New Career

Funny how a hobby can turn into a career. I love making websites and was getting depressed every morning knowing I had to look for another sales job. I am tired of building up a territory and when it is taken away from me...downsizing...I have to start all over again at the bottom. In sales, most of the money is made from commissions as a rule.

I am burnt out from all the constant (and boring) driving. It was funny. Here my prayer partner and I were praying for the best job for me. I kept seeing ads on TV regarding going to college. So I looked into it and was pleasantly surprised to learn that I can take out school loans to get an associates degree. Unlike obtaining a master's degree, one can take school loans even if you have a bachelor's degree.

So I enrolled at Manatee Community College for Computer Programming and Computer Information Technology. But because of all the classes I want to take to have a well-rounded education, I will probably end up with three degrees - adding the Networking and Security major as well.

Because MCC is so inexpensive, if you live in Florida, I am also going to become fluent in Spanish as well as take a couple of graphics design classes. It only costs me $74.00 per credit hour. Out of state residents pay $274.00 per credit hour.

I have a 4.0 GPA so far. I love the classes and all my courses from Bryant Univerisity were waived except for 1 humanities (I will take World Religions) and a Gordon Rule math (I will take finite math).

I have been making websites for clients to help gain experience as well as help fund my education. My personal website is www.kimpestana.com.

Check out my fun project www.everythinglatino.net

After 1 year and 15 days, my site is finally launched!

Get a scroller sign at Myspacehive.com

EverythingLatino.Net

It Happened Like This...

May 5th, 2007, "ran away" to Miami by myself to get away. I really appreciate the Latino culture and met such an international mix of people. June 30, 2007, I am on vacation and decide to find out when a Puerto Rican band, Arcangel, would be playing in concert and could not find much on the internet. I thought it would be nice to have one place to find out certain things related to Latino Music, Restaurants, Travel, People....Everything!!! Thus the idea was borne.

The entire next week was my vacation. I bought some domain names. Now to figure out how to build a classy web site. I asked around and managed to purchase Front Page 2003. Thank God I trialed "Sharebuilder" because GoDaddy does not support it. The rep was liking me (I could hear his silent "Cha Ching" thoughts every time I placed a domain order).

Then I plopped some more money down on a password generator and a password manager program. Best software I ever purchased. I can copy and paste the passwords into fields. What is nicer, is the security. Now I can have complicated and long passwords with the strongest security. One can never be too stealth.

As the week goes on, I am impressed that all of my friends really listened to what I had to say about my new side venture. I realize I have taken on a bit of a project but I am quite organized and this prevents me from getting bored. And I just cannot stop talking about it but I am getting the feeling I may be on to something and should just keep my mouth shut.

I now realize that this venture is a series of problems to be solved and opportunities to discover. But I just love the adrenaline rush I get when I solve one that I have not been able to figure out before. It's sort of like my own Nancy Drew mystery, without the crime of course.

Decided I wanted an Attorney who concentrated (specialized is not a good nor a correct term to use to describe a law practitioner) in Internet Law, which is a relatively new field of law. Well, the nearest one to me is in Tampa. I leave a message stating what I needed. He was intrigued and called me that night and spent an hour and a half on the phone with me, while he was at the beach with his wife and kids. He has several web sites and several business ventures. I was happy because I got to ask him millions of questions. People who know me, know about what a curious person I am.

Then I decide to get my first legal document and I learn that his retainer is $15,000.00. Another problem to be solved. I am glad for the extensive network and database of contacts I have nurtured for 15 years.

July 7th, spoke with a DJ on MySpace who seems very well-connected. I am just learning more about the artists in the Reggaeton genre but I like it so far. I agree to meet him at a busy Tampa nightclub. I brought a Spanish-speaking friend to help me out. He doesn't like Reggaeton but I love it!

One July 12th, I am informed that the medical manufacturer I currently work for is eliminating jobs. Mine is one of them...ruh roh. This is a big inconvenience or is it? I think my former boss was impressed with the amount of appointments that he was to go on in my place. Everyone at my former employer was so nice. We were a very close knit group. I will still stop by and visit them from time to time. They hired an R & D person, which is a very wise but costly decision. I would rather be laid off than see that company falter. I am a mover and shaker - a survivor. I don't have TIME to be worried about my future, when I can create it.

In between calling contacts for job leads, emailing resumes, and searching the internet, I am still working on this project. Burning the candle at both ends, something I tend to do. People do envy the energy I have.

Last Saturday, July 14th, I crashed and burned. I was severely sick with an intestinal flu, when I say "intestinal", I mean the entire intestine! I was sick for 5 days and couldn't eat.

The funny thing is...I still don't speak Spanish, even after the beginner's class that I took. So I ask all of my Latino friends things. They teach me. I am slowly learning.

On July 17th, my Birthday, after much frustration and hard work, I found my web site www.everythinglatino.net #1 on the Google Search for "everything latino". Numero Uno out of 2.3 million searches for this generic phrase. Thank you, God! I literally received 16 phone calls from friends with invitations and birthday intentions. Nice! The best gift came from the Executive VP of my former company. He even consulted an attorney to generate me the most touching reference letter.

On July 19th, Daddy Yankee, added me as his friend on MySpace.....sweet!

July 20th...had lunch with a friend who owns his own web hosting business. We discussed some website changes and a possible deal with his company to host my site and help me manage it's success. Really cool. Even better, I hope to make a 1099 deal to sell hosting, web site design, monitoring, etc. services. This will get me by so I can really land that dream medical sales position that I have wanted for some time. This web page is a side venture.

Met a financial analyst who knocked me over with his brilliance and command of the banking and investment arena. He and I are also discussing possible business with my web site.

July 21st Decided to take website down until the Superlaunch. I will be working on several projects simultaneously and decide to unite them and keep it all a big secret!!!

Loving my Reggaeton

My favorite song to wiggle my hips to is "Jefe" by Daddy Yankee. Makes me want to dance with the unknown sexy latin man: http://elguapodc.blogspot.com/2006/01/i-am-latino-i-dance.html

Arcangel

This is a group of the genre known as "Reggaeton" which is a mix of hip hop and reggae. I find it to be fun to dance to.

You can learn more about Reggaeton from DJ Nelson. Here is his myspace address: http://www.myspace.com/djnelsonmusic