Thomas Edwards

So I Lifted a Toyota Corolla.

Sounds ridiculous but I don’t care. It happened and the people who I helped will never forget it.

Last night, after working 18 hours, I felt the need to have a drink and just wind down. But why not do it with a buddy I haven’t seen in a while?

So I pulled up in front of Sonsie, where I used to work and also where my buddy works. He wanted to get off a little early so he told me to stick around. Considering how absurdly cold it was, I decided to chill inside with the bouncer and try to stay warm. That didn’t work because he had to open the door for all the smokers needing to get their nicotine surge.

By the way, how do they do it? Not only do they go out there with no coat on, but also they are freezing themselves for the next 6-8 minutes. On top of that, they are slowly killing themselves but I guess at that point, why not further the process by getting frostbite?

Anyway, my buddy was able to get off work and went to get his bag to change. When he came back, he asked me if I had a tie bar because someone just got a flat tire. I happened to have one and gave it to a very nice couple in a 2004 Toyota Corolla. The guy was so appreciative and went to work on the tire. It seemed like he was ok so I went back into warmer places in Sonsie. When my buddy was ready, I just assumed that the guy was just wrapping up because it usually doesn’t take that long to replace a wheel. Boy was I wrong.

As I walk up to the car, the car slips off the jack and with the flat tire already off, the car crashes onto the street. That was not good. The woman fortunately was already out of the car but she was freaking out and I didn’t really know what to do. So I just blurted the first thing that came out of my mouth. “Just wedge the jack and then wedge the flat under it until you can put the jack in the right place again.”

To my surprise, it actually worked! It took another 15-20 minutes to get it done but it worked. My buddy at that point decided to walk his girlfriend home and I told him I would meet him since her place is right down the street.

Surprised by my genius, I stick around with the couple just to make sure everything else went smoothly. He was able to get the spare on and then he began to lower the car. Then, it happened.

He forgot to move the flat tire from under the car it gets stuck. The woman wants to try to move the car and run over the flat. Terrible idea. I told her not to and asked the guy to jack it back up.

If you have any experience with changing a flat you understand that there are people who are good at using the jack. Some people are just really quick with it and others are just not. This guy was terrible. It would have taken another 10 minutes for him to jack it up and I really needed to go.

So I told him I’ll lift the car and he can pull the tire from under it. He laughed and said, “yeah, right.” I just told him to get ready to move the tire on my go. I asked the woman to step back and I went there and in the back of my head, I was saying to myself, “What the hell am I about to do?”

The answer was lifting this car.

I get under the front wheel well and pull up the car. The guy thought that he was going to have to pry it out and pulled with more force than necessary. It wheel along with him flew back from the car and he fell back against the car behind him. No one was hurt.

Realizing how painful this is, I let go and the car falls and shakes around. I turn around and the look on the woman’s face was of total shock. She said, “You lifted the car! Like, the wheel was off the ground!”

I didn’t really realize what happened so I went to pick up my tie bar. They were so thankful and said that it was their Christmas miracle. Meanwhile the woman kept asking me who I was and if I was real.

I just smirked and jokingly told them to get AAA.

Well today is officially Thanksgiving and I am not here to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! That should be understood.

I am here to say something very simple. Everyday is Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day, Independence Day, Saint Patrick’s Day and all the other major holidays. If we treat every day like it’s a holiday, can you imagine how much more fulfilling your life will be?

Just some food for thought (no pun intended).

It’s funny how anything can inspire me at this point. Earlier today, I mounted my hard drive on my laptop and when it popped up, it showed the name of the drive – Reckless Drive. It made me laugh and during that laugh, I had a flash of short memories.

It was only four months ago, I thought my life was screwed. I had such a hard time getting a job in the video game industry and then an even harder time getting a job in the design industry. My parents were on my back about it and I was starting to panic.

I ended up going back to my job as a valet at the Taj Hotel (formerly the Ritz-Carlton), while going to job fairs and applying to jobs online in the meantime. It wasn’t fun, I’ll tell you that.

And then, after meeting so many cool people at SummerMash that amazing night in August, there were many things that sparked inside of me. I never felt anything like this before and I just had it. That will to succeed – on my terms.

Usually, my actions are very impulsive and for me, there’s usually no turning back. I make quick decisions and I go with it. If you were on the outside looking in, my actions would definitely be seen as very reckless. But taking risks is what I figured would be the difference between me succeeding in life and me spending the rest of my life under my mother and father’s care.

I took the risk and slowly started applying for jobs. I decided to go after a promotion to manager at the Taj. Instead, they sent me over the Sheraton as a manager-in-training. That has been huge for me in terms of what opportunities has opened up for me so I’ll definitely take that. With a more flexible schedule, it gave me not only a more consistent income, but also time to decide what I could do to inspire and help people, eventually making a living out of it. Alas, Project Infinity. You can read other parts of my blog to find more stories of the origin of Project Infinity.

It’s been two months (tomorrow) since I officially started Project Infinity but I can honestly say that I have grown so much as a person since that night at SummerMash. I am so happy with what has changed in my life and meeting so many amazing people. I am also extremely excited about where all this is going. “The possibilities are infinite,” as my good buddy Tyler says.

So funny how all of those memories were just flashes when I saw “Reckless Drive.”

But when it comes down to it, it is ALL about the reckless drive that we have to succeed in life.

Do you have it? And where do you get yours from?

Last night at BOSup was an amazing time! I got to finally meet some really already cool people and I got to meet some new people as well. It was such a long week for me, and this was the best way to end it. Plus, I haven’t been in Jillian’s or Tequila Rain in so long – it was good to hang out there and bring back some old memories.

There are so many people to thank for this, I couldn’t just tweet this out. It deserves a little bit more than 140 characters.

First of all, props to the sponsor of the event, Hubspot! Mike Volpe, you are the man! Thanks for helping putting all of this together and allowing us to eat some great appetizers. Loved the fries!

Also, thanks to Lisa Dilg, Jami, Rob and Mike Langford for helping put all of this together. I’m glad everything worked out and you were taken care of while you were here. Would love ALL of you to come back again sooner than later!

It was awesome to see people again, such as Liz (and nice finally meeting Jesse – you are so cool), Ari, Wayne (haven’t seen that guy since I met to SummerMash – wow, so much has happened since), Kara, Jamie, my main man Ben, Rebecca, Brian, Kevin, Bob Collins, Jim Spencer and anyone else that I may have forgotten. If I did forget you, reply and I’ll give you love! Everyone deserves it!

And for all of the people I finally got to meet – oh, man, it was just an incedible experience meeting all of you! Every time I come to these events, I just feel so lucky to be able to be included and have a chance to meet such great people in one place. I mean, when you think about it, it’s damn near absurd the quality of people in that room. People from all over the country, coming to meet in one place, to hang out and meet people. I just find it so cool.

Chris Bowen, Alicia, Joe Cascio (we need to set up that golf tweetup!), Tamar, Jay Huber, Danielle, Matt, Todd, Kerstin, Morriss, Ellie, Patrick, Lori, Amanda – wow, I can’t believe I met all of these cool people – it was awesome meeting you and I hope we can all stay in touch!

Here are some links to pictures from the event. I’ll post mine when I get my camera back from Bob (thanks for grabbing it…it was probably better you found it or else I may have broken it at that point of the night)

Mike Volpe’s Flickr
Kevin Micalizzi’s Flickr
Ellie Mirman’s Facebook photos

If anyone else has pictures and want me to post the link, let me know and I’ll put it up too!

Of course, how can I forget my favorite women, Amy and Christine?! You guys just make my life that much more enjoyable. My life would be totally different without you two! Thanks for everything and I really would have liked it if you just told me that there was Chinese food!

What a great time! Ok, my love overload has concluded.

Wednesday night, I had the opportunity to listen to and meet one of the men who has inspired me to change my life and do what I really want to do. You would think it would be some famous pick up artist but he is far from that – he’s even better. His name is Gary Vaynerchuk and he pretty much does everything. He runs a wine shop in New Jersey called Wine Library, has a daily Internet show called Wine Library TV, where he reviews bottles of wine (awesome show!). He also does brand consulting and is a great motivational speaker. He also created a t-shirt search engine with his brother, AJ called PleaseDressMe. Gary, if I missed anything or said anything wrong, feel free to chip in.

You wonder how the hell does he have time for all this and still have time to eat, sleep and see his wife every so often. He explains a lot of how he does this in his blog. Listening to him, he made me realize that I what I decided to do for a job, I want it to be what I do for the rest of my life. And what I mean by that is, I want to look forward to everything that I do about my job. Doing work is something I want to be excited about. When I tell people about what I do, I want them to feel my passion and get excited as I explain what exactly it is that I do. One thing that was especially important to me was that I wanted my job to help me grow more as a man. This is how Project Infinity came into fruition. And in the month and a half, it has seriously changed my life.

Well, I finally got a chance to meet him Wednesday night in NYC! Mashable was running the event at the Volstead but for some reason, the venue refused to turn down the music. So we had to have him do a motivational speech “soap-box” style, half of block down the street from the lounge. I was running late and so I just missed a little bit of the speech. But you have to listen to this.

Meeting Gary afterward was amazing. He is such a down-to-earth guy, an incredible person and I am glad I came across Wine Library TV on that summer day in June. That moment symbolized the beginning of the rest of my life. For that I am grateful.

This was also my first time in NYC at night and I have to say, I had a great time. The Bolt Bus is such a great way to get to the city. After this trip, I will be going into the city much more often. And that means good things for everyone involved.

Thanks to Stephanie Frasco, Brett Petersel, and Mark for showing me a good time in NYC and giving me a place to pass out.

A special thanks to Amy, who was awesome enough to tough it out and go with me! We almost missed the bus going to NYC and we were freaking out! We made it by 30 seconds. Then the bus got to NYC really late and we thought we were going to miss Gary. But it all worked out! That night, she also introduced me to some VERY cool people, including Gary! As exhausted as we were, on the way back, the trip wouldn’t have been nearly as special if you weren’t there. I thank you so much! I will not know how to repay you but I will!

And of course, thanks to Gary for helping me out in every way possible.

So this is a new look that I am trying out. I find it very hard for me to maintain two blogs, but I am going to give it another try and this time, be successful. There are just some things that I want to talk about that has nothing to do with Project Infinity but should be talked about somewhere. So I am revitalizing the blog with a new look! I am going to tinker with this so that it looks better but I may just try something new altogether.

So I hope I can start doing this again and making it cool! Expect some awesome video posts as well! Just like the one I am going to post in the next few minutes!

So as I hang out here at work and type away on my iPhone, I’ve been trying to solve the problem of not posting here as much because of Project Infinity and it’s growing success..

There are going to be a few ideas that I am going to try and see if it works out. I feel like the best way to show you what I do is to somehow make it visible here without much writing - unless it’s required. This will require video posts, which I am excited about!

So I hope you get to see these changes and please leave comments for what you like and don’t like about them.

Thanks!

PS the spamming will come to an end once I get back on here and clean things up!

PPS there’s a freaking election this Tuesday! Vote! Vote! Vote!

So, I’ve always had this small dream of being in a video that a considerable amount of people would get to see. Don’t know why, but I just like to do things like that - I think it’s fun.

Last week, my dream finally came true. Thanks to Christine Major (Twitter @CMajor) and Jeff Glasson (Twitter @jeffglasson), a couple of my friends and I participated in a video promoting this “new” thing called, “Text to Landline.”

If you haven’t realized this already most wireless carriers will allow you to send a text message to your house phone. It’s pretty cool. I won’t spill the details because all of it is explained in the video. So take a look, enjoy and leave comments if you want.

You can see it on YouTube here.

So, I haven’t been on here in a LONG time and I apologize for that. Project Infinity has become popular ALOT sooner than I originally had anticipated. And because of that, 110% of my attention has been drawn to that.

At the very same time, I am getting a promotion in my company and am in the transition of moving from the Taj Hotel in Boston to the Sheraton Boston. This has increased my work hours from around 30-32 to over 50+. Combining that with spending nearly just as many hours working on Project Infinity and finding time to get to events and such, it’s been pretty hectic.

When do I sleep? I’m still working that out.

After this weekend, things should start to simmer a little bit and I’ll have a little bit more flexibility to do some more things. Expect some more announcements here about Project Infinity. And if you haven’t check it out, yet, what the hell are you waiting for? Check it out. It’s becoming a great source for information, inspiration and motivation for guys.

I also have to update this blog and also my other site, Reckless Studio. As busy as I am, this is really an exciting time for me. I just want to thank everyone that has encouraged me and given me support with all of this. You are the energy that keeps me awake late at night when I am working on all of this stuff.

SO THANK YOU!!!

So last night, I went to BU Bar, where I got to meet the Dean of Students. He was a pretty cool guy. Being that it was my first time at this place, I was told by my buddy that this place is known for their great beer. So after much thought internally, I decided to have my first beer in 6 weeks.

I got a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

It was great…and somewhat refreshing. I only had one but it was satisfying to know that I had no desire to have another beer.

The great thing about this whole “diet” thing is that I can really enjoy the taste of whatever I drink.

Just the other day, I had a pretty good German Riesling. I’ll give my review soon.

I am just excited that I can now enjoy drinking wine AND beer for their taste. Maybe, I’ll give recommendations for beer here and put my wine reviews and recommendations at Project Infinity.