What’s Up?

August 18, 2024, a lunch meeting, so I decided to make a day of it. Ran some errands, stopped at Walmart and then off to church. Sat with a few of my friends I had lunch with recently as well as the wife of one of them. Next I sat in a coffee house while noodling on the PC. I then sold a bunch of stuff at a clothing exchange and finally, I had my lunch meeting. I won’t go into it now, but I am cautiously optimistic. The meeting was on my apparel business. If I wrote down on a piece of paper the exact right person to work in terms of qualifications and sensibilities to really take the business to scale, I found that person (on paper). Now, if it translates, then I’ll have something very special!

I continue to seek the motivation to go through the process. I have one overriding rule in life, make money/work when the opportunity presents itself. As someone who has been self-employed since 2004, as someone who has, shall we say, a “record”, I have to do that. And I have been successful in survival mode for twenty years now. When work has presented itself, I will shove pleasurable and/or fun opportunities to the side. My wife is always important as well (thank you Captain Obvious). So I passed up an acting networking opportunity to pick up a couple of hours of work, to have dinner with my wife, to do a few hours of yardwork that will eventually be my demise and because I wanted to avoid a late evening driving home after having a few (wow, using good judgement for a change).

A friend I adore keeps worrying about me (needlessly). She feels I am burning the candle at both ends, when in fact I am not any more. I did do that the first quarter of this year, but that was because I took the opportunity to work in a bridal salon. This is what I told her: “PLEASE do not worry about me.  I am not working 7 days a week anymore, I rarely work an 8 hour day.  Yes, I do have a lot of balls in the air, but I see a path toward a successful future.  If not, I’ll still pay the bills.  I am now simply old and tired all the time….

Frankly my Kandi time is my most exhausting time.  Joyful, absolutely!  Exhausting, all the time.  I am deliberating about this weekend.  My wife works, so I have a lot of free time and there is an event I may go to, but the 4 ½ hours spent only getting ready, driving there, driving back and cleaning up is not all that appealing to me.  Best case I could see me spending a couple of hours there.  Not sure I will do it.  The complexities of life, Kandi wears me out, but she also fills me up and makes many things possible that would not exist otherwise.”

I had a three day open window that back in the day I would have capitalized upon completely. But this time, August 24, 2024 I did go to Akron Pride, taking advantage of one of those days. I decided the joy would override my laziness/exhaustion. I was thrilled to get back out, less so to do so at Pride. I am not a “festival” person. I am much less so a “see people without their shirts on (when they clearly should always wear a shirt)” person, much less a “see men with beards in dresses and makeup” person, much less a “see people in leather (wearing little else)” person. I walked the entirety of the event. It was bigger that I expected and it was great for anyone other than me (cranky old guy, grounded in the reality of the present day).

Might be my last Pride… I just don’t fit in at all. I personally find these events counterproductive to advancing the cause, but that is my opinion. The best part of my couple of hours there was my collections of many, many free mom hugs. Any pride has a number of moms with “free mom hugs” t-shirts and I always collect on them.

So here was my highlight of the day, a fabulous photo shoot on a gloriously sunny day.

The outfit came together quite nicely, if I say so myself…..