I’ve lost track of how many times this blog has been rebooted. Some of you might remember my old Rick’s TSM blog…but not a lot of folks.
I started writing a blog as a way to share how I was building mopeds…primarily a French Peugeot TSM. I tried to keep up with the blogs and even wrote them ahead of time so I could put one out a week then one a month and then life started happening and I stopped all together.
Mopeds are awesome an all and have taught me a ton about myself, tenacity, and being resourceful as parts and information aren’t always available. The biggest thing I learned was to not sweat when things blow up in your face…and oh do they ever! Usually at around 50 mph.
The thing is that you get used to it on a moped. They were designed to go 25 – 30 MPH and only goofy moped kids, like myself, think lets make this go faster. Faster moving translates into faster self-destruction. After you get over the first failure you pick yourself up. Dust yourself off, or stop the bleeding. Then you rip apart the moped to figure what failed, why, and how the hell am I going to make this not fail again. Then you jump back on and do it again. Something new breaks this time and you get into the cycle of destruction and rebirth. If you are wired like me and love a project this is wonderful. This silly thing you are riding is never going to be done and it’s never going to stop forcing you to grow in your abilities to get back up again.
Taking what I realized above a step further I realize this is how I’ve always been. I didn’t like my options for a backpack, so I designed my own…it’s perfect, for me. I didn’t like how my life was going in NYC, so I designed a solution to leave by building a Tiny House on Wheels…and thankfully my awesome wife was game. We designed the house together and it was the hardest design project I’ve ever done. I can’t even tell you how many design iterations, failures, there were until we got to the final version. I’m writing this from my office in the house…this house is perfect, for us.
So the question I often ask myself is am I a designer. I sure do a lot of it. I’m not a designer by schooling. My degree is in Jazz Guitar and Recording Engineering. I’m a designer by necessity. When I talk about design it’s really just a way of solving problems. I think the best designers dig into a problem until they understand it implicitly and then create a solution that makes the problem go away. As long as you are willing to put yourself into the problem to find the solution, I think you are a designer. You build the solution and if it fails. You try again and again and again. You do it until the issue is solved.
When I moved to NYC I started working in mobile technology, messaging and native apps. I was lucky that some guys with a startup needed some help and saw I was smart and learned fast. I like to think in 6 weeks I can learn just about anything and they gave me a chance to prove it. It paid off and now I have started my own tech consultancy to help other folks solve problems after 10 years of working with great companies who also took a chance on a crazy guy that loves solving problems. I think it’s the fact that I love the process so much that even when I get to a solution, I’m excited when we find we need to solve something a different way.
Now you should have a pretty good idea on why I changed the name of the blog. It’s going to be more than just mopeds from now on. It’s still going to be full of screw-ups and stories. I’m still dyslexic so expect errors. I don’t have an editor so you just get what dumps out of my head.
What I’m excited about though is that I’m going to try and share all I have learned and continue to learn with all of you. I’m going to be failing and starting over in real-time…well, blog time…ah…hmmm. I’m going to be sharing how I think about design running through solving every problem I’ve ever faced, how it worked, and how it didn’t. There will be stuff about tiny houses and sustainable living, mopeds, music, travel, tech, and whatever I think can help someone else on their journey. I’m far from perfect but I’ve done a bunch of junk and some I’ve rocked…and some have been all out suck-fests. Either way I want to share good information in a positive light so you all can maybe get something out of it. Even if it’s just a laugh or a shake of your head. I’d like you all to see that the only way to truly fail, is to refuse to get back up.
Here’s to getting back up again,
Rick
Talk soon….ish
