harsh lesson

150k, 10k in repairs, 220k ARV
This is a really tough one for me to take, but I admit that I screwed up royally. I faxed the seller a contract instead of sitting him down and making one up.
I should have got a contract from him when I made the appointment, and not hesitated for 1 second on the worth. I didn't do my homework.
So, in summary, here are the lessons I learned:
1. do your homework, and do it thoroughly. I need to know my values and what constitutes a deal or not.
2. get an appointment to get the contract. You can always rip up the contract later, but you can't get a contract when the seller disappears.
3. you can't steal in slow motion. this is self-explanatory.

David Allen Rocks

I'm using David Allen's system for Personal Organization, and I must say, it kicks ass. I'm probably the most organized I've ever been, even though I have more stuff to manage. Having a real file cabinet is just indispensable, and having different lists for different types of tasks is just great.
The down side is that all these lists need to be easy to find, updated consistently, and intuitive. Hopefully, by continuing my once per week parsing, I will be able to keep up with everything. I'm also reading 1 book per week until the marketing really starts spitting fire, and taking time away.
Off subject, www.nowok.net is a great site for broadband users to listen to Chinese music.
Peace,
John

changing, always

Brad and I split up the business Aug 3rd, and it's been a wild ride. Brad has taken an existing system and continued to work it. I've implemented a couple new systems, while getting signing up. It's been hard.
From Brad's actions, it seems that he really doesn't want to do anything with these properties we own jointly. He's not answering my phone calls, e-mails, or inqueries about our shared properties. This is a partnership ending that's turning sour very quickly. I'm thinking of taking my money and running, and letting him take care of all the headaches the way he wants.
For me to implement this, I need to cut all dependencies on him, and negotiate a fair solution.