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.

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.

Keeping it Loco

I did something this morning I haven't done in a long time. I read the local news. I read the Miami Herald and Sun Sentinel. Not every article, but some articles. And I read from their websites. I am not in possession of actual newsprint. I hear it still exists, but it has more to do with coupons and birdcages than with news. It's just as well.

Browsing the pages I found a lot of opinion, a lot of tragedy, and a localized version of the same stuff I see on national news sites. Wear a mask! Delta Variant will kill you even if you haven't been born yet! Conservatives are bad! Liberals are good! Opinion disguised as news. 

This is not meant to be a political post. I guess I'm just sharing why I stopped reading local news. I don't follow sports anymore, so there's no value for me there. I don't care that the hipsters of the world now prefer Fort Lauderdale to Wynwood. I was, however, surprised to learn that my hometown is one of the horniest places in America. What a time to be alive! (And married!)

There was a time in my live when I couldn't live without the news. I was a certified news junkie. I blogged about the experience for the better part of a year. You can read that blog here. It's for sale, don't judge me. I got bills to pay.

I am happy that this time has passed. I still have very strong opinions and can still argue effectively for or against many positions. How do I do this? I learned a lot when I was an addict, and the crap politicians on both sides of the aisle are trying to pull is no different now than it was then. It's like riding a bicycle. The biggest difference is that this is a bike you don't mind falling from.

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.

Staring Down The Barrel

In six days, I will be fifty years old. Damn. It only matters when you think about it. Unfortunately, you think about it all the time. I feel no different than I did yesterday. The same aches and pains have followed me around for years. My fault for living a relatively sedentary life. I do walk a lot and my business keeps me active, but I don't exercise in the traditional sense.

So the years keep coming. Until they don't. Who knows what's next.

Age shows up in strange ways. Like having a coffee with your cheeseburger at McDonald's. And mail seems to be very important to me now. I mean, I check the mailbox on Sundays and national holidays. Yesterday, I got home and I looked and,,, no mail! I was genuinely baffled. I came inside and it turned out my daughter had brought it in. I grounded her. Took away her phone. If she wants to cut off my communication with the outside world, so be it! Two can play at that game.

I find that even though I know I will likely live another 30-plus years, I feel like I have to squeeze in as much as possible. I wish I'd had this feeling when I was twenty. How much more could I have accomplished? God only knows.

I am at once crankier and more laid back. I let things go that used to drive me up the wall, and I am annoyed by things that didn't matter a few short years ago. 

I spent so much of my youth worrying about the world and consuming every scrap of news I could get my hands on that now, when I see the world is burning, I make s'mores.

I am convinced the world is worse than it's ever been, just like my father did. And his father before him, and his father, and so on and so forth.

I am proud of the things I can still do. I miss the things I no longer can do. The ones I remember, anyway.

I am proud to still be married. I am prouder still that I love her more than ever.

I value my time and do all I can to save it and make it count. Then I plop my fat ass down in front of the TV, which is something I didn't used to do.

I am self-aware. This essay proves it.

I have no idea what is going on in the world around me. This essay proves it. (I'm proud of that one.) I let my children live their lives. I only guide when I am invited onto the raft. Otherwise, like everything in this life, I just let them go with the flow.

I guess I should confess that I didn't take my kid's phone away or ground her. But I thought about it.

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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Counting Down

In five days, my daughter will be going away to college. I am dying. I knew this day would come. In fact, I always encouraged her to look for schools in other states. I told her being away from home is a legit part of the college - learning - growing up experience. The one time the kid listens to her father!

I am happy for her and I am proud. She applied to one school and was accepted. She is the only one of her graduating class that is going to be attending college away from home. She'll be nearly two thousand miles and two time zones away. I've never lived that far from her or even from my own parents. It's scary and it's exciting. And I'm sad that she won't be here every day. I'm sad that this place, which has been her home since before her first birthday, will seem  a little emptier without her. Okay, a lot emptier. She took her first steps here. She was potty trained here. She is an enormous part of what makes this a home.

So, I'm a little depressed and I am hating the march of time this week. I want my little girl to stay forever, but I know this simply cannot be. She will always be my little girl, even when she is far away. I have to accept it, but I sure as hell don't have to like it.

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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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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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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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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The Black Water

I get sad sometimes. I mean, everybody gets sad sometimes. I get depressed. Yesterday, a friend of mine showed me a meme he'd seen on Instagram. It showed the faces of entertainers who have committed suicide. These were people who were outwardly happy and seemed to have it all. He told me the meme made him think of me. Because I tend to be the class clown. I strike people as being impossibly happy - until I'm not.

I am a joker. I am happy-go-lucky. I've had people half my age call me a child. I out-kid my kids. But now and then I find myself swimming in the black water. Sometimes, it happens for no reason that I can name. Sometimes, it is triggered. It's always fairly debilitating.

The important thing is that I've learned enough about myself to recognize when I'm swimming in the black water, and I can deal with it. I try to work as I normally would to keep my mind occupied. I keep my distance from people. I don't want them to hurt me and I don't want to hurt them. I endure. No drugs, prescription or otherwise. I take a little time and I work through the issues, if there are any, and I occupy my mind.

I'm not saying that people who suffer from depression shouldn't get help. I'm a big believer in therapy. I believe in having a support system. I believe in self awareness.

So, if you are like me in the sense that every now and then you get depressed and feel hopeless or lost, please don't let yourself believe that it's a situation with no way out. There is always a way out and as Robert Frost said, "The best way out is through."

For a writer, everything can be fuel for the fire. Even the things that feel like the opposite of fuel. Sometimes art comes from pain, and the light shines in the dark places. Don't be afraid to package your sadness, your pain, your anger, your fear, and even your happiness into a story, a painting, a poem, or a song. Everything's been said before, but not by you. It is your uniqueness and personal life experience that separate you from the billions of people you share the planet with. Sharing that point of view will enrich the world and will serve as therapy for you. Trust me. I just did it.



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!

Doing Writerly Things

I got a rare Saturday afternoon to myself today. My wife and older daughter are out of town. My younger daughter was at a party which I was not invited to. Rubber chicken and no booze. I'll get over it. I dropped her off and found a local bar. I sat down and ordered a very tall beer and lunch.

I was halfway through the beer before the food came. It was not yet noon. This is new to me. Not the eating. Not the drinking. The drinking before lunch before noon could be a thing, though I doubt it. Still, I ate. I drank. I was merry for a while.

I had one more very tall beer and finished my lunch but before then, I did a little writing. In my head and on my iPhone. I took notes for what may or may not become a poem, a short story, part of a book or nothing at all.

I texted a writer buddy of mine and told her this drinking alone at a bar before noon is the most writerly thing I've ever done. She agreed that it did indeed sound writerly. Whatever that means.

In Paris in the 20's, writers hung out in cafes not to be seen, but to take advantage of the heat. Now, people crack open their laptops in Starbucks because writing, it seems, is the least important part of being a writer. What matters is that you are recognized as a writer. It seems to be an excuse to be eccentric or not have a good job, or to drink on someone else's tab. I don't know how eccentric I am, but I pay for my own drinks with money I earn from my job.

Writerly things vary. Hemingway liked hunting and Fishing and Travel. Bukowski drank wine and loved L.A. Hunter S Thompson did every drug imaginable.  Two of these great men committed suicide. Is that writerly?

So go on and hang out in bars. Drink coffee, write in full view of the public, or pretend to write as you read Facebook posts about writing and answer idiotic questions posted in writers' groups. Perhaps you'll post some idiotic questions of your own.

But I would advise you to lift your head now and then. See what's happening around you? That's life. That's the stuff of literature. The world is what you need to understand if you really want to be a writer. Not the look, the looking. The listening, the watching. Soak in the smells of a place because they tell you as much about what's happening around you as anything else.

What it comes down to is that if you want to be a writer, there is only one thing you must do, and that is write. The rest is pretentious bullshit.




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!

Digging Up The Past

Hemingway said you can't write what you don't know. What that means to the science fiction and fantasy writers I have no clue. But to writers like myself, his words are gospel. You can tell when a writer knows the subject.

I can't write about mountain climbing - never done it. I can, however, describe the fear of bridges. I'm not proud of it, but it's true. Bridges terrify me.

Our writing is informed by our experiences. I dare say what we read or the movies and TV we watch count as experience. Everything is fuel for the imagination. The more you take in, the more you can put out. It also helps to not be lazy. I can't tell you how many people I've met over the years who looked for shortcuts. Well, there are no shortcuts. Not to any place worth going. (I read that somewhere. It's not mine. I'm not that clever, but it illustrates the point. Read more, know more. Write more.)

So don't be afraid to write about old lovers or the bully from third grade who punched you and stole your lunch. If you were the bully, write about your experiences as an insecure asshole. It's all good. It all counts as raw material. Fuel for the fire.

Write what you know. Write it well. Write it now.

Well, go on. Do it!

- Adolfo






Adolfo Jimenez is an author, poet, blogger, and past-digger-upper living in Hollywood, FL .

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

Walking Away

I own a wonderful little business called Le Velo Macaron. We specialize in one product, French Macarons,  made in dozens of flavors. I believe we make a better macaron than anyone anywhere. I have seen and tasted nothing to make me believe otherwise.

Like all entrepreneurs, I want to expand my business. We are talking to various shops and outlets who may be a good fit for us. We know some will work out and some won't. Them's the breaks!

It's important for a small business owner to make the right connections and to nurture those connections into relationships that will benefit both sides. Like any relationship, a business relationship must be based upon mutual understanding and benefit. It also helps if you don't drive one another crazy.

As important as it is to get the business, there may be a point where it's no longer worth the money you might make. Sometimes the demands are too much Sometimes the time needed to nurture the relationship outweighs the benefit. I am not trying to say money is the only consideration. Your mental health matters, too. If a client is looking to you to solve all their problems, to be their therapist, to save them... walk away. 

If you have a client that's something of a control freak, who needs to have their fingers in everyone's business, including yours... walk away. I worked with a prospect recently who fit this description. She trusted none of her staff. It had nothing to do with her staff, who seemed to be great people. This attitude extended to her interactions with us. She asked too many probing questions about recipes and operations. Even offered to make space in her facility for us to work more closely with her. While I have no problem with partnerships, this was feeling more like a shotgun wedding.

So, I walked away. It wasn't easy. The Dead Presidents catcalled me as I left the room, but I knew it was the right thing. It was the right thing for my business, but also for my health. While I do have clients and I work as a Life Coach, I don't coach clients of my other businesses. It creates the kind of conflict I am not interested in.

So make the tough decisions. It's like medicine. It tastes like crap but you'll feel better in the long run.



Adolfo Jimenez is an executive coach, entrepreneur, consultant, book club nerd, and family man living in Hollywood, FL. He is the owner of Le Velo Macaron and other businesses.

You can find him on Instagram and LinkedIn

Who Gets The Credit?

The days of the ego are behind us. Even a figure as beloved as Barack Obama has been ridiculed for suddenly showing up and trying to take credit for things he said can never happen. Of course, the guy who replaced him isn't exactly a humble fellow. Now more than ever, there is no I in TEAM.

And no one likes a showoff.

While we still fawn over Warren Buffett and Steve Jobs, we live in a time when CEOs are sharing the credit for successes while hoarding the blame. Not all of them of course. As long as there are people, there will be assholes.

I received an email from a colleague yesterday forwarding a note where someone was blatantly stealing an idea that was mine. I wasn't annoyed. I wasn't upset. I'm proud I created something worth stealing.

It was a concept that is not meant to be profitable. I took no steps to protect or patent it. This was something I wanted to share with people.

Please note that this is not to imply that I am a pushover. You steal something of value from me, I'll eviscerate you. 

I have experienced this before in several organizations I've been involved in. I choose to think of it as  if I brought the idea to a certain point and then handed it off to someone willing and able to take it further.

I am not in it for the glory. I am looking to benefit as many people as possible.  I choose to see these events as force-multipliers. I can be more effective at anything if I put it in the hands of others than if I try to do everything myself.

A wise man once said it's amazing what we can accomplish if we don't care who gets the credit.



Adolfo Jimenez is an executive coach, entrepreneur, consultant, book club nerd, and family man living in Hollywood, FL. He is the owner of Le Velo Macaron and other businesses.

You can find him on Instagram and LinkedIn