Can A Man Serve More Than One Master?

Interesting question, right? The reason why I ask this question is because of the dilemma that I find myself in right now. let me explain.

As you all know unlike most of these marketers out here, I am still in a career. My firefighting job is what brings home the bacon. I love it. But I also like this Internet marketing thing as well. But here’s the problem. I have two jobs, three if you include I.M.

My schedule with the fire dept. is 1 day on and 3 days off. I work one FULL 24 HOUR day, and then I’m off for 3 days. I know. It sounds sweet, right? But during those 3 days off I work my other job as a driver for a senior daycare center. And when I get off from there, if I have the energy, I jump on my computer and got to work in I.M. I know that it’s a lot but I actually enjoy it. So what’s the problem?

Well I see the potential in Internet marketing. I see that if you put in the work, then you will be paid over and over again for years to come. I get that. I like it and I’ve accepted the challenge. At the same time I want to advance in my chosen field as a firefighter, and that means taking the Captains test again.

I’ve taken it before and I was number 32 on the list. That’s as high as I have gotten so far. But to really get the chance to be a Fire Captain nowadays, you have to at least get into the top ten. And to do that requires total concentration in the studying department. So now you’re like: What’s the problem? Just go study and get it over with, right? Well, it’s not that easy my friend. The Fire Captains test is unlike any test that you have ever studied for. Let me explain why…

You have 2 parts: the written and the oral. The written you can study that like a regular test. You have a couple of books that you must know in and out. The book pictured in the top left hand corner is just ONE of the books that we have to study and know. The written is no problem. The oral on the other hand is where the work is involved. Let me explain…

Without divulging the secrets of the oral testing process just know that you are put on the spot. You are given a series of scenarios that will test your knowledge of what to do on the fireground. You see the fireground is just like a battleground to firefighters. It might seem to the general public that we are just breaking windows and destroying things, but there is a method to our madness.

When we break your windows we don’t do it just to cost you more money. We do it to prevent further damage to your home and to protect ourselves. We have to get the superheated gases that are a by-product of the fire out. Because if we don’t two things can occur: More damage to your home with more fire and more damage to us in the guise of either a backdraft or a flashover.

A backdraft or smoke explosion,  is when the fire has used up all of the oxygen in a room and it is looking for another oxygen source. And we unwittingly give it that source by kicking in the front door. Then BOOM! We are shot across the street! A flashover is when everything in the room reaches a temperature hot enough to burn the sun at the same time! Both of these conditions can be avoided with venting, or breaking windows, as you like to call it! So what you call the unneeded destruction of your home, the breaking of windows, we call protection. Sorry. It has to be done. Needless to say many fire personnel have died in both of these conditions.

That was just a small sample of the things that you have to learn and KNOW like the back of your hand as a Captain. You have to know how to spot a potential situation that can lead to a backdraft or a flashover. These things are evident in every fire , and as a Fir Captain you HAVE to know them. You have to be able to identify them for your own protection and for the protection of your crew! NO if, ands or but’s! We all go home at the end of the shift!

So you see my dilemma? I love this thing called Internet marketing and I want to devote more of my time to it, but I can’t with the Fire Captain’s test coming up next year. Yes! I said next year! That’s how long you should be studying to know your fire-matics inside and out. You have eat, sleep. and breathe firefighting my friend. Nothing is more important that that!

In the past I studied for the test. But only when I received the letter in the mail did I get started. I figure now I’ll get going and get a head start. Because you can study all day long but you have to have someone else to bounce your ideas off to know that what you’re doing is effective. So do you see my dilemma? I.M. is the same way in my eyes.

In Internet marketing you have to eat, sleep and poop it. If you want your business to be successful, then you have to live it. You have to put the video games away and focus on your business. Oh yes my friend, don’t get it twisted, I.M is a business. You are providing a service to people that come across your website or your webpage on the Internet. I have come so far since I started doing this about 3 years ago, and I want to do more. But I cannot do both at the same time. I cannot study for the Fire Captains test AND build websites!

So what have I decided to do? I’ve decided to scale back my I.M. until while I study for this test. Will I still post to this blog? Yeah, of course! I’ll let you know about the fires that I’ve been in. Some of the past 2 fires that I’ve been in I’m still waiting for the pictures. When I get them, you’ll see them. The big question you want to know is how much, right? Well my friend, let’s just say that when I make Captain I’ll be able to devote more time to I.M. because I will no longer need my 2nd job driving.

So the answer to the question of this post is: Can a man serve more than one master? I don’t think so. Not at the same time! Talk to you later…