This has been one of those months for me.  No sales, a ton of bills to pay, my office manager out the entire month and, as if I needed more, my beloved dog Cash murdered by a demon tico driver!  I am thinking at this point, what else?  We often hear that we should live in the present, but what if the present really sucks.  The one place I DON’T want to be in any more is July 2010…I wish I could be transported right now to another month…like, say, August, 2010.  I just want it all to end…I mean the month…not life (don’t worry mom).  Being one to never be short of a word of advice, for myself and others, I believe in times like these one needs to “relax and breathe deeply” into a paper bag.  This has been a month where I have felt on the constant verge of hyperventilation.  But I know in the back of my mind that it will end, the sun will shine again and I will look back on July 2010 with a certain degree of fondness.  Isn’t it always the case?  Those times of our lives that are really hard and that we have to “get through” by the “skin of our teeth” are later seen as great learning experiences.  We pride ourselves in having paid our dues and tell others that they must endure their own July 2010’s in order to achieve the level of super-stardom that we have achieved.  Okay great…yes that might all be true…but it is the 23rd and I still have eight more days of this hell on earth to endure!  The one thing I do take solace in is that I get to endure it in this wonderful place that I have spent the last two years blabbering about.  When things get just about as bad as they can get (and they can always get worse) I raise my gaze towards those majestic mountains surrounding San Jose and know that peace lies out there somewhere.  And with a 4-wheel drive vehicle I can go and look for it…any time I want!  I guess the best way to make it out of a bad situation is to make light of it.  That is the general cathartic purpose of this post and, hey, you know what, it is working.  I feel better already.