Talking. About Everything.

I like just about everything. I think everything is neat and that everything is fascinating to somebody. One of my favorite aspects to writing articles for the college newspaper was talking to the people who were putting on various events, or who were trying to start a club, or who were behind some sort of student policy initiative. I love this because those people I interviewed were passionate and excited about the work they were doing and I found it infectious. I remember I was doing a short article for the newspaper about a fashion show the Black Student Alliance was hosting. After interviewing the person coordinating the event about it, I really wanted to go! I'm not into fashion and I wasn't a member of the Black Student Alliance, but the event coordinator was so energized about doing the event, about it's theme and about the people she was working in it. It was hard not to be part of her passion.

I'm Interested in Just About Everything

This quality is a good one. I work for a news app that released its first vertical news app, Inside Drones, and we're going to have two more coming out this week on two completely different topics. The week after or so, we're going to have another two or three coming out on two or three more different topics. By the end of the summer, we should have 11 vertical apps out as well as our main Inside news app, all available in the App Store for people to download. That is A LOT of topics, and that won't be the end of the line. The point is that being interested in everything is a good thing because Inside is going to cover everything ultimately, whether we do it in a vertical app or we feature the topic in our main app. My job involves sharing all the cool things we cover and getting people who love these topics into the right app(s). If I'm not interested in drones, then I certainly share the neat stories we feature or get drone enthusiasts using the app. They'll be able to tell a mile away and they'll just use a different app or website instead.

Right now, my job is primarily Inside Drones and the main app. But, come August or September, I'm gonna be doing this 11 times over across 11 different topics. So, really, my job isn't for someone who has already decided they know what they like or who isn't willing to learn about things they may have previously thought was gross or boring. I'm not lying. We cover EVERYTHING, which is a lot of things.

I Just Need to Start Talking, Reading and Writing

I just need to do those things and not be afraid. I need to not be afraid of not being good at any particular thing or of making people angry because I don't talk about the things they want to read about all the time. I need to stop being afraid of being criticized or of crazy people threatening to dox me or send me rape threats or something. Talking, reading and writing, both here on this blog and at work. I think that's really it. I need to do a whole bunch of little things, but talking, reading and writing are the main things. The little things can follow and can amplify the main things once the main things are actually on this blog and on the work blog and are actually being done.

As Seth Godin said, "the heart of real growth is a simple idea: people decide to tell other people. Start with that."

I Want to Talk About All the Things

When most beginners start blogging, all them blogging and social media gurus tell you that you gotta pick something. Nobody likes jacks- and janes-of-all-trades, so you need to pick something and specialize in it and build a community around that one topic you picked. It's easier that way. It's easier to attract a community. It's easier to position and present yourself. Besides, you can't be everything to everybody and you can't possibly do everything anyway. All those gurus forget to mention HOW HARD it is to pick. People are complicated and often have a variety of interests and passions, sometimes competing interests and passions. Other people just don't know what their passions are, or aren't sure among several different choices so they don't want to commit to one topic. Although clarity comes from engagement, not thought, as the great Marie Forleo says, at times it can take quite a bit of "engagement" for folks to figure out which passions and interests to spend their time on.

Therefore, I'm Going to Do All the Things

I'm just going to do all the things cause I want to do all the things and I'm going to be my own blogging and social media guru and make it work. I'm going to make it work because I think it's awesome and I think just about everything is awesome (except cockroaches, as they are not awesome). There's probably going to be a lot of app marketing, inbound marketing and content marketing in here as well because I know a lot about that stuff and I do it for a living so it's kind of hard not to have it seep into the rest of my life. After all, I have plenty of categories in my sidebar, which illustrate that I certainly love all the things and have already made previous attempts at doing all the things, even though I wouldn't have called any of those posts or categories attempts when I first created them. Never mind some of the stuff that I wrote about previously. Some of it I will iterate and bring it back and others I will not.

I'm Also Probably Going to Promote Apps Here as Well

I know! It makes me such a shrill to promote products or whatever on the blog or on the sidebar. But, first of all, it's part of my job. I love my job and I do love the apps that we create. Our apps cover all sorts of topics, and some of those topics I'm probably never going to talk about in depth on this blog. For example, our latest app is Inside Drones, which is about hobby drones, quadcopters, and how they're used in various industries. It features drones news and only drones news. so it won't ever have celebrity news or sports news or even topics more closely related like gadgets or tech news. I'm probably never ever going to talk about drones in a blog post. But, people are doing some pretty awesome things with drones, like this Drones Racing Championship that's happening next month. That just sounds darn cool. How do you not promote that and talk about that?

On a side note, I need to create my reading list for this website. I like to all sorts of books and I have plenty of favorites and recommendations, spanning all sorts of topics. You know what, if I like it I'm gonna promote it. Plain and simple. Marie Forleo does that with some of the guests she has on her show, and I've certainly bought the books and other products from some of her guests. One of my particular favorites is Sally Hogshead. Her research and ideas on fascination is just amazing.

My New Merit Badge Quest

Josh McCoy, 14, made headlines earlier this month by earning all 135 Boy Scout merit badges. It took him three years to get them all, ranging from American Business to Woodwork, from Disabilities Awareness to Pioneering. He isn't the first to accomplish this feat (252 Boy Scouts have also accomplished this in the organization's history) and he probably won't be the last. So I wonder, if he can do it then I can do it, right? First of all, I'm just way cooler than a 14-year-old. I'm a grown up. I have a college degree. I have a great job at Inside.com. I live on my own and don't need my parents' permission for things. I have an advantage in awesomeness. Plain and simple.

Second of all, I don't see any reason why I can't do it eventually. Sure, I don't have a summer camp to help me. I'll probably have to find instructors for some of these badges, or perhaps spend a year back home in Hawaii to tackle some of them, particularly the water-based badges (there isn't exactly easy access to a lake or ocean in St. Louis). So, it will probably take me longer than three years to get this done, but I'm not going to let that stop me or scare me out of doing this.

Third of all, I think it would be cool, as a woman, to go after and to accomplish the requirements in each of the merit badges. I was never a Boy Scout, for obvious reasons, so I couldn't really do this when I was younger. I also think that many of the skills associated with these merit badges are fascinating and worthwhile to learn. As I learned in fourth grade, "Reach for the stars. You won't always get them, but you won't end up with a handful of mud either." Stars or mud, here I come!

So, I'm gonna do it and get all the merit badges! Consider it a new life quest or pursuit, versus a New Year's Resolution or an abundance of free time. Adventure is fun, and I could use a little more adventure in my life. I am sure this will take me longer than a year to complete because I still have a job to go to five days a week. I anticipate this will take me 10 years, and within this time I am sure the Boy Scouts of America will add a few more new merit badges to conquer. In the meantime, I've outlined the rules for this life quest/adventure of mine and devised a few immediate steps to get me started, such as picking the 10 merit badges that I'm going to complete first.

My First 10 Badges

The Plate

1. First Aid
2. Personal Fitness
3. Cooking
4. Reading
5. Pets

The Dock

1. Emergency Preparedness
2. Personal Management
3. Citizenship in the Community
4. Athletics
5. Fingerprinting

Merit Badger Rules

• Five badges will always be on the plate at any one time.
• For the five badges on my plate, I can complete the merit badges and their requirements simultaneously and in any particular order. Meaning, I don't have to complete the First Aid merit badge before starting any of the requirements for the Personal Fitness merit badge.
• After I complete a badge on my plate, I will then choose the next one from the dock. After choosing from a badge from the dock to move to the plate, the next badge on the dock will be chosen at random from a jar.
• Before starting any the requirements of any merit badge, I am to read the pamphlet first.
• For each merit badge, I will find five news articles related to the merit badge topic and submit them to Inside.com.
• I am not allowed to use Inside.com or its resources to complete any of the requirements for any badge, with exception of the rule listed above.
• The definitions of "troop," "patrol," "family," "scout" and "counselor" will be fluid, depending on the badge and requirement. Obviously, I am not a scout and I do not have a patrol or a troop, so I will choose who will fit those definitions on a case-by-case basis.
• When I am required to explain or to discuss something, I will write in up as a blog post. When I am required to discuss something, I do have the option to do a video instead of a blog post if I so desire.
• When I am required to demonstrate something or to participate in an activity, then I will take photos and/or shoot video as proof of the demonstrate or activity
• When given the choice among several requirements, I am to choose meeting with someone and/or visiting a location over the other choices since these are more difficult and time-consuming than most other requirements.
• When given the choice among several requirements, if all the choices are equal, then I can choose whichever requirements I am most interested in completing.
• There is no timeline to completing this venture or to complete any specific merit badge.

What's Next?

Now that this is announced and out there in the world, I will get started on reading the pamphlets for my first five merit badges. I need to choose my six books for the Reading badge, schedule my doctor and dentist visits for the Personal Fitness badge, and document the proof of my cat Flop-a-Set for my Pets badge.

Photo via dmuth

I Finally Have a File Cabinet!

It was almost a year ago that I set out to purchase a file cabinet for my home office. I have lamented many times about not having quite enough to buy my file cabinet, whether it's not having enough points, or not having enough money, or not having the time to pick one out. Well, no more worrying. No more lamenting. No more wishing and wanting. I finally have my file cabinet!

I've Been Needing One for Well Over a Year

Ever since I transitioned to a virtual office toward the end of 2012, I've needed a file cabinet. I didn't have one in my home office, so my files were in piles in a corner of my office, collecting dust. My cat even peed on the pile once and I had to throw a whole bunch of files away since there was no way I was going to get the pee out of the paper (and I didn't want to encourage him to pee outside the litter box). Not only did have to throw away a few files (fortunately, none of them were too important), but when they were in piles, the files and their contents were useless. It was too much trouble to dig through them to find what I needed, and since they weren't organized, there wasn't any point in creating new files or adding to them.

But, That is All Over

I only spent $90 on this file cabinet, which was at the top of my range but I think I got a good deal. I bought a wooden file cabinet just like I wanted. Even thought it only has two drawers, it functions like four-drawer file cabinet, as shown in the picture on the left. It even came with about 50 extra file folders that I wasn't expecting. The previous owner threw them in for free. I didn't need them, but I couldn't say no because the folders were in one of the drawers ready to go with me. I didn't want to tell the owner to take them out and waste more of their time.

Anyway, I organized my files and created several new ones to accommodate more important papers and articles that I've accumulated over the years (such as the lease on my apartment and the adoption papers for my cat). I accumulated so much that I've run out of manila folders. It's a good thing I found a file cabinet that's essentially four drawers instead of two. It looks like that I'll be needing the extra room, and I'm excited to fill it with all kinds of neat stuff. I pondered on whether or not to get a two-drawer file cabinet or a four-drawer file cabinet. I eventually settled on a two-drawer because I didn't think I would have enough room for four-drawer, so I was really happy to find this cabinet in such good condition.

Now I Have a Clean Desk

Since I went without a file cabinet for so long, papers started piling up on my desk. I had two big piles, one on each end of the desk (the clean "after" version is shown on the right. I didn't think to take any pictures until after I had cleaned it up, so I don't have a shot of the "before" version). I also had papers tucked into folders and piled up in other parts of the office. Once I started cleaning everything up, I found so many bank statements (both opened and unopened) it wasn't even funny.

But my desk is much cleaner, which should help me to get much more done. They say that a cluttered desk hinder productivity, so perhaps my uncluttered desk will mean an uncluttered mind and I will have an easier time getting work done. After all, I can now use more of my desk and use it better since the space isn't taken up by random papers anymore.

Setting My September Goals

I know it's a bit late to do this, but better late than never. Part of what it means to be awesome is to set goals, to create action plans to meet those goals, and then actually meet those goals. I'm going to set myself for awesomeness for the rest of the month, and eventually the year, by setting a few goals for the latter half of the month. These aren't the most ambitious goals in the world, but I also need goals that I can meet in two week's time.

Finish My DMV Appointment Articles

I have 52 articles left of the 102 articles that I need to complete. I want to get this done by the end of the month so I can invoice my client for the next set of articles. This set is taking longer than expected since I don't have the hired help to get them done. The articles aren't hard, just a little tedious since there's a fair amount of research and fact-checking that needs to go into each article. I'm putting it here as my top goal, and telling the world that this is what I'm going to do, so that I stop putting off these articles and start getting them done.

Finish Harrington on Hold 'Em

I haven't touched this book much since I last wrote about reading this. I'm stuck in the chapter on starting hand ranges, and my plan was to make a set of charts that I can refer to as I am playing poker. I've only made one chart, and I actually made it wrong, and ever since then I haven't touched the books or the charts. I really ought to get back to the book, since I think these charts and memorizing these starting hand ranges would improve my game and better ensure that I put myself in a good position when I decide to play a hand.

On a side note, I have already finished one book on my list of books to read this fall (I could have added a few more to this list, actually). Working on my second!

Have $100 in My Poker Bankroll

I am so close to meeting this goal! I currently have $91 and change, and if I reach $100, then I will have broken even with my original deposit. It's only up from there, as once I reach the $100 I can move up a buy-in level. Then, I can work my way up to doubling my money. Completing my second goal on this list will increase my chances of making this goal.

Answer 5 Questions for International Political Forum

So far, I've only answered one question about the Prime Minister and the Syrian conflict, with research started to answer questions about changes to the food stamp program and the welfare system. I need to get those up before they become outdated. This goal is doable, since I'm already 20% there, with two more questions in the works. I'm going to make it a mini goal to get both of those questions up this weekend. This would put me 60% toward my goal, making the other 20% that much easier to do in two week's time.

Thinking about Being Awesome, and About Doing It

Lately, it's felt like I've lost identity capital, that I haven't done or accomplished much over the past few months. I've actually completed my SuperBetter quests to be more awesome (it was a very small Power Pack) and I don't think I'm any more awesome than I was before I started. Granted, I still haven't done the task to come out of my comfort zone, and that's probably part of the problem. But, that's certainly not the whole story here.

I Think I Need to Revisit My Empowering Beliefs

It's been a long time since I recited my empowering beliefs about money and my empowering beliefs about myself. I think I've lost touch with a lot of things, which is mainly why things have gotten a bit out of control. Yes, one of the things I lost touch with was time, but I think I lost touch with a lot of things over these past few months. To get back into gear, here are my empowering beliefs about myself, of which I need to read more often. At the very least, this establishes more control over my thoughts and self-confidence.

• I, hereby, delete these negative beliefs from my system at the source. Now, I can replace them with empowering beliefs about myself. J
• I am awesome. I am an amazing human rights activist, a phenomenal writer, and an even better person. I am destined to change the world.
• I am agnesamurphy, a budding poker phenom who is constantly improving at everything she does. I am well-liked because I am lots of fun at the table and away from the table.
• I am a great businesswoman running a great business. It’s only a matter of time before it’ll be unthinkable NOT to care about Stirring Media, LLC.
• Someone I don’t even know loves me right now. I do more for this world and for people close to me than I could ever imagine.

I Think I Need to Revisit Identity Capital Too

When that was the theme of this blog, things were going well here and I felt like I had a lot more to say too. I tried to change things up because I didn't like the idea of turning this into a personal diary, but in trying to change I haven't actually changed the scope all that much. I might go back to that topic, as there is something valuable there for people and something that I can discuss and chronicle in a way that's helpful and engaging. The idea of building identity capital is one more thing that I can add to my life to bring it back together and to go back to setting goals, revisiting my marketing plan, measuring what I'm doing, and improving my skills. I could also use a coaching session with my business coach for good measure, or even just a good lunch.

Building identity capital, one day at a time, isn't a bad idea right now for this blog (and my life).

Structuring My Time, Busting that Routine

In order to be more awesome and to spend more of my time doing awesome things, I chose to stop sticking to a routine. In thinking about how to bust my routine and not have one, I came up with a really good idea as I was going to bed the other night. I realized that one of my current problems with being productive and doing everything I want to do is that my time has lost structure. My days felt chaotic and out of control.

I lost this structure when I switched to my inferno of productivity game, when I put all my tasks on the point system. When I made this switch, I took away any sense of doing work at certain times, taking breaks at other times etc. My time was disorganized, so I wasn't maximizing my time or using it efficiently at all. To be more awesome while managing not to have a routine, I think structuring my time would be the best thing to do.

What Structuring Your Time Even Means

Structuring your time, in my opinion, is not the same as a routine. A routine is defined as, "a sequence of actions regularly followed; a fixed program." Structuring and organizing your time isn't the regimented, as there isn't a sequence of actions or a fixed program. It's merely arranging it so that time is set aside to do work, to take a break, to play poker etc. It's not necessarily doing the same things each day, or doing certain things at certain times. It's making sure that you make the time to do what you need to do as well as what you want to do. This ensures that you don't waste time and that you don't let your time fly by without you.

How I'm Accomplishing This

One of the things I lost when I started my inferno of productivity was my planner. Since I moved my task list from the planner to the point cards, I stopped looking at my planner and I stopped using it organize my day in any way. I exacerbated this problem when I purchased a set of Day of the Week binder clips. This allowed me to create point cards for the next week, instead of just the next few days like I started. Doing so much in advanced actually made organizing my time harder, since I needed to have more in my head and I didn't have all that on paper. I've had those binder clips for several weeks now, and I think that's when things began to fall apart.

I'm fixing all this by bringing the planner back in, using it to create this structure while also using my point cards to keep track of what needs to be done. With the planner, I can also get a sense of the events and meetings coming out, and gauge how much time out of my day each of these events will take up. This prevents me from trying to cram too much and from stressing out because I didn't get as much done as I hoped.

I started this process today, and so far, I think it's working well. This organization gives me a good idea of what needs to done, as well as what's possible to get done during the day. It also puts me into a more productive, motivated, and coordinated mindset. I understand that it is a bit early to call things, so with just about every other thing I've tried, I'm going to give this several weeks and see if things improve.

Streamlining Your Awesome

Supposedly, there are only two things you do each day: things you like doing/are good at and things you hate doing/are not good at. Streamlining your awesome(ness) means thinking about the things that fall into the latter category and finding a way to do them less or to have someone else do them. As part of today's SuperBetter quest, I am to write down three things in each category, and for one thing in the hate/not good at category, I am to delegate it or stop doing it all together.

Three Tasks and Activities that I'm Good At/Like Doing

1. Blogging - I love writing and blogging, which is obvious. I wouldn't do it as a hobby, and for a living, if I didn't love it. I also wouldn't be able to make any money from it if I wasn't any good at it.
2. Poker - Naturally, poker would be on this list. I'm better than most, and I'm working very hard on improving my skills and building my bankroll. I do need to work on taking time to study the game, as I still need to finish Harrington on Hold 'Em, take time to review hands and work on my ranges.
3. Goal Setting - I love setting goals, thinking about the future, and taking small action steps toward my goals. Being driven and hopeful hasn't exactly been a problem for me.

Three Tasks and Activities that I'm Not Good At/Hate Doing

1. Accounting - I'm not too good at the bookkeeping when it comes to the business. I often miss an expense, and never have the final total quite right.
2. Setting and Keeping a Routine - I've never been one for routines, doing the same thing day in and day out and keeping myself to a structured schedule. It was easier to do while I was in school, since someone is expecting you to be there
3. Cooking - I'm not very good at cooking, and I'm not fond of doing it either. Never been all that interested in it, even when I went vegan and focused on changing my diet. Cooking makes a vegan diet easier to adhere too, but cooking often takes a lot of prep work. That's the part I really don't like.

What Will Be Delegated or Stopped

Well, I'm not delegating or stopping the cooking, that's for sure. Both are too expensive in the long run, and not cooking means I'll be eating out and eating processed foods. Either of those aren't all I can't stop the accounting either. I could delegate it to a virtual assistant or something, which wouldn't be too expensive, but that's money the business doesn't have right now. It's something that would be doing in the future. So, I guess that leaves the routine, which I feel is somehow the hardest to stop/delegate, even though it's the only option of the three listed.

Between stopping and delegating, I supposed I'm going to have to stop having a routine, which actually sounds confusing. It sounds like I'm going to have no schedule and no control over my time, which doesn't seem healthy or constructive in any way. I certainly can't delegate my routine, or delegate that task to someone else. It's a burden no one wants; keeping track of my schedule and telling me to do certain things and certain times. I don't think I have enough going on and enough strains on my time to have such an assistant.

So, how do you stop having a routine? There's still things that you have to do each day and have to do on certain days. I suppose I can change it up and do something new or different every day. But, if I did that every day, then doesn't it become routine as well? I don't know how this is going to work.

I Don't Think I Took a Big Enough Risk

As part of my new set of SuperBetter quests to be better at being awesome, I am to reflect on my experience coming out of my comfort zone. Quite frankly, I think I need to this whole thing over because I didn't take a big enough risk. I need a bigger risk, something that is a big more challenging to my comfort zone.

What I Actually Did

For my "risk" and 'coming-out-of-the-comfort-zone' task, I decided to go to Lab1500 for my early morning meeting. I haven't been to Lab1500 for a while, so going there has become something that would be out of my comfort zone. Also, my early morning meeting is also part of that as well, since I don't do much in the early morning and meetings are always nerve-wracking for me.

Even though my meeting went well, and was very auspicious about the future, the entire risk and task was awful. Since I've been on a night owl schedule for about four months now, doing anything at 8:30 a.m. is very difficult. It was especially difficult that day because I didn't really sleep. I got into bed and tossed and turned for several hours, only to give up, get up, and do what I need to do for this meeting. Because of this, I wasn't at Lab1500 for all that long. I was too tired to be productive, and I could tell. I felt tired, I acted tired, and I looked tired (that was the kicker that told me I needed to go home).

How It All Was

The meeting was totally worth it. I got some free coffee samples, of which I will review in the coming weeks and publishing onto Gateway Grounds. It's likely that I'll get some additional samples in the future, as well as some much-needed traffic as part of this partnership. Going to Lab1500 was also worth it, as I was able to sort out some event planning logistics for the St. Louis chapter of the Young Ambassadors for Opportunity. It was also nice to be back there, even for a just a short while, since I hadn't been there in a long time. Good things happened as a result of this 'risk', except for the lack of sleep. Emotionally and mentally, I was fine with the whole thing. I'll do it again, but I'd like to do something different and/or bigger that doesn't involve a lack of sleep or a huge disruption to my schedule.

What I'll Do for My Next Risk

What I did was a good start, and it would have been a better start if I committed to going three days in a row (which I still might do). However, I think I need to do something that's farther out of my comfort zone, as this last one was just a kind of coming out. I don't think it was really hard enough. I need to do something like go for a run at Tower Grove Park, or hop on the bus to review a coffee shop, or perhaps set up some phone interviews for some blog posts. All of those would be coming out of my comfort zone, as they've all been things I've been putting off or have been thinking about doing but haven't done yet. The magic happens when you venture outside your comfort zone. I need to do more magic and make more things happen.

Me and My Comfort Zone

I'm pretty much done with using SuperBetter to eat healthier, and as a whole, I think I've established a few more good eating habits. I'm conscious of including a fiber-rich food with each meal and of avoiding processed foods since they don't have fiber (or much of anything when it comes to nutrition). I've finished all the quests for the Power Pack, so I've started a new Power Pack on being awesome. One of my quests is to evaluate my relationship with my comfort zone. In a nutshell, I've always been in favor of coming out of my comfort zone and of avoiding the safe and easy routes as much as possible. However, I do think I could do a better job of coming out of that zone.

Falling into a Routine

In regards to my comfort zone, I think that it's very easy to fall into a routine or a normal way of doings things. This makes things that are out of that routine a bit stressful, even if they are small things or things that I've done before. For example, phone calls, meetings, and interviews are always stressful to me, even though I've done them many times before and have done them well. They're only stressful because I don't do them all the time, but because they overwhelm me, I might put off that phone call or find a way to email that person instead of calling them. I do need to work on this. I don't know if having them happen more often will help. I used to cold call people as a part-time job. It never got any more fun or less stressful with each day of work.

I think this is also the case in normal business operations and getting a startup going. It takes innovation to make something happen, but it's very easy to get caught up in what needs to be done with each day. It can also be tough to take chances since you don't want to lose everything you've built up to this point, or to waste money on something that doesn't work or that doesn't end up as successful as you hoped. It's true that starting a business requires a huge leap out of the comfort zone, but I do think it takes subsequent leaps and jumps to keep that business going and to turn it into something big.

How Often am I In the Comfort Zone?

Probably more often than I think, as you can jump out of it to do something, but then if you don't make any more leaps after that, you essentially just move the comfort zone instead of coming out of it. I suppose the tricky thing is keeping track of the line and knowing where your comfort zone is and whether or not you actually come out of it. For example, I put off going to the bank because my bank closed the branch that was closest to my office. To go to the bank, it's now about an hour one way by public transit to spend five minutes depositing a few checks. Now, I wouldn't call this an unwillingness to come out of the comfort zone, but a dismay regarding the hassle it is for me to go to the bank. I know i could just switch banks, but I just bought a whole new box of business checks. If I switched banks, then I'd have to spend more money on business checks. My point is that, with the comfort zone (and the way it can move if you choose to leave it from time to time), it can be difficult to figure out if you're back in it or not.