What Christmas Means to Me

It's simple to me:

• It's the time, first and foremost, to give thanks for our salvation through our Lord, Jesus Christ and for His birth. (If you are not a Christian, then please insert the deity of your choice here. I doubt it matters to God, which of his forms you worship!)
• It's the time to be thankful for all the blessings granted us. For friends, and family and all that have come before us and all that will come after, because we are all part of a Greater Plan. (Yes, I know, you thought that's what Thanksgiving was for!)

To my friends and family, I love you all! I never knew how important you could be to me, until this stage in my life! Thank you for all you do, and for the wonderful difference that you make in my life!

The Lizard

Balance... Another of Life's Lessons

I don't know about you, but I often find it easy to get caught up in the details of everyday life. Now, I will be the first to admit that for me, those details are somewhat different than they probably are for most. I do, however, get so caught up in things that I suffer from tunnel vision at times.

Right about now, most of you are wondering what the heck the Lizard is spouting about now. Well, let me see if I can clarify.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is that I think one of the most important keys to happiness in life is about balance. When one moves too far in any one direction, things can become distorted and warped, our perceptions often blur. In a world where there is always something going on at every extreme of our life's reach, and where information overflow is the norm, and where we are constantly barraged by the media selling us "something", it takes a lot to just "be". To exist, at a relative state of peace, is precious, and yet that eludes most of us on a daily basis. I believe, that for the most part, its because we forget to maintain balance in our lives.

Many of us get caught up in what it takes to keep and maintain our jobs. Others delve deeply into hobbies and recreational activities. Some turn to alcohol and drugs either to get their pleasure or to escape their pain. We do everything we can think of to just cope, to try to just maintain some sense of order and peace in some aspect of our lives. And yet, so many of us fail to attain that sense of peace. Why do you imagine that is?

I think we lose track of our sense of balance in all things. We simply can't work all the time, nor can we play all the time. Moving to either of those extremes diminishes us as a whole person. It's unhealthy. We know it, but we do it anyway. And then, when everything comes crashing down around us someday, we wonder why we are so devastated.

I won't deny that making a living and achieving some sense of security for ourselves and our family is important. So is being happy. But how do we balance these two things?

I think for me, the way to remember to keep balance in my life is to remember first and foremost what's most important. Yes, sports fans, its not the latest and greatest technical whizzbang thing that I'm interested in. Nor is it that new web gadget thingy I wanna do for the radio station... nor is it the cool new technical toy that I just "gotta have"! Though those things all still interest me, it is the people in my life that are the most important to me. Maybe this is just something that comes with age, or maybe, as I'm sure some of you are thinking to yourselves, its just a matter of me finally "growing up", but I have reached a point in my life where I finally understand that it's the people in your life that are the true gifts you have to cherish.

What I need to remember is that its important to give the people in my life at least as much effort as I give to all the other things that are not so important. That means putting away the computer, turning off the TV, and spending "quality time" with those that make a difference. I don't do this often enough, but I'm learning...

I realized recently that my personal relationships are suffering because I have let things get out of balance. Determined not to make the same mistakes I have in the past, I vow to make things different from this point forward. I'm learning...

Recently, a good friend of mine has been away a lot. I haven't had much opportunity to talk to him nor spend time with him. He has been very busy doing just what I've said though. spending time helping another friend who really needs his help. I have lamented not being able to spend more time with him, however, I realize that he is setting an example for me, that I never expected. I'm learning... slowly... but learning nonetheless.

I have the great fortune to have fantastic friends and family in my life now. To be honest, I think I always have and in my own self involvement, have not valued them as much as they have deserved. To all those in the past that I have forsaken, in any way, from the bottom of my heart, I am sorry. I vow to not let that happen again. I am learning...

Hmm, maybe old dogs, can learn new tricks!

Summer's Gone Already?

WOW! What happened to summer? Last thing I recall, it was just starting to get warm. Now here it is in the latter part of October and it's starting to get cold already. This is NOT my favorite time of year, btw. It will have to do, however, since I have yet to complete that time travel device project. (Insert raucous laughter here.. lol)

It's been a busy summer however. We had the Kansas Bash over the 4th of July weekend and what a FANTASTIC party that was!!! We're already planning to do it again next year and have at least one friend who is planning on joining us from the UK.

In addition to the Kansas Bash, I have been busy most of the summer with working on expansions to the station. We have three streams now instead of just one. When I had this brilliant idea to expand, I remember saying to myself, "It can't be that much harder to run three streams than one. I'll just reuse the work I've already done on the website, and it'll be simple, right?" Well... can you spell OPTIMISTIC? LOL, I knew that you could! It's been a ton of work, but I think it is right on the brink of all coming to fruition.

The time factor is huge. On the average day, I spend 8-10 hours, giving attention to, or working on the station in some way. This goes on day in and day out for an average of 6 days a week. Now, I can just hear you skeptics out there saying, "If you're spending that much time, why don't you have more to show for it?" Please allow me to remind you, we are JUST over a year old. I truly don't know how I could do this on just a hobby basis alone. I can't believe I'm about to say this, but thank god I don't have a full time job. If I did, we'd not be nearly as far along in our development as we are.

My advice for anyone considering being an Internet Radio Station Manager, whether as a hobby or a vocation, is this: Please go out to your garage, grab the biggest hammer you have, and hit yourself in the head with it until that thought goes away. I think in the long run, you'll thank me.

Having said all that, I will tell you that working with my people to create something like this is so personally rewarding that I would not trade it for anything. (Unless of course you have a couple $million that you'd like to invest in a great station! Please don't hesitate... step right forward!!) :D

If I Had Known Then

Did you ever think about something you're doing and realize how much time in your life it takes? It's that reaction like "Wow.. I never knew it would take this much time" that I'm talking about. If I had realized just how involved I would get, or how much of my time this takes, I'm not sure I would have volunteered to do it way back when.

I've been doing this station management thing for a couple years now, and I have to say I feel pretty comfortable about it. It has taken a lot of time and effort on my part to first of all learn what I needed to do, then to actually do it. I haven't had much in the way of training, it's all self taught. I do however think that we've been relatively successful with our new station and we're preparing to expand it even further. Hmmmm, now there's an interesting thought for another post sometime, "What Defines Success".

Anyway, having said all that, I don't really regret the time I've spent doing this. It has given me something very tangible to work on in a time where there has been a dearth of other useful projects. I suppose you would classify this as a "labor of love" for me now. It has also brought me into contact with some incredibly wonderful people. I am thankful for my choices, and the path they have brought me down.

What are you choosing to spend your time on?

What the heck is a Lizard Boss anyway??

I'm honestly not sure!

I am involved with a group of people that I've come to regard as really good friends. We were brought together through a long and somewhat boring story about an Internet Radio Station to which we all listened, then each became involved in in one way or another. The upshot of that is that we left that station and formed one of our own. Being the technically inclined one, and the one who virtually ran the other station, guess who got elected to run this one? Yep... you guessed it.

The term Lizard Boss didn't surface till sometime after the station had started though. I believe it was first used by Bad_Karma in one of his onerous on-air "attacks" on station management. Now, in case that gives you the wrong idea, you must realize that Bad_Karma and I are very good friends, maybe even best of friends (at least I feel that way) and I know he doesn't "really" mean to attack or hurt me in any way. Its just his way of entertaining.

Interestingly enough, the term caught on. Now everyone at the station calls me the Lizard Boss, but I know they all do it with fondness in their hearts. These people are incredible. They may be some of the best people I've ever known in my entire life. They ultimately have treated me with great respect and care. I think its fair to say they even love me. Remind me sometime to tell you of the incredible "gifts" they've given me since I've known them.

So these are the ramblings of the "Lizard Boss". I don't know if anyone is interested in reading them or not. I'm not even sure what I will put in here, but I know that the idea of doing this has intrigued me for a while now since meeting and becoming involved with someone who has been into blogging for a few years now. My goal for doing this is self expression: Personal, direct and as honest as I can be with myself.