Why Shop Small?

 Why shop small?

It’s a serious question. One that, as a small business owner, matters very much to my success, even my survival. Why should people shop small? Why should people walk into your store? Why should they visit your restaurant? Why should they choose you, or me, over Amazon or Walmart or Chili’s or McDonalds? 

Give me one good reason why customers should choose you and I don’t want to hear the tired cliches about how buying small helps an entrepreneur pay their mortgage while buying big helps some fat cat CEO buy another ski chalet. I am a consumer. None of that matters to me. What matters to me is price. Well, not really price but value. All other things being equal, price is the deciding factor so I guess that means small businesses should probably shut down because we’ll never be able to compete against the big boys. Right?

Probably true, but the good thing is that we don’t have to compete against the big boys, we can easily be better instead of equal. But we do have to work. Being small and opening your doors isn’t enough. We need to each find our edge. We need to find what Warren Buffett (no little guy) calls a durable competitive advantage. I believe as small business owners, there are a few easy ways to do this.

Be nice to your customers. My wife and I walked into a small shop in Charleston, South Carolina yesterday. The shop sold crystals and the like and had a yoga studio attached. A very nice, and inviting space. There was a clerk behind the counter. We said hello, she said nothing. Others walked in, carrying yoga mats and dressed for yoga. She was all smiles and hellos for these folks. They were people she knew.

Our daughter is a collector of crystals and although she wasn’t with us, souvenirs are a regular part of travel and I would have liked to have bought her something from this store, but alas, we bought nothing. The clerk finally did acknowledge us but it was only to let us know from across the room that we had to leave because the class was going to start and she had to lock the door since there would be no one to keep an eye on the place.

The clerk did inform us that she had called the owner, but the owner wasn’t around and so she had to ask us to leave. We were welcome to come back and spend our money when the owner deigned to show up. This wouldn’t have irked me so much if she had acknowledged us in the first place. The clerk may not have thought about her actions or maybe didn’t care, but she was rude to us and that is why zero of my souvenir budget will be spent at that particular shop. If she had been nice to us from the moment we walked in and walked over and explained the situation instead of calling across the store that we had to leave, we may have returned and spent some money with her. But no, she doesn’t deserve my hard-earned.

The sad thing is that the clerk doesn’t care or even know why the way she treated us will echo in her career, too. I will never spend my money there. I would never recommend this establishment. I would discourage people from visiting this establishment. I may even go so far as to recommend other places where the same goods may be acquired along with service and a smile.

Acknowledge your customers. Maybe this point should have come first but I want you to be nice. Don’t acknowledge a visitor just to turn them off with a scowl.  Be nice and acknowledge your customer. Say hello when they walk in. let them know you’re nearby and happy (not just available or willing) to answer any questions your customers may have. After all, if I want to be ignored, I can go to Target.

Anyone who knows me knows I am a bookworm. I found a lovely bookstore and went inside. The clerk behind the counter, who maybe was the owner, raised her head from what she was doing, looked at us and only said hello after we did. We wandered through the store without a word from her. I love books and I love buying books from small places but I walked out empty handed.

Contrast this to my favorite bookstore in West Yellowstone, Montana. I walk in and someone says hi. Employees roaming through the store offer assistance. The cashier makes small talk. I never leave that place without a book or three.

We walked through the market in Charleston and got both kinds of treatment. There were some vendors who made eye contact and smiled and bragged about their goods like proud grandparents. Others sat behind their tables and mumbled prices or said nothing at all, treating potential customers like an inconvenience.

Know your stuff. One of the greatest things about shopping small is getting to speak to someone who really knows their stuff. I don’t just want to know what the product is. I want to know its provenance. I want the person behind the counter in the small store to come out from behind the counter and tell me why I should spend more at her store than I would have to at a big box retailer.

We walked into a jewelry store a while later and the clerk took the time to tell us that all the pieces were handmade by the artist who owned the store and that she only made a couple of each piece. This immediately made the products more desirable and made price less of an objection. She asked us where we  were from and it turned out she was about to jump on a plane that very evening and head toward our part of the world. She also took the time to tell us about some other unique places we can visit and told us about a great restaurant we could go to for lunch.

She earned my business. Big Time!

So be an entrepreneur. Set up your business. Stock it, market the hell out of it and sell! But do the little things that are going to give you an advantage. Most people are price sensitive, but many of them will make price a secondary consideration for the right product, and maybe more importantly, the right experience and the right person. Be the right person and provide that experience to all your customers all the time. It costs you nothing, but will pay off handsomely.

Adolfo Jimenez is a small business owner and writer living in South Florida with his family. He is the author of The Successful Vendor, a guide to succeeding in the competitive world of small-scale retail.

Trouble with School

I was not much of a student. I dropped out of high school. I received my GED at the age of 24 and started college. I did well, but I didn't graduate.

I was a bit of a juvenile delinquent. I rode in my share of cop cars and got into lots of trouble, including fist fights and suspensions from school and even an expulsion from Dade County Public Schools.

I eventually got myself straight, but never really got the formal education that I wanted or should have had. I got along. 

One thing saved me. 

I like to read. I spend a lot of time and money on books. I have always been a reader. Even during my delinquency. I would get into trouble, break some windows, graffiti a wall or two, come home, and read.

I now spend my days in a school. I am not a teacher or a student or a janitor. I own a business that runs school cafeterias. We have two schools we serve. I work in the larger of the two. I am able to look after my other businesses from the convenience of the school cafeteria.

This position has given me a very interesting insight. I feel I've come to understand the mind of young students in the middle- and high-school age range in a way that even their teachers, administrators, and perhaps parents, don't understand.

This is not meant to be a criticism of these people. Rather, I believe they are too close to the system to see the harm it does to the children it is meant to serve. This makes sense. Parents grew up in a similar system, as did educators. Parents may not see what I see. Educators may or may not see it, but they are, in too many instances, just collecting a paycheck and doing what they were trained to do. If X is all you know, X is just fine.

I have two daughters. One is finishing her second year at Montana State University. The other is finishing her sophomore year of high school. The older one has known she wanted to be a doctor since she was old enough to dream of what she would be when she grew up. While she has changed her focus since she began college, she is still on the path to being the first doctor in my family. My younger daughter is a singer. A fine one. This talent was discovered by one of her teachers and nurtured by another. She had no focus before learning of this ability and now she is working hard at making music and acting her vocation.

I am not proposing that kids shouldn't learn Readin' Ritin' Rithmetic, but there has to be more to it than that. 

I told my teachers and anyone who would listen that I would never need algebra, geometry, trigonometry, etc. in my adulthood. I was right. While I had no idea what I would become or even what I wanted to become, I knew it wouldn't involve mathematics. Sure, as a business owner I need to do some basic accounting functions, I don't need the aforementioned. Maybe my accountant does, I don't know. That's not my business.

One of the reasons I dropped out of high school is that I was sleeping through algebra when I should have been learning how to balance a checkbook. I spent years as a banker and the only reason I know how to balance a checkbook is because I taught myself how to do it. I'm still not great at it and don't even get me started on reconciling that blasted thing. 

What I am good at is communication. Maybe some of you reading this would disagree. I may have been a good lawyer or perhaps a teacher of American literature. It's a little late now, but one can dream of what might have been.

I don't mean to whine and I don't mean to lay my troubles at the feet of others. I made my decisions and I accept responsibility for them.

How To Everything 3

 Have you ever lost your keys? Everyone has. Does it happen to you often? Did it happen to you today? Do you know where your keys are right now? This has happened to me since as far back as I can remember; since as far back as I've had keys.

I still misplace my keys from time to time. It's something I need to work on constantly. I'm not a naturally organized person. In fact, I'm a downright disaster. The only reason it doesn't happen to me every day is simple: I put a place aside for my keys, wallet, etc. 

In other words, I created a system.

I have created systems for all of the routine things in my life. There's no way to add excitement to the routine things, but there is no need to add frustration. In the businesses we run, we implement systems for ourselves and our teams. We find that problems we encounter can often be directly attributed to a lack of systems or failure to follow the system.

In the cases when a problem occurs because there is no system, we create a system to avoid a repeat of the situation. We're a young company and we are growing every day. Rather than let the growing pains derail us, we learn from the experiences and get better while moving forward.

These systems make us more efficient, which makes us more profitable, which makes it possible for us to invest in other businesses or hire more people. When you look at it this way, being organized and systematizing many aspects of your life and business feels like a moral obligation as well as common sense.

Adolfo Jimenez is an entrepreneur, author, poet, and blogger. He lives in Hollywood, Florida. He has published ten books, which you can find here. Adolfo is the co-owner of The Cafeteria Company, a commissary outsourcing firm. He also co-owns Soup -n- Sam, Le Velo Macaron, and Starlight Catering.

Getting to Know You

 My wife and I have been married a long time. We've known each other just a little longer than we've been a couple. We have a great relationship. Go back and read the second sentence again. We "rushed in." Elvis may think us foolish but it worked out pretty well. I love her as much as I ever did and I'm pretty sure she means it when she says she loves me. We have a nice time together. We enjoy one another's company. Even the romance is still strong, nudge nudge wink wink say no more! 

I believe the lesson here is that you don't really need to get to know a person before getting married. Well, maybe that's an oversimplification. I think there has to be attraction, you have to know each other as well as you can without the benefit of years, and you have to get along.

When people have asked me the secret to the success of my marriage, I always give the same answer: our values are aligned. We want the same things. We are committed to the same things. We agree on how or kids should be raised. We worship in the same way. We like a lot of the same things, and more importantly, we believe the same things.

Our values are aligned. What does this mean?

We are committed to one another and we believe in the institution of marriage. We believe we made a commitment that must be honored for life. We didn't take the decision to get married lightly so it stands to reason that a decision to part ways would also be taken seriously.

Our values are aligned when it comes to money, to family, to work, to everything. This is why our marriage works.

This is not to say that we have a perfect marriage. No one does. We have our ups and downs. We fight. We disagree. We get on each other's nerves. I always love my wife. I don't always like her. I'm sure she would say the same thing about me. Maybe she won't be as nice about it as I am not as lovable as I'd like to believe I am.

That being said, Happy Birthday, Abdaliz. I love you now and always.

How To Everything 2

Yesterday I ranted about productivity. I'll admit, I'm not as productive as I'd like to be. I would say I am among the most productive people I know personally. After many years in the corporate world and now as a business owner serving the world of academia, I can say most people waste time. I am among those people. The difference is I am aware of it.

A good deal of my workday is spent with customers. From making sales and taking orders, to collection calls and the occasional dispute. I am in the food service business, so I also spend some time everyday in the kitchen, actually cooking. I often run inventory. I have to place orders and receive them. I review invoices and I balance my checkbook. I even run payroll. These are useful and necessary activities that I could delegate, but I feel they are good ways for me to keep an eye on the business; a finger on the pulse, if you will.

I actually spend some of my down time (when there are no customers and no calls to make) stocking coolers and racks and even shopping. This also keeps me in touch with the business. I will often listen to audio books while I'm doing this kind of work as I'd rather engage my mind in learning while performing tasks that don't require too much thought on my part.

Audio books are a great time saver. You can get through books during time that would otherwise be wasted like when you're stocking coolers or walking your dogs or sitting in traffic. I probably get through just over one book per week. You can always buy audio books or you can download the Libby app to your phone, which works with your public library so it's free! I do some of both, but I will admit I love Libby.  And, it's not really free. My taxes help pay for the local libraries so I might as well get some of my money back in the form of self-improvement.

I tend to use audio books when it's a subject I want to learn about, not one I need to learn about. The reason is there will always be distractions. People will call or approach you with a question or some other thing. I have a short attention span (now known as ADD) so it's easy to lose my place even when listening. I'll often "rewind" and re-listen to the portions I missed.

I know this may seem obsessive or, at the very least, uber-nerdy, but I believe in learning and bettering myself. I also believe that time should be treated like the valuable, limited resource it is, so I find ways to not waste it. This is one of them.

Adolfo Jimenez is an entrepreneur, author, poet, and blogger. He lives in Hollywood, Florida. He has published ten books, which you can find here. Adolfo is the co-owner of The Cafeteria Company, a commissary outsourcing firm. He also co-owns Soup -n- Sam, Le Velo Macaron, and Starlight Catering.

When No One is Watching

December 13, 2021

 I've heard it said that character is what you do when no one is watching. I believe this. I also believe character is revealed when we don't know exactly who has their eye on us.

We had a situation last week. A client came into our place of business, upset about something that had nothing to do with us. An IT situation was affecting 427 of our clients. All of them understood that we were working hard to make our clients' life easier. All except one. 

This poor excuse for a man decided to berate my wife while I was working with other clients. He left her in tears. When I approached him to ask if he'd like to talk to me this way. He said he had nothing to say to me. I (not) very calmly informed him that if he ever spoke to my wife that way again, he would leave this place in an ambulance.

I'm not proud of my behavior, but the fact that I didn't crush his larynx is proof of what a kind and patient man I am.

Why? Because when our security guard approached him and explained that I was angry because I was defending my wife, his answer was, "oh, I didn't realize he was her husband." as if attacking an unattached woman is somehow okay.

I am all for equality between men and women. I believe in equal treatment and protection under the law. But I recognize that we are not the same. Men are stronger and more aggressive. More often than not, in domestic violence situations, it is the man who assaults the woman. A man yells and exhibits violent behavior to a woman, she is likely going to be intimidated.

This man understood this. He chose to be a jerk and scare a woman. I made him eat his own cooking. He didn't like it at all.

We can be equal and still recognize our differences. Men are physically stronger than women. Women beat men at everything else.

How To Everything

 4:07 AM

I've never been much of a sleeper. I get by on about five hours, though. I prefer six. Every now and again I come home exhausted and I will plop down on my bed and try to nap. I usually end up staring at the ceiling and then answering emails or reading.

There was a time when I didn't let these extra hours go to waste. If I couldn't sleep, like this morning, I would get up and do something. I would usually write. I have written over twenty books, at least as many screenplays, hundreds of poems and short stories and essays. 

As my new business, which requires that I start very early, has grown, I've abandoned my productive ways. I lay in bed and ponder when I can't sleep. Pondering is nice. Action is nicer.

We were closed for Spring Break last week. I woke up early and wrote every day. I completed a collection of nine short stories that I plan to eventually publish. I also got a lot done around the house as we are in the middle of a renovation. I spent time with my wife. I walked my dogs. I had dinner with friends. I cleaned my pizza oven. I got stuff done. I also read two books.

I listen to audio books. It's a great time-saver and it's easy on my eyes, which are 50 years old and counting. I still do read the old fashioned way, which is not easy on the eyes, but is something I can't live without and a big reason I am a moderately successful person.

I have two very close friends. One, I've known for about twenty years, the other for nearly forty. The three of us keep in contact via a group text. I admit I am often lost as they spend a great deal of time discussing the TV shows they are watching. I watch TV, but not nearly enough to keep up with the average American. I try to be productive instead.

I have no patience for people who whine about not having time to do anything with their lives, but are up to date with the latest shows, or can tell you who in America's got talent. Not crazy about people who say they're broke but can tell you what to order at all the trendy restaurants. Those people drive the nicest cars, have the best clothes and the latest gadgets.

I'm not saying you shouldn't enjoy nice things, I am saying you need to invest in yourself. You need to care about your life as much as you care about the lives of others. You need to treat your limited time with respect. You must treat time like the valuable, non-renewable resource it is. You must invest in yourself, rather than just treat yourself.

I hear too many people whining about how hard it is to get ahead, then watch them drive off in a car they can barely afford to an overpriced rented home to watch four hours of TV while overpaying for mediocre food that was Ubered to their home. Never once do they think to take time to learn a skill or read a book or get a part time job or start a business or a side hustle.

I have no pity for you. Live with your choices. In fact, we all live with our choices, so start making better ones.

I'm a little grumpy this morning. It's been a while since I've gotten out of my warm bed to write this early.

Adolfo Jimenez is an entrepreneur, author, poet, and blogger. He lives in Hollywood, Florida. He has published ten books, which you can find here. Adolfo is the co-owner of The Cafeteria Company, a commissary outsourcing firm. He also co-owns Soup -n- Sam, Le Velo Macaron, and Starlight Catering.

The Un-Importance of Parking Spaces

 I'm pushing a flatbed cart along a parking lot. It's loaded, piled high with goodies for my business. This is my second such trip today but will not be the last one I make this week. I visit warehouse clubs several times a week to buy product for my business. I run school cafeterias as well as a couple of ghost kitchen concepts, a bakery, and a catering operation. This is in addition to the deliveries I have made once or twice a week.

I buy a lot of stuff.

I buy this stuff so I can sell it. I work a lot of hours. I am typically up before five and I am at work before 6:30. Oftentimes I store supplies in my garage at home. I have an upright refrigerator/freezer and a deep-freeze in my garage for this reason. Dry items and paper goods will often spend the night in my van. 

I wake up early because I walk my dogs and I like to take a little time in the morning to think about the day ahead. Nothing formal, just visualizing. Sometimes my thoughts wander. This lasts about ten minutes. After that, it's off to the races answering emails, checking electronic deposits, walking dogs, loading stuff, waking my wife and getting my kid up for school. I am busy from ten minutes after I wake up until I go to sleep.

This is why I don't wait or even look for a good parking space. It's a waste of my time. People will spend ten minutes looking for and waiting on a "good" parking spot when they could park just down the way and walk an extra two minutes.

This doesn't make sense to me. I don't have the patience or the time to wait for parking spaces. I spend so much of my day walking and carrying things that I don't need a gym. I could still stand to lose a couple of pounds. (Maybe a couple dozen but who's counting?)

I treat my time like the precious, limited commodity it is. I am not going to spend an extra moment of it waiting for a parking space. I don't have that kind of time or patience. I would be embarrassed to be the kind of person who does that.

If you are one of those people who searches and waits for the perfect parking space, examine your life. Think about how many hours you have in a day that are truly yours. Think of how many years you have left to live. Then think of how many of those you want to spend waiting for a parking space. Time waits for no one. No one should wait for a parking space.

Adolfo Jimenez is an entrepreneur, author, poet, and blogger. He lives in Hollywood, Florida. He has published ten books, which you can find here. Adolfo is the co-owner of The Cafeteria Company, a commissary outsourcing firm. He also co-owns Soup -n- Sam, Le Velo Macaron, and Starlight Catering.

Why Dreams Matter More Than Reality

I am a business owner. I enjoy what I do. I enjoy making decisions. I like the fact that people depend on the services I provide and the paychecks I sign. It's one of the most rewarding things I've ever done. One of the most rewarding. Not the most rewarding. 

I am, behind the entrepreneur/business owner facade, an artist. I am a writer. I am a performer. I enjoy getting up in front of a crowd and presenting whatever it is I'm presenting. I've been a corporate trainer. I taught a comedy class. I've done improvisational comedy. I've made corporate presentations. I've given political speeches and invocations.

If I had my druthers, I would write all morning and dazzle audiences all night. I haven't my druthers. I have... priorities. I have responsibilities and I have commitments. My dreams must continue to be on hold. This is a situation of my own making. I took a seat on this runaway train. I must remain seated until it runs out of steam or goes off the rails.

It's a sad feeling to know that you made the wrong turns. It's sad to know that you zigged when you should have zagged. There's no choice like no choice. I can't blame anyone else. I allowed it to happen. I was not just a passenger on the train. Oftentimes, I was the conductor. Make the decision now, before you're painted into a corner. Make the decision while the decision is still yours to make. If you allow the world to make it for you, it will probably be a decision you won't like.

The world is a screwy place. We don't know what tomorrow brings and we don't know if we'll be here to see it. We only know where we've been and where we are at the moment... sometimes. It's important to pursue your goals and keep dreaming your dreams. Pursue them, too. Make your dreams your goals. Or, at least, make your goals rest stops on the way to your dreams. Do it and you may get there. If you make it, that's great. If you don't, at least you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you did your best and that your life was spent in pursuit of attaining your highest purpose, not something as common as money. The pursuit of happiness is all that matters.

Adolfo Jimenez is an author, poet, and blogger. He lives in Hollywood, Florida. He has published ten books, which you can find here.

The New Cool

Spend a little time on social media and it's hard to see how cynicism has become the new cool. I will admit that I am something of a cynic. I was first told this when I was about nineteen years old. I dated a woman in her late twenties (I was mature for my age.) She was intelligent and sophisticated and had a couple of college degrees. I did my best to keep up but when you lack education, as I did at the time, you try to follow along as best you can. (I am still much less educated than I would like to be, but them's the breaks!)

When she called me a cynic, I wasn't a hundred percent sure of what it meant. I know now, and I guess I could say I am a part-time cynic. I spend a lot of time around politics, I read some news on occasion, and I have a Facebook account. How could I not be?

But there is a side of me that wants there to be meaning to everything. There's a part of me that looks for meaning and even tries to create meaning in the most ordinary of things.

But it's so easy to be a cynic. It's practically forced upon us. We're told to hurry, to move along. We're convinced we don't have time to be kind and thoughtful even as we sit on the couch and binge-watch every episode of "Friends" for the third time. Humor, real humor, has been replaced with sarcasm. Good deeds are viewed, you guessed it, cynically.

I think I'll try to become a little less cynical. I'll do my best to see things in a more open and accepting way. I'll try to prove that old girlfriend wrong. Not that's she'll notice. We haven't talked in decades and she'd probably on season whatever of the latest must-see rerun. Oops! There I go again!

Adolfo Jimenez is an author, poet, and blogger. He lives in Hollywood, Florida. He has published ten books, which you can find here.

What If I Don't Like Cake?

Today is my 50th Birthday! Holy crap, when you say it like that. All the cliches apply. I don't feel any different. I look the same as I did yesterday. Everything still works the same, for the most part.

I used to refer to my birthday as inventory day. I would take the day to reflect on the previous 365 days and determine if my life was moving in the right direction. Some people call it a Cake Day. I don't think that's fair to people who don't like cake. I love cake. Don't believe me? I can take my shirt off to prove it. We re-brand everything. This is nothing new, it's just that our re-branding, like everything else, happens faster than it used to. You hardly get used to the new word for something before it becomes the old world for something.

My wife and I have been together 21 years. We realized a couple of days ago, as we were signing documents for work to be done on our house, that it was the 18th anniversary of the day we moved in. It's nice to know that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Being married to the same woman and living in the same house for so long may sound unexciting to some, but I am happy and grateful, and while there have been some low points, we really manage to keep it exciting, fresh, and interesting. We never had a honeymoon, so we decided our life now will be one very long honeymoon with breaks for work and family, etc. Life gave us lemons. We froze them for a while and now we're making margaritas!

Now that I'm at the half-century mark, I am supposed to have new perspectives and wisdom. I don't. My philosophy and worldview did not change overnight. From this point of view, age is really just a number. My knees may disagree.

I got my convertible a few years ago. This year, I got a motorcycle. Who knows what sixty will bring?

Adolfo Jimenez is an author, poet, and blogger. He lives in Hollywood, Florida. He has published ten books, which you can find here.

The Gray Hours

 The greatest con ever perpetrated against humanity, is convincing people that time is not precious. I am nearly fifty years old. Statistically, I have lived more than half the years I will get to live. I find myself in the interesting spot of anticipating my regrets. I am proactively thinking of things to put in the bucket list so I don't end up regretting things I didn't do.

I have always been an early riser. I also get by on relatively little sleep. I learned long ago to put this to my advantage though I need to remind myself of this every now and then. I need to remind myself that just because the day starts early for me, doesn't mean I get more time. I get 24 hours like everyone else. Wasting the extra hours I don't spend sleeping makes no sense. Might as well sleep.

I am in my new office, at my new desk in my house. I am in the gray early morning with a window to my left that faces east. The sun is up somewhere out there but it's still warming up so there is more shadow than light in this little room. Everyone else in my house is asleep. Even the dogs want nothing to do with the day. I'm glad for it. This is the part of time that belongs to me.

So, use your time wisely. Even when there is nothing that needs doing, don't waste your life doing nothing.

Adolfo Jimenez is an author, poet, and blogger. He lives in Hollywood, Florida. He has published ten books, which you can find here.

My Rules: Part One

 I'm exhausted. I just got into Bozeman, Montana at about midnight. I was too tired to go directly to sleep. I was up at six AM because my body is still on Florida time. Jet lag is a real thing. I am in Montana this time because my eldest daughter will be starting at Montana State University in a week. We're moving her in. I'll be heading back alone to an empty house. Even the dogs are with a sitter so they won't be there to greet me. Careful what you wish for. I do enjoy my alone time, but I'm no different than anyone else in that I want everything on my own terms. My daughter finishing high school a year early and moving far from home is something to be proud of. I just wish I could rearrange the terms. I'd like her to stay home until shes ninety. Just kidding. There I go not being careful what I wish for.

I am sitting at the little desk in the room. My laptop is open. The familiarity ends there. The desk is cluttered with all kinds of stuff. An ice bucket, a small coffee pot, my backpack, a purse, a hat. I look up from my screen to see me staring back at me. If I was prettier, that may be a perk, but mirrors distract me as I am as conceited as anyone else. I wonder if I look good for my age. The light of the screen isn't flattering, and I don't. I look old. Maybe I'm tired. Maybe I'm a little sad. Maybe I should avert my eyes lest I depress myself further.

This has me thinking of my personal rules for writing. I've never articulated them. I do have them, I know I do, but they're ingrained in me. They don't require review. I don't need to check them before writing like a pilot reviews a checklist before takeoff. I just do. So, here goes:

1. Eliminate distractions. Seems pretty simple, right. I'm not just talking about barking dogs and screaming kids. If you're an insecure narcissist like me, don't have a mirror. If you're a news junkie, or a social media junkie, disable your internet and leave your phone in another room. It's not that it becomes impossible to focus, it's just that focusing in an environment littered with distractions takes energy. This energy is better applied to your writing, or painting or crocheting, or whatever. By the way, Cafes aren't the best place to write, but they are a good place to be seen, which can be a helluva distraction.

2. Make yourself comfortable. If you're chair is too low or too high or the light is too bright or too dim or the room is too cold, you're not going to be at your best. Set yourself up for success, not disappointment.

3. Schedule your workday. Writing, or any artistic or entrepreneurial endeavor that you're pursuing on spec, should have a time dedicated to it. I am a morning person. I usually wake up around five and start writing around six and go until just before nine. Sometimes I put in a little overtime. Sometimes I run out of steam early. Sometimes, I don't follow rule number one and I end up wasting two hours reading news or making sure my coffee is just right or telling my dogs how much I love them. If you don't devote time to your craft, or to any goal, it's just a wish, and a dream, and this is the real world. This ain't no fairy tale.

4. The work matters more than the title. I've met plenty of would-be writers who love saying they are writers. They love wearing turtlenecks and slurring their words a la Gore Vidal or acting uncomfortable in social situations like David Foster Wallace. They should all try to be a little more like J.D. Salinger. No one is impressed by you saying you're a writer. I could say I'm a doctor but I promise you don't want me removing your gall bladder. I wouldn't trust me to cut your fingernails. The doctor is the person who did the work. They went to med school, they did their residency and rotations and all that jazz. They've earned the title. Why would writing be any different?

I'm sure there will be more to this. Consider this essay, like its author, a work in progress. But this is just me. Write your own rules, and don't break them. Shatter them! But only if you find they are holding you back.

Adolfo Jimenez is an author, poet, and blogger. He lives in Hollywood, Florida. He has published eight books, which you can find here.

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Swimmin' Without Women

It's Tuesday morning. It's cold in my house. Not because of anything having to do with the climate or the environment. The A/C is blasting as it will all summer. It's actually pretty warm outside although it's not even 8:00 AM. 

I sit down at my computer to write as I do most mornings and I am a little more awake than I might otherwise be. It's not the coffee. It's the pool. I took a little swim this morning. I was letting out the dogs (I guess I've answered that Baja Men question - sorry, it had to be done!) and I decided to do something a little different. I stripped out of my boxers, stepped into my trunks, and went for a dip. I would have preferred to go in my birthday suit but I don't have that level of privacy in my yard, unfortunately. Time to build a taller fence.

I didn't go into the pool with any kind of agenda. I didn't tell myself I'd swim ten laps or do that aqua-aerobics stuff they do at the YMCA pool. I just floated around and listened to the world waking up. I heard the sounds of cars on the road. I heard road construction a couple of blocks away. It was just me and my ears. 

It's a good thing to go out once in a while and just be. You don't need music or even a companion. My dogs were living their own lives, not worrying about me. My family is inside asleep. There is nothing but me and the water and that is all I need. It's a nice transition from asleep to the hectic action that follows on any given day. 

I tried to guide my thoughts toward projects I'm currently working on but nothing doing. I let it go, It was too early and the water was too calm and too warm for anything structured. I let my thoughts go where the wind and the leaves and the noise of the world led them. And that was all right. I'll be out there again tomorrow. Maybe without my bathing suit... maybe not.

Find your quiet spot. Enjoy it. Soak it up a while. 

Adolfo Jimenez is an author, poet, and blogger. He lives in Hollywood, Florida. He has published eight books, which you can find here.

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Day Drinking

I work at home. Most writers do. I traveled last week and my homes was a cabin in the mountains of West Yellowstone, Montana. The view from the window in front of my little writing desk was spectacular, if a bit distracting.

See, I live in South Florida. What's a mountain? We complain about speed bumps. We are at sea level. Standing on a box can make your ears pop. Need I go on? Good.

So now I'm home. It's a thousand degrees in the shade. I have to work and since I am home, the bar beckons. I look up recipes. I stare at the bar. The bar stares at me. I dream of a Long Island Iced Tea, or an old fashioned or even a beer.

But I hold back. I am no Don Draper. When the drinking starts, the working stops. So I don't drink until I am done with work. I'm not telling you what to do and I don't judge, but I'm going to stick to what works for me. You do you, baby!

I'm blessed not to have an addictive personality, by which I mean I don't have addictions. Many have been addicted to me... shut up. It's my blog and I'll lie if I want to. Still, I don't want to take the chance of making drinking or drugs a crutch. Not for writing, not for life, not for any reason at all. So... I drink after I work.

There's a quote attributed (wrongly) to Ernest Hemingway: Write Drunk, Edit Sober. I would rather do the whole process sober. There'll be time to drink when the writing's done.

Adolfo Jimenez is an author, poet, and blogger. He lives in Hollywood, Florida. He has published eight books, which you can find here.

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Gathering Information

I just came back from a week in West Yellowstone, Montana. It is, without a doubt, one of my favorite places in the world. I stayed in a cabin on a ranch. I rode horses and went whitewater rafting. I went to Yellowstone National Park and to Mesa Falls in Idaho. It was a great, badly-needed vacation. As much as I love my home, my bed, my pillow and my dogs, I hated coming back.

This was my second visit to West Yellowstone. I came back from my first trip very inspired and immediately began writing a novel about the place. I hit the wall at about a hundred pages. So, I went up this year thinking I would find the spark and get the story written finally!

I skipped one of the horse rides we had scheduled so I could get to work on my story. I wrote about a thousand words. A whole new story about the same place. That was a week ago. I've given up... for now!

I think the problem is that I'm trying to force the book to happen. It never works that way. These things come when they want to come. It's not that I haven't been writing. I've been working every day and I've been editing. The story needs a little more time to percolate. Or maybe it needs to marinate. Whatever it is, it doesn't need to be forced. That's a great way to kill what could be a great story.

Gather the facts, breathe the air, feel the breeze, see the sights. Listen to the people talk and learn their stories. Their stories become yours. These people become the characters in your stories. You are not stealing from them, you are immortalizing them. Nobody wants to live forever, but nobody wants to die. And certainly no one wants to be forgotten.

So take notes and bide your time. The story will come when it's ready.

Adolfo Jimenez is an author, poet, and blogger. He lives in Hollywood, Florida. He has published eight books, which you can find here.

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The Every Day

So... how's your quarantine going?

Ready to go outside?

Oh... riots.

So... how are you passing the time? I hope you're not binge-watching bad TV shows that you've already watched. I hope you're taking at least a little time to improve yourself. Maybe you're reading a book. Maybe you're fixing up your house. Maybe you've taken up watercolors. Are you writing that book you've been dreaming about writing? Get to it.

The pandemic has pushed us out of our comfort zone by locking us in the most comfortable of places: our homes. Home is great when you have the opportunity to leave at will. Otherwise, it's a prison. Some great stories were written about prisons. Stories like Papillon, Escape from Alcatraz, The Count of Monte Cristo, and others. Any of those stories would help you appreciate how comfy your "prison" is.

I realize this is coming late. I've been a little caught up with other things and I have been ignoring this blog. I've been doing a lot of work for The Liberty Drip, which is a political blog I contribute to, I've also completed a novella, the completion of the Man In The Gray Sky trilogy scheduled to be released in the summer; and a new novel, which I hope to release in the fall.

I also took care of some home improvement projects including an above-ground pool and a nice area to enjoy my backyard. Just in time for the rainy season! Hooray!

So, don't let the lockdown get you down. Don't become a victim of your circumstances. Instead, make the most of the time you have and create something beautiful.

Keep doing what you do!

Adolfo Jimenez is an author, poet, and blogger. He lives in Hollywood, Florida. He has published eight books, which you can find here.

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Breadcrumbs

It's been a crazy few days. My wife came home sick as a dog on Monday. Vomiting, passing out, incoherent. Sure, it sounds like just another Friday night in Casa Jimenez, but I assure you, this was something else.  We ended up in the ER. She's okay now, at home, recovering from kidney stones and dehydration. It was scary.

This morning was the first time I've written since Monday. I am a believer in writing every day, whether for an hour or five hours. The important thing is to do the work. Do it every day. This is important, particularly if you want your story to feel like one smooth piece, instead of jagged pieces forced together. Who doesn't want smooth instead of jagged crap?

Hemingway used to say that it's important to leave a little in the tank at the end of the day. In other words, don't write until you have nothing left. Stop while there is still something in your mind to write. This helps to keep the flow going. I did this on Monday morning, not knowing what the day and the two days that followed would bring me and I'm glad I did. This morning (Thursday) I picked up right where I left off. I'm back on track.

Don't work yourself to exhaustion. It doesn't help you. Save a little so you have the fuel to get rolling the next morning.

Now get back to work!



Adolfo Jimenez is an author, poet, and blogger. He lives in Hollywood, Florida with his family.  He has published eight books, which you can find here. 

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Happy New Year

I'm not Barbara Walters, but this is still 2020.

It's been a long day after a long night, but I wanted to jump on here and wish you all a great New Year.

Got any goals?
Any big plans?

If not, get some. Do it. Do it now! It's that simple!

I'll be back soon with something (hopefully) worth reading.

Adolfo Jimenez is an author, poet, and blogger. He lives in Hollywood, Florida. He has published eight books, which you can find here.

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The Business Part 3

This is the third part of a series on the business of writing. Click here to go to Part One.


Too many wannabe writers are in love with the idea of being known as a writer. They are not in love with the lonely drudgery of writing. Singers and actors get on stage and are cheered and adored, or jeered and booed. But at least they are known. When Andy Warhol promised those fifteen minutes of fame, he excluded most writers.

My point is that you have to write if you want to be a writer. You have to put out a page a day. I don't care if it's a good page. Ernest Hemingway said the first draft of anything is shit. He was right. Sometimes it's better quality shit than other times, but it's still shit.

So you sit down and write a page a day. You do this for 200 days. You have a first draft. Guess what? It's shit! Let it go for a while. Put it out of your mind. Think of other things. Get drunk. Get stoned. Get laid. Definitely get laid if possible.

After you've done other things and taken your mind off the work, come back to it with fresh eyes. It's time to write. Remember that words are cheap. A word means little by itself. It's when we put it in the right place with other words that it starts to mean something. What I mean to tell you is that you shouldn't be afraid to delete a word. Or a sentence. Or a paragraph. Or even an entire chapter. Don't be afraid to replace words or move them around. Ditto sentences and paragraphs. Nothing is  sacred. Don't be a little pussy. Just edit it.

So it's been a year since you started this book. You've done your first re-write. Are you ready to send it to the publisher? Hell no. Put it away. Get drunk. Get stoned. Get laid. The manuscript ain't going nowhere.

Come back to it a couple of weeks or even a month or two later. Rewrite it again. Be ruthless. Words mean nothing until they are put in the right order.

Adolfo Jimenez is an author, poet, and blogger. He lives in Hollywood, Florida. He has published eight books, which you can find here.

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