Chess

My oldest daughter will be five at the end of October and last night was the first time we played a game of chess with all the pieces.. yes, the knights were included.

She started learning to play chess about two weeks ago. Before starting the process I did some research to see how you get started. With all the different pieces I wondered how she would pick it all up. My research told me that I needed to start with just a couple of pieces on the board, and slowly build. So in the first game we played my daughter had the queen and I had the eight pawns. To win she had to take all my pawns before one of my pawns made it to the end of the board. The other important factor is that she had to win every game.

So we progressed from the queen takes pawns games to adding bishops and rooks to the board. Then she had to checkmate my king with the queen and two rooks. I showed her how pieces are protected and pinned.

Bit by bit she has picked it up, playing for 20-30 minutes a night, three or four nights a week.

So last night when we played with all the pieces it was quite a moment. I still talk through the moves with her and help her see different options, but she gets it, and I can see that she's thinking about her strategy.

And of course, last night she won again!

Sold!

On Saturday night we had some friends over for dinner, and it's amazing how some alcohol can change the complexion of a conversation! The inhibitions are removed, the guard drops. This friend of mine, whom I've known for about four years shared his true delight at my paintings and expressed interest in owning some.

I said "absolutely! I'd love to sell you some art."

After about half an hour of deliberations I had sold three paintings, and it felt good to see them go to a new home and be appreciated.

It struck me that often we don't express our thoughts to those that can make a difference. Although my friend had been interested in buying my paintings for a while, he had never asked, and I guess since I had never broached the topic, we never had the conversation.

Thanks to Baileys and coffee, we did.

In the coming weeks I will be posting pictures of my paintings for sale. Please feel free to email me at matthew@pagehanify.com if you are interested in purchasing any.

Howard Schultz

Born 19 July, 1953
Chairman and CEO, Starbucks

In 1981, working as the General Manager of Hammarplast, a Swedish drip coffeemaker manufacturer, Schultz traveled from New York to Seattle to check out Starbucks, a popular coffee bean store that had been buying their machines.

“I walked away ... saying, ‘God, what a great company, what a great city. I'd love to be a part of that.’”

It took Schultz a year to convince the Starbucks owners to hire him. When they finally made him director of marketing and operations in 1982, he had another epiphany – in Italy coffee bars not only served excellent espresso, they also served as meeting places. They were a big part of Italy's societal glue, and there were 200,000 of them in the country.

The Starbucks owners resisted Schultz's plans to serve coffee in the stores, saying they didn't want to get into the restaurant business. Frustrated, Schultz quit and started his own coffee-bar business, called Il Giornale (pronounced ill jor-nahl-ee).

Schultz drew up plans to raise an initial $400,000 in seed capital and another $1.25 million in equity - enough to launch at least eight espresso bars and prove the concept would work in Seattle and elsewhere. The seed capital was raised by the end of January 1986, but it took Schultz until the end of the year to raise the remaining $1.25 million.

He made presentations to 242 potential investors, 217 of whom said no. Many who heard Schultz's hour-long presentation saw coffee as a commodity business and thought that Schultz's espresso-bar concept lacked any basis for sustainable competitive advantage (no patent on dark roast, no advantage in purchasing coffee beans, no way to bar the entry of imitative competitors). Some noted that consumption of coffee had been declining since the mid-1960s, others were skeptical that people would pay $1.50 or more for a cup of coffee, and still others were turned off by the company's hard-to-pronounce name.

Being rejected by so many potential investors was disheartening. Nonetheless, Schultz continued to display passion and enthusiasm in making his pitch and never doubted that his plan would work. He ended up raising $1.65 million from about 30 investors; five of whom became directors of the new company.

The first Il Giornale store opened in April 1986. On the first day, 300 customers had been served, and within six months, Il Giornale was serving more than 1,000 customers a day.
Six months after opening the first store, Il Giornale opened a second store in another downtown building. A third store was opened in Vancouver in April 1987. Vancouver was chosen to test the transferability of the company's business concept outside Seattle. To reach his goal of opening 50 stores in five years, Schultz needed to dispel his investors' doubts about geographic expansion. By mid-1987 sales at the three stores were equal to $1.5 million annually.

In March 1987 the owners of Starbucks decided to sell the whole operation and in August of the same year Schultz bought it for $3.8 million.

The following Monday morning, Schultz returned to the Starbucks offices at the roasting plant, greeted all the familiar faces and accepted their congratulations, then called the staff together for a meeting on the roasting-plant floor. He began:

“All my life I have wanted to be part of a company and a group of people who share a common vision… I’m here today because I love this company. I love what it represents… In five years, I want you to look back at this day and say "I was there when it started. I helped build this company into something great."

Schultz told the group that his vision was for Starbucks to become a national company with values and guiding principles that employees could be proud of. He indicated that he wanted to include people in the decision-making process and that he would be open and honest with them.

Schultz said he believed it was essential, not just an intriguing option, for a company to respect its people, to inspire them, and to share the fruits of its success with those who contributed to its long-term value. His aspiration was for Starbucks to become the most respected brand name in coffee and for the company to be admired for its corporate responsibility. In the next few days and weeks, however, Schultz came to see that the unity and morale at Starbucks had deteriorated badly in the 20 months he had been at Il Giornale. Some employees were cynical and felt unappreciated. There was a feeling that prior management had abandoned them and a wariness about what the new regime would bring. Schultz determined that he would have to make it a priority to build a new relationship of mutual respect between employees and management.

As the company began to expand rapidly in the '90s, Schultz always said that the main goal was “to serve a great cup of coffee.” But attached to this goal was a principle: Schultz said he wanted “to build a company with soul.”

This led to a series of practices that were unprecedented in retail. Schultz insisted that all employees working at least 20 hours a week get comprehensive health coverage -- including coverage for unmarried spouses. Then he introduced an employee stock-option plan. These moves boosted loyalty and led to extremely low worker turnover, even though employee salaries were fairly low.

Why was Schultz so generous? He remembers his father, who struggled mightily at low-paying jobs with little to show for it when he died.

Schultz has said that his model for expanding Starbucks is McDonald's, with a few key differences. One is that Starbucks owns most of its stores, while McDonald's franchises. Schultz doesn't believe it's possible to build a strong brand around franchises -- although McDonald's is an obvious exception. Another difference is that Starbucks has managed to blossom without national advertising. Finally, Starbucks sells premium products to a fairly upscale, urban clientele.

In order to sustain the company's growth and make Starbucks a strong global brand, Schultz believed that the company had to challenge the status quo, be innovative, take risks, and alter its vision of who it was, what it did, and where it was headed. Under his guidance, management was posing a number of fundamental strategic questions:

What could Starbucks do to make its stores an even more elegant "third place" that welcomed, rewarded, and surprised customers?

What new products and new experiences could the company provide that would uniquely belong to or be associated with Starbucks?

What could coffee be, besides being hot or liquid?

How could Starbucks reach people who were not coffee drinkers?

What strategic paths should Starbucks pursue to achieve its objective of becoming the most recognized and respected brand of coffee in the world?

Review - Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People

Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People®
Dr Stephen Covey

Dr Stephen Covey is an influential management guru, whose book The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People, became a blueprint for personal development when it was published in 1990.

Habit 1 - Be Proactive
The ability to control one's environment, rather than have it control you, as is so often the case. Self determination, choice, and the power to decide response to stimulus, conditions and circumstances

Habit 2 - Begin with the End in Mind
The habit of personal leadership - leading oneself that is, towards what you consider your aims. By developing the habit of concentrating on relevant activities you will build a platform to avoid distractions and become more productive and successful.

Habit 3 - Put First things First
The habit of personal management. This is about organising and implementing activities in line with the aims established in habit 2. Covey says that habit 2 is the first, or mental creation; habit 3 is the second, or physical creation.

Habit 4 - Think Win-Win
The habit of interpersonal leadership, necessary because achievements are largely dependent on co-operative efforts with others. He says that win-win is based on the assumption that there is plenty for everyone, and that success follows a co-operative approach more naturally than the confrontation of win-or-lose.

Habit 5 - Seek first to Understand and then to be Understood
One of the great maxims of the modern age. This is Covey's habit of communication, and it's extremely powerful. Covey helps to explain this in his simple analogy 'diagnose before you prescribe'. Simple and effective, and essential for developing and maintaining positive relationships in all aspects of life.

Habit 6 - Synergize
The habit of creative co-operation - the principle that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, which implicitly lays down the challenge to see the good and potential in the other person's contribution.

Habit 7 - Sharpen the Saw
The habit of self renewal, says Covey, and it necessarily surrounds all the other habits, enabling and encouraging them to happen and grow. Covey interprets the self into four parts: the spiritual, mental, physical and the social/emotional, which all need feeding and developing.

Stephen Covey's Seven Habits are a simple set of rules for life - inter-related and synergistic, easy to practice and implement in practical life.

Stephen Covey's book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People®, has been a top-seller for the simple reason that it ignores trends and pop psychology for proven principles of fairness, integrity, honesty, and human dignity.

2:04:00

The race was run. I made it! Training since February 1st for this day, and now I'm stiff and sore. I finished in an official time of 2 hours 4 minutes exactly. That placed me 1,392nd in a field of 2,836. That's also a personal best by around five minutes so I was ecstatic about that. Didn't hit "the wall" and felt good all the way.

I was proud of myself for a number of reasons.

1. I never thought of myself as a runner and hadn't run more than 100m in over 10 years.
2. I set myself the goal in January to run the half-marathon and followed through.
3. I came into the race very prepared having run over 20km twice already in May.
4. I didn't hit "the wall" which is a sign I was prepared.
5. I had a poor preparation given that I got sick on Tuesday and was still feeling less than 100% on race morning.
6. I managed my race well and started slowly, ending with a PB!

Now I set my sights on the Canmore half marathon - September 12th...

Click on image to enlarge.

Jack of Clubs

Take a moment to imagine you are in the audience at a small, intimate theatre, watching a magic show. The magician hands a deck of cards to a random member of the audience, asks her to check that it's an ordinary pack and give the cards a shuffle. The magician then turns to another member of the audience and asks him to name a card at random.

"Jack of Clubs," he says.

The magician covers his eyes, takes the deck of cards, and after some fumbling around he pulls out a card.

What is the probability of the card being the Jack of Clubs?

Depending on your knowledge of cards, you probably already have an answer. Is your answer one in fifty-two on account that there are 52 cards in an ordinary deck?

That might be one answer. Keep thinking.

What happens in life when we a challenge is posed of us? We look at what we know and we make a few assumptions and presto, we have an answer. But did we consider all the available information?

Had you forgotten that it was a magician pulling out the card. That could make a difference. If you were at a theatre and the magician on stage was performing wouldn't you expect him to pull the Jack of Clubs? In fact you'd probably say he would have an almost 100% likelihood that he would pull the Jack of Clubs. The magician wouldn't be in business for long if his tricks didn't work!

Are they the only two answers? 1-in-52 or 100%?

What about that there was no chance it was the Jack of Clubs because the card was in the pocket of the lady who shuffled the deck?

Perhaps the magician pulls a ten dollar bill from his pocket and "Jack of Clubs" is written on it with a marker pen.

Maybe the magician isn't really that good and botched the trick!

The reality is that there is no correct answer to this problem, but what's interesting is it makes you think about the other possibilities, rather than just the obvious one or perhaps two answers.

The funny thing though, is that the answer 1-in-52 is actually probably the least likely to be the correct answer. Magicians don't rely on luck or probability to perform their tricks. Or else they wouldn't be called magicians, they would be called unemployed!

The opportunity here is to realize that the more we think about a problem or challenge the more options arise. Sometimes the obvious answer is incorrect and assumptions can be very dangerous!

Chasing a Dream...

Historically people who have obtained tremendous success have been single-minded in their focus and determination to make their dreams come to fruition. The story of the Honda motorbike and Mister Soichiro Honda is about following through on a dream.

Soichiro Honda was a racer, a businessman, and a manufacturer. But most of all he was a dreamer. He dreamed of a better way of making piston rings, founded a small company, and began production. He dreamed of giving people everywhere an economical form of transportation.

He learned his craft as a young boy working for Tokyo Art Shokai, an automobile servicing company, as an apprentice. He was given board, lodging and a little pocket money, but received no real wages. He learned important lessons that shaped the rest of his life: Enthusiasm for hard work, an appreciation of the need to improvise, thinking for oneself, a good feel for machines. Soichiro Honda, too, learned from his boss, Yuzo Sakakibara, not just how to do repair work but how to deal with customers and the importance of taking pride in one’s technical ability. Sakakibara was the ideal teacher, both as engineer and as businessman. As well as understanding repair work he was also skilled in more complicated processes such as the manufacturing of pistons.

Honda's first motorcycle was born out of necessity in immediate post World War II Japan, where public transportation was desperately overcrowded and gasoline severely restricted.

One day in September 1946, Mr. Honda was visiting his friend, when by chance he came across a small engine - a generator engine designed for a No. 6 wireless radio from the former Imperial Army that an acquaintance had left with him. When Mr. Honda saw it, he was immediately inspired with an idea. It was a moment of destiny. This encounter determined his whole future direction, and it was from this decisive moment that the later Honda Motor Co. would be born. Mr. Honda had started out as an automobile repair mechanic. Engines were what he knew best, and on top of that, he was an inventor. It did not take him any time to come up with an idea: “Let’s use this to power a bicycle.”

His aim was to adapt them for attachment to push-bikes and, by October 1946, his small factory in Hamamatsu was making complete, makeshift motor bikes using proprietary cycle frames.

Because gasoline was in short supply, Honda adapted his motors to run on turpentine, a fuel that he himself distilled from pine trees and sold throughout Japan.

Honda's first bikes were very successful and supplies of the 500 surplus engines he had purchased ran out after a few months. Because business was good he decided to manufacture his own motors. Using the surplus motor as a model, Honda designed and built his own 50cc engine.

In November 1947, the 1/2 horsepower A-Type Honda was being manufactured and sold as a complete motorbike. It was known as the "Chimney" because it gave off a lot of smoke and a stench of turpentine.

Soichiro Honda started Honda Motor Company in 1948, at the age of 41. 1948 saw Honda introduce a 90cc version of the A-Type known as the "B-Type". By 1949 Honda came out with the "D-Type". Mr. Honda was involved in every step of the two-stroke D-Type Dream's design and manufacture. This was Honda's first motorcycle. This was far from simply slotting a motor into a pushbike frame. Honda called his machine 'The Dream', because his dream of building a complete, motorcycle had come true.

Soichiro Honda was an engineer and was always looking to produce better and more sophisticated machines. The E-Type Dream was a powerful machine capable of 50mph. It had a steel frame and proper suspension front and rear. By October 1951 the new Dream was in production at the rate of 130 units per day.

In July 1958 Honda introduced in Japan what became the world's most successful motor cycle, the C100 Super Cub. It was developed over three years to be a cheap and practical motorcycle that literally anyone could use. It was so easy to operate that even new riders could ride it as easily as a pushbike. Its innovative frame without a crossbar made it popular with the ladies and set a new trend in commuter motorcycling. The word "scooterette" was coined to describe this step-through style motorbike which sold in 50, 70 and 90cc versions.

In 1959 it was the first Honda motorcycle sold in the U.S., eventually becoming the world's best-selling vehicle (30 million to date). As proof the original concept and design was perfect is the fact that today's C50, C70 and C90s have only detail changes to set them apart from the machines of 25 years ago.

From there Honda went from strength to strength, moving into the manufacture of cars in 1963 with the S500 sports car. Today Honda is the largest manufacturer of motorcycles in the world and a car manufacturer with one of the best reputations for quality.

Soichiro Honda had a dream to create affordable economic motorized transport and his passion, hard work and determination saw his dreams fulfilled far past I'm sure even his expectations. Which is interesting because often we see limits to our own success.

Could Soichiro Honda possibly see that from making a few hundred motorized bicycles back in 1946 he would one day be creating a motoring icon known all over the world?

My basic principle is..

My basic principle is that you don't make decisions because they are cheap; you make them because they're right. - Theodore Hesburgh

It's not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are. - Roy Disney

Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain but it takes character and self control to be understanding and forgiving. - Dale Carnegie

Susan Boyle

For those of you who haven't seen the video of Susan Boyle singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables, it's worth taking a look. Similar to the story of Paul Potts a little while ago, here is an unknown British lady, aged 47. Never married and never even kissed! Unfortunately, you can see from her appearance why she was laughed at when she said she wanted to become a professional singer, and be as famous as Elaine Paige (http://www.elainepaige.com/).

When she began to sing it was truly amazing. See for yourself...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

What's remarkable is that she's 47, and up until now had been an unknown. Who knows how small the circle was before April 11th who had heard Susan sing. It's fantastic that a talent contest can uncover such hidden talents. It's also sad that it had to be a talent contest that uncovered her talents. I say sad because our society highly values fame. In fact we take fame as an indicator of talent, ability, knowledge, intelligence, intuition etc. It seems that fame is the ultimate recognition of whether someone is good at what they do. That's what's sad, because Susan Boyle's talents were always there, but the world didn't know. She's no more talented now than she was last week, just a little braver.

The question for everyone is what talents do we all have that we choose to keep hidden under a rock, that we choose to keep in the closet, that we choose to keep to ourselves. What talents are we too afraid to share with others, and what's holding us back.

It takes a televised talent show to bring Susan Boyle to the world. And it's tremendous that she entered herself as a contestant for the show, or what other opportunities would have passed her by.

Undoubtedly it was the action she has finally taken to assert herself and put herself out there that has brought the rewards. In 47 years to never marry or be kissed says something about her track record. Who knows what ridicule she has endured in the past to cause her to make that her life.

It seems there are so many "armchair experts" who know better than everyone else, who calmly sit back and criticize, but this lady should be cheered, revered and acknowledged for taking a huge risk and putting herself on the line.

She has won, simply for taking the risk. Her life will be forever changed, for better or worse. One thing she cannot say now is that she "could've been, if only..." Now she will have the answer.

We should answer these similar questions for ourselves. We should take a risk and put ourselves out there. We should not criticize those who do that because they are the ones who are taking action, and action-takers deserve to be the winners.

"Take a chance! All life is a chance. The man who goes farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare." -Dale Carnegie

The Running Man

It's amazing what happens when you set yourself a goal and commit to it. About 10 weeks ago I committed to running the Calgary half-marathon on May 31st. It's been 10 years since I last ran further than a couple of blocks to the bus stop because I could see my bus coming. I'm a 190lb man with a body (so I thought) that was built for short bursts of strength. Running distances in the hundreds of metres, not thousands!

This afternoon I just completed another 10km mid-week, lunch-time run. This is after running 13.5km on Sunday. Week after week I have been consistently building my stamina by running a "long run" on Sundays that keep getting longer and longer. My first run back on February 1st, was a mere 4.67km and that exhausted me. Now I run almost three times the distance and I'm 15% faster over the whole distance. Some days it feels like I could run for ever!

My primary goal for May 31st is to finish the race. I'd love to run the 1/2 marathon in under 2 hours and right now that's an achievable goal.

What have I done to keep myself in the right frame of mind?

I look in the mirror when I get out of the shower and I say "I have the body of a runner." Now I believe it. That belief spurs me on to run when I'm not feeling 100% like I want to. That belief allows me to stretch my long runs each week and it gives me a "can-do attitude".

I have also been telling myself the next goal is a marathon, and it sounds achievable for me now... and who knows... maybe an iron man triathlon is next! (That's a 2.4-mile (3.86 km) swim, a 112-mile (180.25 km) bike ride followed by a marathon (26 miles 385 yards, 42.195 km) run, raced in that order and without a break).

It's all about changing what you believe in yourself. Setting stretch goals, pushing yourself and being consistent in application and results follow.

My effort. My results.

5:30pm May, 1989.

We had just finished dinner and my father says to me, “Matthew we need to chat about your report card.”

“Yes Dad.” I knew it wasn’t going to be a good chat. I hadn’t seen my report card but I suspected it wasn’t up to the same standards as past report cards.

We went into my bedroom and sat on my bed. Dad opened up my report card. Each subject had a separate page with my percentage, the average across the whole grade and my ranking across the whole grade.

“German.” Dad started. “Eighty-six per cent. Third out of twenty-seven.” He announced.

I nodded.

“Not bad, but you’ve always scored I the nineties and your mum and I really expect you to top that class.”

“Yes Dad.” I knew he was right. It was only the second time I hadn’t been first in that class.
Dad flipped the page over, “Mathematics.”

This was always one of my strong subjects. I found the numbers subjects fairly easily.

“Eighty-three per cent. Twenty-ninth out of one hundred and fifty one students.” Dad was very matter-of-fact. “Matthew, can you honestly tell me that there are twenty-eight kids who are better than you at maths?”

“No Dad. I can’t.”

“Well then.” He cleared his throat and flipped over the page, “Physics.” He shook his head. “Matthew can you tell me there are thirty seven people better than you in physics?”

“No Dad.”

He flipped the page again, “Can you tell me there are forty-six kids better than you in Chemistry?”

“No Dad.”

Dad kept going through each subject one by one and arrived at “Geography.” He paused and looked at me. “Matthew, I know you’re not so interested in geography, but are you really in the bottom half of the class?”

“Well…” I didn’t really have much to day at this point.

“Matthew, I want to see your marks above average for geography. Is that fair?”

“Yes it’s fair.”

“So are there any good reasons your marks aren’t what they should be?”

“No good reasons.” My head dropped. I knew I had failed my parents and more importantly I had fallen well short of my own potential.

“What do you need to do to get those marks up?”

“Work harder. Pay attention in class. Do my homework.”

“Well, when your end of year report comes in I want to see the results we’re accustomed to. Fair?”

“That’s fair.”

For the next six months I put in the work that was required, and sure enough my grades had recovered to five A’s and 2 B’s. Needless to say there were no more frank conversations.

I was just fifteen when this happened but I learned the lesson young, that my future is in my own hands. Whatever I expect to get out of life, I need to be putting in the required effort.

My effort. My results.

It’s a motto I try to live my life by. That’s why I have no regrets.

My First Run.

I've just come back from my first "long run" as part of my training for the half-marathon (21.1km) at the end of May. Now it's not that long, but I have to start somewhere. Harold and I went for a 4.69 km run along the Bow River and we completed it in 28:50, which has me at 2hr-11min pace for the half marathon. I'm setting the goal of the half marathon in 2 hours, so it's around the mark.

What is actually the best part of today is that this was my first run and my fitness is such that I performed well. Walking the 4.5km to and from work for the last 7 months would be the main contributor to that.

I'm excited about the start, and I'm encouraged now to take on greater challenges... who knows, maybe a marathon by the end of the year!

Setting the Goal

Today I registered for the Calgary Half Marathon on May 31st. I'm registering because it's part of my commitment to taking my fitness to the next level and challenging myself. I've never really considered myself a runner and so this will smash those false illusions.

The Boxer

He must preserve himself.
He must dodge the punches.
He cannot win by dodging alone.
He himself must punch.

The boxer who never enters the ring never holds the title belt.
The commentator is a glorified spectator.
The spectator goes home broke.
The boxer goes home broken and beaten.

He will heal.
He is richer for the experience.
He can fight another day.
He will.

Written for my friend.

It's my birthday...

Each year we celebrate that we lapped the sun. And I did it again. Hurray for me! I'm taking the day off.

The Businessman

The Businessman is tall and thin
With a moustache and a grin.
He has lots of money
To spend on his honey.
He blows it on coke
Drags on a smoke.
It all looks so ideal
The real meal deal,
But it's not a smile of gold
Just a grin... and that gets old.

The Runner

The runner runs.
He runs and runs.
Runs and runs.
And runs some more.
Then he keeps running.
Runs and runs.
He stops.
The race is not over.
There is no race.
He has not won.
He will never win.
There is no race.
He just won.

Passion Test

Last night I finished doing a passion test. It's easy enough to do for yourself and it's interesting becasue it gets you thinking about exactly what it is you love to do.

1. Simply write your passions on individual 3x5 cards - one passion per card.
2. Then compare two at a time and decide which you are more passionate about.
3. Keep cycling through until you have put in order from most to least your passions.

It was most illuminating. I was quite surprised how my passions are different to where I'm spending my time... and actaully quite different to where I had planned to spend my time.

Time to re-organize!

Poor Zebra

The Zebra has stripes
Black and white
Which are they?
Black or white?
Is he striped to the bone?
What colour is his meat?
Is it all on the surface?
From his head to his feet?
Or from his brain to his heart?
Do we admire him for what he is?
Or what he isn't?
Poor Zebra.

I'm back!

It's been brought to my attention that this blog has become overrun with cobwebs and dust. I'm brushing all that aside and I'm back writing. There's no time like the present!