First and Last Impressions

We took a drive yesterday to a small town about 90 minutes from our house. We went to visit friends and also to check out a tacos and margarita themed food truck invasion and festival. We are in the process of building our first food truck and it's important to check out the competition. Besides, who doesn't like tacos and Margaritas?

To say we were underwhelmed would be an understatement. We were disappointed and fairly disgusted.

There were a handful of trucks and some of the local restaurants set up tables. We picked up food from two of the places and were barely able to finish the food. $70 all told and for what? We had McDonald's on the way home.

The town we visited is new and rapidly growing. It's still a small town with very few restaurants. These restaurants are benefiting from having essentially zero competition. It shows because they make zero effort.

One of the trucks was a barbecue outfit with an attached smoker and a very professional outward appearance. The meat was smoked well but that was where the effort stopped. There was very little attention paid to the rice and beans that accompanied the tacos. Basmati rice, which makes no sense next to a taco, and black beans straight from the can. No seasoning, no effort beyond a can opener and something to keep them warmish.

There were only five items on the menu. I ordered two of those five items and they somehow got my order wrong.

We bought tacos from a stand set up in front of the Mexican restaurant in town. Literally no seasoning on any of the food unless you count an odd, flavorless heat on one of the tacos. We ordered a Margarita, which turned out to be little more than warm lemonade.

Another food truck was Mexican-themed and while I didn't try their food, a friend of mine did and had to stop for a potty break on the way home. Their truck was cute but there was no contact information on the outside of it and they kept their windows, which were covered in the same style of graphics that covered the truck, were closed. This does not inspire confidence.

Another food truck, one selling carnival foods, was plain disgusting. Their side door was open and you could see their supplies piled on the floor. Where's the health inspector when you need the bugger!

I am not simply insulting my would-be competitors here. If I wanted to hurt them, I would post their names and pictures here. I would slam them on Yelp! or other social media. Rather, what I'm trying to do, what I always try to do, is find the lesson in this.

The lesson is that your image, the impression you make, is very important. These small businesses, which are in a very competitive space, decided to phone it in. They made very little effort because they know they have very little to lose. They are the only game in town.

Competition is good for all of us, not just the consumer. I run my businesses as if I can lose everything at every moment. I treat every customer as a precious gem to be treasured. Don't get me wrong, I have fired customers on more than one occasion, but the majority of customers are worth keeping. And if they're worth keeping, they're worth doing your absolute best for.

That means seasoning the food. It means having forks and napkins (the Mexican restaurant told us we had to go to the restaurant to get these things - so much for street food) and salt and pepper and all the other things that make your customers' experience the best it can possibly be.

It means keeping your place clean and smiling at your guests. It means thanking them for choosing you. It means doing things well. It means giving a damn about the people you are there to serve.

We went to this event partially to have a good time, but we were also scoping out the competition. I will admit that I was a little concerned about what I would find, but I left with my confidence soaring. If your competitors look at your operation and feel you're not a threat, you have a problem. I want my competitors to stay up at night worrying about me, because they spend a lot more time in my mind than I would like.

Adolfo Jimenez is the co-owner The Cafeteria Company, HoneyBee Party Rental, and Bubba's Hangover Diner. He and his wife, Abby, invest in small businesses and serve as consultants and mentors to small businesses. Adolfo is the author of several blogs and over seventeen books, including The Successful Vendor.

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.

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.

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.

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.

An Earned Advantage

I'm sitting at my dining room table reading an article. My wife is leaning on the kitchen counter with a cup of coffee in her hands. It's Saturday. We have the day off. There is a man crawling around our attic installing a new central air conditioner.

I share my thoughts on the article with my wife and she tells me I am a smart cookie. I'm not sure I agree. I have an advantage over many people, though. I know how to read. I earned that advantage. It's not like being born tall and good-looking. I don't have those unearned advantages. My parents made sure I can read. That I enjoy reading and devote significant time to it, may be something I earned, or may be something I was born with.

Because I am a man who will look for any advantage he can get, I tell my wife that the only real proof of my intelligence is that I married her. She smiles, walks over and kisses me. I steal her coffee. What do you know about that? I am smart!

I never finished high school. I got my GED at 24 and took some classes at the community college. No degree. But I read every day. I read books, magazines, newspapers, anything I can get my hands on. This has been my advantage. I learned what I wanted to learn, what I felt would be useful; not what a college administrator wanted me to learn. I'm better for it. And... no debt!

If you're taking the time to read this, you may share that same earned advantage. In which case, good for you, and thanks for stopping by!

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

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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Dogs Matter

My dog Baxter, who was the most bestest goodest good boy ever, died about six months ago. He'd been with us most of his life and we got to enjoy his yodeling (he didn't really bark) for 12 years.  I am not one to say that dogs are equal to kids, but I understand why people fall in love with them. Losing Baxter was a very painful experience. I sat up with him all night and held him when he took his last breath. I hope I was some comfort to him. He was my best friend.

I decided that I didn't want another dog. Too much heartache. Then Fred came along. Or are we naming him Gus? Or Max? Not sure. He is sort of a Chihuahua, a breed of which I am not a fan. I have a very personal Chihuahua trauma that I may choose to write about someday. Today is not the day.

He's a cute guy. He spent the day with us yesterday and he's sweet and a little territorial. My daughter and I found him and took him in. We walked him around looking for his owner and found nothing.  Our neighbor posted an ad. No answer yet. It's only been a day, but it's looking kinda permanent. He is sitting on the floor next to me as I write. He is a distraction. I am easily distracted.

Dogs are calming forces in your life. So are cats and goldfish. Dogs especially love us. They look up to us and make us feel good about ourselves. If Gus (or Fred or Max) sticks around, I will be reading my work to him. I will be able to take pride in knowing that I have a number one, super-loyal fan, who looks up to me. That's a win in this dog's life.


Adolfo Jimenez is an author, poet, blogger, and bank robber living in Hollywood, Florida with his wife, his daughters, two guinea pigs, a cockatiel, and now Fred or Gus, the Chihuahua-ish dog.

He has published eight books, which you can find here.

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Is It Worth It?

What an odd question? Is it worth it? Without knowing what it is or what the other it is, the answer must be yes, it is worth it.

When you wake up in the morning, as I do, and sit at your desk and write, pouring your heart and soul and mind onto the page or into the word processor, you are not doing it for anyone else. You are doing it for yourself. Why? Because the words you write may never reach another soul. Sometimes you erase them. Other times you decide to let them die of neglect. Some make it, some don't.

There's also the risk of rejection. What if no one likes what you wrote? Is there anything worse? Of course there is. But for the purposes of this discussion, we'll pretend there is nothing worse than someone not liking your work. So what can you do?

Simple. Just keep doing it. Do it and do it again. And when you're done doing it, you guessed it, do it some more!

It's worth it. Not because people want to read your work and not because it can make you rich and famous. It's worth it for its own sake. There can be no other reason. Any other reason is wrong. Do it because it was what you were born to do.

If that's not reason enough, you're in the wrong business.

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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Your Audience

I write every day. Writing is a lonely life. I start work about five o'clock most mornings. Sometimes, I start a little later, waiting until my wife and daughters are gone. I usually do very little on Saturdays for some reason and on Sundays, I review, edit, and write.  This is not a strict schedule. It's something I try to stick to. I have a day job and this is always in the back of my mind so I work with a very specific sense of urgency. I have to shower and shave and get to the office. I have only so many hours to invest in writing each morning.

So, it's a lonely life and of course, I am the worst audience. I am the most biased of judges when it comes to my work. I hate every word of it.

But every once in a while, I read some of my work to my wife, or to my guinea pigs or to myself, and I am pleased with myself. I am reminded of why I take the time to do this. I remember why the isolation and the frustration never seem to be enough to scare me away. I remember why I write.

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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Change of Scene

Last night, I stayed out until past midnight. Wild, I know. I am a madman. Am I really? As Salvador Dali said, "The only difference between a madman and myself, is that I am not mad!" Well, he said something like that.  A friend of mine moved into a new apartment and had a little housewarming party and invited some colleagues over for dinner and wine. I had a little of each. We talked shop, of course because this is what humans do. Humans suck, don't they.

All but two of the people who were there were people I am around over fifty hours per week. We talked about what we do those fifty-plus hours, and yet, because we were in a different environment, or perhaps because of the wine, I picked up subtleties in their manner of speech, in their expressions. I don't believe they were any different. We've all known each other for a while and have no need to pretend or put on airs. They were the same. I was the same. I was looking for different things. I was with familiar people in an unfamiliar place.

The job of a writer is to notice those subtle changes. The color of the walls or how comfortable the couch is or isn't is of no importance. Those details will not change the story unless something related to those things happens during the party or if you imagine something funny or tragic relating to those inanimate objects, like someone fat sitting on a chair and it collapses, etc. It's the people that matter. Stories are always about people, not about things. Even when a story is about a thing, you don't care about it unless you understand how that thing relates to a person. It's always about the people! And you learn about people when you observe them in their natural environment. You learn something different when you see them elsewhere. Pay attention. You will learn something.

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 Friends We Listen To

I like to work in silence. I don't play music. I sit at my desk in my home and I write in silence. I don't like a lot of activity around me so I don't sit in a cafe. I am too easily distracted, so I try to minimize the distractions. My wife and daughters leave early in the morning so I can squeeze in a couple hours of work before the world squeezes in on me.

But once in a while, I like to have a little background noise. Never a TV or anything. Usually a little music. I will choose music I'm not inclined to sing along to. If I sing along, I am not working. Writing is creative work, not busy work. It's not an automatic thing like making your bed or mowing the lawn. I always listen to an audiobook or music when doing household chores. I even take my phone into the shower with me so I can listen to a book as I shower, shave, brush my teeth and make myself pretty. Okay, I'm never pretty, but at least I can minimize the ugliness.

But I am choosy about what I listen to. Classical is great to play while writing because you can't sing along to it. Classical music conveys feelings and abstract shapes without words. Perfect for writing.

The important thing is to avoid distractions. Distractions kill creativity, so it is important to kill the distractions.  This is why I don't work in coffee shops. Coffee shops are for coffee and conversation. I work in silence. I work in my home. When I'm travelling, I work in my hotel room. Writing is a private enterprise. Writing in front of people is for those who want to be seen or thought of as writers, but don't actually want to write.

You do the work. Let your words get the glory.


Adolfo Jimenez is a writer living against his will in Hollywood, Florida.  His latest release is Scenes from a 1979 Ford Fairmont, a short book of poems. Get it on Amazon!

Check him out here!

The Invisible Muse

We all need friends. We need friends to make us laugh, to inspire us, to be truthful with us. I have a friend who is all of those things. We don't get to see each other often, we rarely speak, we mostly text one another. But she gets me. She shares my sensibilities. She is also a writer and we bounce ideas off one another. She gets my sense of humor and had a broad vocabulary so I can be myself and talk like a snob and she gets what I'm saying.

We all need friends we can talk to, especially if we live in the creative space. I call her my invisible muse not because of any romantic feeling. I'm a happily married man and my wife is the only woman I care about impressing. She is a muse because I feel a certain liberty around her and she encourages me to express myself freely. She gets my humor.

It's very liberating.

I like to read to my wife. She likes for me to read to her. It's something I did for her on our first date and have been doing ever since. Not every day, not at any specific time or occasion. I read to her when I'm inspired. She is my greatest cheerleader. I'd be lost without her.

I have another close friend I talk to about my work. She is someone near and dear to me. She's actually one of my closest friends. She listens, she encourages, and as a result she inspires me.

Yet another friend is my number one beta reader. She is the first to read anything significant I write. She ask questions and challenges me at every turn. She's a pain in the ass and I love her for it. She's been reading my work for over twenty years and I hope she'll continue to do this for me for the rest of my writing life.

But there is one muse I must always please and that muse matters more than all the others combined. The most important muse. Patient Zero. The first line of defense. That would be me. If I ain't happy, it ain't going nowhere.

Write for yourself. Make sure you're happy. Make sure you do your best. The rest will take care of itself.



Adolfo Jimenez is a writer living against his will in Hollywood, Florida.  His latest release is Scenes from a 1979 Ford Fairmont, a short book of poems. Get it on Amazon!

Check him out here!

When to Steal

This is not about plagiarism. That kind of stealing is never cool. If you do it, you deserve a fate worse than death. Something really horrible, like having to spend eternity in the waiting room of a clinic in Hialeah where the old ladies complain about their aches and pains and how little their social insecurity checks are.

This is about stealing experiences. Hemingway said that you had to really know a thing to write about it. He was right - for himself. Tell that to Tolkien or Lewis or to George Lucas. These men created new worlds that simply didn't exist. Worlds they only knew inside their heads.

How can a man write about the experiences of a woman? How can a woman write a man? By learning. And how do we learn? By paying attention. There are seven billion people on this planet and every one of them is having an experience every moment. I am experiencing the writing of this blog post. You are suffering through the experience of reading it. So, let's do a little exercise...

What am I wearing?
Where am I sitting?
Is it day or night?
Am I showered and shaved?
Do I have a cup of coffee or a glass of whisky nearby?

I don't care about your answers anymore than you should care about the correct answers. You decide what I'm wearing, what I'm drinking. You decide everything about it. Steal the experience of me writing this and make it your own. Steal it as you would steal the experience of a cop chasing a bad guy or a caveman hunting a woolly mammoth.

You don't need to experience all there is to experience in order to be a writer. Imagination trumps all.





Adolfo Jimenez is a writer living against his will in Hollywood, Florida.  His latest release is Scenes from a 1979 Ford Fairmont, a short book of poems. Get it on Amazon!

Check him out here!

Little Notes

I've been married to Abby for nineteen years. Long time. Love her more each day. Though, there are times when I remember that if I'd killed her the day I met her, I'd probably be out by now.

We have good times and bad times though more good than bad. We put effort into getting along and being happy and I don't mind saying we have a damn good sex life after all these years. We are lucky, we are fortunate; in a word we are blessed.

It's not easy, but it's not hard. We do the little things. We sometimes write each other little notes. Sometimes on paper, sometimes by text. We listen to one another. We make time for each other. We support each other.

Why do you care about this? I don't know. I don't care if you care about this. I do. It's good to have some stability. She is my rock. She gives me space to be myself and listens to me bitch and moan when being myself becomes too much to bear. I'd like to think I do the same for her.

I'll admit I have the easier end of the bargain. She's an intelligent, normal, stable person. I'm a writer. I'm manic-depressive. I'm temperamental. I'm an idiot.

So this post is a little note to my wife. The woman who took everything from me except my name, and gave me so much more than I could have reasonably expected and more than I could ever deserve.






Adolfo Jimenez is a writer living against his will in Hollywood, Florida.  His latest release is Scenes from a 1979 Ford Fairmont, a short book of poems. Get it on Amazon!

Check him out here!

Productivity

How do you do it all?

Has anyone ever asked you that? Have you ever met someone and wondered how they do it all? There's a simple answer: they don't. They prioritize. No one does everything.

I have five priorities:

1) Family
2) Working (being a provider)
3) Writing
4) Reading
5) Alone time

I manage to get all of these. My family is, obviously, the most important thing in my life. Everything I do to take care of them and to earn their respect. So, I guess the first one is easy since everything I do is, in some way, for them.

I work hard. I earn a living. Not millions, but a solid income that provides food and shelter and vacation twice a year with the occasional weekend getaway.

I write because it's what I want to do with my life. I would love to make a living as a writer. As yet, I don't. Once I do, I'll quit my job. So, while writing is something I love, I treat it like work. It's not a hobby. It's not something I squeeze in between reruns and social engagements. I write. Period.

Reading is important to me as an individual and as a writer. I think we all need to read more. It gives me sanity. It makes me a better writer, and more importantly, a better man.

Alone time is key to mental survival. I drive myself to work and home every day. This is alone time. I often call my parents in the morning (okay every morning) to say hello but the drive home is mine. I listen to audio books or music or the sounds of the world. I drive a convertible and when the weather permits, driving with the top down is great therapy for me.

This is my daily routine. How do I find the time?

I wake up early, around five AM. I write for a couple of hours then I read. Phone calls in the car to mom and dad. I try not to work more hours than necessary. I'm not lazy, I just go to work and I work. I make every minute count (for the most part.) I take a lunch break every day. Often alone, sometimes with a friend. When solo, I read while I munch. I listen to a book in my car on the way home and have dinner with the family. I read as I digest. Later when the kids are asleep I make the sweet love to my wife (sometimes, I'm old) and sleep about six hours.

No, I don't watch TV. A little once in a while. Sometimes on the weekends, but I don't keep up with the Kartrashians. I don't watch the bachelor at the whorehouse, and I certainly don't watch news. Life is depressing enough

So, decide what matters. Make a list of what matters. Toss out everything that doesn't matter.

Get.
Shit.
Done.

Keep writing,

Adolfo