Category: Writing

If you’ve ever found yourself in a sticky situation where both choices are hard, I can relate.

This can happen both with emotional choices, financial choices, but also with physical objects.

I once worked for a furniture store. One day while delivering a couch I found my head stuck between the bottom of the couch and the top of a stair. I thought, “This would make a good story someday.”

Once when I was working as a maintenance man at a summer camp I found myself with my head between the toilet and the floor. I thought to myself, “I’ve got to tell my friends about this when I get back.”

I have lots of stories to tell because I’ve been in a lot of weird places and had to make a lot of hard choices.

Do I wish I could have an easy life? Yes. Does an easy life help you grow? Maybe not.

I recently read Malcolm Gladwell’s David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, which tells stories about people who have grown up or encountered hard conditions that have helped them in life.

One question Gladwell asks is, ‘Would you want your child to grow up with this hardship if you knew it makes them better off?’ He knows the answer is “no”, but the book is about how good can come from bad.

I have seen this in my own life, which hasn’t been all that hard, but I have had some hard times. It is through difficulty that we learn and grow and change. And it makes the good times all the sweeter.

It was an unusually warm December night in 1998. It was our first semester at Kentucky Christian College and a couple friends from high school had come to visit.

After dinner, in the pitch of darkness, we all piled into my white, 1984 Caprice Classic, and drove out to Grayson Lake, which was a place we went to hang out often.

As we drove through Grayson, Bill Withers’ “Lean on Me” came on the radio (we didn’t have Spotify back then) and immediately everyone began to sing along.

Sometimes in our lives we all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there’s always tomorrow

It was one of those serendipitous moments you knew that was special, but you couldn’t hold onto. I tried as hard as I could to enjoy it while it lasted, knowing it would be over soon. Update on 9/4/2019: I had a similar feeling in May of 2017 when I went out for an evening in La Crosse with Jason and Ryan.

Lean on me, when you’re not strong
And I’ll be your friend
I’ll help you carry on
For it won’t be long
‘Til I’m gonna need
Somebody to lean on

One of the girls leaned her head on my shoulder as she sang. I would later lose touch with her within a year despite connecting on Facebook and regularly seeing her brother.

Please swallow your pride
If I have faith you need to borrow
For no one can fill those of your needs
That you won’t let show

I didn’t have a camera in my pocket, but I did have a VHS camcorder. We didn’t have YouTube then, but I later copied the tapes to DVD. I was a YouTuber before it was cool.

You just call on me brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you’ll understand
We all need somebody to lean on

Sometimes friends we have are only with us for a time, like seasons. Despite being connected on Facebook, people can still drift out of our lives. It’s up to us to make new friends.

9-11-2011

Things have been a little rough lately, but life doesn’t stop throwing you curve balls just because you change careers. Rather than focusing on the negatives though, which is easy to do, I’d rather tell you about the good things that have happened and what I hope will happen in the future. I have started reading Proverbs in an effort to read one chapter per day. I can say that I have done that so far and began reading a little ahead each day so that on the 11th I’m actually around 14.5. I didn’t realize there was so much business advice in Proverbs, or at least that is how I am viewing it in my current mindset. “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man” says Proverbs 24:33-34. This view of doing nothing leading to poverty and being diligent leading to success and riches is repeated over and over in Proverbs. Another theme is righteousness and integrity. “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity,” says Proverbs 11:3. Be one man. Be a righteous man. Be a diligent man. And you will be rewarded for it on earth and in heaven – these are the themes I’m picking up from Proverbs. Solomon, who wrote most of them was very rich and successful, and very wise. Proverbs says to seek wisdom, listen to your parents (who I view as both the actual parents, a metaphor for our leaders, and our heavenly Father), and the word (God’s commandments). There have been times since I have been reading that I have been in situations where I will look upon another woman and think about her as a path to sheol or wanting to bait me with her honey and lead me to death. There have been times when I’ve been tempted to be a different man when I’m alone than when I am with others. And other times when I have been quick to anger. Filling my mind with these proverbs is like a hand on my shoulder throughout the day.

I don’t know exactly what to do or focus on in my business. I have somewhat condensed my two target customers to web design/social media management (Telablue) and computer repair/mobile phone support (Geek Hand), but have had no new customers with each yet. Thankfully, some customers have increased their use of me, but I’ll need more in order to continue along this path. The strange thing is if you asked me what I wanted to be doing (to make money) I wouldn’t have an answer. I am simply doing what has worked in the past. And from the client’s perspective, I haven’t really identified exactly what they are most frustrated with and what they are hiring me for (so that I can do more of this for them and others).

Three days ago I watched a documentary called Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead about a guy who does a juice fast for 60 days. I did it for 2 days (Thursday and Friday) and it was really gross. I lost some pounds and had a clear head, but it made me sort of sick of food (like get sick at the smell of food) so I stopped it. I’ve taken today to rest and think about things. Tomorrow is kind of a big day for me in small ways. I got out of my lease at my office in Tipton and the landlord lady (who locked me out after being late on rent) is letting me in to get my computer. It’s going to be really embarrassing. Things like that make me feel bad, but I guess I should be glad that I learned from the experience and am saving $600 on future rent. The weird thing is that part of the reason I leased it was to be able to use it during the Pork Festival, but that was the very time when I was locked out.

I’m sure you’ve heard about God opening and closing doors or using green lights and red lights. I’ve had what seems like several doors close or red lights to things in my life in the last month: My app developer didn’t want to work with me any more and sent my money back. There’s the office thing. The guy I was working with to start a seminar/training business stopped talking to me. I told my parents we couldn’t go to Missouri to see my grandma’s funeral after several unexpected expenses came up. Although I had two interviews with ExactTarget, they didn’t call me back. My $200+ a month blog, Nook Share, started paying out less than $10. Those are the door closings. The open doors: I wrote a book and published it on Amazon. I hired (I’m paying him with experience and food) an intern who I’m training to help me out and learn what I do, which is what Michael Hyatt talked about today (building a team). I attended a two-day blogging conference on a client’s dime. I found a BNI group to attend in Carmel this Thursday and a networking Meetup to attend in Carmel tomorrow. I attended a LinkingIndiana event in Indianapolis where I met several people. My intern passed out Geek Hand flyers at the Pork Festival and I got to ride in the parade with my daughter, who won the mini-4H princess contest.

If you put the door closes on a scale against the door openings you’d probably have a lot of lost income on the door closings and a bunch of hope on the door openings, but it is what it is for now. I’m still me – a smart guy with a lot of potential. I’m just trying to figure out how to transfer that into a form that other people can recognize.

Have a good week!

I started out in Kansas City on the east side of the Missouri where I grew till I was eight and in not so much a hurry
My wife had just turned six when I moved out to Indiana
Born and raised a Tiptonite she was a little bannana’s

When I was twelve I moved down to different piece of the American pie
And my wife’s dad moved up to his own real estate in the sky
We both it was rough and we had to adjust, but for her it was harder
She had lost her friend, her soulmate, her one and only father

For a while there it seemed like all my girlfriends were forty-five minutes away
And I was driving out on the road for over and hour and a half a day
Just to get the chance to have a dance with a philly from the Net
Never knowing that the girl this time was my wife whom I had met

11/27/09

When first we met in July of 2001 I was mowing grass for $7.00 an hour after having received a 50 cent raise for doing good work. A week earlier I had been hired on at Old National Bank after convincing the interviewer, Corey Jennings, that while I was not currently a fast keyer, I did prefer to use the 10-key and I could improve. I did improve and continued to earn $7.47 an hour keying. As my relationship with you progressed I realized I was falling in love with you. From the very first night I knew you, I knew that I had found my wife. Then I re-entered school for my first and only semester at Ball State after attending Kentucky Christian College for two years and spending one semester at Milligan College in Tennessee. By September of that year you had accepted my proposal for marriage after which you asked me to ask your mother for permission. I remember asking her at the bottom of the steps in what is now our house. She cried and said, “Yes.”

By October, the mowing season was coming to an end and I quit mowing. My boss at Clean Cut, Troy Harshman was so pleased with my work, he offered me $7.50 an hour to stay, but I felt I could not continue to work two jobs and go to school. However, by November I was offered a job cleaning a hotel so again I began working a second job, this time earning $5.50 an hour. That Thanksgiving was the first Thanksgiving I spent with your family and I remember showing up late after having cleaned people’s hotel rooms all morning. I continued to work at the hotel through Christmas, but when Old National moved to Indianapolis, I was promoted to Balance Controller, earning $10.25 an hour. I quit the hotel and transferred from Ball State to IUPUI. You were still attending Depauw University. I would visit you on the weekends and you would visit me some nights at work. One of my fondest memories is the weekend trip we took together to Terre Haute.

I was still at Old National in August of 2002 when we got married and I stayed at Old National through the birth of our first child, Magdalena in 2004 and our second child, Carmina in 2006. I graduated from IU in August of 2004 at which point I began working a second job with Neighborhood Geeks. I continued to earn raises at Old National until eventually choosing to go back to school in 2006 after reaching $13.50 an hour. In June of 2007 I decided to become Microsoft Certified and begin a career in the IT field, both of which I accomplished in four months. Although I worked temporarily at two call centers, I was in school and working for my parents landscaping business to make ends meet until October of 2007 when I began working for AllThingsIT for $20 an hour. That same month I started my own business to help people market their services online, which provided a steady source of income in 2009. In June of 2008 I left AllThingsIT to begin working for First Merchants Corporation for $20 an hour.

When you told me about the finances this past summer, I didn’t get mad. I didn’t leave you. I stuck with you. I worked harder, but the harder I worked, the less time I had to spend with you. And the harder I worked, the more angry I got when things like the laundry didn’t get done. When I found out what you had been doing at the turn of this month I was slow to anger and quick to forgive, but when I saw your lack of a contrite heart and a failure to reconcile with me, I found it unbearable to be around you. I kept bringing up the past and you retaliated with bringing up more of my past. All of a sudden I was someone who had been mean to you our entire marriage, I was someone who was always trying to leave. All of a sudden I was someone who never wanted to be with you. This is the same guy who has worked two jobs for you and our family for 8 years. This is the same guy who has married you twice, who swore he would take care of you no matter what. Yes, I left, but I came back. I was willing to work things out and I still am. I love you. End of story.

The living room glowed with excitement. They had bought bagels and cream cheese. It was a historic moment.

Two weeks ago I had walked into my job, poured a cup of coffee, and been escorted out the door. Now I’m sitting on a couch.

As Matt went around the room he mentioned each of the team members. Jennifer and Joy were sales. Michael was outreach and product development. Marcella was wholesale. Madeline was Marketing. Madeleine was finance. Joseph was logistics. And I was IT.

“If you’ll have me!” I said, immediately embarrassing myself. Why couldn’t I keep my mouth shut? Turns out it didn’t matter.

I worked there full-time 6 weeks while I continued to look for another job. Eventually the job ended and I was still looking.

But the bagels were good.

Winter is Coming

When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. -2 Chronicles 7:13-14

2013 was a time of contraction, but I failed to grow in 2014. I was in the summer of my life, but winter was coming. This is a story of what I learned and how I was redeemed in 2014.

Highlights of the Year

• Attended the annual New Year’s Day Game Day at Jason’s house with Cullen and friends.
• In February I began going swimming at the YMCA in Fishers.
• One of my clients, Skinny Coconut Oil, had their first $10,000 day in March.
• My youngest daughter, Amalia, started walking in April. By December she was getting her molars in.
• I joined Launch Fishers and went to King’s Island in May.
• In June, Kevin completed soccer at White River Christian Church and he created KevinTheRockStar.com.
• I attended MixWest in July, the Global Leadership Conference in August, and the Storyline Conference in October.
• My wife made Silver in her Young Living essential oil business in November.
• I started a new job at GoServicePro on December 1.

In January my family and I got the flu. This time of year is normally populated with client requests for web changes, but I ended up doing a lot of IT work instead. One client upgraded 5 Windows XP computers to Windows 7 to avoid the end of Windows XP Support in April of 2014. I renewed my contract with the Han Institute and increased my contract with Indianapolis Dentistry and Skinny and Company.

In February, Jason, Justin, and I started a book club and corresponding podcast. I started learning more about web automation systems from IFTTT and Zapier, which I used to help automate marketing at Skinny and Company. This allowed me to do a presentation on the topic at the Indianapolis Quantified Self Meetup and planted the seed for a possible future podcast about information systems. Unfortunately the podcast was short lived and did not continue.

In March my family and I started playing Minecraft together. It helped my wife and I get to know our kids better because we could see how they interacted with their friends and the “world” through Minecraft. But the kids were learning too. They were learning about math, how to solve problems, and how to work with other people. There were also business lessons like, ‘you have to work for something of value’.

In April I started learning about making online courses and used Learning Sets as the project name, but after Jason and I made our first online course on Saturday, April 12, Jason convinced me to name the project Bold Bros instead. I purchased a membership to Launch Fishers and we had our first meeting there on May 3. Launch Fishers is a coworking facility that gave me a place to work outside of home. With the kids taking over more of the computers at home, it was easier to work in an office building.

In May, side work began increasing. My wife’s business selling essential oils was taking more of my time and I still had client work outside of my day job at Worksmart. I decided to take a break and so Jason and I took a day off to go to King’s Island like we used to do when we were in high school. The park seemed much smaller now and the rides left us feeling old. We left early in the afternoon for home, exhausted. Between playing video games and riding roller coasters, I was starting to regress in life.

In June I worked less on Bold Bros. and began working more on my wife’s business with her. Kevin was in soccer and there was grass to be mowed. I started going to Launch Fishers after church on Sundays a few times I took Kevin. He wanted to create his own website called “Kevin the Rock Star”. Kevin and I were also working the Tipton Farmers Market selling bread on Saturdays. I tried to use it as an opportunity to teach him about sales and business. This was the summer before the fall, but I didn’t know it yet.

In July instead of learning new SQL skills, working on a business, or investing in time with my kids, I began playing Civilization V with my co-worker and friend from Worksmart, Andy Rose. In the hundreds of hours of play that month, I only won 3 times: twice a Scientific Victory and once a Domination Victory. I was determined to do better. By the end of the month Worksmart put me in charge of social media right before I headed off to Mixwest, a local conference covering Marketing, Technology, and Design.

When I came back from the conference I was laid off from my ob at Worksmart, but that same day I got invited to attend the Global Leadership Conference in Indianapolis for free. This was something I would not have been able to do if I still had a day job so I was happy to go. Meanwhile, I began working full time temporarily at Skinny and Company helping their digital marketing team update their website and push forward on marketing projects. All the while I was still applying for jobs and going to interviews.

In September I helped Jason and Justin launch Sycamore Creative. Jason and I traveled down to Justin’s house in Kentucky with an aspiring film producer, Chris. I was his production assistant. After the video shoot, we all drove to Madison, Indiana to eat at Harry’s Stone Grill. The Colts were playing their first game so we asked if we could sit in a room with a TV. They cleaned a room with TVs just for us. At the end of September, Skinny and Company laid me off from full-time temporary work. I was out of a job again.

In October I continued applying for jobs, had several interviews, but no job offers. Things were starting to look bleak. I still had client work to do, which I did, but it wasn’t what I was making before and so I was starting to run a monthly deficit. I began reaching out to dentists for new client work and began actively reaching out to network with others. At the end of the month I attended the Storyline Conference in Chicago with my friend, Jason. That’s when I realized that playing games instead of learning skills was a mistake.

In November I started rapid skill-building to help my job-hunting efforts. I was learning JavaScript, SQL, Business Analysis, Regular Expressions (RegEx), and XML. I started wishing I had spent some of the time I spent playing Civilization in July or Minecraft in March upgrading my skills instead. While Warren Buffet does play Bridge every night, he didn’t start out that way. I was worth exactly how much my bank account said it had, so I had to work on improving my skills. The winter was starting to get cold.

On December 1 I started a new full-time job at GoServicePro in Indianapolis. It was the answer to a lot of prayer – from me and others who had been praying for me. I am thankful for the friends and family who helped give me part-time work and for all of the lessons I learned. The biggest lesson I learned this year was that God is in control and that it was necessary to obey his commandments. In 2014 winter started early for me, but I’m hopeful for an early spring in 2015 as I continue to follow God and work on my skills.

When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today. If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God. -Deuteronomy 8:10-20

2012-11-01

I got up at 5:30 this morning to be at Tea’s Me Cafe at 22nd and Pennsylvania in Indianapolis by 7:30. I’m currently sitting at the McDonalds at 96th and Meridian. I got the Big Breakfast, Biscuits and Gravy, and a small orange juice. There were three guys here having a Bible study or talking about their church – I’m not sure which. They all had beards.

I may be starting up at AllThingsIT this coming Monday, which stresses me out. I may be meeting up with Joy this afternoon which stresses me out. I just want to curl up on a couch and sit a spell. I’ve been going at it pretty hard for a couple of weeks. It might not look like it, but I’m having to push myself to even keep doing the normal stuff I’m doing now.

I’m still working at Dr. Reese’s office for now and am attempting to keep employed there in the afternoons after working mornings at AllThingsIT. My wife wants me to make more money. She wants the money as soon as possible and to spend it before I even make it. I guess that’s what wives do. She’s pregnant. Again. Last night was Halloween. Kids had fun.

Erich

2012-11-05

I started working at AllThingsIT again doing marketing work. I had to go to work at the Reese office after that. I’m pretty tired right now, but am experimenting with Shopperpress for WordPress to import in Amazon items into a storefront.

Erich

2012-11-06

I finished filming at the Reese Office and am copying the raw video onto my hard drive. It’s almost 10 GB of video. I’m really tired. Today was the election. I think Obama will win, but not sure yet.

Erich

2012-11-07

I had a meeting with a new client and he said he wanted to go forward, but he hasn’t yet replied to the proposal I emailed him. I asked for half-down before going forward, but didn’t give him instructions on how to do that, nor did I mention it in our initial meeting at Starbucks at 55 Monument Circle downtown Indianapolis.  When I met with Joy later on that day she hit me like a tornado by immediately asking me to do 3 things all at once while I was already in the middle of doing two things for her. Barack Obama won the election. Carmina and Kevin got new patches on their vests for Awana. I’m still pretty stressed non-stop all day and still going to bed at 9 and waking up at 5:30.

Erich

2012-11-08

I went over web content with Andy, then drove to meet Joy. She has company over working for her. The house was a mess and she was stressed. Her sons keep her awake at night with requests from the other side of the world. She’s been saying “shit” a lot lately, which bothers me. I walked out on her twice. The first time I had to come back, but the second time she called and I waited for her and her son to figure out the problem over the phone. It was rude and unprofessional of me, but I didn’t like the way I was being treated or how my time was being spent. I’m not a tool – and if I lose the Reese’s because of the breakdown in my relationship with Joy, there are other things I can be doing than her son’s homework or her other son’s business.

Erich

2012-11-11

I was tired most of the day, but we went to church this morning, ran errands, then went home. Suzanne fixed ham for dinner last night and for lunch this morning. This evening she made one of my favorite meals, blackened chicken pasta. It was good.

I didn’t want to work on my work, but forced myself to attempt to create and edit a Shopperpress child theme. I then took a nap, watched some Glee, and then worked on Teas Me Cafe’s WP-Ecommerce website. That took all I had to finish it.

Suzanne says I have a fever. Maybe she’s right. I do feel hot. It’s back to AllThingsIT tomorrow morning to write up content in the new ‘containers’ I created last Friday. After that I’m headed to Reese office for IT work. Should be a challenge.

Erich

2012-11-19

Oh man, today was a doozie. I had an emergency domain transfer of teasmecafe.com and couldn’t figure out how to get his email working again. I finally just set him up with Google Apps and trained him on how to use it. He was stressed and I was stressed. That was on top of working 4 hours at AllthingsIT and 4 hours at Reese office before heading home to try and fix the https:// redirect to the subdomain problem I was having with teasmecafe.com. I ended up redirecting the subdomain back to the primary domain as a workaround, but users will still see an error page during the redirect process. John Chalfant mailed a check and AllthingsIT paid for the first time. I guess it was a good day overall. I’m thankful for the work.

Erich

2012-12-02

I went and saw James Bond, Skyfall this evening. I had to walk to CVS to get the cash first. I bought a Snickers and withdrew $20. I walked the Snickers back to my car and put it in the console for those times when my sugar gets out of whack and I need something quickly. I wore a white t-shirt, but I wasn’t cold. It’s a warm December again, just like in 1998.

Erich

2012-12-10

Today I woke up at 6:24, 6 minutes before my alarm was to go off. I went to work at AllThingsIT and then went to the chiropractor. Today was the first day of exercise therapy. I found out my gluts are really tight and need stretching. I ate the chili Suzanne packed me at Jason’s house. Krista gave me some bread and water. I drove to Shelbyville to recycle the ewaste. The same lady greeted me and the same guy brought out the same trash can he brought out before. I listened to the “One Night” musical I made in the car. I drove to the Reese Office and used WD-40 on the chair in room 1 and on the back door. Brandon had a stiff neck. I installed the Apteryx license codes finally and tried to get their Tumblr account unblocked. I threw the big trash from Suzanne’s bathroom remodel in the dumptster. I drove to Jason’s house and ate dinner after helping him buy and move a loveseat. It was heavy. I got my saws back to work on the upstairs bathroom and the downstairs bedroom. Now I have to work on Tea’s Me’s stuff so I can go to bed. I have to take out the trash in the morning.

Erich

2012-12-16

The whole family went to church at White River in Noblesville and then me and Magdalena went to Starbucks for hot chocolate, we went to Barnes and Noble for 39 Clues #5, ate lunch at Paradise Bakery, went to the park on College across from Park Tudor, fed the ducks on Westfield Ave in Broad Ripple, walked around Circle Center Mall and up the Monument Circle, toured the University of Indianapolis, worked at Dr. Reese’s Office, then went and saw The Hobbit at Landmark theater with Jason and Silas.

2012-12-22

I took Carmina on a date. We went to breakfast with the family at Jim Dandy, then drove to the bank to deposit a Christmas bonus check from Dr. Reese. I thought about buying a laptop with it, but decided to pay bills instead. Carmina and I then went to Jason’s house to play the new Catan game Jennifer got me for Christmas. Jason won by one point. This was slightly intentional as it will persuade him to want to play again. We ate lunch at Jason’s house then went to Joy’s house to decorate gingerbread men and cupcakes that were left over from last night’s Christmas party. Finally, we drove home, stopping at Marsh to buy her and her mom some flowers. I then went to sleep for the day.

Erich

2012-12-29

I wrote a blog post on Warby Parker and Google Glass then went to Jason’s house. We drove to JC Penny and other stores to do  research for #highfive.

2013-01-05

I drove to Lafayette and met with Angelica, Sharon, Georgia, and Charlie to go over Angelica’s new business plan. We ate dinner and she paid me $1000.

2013-01-19

I got sick. My whole family got the flu. Some also got pneumonia and ear infections. I’m still sick.

2013-02-02

I read So Good They Can’t Ignore you, then wrote a blog post about it here: https://erichstauffer.com/self-development/how-to-work-a-life-of-purpose

2013-02-09

I was sick. Again. Some sort of stomach bug. I’m getting tired of this. And scared.

2013-04-06

I took a nap today. I tried to get caught up on email and side-work. Patty O’Banion stopped in this morning and bought a website for her friend for $200. I’ve contacted him by phone and text, but so far have not got a reply.

Angelica is getting ready to go to China for the Han Clinic/Institute, AllThingsIT is getting ready to move into it’s new building, and Jason and Justin have started doing freelance work for me with Reese and INSBC respectively.

Erich

2013-06-08

Bought a used bike yesterday from the garage sale across the street. Suzanne and kids brought all of the bikes down to Strawtown park and we rode bikes together. Carmina and I went on a bike ride this morning and I went on one again this evening. Carmina and Magdalena had their dance recital today. They did good. I was there to watch. Amalia is almost 4 weeks old now. Samuel likes trains. Kevin wants a basketball. Carmina wants a phone.

2013-06-15

Went to Phoebe’s concert and to Superman, Man of Steel. It was Carmina’s birthday. She wanted to go to McDonalds. We went there for lunch.

2013-06-22

Went to Chicago with Jason and walked around, saw Lake Michigan and the “bean”. Ate at Harry Carray’s restaurant for lunch and at a pizza restaurant for dinner before going to watch World War Z. We then drove to Wisconsin to visit Madison and the University of Wisconsin. We went to the farmer’s market there, took a tour of the campus, checked out the lakes and the trails, and then went to New Glarus Brewery, then home.

2013-07-06

I had a morning meeting at EMD. It was a good meeting to go over his website. He wants videos made. I then went to Zionsville to meet with Angelica and Linda. It was an uncomfortable meeting because Linda was putting down the work I had done and trying to take it from me, but I couldn’t help but think she wasn’t actually better than me, just more vocal than me. I then went to the Reese’s house to work on their computers and meet Christopher for the coconut business. We ate dinner and took a walk.

2013-07-20

Went on the Color Run today with kids. Went to Launch Fishers QS meeting with Jason. Had first web dev meeting with Justin to redesign erichstauffer.com.

Erich

2013-07-27

I was sick with a cold, but went to watch the WordPress Conference, Wordcamp, at Jason’s house with Cullen. We then took a trip through Little Eagle Creek road and West Carmel. I went to be early, around 7 PM. Today I’m having a Coconut meeting about Skinny Coconut Oil.

2013-08-03

Started looking for houses.

2013-08-10

Spent some time with Suzanne for our anniversary. We went to Chili’s. The kids went to her mom’s house. She got a flat tire, but we were at home.

2013-08-17

Went to shoot video at Angelica’s then spent some time with Jason Duncan, which I later wrote a blog post about: https://www.erichstauffer.com/technology/jobs-grants-and-everything-else

2013-08-24

Went to Missouri with Mom, Dad, Kira, and Keilan to see Peggy for her birthday. Spent the night in Missouri on the way there and then arrived at Peggy’s house 5 minutes before she was about to leave for lunch. We went to Belton to eat lunch at The Log Cabin. On the way back we stopped by Price Chopper to get groceries for shishkabobs. That evening we grilled dinner. The following morning we had eggs for breakfast with Peggy then headed home. On the way home I told dad about http://ohlife.com/.

2013-08-31

I edited together “The Dogs of Windfall” and published it on Amazon Kindle. I had a geeks call with Angie Wylde in the morning. I played Catan with Carmina at night.

2013-09-07

It was the pork festival (2013) and we celebrated Kevin’s birthday. Mitch and his family; Jason Duncan and his family; Gaby; Kathy; and my mom and dad came up. Carmina and I rode the Ferris wheel.

2013-09-14

It was the day before Kevin’s birthday. We went to the park at the school.

2013-09-28

I had a meeting in the morning with Wayne Ashford of Tea’s Me Cafe, then Dan Hoffman at Bonzi Sports, and Angelica Kokkalis for Han Institute. I came home late and watched two movies in bed before going to sleep. The next day (Sunday) I went to church with the family then we went to Chili’s and out for frozen yogurt.

2013-10-05

From email to Skinny Team:

It’s in the beginning – a shout out to Erich Stauffer for a recent first sale at Skinny Coconut Oil – he also put a link to Skinny on the podcast page! I thanked him by leaving a comment on the blog post, liking it on Facebook, and mentioning it on Twitter and Google+.

 

I gotta admit, it felt like I was in a band and our song had just been played on the radio. I’m not going to lie – it felt good.

 

We all worked hard today. I’m not only looking forward to big paydays in the future, but I’m also enjoying the journey.

 

Erich

Blog post about first sale:

e-Commerce Metric: Time to First Sale

October 5th was a rainy day. I had to get up early in the morning to be in Richmond at 8 AM. At the same time, Matt and Chris were up early getting ready for the Gluten Free Living festival in Carmel. We had recently hired two interns, Michael and Stephanie, but only Michael was there that day. Rachel from the dentist office also stopped by to help sell. We sold almost 50 jars and I got my first check after 2 years of work. On the drive home Andrew Youderian gave me a “First Sale Shout Out” on his podcast. It was a good day.

Andrew’s Podcast that mentioned me and Skinny Coconut Ol:
http://www.ecommercefuel.com/going-viral-michael-dubin/

Thanks for mentioning me on the show for our first sale. I was driving home from an all-day convention selling coconut oil and was thrilled to hear it. It was like having my song played on the radio or something. It was a great memory that I’ll remember for a long time. Thanks again for all you do for the e-commerce community.

2013-10-19

Skinny Coconut Oil had its third event, but the second one I had been to.  It was the fIndy Family Fest in  Indianapolis at the State Fairgrounds.  Ate dinner with family in the park. It was starting to get cold. Worked on Moto Menswear.

2013-10-26

Jason Cobb and I went to Reese office for video prep work and then to downtown Franklin. We stopped at Long’s bakery in Southport. We walked through the Willard but ended up eating at the Duck restaurant. We both had cheeseburgers and fries. We went to the Artcraft to watch Young Frankenstein and then got some candy on the way home.

2013-12-14

Spent the afternoon with Kevin watching movies and then took Magdalena to see the second Hobbit. Jason, Silas, and Calvin also attended.

2014-01-18

I got the flu.

2014-01-25

I was still a little sick from the flu, but I got to hang out with the family more as I didn’t have to go anywhere. We had bacon quesadillas for lunch and broccoli cheese soup for dinner.

2014-02-01

Played with Kevin some. He wanted to work in the woodshop. He wanted to use his hammer. He practiced nailing some boards together and then he helped me glue the broken stool together.

Later on Kevin asked to see what was up in the attic. I got the ladder out and showed him. I then showed him what was behind the attic access in his bedroom behind his bed. He was thrilled.

Erich

2014-02-15

2/15/2014:

I met with Jason for our second book club on All You Need is Kill and recorded it as our first podcast*. We ended up talking equally about Groundhog Day (the movie). On the way over, I told Jason I texted Jason that I was “thirsty for coffee” and he replied, “Well good. Cause I’m drinking some of the finest coffee I’ve ever sipped in front of a lovely fire reading Felton annual reports.”

When I arrived, Jason was indeed sitting in front of the fire – his two boys, Silas and Calvin, sitting by his side reading their Kindles. We talked about my ideas about information management systems and then got up to do the book club podcast. Afterwards, we all went to Launch Fishers (a coworking space under the Fisher’s Library) for the Quantified Self Meetup (via Burger King).

Jason was presenting a report on Personal Annual Reports**. The audio of it was also recorded via a failed Google Hangout On Air attempt*** and pictures of it were stored on Dropbox****. After the presentation, the Meetup group went to Texas Roadhouse and we went to Twenty Tap in Broad Ripple (Krista was headed back from having breakfast with her parents in Trafalgar with the girls).

Right before I left the Meetup I saw that most of the files I had uploaded to Skinny and Company’s dropbox account had been deleted. This upset me. There were hundreds of files deleted. I emailed Matt, who didn’t know what happened or why. Matt and his brother Luke were on their way up to Canada to pick up more coconut oil after having been out for over two weeks. The orders were piling up.

After 20 Tap, Jason and I went to the Hubbard and Cravens in South Broad Ripple for coffee and conversation about 2014 goals*****. I revamped the 5 goals I had sent Skinny and Company in January and gave Jason feedback on his. Jason encouraged me to get better about overcoming my fear of confrontation with finances and emails I don’t want to respond to by practicing.

On the way home I stopped by Lowes to pickup wood to build a rocket with Kevin and by Marsh to get ingredients to show Jason and Krista how to make salsa******. When I got home Kevin helped me bring in the wood and carry it downstairs. Suzanne made pizza and the family played Minecraft together. Suzanne and I left the main village to start a new village farther inland beyond the snow-capped mountains.

“I enjoyed our day together. Thanks for coming.”

“Me too, thanks”

*https://www.dropbox.com/s/hj2sde1114diypc/Podcast%20002.mp3
**http://slid.es/jasoncobb/personal-annual-reports

***http://youtu.be/BqQy7fUrBhc
****https://www.dropbox.com/sh/x3e2vj96fkkgufq/N9GInxmfY4
*****https://docs.google.com/a/watershawl.com/document/d/13Bue_YgB8MsYamw8fsjohrPoeVPjtgSSW_sCbKBzQ2c/edit?usp=sharing
******http://instagram.com/p/kdNxvmCYPM/

2014-03-01

I went to The Arnold in Columbus, Ohio with Matt Geddie, Luke Geddie, Joy Reese, Marcella Hoard, and Michael S. I took some pictures and posted them on social media. We stopped at Starbucks and Chipotle on the way there and at Outback on the way home. It took all day.

Erich

2014-03-08

Played Minecraft with the family.

2014-03-15

I met Jason in the morning for breakfast, prayer, and a walk around his neighborhood. We then went to Foundry Provisions coffee shop in Indianapolis before heading to the Quantified Self Meetup in Fishers. I gave a presentation at the meetup about QS web apps (http://slid.es/erichstauffer/quantified-self).

After the meetup, I dropped Jason and Calvin off at their house, had lunch at Chipotle alone, and then went to the Reese’s house to meet Joy, Luke, and Kim for a trip to Angelica’s house to discuss her buying velvet antler for her Han Institute business she’s trying to get started.

Angelica agreed to get hanrx.com started with existing products supplied from Luke Geddie. Matt & team will run logistics ala the dentist ecommerce idea and I will handle marketing. They will give her a percent of the store revenue each month. I’m calling it “a reverse affiliate relationship”.

When I got home I played Minecraft with Suzanne and went to sleep.

Things I’m remembering lately:

The Kansas City Zoo – our vacation there early on in our marriage

Meeting Vineet at Subway that one time for lunch at IUPUI

Sunday school at Pittman Road Church of God (white walls)

2014-03-29

Today we went to church at White River Christian Church in Noblesville. Magdalena sat in church with me instead of going to her class. After church we went to The Roost in Fishers for breakfast and to the YMCA to swim. After that we went home to get essential oils and then drove to West Lafayette to see Grandma O’Banion at the Soldiers and Sailor’s Home. Kevin, Carmina, Samuel, and Magdalena rode their scooters and played with the soccer ball. It was 50 degrees outside and sunny. Afterwards we went to Angelica Kokkalis’ house so Suzanne could meet her for the first time. Angelica enjoyed seeing all of the kids. She made them Tontino’s Pizza Rolls and orange juice. It was a good day.

2014-04-05

I got a new web client, Jim Nelson, and Jason and I set a date to start recording our first online course.

2014-04-12

Met with Jason to create our first online course. Decided on the use of Bold Bros. for the name of the project. Decided to start a podcast. I forget what our first course is going to be about. We recorded 3 videos, 1 screencast, and 1 audio recording. #learningsets #boldbros #onlinecourses

2014-05-10

I went to King’s Island with Jason on Friday and then to EMD on Saturday morning. When I got back I took a nap then played Civ5. On Sunday (Mother’s Day) I went to church with the kids. For lunch we went to Qdoba and then I went to Launch Fishers to work on Bold Bros. I finished phase 1 of the first online course on business blogging/content marketing. The next step is either to turn it into an ebook or start making the videos.

2014-05-17

I met with Suzanne about finances at the house and then she made me biscuits and gravy for breakfast before I left to get adjusted at the chiropractor in Carmel. My neck was hurting from King’s Island.

After that I had planned to meet Jason at SOHO to work on Bold Bros and prepare for the meeting with Debbie at Yokohama in Greenwood on Sunday at 2, but since Jason couldn’t meet I watched Kevin’s soccer game.

After the soccer game we all went with Grammy to Qdoba where Suzanne and I attempted to teach the kids how to set the table both at a restaurant and at home. We also discussed new home schooling curriculum for the kids.

That afternoon I went to Launch Fishers to work on posting Reese Office blog posts for the month of May that Aggie had written. Today I’m typing this again from Launch Fishers on my way to meet Jason on the way to Greenwood.

2014-05-24

I spent the day resting after getting run down at work. And then on Sunday I got sick with a sore throat and spent another day resting. I felt bad because there is so much self-imposed work to do creating the course or re-building up the consultancy – and the weather was so nice – but I just couldn’t move. It was like everything was ‘gray’.

2014-05-31

I mowed the yard and trimmed trees. I then went to Kevin’s soccer game and then home. We had bacon lettuce and tomato sandwhiches for lunch and biscuits and gravy for dinner. I played Civ 5 in the afternoon and evening and went to bed at 9.

2014-06-07

I worked at Dr. Richard Gillum’s dentist office setting up the new Server 2008 domain for Practiceworks. About 2 hours in I realized the RAID 5 wasn’t setup so after researching and calling Dell, we realized the RAID wasn’t setup and had to be rebuilt, which meant reinstalling Server 2008 and re-doing the updates. This wasn’t that bad aside from the slowness that an initializing RAID causes, which slowed everything else down. I worked from 8 AM to 7 PM with no breaks for $1200.

2014-06-28

I stayed in playing Civilization 5 except for mowing the yard. It was hot in our bedroom despite having air conditioning in the rest of the house so Suzanne went and bought a fan from the store. On Sunday I trimmed trees in the yard and worked on Skinny Coconut Oil’s website some. Suzanne made waffles, salsa, and chicken tortilla soup.

2014-07-05

I went on a walk to the baseball diamond park with Kevin and Samuel, then we went to see the trains, went to White’s Meat Market for drinks and candy, and then went home where I played Civ 5 until it was time to get ready to go to Angelica’s for a Han meeting. The day before was Suzanne’s birthday and we went to Texas Roadhouse with Gaby and Scott.

2014-07-12

I helped Bill Heath with an IT issue and then worked on Jason’s landscaping with Jason. I had asked him if he’d buy me a tank of gas for helping me because we’ve been trying to get ahead on some bills and he agreed. When I got home I played Civ 5 and played football with Kevin and Samuel. Camina and Magdalena had 4H with Grammy and Suzanne.

2014-08-09

On Monday, August 4 I was laid off from Worksmart Systems due to a consolidation of the IT department for budget reasons. My boss, Aaron Matlock, said, “I can do what you can do, but I can’t do what Andy can do.” It is true that I was underutilized there, but the lack of income and suddenness of the event was and is traumatic. I am currently looking for new income by applying for jobs and servicing the existing customers I still have. I am still trying to decide whether or not to go full-time consulting or go back full-time as an employee. I am attending a job fair at Apple tonight in Indianapolis and have had one phone interview for a SEO specialist position in the Castleton area. I am trying to get a Digital Marketing Manager job at One Click Ventures – even going as far as to make a special video sent via a VHS tape with the domain “oneclickVHS.com”, but so far have no news on that front. Today is Suzanne and I’s 12-year anniversary.

2014-09-13

I laid in bed all day working on Skinny and Company stuff to pay for working on Simplicity Hollistic Health stuff on Tuesday. I think I’m getting sick.