EricNentrup.com

I’s my birthday, and I feel I’ve little to celebrate…

Yup. I’m 28 today. But I feel like I have little to celebrate today. It was a whacky weekend (and week) full of discouraging discoveries. First and foremost in terms of shock value, I’ve learned that I’m NOT going to be getting my new 12″ PowerBook anytime soon. Why? I’ve been a victim of internet fraud. Yeah, I rolled the dice on a deal that seemed too good to be true and it WAS. I realized this on Friday night, exactly one month after I sent payment for the laptop. I was SICK SICK SICK. Kim was very understanding the following morning, in that remarkably forgiving way she responds to my screw-ups. That eased me. But after previous situations where I’ve lost a piece of equipment (though not to fraud but to UPS incompetence) and wasn’t aggressive enough about my recovery, I decided to grab the bull by the horns and quickly built a rather thick file on the whole situation. I received a call from the police about my situation, and they weren’t surprised go figure. In fact, they’ve been trying to capture this guy for a while, but he’s caught wind and closed accounts and laid low for a spell. So, perhaps my situation will be instrumental in capturing this guy, thus preventing this guy from ripping off anybody else. The investigator was very friendly, and confident about nabbing him. Though he made no promises of recovering my money. We’ll see. I’ve decided to take this as a wake up call about the slop in my life. I’ve felt like I’ve been getting what I deserve in some ways. Not that I’ve frauded anybody! No, I mean, I’ve been trying to take short cuts to success, or being lazy with the business. Just lack of discipline and ethics. Not towards my clients, but just sort of cheating myself with not being careful with purchases and bookkeeping, and budgeting and planning. That sort of thing. And if I can get my butt in gear in these ways and be motivated to go find the necessary business to cover my losses, then everybody wins.

Well, I best get to what I just described. I have a lot of work to do.

It’s a DO day. Get it DONE.

Monday afternoon, Kim and I were leaving the gym and the car wouldn’t start. We drive a 2000 Ford Focus and it’s been INCREDIBLY reliable until the last 8 weeks. Bill Reid and I worked on it for 3 hours last night, and got the original problem fixed, but broke another part in the process. Oh well. So, today, I’m going to finish it, but it really through a wrench in our plans. I mean, MY plans. Of course, that’s life. I am STILL learning how to anticipate, how to NOT feel raped by Murphy everytime the unexpected catches me off guard. The forever optimist in me wants to say, “Hey, at least you now know how to drill out an ignition lock cylinder!”

That’s all. I gotta finish my taxes.

I’m driving down a familiar route in my hometown, and I confess, I’m a danger to other drivers. I’m watching the road mostly with my peripheral vision. My prey is too important and I can’t afford to let it by. Afterall, this prey is quite diminutive. It’s less than one cubic inch, yellow, and usually attached to a 20 oz. Pepsi bottle. Fortunately for me, empty beverage containers are a plenty along most of my jaunts. I scour the roadside, not for recyclables, God Save the Earth, but for the elusive Pepsi cap with a winning iTunes Code. My wife has enjoyed me “bagging” my prey, a successful hunter, tossing a cap a day or so in her lap to redeem at the iTunes music store via her iBook. I’m admittedly addicted. I’m obsessed with finding more.

Granted, I enjoyed following the lead of the well-published “hack” and even tried the old bottle-tilt for one purchase of a diet Pepsi last week, but there’s MUCH more fun in finding treasure that most folks deem to be trash. I bet I’ve picked up more than a half-dozen in the past 10 days or so. I’ve found plenty along the road, but also in the shopping cart corral at the grocery store…I pilfered 2 off of the gal who takes my order at the pharmacy, and of course others have brought them to me after downing a week’s worth of sugar water.

The best is finding them discarded in full-public view. I can’t wait for a friend or family member to see me off the road, with my hazard lights on, doubling back on foot to pick up a bottle I passed.

I love the irony of the whole situation. Let me paint an exaggerated, and somewhat snooty picture to illustrated said irony:

Average Joe finishes a long shift working the assembly line, then treats himself to a fizzy Pepsi. He opens it, sees the cryptic 10-digit code inside the cap, and doesn’t know how that will grant him herein promised “ONE FREE SONG.” After finishing the bottle, he screws the cap back on the bottle, and tosses it out the passenger window since he’s not eco-conscious (like me). He MIGHT have a computer at home….might even be aware that iTunes is available as a Windows download. Regardless, it’s still Greek to him. After a couple of days, I venture down the same road and have the ultimate “I Spy” moment when that little dot of yellow catches my eye. A quick check of the rear-view and I’m on the brakes, and digging into the shoulder. the hazard lights come on, and I’m out as fast as traffic allows. I pounce. A quick twist of the cap, and my prey is rendered lifeless. Inside, I have found the code and I know I have enough credits that I can now download an ENTIRE album of my choice. I must be an excellent hunter….every cap I’ve severed from the bottle has been a winner.

I was dropping off the recycling with my wife this afternoon and it dawned on me…Oh. There may be PLENTY of those yellow caps in the dumpster!!! My wife shall shake her head and roll her eyes.

Starting a 40-hour service of my debt to original sin.

Are we supposed to enjoy our work? I mean, is that the point? Did God punish man in the Garden of Eden by saying, “Thou shalt toil by the sweat of thy brow…and find a career that you’re passionate about!” I struggle with that one. I don’t know if God intended for us to be as enthralled with our jobs as we are. Well, some of us are. I can go back and forth…especially while isolated. I think I enjoy what I do, and then have crummy days where I feel cursed. And perhaps that’s a good thing! I loved the Church Marquee that read, “Americans worship their work, work at their play, and play at their worship.” It makes a bunch of sense. I’m going to have to give it some more thought, that’s for sure.

Okay…time to get in the shower.

Isn’t it funny how FINALLY, the net is accessible to any luddite, such as myself. I know, I know, I can hear most of my friends now saying, “Dude, you’re the geekiest guy I know!” And I must confess, I’m a poser. I have steered clear of web stuff until recently because I simply was too stubborn to learn. And quite frankly, it had to get easy/practical/accessible enough for me to bite the hook. That, and I needed to be able to do some of this stuff for my own satisfaction, peace of mind, etc. AND because I wanted to start to get paid for it as well. So, with my thankfulness to .Mac and the folks at Lifli Software, I’m going to upload my blog today. I’ll start to keep it, and hopefully, I’ll be as cool as Wil Wheaton someday. Though I have no intention of being a porn afficionado, or gamer in the manner he is.

It’s GORGEOUS outside today, and I had been intending on going for a bike ride as a form of cross-training today. But the wind is relentless, and so I’m going to drink beer and read Blue Like Jazz instead. I might make it over to get a movie for the evening hours, and it’s definitely an Italian night.

I heard a fine fine sermon this morning and was challenged by it’s content–to be more Christ-Like in my role as Husband. I think the idea of being Christ-like has changed DRAMATICALLY in the past 2 weeks. If one consider’s the Mel Gibson film which I have yet to see. I’ve experienced Secondhand Passion. That’d be a great name for an article!

Okay. that’s enough to get the blog rolling.