A good year for me

Despite the news about the economy, the war, and and everything else that went wrong in 08, overall I had a pretty good year. I am starting a new venture with my wife and one of my best friends, and I'm moving into some very unfamiliar territory that will involve a hybrid blend of running my own company, doing independent consulting, and working with other friends in business in the Baltimore Washington corridor. Here are a few things that have contributed to the changes I've made in 2008.
Aside from the fact that Jillian came into our lives, wrecking our social lives and wrapping her daddy around her little finger- I've identified a few key things that have benefitted me in the past year.
1. I read GTD Getting Things Done This book really helped me increase my rate of productivity and showed me where I was wasting a substantial amount of time shuffling paper and responding to extraneous tugs on my time.
2. I read The Four Hour Work Week If GTD showed me how much time I was wasting, The 4 Hr Work Week showed me what else I could be doing with that time. This book really sent me on the social networking search, and opened my mind to the idea of multiple revenue streams.
3. I bought a Moleskine Through all of the digital technology, multiple email accounts, and PDA/ phones- there is still something inherently satisying about carrying a notebook, and scratching my thoughts down on real paper, in a real notebook.
4. I won an xbox from microsoft. This might not seem like a very big deal, but it showed me a benefit to be had by staying engaged in technology, and staying in the know with what is happening in the tech world. I attended their Heroes events, and wound up grabbing two copies of Vista.
5. I joined the local Linux user's group, bought a laptop from Dell that came preloaded with Ubuntu, and then set it up to dual-boot with Vista, and came to realize that I'm an OS agnostic. I'm not a die-hard linux guy, and I'm not a MS clone. I use what works best for what I need. Hardware and software are tools. There's nothing emotional about it.
6. I made a conscious decision to focus my efforts in an area where I already have expertise. I'm an HVAC guy who knows how to use technology, not a tech guy stuck doing HVAC. There's a subtle difference there, but it has helped me re-vamp my online presense, and has led me. to where I am.
7. I started a facilities-related blog dedicated to helping building maintenance & facilities techs do their job better called maintenance mastery, and I actually have a couple loyal readers!
8. I discovered Twitter. Join, follow me and become involved in the social networking community.
9. I found out about Zigbee. I'll talk more about this once Enercient gets up and running.
10. I quit my job when the economy was at an all-time low. For more info- see item 9.
I can't look into a crystal ball and see what the future holds 100%, but I do know that I have a complete focus, a vision for my life, and the tools necessary to be both successful and influential in the coming generation.
Stay tuned and Happy New Year!

Changes Coming in the New Year

I've got several projects in the mix coming for the new year, and I want to keep everyone updated.First, the thing we've been talking about the most, Enercient Systems Technologies is going along swimmingly. Mel and I are hosting a banquet in Columbia on the 15th, where we'll be pitching our concept for Enercient, and having an official launch.
johntindale.com is going to be going through some continual upgrades and becoming more focuses on local consulting. I still basically use it as my online business card, but I've been feeling for a while that it is time for me to specialize. I'm not a web developer, I'm not an SEO Consultant- I'm an HVAC guy who knows how to use Social Media tools to get exposure for myself and for the things I'm interested in doing.
I'm also continuing my experiments in online reselling, Google Adwords, and social media in general. The thing I've been thinking about is how to be easily identified no matter what social network I'm on- So I've been creating backgrounds and images that have the same look and feel regardless of what social network you use to connect with me. I'd be happy to hear what you think.
Finally PCF Management has been kind enough to offer part-time employment so that I have more time to work on the first two projects I mentioned. Now, let's just hope that the Amtek transition will go as smoothly as everything else has.

Happy Christmas

I would just like to wish everyone a Happy Christmas tonight, and wish everyone the very best for the holiday and new found prosperity in the coming year.

-johntindale

experiment in retail

I have been conducting an experiment in "online marketing" because I want to see for myself if people will honestly buy stuff through a reseller online. I have a google adwords account with a few search terms, and I have a couple of retail sites online.
My first page is called johntindaleresources, and I have had quite a few hits, but no takers. Traditional marketing would lead me to believe that I am using the right advertising, but that somehow I've fallen short on the delivery- meaning that somehow the people who are clicking the link are expecting to find one thing, but are being offered something else.
So my next experiment is to try to pare it down to the bare minimum for a few days leading up to Christmas, and see if people will show any interest in a no-frills bare minimum, referral site for last-minute Christmas items and see if I can actually move a product.
I had to upgrade to Google Adwords standard to allow two simultaneous campaigns, and I'd imagine in my lust for clicks, I could easily outrun my budget for this experiment, so I'm going to keep it to a max of $5/ day and only run it from here 'til Christmas Eve. Some of my keywords are "last minute shopping, ipod, and mp3 player"
I have also introduced two other factors, more popular mainline products, and more items with a lower price point. I guess we'll see.

The Bucket List

I just watched the Bucket List, and it was a good movie

For me to poop on!

Enercient Rollout

Enercient Systems Technologies is currently in development to provide wireless HVAC, lighting, and building controls and sensors for commercial use. We have a comprehensive plan to be in beta testing with our product through a partnership with our first regional partner, Oasis Mechanical

We are asking you to help us in one of three ways:

1. Spread the word about Enercient- go to our website and read more information about our plans, and tell your friends and business associates.
2. Help us build our network- think about friends and associates you may have who might be interested in using our product, or contractors in other regions across the US who may be interested in parntering with us to bring our product to their markets.
3. Invest- we are soliciting investors to provide seed funding to help bring our product to market, If you are interested, please reply to this email, call me or go to our website to view our business plan and talk to us about investing today.

I have attached a copy of our first newsletter. Feel free to forward to individuals you may feel would be interested.

Thank you,

John Tindale
phone 301-706-1490
email john@enercient.com
web www.enercient.com
Enercient Systems Technologies

My thoughts on the Big Three

I have been an auto enthusiast for most of my life, and since some of my earliest memories are of dad working on the K5 Chevy Blazer out in front of the house. I remember Saturdays filled with 4WD trucks packed and loaded early for trips with a convoy of trucks, CB Radios, big tires, mud bogs, chains and come-alongs. Everything that made owning a 4WD fun. I have always loved Detroit steel, and I love cars. I started reading Motor Trend in middle school. I've been going to the WANADA auto show every year for 15-20 years. Even if the last one was about rims and rice burners.

Then came Michael Moore in 1989 with "Roger and Me" showing how devastating the GM plant closing was to Flint, Michigan- and it got many of us wondering what was wrong with American auto manufacturers. We were shocked at how the big evil auto manufacturer ruined a town by closing that plant. I mean, shouldn't someone have MADE THEM keep it open? Shouldn't some legislation be created to keep that from happening?

So, When Saturn came out with an econobox, that was supposedly going to create US jobs, rejuvenate GM's manufacturing process and bring back the American automobile, we jumped in with both feet. We ended up buying two Saturns over the course of 10 years or so in the 90s, while in the meantime I continued to have my eye on one of those big 4WD vehicles.

On the one hand, the big three have just been giving us what we were buying. I mean, bigger was better, right? Just in case it got a little icy on that trip to the mega-mall, we needed that extra large Canyonero that could haul all of our mall-booty home safely. I mean, seriously. If Chrysler had offered an electric car in 1998, how many people would have traded in that Lincoln/ Cadillac/ Chevy/ Oldmosbile SUV to buy one? Then again, someone could have stepped in and imposed higher taxes on gas-guzzlers. Someone could have made us buy smaller, more fuel-efficient cars. I mean the Japanese manufacturers kept making small cars and NEVER offered the big evil 8-cylinder gas gluttons did they?

Someone should have seen the storm coming. Someone should have remembered the gas crisis of the 70's and early 80's. Someone should have stepped in and MADE US do the right thing. Someone should have legislated fuel economy. They already assume that we need to be told to wear our seatbelts, replace cracked windshields, buy insurance, and keep our tires inflated to the correct pressure. Someone should have been making us have some common sense at the pump.

Maybe Obama will teach us to do the right thing. I can't wait. I'm gonna spend my Obama bucks on a Toyota Prius that requires that I buy a $4,000 battery every 100k miles and not spend it on a new paint job for my 89 Chevy 1/2 ton pickup with the 5.7 liter 8 cylinder engine.

farewell, my queen

tonight, I finally shut down my old HP Pavilion. On our network at home, her name was Amidala- I know that her namesake would eventually give up her role as queen and serve as a senator- but when i bought this tower, Amidala was a queen.

It's hard to believe that I bought this HP Pavilion nearly 7 years ago, but its true. I was separated that year, and I needed a computer that I could use to manage my affairs. I shared a house with a roommate, so it was my bookkeeper, my confidant, my DVD player, and my connection to the outside world. I drafted my divorce agreement on Amidala and emailed it to my lawyer.
Amidala was the sole stewardess of my 1400 strong war chest of HVAC-related outlook contacts.
I met Mel in 04, and eventually moved in with her, and Amidala moved with me. Mel wasn't used to all the computer hardware, but Amidala became a print server for Mel's laptop when I brought comcast and a router to the house. Later, I bought a Dell which started out as a Windows Media machine hooked up to the TV in the basement, so Amidala served faithfully as a print server for a few years in our office- which is now the baby's room.
When the baby was born, Amidala was packed up and moved downstairs, to sit alongside the Dell, and continued to faithfully sit on the network so I could pull files, or other useful information as needed from her hard drive.
Last Christmas Mel got me an external HD, so we began backing up Amidala, and the other 3 computers on the network (my Dell Tower, and our two laptops) last year, and I moved all the files from Amidala to the new Dell tower. At the same time i noticed that Amidala was choking on boinc, so i wiped her hard drive, doubled her RAM and loaded Ubuntu, and she went back to happily boinc'ing away- and that has been her sole purpose since June or July.
Lately I've been thinking that Amidala was more of a drain on our electricity at the house, than her benefit looking for ET (It was taking a day and a half to complete a task) so I finally decided to shut her down tonight.
Goodnight Amidala, you were there for me through some pretty tough times. 7 years was a pretty good run. Maybe you'll make a good Ubuntu evangelist for a local non-profit org.

wireless update

After I installed the system everything worked fine until that evening when the system decided to blow heat without shutting off. We woke up to find out the house was 85 degrees. First, I never knew our system could get the house up to 85 degrees, second I discovered that it was no fault of the honeywell system.

It turns out that we've never really used the second stage of our electric heater in the 5-6 years I've lived here! I replaced the outdoor heat pump a few years ago, and I put a programmable thermostat on 2-3 years ago, but I never had any reason to get into the wiring of the air handler.
Anyway, the first night I just thought that we had the remote sitting in a cold section of the house.

The second night, I disconnected the low voltage wire that brings on the 2nd stage of heat when the first stage can't keep up, and finally this morning, I was fed up and got into the wiring inside of the air handler.

Last night I discovered that one of the heat sequencers are bad, and it is getting stuck in the "on" position. We're lucky we had the fan running in the continuous "on" position, or we would have had a burnout. It ran fine the rest of the night, and all day the next day, and then when I was out dropping Josh off with the baby momma, Mel texted that it was doing it again.

It turns out that both of the internal temperature sensors inside the heater package are bad, and it is causing the duct heater to get stuck in the "on" position. This is an easy fix, I can pick up the parts today- the bad news is that our system never used either stage of the electric heat the way it was wired before! In other words, if we had been running the electric heat before this would have shown up by now.

For now, I have temporarily disconnected the electric heat, and the system seems to be maintaining temperature. I'll pick up the parts I need today, Stay tuned...