ATTEND™ from Vaxa: Magic pill?

I need remedy from my bouts with ADHD. I thought about attempting to purchase Adderral on the black market since I can't afford to obtain a prescription from a psychiatrist. However, I was deterred by the steep penalty for possession of Adderral without a prescription. Apparently, it's lumped into the same category as Cocaine. You could be charged with felony possession of a schedule II narcortic for trying to ace your exams on that stimulant illegally. That's enough of a deterrent for me. I wouldn't serve myself right by incurring a minimum 5 year sentence. Life is already hard.

So, what's the alternative? L-Tyrosine. I read that some scientific studies indicated that L-Tyrosine has been shown to be beneficial in treating ADHD. Here's an excerpt from HealthyPlace.com:

There is one substance that has been shown in some scientific studies to be beneficial in treating ADHD, L Tyrosine. This is an amino acid (a protein) that the body uses to synthesize dopamine and norepinephrine, the two neurotransmitters believed to be involved in ADHD. These neurotransmitters are the targets of the medications used to treat ADHD. Some studies have shown that children with ADD may have lower levels of this amino acid. By increasing the intake of L Tyrosine through diet or supplements, it is possible to increase the amount of dopamine and norepinephrine available in the brain. Biochemically, ADD/ADHD is likely caused by a deficiency in dopamine, a natural "feel-good" brain chemical called a neurotransmitter.

One of the active ingredient's in Vaxa's Attend™ is L-Tyrosine. Since I don't get jail-time for trying Attend™, it's the only choice available till I can afford professional treatment. I'll start my self-medication immediately I receive my order. One more leap of faith. Haven't tried it yet but I'm already hopeful for remedy. I'll keep y'all posted on my progress.

Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor and I'm not making any claims about aforementioned drug or it's manufacturer. Please consult your physician b/4 taking any medication. Do your own due diligence.

Indiscipline and Proscrastination.

The lack of discipline in my life has resulted in a series of bombastic failures that if not stemmed will doom me to mediocrity. I can't remember the last time I kept a schedule successfully. I don't eat, sleep, or do anything else on time. I don't have my priorities straight and I don't seem to know how to help myself. I'm a natural born procrastinator.

Is there a magic pill for problems like this? I ignore my alarm clock everyday. I beg my girlfriend to wake me up daily (which she does) but I ignore her pestering in the morning. I'm actually very good at blocking all stimuli when sleepy. Trying to wake me up is like fighting a losing battle. When I get up eventually, I look for the easiest and least important task (which I don't even complete most times) and I fail to accomplish them. All other critically important task are left to die by the wayside. I'm what you'd call a serial task starter and abandon-er (<-- Is that a word?). I need help and I need it now.

I have to prepare for 5 Microsoft Certification exams in 2 months. I need to juggle 40+ hrs a week working and 50+ hours of study time before October 20th. I need to assimilate all that content and practice all the tests and activities until they become second-nature to me. I need to execute in the real world. This certification is costing me $8000 in boot camp and testing fees. And this certification is the key to my future. If I don't pass, I'm doomed.

How do I instill discipline and diligence in my life? I'm off to figure it out.

Tiger Woods.

We should all congratulate Angel Cabrera on his truly deserving U.S open victory at Oakmont this past weekend. I watched almost every hour of the tourney this weekend rooting for Tiger to win his 13th major title. But I'm certainly not disappointed that he didn't win.

You can only marvel at the level of success Tiger has achieved in this short span. Twelve majors and fifty-seven PGA tour wins. On a bad day (like yesterday) when it seemed he couldn't summon a decent putt to make a crucial birdie, he still finished tied for 2nd. And all the pundits spell gloom and doom for him.

Any tour player that achieved 10% of the success Tiger has would probably be one of the best players in the world. He's the closest thing to perfection in sports.

Let me make a prediction now. Tiger Woods will break Jack Nicklaus' major title wins record at the 2010 U.S Open slated to be held at Pebble Beach. Remember what happened at the last U.S Open at Pebble Beach? Yup. It'll happen again. A befitting coronation for a true freak of nature.

Go Tiger!

MCAD/MCSD C# .NET Certification

Getting a job without a degree is hard. Ever since I dropped out of school in 2004, I've worked as a consultant (and got paid a pretty penny too!) for family and friends. I never really had to find work outside my family. Plus I derived additional income from investing my earnings in the stock market. If you're acquainted with the events that have transpired in this past month, you already know all those gains are now history.

Unfortunately, everybody's business ventures are going bust, and the prospects are not looking good. I have to get a job in the real world. I have considerably good computer programming skills that may help me in my quest for employment. But since I don't have a degree, getting a certification is the next best thing.

Accordingly, I have just enrolled in a two-week certification training and testing boot camp at MSCEclasses.com. This is the next most important milestone in my life. If I pass all the tests, I'll become more presentable for employment. If I get a job offer, I can pay my bills. Ooops, I mean pay my brother (since I'm indentured as his servant till he's paid) $50,000. Then, maybe I can get on with the business of becoming a millionaire and retiring by 35.

Time to study. I'll keep you posted.

What goes around, comes around.

The month of May has been devasting. We lost 126 US soldiers fighting for our freedom in Iraq under the leadership of a clueless commander-in-chimp this past month.

May 2007 is a very important milestone in my life. I fell casualty to irrational exuberance and a former friend. In the spirit of entrepreneurship, I invested all my life savings (foolishly!) and borrowed $50,000 from my brother to promote, and produce 2 concerts featuring 2 headlining hip-hop acts. In short, it was a tragic failure financially, but that's not the crux of the story.

The primary lessons to be learned just in case you become bored, and don't stay to read the whole post:

• No matter how exuberant you are about a business venture, never ever invest 100% of your savings. Why? Murphy's Law. That's why? Want another reason? "Diversification is the only free lunch" - Jim Cramer.
• True friends are like diamond's in the ruff. Thank God if you have or find one.
• Leeches will always be leeches. Don't try to reform them unless you like swimming upstream. All relationships should be mutually beneficial except in charitable situations.
• Lastly, what goes around comes around? Cheat and be cheated. Steal and get robbed. The evil you perpetuate will follow you like a shadow. You will never escape your bad karma.

Back to the story. The primary goal of the concert was to promote a very talented artist (in my opinion) who until now I considered to be a very good friend. We accomplished that goal. He's gone from unknown to local celebrity in his town. Thanks to all the publicity garnered from ads, public appearances with the bigger concert acts, and the knock-out performance at the concert. Both concerts had very poor attendance so we didn't really make any money on ticket sales. I would have cancelled all shows in advance, but I was just to dumbed to see what was coming. I didn't use advance tickets sales as a predictive metric to postpone or cancel the shows. I would have limited the financial damage if I got action soon. But I was a rookie in the entertainment business as that was my first foray in that industry. I had passed the point of no return, so I had to proceed with both concerts. The financial outcome would have been about the same whether the concerts happened or not.

We had projected very healthy profits for the venture (<-- IRRATIONAL EXUBERANCE). I agreed to share all profits equally with my business partner - the artist that I was also promoting. I agreed to fund the concerts, and he agreed to fulfil his obligations as the artist. Prior to the concert, he was in really bad shape financially so he was counting on this venture to be successful too.

But we all know what happened. I was wiped out by this venture. Not to mention being in debt to my brother for all the money borrowed for the party. The loan made to fund concert was due 10 days after reconciliation. They was no way we were going to be able to pay in full. My brother became hysterically, understandably and threatened my life. I'm surprised I'm still here. We were both devastated. Recognizing that the loan repayment is inevitably going to be stretched out long term, he agreed to receive the insignificant box office earnings as the first installment. I was glad he even considered it. I didn't leave him with any other option.

It get interesting. Don't forget that I don't have a penny or know where my next dime is coming from. My main priority was cashing out with the concert facility ASAP, and then instanteously remitting the funds to my brother as promised. My partner, fully aware of the agreement to pay our creditor (who also happens to be my brother) tries to talk me into using the funds left over to pay his bills to help him survive. A little history, has a felony for attempted murder, very unstable financially, and his mother has evicted him several times. And I somehow ignore all the warning signs? I disagreed vehemently explaining that I would if I could but that right now, we'd just have to honor our agreement to our creditor (also a brother and a friend) to repay our debt. We had a heated argument and all kinds of surprising things we uttered by him about my character and loyalty as a friend. I had no more to give or loan him, so I guess I had outlived my usefulness to him. I never even considered using it for myself.

After the argument, he successfully devised a scheme to intercept the check for his own needs. Remember, he didn't invest one cent. The venture didn't turn a profit. And the only proceeds made designated for paying the creditor was stolen by him - a partner that didn't invest any money. I haven't heard from him since.

I've known him for a very long time. Almost 5 years now. In that period, I have gifted and made countless interest free loans to him for all kinds of personal emergencies. Received calls in the middle of the night with pleas to wire money or deposit fund to help with all his bulls**t. So much back luck with this guy. And then what? He pours salt on my wounds. I've never been in this sort of bad shape in life. Just when I need all the emotional and financial support I can get, he shows his true colors.

Over the past two weeks, I have thought about all the possible reasons for my predicament. And I've just concluded that maybe it's all karma. I don't exactly have a spotless past. I've done some really naughty things. And maybe, this is just payback. I've lost all my ill-gotten gains and their derivatives, and rightly so.

So let this be warning to me, and everyone who reads this. What goes around, come around.

But that was really f***ed up on his part. He'll get his though, I ain't worried.

It's a fresh start for me. I'm really excited that I'm purged and ready for a comeback.

I will retire by 35. I guarantee it. I'm currently 27.

Any and all money-making ideas are welcome. No Nigerian 419 scammers, please.

So this is the world of blogging!

This is my first blog post. Quick read, ain't it?