I’ve been reading the book Quitter by Jon Acuff (affiliate link). It’s a book about how to connect your day job and your dream job and Jon’s story of going through eight jobs in eight years, which he doesn’t recommend. It’s really less about “quitting” your job and more about taking advantage of the opportunities you have, while you still have a day job, and building those opportunities into your dream job. Essentially giving you a steady ground to land on if you do ever make that leap.

I’ve  not been reading this because I plan to make such jump. I actually enjoy getting paychecks from people other than myself. I’m mostly just fascinated by his story and all the challenges along the way. In case you don’t know who he is, Jon is the guy that started the Stuff Christians Like blog, which kind of took off pretty well and has allowed him to write a few books and get tot he point to where he has his dream job and is working for Dave Ramsey.

At any rate, the point is not to review the book right now. As I’ve been reading it though, it’s helped me to re-focus on things that I love doing and seeing opportunities that I may have missed before. The book talks about reclaiming our dreams. The things that we loved as kids growing up. One of the things for me has always been writing. When I was a kid, and especially a teenager, I wrote all the time. It didn’t matter what it was. Stories, poems, songs, all of it. I remember writing a “book” when I was in 3rd grade. I remember it was called Mystery at Shadow Mountain (yeah, I’ve always loved mystery stories too). We had to fold our paper and half and write in it so that it actually looked like a book. Give it a cover picture and title. Staple the crease. I’m not sure what happened to that book, but I’m pretty sure I’d give one of my toes or a pinky finger to get it back. Stephen King probably has it in his den figuring out how he can turn it’s 10 or so pages into a 800 page book.

So, for the past month, I’ve been getting up a little earlier and made sure that I’ve written something. Since February I’ve been writing for Frisco Fastball, a San Francisco Giants blog, and my job is to write recaps. I can write other things, but I’m the person who is telling all about whether the Giants won or lost that particular night. Writing recaps is not really that fun or exciting. But after realizing that I was not enjoying it, and starting to slack off, I decided to actually give it the time it deserved. For me, that meant getting up by 7:00am so I had a good hour before I had to get ready for work, rather than waking up, rushing to get ready and then pounding out the game recap in 5 minutes. It’s still not the most fun thing, unless the Giants get a good win, but it’s getting easier because I’m taking the time to do it.

I’ve also picked up a site I had mostly abandoned, Monterey Insiders. I originally set it up for other people to do reviews of places to eat and things to do in Monterey. Those people never did anything and I did very little with it. So in the past month, I’ve picked it up. I’ve written about places I routinely go to, so that makes it easier and I have set a goal for myself to have one review every day during the week at 9:00 am. Writing reviews is also not the most fun thing, but as the couple of weeks have progressed, it’s gotten easier and more fun.

So, I’m now finding myself at a place of where I am writing regularly. It’s not the most exciting writing, but it’s getting me in practice. That practice has allowed me to find other opportunities and set aside more time to start writing stuff that I enjoy writing. A couple weeks ago I had a chance to interview Karl Ravech, host of ESPN Baseball Tonight. Tomorrow, since Baseball Tonight is coming back to San Francisco for this weekends game, I get to interview another host, Wendi Nix. They’re pretty standard, routine kind of interviews. They are promoting the fact that Baseball Tonight is going to be in town and need bloggers to get the word out so fans will show up to be on TV. But, they’re still bigger interviews than I’ve done with anyone and these people (hopefully) get to see what I wrote about our interview. Not a huge deal, but fun all the same to say that ESPN contacted our blog to interview one of their hosts.

Suffice to say, I’m writing. I’m not writing much here, but I hope that changes soon as I restructure some of my blogging outlets. Writing makes me happy, especially when it’s not a 10 page paper for a graduate class. Tomorrow I’m hoping to write about some of the tools I’m using to help me write and remember things to write. We’ll see how that plan goes.

Related posts:

1. Writing Tools: WordPress
2. Writing Tools: WordPress Mobile Apps
3. Writing Tools: Evernote

Just ordered the CitiKitty Cat Toilet Training Kit tonight. It’s supposed to be here on Thursday. Once Sam gets his stitches out and that stupid looking cone off his head, I’ll start the potty training task and see how it works.

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A little over a month ago I decided I was going to start composting. I had been considering the idea for a while actually, but finally decided I was going to try it. After about a week of research, I figured the best bet for me would be worm composting. I looked at the tumblers (non-worm type) and figured if I had to remember to go and tumble this thing around, I may not do it and then I’d have a bin just full of food scraps that wasn’t composting at all. I even looked at the automatic composters you can keep under your sink, but they were rather expensive, so I passed on those as well and settled on worm composting.

To get started, I used tips from Red Worm Composting and from Garden Girl TV. Those links provide some videos with step-by-step instructions on getting started, and if you’re really into learning more about the worms, etc… the Red Worm Composting is a great site.

Here’s how I did it and what I used:

• 2 Bins (I think they were either 10 or 14 Gallon, but you can see the size in the pictures) @ $7.50/each
• Electric screwdriver or drill (if you don’t already have one, you could use a box cutter, knife, or something to puncture the plastic)
• Shredded cardboard to get started
• food scraps
• red worms (I got some from a co-worker)

Supplies needed (Click for larger image)

First. Drill some holes in the bottom of ONE of the bins. I drilled about 9 holes, but at this point, would suggest more holes. These holes will allow water to drain out of the inner bin into the outer bin so that you don’t have a swamp in the bottom of your inner bin.

Holes in bottom of inner bin (Click for larger image)

Second. In the same bin you just drilled your holes, drill some holes in the top sides of the bins, all the way around. This allows your worms to have some air to breath. I drilled about 7 on each long side and about 2 on the short sides. I’d recommend at least that many. The only other suggestion to make is drill the holes high enough on the side so that when you put the inner bin into the outer bin, the holes do not get covered by the outer/bottom bin.

(Click for larger image)

(Click for larger image)

Third. Drill some holes in one of your lids. Again, this allows the worms to breath. I drilled about 13 holes here.

(Click for larger image)

Fourth. Fill the bin you drilled the holes in with your shredded cardboard. This makes the bedding.

(Click for larger image)

Fifth. Grab the outer bin (the one you haven’t drilled any holes in) and put a small box or ice cream containers in the bottom of it. This forces the top bin to sit on the box and not fall all the way down. This is important because if the bottom bin gets too much water in it, if the top bin isn’t far enough from the bottom, the water will come back up in the top bin. Keep in mind, with the water going through, unless you have something more sturdy than my waffle box, you’ll have to change it frequently.

(Click for larger image)

Sixth. Add some food and yard waste (if you have some) on top of the bedding. You’ll see some orange peels in mine. You’ll generally only want to use citrus peelings in moderation (like I have).

(Click for larger image)

That’s basically it! Put the lid on and you’re ready to go.

But, Where Are The Worms?

Good question. The folks over at Red Worm Composting suggest to let the food sit for a week or so (or longer) before adding the worms. This allows the food to begin to break down and makes it easier for the worms to get started on the composting. So unless you’ve had your food already collecting for a week or so, just wait it out. I waited about a week and a half on mine. A co-worker provided some worms from his compost bin.

Here are some other tips I’ve learned on my own or read along the way:

• Chop the food up into small pieces. It makes it easier for the worms (I’m not great at doing this).
• If you already have some compost, or access to some, put some in the bottom. My co-worker did this for mine when we put the worms in. He says it’s good for them to have that in there. I haven’t read that anywhere, but he’s been doing this longer than me and I figured it definitely wouldn’t hurt.
• If you wondered why there is no dirt in there, it’s because red worms aren’t really deep soil dwelling worms. They don’t actually need it, but if you want to throw in a handful of soil (not a lot), it can help speed up the composting process.
• Keep a good balance of greens (food scraps/yard waste) and browns (cardboard, paper towels, paper, etc…). That’s really the science behind making it work.
• For every little bit of food layer I add, I add in some shredded paper to cover it up. This keeps the smell and flies away.
• Keep it wet. Water it down every few days. One tip is to take the inner bin out (let it drain first), pick up the outer bin and pour the water (and any worms that may have fallen through your holes) back into the bin.
• Don’t put any meats, fats or grease in it. It’ll make it smell and attract animals. You don’t want that.

I’m no expert by any means. I’ve probably even done a few things wrong here and there, but I’m learning along the way. It’s only been about a month since started and I’ve only had about 3 weeks with my worms, but I can tell it’s starting to break down. Hopefully in a few months, I’ll have some good compost to use in my tomato and cucumber plants.

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You read that right. Peanut Butter Bacon Cookies.

Think that sounds disgusting? Well, perhaps you’d like this site better. At any rate, these were delicious! They’re not overly bacon-y, but just enough to blend with the peanut butter to have a nice mix of sweet and salty. You know what else? They aren’t made with flour, so that makes them gluten free. Yeah, I don’t care about that stuff. I love gluten and wheat and all that yummy goodness, but, if you happen to have that gluten intolerance (or pretend you have it to be trendy), then you can still eat these cookies. No excuses. I even got one of my vegetarian friends to try a bite and she liked it!

How can you make some of these yummy treats? Well unless you have an awesome friend like I did to make them for you, the recipe is below and courtesy of Shutterbean. Keep in mind, without the flour, they may turn out a bit crumbly–ours did anyway.

Peanut Butter Bacon Cookies

(Recipe via JoytheBaker who adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook)Makes about 24 cookies

• 1 cup all-natural chunky or smooth peanut butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• about 6 slices of bacon, cooked, cooled and diced

In a skillet over medium high heat, fry up bacon until cooked through and let cool on paper towels until cool enough to dice. Dice up and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment & set aside. In a mixer combine peanut butter and sugars until well combined, about 2 minutes. Add egg and baking soda and mix for another 2 minutes. Fold in cooked bacon. Roll into large walnut sized balls and create a criss-cross pattern with a fork. If you’d like, roll the dough balls in granulated sugar before making the criss-cross pattern. Bake for 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool on a baking sheet for five minutes, then transfer to… your mouth.

There you have it. The best stuff I’ve eaten in a long time. In fact, I think I’ll go have one right now.

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Look no further.

Goldfish in Water Cooler Prank

Balloon Prank

Upside Down Office Prank

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Teen boy: I’ve never ditched school.

Me: Not true. You miss all the time.

Teen boy: Not going is not ditching. That’s called “hickey” or something.

Me: You mean “playing hookey”?

Teen boy: Oh yeah, huh?

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