Tom Trimbath

Let’s keep this simple. I got lucky. I won my iPad. I didn’t have to compete against anyone. This isn’t the result of a meritocracy. As far as I know it isn’t the result of networking or nepotism. I filled out a form and the folks at the South Whidbey Record pulled it out of some bin. Thank you.

There are more than enough quotes about making your own luck. “God helps those who help themselves.” Interestingly enough is not a bible quote, nor from Benjamin Franklin (if I can believe wikipedia.) The quote goes back to the Greeks, in  which case it was probably in the plural, “Gods . . . ” I’ve been working hard and me as the writer and you as the reader are all watching to see if I encounter good luck. Lately it has been showing up. Thanks again.

There’s another quote that I doubt is in the databases, unless they’ve been wise enough to quote one of my friends. I’ll paraphrase. She pointed out that the odds of winning the lottery are very small. Deciding not to play drops those odds to zero. Buying one ticket raises the chances from zero to very small, which is an infinite improvement. Buying two tickets only improves the odds to twice a very small number, which is still a very small number. Okay, so we were having a math geek moment; but, I got her point. Being pessimistic and deciding to do nothing means nothing is likely to happen. At least trying, doing enough to clear that first hurdle is infinitely better than dismissing the opportunity. Doing twice as much does improve things, but not as much as you might think.

I entered the drawing. I suspect many didn’t because they thought they couldn’t win. This wasn’t like the lottery though. I couldn’t enter twice. Could I?

The odds of winning any such lottery are a large function of the number of entries. I live in a small town. The odds of winning something from The Seattle Times would be worse, though I suspect they’d award more than one iPad.

I play the lottery for at least two reasons. One – For a dollar my daydreams can entertain me for more than the time it takes to watch a movie. Two – Despite the low odds, eventually someone wins; and it might as well be me. But, I typically only buy one dollar’s worth per drawing. (By the way, did you know that you can buy ten drawings in advance in Washington’s Lottery? Ten dollars covers about three weeks of drawings. Handy.) And of course, I play the lottery because I could use the money.

Applying for jobs doesn’t follow exactly the same logic. Making that phone call, sending that email, or submitting that application is a good idea that doesn’t cost much that can have great benefits. Sometimes people get jobs without applying. Most of the time, the process isn’t random. Often enough the winner is selected before anyone has a chance to enter the contest.

Yet in life, showing up, taking that first step, making that tangible effort is more than enough because so many talk themselves out of opportunities. I wonder how many times I’ve done that to myself.

An aspect of living in a small town, or at least an intentional community, is that opportunities and needs are more apparent. The news becomes that much more important. The South Whidbey Record is only a couple of dozen pages, but I rarely read more than that many when I had a subscription to The Seattle Times. The Record’s pages are easier to peruse, and small things are less likely to get lost. News items too small for a big paper can hit the front page, which might mean someone gets the help they need. Small items within the pages aren’t lost in a multitude, which means I can see things like an ad for winning an iPad. A small town newspaper can seem like a small thing, but it greatly improves the possibility that big things can happen.

The Record has imperfections, but most things do. I know I have a few. I’ve even found a few in the iPad, though that may simply be the results of a “defective end-user.” (And probably the subject of another post.) If we waited for perfections before getting on with life, we wouldn’t live.

In the meantime, I’m learning how to use my iPad, I have my lottery ticket – and I also noticed over on drewslist a $25 raffle to win a new car. (It was probably in the Record too, but drewslist is fresh in my mind because I just checked my email.) My car is a 2000 Jeep Cherokee Classic, which I like but it has over 150,000 miles. The raffle car is a Fiat 500. Hmm, it’s been a while since I’ve had two cars. If I had a new car that got over 30mpg it would be a lot easier to drive 750 miles to visit my dad. Hmm, maybe . . . I wonder what my chances are of winning. Hmm . . .

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Real Optimism

Posted on July 28, 2012 by Tom Trimbath

Optimism. Just as I as was beginning to doubt, proof of positivism arrived. Since I posted My Jobs Report Month 11, I’ve had calls from three prospective employers (interviews begin next week), and as another entry in the category of “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up”, I won an iPad. I’ve been buttressing my optimism with internal supports for so long that I’ve had to adjust to external positive proof. The interviews lifted my mood, relaxed many muscles, and gave me some IFs to play with. All of that is much appreciated. (Check the Comments section of the job post for updates.) An unexpected iPad adds a marvelous cornerstone. Something tangible to remind me that optimism can be real.

Thank you South Whidbey Record, the local semi-weekly newspaper that covers details that would be lost in the big city papers. I’ve never tracked it, but I suspect I end up in the paper about once a month. Let’s see. There’s the annual attempt  at moderation around the Fourth of July fireworks (yes to public fireworks, no to the private illegal fireworks – because illegal is so common that it overwhelms local police despite bomb-sniffing dogs at the ferries.) There are my classes, usually the ones about self-publishing, which are almost monthly. There are my art exhibits, which I really could promote more. There are my book events. And then there are dances, volunteering, and generally being social and visible. Being visible is easy in the Record’s neighborhood (even though they moved north) because there aren’t many of us despite its size. Such is island life.

As money got tight I dutifully eliminated expenses. The necessities were obvious and I continue to pay them. Some luxuries became obviously worth less than they cost. Goodbye satellite TV. Hello streaming. Inevitably there were expenses that were for useful goods and services. I hesitated when the newspaper and magazine subscriptions came in because most of them are available online. But despite my finances, there are things that I wanted to support. Various charities continue to receive contributions, though the amounts are smaller. Local newspapers provide a service, and while I wasn’t going to consider them a charity, and I couldn’t buy big print ads, I knew that getting the paper in the box twice a week provided me a tangible connection with my community. I’d support that. And yet I hesitated because as money gets too tight, sentiment must defer to necessity.

Then I saw their ad. They had an ad in their own paper. I suspect they get a good rate. But the ad was for a contest. Renew your subscription and sign up to win an iPad. I’ve gotten so tired of facebook scams about winning iPads that I laughed. I was pretty sure that filling out the clipping wasn’t going to subject my computer to malware. I am very careful with my computer. I only have one, and it is the home for my business and everything else. All of my writing, my photos, and everything I needed to run my consulting business resided in one computer. It works well, though using a 13 inch screen to review photos that will be printed at 20 x 30 is a bit comical. Every time I carry it I am careful. Replacing it would be a hardship. Even if everything is properly backed up, the extra expense would hurt. So, why not? I filled out the form, sent in my money, kept the possibility in mind, but didn’t ponder it much.

Thursday I got the call. I was the winner. Could I swing by the office to pick it up? Oh yeah. They’ll take a picture of me for the paper and maybe have a little article. Sure! It’s not like I haven’t been in the paper before.

Thursday night I poured myself a drink, but instead of it being a drink to relax me from financial anxieties, it was a drink to encourage me to ponder and reset my attitude. Instead of cheap vodka (playfully turned into homemade spiced variants of martinis), I had some of the good scotch provided by a friend in appreciation for a consultation.

Optimist or pessimist, getting through tough times is, by definition, tough. Putting the tough times in the past though requires making that distinction, recognizing that those times were temporary. I don’t know if I’ll get job offers (though some of the phone calls have been very encouraging.) Live within tough times for too long and pessimism can persist or optimism can become abstract. Too many people spent too many decades living within the fears and anxieties they were subjected to for the years of the Great Depression. I’m not going to start acting as if my money worries are behind me. I’m pragmatic enough to save that celebration for after the paychecks, or my business revenues, or my investment proceeds, or some windfall have significantly shown up in my bank account. These last twelve months have severely drained my resources and dramatically increased my debt. There’a lot of catching up to do.

So, now I have an iPad. I have a computer that looks like it will handle a lot of the ways I electronically connect with people. It also can act as yet another backup for some of my business. And it gives me mobility, so when I get a call on cell phone while I’m away from home, I’ll be able to schedule that interview or consulting session or public speaking event during the call, instead of telling them I’ll call back when I get home. (Yeah, I know. A smartphone could handle the same thing, but I’m waiting for the next generation of phones that will include a MicroVision picoprojector.) Skip the long-winded verbiage. I won an iPad. Yeah! Let’s have some fun! Let’s have some fun watching Tom catch up to speed with the decade.

My iPad will help me relax, though remembering a password that meets Apple’s criteria has been a problem. I had to reset it or me four times last night. Apple seems to be getting as pesky as Microsoft at its most stringent. I’ll relax after I teaches me how to use it. Oo, that doesn’t sound very Apple-ish either.

Oh well, I am in the midst of adjustments. And that’s a good thing. Adjustments have just begun. I’ll learn how to use my iPad. My cell phone company called to tell me that I must replace my phone by the end of the year. It is so old that they are taking down the equipment that listens to it. (Come on MicroVision. I’m working to a deadline here.) I’m happy about the job interviews and possibilities, and I have applications in for dozens of other jobs. Something may get added to the list.  Earnings season begins next week, at least for my portfolio. The August workshop is filling and coming up quick. (Postmark the check before August 1st and get 20% off.) My photos exhibits are extended into August. (Thank you Wind and Tide in Oak Harbor, and Braeburn in Langley.) And then the big season hits, as my fifth of five Whidbey Island photo essays premiers at Raven Rocks Gallery in Greenbank in September. And I know I forgot other positive possibilities to list.

So, pardon me if I stumble a bit as I adjust. Like the teenager surprised by that first kiss despite years of dreaming about it, like the sailor caught by the first gust of wind after the doldrums, like the fisherman who has to wake from dozing because something hit the bait, I hope to not look too silly as I remember how good it can be and what I was hoping for all along. Real optimism.

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My Jobs Report Month 11

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Tom Trimbath

My inner editor wants to hold off on this post for another month. It would so much neater to file a jobs report on month 9, and then a quarter later on month 12. Besides, I’d rather report on cheery news. Two things drive me to writing this post today, eleven months into my job search.
1) The end of the month is approaching which means selling dwindling stock to pay persistent bills.
2) I don’t want to write the twelfth month job report unless it is good news and a celebration.

As I type the idea of celebration I also realize that you’ll hear about it soon after it happens. I won’t wait for an anniversary to report the news.

Of course, when I wrote My Jobs Report Month 9 it was in the hope that the celebration would happen before month 11. Evidently, that didn’t happen. The main bit of my story hasn’t changed, so I won’t repeat myself. Interested readers can re-read that post. The story must be somewhat compelling because it is in my top ten blog posts.

Several things have changed.

  • I have been inspired to make the story broader and started the Help Find A Friend A Job (#FAFAJ) category on this blog. So far Jennifer Hooper and Spencer Webster have participated. Anyone else want to jump in?
  • A few friends have taken action and asked for my resume. I’ve been applying at the front door, dutifully filling out the forms, attaching the requested documents in the specified formats, and patiently waiting. My friends have been trying some side doors. I don’t get a lot of details, but I get hints that some of the side doors are informal contacts while others are formal internal referral programs. It is all fine by me. Tracking the progress is more difficult because I can’t simply log in to a status board, but I suspect the actual progress is more significant.
  • My home has been on the market for two months. That story (Home For Sale Alas) has pulled in even more traffic that my job report. No nibbles yet; which is the same story with my friend who is selling her house in the same neighborhood. The market is just quiet. That may be because our weather has been dismal. The rest of the country may be in heat wave but the local news has reported the number of minutes we’ve been above 80. (How much summer have we had? 78 minutes)
  • To give a complete story I must include the change that continues: my net worth is diminishing. The companies in my portfolio continue to progress, while their stocks retreat. My business continues to gain recognition and traction, but hasn’t raised enough to pay the upcoming bill for my next exhibit: Twelve Months at Double Bluff (Raven Rocks Gallery in September.) Watching my liquid net worth dwindle to less than a year’s living expenses is why I am looking for a job and selling my home.
  • Another thing that is happening is a chorus of encouragement and sincere assurances that everything will turn out alright. Some of the sweetest comments have been folks telling me that I can’t sell and move because I belong on the island and fit in so well here. Thank you. I love you folks too.

I have reasons for optimism, and how my optimism survives is a marvel. These snippets help.

  • Dendreon announces earnings a bit early, July 30th. Last year’s 20% miss in earnings is what precipitated the 80% drop in DNDN and the subsequent implosion of my financial situation. Maybe new management will announce good news, or at least restore confidence in the company within the investment community. Stock must be sold to pay my bills, and DNDN’s the leading contender.
  • MicroVision is supposed to have major news soon. The sad joke within the MVIS investor community, is that MicroVision is always supposed to have major news soon. But we are now in the second half of 2012, the green lasers are available, and the consumer market is beginning to anticipate pico-projectors in cell-phones and other devices. Okay folks, release the good news soon. I’ve been waiting for over a decade.
  • My business is gaining recognition. My photos have been on constant display since the beginning of the year. (Currently at Braeburn in Langley, and Wind and Tide in Oak Harbor.) That’s especially encouraging because none of the exhibits required cold-calls. They were either unsolicited or informal referrals. My consulting is being recognized as valuable, though as most consultants know, many people want it for free. Trading value for value is easier for a farmer than for a consultant. The self-publishing workshop coming in August is pulling in students. (Drop the check in the mail by the end of this month and get 20% off.) If it is successful enough we may take it on the road.
  • Inside and outside my business are at least a dozen other ventures that might come to fruition, though most of them are awaiting funding. Aren’t we all?
  • A semi-joke amongst my apocalyptic friends is that the end is so near that the world’s financial system will crash before I run out of cash. Well, that’s one way to not worry about paying the mortgage or insurance bills.
  • Oh yeah, and I always keep in mind that windfalls happen, I could get a dream job, and that everything will work out. One friend foresees that I will succeed, but it will happen in a way that I can’t imagine, so thinking about it is a waste of time.

Back to the jobs, because despite the potential for my book sales, art sales, and a home sale, the solution most people pick is selling their time to a corporation. They get a paycheck job and trade forty hours for hundreds or thousands of dollars. Self-employment is statistically the more likely road to wealth, but the great upside potential is accompanied with the disagreeable downside possibility. Corporate employment can be a dream or a drudge. I’ve seen both. Corporate employment may not be an easy road to riches, except in the higher ranks, but it is the most common road to a sustainable lifestyle in today’s society.

My life continues to include Too Many IFs. I rarely have a satisfactory answer when people ask me what I am going to do. If my portfolio recovers, or not. If my business sustains me, or not. If I find a good job, or not. If I sell my home, or not. Throughout these eleven months I’ve maintained optimism because the odds are very small that none of those efforts will succeed. Yet, here I am. Maybe that’s a subconscious source of my optimism; because, the odds that all of them would succeed is also very small, and yet it can happen. I’ve seen odds like those before. I wonder how they stack up against the lottery’s odds. Let me go check my ticket.  Stay tuned.

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In The First Place

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Tom Trimbath

In the first place, God created – wait a minute. That’s not how it started. (But it is an excuse to have a hyperlink to the Vatican, a first for me.) As a prelude to the August self-publishing workshop the other instructors and I had a meet & greet for potential students. We were there to tell them about the workshop, but as is common with human contact, information flowed the other way too. One of them pointed out that the phrase “In the first place” can be traced back to Ancient Greece where the first place referred to the home that housed the book (probably a scroll) where the topic was described and discussed. (If you find the attribution add it to the Comments below.) The argument could be abstract, but referring to the first place grounded it. Everything has a beginning. Listening to disparate items today emphasized that every day is a beginning as well. Every moment is an opportunity for change and progress. Hey portfolio, do you hear that? Today’s first place can lead to marvelous and positive change and progress.

I’ve lost count of the people that have taken my class in Modern Self-Publishing. Teaching the class is a joy because I witness passionate people with fascinating stories becoming empowered. Of course, I hope they all make progress with their projects, but they don’t have to report to me so I only hear about book launches informally. A recent attendee is celebrating the launch of her first book, The Last Supper Catering Company. The author is Michaelene McElroy who may be out shopping for a beret so she dress the stereotypical part of author. Congratulations! I’ll raise a toast after I’ve posted this entry. It should be cocktail time by then.

Celebrating completing a book and getting a copy in hand sounds like a finale, not a first step. For self-published works, the first time the book is available is the first time that steps can be made to sell the book and share the story. It is the transition from writer to author, the transition from artist to merchant.

It has become a cliche to say “every day is the first day of the rest of your life.” It is true, which is why the cliche persists. Yes, it is true, but so what? It is hard to disassociate where we are from how we got here. I’ve been reviewing my life choices a lot considering my reversal of financial fortune over the last eleven months. It took time, but I am finally spending more time asking “Where do I go from here?” instead of “What hit me back there?” and “How did I not see that coming?” Retrospection has been insightful, but it can’t change the past or where I am now. In my case, I continue to be amazed at the incredible unfortunate coincidences that piled up in my life. Sometimes I even chuckle at it because my recent history is so bizarre. If it was a movie script I’d critique it as too contrived and unbelievable. It has been far more productive to look at each day as In The First Place.

In the First Place – what I have going for me is; and then I list my talents, skills, resources, and opportunities. They all have histories. Opportunities exist because of years spent as an engineer, artist, consultant, volunteer and advocate; but focussing on the history doesn’t change my possible futures. Each moment is a First Place from which I take my next step, which becomes the new First Place.

Within the world of writers there is a long list of First Places that result in a book and a career. Decide to write. Start writing. Finish the rough draft. Read the rough draft. Edit the first draft. Repeat as necessary. Eventually, declare the manuscript complete. Decide how to publish. Publish. Deliver the manuscript. Receive a proof copy. Edit the proof. Deliver the proof. Repeat. Declare the proof good enough. Watch the book appear online. Receive the first copy. Receive the first sale. Start selling the book if that hasn’t already happened. Embark on book tours, signings, talks, and campaigns. And if luck and skill are aligned, make money. Each of those steps is worthy of a celebration as a completion and each of those steps is a First Place from which a new history flows.

My reaction to my personal finances switched a few months ago. For years I was making progress towards having “enough.” I’ve used various definitions of the term, but basically having “enough” means changing my personal label from semi-retired to retired. There are no guarantees that “enough” will always be enough, but I knew my target where I would relax significantly. I’ve been there before. I was close again when DNDN was trading at over $50. Now it is trading at below $7 despite making hundreds of millions of dollars. For months I agonized over how much farther I was from “enough.” I was working and living from what I lacked. Then I started looking at what I had and have. Given what I have, what can I do and where can I go from here? The more I lost the easier it was to turn positive because the fear of loss was worse than the loss.

I’d like to have more money from which to take my next step, and I am taking steps to make that happen. But as a writer I know that a manuscript can always be improved. As a photographer I know that more time with Photoshop can improve an image. As a pragmatist I know that the only way things get done is to use what’s available and proceed. (As a dreamer I also know that wishing may make dreams come true, but I think forcing dreams to fit a schedule may be counterproductive.) I have what I have.

We can lament how far removed from where we were as a society. There’s an example of how different we are from “America is the greatest country in the world.” It is from Aaron Sorkin’s new show, “Newsroom.” The clip (supposedly used with permission) is enough to entice me to sign up for the show, if I wasn’t objectively impacted so much by the consequences of deregulation and bad luck. I like the clip because it concisely exposes our situation; but, also because it ends with what we do about it. “The first step in solving a problem is recognizing there is one.”

I’m more of an optimist, and a not a screenwriter maximizing dramatic impact. The first step in improving anything is recognizing where the First Place is, and then deciding to step to a better place.

I hope we look back to now and say,
“Well, in the first place, Michaelene succeeded because she wrote The Last Supper Catering Company.”
“Well, in the first place, Tom succeeded because he built from what he had available.”
“Well, in the first place, we never would’ve improved the lives of people and the planet if we hadn’t recognized where we were and where we wanted to go.”

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Trends In Images

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Tom Trimbath

Facebook is taking us back to the seventies. If you’re not on facebook, don’t worry. This trend may be coming your way too. Posters are back. Quotes are being integrated with images to create messages and stories. Words don’t seem to be enough. Instead of posting personal updates, or quoting famous lines, people are passing along posters as poems that convey more than the words or the images do alone. It is a new wave of creation and a new means of communication. I don’t know exactly where it is heading, but I see some of the consequences occurring now. It is changing the way people spend money and the way they view the world.

Last night was a quick bit of fun. No, nothing that racy. I enjoy public speaking, or at least recognize that I’m not as intimidated by it as others, so I offer myself up to talk to groups. Of course, it is a sales opportunity, but I did it even when I had enough money. Two days ago I got a call from a friend I met at the Money And Life Conference. John Pendleton was the photographer and participant so we got to talking life, the universe, and photography. He’s also the President of the Whidbey Island Camera Club. Their speaker for Tuesday night’s meeting backed out. He asked me to fill in on short notice. I said, “Sure!” Then I asked the detailed questions. Where and when is it? What do you want me to say? How long do you want me to talk?

They let me set up a display of most of the ways I exhibit and sell my photos, and let me talk for about 15-20 minutes. It went by in a rush. Then the four dozen or so photographers held their monthly review of each others’ work. It was impressive. Exquisite timing of fireworks and ferris wheels. Subtle and strong weathered structures. Sepia-toned lilies. Mirrored reflections that effectively show two stories at once. While I’m at it, I’ll continue. A cafe in France that worked as a single image, a diptych, or a triptych. A woman and a Ducatti and a lesson in changing a story by cropping. On the street film portraits in China that show two emotions in one frame. Yep. I had a good time.

Besides their talents, I was impressed by their technical skills and the amount of education and energy they exerted. Photoshop versus Aperture. Nikon versus Canon. Debates ensue. Most of the accomplished artists were creating for their own benefit. They spent thousands of dollars on equipment and software, and days of effort transforming a few shutter clicks into far more involved stories. For many people, a simple photo does not suffice – not on facebook and not on their hard drive. Few of them are trying to sell. All of them get some satisfaction from what they do.

The goal rarely has anything to do with money, and is more likely to aim for greater creativity.

Writers are the same way. Most books never make money. That means most authors never make money. A few years ago, I was told that half of the profits in the publishing industry come from 20 authors, not 20% of the authors, but 20 authors. Yet, in that same time, the number of writers becoming authors, the number of people self-publishing, has dramatically increased. If it was only about the money there’d be a lot more disappointed authors out there. I consult with artists and authors, and teach classes in Modern Self-Publishing (July 21st in Freeland, August 18 & 19 in Coupeville, and available in your town too.) The majority of writers want to become authors because they have something to say. Making money can be a great side effect, but the main incentive is communication. Writers are luckier than photographers though. The equipment and classes cost less.

In my previous post, A Grocery Bag Of Garbage, I said, “Most of the money I need to make is for mortgage, insurance, and utilities – not stuff.” I am still scrambling to find a way to make that happen after my Triple Whammy. (Yes, I continue to hunt for a job and my home is market.) Even when I’ve had significant discretionary income, most of the extra money that didn’t go into buying stock went into buying knowledge through reading, classes, and experiences. I look forward to returning to that status. There is a lot I want to learn and experiences I want to experience. If you’ve read my blog often enough you can probably guess that I’ll turn those into blog posts, photo exhibits, talks, and books. Information is healthiest when it isn’t boxed, stored, and let to dust.

There was a traveler there last night who is inspirational. Jennifer bought a tear-drop trailer, an exercise in stylish minimalism, and left Wisconsin to learn about herself and her country. Here’s a quote from her chronicle.
“Again I say: this is America. This is you and me. These are the folks who make everyday America happen. Electricians, waitresses, customers…we all came together and supported each other. I thought I was going out to see America, see the parks, nature areas, towns, but what I am really seeing are the people who populate and are our country.”
It is a similar sentiment to why and how I travel. She isn’t going shopping. Besides, there’s only so much room in a tear-drop trailer. (Check out her photo gallery to see how she does it.) She was at the Money And Life Conference as well. From what I can tell, she too is questioning “stuff”. Traveling where everything has to fit in a small space is illuminating. I now know that I can travel for weeks on what fits in a backpack or a set of panniers. I’d tell you more about her experiences, but I lost the link. She was nice enough to send it again, but now there are 33 pages of story to catch up on. Hey, that sounds like a book (hint, hint.)

Ironically, what I was talking about last night was stuff. Here’s how to sell a print, or a satin, or a book, or a poster. The art business has been depressed for the last few years. Not the best time for me to make money from five-year long photo essays, even if they are of wonderful places like Whidbey. Yet there is a demand for imagery and a desire for expression. I find that encouraging. If people are more interested in communicating than acquiring then society may be heading in a healthy direction. The conventional economy may not appreciate the move, but conversing uses fewer resources than consuming. Maybe along the way we’ll mutually learn, and benefit, and travel through new and better experiences.

I hope my books and photos help with that conversation. My passion is for people and ideas, and I use words and images to convey ideas between people. That has a value, and I guess that is one reason I am comfortable with people buying a bit of stuff from me. I also know that maybe we are all hunting for new ways to express ourselves and to communicate, so I plan to merge my words and images into posters. I’ve uploaded the first and will make the others as time allows. I don’t know where that effort will lead me, but I imagine that won’t stop me. Following my intuition is a trend I have.

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A Grocery Bag Of Garbage

Posted on July 14, 2012 by Tom Trimbath

My garbageman awarded me a verbal honor. He laughed when I asked if he would take some slightly outsized trash. Of course. According to him, I throw out less trash than anyone on his five routes. He was happy to finally meet me. I had a lot of unofficial credit built up. The extra trash was barely noticed. Evidently there are benefits to being able to fit a week’s garbage into one grocery bag. It isn’t a challenge. It is merely the consequence of living frugally where frugal means respecting the resources of materials, time, and money. Living this way makes it hard to imagine living anyway else. I didn’t realize how uncommon my story is. Really? The lightest on five routes? What else are people throwing away? There was a lesson in a grocery bag of garbage.

I feel odd writing about my frugality because it is habitual. Even as a millionaire and married there wasn’t much difference in my lifestyle. But lately it has become more apparent to me. Money worries can do that. Habits that became unconscious have been reviewed as I reflect on my lifestyle. I’ve found little to change.

A depleted portfolio (down > 90%) and a lack of a paycheck mean my money is tight. Hopefully, my consulting business and artist sales grow to compensate, or even exceed, for my needs. Being prudent though, I’ve put my home on the market in case the business, the portfolio, or a windfall don’t come through. In this society, I’ve got to get the money to live from somewhere, and the place I live in is my largest asset.

I had plans for the bits and pieces of old chairs because I am resourceful. Why buy new when a bit of cloth can remake a lawn chair? (Ah, I just had an idea that would’ve worked. Rats.) But in the world of real estate, it is deemed necessary to visually de-clutter so the buyers can visually fill the scene with their mental image of their stuff. A few armfuls later and the carport was much cleaner.

A trip through the neighborhood proved my garbageman’s point. Houses occupied by only one person had two garbage cans, or cans with bulging lids, or cans that needed wheels so they could get out to the curb. First I wondered what was in the cans, but then I wondered how much it cost to fill those cans. I saw the second garbage can as a sign of wealth. Every week they bought enough stuff to fill two trash cans. That meant buying at least two trash cans worth of stuff, which probably involved several shopping trips in the car, or lots of deliveries. It also probably meant no recycling. My friends who shop by bicycle probably don’t have the same problem. (Occupy Your Bike!)

My recycle trips are also about a bag’s worth too, but they are only every other week. Evidently, I have been exercising the other two R’s: Reduce and Reuse. This is not a brag. It is a personal surprise.

I suspect that the easiest way to fill a trash can is with lots of packaging. Plastic doesn’t compact easily, and maybe people are throwing away cardboard boxes without breaking them down instead of recycling them. Packaged foods probably account for a lot. Yard waste can end up in the trash too.

There isn’t much plastic in what I buy, unless it can be recycled. Take a virtual trip out to Midway Island via my friends who are documenting ocean plastic. They can tell where the birds have died because their carcasses are piles of plastic in the shape of a bird. There’s so much plastic that the birds can’t distinguish between trash and fish. It is easy to imagine a plastic bag being confused for a jellyfish. Cardboard recycles, so I don’t throw it away unless I hung onto it for painting projects. I like to cook, so there isn’t much packaging with my food. Veggies are in bags. Meat comes with those little trays, but each bit of meat stretches across many meals. The biggest food packing I deal with are egg cartons, and I use them for firelighters (I put a bit of used candle wax in the bottom and break it up into a dozen firestarters), or I find folks that have other uses for them. My yard waste is mulch and compost material. That’s good stuff; especially, when it is mixed in with food scraps.

It is easy to become inured to waste. I recall working in the corporate world and watching some very unconscious, unfrugal behaviour. Materials were easy to waste because the company would always buy more of whatever was needed, and there was no personal benefit to reducing, reusing, or recycling. Despite urgency, time was easy to waste because asking yet another irrelevant question delayed important decisions while rarely threatening anyone’s paycheck. Money was easy to waste because it was corporate money. People who balked at spending for a fancy meal, had no problem when it came to the catering budget. I was like that for a while until one day I was looking at a budget item. It was a small budget item, not even six figures. It was about as large as my salary. How many such items were casually accepted and possibly wasted, and did anyone notice the correlation with layoffs?

Government seems to have the corporate issue at a larger scale. The term billions is used freely, yet there aren’t billions of Americans. Every billion dollar program means more than three dollars per person – and we talk about trillion dollar debts and budgets!

Pardon me as I take a breath.

What I notice is that my frugal lifestyle is actually enjoyable. Most of the money I need to make is for mortgage, insurance, and utilities – not stuff. I’ve seen others live similarly frugal lives and, as long as they can pay the bills, they enjoy a precious freedom. I’ve seen businesses and corporations operate with care and respect for materials, time, and money, and they are seen as green and tend to have lower expenses. (I enjoyed f5’s stockholders meetings that they held in the breakroom. FFIV) After I post this I may go research the most frugal country in the world. It wouldn’t surprise me to find that it is a nice place to live.

Wouldn’t it be amazing, that when we finally contact an extra-terrestrial civilization, they look at us with respect because of the respect we show for what we have, how we spend it, and what we save? Maybe we’ll be honored for that.

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A Photo Marathon On Whidbey

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Tom Trimbath

Go stand at the finish line of a marathon. Many runners throw their arms up in triumph, but most cross the line focussed on finding a place to rest. Yesterday I finished my photo marathon, a five-year project to photograph Whidbey Island’s nature.

I picked five places, visited each for twelve months, and photographed the everyday beauty that the postcards and snapshots overlook. When I got home after handing the files over to the printer I just wanted to sit and sip and consider what I’d done. It is true for the financial marathon I am in now. I suspect it is true for marathons of all types, including the longest marathon any of us run – a life. The trick is remembering that celebrations celebrate more than crossing the finish line, and there are many finish lines.

My writing and my photography tend towards marathon projects. Bicycling across America, walking across Scotland, and particularly my twelve month series about Washington’s Cascades. My twelve month studies started there. I was tired of trying to find a new place to hike every weekend. Guidebooks became checklists instead of enticements. One day I wanted to hike and didn’t want to dive into research and maps, so I went back to the place I’d hiked a month earlier. Life was busy, and I did it again, and again. The place was the same but changing. I decided to do that for a year. After a year I realized that visiting a place once was like a one-night stand. Visiting it for twelve months was like a long term relationship. I witnessed moods that weren’t apparent at a first glance or on a Saturday afternoon in August. What started as a convenience became a revelation.

After writing my first book, Just Keep Pedaling, I knew that I could write well and write better. Washington’s Cascades should be well documented with epic tales chronicled by such an active adventure community that includes so many excellent authors, yet no one had taken the simple step of visiting a place for twelve months in a row and describing the nature that embodies a place even when it isn’t the height of hiking or skiing season. The Cascades are broad and high enough to produce every micro-climate from temperate rain forest to alpine to forests dry enough to burn. One book wouldn’t suffice. I wrote three: Twelve Months at Barclay Lake (the wet west side), Twelve Months at Lake Valhalla (high and on the divide), and Twelve Months at Merritt Lake (the dry east side). They are all along Highway 2 and are a rough 40 mile slice of the mountains.

Whidbey is bigger. From my house near the southern tip to Deception Pass is basically 50 miles. I moved to Whidbey seven years ago to finish the book about Merritt Lake, was complimented on my photos, so decided to court another slice of nature. Whidbey is bigger. Three places wouldn’t do. I chose five: Cultus Bay (my neighborhood and catch basin for local tsunamis), Double Bluff (big sandy, public beaches, and a dynamic escarpment), Admiralty Head (the gateway to Puget Sound paired with Port Townsend), Penn Cove (quiet and alive with mussels and tourists), and Deception Pass (the most dramatic and visited because of its iconic tides, cliffs, and bridge).

I tackle big tasks.

There are a lot of finish lines to come. All of the photos are at the printer (Fine Balance Imaging), then they must be titled, printed, matted, signed, framed, exhibited as Twelve Months at Double Bluff (thank you Windy and MaryJo at Raven Rocks Gallery), and then exhibited as a five year group (come on by for the Open Studio Tour in October – unless I sell my house, which is an unfortunately prudent step.) There are enough finish lines to justify a case of champagne. I’m more frugal than that. I celebrated with a martini made from homemade spiced vodka, neither shaken or stirred. Stay tuned because I’ll report on the finish lines as I cross them. (And please visit the online gallery and buy the photos that you like the best.)

My financial marathon seems to match our country’s economic marathon. There are a bunch of us running for longer than we’d like, without enough relief stations along the way, but our best course is to pace ourselves and continue. When I ran marathons, I’d cross the halfway point about the time the winners finished the course, yet I’d cheer my accomplishment. I can hear friends and news reports of hands being thrown up in the air as people get jobs or corporations report record profits. I’m back in the pack, moving my feet, wondering how I signed up for this. I actually thought I was within sight of the finish line long ago, but incredible, coincidental, bad luck put me back into the race. At least I am amongst interesting company.

When I’ve run marathons, or taken on voyages like crossing countries, or dove into multi-year artistic essays, I never took it for granted that I’d complete the task and succeed – and yet I have. And I didn’t wait until the end to celebrate. Little goals along the way help maintain momentum. I feel that way financially now, not taking any of it for granted and not stopping either.

I suspect that is what investors must do despite the recent portfolio upsets. I suspect that is what the country must do despite the recent turmoil, though the country, the government that is us, must also recognize that a lot of it was self-induced. I am optimistic because I see enough people who recognize the need for a prolonged effort to move towards a common goal. There are those that are more interested in retreating to where we started as if that is possible; but for most of my marathons, the start and finish lines were in different places. I only made progress by moving forward and I was always different by the time I crossed the line.

I wasn’t planning on going here, but MicroVision (MVIS) comes to mind. Long Term Buy and Hold (LTBH) is an investing style that I follow, and have exercised to a tedious degree with MVIS. While there are no guarantees that they’ll cross the finish line, that they’ll succeed with their technology, business, and products, they and we shareholders are undoubtedly in a marathon. Considering some of the options they have for succeeding, I might find myself offered a quick ride to the finish if I can hold onto the stock.

Quick solutions are seductive. I’ve rarely taken them, and I’ve accomplished a lot. Slow and steady can work at every level from personal to global. And if you want a bit of the natural, cruise through my books and photos that are more than snapshots, that show a different perspective that arises from calmly, consistently, progressing towards a goal while celebrating every day.

I think I’ll celebrate completing this rather long post with a cup of tea. The champagne comes later, maybe after one of these posts goes positively viral.

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