My job was the reason for the almost two month delay in my journal entries. As soon as I started working, I noticed immediately that I was going to have a difficult time at his company. My first day felt like I was at some strange library because everyone was so quiet and no one spoke to one another... how can this be I thought... how do they conduct business when everyone is silent and they look so miserable???

Long story short, I found out that the owners suffered from many of the same problems one of my previous employers suffered from... they didn't understand when to step aside and let someone who knows what they are doing run the company... from my previous work experience, I had discovered that there is no cure for this problem, and quickly lost hope of staying with the company very long... I certainbly didn't want to travel half way around the world to work at a company that was more disorganized than the last job I quit...

Not surprisingly, I immediately began treating the owners and my supervisor like they were inept... but really, in my defense, they are! So, last week, when I was back in Los Angeles to close my bank account and finalize my move to Japan, they sent me an email to fire me... soooo professional.

However, in my obnoxious style, I pretended that I never read the email, and proceeded to go into work on Monday (yesterday)... and it was a good thing I did... I ran in to one of the HR people, and I was told about one of the stipulations in my contract that said the company had to pay me a penalty of 1800.00 for terminating me without notice... yipee! At first they tried not to pay, but it was right there in black and white, so I was very pleased when I saw they deposited the money in my account today. When it was all over, I worked there for one month, and made almost $7000.00 after taxes... and actually, since I had already planned on quiting after my next paycheck, I couldn't have been happier with the way it all worked out... that extra penalty money really helped! Thus the "content" rating for my mood... now on to the planning part...

So, after the reminder that I have a difficult time working for other people (with the exception of Slangman, who was a great partner), I made sure I visited a few bookstores while back in LA so I could begin researching starting my own company. Not positive what type of company I would like to start, I chose a variety of books from owning a restaurant, starting a bar, understanding profits and financial needs and finally a book about the act of becoming a entrepreneur, called "Start Small Finish Big", written by Fred Deluca, the guy who started Subway.

For those of you who are already raising eyebrows about the dangers of starting a business, please keep your comments to yourself until you read "Start Small Finish Big"... almost every company that is profiled in the book was started by someone who was told by their friends and family that it is too risky to start their own company. Additionally, the book discusses the oddity that several of the entrepreneurs profiled are either dyslexic, have A.D.D., or both... two things I have always suspected have plagued me, although I have never been tested.

Anyway, society is great at making you think you should be living a certain kind of life... I never wanted to work for someone else... but it never seemed like something you could say... it seemed even too obnoxious even for me to say. But from the moment I opened this book, I read about people just like me, who managed to make an exceptioanlly different life for themselves... you can tell how much I liked it because I read the 300 page book in just two days... I never read!!!

If anyone reading this has ever thought they might want to start their own company... read "Start Small Finish Big"... you won't be disappointed!

So now I will keep researching, create a business plan, and try to get this ball rolling... I hope to have a preliminary business plan ready by late September...

Well, I have so much more to write, but I need to write a few emails and do some surfing before I have to go... so, once again... sorry I was out of the loop for so long, but I am glad to be back in the saddle with a new direction.