Ryan Byrd’s Ramblings

As part of my continued commitment to the betterment of the environment, I now drive a scooter (a two-wheeled motorized vehicle with a step-through frame.)

Advantages of a scooter

• Real babe magnet
• Great fuel economy– 100MPG (110 with optional cold air intake)
• Inexpensive ($850 with helmet and year warranty)
• Easy to use (no gears, just a throttle and a brake)
• Better parking — use motorcycle parking or bicycle parking
• Great for giving rides to attractive people
• Convenient for inner-city travel– speeds up to 65MPH
• “Scooterists are a brotherhood and sisterhood of like minded people.”
• Lane splitting is legal in many areas
• Scooters are basically two-wheeled convertibles

In 1963, now noted filmmaker Michael Apted, directed 7 UP!, a movie based on the Jesuit motto, “Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man.” That film interviewed a dozen British children from various economic and social backgrounds, all aged 7, and asked them questions about life, marriage, work, happiness, etc. Left there, the film would be a interesting, but ultimately unremarkable piece of forgotten film history. Instead, every seven years since, Apted has followed up with those twelve kids, found out about their lives and asked them the same questions. It’s fascinating to watch them grow old in fast forward.  Question: Would you participate in such an intrusive social experiment? A few of the subjects in the film seem almost resentful of their involvement.

The latest edition (49 Up) catches up with Bruce, Jackie, Simon, Andrew, John, Suzy, Nick, Neil, Lynn, Paul, Sue and Tony for another installment. I won’t ruin it for you, but one child, Neil, who struggled with depression and eventually wound up homeless, has quite the dramatic and unexpected turn.
I think 49 Up would make the basis for a great group game. Watch the clips from each period for each child and decide: will they be happy? married? divorced? employeed? employeed as ______? overweight? intelligent? accomplished? I think you’ll find your stereotypes and suppositions rather surprisingly unshelved. Anybody want to play?

The next such film, 56 Up, will be in 2012, which conveniently is the end of the world according to the Mayan calendar.

It’s documentary film week here at RBDN and we’ll (um, I will anyway) review a documentary a day in preparation for the RBDN Summer Film Project (details coming soon.) Because I don’t have a Netflix membership yet, I’ll have to rely on local rental stores and libraries. As you might know, there aren’t very many documentaries to be found at a Blockbuster store. You may recall I’ve predicted that movie rental stores will be out of business in five years, but before they go, you might wander over and check out their special interest section– that’s the one rack where they put documentaries. The selection is sparce, but better than nothing.

This Week: 49 Up, Game Over, Jesus Camp, Blood In the Face, BonHoeffer and anything else you might recommend. Whatcha got for me?

Last year I blogged about how my mom is better than your mom. (She still is, BTW.) Since that’s already established, this time around I’ll talk about moms in general and why they’re so great.

Mothers are essential to the traditional family structure because they provide: stability, kindness, compassion, softness, responsibility, spirituality, support, a listening ear, unconditional love, health, order, encouragement, selfless service and nurture.

Basically, moms rock and we’d be messed up without them.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

• Advertising Vs Reality - A Product Comparison Project
• Belgian Students Break Mento-and-Coke World Record
• Make Your Own Fonts, In a Web Browser
• Spy video car

A couple of years ago I threw together a site called Morning Pep Talk as a repository of collected up-beat, motivational and inspiring poems, quotations and speeches etc. You’ve been able to quickly jump to that motivational site by clicking the Cheer Up link in the top navigation bar of RBDN.

Since that time I’ve been reading the Pep Talk content out loud and saving those readings into handy MP3s for your iPoding pleasure. I’ve finally completed and uploaded audio for two sections. Candidly, I can’t imagine why anyone would want to listen to my nasal, raspy voice, but in the interest of multimedia progression, there ya go!

No doubt, you’ll want to hear me stumble through Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take The Garbage Out, Betty Botter, and The End of the Raven — A poem by Edgar Allen Poe’s Cat.

Moments ago I posted an entry about the Four Hour Workweek. In that book author Tim Ferriss recommends starting your own business in a niche market and selling a product online. Maybe you’ve wondered how to get a business (an LLC specifically) up and running. Well, here are the steps (for Utah, at least):

• Get a mailbox at The UPS Store/Mail Boxes Etc (when writing the address use “new mailbox address, STE 1234″ instead of #1234– it looks more professional)
• Get a free service like http://www.grandcentral.com/ for your new office phone # (forwards to cell, emails voice mail, etc)
• Get a domain name and setup email forwarding and a quick homepage (GoDaddy)
• Register your business https://secure.utah.gov/osbr-user/user/welcome.html (request name $22 (wait a day), get EIN $30)
• Print out articles of incorporation and go get a business bank account– Washington Mutual (no fees, but $100 deposit at opening needed plus two forms of ID)
• Setup Paypal or Google checkout with that bank account so you can accept payments
• Setup an accounting system (like QuickBooks online) to manage finances

Why an LLC?

• Pass-through taxation (no double taxation like other corporations)
• Personal liability protection for members
• The ability of owners to deduct their share of the LLC’s net loss for the year on their personal return

Once you’ve got an LLC:

• Keep track of all business expenses (with receipts), and business income
• Don’t co-mingle funds (this can lead to someone potentially “piercing the corportate veil” and getting your personal assets)
• At tax time, file a 1040 schedule C for the LLC http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040sc.pdf (or 1065 and schedule K if the LLC is a partnership)

I saw my brother picked up a new book from Borders the other day, so I promptly borrowed it and begin reading. It’s by Timothy Ferriss and called, The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich. I had heard about the book from my buddy GK, but I’d never gotten around to reading it. Several hours later I had finished the book and become a new man. Well, maybe not, but I was energized and inspired to break out of the 9-5 prison and begin to take charge of my finances. In 320 pages, Tim details his strategy for generating streams of income, simplifying life and focusing on what really matters. Tim talks about “the living dead”– those who work amazingly hard to amass ultimately worthless stuff and about “deferred living” — slaving for 30 years “sav[ing] it all for the end only to find that life has passed them by.” Tim gives practical advice on how to outsource your life, batch related tasks, negotiate telecommuting, and create a nearly self-running business in a niche market. Tim recommends not attending meetings, checking email weekly, not finishing bad things (food, movies, etc), getting a personal assistant, empowering your employees to make most decisions for you and finding a product and selling it online (the fulfillment of the sale is also outsourced.)

If you’ve contemplated a mobile lifestyle, then this book is for you. Don’t spend the next 30 years working with people you don’t like in order to buy things you don’t need. Remember: life is short. Buy the book. Read the book. Then use the info to change your life for the better.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the horrible air pollution we have here in Utah Valley. Clearly, I’m a part of the problem; my SUV (a sleak new 4Runner, by the way) consumes an obscene amount of gas. Really. I should be ashamed. Or at least I should do something about it. In the postscript of my earth day blog post, I remarked that I had some earth betterment ideas. Top on that list was my desire to reduce the amount of gas I use. I brainstormed the following ways of reducing oil consumption.

• Ride a scooter
• Car pool
• Biodiesel
• Ride a motorcycle
• Ride a bicycle
• Telecommuting

Riding a bike seemed to me the easiest of the ideas. Irritated by another ravishment at the gas pump, I stopped by a local bike shop on the way home from work Friday and picked up a decent mountain bike and a helmet. Today I rode to work and back (six miles each way.)

What I learned from riding the bike:
1- My backside hurts (they tell me it will stop hurting in a few days after it numbs. Question: do I want a numb bum?)
2- My wrists and hands hurt from the downward pressure on the handlebars. Obviously it has been a while since I’ve ridden.
3- It is downhill from home to work. That means it’s a brisk 20 minute ride in, but a brutal 40 minute return.

Did I ride around the cubicle farm at my office once people left for the day? Maybe…

Once again I present this month’s photo randomness from my beloved Canon PowerShot SD800 IS. Which is your favorite pic?