Abt. VaultBoss

Hi, I’m the Vaultboss of the KnowHow Vault around here!

This is me:

Steve Lorenzo says 'Hello!'

As I’m not a native English speaker, please be patient with me and excuse my poor English once in a while, because I’m trying to improve myself, you see… Well, for the moment the spellchecker works fine, but you might find sometimes my phrasing a little bit odd. If that’s the case, feel free to contact me and you’ll be heard!

Now, what am I doing here?

Well, I’m the one to guide you around, to make rules and enforce them, even kick your sorrow a… if you won’t comply, but on top of these, I’ll try to be your friend , that one you always share your most valuable secrets with, but even more, the one where you’ll find a piece of advice, helping you to scratch exactly the right spot that’s itching…

It has nothing to do with your private life secrets. If you need advice for that, there is another place for it, not here on my couch.

But, instead, it deals with professional secrets. The valuable piece of knowhow of each of your daily jobs or businesses, the blue lists, the ToDo’s and NeverDo’s of your profession, the ones that will seem to magically transform the complete newbies into skilled performers of any task they choose.

Or, it might be your hobbies or collecting habits and the most valuable piece of advice for any of it. Addictive kind of thing… I’m one of you, guys, myself. I’ll tell you a real story now.

When I was just a boy, I’ve started with the little variously shaped and colored ice-cream plastic spoons. My mother was raging, ’cause you see, I was collecting them practically from the streets, if you know what I mean… She had a bad time boiling them (sometimes they melted – which made me mad) or, later on, washing them with plenty of alcohol. I’m surely beating a lot of people around the world at this one. Never heard of anyone else to do it, until now. Not so proud of it though, but still… some performance: more than 600 different pieces when I’ve stopped, eventually.

• Oh, don’t let me forget: my wife is now collecting tiny little sugar bags for coffee from anywhere around the globe, places like airliners or airports, hotel cafeterias, fast-foods, and so on… If you feel like wanting to be helpful, please contact me for a delivery address. I’ll be glad to accept your little gift if you can send it. Order a coffee today, put the sugar bags inside your pocket and then mail them to me. Better mail more than one pair once, as they’re very tiny. I intend to start a site with images of sugar bags and the donors in the near future. Kind of funny, isn’t it?

Now, back to the story. Later, I grew up to even more addictive kind of habits, like chasing girls and… well, you know everything about that yourselves, don’t you?

Anyhow, these were not hobbies or collections. At least not for me. Wouldn’t bet there aren’t people out there in the wild with different opinions on the subject, but it’s not my job here to find them.

Hmmm! But even back then, although mostly lately, I’ve discovered books. All kind of books. You look at them, at their nice and shiny (sometimes rugged, though) covers, and try to imagine what’s inside. Some are full of pearls and diamonds of thinking, others are rubbish. Still, when you look at them, you only dream about what’s inside.

In time, I started to collect them. Of course, I had to be more focused, so I’ve decided to collect sci-fi books (remember that marvelous guy, Forrest J. Ackerman = Mr. Science Fiction, don’t you? He was a model for me!) Of course, he collected for more than 50 years while myself I’m still younger than that, but nevertheless, I’m still trying…

• So, back to the above topic with my wife: just the same, if you feel like wanting to donate sci-fi books, edited whenever and/or wherever – stranger the better, I think – contact me for the mailing address. I’d love to get it with your dedication on it – of course, the author’s itself would certainly be a plus for me. I’ll put some statistics on the site later.

Anyhow, about the books again, what is so interesting about reading a book, some people might ask?

Well, it’s the knowledge and the information you get, apart from the artistic side of the experience, of course. That kind of stuff, if you exercise the habit, brings you the power of knowledge, that will free you from your daily working job and routine and upraise you to a better life.

Information, knowhow, secret tips of howto’s are the secret keys to easy performance.

THIS IS WHAT I’M DEDICATED HERE: TO LEARN FROM YOU, THEN TEACH YOU BACK!

Now, who (and what) am I to qualify myself for such a job?

I’m a regular guy I suppose, very imaginative, a fan of sci-fi as I said before, slightly on the slope up to techie but rather down to user kind of surfer (I mean Internet surfer, see…) and very fond of secrets that other people might have and I dream about sharing.

On the other hand, I like being independent, to be my own boss. I value mostly the time spent with my friends and family. I have a beautiful intelligent wife and a brilliant boy almost mature. No kidding here… Soon, he’ll get his driver license. I’m trembling with excitement: finally, someone will be my personal driver to take me home from those too long parties where I’ll be able to drink from now on, still on the safe side of law. And he’ll be happy to do it. Anytime, at any hour. Completely free, even. WOW!!! Well, stop that! Back to the topic…

I love them very much, I want to offer them a good life and I mostly dream of traveling together around the world. I wish I’ve chosen a diplomatic career sometimes in the past, because I like to learn about different cultures and people all the time. Unfortunately I didn’t.

So, what is there to be done in such a case, to fulfill ones dreams, apart from finding Alladin’s Lamp?

First, you need to make enough money, but, second then, you have to be able to do your job unlinked to any particular place, therefore the obvious solution: do something on the net.

But, if you want to be happy, your job must not be only work, but joy, instead. Enjoy yourselves while you are working. That’s my first advice.

If you can’t for now, maybe the job you have today it’s not the one that’s right for you. Don’t wait, try to change it, even if, most probably, you’ll lose something at first: money, or social status, or whatever brought you there in the first place.

When you will find the right thing for you (doesn’t matter if you’ll be a carpenter, a taxi driver or a stock broker), you’ll know, because you will do it smiling all the day, without even noticing that yourself, but other people around you will see it. (And they will certainly tell you: “Hey, silly, what are you grinning at?” Well, sorry, don’t take me seriously on this one, I was kidding.)

There we are. I’m working hard there, to offer you the best service that I can, for the most money I can get, so don’t be upset for the occasional ads or sponsored links on the Vault – they make me happy, you see…

I also like to do this because I enjoy myself: I love writing, I like to meet/know new friends and sometimes even slightly strange people, from all around the world. I’m doing it at any hour I feel like it and it certainly pleases me a lot to get off bed at any moment of the afternoon that I happen to choose. I can even take a trip (with my laptop and the mobile Internet link) and I’m back on business even in the forests.

I only hope the Internet will never crash! Zzzttt! What a bad thought! Leaves me with some bile taste in my mouth…

But all of these will only come alive with the help of you, my friend. You, the reader, will share with me your little piece of knowledge. I’ll take it from you, I’ll compile it with other bits as well, then send it back to you with the force of co-operative knowledge of many other people, just like you. You’ll take advantage. It will be real knowhow, not the theoretical mumbo-jumbo of self-proclaimed gurus of different domains – which sometimes they don’t understand it fully for themselves, but instead, only the true experiences lived by others, trying to cope with the same problems that you have:

• I don’t know, maybe you want to get rid of the annoying sound that comes from behind your left ear,
• or your bonsai is dying mysteriously,
• or you wonder what is like to be riding an elephant instead of a horse.

Doesn’t matter! Somebody might have experienced that before you and might help. With some tips. With some knowledge or advice. People like to help other people when their talents or skills are recognized. You’ll see.

Be co-operative. Offer your own piece of diamond advice in exchange for what you seek. Give first, then ask. I’ll co-ordinate things here, that’s my job. I’ll put them together, you’ll find the secret you were looking for. Everybody will be happy.

Give it a try today!

First, evaluate carefully what you need to learn mostly (more important or more urgent, or more… it’s your pick), then submit your question.

Second, evaluate what your area of expertise is. Look around what other people asked on that area, that’ll give you a hint about what is really needed. If you don’t find it, then it might be a new category. Don’t stop there. Write to me, ask for that new one to be created, smile: you’ll be the guru there. At least in the beginning. Others will follow. You’ll see. After you take your pick, write down the most important 10 things you think people shouldn’t miss: ToDo’s or, on the contrary, if you like it, NeverDo’s. Send them here. You’ll be gratified.

Somebody will be happy for your kind of advice.

In exchange, you’ll get your own piece of knowhow. Fair enough, don’t you think? Everybody profits, on their own ability from the knowledge learned here.

Finally, keep in mind this disclaimer:

Nothing here is definitive, the ideas tend to change in time.

Also, what you share is free of any copyright or any other claims, it’s legally free to do absolutely anything with it, for anyone.

The same applies back to you. What information you’ll get here, you’re free to do anything with it. Fair exchange.

Mostly, try to make money out of it if you can. Use it on your job or business, daily. Do it!

That’s all, I think.

by The Happy Vaultboss On A Starry Night.