The Hungry Hungry Writer

I had many fantasies about what I wanted to do when I grew up.

I actually thought I’d be a spy - an undercover agent for the government doing dastardly deeds across different countries all over the world. I’d have high tech gadgets of all sorts like James Bond but more like Get Smart. I’d be versed in many languages and an expert at weapons, tailing and escape. I would have been an awesome spy!

There was a point in time I thought I could be a “Pro Wrestler” - the smallest pro wrestler with ninja like moves taking down the monster sized, steroid using superstar with my quickness and cunning moves.

Influenced by Happy Days, ‘the Fonz’ and Pinky Tuscadero, I had fantasies about driving a car in a demolition derby. Me, my Chevy Kingswood station wagon, a leather jacket and a white helmet. I’d bash and crash other cars with my ‘cool’ attitude and daredevil driving skills and be the last driver standing!

My all time fantasy as a kid was about being a baseball player. Diving for the game ending, game winning catch, pitching a strikeout to Reggie Jackson, or hitting the walk off home run bomb. I still haven’t let this fantasy go. I dream about it from time to time – more often than adults should I guess. I sometimes close my eyes and try to really put myself under the lights of Dodger Stadium. I walk up to the plate, take a deep breath and thank God for the opportunity. Then I’d step in and wait on a fastball and connect for a walk off homerun as the crowd and my family roar, and my teammates mob me at home plate. What a fantasy!

Never did I fantasy about being a financial analyst. And in September of this year it will mark nine long years of being a financial analyst. Did I ever like it? No. The day I got hired, 3 jobs ago, I knew I was doing it as a temporary thing. I was doing it just for the money with hopes of ‘finding myself’ down the road and following my passion.

I’m not sure I’ve ‘found myself’ but I do know something. I will never be fulfilled running financial analysis for things like investment opportunities, profitability on specific product lines or evaluating costs due to staffing.

And although I may not have found myself, I think I know what I want to do for the rest of my life.

I’m going back to school. I’m going to study psychology. I’m going to open up my own practice and I will eventually get my PHD. Yes, this is my calling. It’s been an interest of mine for a very long time.

I love the way the brain works. I love how people think – their rationalization as well as their irrational behavior. I want to know people, their emotions, thoughts, and why they do things. Yes, I want to be a psychologist. Maybe I’ll focus on sports psychology or life coaching!

I’ll be analyzing thought process, emotional responses and brain power instead of analyzing finances. I will be helping people! Which is in deep contrast to what I do now.

Still, I’m waiting for a call from the Los Angeles Dodger organization to call me to fill in at second base. I’m still ‘on-call’ to our government to become the next best spy and hero to our country. And maybe, if Jeff Gordon wants me to take over as the new Rainbow Warrior, I’ll drive the 24 car around a track. It’s not demolition derby, but it is fast and exhilarating and… ‘cool’.

I still fantasize about crossing the finish line at the Kona Ironman Championships, and my new fantasy, joining the PGA tour as a golf pro.

So if you need help with the yips, or focusing on finishing triathlon, or maybe you need some counseling on career choices… someday soon I can say…

“Here’s my card… call me… Sports Psychologist - Glenn Magas, Ph.D…” sounds cool huh?

“Sex and golf are the two things you can enjoy if you’re not good at them.” Kevin Costner in the movie, ‘Tin Cup’.

I’m getting better at one, and I’m very good at the other. Actually… I’m really good at the other and I’m not saying which. Both take practice… and, if I may say, a lot of it.

Wow. I bet you didn’t think you’d walk into a entry like this today did you? Sex and golf? Did it grab your attention? I mean, anything with golf in the title really grabs my attention!

So where do I go from here? Lets see…

I turned forty this month. Yes… the big FOUR-OH. But before that, and as part of my ‘things I need to do before I’m 40’ list was to run a marathon.

So off I went to San Diego for the Rock & Roll Marathon. That’s 26.2 grueling miles of my feet hitting the pavement.

I ran with my good friend, Steve: my running partner and buddy from childhood. I had visions of crossing the finish line with Steve as I crossed the finish line with him on my first half marathon back in December 2006.

We were on par to break 5 hours – which was our goal – but I slowed down my pace around mile 12. Steve went on ahead as I struggled to the half way point in which time I thought this might not be possible.

Let me preface this by saying I slacked off on my marathon training in the two months prior. I didn’t even run a mile 2 weeks prior to the marathon. So the results were, well, all my fault.

Mile 19 my legs gave out and I forced myself to keep moving because when I stopped and stretched, my legs tightened up and I couldn’t bend at the knees at all. I ran it off. Grant it, it was an 18 min mile pace at that point but moving was more important than resting if I wanted to finish.

At this point I was on par for a 6 hour marathon finish.

At mile 20 I kept thinking, it’s only a 10K run left. That’s two miles around the Rose Bowl. And that’s where negativity played a role in my near demise.

10K runs aren’t always easy. 10K runs can be the hardest 6.2 miles ever. 10K runs around the Rose Bowl is always a struggle after the first lap because you pass your car and its so easy to stop and go home. 10K runs after running 20 miles seems nearly impossible and seeing people laying down at first aide stations was like post card of paradise.

I kept my focus on moving my legs and convinced myself I could finish.

The rest of the way was all mental. It was all in my head. It was all I had left to move my legs.

I made it to mile 23 and as I approached the mile 24 mark I nearly quit. Mile 24 was the longest mile I’ve ever done. It never ended. The sign was there, but I wasn’t getting closer to it. After 24 the next two miles were a blur. An eternity of struggle that I can’t remember too well.

Mile 26 was a wake up call. I sight for sore eyes! I saw my family. JD was waiting for me under mile 26 and I took his hand and we ran… er… jogged… er… lets say I looked like I was running but most walkers could beat me at that point… but together we ran to the finish line.

I beat the 6 hour mark! Barely. I did it in 5:54:45 and Steve… well, he didn’t break the 5 hour mark as he hoped but came extreeeemely close, finishing in 5:00:03.

Done. A marathon before 40. Finished. I didn’t enjoy the marathon itself but the experience was unbelievable. One I’ll remember for the rest of my life! The torture wasn’t fun. And I even told my family right after the race, “I’ll never do that again!” Yet, the next day, I was ready to sign up for another one. Yes, I’ll be doing more marathons, even if I’m not good at running them. Are they as enjoyable to do if you’re not good at them like golf and sex? Heck no!

So for now… I’ll just focus on golf… and sex for that matter. Hell, practice makes perfect so why not right?

(Oh… our kitchen remodel is still not done by the way. Email me if you want to know who NOT to hire!)

I have a lack of motivation to do much of anything lately.

Is it the time of year? Is it my age? Is it my job or the rising gas prices? Is it the longer days of summer or the continued woes of my kitchen remodel? It’s got to be something right?

Last night Dale and I had a meeting with a producer friend of ours, Fred. It’s always good to meet with Fred. We usually have drinks, eat some appetizers and chat about deals being made and things like that. The meeting place of choice: Jax’s Bar & Grill on Brand Blvd. in Glendale.

Lately I haven’t paid much attention to the things I normally would be on top of. I haven’t been running much – which led to a dismal performance at the San Diego Rock & Roll Marathon on June 3. I haven’t been working on my scripts – which leads to postponed meetings and potential deals. And I haven’t been blogging – which, well, reflects all the above: I’m not doing anything so I have nothing to blog about.

Well, I have been trying to get a lot of golf in. I go to the driving range or putt at the putting green at the golf course by work. It’s an hour of alone time where I can think about… well… why I can’t hit the damn ball straight!

Okay. So what can solve my lack of motivation? I started to get serious with my running back on July 4th of last year after a horrible Independence Day training run. After that, I got into running and triathlon mode! In preparation for the LA Triathlon I was slipping on my running shoes almost every day after work. I was working out in the gym at least three times a week which included a run and swim workout. I had a great workout schedule and got on my bike at least twice a month.

The end of June is coming which means it’s time to get real serious about running and training for the LA Triathlon again. It’s also time for me to actually click the submit button online and register for the event. I get butterflies in my stomach just reading about the distances: Nearly a 1 mile swim, followed by a 25 mile bike ride from Venice Beach to Los Angeles, and ending with a 10K run. I think about the 1 mile swim and how long it’s going to take and what kind of suffering I’ll be in and I just don’t want to click submit. The bike ride and 10K run should be a piece of cake. I could probably do it now. Well, maybe I can do it now, for sure I can do it a month from now. This is going to be the toughest Triathlon challenge for me to date. An Olympic distance Triathlon!

So there you go – motivation will be in the form of a $140 payment for the LA Triathlon.

That gets me off my butt, now the issue with this script thing. I have three ‘genre’ films that need to get off my finger tips, onto the computer and out through my printer. Two interested parties are asking for a meeting. I just have to make it happen.

I need a muse. I have to create a muse. Something. Maybe dangling a $1,000,000 fake check in front of me as I write can be a muse. Maybe a picture of my kids on my monitor can act as a muse. What about, I make a deal with my wife that every time I finish a script I get to buy a new golf club or something? A wedge? A putter? Maybe even those $299 drivers, which, by the way, I got for my birthday! Hmmm… that sounds like a great idea!

Money is always a good motivation factor. Maybe the motivation is that the script will sell and I can quit my job. It’s the dream I’ve had since 1997 when I first started writing. Ten years of writing. Wow. Maybe selling a script is too much to think about. I just need to write the scripts and let the pieces fall into place.

I’m getting all hyped up just thinking about it now! I feel like I can write a feature in a couple of hours given the story elements! I just need to get the story elements down, outline and there you go! Easy right… just like playing golf!

I’ve heard remodeling horror stories. I’ve heard about contracted jobs that continue months and months past the projected completion date. I’ve heard warnings about crooked contractors and construction companies. Does it matter? If you want to remodel your kitchen or any part of your house, you are going to do it no matter what anyone tells you. You just hope and pray it won’t end up as bad as ‘those’ stories.

You expect the worst. You prepare for it as best you can. But no matter how much you prepare you will not be prepared enough.

Trust me. You’ll never prepare enough!

Spend your money. Spend more than you feel comfortable spending. Get the kitchen you about. But be prepared for the worst.

We met with a couple of contracting companies. We chose who we thought would get the job done to our specifications. We decided to spend more than we were comfortable spending in hopes that that would relieve the pain and suffering in the long run. We did our due diligence. We talked to others who hired the same contractor. We looked them up in the Better Business Bureau website. We checked out other kitchens that they built and finally, we shook hands and signed the contract.

Six weeks was the projected completion date. It was an ambitious date. But we bought into it and, like the smart people we are, gave it a cushion of a month because realistically, who can do a project like this in six weeks? Who can do a project like his in ten weeks for that matter? So our cushion of a month was actually our projected completion date knowing good and well it would probably be longer than that.

Guess what. It wasn’t done in six weeks. No surprise right? It went smooth for five and a half but then there was a miscommunication, a mix up, a one thousand dollar blunder.

There was a standstill and we were not about to pay one thousand dollars for a mistake they made. It became a ten day stalemate.

Uh oh, the horror stories are coming true right? I researched the Internet on how to approach the problem. I spoke with two lawyers on how to approach the situation. I was more than prepared to ‘butt’ heads with whomever I needed to ‘butt’ heads with, and in the end, I didn’t need to.

Interesting how things work out when you do your due diligence and pay the money. That contractor guy I hired to do the job pulled through and did what he said he’d do from the day we signed the deal. He said he’d make us happy.

So there was a ten day delay. Big deal. Again, who can do a kitchen in six weeks? We were into the seventh week and it was looking good.

Warning! Red alert! Yes, we were warned about this company with the statement – ‘they finish slow’.

Slow is fine. Poor craftsmanship was unacceptable. The kitchen was done. But the details like: paint jobs, cleanup, scratched floors and chipped tiles, were now an issue. Week eight didn’t start very good. Voices were raised (the wife can scare people and its a good tactic to take), questions were asked like, ‘is this the best you can do?’ With a simple answer by the foreman, “yes’.

Watch out for lazy foremans!

We brought the contractor in. The company owner had to visit the house. My threat was, let me have some potential people who want to hire you to look at this paintjob and lets see if they’ll hire you. The bottom line, this was NOT the best they could do.

And again, the contractor we hired pulled through and admitted his embarrassment on the job. A new crew was brought in. “The best” he said. Well, they did the job right. Why didn’t they do this before is what I asked. The job would have been done long time ago! There was no answer to the question.

Week eight through ten was hell for us. But, in retrospect, it was not as bad as the horror stories we’ve heard. It was just about putting your foot down and making sure you get what you paid for instead of being pushed around.

If I tell someone they did our kitchen in ten weeks people won’t believe us. That was extremely fast considering the delays. It is remarkable that our kitchen went from an old dingy small space to a modern kitchen that you can cook in.

If it weren’t for the ten day delay, if it weren’t for a sloppy paint job and the butting of heads, this job would have, believe it or not, been done in six weeks!

So its easy to see that the projected date could have been met if there were no problems whatsoever. Expect problems and rejoice if there aren’t any.

The kitchen is done. The final check was written. The horror wasn’t so horrible. So it took four weeks longer than projected. But it was several months faster than most people’s remodel!

Here is the point of the story.

Hire the right people. Pay more than you feel comfortable paying. And make sure you get what you pay for because if you want some ‘off the street - no license contractor’ because you want to save money, believe me, you’ll have horror stories to tell.

All I told was a story.

Salt fried Rib Eye Steaks on our new range… here I come!