Business, economic development - the unofficial Chamber of Commerce

Self-actualization comes down to three basic premises: this is who I am, this is what I believe and the foundation on which my life is built, and this is the way I manifest that belief system on a daily basis.

If you say that you live by the Golden Rule, but treat other people with a lack of respect, then you are dishonest, and others will perceive you as hypocritical.

If you say that material things are not important to you, but are driven to success materially or are continually dissatisfied with your current financial status, then you are dishonest, and the world will perceive you as hypocritical.

If you say that you love your mate, and make conscious choices that do not take your mate’s wants, needs and desires into consideration, then you are dishonest, and the world will see you as hypocritical.

If you say that the family is the most important thing in your life, and yet make conscious choices that take you away from the family or inflicts stress upon the family, then the world will see you as dishonest and hypocritical.

In this process of self-analyzation, one must ask outright, “Do I practice what I preach, and do I preach what I really feel, or what other people have told me is what a good person feels?” For most individuals within this culture, some religious training has been a part of coming of age. Some individuals remain within a given religious group all their lives.

If this commitment to a particular religious sect has a positive influence on that individual, if it truly is a matter of recognizing their spiritual aspect and integrating their spiritual self into their everyday life, then this is good, for the basic guidelines of any major religion in the world today are in accordance with God’s basic truth. The doctrine and the dogma of each sect may be questionable, but the basic truth remains valid. But - if religious practice is simply a part of one’s lifestyle, if one looks upon church as a social occasion, as the thing they do that fits their routine every Sunday morning, as the thing they do before they go out to breakfast, then something is lacking, and what is lacking is the recognition and the realization of their spiritual self.

Going to church on a regular basis does not constitute living a spiritual life, for many individuals who go to church on a regular basis are totally unaware of their interconnection to other individuals, and totally unaware - and therefore un-accepting of the responsibility for - the effect that they are having.

Choosing in a given lifetime to remain unaware of one’s personal power does not eliminate the karmic debt incurred when that power is abused or misapplied, no matter how unaware the individual may be at that point. It is a basic premise that one’s responsibility in assuming a physical existence is to become aware, to open up to the inner consciousness as early in the existence as is reasonable so that the spiritual self can be integrated into the daily lifestyle, and with the integration of the spiritual self comes a higher level of awareness.

The various Christian sects place a great deal of emphasis on the fact that, to their perception, each of them is the only “right way” to worship, that the doctrine and the dogma provided by other sects will most certainly take you to Hell. This is ridiculous; God existed long before any organized religion, and souls have experienced life on this planet long before there was a church or a written set of rules to follow.

It is against God’s will that any individual, at any given point, presume to know someone else’s answers. Personal growth is a personal matter, and it is only by being fully aware of every implication that goes into our conscious choices that we know we are working according to OUR truth, and making decisions that are in accordance with OUR perception of life, and God, and the universe. No other individual has the ability to be aware of every implication of any situation in our life, and therefore no other individual has the right to tell us what to do or what to think or how to respond.

Why, then, do the majority of individuals follow a specific religious doctrine or a specific life philosophy that has been presented to them by an organized group of individuals as “the truth,” and why are these individuals so defiant and so defensive and so against the exploration of alternative truths?

When one is confident of what one believes, one does not feel threatened by a difference of opinion; one finds it interesting to discuss. One finds it enlightening to explore, and occasionally one finds new truth that they know instinctively is valid for them as individuals. In establishing religious doctrine that requires acceptance of the whole dogma in order to be “a good practicing person,” these religious organizations are breaking Universal Law, for Universal Law demands personal responsibility for personal truth.

Many individuals are simply too lazy to explore for themselves, to seek out information and to choose their own life philosophy from all of the options available historically to the human race. It is far easier, much less stressful, and much less time-consuming to accept ready made dogma as personal truth, and if there are some “minor” doctrines, “minor” rituals, “minor” belief points that the individual disagrees with, the individual simply ignores it, because nothing is perfect. Or is it?

When one takes the time and the effort to confirm or deny their personal belief system, each point that is confirmed as their personal truth then becomes not just something that they have been taught throughout their life, but a matter of personal conviction, and it is conviction that becomes a new motivating force in their life.

If one has truly explored the potential of the statement, “Judge not, lest ye be judged,” and his decided in their own conscious mind that this is, indeed, a part of their personal belief system, they will - because of the strength of their commitment - unconsciously integrate into their interactions with other people an approach to life that prohibits them from acting from a position of judgment. With a lack of judgment comes respect - for other individuals and for what they are doing in their lives, positive or negative - and with a lack of judgment comes acceptance of other people’s lifestyles, life circumstances, life’s relationships, and one does not interfere if one respects another person’s rights.

To say, “Judge not, lest ye be judged,” but to spend one’s time and energy judging other people, and worse, judging themselves in comparison, shows a lack of conviction and illuminates the difference between practicing and preaching. If one has truly accepted the belief that, in accordance with God’s law, an individual must not judge others lest he be judged on an equal basis, it is reflected in one’s behavior and in one’s relationships.

Life is a learning experience, and as one learns to integrate the Inner Self, the external personality traits that one has chosen for a specific lifetime, and the emotional drives that are incorporated into that ,existence through those life experiences, one comes to recognize that only by working from a personal sense of conviction - only by defining one’s personal truth and manifesting it on a day to day basis - can one make one’s self a reality, an actuality.

Self-actualization means manifesting that self, and one cannot manifest what one does not understand, what one does not comprehend, what one does not believe to be a point of unshakable conviction - conviction so strong that it becomes the motivating force and replaces the emotional drive that preceded it. Recognizing that emotions must be replaced by conviction of personal truth as the motivating force in one’s life is a major step towards self-actualization.

Lois Grant-Holland is a Life Path Focus Counselor offering Life Path Focus Sessions, Karmic Astrology Charts, Channeled Guidance, Intuitive Readings and Classes and Workshops to spiritual seekers on all positive paths, and is the site facilitator at The A.N.S.W.E.R. - (The Seeker’s Resource Guide to Alternative, New Thought, Spiritual Growth, Wellness and Enlightenment Resources.) You can visit her website at http://www.loisgrantholland.com

Did you know that Match.com has around twelve million members, but only a million or so of those listed have paid their dues?

The most asked questions from Romance Clients? “Why don’t they answer my emails?” Well, first off, you don’t know and never will. But it’s a pretty good guess is that this guy or lady is cheap.

If you have had much experience as an Internet dater, you’ve undoubtedly had the experience of putting out first email contacts to prospective Sweetheart and then gotten no answer back. A response rate of 30% to first emails is considered good!

On Match.com as well as many of the other Internet dating sites, you can post a profile for free, but you have to pay to email other listers or respond to emails sent to you.

You can’t tell the payers from the freeloaders. And people who aren’t paid members can’t email, either to contact you first, or to answer when you write. That means that a very high percentage of those people you are carefully looking over are too cheap to pay less than a dollar a day to be able to email you!

Maybe that’s a lot of what’s behind the 30% who do get back to you. They’re the only ones who are paid up!

Though I live now in Mississippi with my new husband Drew, I’m from Maine. I still own a house there on a beautiful island in the mid-coast area, so I get back to visit once or twice a year. Every spring, after the snow melts, all the debris that has accumulated over the winter along the roadsides gets exposed to the light of day. And along with tulips and daffodils, up spring the “For Sale” signs.

For years I wondered about why so many houses came up for sale every spring. Every other house seems to be on the market.

Finally, someone explained to me that lots of folks just put out those “For Sale” signs sort of for sport. All the locals know that summer people are heading this way, and those “city folks” have very distorted ideas about fair property values. So the sport is to put out a “For Sale” sign, ask a very inflated price, and see if anyone will bite. If you’re lucky and catch a rich one, you just may be able to fund your retirement. Otherwise, life goes on, you get to stay in your house, and then try again next year. Sounds like a form of digging for gold to me.

Believe it or not, lots of people who are listed on dating sites are doing just that: They put out their “For Sale” sign with their profile and look like they are seriously “in the market” for a Sweetheart. Really, they have a way over-inflated idea of what they can get and are waiting to see if some fool will bite. These folks have stuck out their “For Sale” sign, but they aren’t seriously looking. Except for the jackpot.

In the Internet dating world, this is deceptive advertising in the worse way, because the reader has no way of knowing if the profiler they are interested in is really serious and a paid-up member or not. The ONLY people on these online dating sites who are emailing anyone are the ones who have paid! All the others are freeloading teases.

If you are considering CyberRomance or are already posted on a site or two, pay your dues like a grown-up. Do your part to contribute to the energy and integrity of this wonderful resource for singles. If there’s a time to “put your money where your mouth is,” this is it. If you’re serious, pay up. If you’re not serious, stay out of the game.

Kathryn Lord, Romance Coach
Helping singles find someone wonderful!
eBk: “Find A Sweetheart Soon! Your Love Trip Planner for Women”"
4870 Oak Ridge Road, Vicksburg, MS 39183 / Ph. 601-619-0030
Stay current with my complimentary enewsletter *eMAIL to eMATE*
Subscribe at http://find-a-sweetheart.com/newsletter.html
www.Find-A-Sweetheart.com / Kathryn@Find-A-Sweetheart.com

One of the most important things when designing your room is to make sure there is enough storage space. Above any other room in your home its important that your bedroom is comfortable. Work from the bottom up making sure you get the carpet right first, the carpet will have a big impact on the overall feel of the room. Before deciding on a particular carpet, such as mr tomkinson carpets - you should consider what kind of style and feel you are trying to create. If you are having a clear-out make the most of the opportunity to get rid of as much of your clutter as possible.

Apart from the flooring decision another thing to consider is the ceiling. If most people don’t think about the importance of choosing the right carpet, nearly everyone overlooks the possibilities of adding colour to your ceiling. implemented correctly colour on the ceiling can bring a room to life, darker tones can add warmth and depth. A dark colour can make smaller rooms have a claustrophobic feel, however on the other hand can make bigger rooms feel much more intimate. Ensuring your bedroom is correctly lit can also influence the way a room feels. Everybody is aware of the fact that people react physiologically to varying levels of light, brighter more intense lighting is likely to have the effect of keeping people more alert and energetic. Dimmer light is likely to evoke a more relaxed feeling and put you at ease. If you are installing lighting in your bedroom it makes sense to install a dimmer switch as they are cheap and quite easy to sort out. Energy saving light bulbs are also a great idea as they usually last much longer that normal light bulbs and on top of that they save you money and are good for the environment.

BPH, or benign prostate hyperplasia, is a general medical term frequently used for a swollen prostate. This means that the prostate, a mass similar in shape to a walnut situated just below the bladder and winding around the urethra, grows larger this can impair and possibly even block urinary flow. As males mature, their prostate gland grows and can cause ailments for example difficulty passing urine, a weak stream, and even the retention of residual urine inside the bladder. Too frequent urination during the night and repeated urinary tract inflammation may additionally be brought about by a swollen prostatic gland. What Is An Enlarged Prostate? A swollen prostate is considered a frequent problem of males in their 60’s. Recommendations are that males over the age of fifty are examined by their doctors annually, even if no symptoms are detected, for the upkeep of prostate gland wellness. Look For medical treatment at once if blood appears in the urine or if unable to urinate. Treatments for Benign Prostate Hyperplasia can be surgical procedures or drug therapy. Regrettably, surgical operations can lead to more symptoms for example impotence and inability to control micturition. An alpha blocker or medicines to shrink the prostate gland are frequently prescribed to improve prostate gland health, however, medicines often result in undesirable results. So what holistic choices are recommended?

Problems with a Swollen Prostate? Natures’s Way to Achieve Improve Prostatic Fitness

To encourage better prostate gland health and in addition allay the symptoms associated with prostate gland enlargement, a few herbal formulae can improve the problem. African pygeum alleviates inflammation, alleviating many of any more annoying symptoms. The treatment African Pygeum has been utilized for quite a few years in Europe as a therapy for improved prostatic health, it is a product of anAfrican tree. A decrease of dietary fats can improve matters, and in addition excercising more often, frequency of ejaculations to ease the pressure in the prostate, it is also best to try to avoid staying seate d for a long time. Use of over-the-counter anti-histamines and decongestant drugs can aggravate any symptoms of a swollen prostate, so please take these sparingly. Cut down on caffeinated drinks and alcoholic beverage intake, avoid drinking close to retiring for the night to cut down nighttime toilet trips. There are further natural treatments recommended to improve prostate gland health - such as saw palmetto, starflower oil, the element selenium, and also lycopene, which can be obtained from tomatoes. Be sure to check with your healthcare professional prior to starting any herbal treatment of an enlarged prostate.

online poker, like baseball, is a time-honored American game. Many American presidents, including the newly inaugurated Barack Obama, have been avid poker and casino players.

Mr. Obama is known for being a strong, shrewd online poker player who rarely bets without the backing of good cards. His poker pals say he never bets against long odds, and typically relies on his brains, not his guts, when making or matching a bet. But with such a rock solid image, he also can pull off the occasional bluff.

The current President joins many of his predecessors who also liked to play poker. Presidents Chester Arthur, Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon were serious challengers in the game. Mr. Obama sticks to a small friendly game, much like Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman.

President Obama originally learned the game from his grandfather, a World War II veteran, and he played poker with his high school pals. Obama started playing for reasons other than fun. Just as Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Theodore Roosevelt believed, poker offered the opportunity to gain entry to some political circles. While still a new senator, he organized a regular home game with one of his senate colleagues. Though the game includes politically connected people from both parties, no one talks about politics or their jobs during the game.

Coming up with new dreams and passions can be fun, easy and inspiring - at least until you sit down and begin trying to sort out how to actually accomplish these wild goals. Suddenly, what seemed like such a clear and well-marked path takes on the aspect of an overgrown and thickly brambled wilderness of dangerous, unseen pitfalls and endlessly branching and unmarked trails. It’s enough to make you want to crawl back into your boring old life and forget the whole thing ever happened. But let’s try something a little different, first, and see if we can’t tame that overgrown jungle.

One of the best and most thorough ways to figure out how to do something new is called back-planning, or top-down planning. You begin by listing your finished goal at the top of the page, then working your way backward through each logical step that must come before the one above it. This is the best way to find out early where the gaps are in your information. In order to be truly effective, the list needs to be consistently precise and highly detailed, rather than broken up into large, ambiguous steps, any of which may contain many smaller, unknown pitfalls for the unwary. Here are two examples, one bad and the other good, based on the goal of buying a house. Read them from the bottom up.

Bad Example

Goal: Buy house in suburbs

*Close on house (there may be many steps involved here)
*Get inspection (how do you go about setting that up?)
*Make choice (based on what?)
*View houses (are they prioritized, is there a list of qualities?)
*Research neighborhoods (based on what qualities, and in what manner?)

Good Example

Goal: Buy house in suburbs

*Close on house
Step 5
Step 4
Step 3
Step 2
Step 1
*Approve and make offer or disapprove and repeat with next house
*Review inspection and legal reports
*Hire real estate attorney to review property legal issues
*Get quotes on real estate attorney (see Charlie)
*Hire independent inspector
*Get quotes on inspections (see Bob and Jackie for referrals)
*Choose top 3 picks based on priorities list, Needs/Wants list, and price and rank them in order of preference
*Research recent appraisals, compare to prices
*View properties in person
*Give them priorities list and Wants/Needs list and set up appointments to view properties
*Contract real estate buyer’s broker
*Ascertain loan approval for estimated purchase price brackets
*Research loan options/providers and chose best (ask Mary)
*Budget for down payment and fees
*Estimate down payment, inspection, legal, brokerage and closing fees
*Estimate property prices in chosen neighborhoods
*Research neighborhoods based on lists and pick favorites
*Create priorities list for structures and settings
*Create a Needs/Wants list for new home

As you can see, the second list is much more organized and detailed, and sets out the process in a specific, sensible order. Of course, if you already know what house you want to buy, or already have your favorite neighborhood picked out, you would eliminate those steps, just as you would have to change some steps and probably add quite a few more if you required the property for business purposes, etc. The trick is to make sure you anticipate every step and sub-step involved, and account for it, so that there will be a clear progression from start to finish.

One important feature of this planning method is that it assumes success from the get-go. Rather than standing at the starting line gazing out in stark terror over the vast and unfamiliar territory between you and your dream, back-planning makes success merely a final step in the process and focuses your attention on the nuts-and-bolts of getting there. Once it becomes obvious that your previously hazy and distant dream is clearly achievable through a series of defined and reasonable steps, items once thought out of reach suddenly fall within your grasp.

The observant reader will note one other notable difference between the two lists. The second list contains references to friends and acquaintances that might be able to help through their contacts, advice or services. Friends want to help friends, and having someone on your side who knows the terrain ahead can not only level the playing field where unhelpful (or even antagonistic) experts and complicated processes are involved, but realizing that you don’t have to know or do everything yourself in order to make this adventure successful gives you a calming sense of having it all under control.

(c) Soni Pitts

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Soni Pitts is the Chief Visionary Butt-Kicker of SoniPitts.Com. She specializes in helping others reclaim “soul proprietorship” in their lives and to begin living the life their Creator always intended for them.

She is the author of the free e-book “50 Ways To Reach Your Goals” and over 100 self-help and inspirational articles, as well as other products and resources designed to facilitate this process of personal growth and spiritual development.

Pocket knives and multitools are so inherently practical and clever in design that most people assume these implements are a modern-day invention. However, the first pocket knives found by archeologists have been dated back to the early Iron Age, approximately 600 B.C. These pocket knives were carried in exterior leather “pockets” that attached to a belt and were quite rare compared to the more frequently seen fixed-blade knife. Throughout the course of history, the pocket knife has become an increasingly popular tool and today can be outfitted with virtually everything but the kitchen sink!

The two most common types of blade mechanisms on pocketknives and multitools are the “slipjoint” and the “lockback”. Once the blade is engaged, the slipjoint pocket knife remains open via a spring device until the required amount of pressure is applied to fold the blade back into the handle. For heavier duty use, a lockback pocket knife adds a measure of safety to the slipjoint mechanism with a hook and notch that align and lock into place. To close, the lockback blade must be pressed down in tandem with the lock-releasing lever.

A far cry from the blade your grandfather whittled with, today’s pocket knives and multitools are modern masterpieces available with an assortment of blades and gadgets. Choose a pocket knife with a serrated blade, plain blade, saw edged blade or all of the above. Bottle openers, corkscrews, mini scissors, screwdrivers, pliers, can openers and toothpicks are just some of the many other features that can be found on totally loaded pocket knives and multitools.

The handle of pocketknives and multi function tools serve several purposes including providing a safe housing for the blades and gadgets within as well as a decorative exterior that reflects the owner’s personality. The iconic red enamel handle of the Swiss Army knife imparts the traditional look of a time-honored military pocket knife. Additional options for handles include variety of wood and bone, stainless steel and other metals.

Always a welcomed gift for birthdays, Father’s Day, graduations and even as groomsmen gifts, a well-appointed pocket knife or multitool is made even more memorable with the an engraving of the recipient’s name, monogram or special sentiment. Leather and nylon cases allow these knives to always be at the ready in the pocket, on a belt or clipped to a backpack. If you ever get lost in the woods or urban jungle, reset assured that one of these little beauties will get you out of many a pinch.

Article written by Groom Stand, a provider of personalized groomsmen gifts. You are free to reproduce this article as long as all links remain intact.

Routinely, I rise out of bed before the birds, and watch the sunlight
flood my office every morning. See, I love this time of day! But what
I don’t love is being rudely rousted out of a deep sleep before my
normal rise and shine time, and every day for the past few months I
have been.

I sleep with the windows open, and at around 4:00 each and every
morning, rain or shine, there has been this very obnoxious bird
“somewhere” close by screeching his mating call at what seems
like 130 decibels! Many times I’ve wearily peered out to be able to
witness first hand what sounded like a pterodactyl-size creature on
some kind of steroids. But never would this clever ‘lil creature reveal
himself!

I appreciate nature as much as the next person, but this large
sound at this wee hour of the morning is not music to my ears! In
one agitated state my fine-feathered foe put me in, I thought about
locating a ’sportsman’ in the neighborhood to take him out, but that
was only wishful fantasizing. Besides, I don’t believe in ‘the sport of
hunting.’

By now though, I’ve gotten pretty used to my tree dwelling alarm
and looking on the positive side of this situation, could even thank
him for the extra hour of work I am able to put in every day.

One day last week, I was pounding away on my laptop on the front
porch swing, when lo and behold - THAT PIERCING SOUND
AGAIN! And it was NEAR! Imagine my surprise when after peeking
out from under the canopy, perched on the telephone line above
was this teeny weenie finch, smaller than my prized canary,
warbling away what was really a beautiful anthem, at least heard at
this normal hour of the day.

Oh my, the power of small!

Now, may I ask: How many times in your life have you thought that
you were “too small” to make a difference? How many times has
this thought actually stopped you from doing something you knew
in your heart was worthwhile? Perhaps something like changing
careers, starting a new business, creating your own product or even
buying that dream home. Like me, I bet plenty of times!

Think about this. Every great achievement in this world had its roots
as a single thought in the mind of a single human being. There’s no
exception - the greatest inventions, the biggest corporations and
the tallest skyscrapers were all borne of the single idea of one
individual!

The difference between most of us and the Henry Ford’s and Bill
Gates of this world is the total self-belief and conviction in their
ideas to just “build it!” No matter the size, no matter the scope, no
matter the naysayers around them. And, knowing full well that the
road to achieving their goal was going to be paved with major
setbacks and failures.

Here’s one of my favorite quotes about achievers:

“There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are
some who face reality; and then there are those who turn one into
the other.”
Douglas Everett

You’ve heard many of the stories about the above ‘icons’ and people
like Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison and Gandhi. Their journeys
were filled with great adversity, devastating setbacks and yes,
heartbreaking failures. But still, because of the sheer level of belief
in themselves and what they set out to achieve, they were able to
leave a legacy that today affects every one of us, every hour of
every day.

There are millions everyday people who will never become
household names who have made magnificent differences in their
lives and the lives of those around them.

Take for instance, the single mother who was reluctantly forced
onto the welfare rolls due to a deadbeat dad, and pounds the
pavement until she lands a job, determined to excel, and works her
way up the ladder until she ends up with a wonderful career to the
benefit of herself and her family.

Or, the foreign medical student whose family sacrificed their entire
lives in order to send their child to a ‘free country’ to get an
education, who, through sheer determination graduates at the top of
his class but decides not to chase the almighty big bucks that
await him in the ‘land of promise’ and instead returns to his
homeland so that he may help alleviate the dire suffering of the
people in his native land.

Or, how about the countless entrepreneurs who have taken a single
idea and no matter what obstacles they faced, and the many
sacrifices they had to make, created successful businesses with
products that impacted thousands or even millions of people?

I am privileged to know so many individuals who have accomplished
great things only because of the great belief they had in themselves
and their ideas. As such, I firmly believe that every human being, no
matter where they believe they are at on this roller coaster ride we
call life, CAN accomplish great things.

As strange as this may seem at this time, I can tell you with all the
sincerity I possess, that this great universe of ours awaits your
simple and sincere decision, so that it can begin to fill you with all
the power you need to make your dream a reality. It’s a matter of
truly making that decision and then opening yourself up to receiving
that invisible assistance.

“The Creator has not given you a longing to do that which you have
no ability to do.” -Orison Swett Marden

Now back to my miniscule, winged friend. On cue, and still prior to
daylight, he shakes me out of my peaceful slumber. He knows
nothing else. No other way. He just cranks it up at enormous
volume at nature’s call, oblivious to the fact he is impacting me on a
major scale by doing the only thing he was designed to do. How we
all should be, don’t you agree?

The Power of Small!

© Rick Beneteau

Rick is co-creator of the breakthrough Make Every Day A Great
Day Program. Read the powerful, life-changing testimonials
and discover how this revolutionary product can dramatically
change Your Life too!:
http://www.MakeEveryDayAGreatDay.com/yes

Let me introduce you to David. David is an expert. He lives on a beautiful farm in Spain. David is an expert in many things: almond growing, sheep herding, and wild boar rustling are just a few.

But most importantly David is an expert Chumbos harvester.

What’s a Chumbos? A Chumbos is more commonly known as a prickly pear.

The Chumbos tree grows rapidly in the southern parts of Spain, where it turns waste products (pooh to me and you) into fabulous fruit.

My husband Marcus and I went to visit David to marvel at his expertise. Now, David had told us how wonderful this fruit tasted, and I couldn’t wait to try it out.

In my infinite wisdom, I grabbed a prickly pear off the tree.

But here’s the problem, it’s not called a prickly pear for nothing. It’s prickly! It does what it says on the packet.

There are tiny pricks of excruciating pain - hundreds of them. They break off when touched and leave their length in your skin. They are almost impossible to remove as they are so fine.

You have 1000s of nerve endings per square centimetre of flesh in your finger tips. It felt like every nerve ending on mine was on fire. I threw the pear to the floor and ran around the farm screaming - followed by a cacophony of farm yard animals.

Well as you can imagine this attracted the attention of David. Did I tell you he was an expert?

Well he quickly appraised the situation (as experts do) and calmly removed the prickles. He then took me by my other hand (the good one) and introduced me to his tool.

It’s a great big stick! About 6 feet long, with 6 inches of drainpipe lashed to the end to form a kind of “T”.

David then proceeded to show me how you use this ingenious tool. You lean precariously over into the Chumbos trees and balance on one foot. You shove the stick into the Chumbos and hook a pear with the drainpipe. Then with a twisting action you detach a pear and throw it (in one action) onto the ground.

You then roll the pear around on the ground with your foot (obviously whilst wearing shoes) which has the miraculous effect of removing all the annoying prickles. You can then pick up the pear and with a rusty penknife (that appeared from the depths of David’s pocket) you can cut open the fruit and get to the sweet bit - delicious!

David is an expert.

You should always listen to experts. They’re the ones who tell you what can’t be done and why and then go ahead and do it anyway.

My husband Marcus tried this not long afterwards…

Unfortunately he isn’t an expert!

Learning From Others

So, what can we learn from David & Marcus that helps us understand why outsourcing is really great?

It can be painful doing it yourself

When you tackle a task that you’ve never encountered before you may make mistakes. It’s incredibly difficult knowing what’s right for your business if you’ve never done this before. The pain can be simply wasting time - but quite often it can be the pain of wasting money AND losing opportunities. Can you afford to lose time, money and business opportunities?

You don’t always get what you wanted

A poke in the eye with a sharp stick! The skills required to ensure a successful business are wide and varied. At first you’ll be doing everything yourself, but as your client’s requirements change and you need to adapt to meet their needs, you need to surround yourself with people who deliver results. When you develop your business yourself you only have your own resources to call upon which quite often leads to fewer opportunities for your business.

There are steps in the process

If growing a business is something new to you, you may not be fully aware of the different steps involved in the process. It’s important that the steps are carried out in the right order at the right time to ensure success. There are steps in every specialist skill that a growing business requires. How can you know what they all are?

There are skills involved

You may have never even heard of some of the skills required to grow a successful business. The terminology may be strange or new. Ensuring the availability of the right skill at the right time will make sure your business will make you money or save you money.

There are tools involved

The tools may appear strange or arcane - but these are the tools used by professionals. Tools that ensure the validity of your web pages so that the whole world can see them; tools that create pictures that tell a thousand words; tools that measure the effectiveness of your hard work; and tools that manage your database of prospects, moving them through the pipeline.

You need expertise AND experience

But most importantly, you need expertise and experience. The experience to know what tool is needed and at what stage. The experience to know what strategy will work best without lengthy trial and error. The experience to know how to move prospects through your pipeline and ensure they contact you. The experience that only comes from having been there and done this before.

So, what skills do you have in-house? It’s important to understand where your skills and knowledge can be used to best effect. Will your time be used at a strategic level - or will you get down to some hands-on tactics? If you don’t have the skills in your own team, where will you get them from?

This skills gap needs to be thoroughly inspected. You need to be honest with yourself. This could be a costly mistake if you get it wrong.

Speak Soon,

‘Dangerous’ Debbie Jenkins
debs@debbiejenkins.com

(c) Copyright 2005 www.BookShaker.com

SUMMER CAN BE SLOW FOR BUSINESS
But don’t let that get in the way of your success.
This is the ideal time to work on your business
rather than in it. Get 2 F’REE eBooks and prepare
for more success with less effort here…
http://www.leanmarketing.co.uk

I’m wondering if… You Know Other People who should be reading this too? So do us all a favour (they get 2 free books - we get a new subscriber - you get to look good) when you Pass On This link… http://www.leanmarketing.co.uk

Most commercial languages and community based languages are easy to understand and use. You may however find yourself in a position where you have to use an inelegant proprietary language that is annexed to an application you have been engaged to support. The language may be used as part of a customisation process. Now for the worst case scenario:

The syntax of the language is extremely irregular and the documentation provided for it is worse!

Having to employ a language that has excessively awkward syntax and unreasonably defined routines you know two things:

• The language perforce must be consistent for the interpreter to work.
• There are syntactic rules to the ‘proper’ construction of a clause or a routine.

Even the untidiest rules with some perspiration and serious mental effort will eventually reveal a consistent approach to constructing a routine to achieve a desired result. To understand what the language’s rules are and how they are applied:

• Read the documentation very carefully to see if it can shed any light upon how to construct an instruction. (As mentioned sometimes the documentation is of no use).
• Graphically map out example language constructs into flow charts or ER diagrams.

Graphical representations of routines constructed from a badly designed language can vastly improve your understanding of what the language is saying. Charts and diagrams remove the clutter of curly braces, formatting and keywords. The graphic will present you with an abstracted clear view of the flow of the language and the way it instructs an application to do something. The next step is to write out a similar routine using your graphical representations as a guide and see if you can simulate a similar result to what is expected. If you are successful then you have solved some of the language’s mystery.

Once you have a handle upon the language, your next step, if you have time, is to create some kind of interface between the language and yourself. By this I mean divorcing yourself from direct contact with the language by either:

• Creating a Graphical User Interface through which you create forms or design flowchart diagrams that are then translated to the language’s code.
• Creating a markup language and a system to convert the markup language to the awkward syntax of the proprietary language.

Both options will need an interpreter that will convert your language to the proprietary language and vice versa. You start by breaking down and mapping the components that make up the proprietary language:

• Sub-routines
• Properties
• Composite keys
• Definitions
• Variables etc.

Begin by breaking down the independent components from the largest to the smallest for instance:

• Publicly declared variables and constants and then
• large components like routines which have dependent components within them and
• then breaking down each dependent component.

For example:

property x:5 [independent component]
property t:10 [independent component]

definition “my test property” [large component]
{
property “prop one” [dependent component of definition]
{
edit oneof “property two” relate by “is keyed by” READONLY [dependent component of property within definition]
} ASGRID LENGTH 1200
}

The tools at your disposal to help break down the proprietary code are:

• Editors that allow you to create customised colouration of the syntax, like Crimson Editor which is free.

• Regular Expressions to help break up the code efficiently and accurately.
• Character reading tools.
• Text manipulation functions within the language from which you will be building your interfaces interpreter.

Once you have learned the proprietary language’s break-down and can represent scripts written in it within your interface, you can then work upon reversing the process so that you can create a proprietary script from your interface.

Things you may want your interface to do for you:

• Remove the clutter of curly braces and common constructs when converting from the proprietary language to your interface. For instance, there may be a set of words that must always appear together like ‘relate by “is keyed by”‘ you can simply represent it as a tag or a graphic symbol of a key.
• Add helpful comments when converting back from your language to the proprietary one. For example, should you have to view the proprietary script where there might be nested curly braces, it might be helpful to comment those braces to show the end of each section, for example:

do 1{
code
do 2{
code
do 3 {
code
do 4 {
} // end do 4
} // end do 3
} // end do 2
} // end do 1

To convert the code the interface might break down the components into a database. A table for sub-routines, a table for properties and variables etc. Each component could be ordered by recording the starting position of a component’s first character in the code block (script). This provides the ability to convert the code in both directions as it was originally written or re-write the code in order of component. For example:

You start with a script that looks like this:

property x:5

definition “def One”
{

display dialog x
}

property t:6

definition “def Two”
{

display dialog t
}

Splitting the code into it’s respective tables:

Properties
Line=1; Name=x; Value=5
Line=8; Name=t; Value=6

Definitions
Line=3; Name=One
Line=10; Name=Two

Definition Clauses
Line=5; display dialog x
Line=12; display dialog t

You can either re-write the lines of code in their respective line/character number order or re-write them by their object order like so:

property x:5
property t:6

definition “def One”
{

display dialog x
}

definition “def Two”
{

display dialog t
}

Once you have decomposed the code into a more manageable format you can manipulate it how you would like.

In recapitulation, when dealing with a badly designed language you carry out the following steps:

• If possible abstract out some examples of its use into a flowchart or diagram. This will go far to improving your understanding of the language.
• Create an interface between the language and yourself to make programming in it easier. This will really pay dividends to your use of the language and give you an intimate understanding of it’s quirkiness.

Duane Hennessy Senior Software Engineer and Systems Architect. Bandicoot Software Tropical Queensland, Australia (ABN: 33 682 969 957) Your own personal library of code snippets. http://www.bandicootsoftware.com.au Moderator of http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AccessDevelopers