April State of the Bill
Apr. 12th, 2012 22:10![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mapsedgeIt was a good weekend. Let's start there.
Back in early March, I saw a truck with a chipper on the back parked at one of our neighbors' houses. I called the guy over to chat with him about the two large brush piles in our front yard, one by the fence (the remains of a redbud tree) and one under the maple tree (misc branches, including several from the maple itself.) He quoted me a price, and we set the date for the last week of March. I set that date so that we'd have time to save up the money to pay him.
Between that day and the last week of March, he called or stopped by a few times to see if he could do the work. No, I told him, last week of March - unless you like working for free. One of his calls came as I was walking into the doctor's office to have my vasectomy!
...and I started to get angry.
Until A.R. improves, I get four paychecks a month from the day job, that's the deal. If there's five Fridays and the company doesn't have the cash flow (it usually doesn't) payroll skips that week. This March was one of those, and so I didn't have the money to pay the mortgage, let alone the Tree Guy, and I told him so the next time he called. April, I said. It'll have to be April.
Last week of March, he called again. We'd had enough. "Forget it," we told him. "We can't pay you, we don't know when we'll be able to pay you (and, unsaid, 'you won't leave us alone'). Deal's off."
Yes, we shook on it, but he spent more time talking at me than listening to me. We're all working more than one job, buddy. Sorry, I'm not going to give you sympathy-business if you don't listen.
That left us with no money, and two large brush piles. The money is slowly working its way out, the brush piles we took care of over the weekend. I had originally intended to bundle up the brush and take it to the city drop-ff point, but somewhere along the way I ended up with a pile of firewood and a fire going nearly continuously for four days in the back yard firebox, burning off the small stuff. Jami helped me for nearly four hours on Saturday, working continuously and without complaint. Having stuff to burn was a help there, no doubt.
Now, after several hours, both piles are gone. The spaces where they were are devastated, but some tilling and a bit of grass seed - or just patience and a scattering of wildflower seeds, why the hell not? - will fix them.
We've been working to fix up the yard, the gardens, and spaces around the exterior of the house. Michelle is feeling better (generally, though some days are still bad) and that improvement has given us all the energy to pick up a bit.
The Day Job
No real change from last time. Still trending up, but still no change in the Morris family's bottom line. As A.R. has increased, so also has
the list of expenses incurred by the company so any any raises I might have received have gone to paying vendors.
I hate what I do, but it's what I know how to make a living at.
Technology
I've become increasingly dissatisfied with social media, Facebook in particular. I find myself with less and less patience as the internet moves from crisis to crisis, communicating about each emergency in small, worthless soundbites. I've mostly stopped posting anything of substance there. Let the young and the crusaders of this world steep in their outrage. It's comix and sarcasm from now on. Anything I have to say worth saying will go here or on The Road Less Ordinary.
Seamlyne
The skipped payroll week at the end of March hurt us bad. We ran a tights sale on Seamlyne to drum up some quick funds and it succeeded, if anything too well. We drew what we needed to keep from bouncing the mortgage, but were left with insufficient funds and fabric to fill the orders we have. I'm running another sale - not quite as drastic as before, we won't make any money at all, but at least Seamlyne will be able to purchase fabric and shipping - but no one is ordering. It's frustrating.
Music
Nothing going on here since my performance at Swagger back in March, and in truth, I haven't pursued anything. I have three dates lined up for June, July, and September, but that's all. I'm waiting for my home situation to stabilize - it's better, but still needs improvement - before I start looking for serious gigs. The next CD is waiting, too...ah, shit, who am I kidding? Haven't touched it, probably won't. I've even considered selling my instrument. It's good I have performance commitments lined up, or I probably would. Give you a clue as to my present state of mind?
Back in early March, I saw a truck with a chipper on the back parked at one of our neighbors' houses. I called the guy over to chat with him about the two large brush piles in our front yard, one by the fence (the remains of a redbud tree) and one under the maple tree (misc branches, including several from the maple itself.) He quoted me a price, and we set the date for the last week of March. I set that date so that we'd have time to save up the money to pay him.
Between that day and the last week of March, he called or stopped by a few times to see if he could do the work. No, I told him, last week of March - unless you like working for free. One of his calls came as I was walking into the doctor's office to have my vasectomy!
...and I started to get angry.
Until A.R. improves, I get four paychecks a month from the day job, that's the deal. If there's five Fridays and the company doesn't have the cash flow (it usually doesn't) payroll skips that week. This March was one of those, and so I didn't have the money to pay the mortgage, let alone the Tree Guy, and I told him so the next time he called. April, I said. It'll have to be April.
Last week of March, he called again. We'd had enough. "Forget it," we told him. "We can't pay you, we don't know when we'll be able to pay you (and, unsaid, 'you won't leave us alone'). Deal's off."
Yes, we shook on it, but he spent more time talking at me than listening to me. We're all working more than one job, buddy. Sorry, I'm not going to give you sympathy-business if you don't listen.
That left us with no money, and two large brush piles. The money is slowly working its way out, the brush piles we took care of over the weekend. I had originally intended to bundle up the brush and take it to the city drop-ff point, but somewhere along the way I ended up with a pile of firewood and a fire going nearly continuously for four days in the back yard firebox, burning off the small stuff. Jami helped me for nearly four hours on Saturday, working continuously and without complaint. Having stuff to burn was a help there, no doubt.
Now, after several hours, both piles are gone. The spaces where they were are devastated, but some tilling and a bit of grass seed - or just patience and a scattering of wildflower seeds, why the hell not? - will fix them.
We've been working to fix up the yard, the gardens, and spaces around the exterior of the house. Michelle is feeling better (generally, though some days are still bad) and that improvement has given us all the energy to pick up a bit.
The Day Job
No real change from last time. Still trending up, but still no change in the Morris family's bottom line. As A.R. has increased, so also has
the list of expenses incurred by the company so any any raises I might have received have gone to paying vendors.
I hate what I do, but it's what I know how to make a living at.
Technology
I've become increasingly dissatisfied with social media, Facebook in particular. I find myself with less and less patience as the internet moves from crisis to crisis, communicating about each emergency in small, worthless soundbites. I've mostly stopped posting anything of substance there. Let the young and the crusaders of this world steep in their outrage. It's comix and sarcasm from now on. Anything I have to say worth saying will go here or on The Road Less Ordinary.
Seamlyne
The skipped payroll week at the end of March hurt us bad. We ran a tights sale on Seamlyne to drum up some quick funds and it succeeded, if anything too well. We drew what we needed to keep from bouncing the mortgage, but were left with insufficient funds and fabric to fill the orders we have. I'm running another sale - not quite as drastic as before, we won't make any money at all, but at least Seamlyne will be able to purchase fabric and shipping - but no one is ordering. It's frustrating.
Music
Nothing going on here since my performance at Swagger back in March, and in truth, I haven't pursued anything. I have three dates lined up for June, July, and September, but that's all. I'm waiting for my home situation to stabilize - it's better, but still needs improvement - before I start looking for serious gigs. The next CD is waiting, too...ah, shit, who am I kidding? Haven't touched it, probably won't. I've even considered selling my instrument. It's good I have performance commitments lined up, or I probably would. Give you a clue as to my present state of mind?
no subject
Date: 2012-04-24 21:20 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-24 21:34 (UTC)He said you raved about our stuff. Thank you.
no subject
Date: 2012-04-24 22:05 (UTC)