Well, today is the 30th. The supposed last day of RideSearch. As I look at what I have done since July of last year and I can truly say not much. I started to tell someone the story of RideSearch the other day and I realized most of my tale could be about failure and it was really hard to admit it. Even RideSearch has disappeared from keyword carpool, something I had paid 6 grand for last year. The money I spent was phenomonal. It is hard to conceive how I much I was passionate about the site. I truly believed that google would see my popularity and want to buy the site. I went on a trip to LA to promote it. I had a commercial done in Florida. I sponsored Green Festivals. I gave away 1000 t-shirts. I bought 40,000 carpool reminder cards. I was on TV 4 times. I was on the radio about 20 times. I even made an iPhone web app. The thing is, all of it happened in a span of 6 months. From January to June of 2008. I was like a man with a vision giving all I've got to make it successful and in some ways it was paying off.

Now if I look at from last June to today I can see that I had some good press like an AP article, some venture capital leads and got put in my first book. I reworked the business model. I finally had a good answer to "how do you make moeny?" Then I started and stopped and started development. I had lost my passion for the site. I think I might have been depressed about it. In all of this time I probably did about 3 weeks of development. I didn't really try anymore. I became realistic as to my new resources(nothing) and knew the odds of it being sold was very low. What did I really have to work towards? I always felt like I should have been praised for my work, even given an award for doing something great for the nation. But alas, no such praise or reward was given. I was toiling in failure. It felt hard to be a failure and admit I failed. But I always had hope.

The funny thing is, it is mostly about perspective and passion than logic and money. I could have the perspective that I will start making money in a couple of years. That I will work on it an hour a week and eventually have the entire thing finished and working. But I know that phases of passion come and go. The desire to do work outside of work comes and goes and with the advent of our child the desire will probably be gone. Or will it? I have an internal drive that seeks to make a name for myself and become a success. I just don't know if I could stand cubicle life for 30 years with no hope of becoming my own boss or making a jackpot. I have been a CEO and now I am a Senior Developer Level 5 and could be so for a very long time. But I think as time goes on I will be ok with being a cube worker. My family means so much more to me than work ever will.

It is time to change the perspective. To kill the old concept of what RideSearch is for. RideSearch is now a playground. It is a site that I can use to play with new development tools. Like my recent upgrade to google maps. I have been working on upgrading the social network as well since I already bought the license last year. My perspectivie is because that is a skill to have, not that it will bring home the bacon. I am sure I will work on other stuff related to the site. I may even sign up with the iPhone development program and make a carpool app in my own time. But I am no longer concerned with the search engine placement, web traffic, competition, press, financials and even making money. As far as a viable business, RideSearch is now dead. Long Live RideSearch!

Let's see. Not much happened this weekend. We even slept in through church. Saw the movie "Up" in 3D on Saturday. I'd give it 2 out of 5 stars. It really was a kids movie about an old man and a kid. Then we came home and saw Grand Torino. I'd give it another 2 out 5 stars. It was another old man movie. Clint Eastwood reminded me too much of Robbie. It was like a characterization of him, old vet who smokes and drinks cheap beer and hacks up blood. I was expecting a big shoot em up and came away as a drama. I always thought Eastwood's cowboy movies were his best.

In other news Holly and I will be travelling next week. We are going to Shreveport sometime in the weekend. That should be fun. I am hoping to catch a fireworks show over the river. Then next Wednesday we will be in OKC visiting my Dad, my half-brother and his son, my nephew. Yes, no guys night on the 8th. It should be all pretty good with me only missing one day of work, giving me more time when the baby makes his appearance.

In other news Micheal Jackson died over the weekend. So did Billy Mays, the pitchmen. Add Farrah Fawcet and Ed McMahan and you've got a string of famous people dead. I always wondered about MJ. I have a faint memory of Jazzercising to "Beat It" in the third grade at the Episcopal School. Talk about weird. I think at the beginning we start off with our hands covering our face and in each bong we were to remove a hand and stretch our arms out. All before we started our dance moves. Scary. As I sat down for lunch today I heard them playing MJs songs over the speaker. I can't help but think this is going to start an 80s comeback. It is time for hair bands, neon, parachute pants, perms and mullets to remake an appearance. Finally my step brother will be in style ;-)

So last night was my latest appointment with the cognitive therapist. It was another enlightening moment and has got me deep thinking. I am thinking about the power of the mind and how we probably are not using it to its fullest potential. This guided imagery that she has me doing is just beginning to reframe negative thoughts and fears into positive thoughts and relaxation. I think if I am more at peace about permanent weight loss it will last. Our minds are central to how our body works. If I was to describe a nice tasty cheeseburger your mind mike make you salivate. If I was to talk about your worst fear your heart rate might increase. Recently scientists did brain scans of people under hypnotherapy who were told that their hand is an immovable object and then they pushed on it. The people who weren't under hypnosis and were told to pretend had a different part of the brain keeping the arm up than the people who were under hynosis.

It is like we all have this area in our brains that can make us completely pain free, completely at peace in any circumstance, if we let it and if we learn to control it. When I came into the docs office last week I had anxiety because my heartburn was acting up again. I have heartburn because I have a haital hernia and I am big and I eat acidic food. So it all compounds into chronic cough and anxiety. We proceeded to do the guided imagery and at the end I was completely relaxed. It starts with you closing your eyes and relaxing and feeling your whole body relax. Then you take all of your worries and put them in a box. Then you walk down into your valley. Then you see your inner child and have dialog with him and speak what is being said. This whole inner child dialogue I have yet to really get into. I leave him at home when I go out into the world. Then when you are finished dialoging you are told to open your eyes and you are still relaxed.

It really is meditation. I think we get so wrapped up in the world we forget to just sit and clear our minds. That is what I am taking out of this so far. The behavioral part of the therapy is her asking how I am doing on my weight loss. I have decided to do low calorie cause it worked in college and to do the treadmill to tv shows cause that's how peetey lost his weight. So far I have lost 2 pounds. The doc also want me to do pilates to strengthen my stomach which would help in heartburn. I am like, what in the world is pilates? Isn't that what women do to tighten their buns? Weird. I am still trying to figure out if this is all a waste of time or will I get some real life skills to take with me. So far it has helped me understand more about everyone's mind in general, but about my own mind, that's another story.

Transformers was a great movie. No spoilers here, but the plot was better than the first movie. It had way more action and was really explosive. Definitely one of the best summer movies. It really is tough to compare Transformers and Star Trek. They both make me want to see them again. I probably would see Star Trek first because I am sure there were things I missed in it. I don't think I missed anything in Transformers, but their dialog was very fast. Benz did notice that the main character was all bruised and beat up and his shirt shredded and the girl who is with him seems to have avoided all damage and still has her makeup and hair intact after surviving all of the minefields of decepticons. The special effects were outstanding. I was told the largest explosion for a movie was made here and I can't seem to figure out which one it is. All in all I'd give it 4 out 5 stars. It would have been 5 but there was one schisking scene, but it was off camera so at least the director didn't want to do a complete gross out.

Boy these weeks are going fast. This Saturday is a fireworks festival at South Fork Ranch. I can't believe it's already approaching July. I am going to blink and our kid will be born. Holly is trying to get some baby showers co-ordinated. One for family members and the other for friends. I think we might have the friends one at our house sometime in August. It is kind of cutting it close. He may come early and then we will have a shower of another kind. We have a bassinet that vibrates. Now we need a crib and a car seat and then I think we will have the bare neccessities. Holly is getting good stuff off of craigslist. It is amazing all the used baby stuff you can get. Just as long as she doesn't get any used diapers... ew.

So last night was the final playoff game. In short, I really didn't make any mistakes. I only got up to bat once and struck out. The rest of the game I played catcher for 4 innings. Four brutal innings. As the other team whose name was Reality hit me. They just kept on hitting the ball and kept on getting walked. What that means is that I had to catch an inordinate amount of balls. By the fourth inning I had given up crouching because my lower back was hurting and I could barely throw the ball back. We lost on a mercy rule. I think the score ended up being 20-2. I had one highlight. The pitcher threw the ball and the ball dinked off of the bat straight back and I actually caught it for an out, ending one of the innings. Another scene includes me actually catching the ball as someone was heading for home plate and I did tag the guy with the ball. However the ref said "safe", even though I could feel me tagging him before his foot hit the plate. I didn't really argue though.

The final moment happened when someone was running for home plate full steam and I had my foot on the base. He ran all over me like a football player, except I can't believe I stayed on my feet. I used my new found shoes to hop to stability. I then raised my hands and said to the world "I can't believe I didn't fall down! woo hoo". For me it is the little victories that make a difference. Winning is something I never expect. I think our team was down at how bad we all played. When we would hit the ball they would catch it. Our pitcher didn't throw many strikes either. In the end my softball playing days were fun and were a learning experience. I think I even burned some calories doing it. Maybe I need to join another league for something. But it is so hot in the summer. Maybe a water polo team? I wonder if we have a team? Maybe I can form one and call it the Marco Polo Polo Team.

Let's see. What are my thoughts. For the guys, we are going to see Transformers 2 on Wednesday. It is not showing at Studio Movie Grill and is sold out at the IMAX so we will need to get something fast. The movie starts at 7:40 at Tinseltown. Below is the link to buy a ticket. Do it asap.

click to get tickets

In other news I treadmilled to a complete episode of Lost last night (45 Minutes) and have increased my speed over 1. So I am starting to lose weight. I've lost 2 pounds so far. I think I might also have another weight loss solution. Put ice cubes near your collarbone. Apparently there is a type of fat called brown fat that resides there and is activated in cold temperatures. Scientists say this fat actually burns calories instead of stores them. I think if I can run on the treadmill with ice cubes on my neck it will work better. More tests...

Friday Holly and I went to TGI Fridays. We got a gift certificate and proceeded to use it. We ended up watching Speed Racer the Movie. It was really good. It reminded me so much of the cartoon. I used to watch it on MTV when I was a kid after coming home from school. Go Speed Racer Go. Saturday afternoon we got massages for our birthday. Holly got me one and her mom got her one. It was one the best massages I have had. They used hot blankets and hot rocks and stretched me. Although when she got to my feet I laughed too much so she avoided that area. Holly and I were in the same room. I felt like Mr.Papageorgio. Saturday night we went to one of Holly's Tech friends birthday party. I just kind of hung out, not really knowing anyone.

Sunday morning it was my first time to work at the baby sunday school class. I figure to get experience before the inevitable happens. All I did was hold one and wipe his face. He was a bout 6 months. When he started to fuss I would hand him over to one of the attending ladies. If that is what having a kid is like this is going to be pretty easy. Although I can see babies are full of various liquids that must be cleaned most of the time. They are like sacks of liquid. However they were responsive to toys and pacifiers so as our kid gets older he will be more fun to be around. We ended up at Holly's grandfathers on Sunday afternoon. I had a hamburger from Kincaid's, voted one of the best burger places in Texas. We should go there on guys night sometime. It is in Grapevine. So that was my weekend. This week should be a busy one at work. It seems I am the only one with something pressing around here. The softball playoffs are on Tuesday. Hopefully we will win it all. How was your weekend?

In an effort to liven up the place I have made up some jokes:

What does Han taste like? Chewie.
What does a NerfHerder do? Collects tiny footballs.
What does Jar Jar Binks eat?? Cheesa Pizza
Where does Jabba the Hutt eat? Pizza Hut
What does Qui Gone drink? Gin.
Who is the biggest star in the trilogy? The Death Star
Why is C3PO mad? Because he's PO'd
What does Padme do to the books? She pad's the numbers
What is the programmers moon? End-Or
How many Sith does it take to change a lightbulb? Two, there are always two
Why did the emporer turn white? He got maced.
Why was C3PO shiny? He got his memory wiped
Why was Bubba Fett depressed? He was in the pitts.
What do Micheal Jackson, Luke Skywalker and Anakin Skywalker have in common? One glove.

and finally

Why did the Rebellion have a kick me sign on his shirt? Because the Empire Strikes Back

Ah, so you may be wondering how the therapy went. It was kind of what I was expecting and was mostly general. The basic premise of this is to get over my compulsion to eat for pleasure. It is the physical compulsion that is the root of the problem. So I go in to her office and not only does she do CBT but she does hypnosis and guided imagery. So for the CBT part she has me try to accomplish some healthy goals for the week - 30 minutes earlier to bed, 30 minutes earlier to wake up, 30 minutes of exercise 5 days a week, watch my calorie intake, and to replace my recreational eating with other recreations. Find some things that are fun to do and do them. Apparently I have been living a moderately depressed state, thus me losing my passion for most things I used to find fun. Those are good goals and I know I can accomplish them. Everyone has the capability to start over their lifestyle so this advice is nothing new, but when a professional gives it, it means more. Time to get pumped up.

The second part was the hypnosis with guided imagery. It wasn't like the last time I did hypnosis where everything was specific like - you will start liking vegatables. This was more like you are relaxed and in a happy place, you see a little kid who wants to play with you. You see a big tree. Stuff like that. I really didn't get the point till after she explained that I will be visiting these places as we progress and the kid and the tree represent me. After I looked up guided imagery on the net I found out that is what is used on people to block pain and trauma. Like those crazy people who can use it to give birth without screaming, or to actually go into surgery without anethesia. See:

http://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/tc/guided-imagery-topic-overview

So I think this will work as long as I am with it. If I go into it negative or unbelieving then it won't work. So I say why not again and go for it. It worked the first time and this lady is a Christian counselor as well so I have a little better opinion of her morals. After it was over she didn't do the whole hypnosis thing of counting up and making you feel refreshed. It was more of a open your eyes kind of thing. Then I felt like Peter Gibbons in Office Space. All relaxed and all. If anything at all is accomplished it will be that every Wednesday upon leaving I will be feeling relaxed and more in control. Let's see if this helps me lose wieght. If it does then I will recommend it to everyone.

I got my book in the mail the other day "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Greening Your Business." and RideSearch is in the top of the list of sites to use to find a carpool. We are also on the resources section of the book. It reignited my passion for doing this. I've been on TV and that was fleeting. I was in many blogs and that was fleeting. I was in the newspaper and that was fleeting. The Women's Health issue was good in that the magazine can be saved by people. But a book. That means that years from now someone will check it out of the library and the site will be there, although if I pull the plug the site actually won't.

I go back and forth with this. Where I am at now is I am doing the work to do to sell it. The funny thing is I am continuing working on the 3.0 version - the one that makes money - to make the site more sellable. The logic is that I am already 70% done with it. Why not finish it? Then I can quit. I have the tools and the skill to put it together. All I need is the time. And with summer tv shows not doing anything I think I do have the time. At least until the baby is born. I worked on it last night and got far. I think this site will be something I do when I feel like it and I really just shouldn't take it so seriously. For some reason when it is a success I feel like a success and when it is a failure I feel like a failure. That's what I need to quit, my emotional ties to the site.

Back to my second topic I talk about. I started the diet/exercise thing again this week - Lost with the treadmill. This time, tonight, from 6-7pm(guys night is at 7:15) I will go to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Weight Loss. Why not? I found a good one close by who takes my insurance. We shall see if this is any good. I figure I fit the "compulsive overeater" category. I do hope it is not like what they do for people with OCD and make them face their fears. I can just see her placing a salad in front of me and forcing me to eat it. I really need to be specific about what I am wanting. I just need some mental techniques to use when tempted by restaurants, getting seconds, work treats, cookies and ice cream. Because I give in faster than a jack rabbit. We shall see.

So we have now signed up for baby classes at our hospital, Plano Medical Center. These are like 2 hour classes on every Tuesday night in July. That should be interesting. However, the second they show the birthing video I might need a bathroom break. There is also a "new dad's boot camp" class. It all kind of reminds me of the "Before you say I do" class we took before we got married although these classes are secular. Now that was a useful class in that it pulled all of the marriage issues on the table before we got married. So when we did tie the knot all things like money, religion, romance, and even chores were decided on. I wonder what kind of things we need to decide on before the baby is born? Also, next Sunday I am going to be in the newborns nursery. I think all I need to do is hold them and rock them to sleep, hopefully. Either way I will be trained in the art of being a dad.

Even Princess Leia is getting in on the training. Next Sunday she starts doggy training at Petsmart. I can tell you she will definitely be jealous of the baby. Sometimes she is even jealous of me. The second Holly and I kiss she runs up to us and wants to be right in the middle of it. She also is fond of biting. So we need to break her of that habit as well. I guess part of our job will be to make sure the baby is out of reach of the dog unless supervised.

Oh yes, we do have a name picked out, but we aren't telling. The second you tell people any name they are bound to not like it. I guess people are like "I didn't think of that so it must be bad." I like the name we have chosen. It is cool and stylish. It is a name the girls will like and a name the guys will respect. It is not too common and not too outlandish. It is perfect, and no it is not my name ;-) Just wait until September 11th or thereabouts to find out...

Let's see. On Friday Holly and I travelled to Wichita Falls because Saturday she had to take a teacher certification test at MSU to be certified to teach special ed. Why? Because next year she is going to forego teaching her usual 5th grade science and teach pre-k special ed - basically 3-4 year old kids who are developmentally disabled. It is a much easier job than 5th grade science and she can be gone the first half of the year with our kid and still get paid. Then when she comes back to work next year it will be pretty easy. I wonder if we could dress up our kid like a 3 year old would he pass for special ed? It would be humourous and save on daycare.

Mom is doing the usual. When we arrived the house was 86. I think the older you get the lower your metabolism gets. Her stories started to get mixed up the the other day though. She started talking about Dad's cousins in Seattle and ended up talking about kitty in Alaska like dad's cousins were the one who dunked her in the water. I know she got confused while telling it and I did too. Also this whole neighbor thing won't die and now it is coupled with the backyard neighbor who mom doesn't like. Basically it cost $1900 to fix mom's fence in the backyard and I shook hands with the neighbor saying he would pay for half. Well he didn't and mom had to pay for it all. So I ended up writing a note and putting it on his door saying I would sue him for the complete amount if he didn't pay up in a month. I think it is his fence anyways because the posts are in his yard.

So that drama doesn't seem to go away. The other lady who stole mom's card has still gotten away with it since mom didn't press charges and now the credit card company is harassing mom to pay the balance. I already filled out paperwork but apparently I didn't do it in time. That IMO is wrong and I will tell the card who exactly stole the money and that they should get it out of her and not my mom. I am really tired of people taking advantage of my mom. You always wonder about your parents and whether they understand how crooked the world has become. Probably not. Anyways, I went swimming on Saturday. Reminded me of past pool parties. That was fun. How was your weekend?

Today I shall go deep. I've got three months to go before I am a dad and I want to make sure I can be the best one possible. So this gives me room for introspection. What if our base self, the one we revert to when nothing is going on, is not normal? What if Brian "Normal" is not normal after all, but a hodgepodge of overeating, oversleeping and bad habits accumulated in youth. As I think about going into Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for weight loss - my next thing to try - I think "what if" to all my presumptions about the way things should be.

If you've known me over the years you know I am a guy who is very analytical. One who won't let questions die without finding answers. I am all for self-improvement, even as far as learning new things and having a good mental health. Sometimes I admit I can't control something, like my blood pressure, and then rely upon the medical community to give me something that will do it. For some, I am reactive, for others I am proactive. People who don't see a doctor regulary and don't have concern about their health will think me a hypochondriac. People who are skinny and exercise to stave off obesity related problems will say I am reactive to my bad habits and not proactive. It is all a matter of perspective. I think I am probably all of it to some degree. I do think a professional second opinion cannot hurt in any aspect of life.

I have to watch out though about any therapist I see, even the therapists morals. I remember my hypnosis incident with the prostitutes. Also, my past is filled with landmines that would go against the whole point of CBT. I can see a shrink asking me about my childhood and sticking with that. I tend to forget the bad and move on. I think the point of CBT is to retrain my brain to be physically healthy orientated and not to discuss other issues. It is to provide the tools to say "no" at restaurants and to actually treat food addiction, which I have admitted I have.

A food addict always has to have the best tasting food. It is not about sustenance or about healthy choices. I eat solely because I love the taste and my brain has a delusion of no consequences to my food choices. But the reality is there are consequences, I just need to retrain my brain. So it is really a very good thing that I accept this and get treated for it, the way a person would get treated for alcoholism or even a broken foot. I am excited that I will take that step. It makes it all seem serious and gives me a push to take diet and exercising seriously. After all, who couldn't use a bit of advice from a professional? Especially since insurance pays for it. Woot.

Ah, so last night we had a tornado pass close to the house. I think I have determined after surviving the last tornado that this house can survive a pretty strong one, maybe an F3. Probably cause it is made of solid brick. So during the tornado Holly and I went downstairs. We decided to forego the closet since there was broken glass in there from the last tornado over a year ago... Anyways I recorded part of the trees going sideways. You can see it at
http://qik.com/BrianAndHolly

Qik is a cool site because I can record video on my phone and it will be streamed live to the website and saved there. That is pretty cool just in case any event happens that I want to record live. If I would have had it at Holly's graduation I could have let it run and people could have watched it on the internet. I suppose I could tape the birth of our child live, but I don't think that is going to happen.

In other news RideSearch is still generating some press. I just got notified it will mentioned in a new book called "The Complete Idiot?s Guide to Greening Your Business." I have finally made it to a book. It will be funny if I have to make the complete decision to stop the server and people read the book and can't find the site. No, it will be sad.

You can find the book at:
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Guide-Greening-Business/dp/1592578853/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1244744628&sr=8-1

So today I am wearing my new shoes. My "special shoes". This weekend we were in the mall and my old "special shoes" had gone flat. Usually I buy those Dr.Sholls inserts to keep it going a little bit longer. Then my heels start to get sore and I know I need new shoes. My last pair were basically basketball shoes with velcro. They were very cool and the second I stepped out of the store in Santa Monica some guy looks at them and goes "nice shoes".

These new shoes are definitely special. A year ago a study came out that said there were more ankle injuries since the 1970s than the previous years before. It blamed those new fangled tennis shoes and how they bind and control the feet and ankles. Then in the story there was a comparison to the Kenyan runners who run marathons in their bare feet and how they don't get ankle injuries. So Nike studied this phenomona and then proceeded to make a shoe that mimic'd the bare feet. And thus - Nike Free 5.0 was born.

http://insidenikerunning.nike.com/2009/04/16/nike-free-50-bare-your-feet/

The minute I put on these shoes I knew they were different. They are the lightest shoes I've ever had. To begin with I walk kind of like a duck because of old college basketball injury and these shoes force your feet to walk straight. I heard a snap crackle pop as my feet and legs were forced straight. All of a sudden I had good feet posture and felt more in control of my gait. Then when I walked in them it was like I was wearing slippers. I was able to shift my weight from my heal to the front of my feet, something I could never do in basketball shoes. I actually enjoyed running a little bit. So I am sold on the Nike Free. Can you tell? They should pay me for advertising for them.

So last night I completed my port of ESRI mapping services to Google Maps. It was easier than expected. I should be deploying it this week. The funny thing is this has been on my list of things to do since over a year ago. I guess it took calling an end to it to start development. Kind of like when you sell a house you doing home improvement to get a better price. Also, some guy wants to release a carpool iPhone app and give me 50% commision on it using my database. The app will cost a buck in the iPhone app store. Sounds like a good idea to me. I've got nothing to lose.

I was looking at my May stats. Last year I had 12,000 visitors in May. This year I had 1,200 visitors. It is amazing what press and advertising can do to a web site. It was in May of last year that in one day I had 1,600 visitors by being in a story that got on the front page of Yahoo. I am also no longer on the first page for keyword carpool. Basically without watering and feeding, the site is going to die. For a while though I was a major competitor. To think that Good Morning America mentioned me and the site got put in Womens Health Magazine is a big feat. Then my quote about it being like a dating service got picked up by the AP and I was in newspapers in all of the nation. It was a blast.

The most thrilling time had to be my first newscast. I remember sending out a press release using prweb and told the world that there was a new carpool site in town. All of a sudden I get a call from NBC News wanting to do a story. So I rented out an office for the day and they came down to do the story. It was all very official. The first time it aired I was in my house and was jumping up and down. Holly was talking to her grandparents to watch the news. I couldn't believe it. At least 100,000 people saw my ugly face on their TV screens. I was super excited.

Ah, but the sad thing is I believed the hype. I became prideful of the press and thought I could spend money on it so the whole nation would catch on. I think by August of last year when I went full time on the site the realization had already hit of everything I did wrong. So as I look back I can see how dangerous jumping head over heals into something can be. But I now have experience, and 30,000 promotional cards. Anyone need some firewood?

Well, it has been a while since I updated. Last week I was in a training class learning advanced C# techniques. It was actually fun and I got to do coding and asked tons of questions. That ignited my passion for coding again. On Friday night Holly and I went to see "Land of the Lost" at the studio movie grill. I had seen the Saturday morning TV show and knew it was geared towards kids. Well, this movie definitely was not. There were drug references, sex references and even an f-word thrown out there. Top it off with some gross things and you've got a movie only a deranged 13 year old would love. Will Farrell on improv is the same ole tiring thing now. If I was expecting something crass I might have enjoyed it better but instead I was expecting a kids show and got hit over the head. I'd give it a 2 out of 5 stars cause there were a couple of laughs.

Satuday, logic hit me again. Even though RideSearch is dying I still want it to be alive enough for me to try to sell it. So on Saturday and Sunday I worked on removing the old mapping system from the old site and replacing it with google maps. I think I was spurred by reigniting my passion for coding. I am actually almost finished and it should be out there by the end of this week. It costs me no money to switch and still gives me an opportunity to sell it because no one wants to buy a site that doesn't work. So the RideSearch farewell order has been issued but it is not dead, it has just been healed and hopefully will be kicked out by the end of the month. We shall see.

So Holly had a baby doc visit this morning. The baby is fine. All is well. I am getting excited and scared at the same time. I can see things are going to change. Our next step is to paint the baby room to match the blankets. Then get the carpets steam cleaned or replaced. Then get a crib. There is alot of stuff to get in preparation like a high chair, car seats, toys, clothes, baby monitor, diapers, diaper pail, and someone needs to give me a baby operations manual. Although now that I think about it, in caveman days I guess all they needed was a cave. We should be fine.

So by June 30 RideSearch will be officially shut down. My current
mapping service is expiring and taking the time to switch services
will just prolong the inevitable. So that will be it. Pride and
passion have kept it going for way too long. There will be many
regrets, but putting a nail in it will give me closure.

So my next steps will be to write a farewell message on the blog and
maybe send out a farewell message to my 9600 users recommending a
competitor.

As I look back I can see my number one mistake was pride. I thought I
could do it all. I also thought I could spend it all to success and by
the time I had a solid profitable business model I had lost my
passion. I learned way too many lessons the hard way.

In the end I will be left with 30,000 carpool cards and a $2500
backdrop for conventions. I suppose I could recycle them all. Thus
returning it back to the Earth where it belongs. Time to move on.

Brian Bass
Creator of RideSearch.com and
RideSearch.biz
"Carpool for Better Tomorrow"

http://ridesearch.com
http://ridesearch.biz

Gotta make it quick. I am at training all this week. I am learning C#
3.0. Had a party on Saturday. It was fun.

Brian Bass
Creator of RideSearch.com and
RideSearch.biz
"Carpool for Better Tomorrow"

http://ridesearch.com
http://ridesearch.biz