MOTM

> > Wow.  Lots of excuses.  Do Paul and Cynthia share the same ghost writer?

While my first reaction was incredulity at the outrageous lack of tact
and compassion from mister schnooker, I realized that I must have the
same ghost writer myself.  2011 was probably the worst year of my life,
except for maybe 2010.

It feels like I spent half my time in the last two years on business
trips, away from my family, and away from my side
business/hobby/obsession.  Those of you who know me are no doubt aware
that I have a daughter, a daughter who has been the most difficult,
brainless, careless, selfish, idiotic creature a father could ever fear
to spawn, so I have to admit, "you're going on TDY in two days" is a not
bad thing to hear!  Now I'm not a religious man, but I believe God took
pity on me and did not add a grandchild to my burdens these last years,
not that my daughter didn't try, mind you.

Business-wise, I too had supplier problems with horrible lead times that
were extended several times.  I had preorders go bad, where I had
commitments to buy, so I purchased materials, only to have customers
withdraw their orders, leaving me with product on the shelf and no cash
to buy the materials for the next project.  I tried taking deposits to
solidify orders (funny how only a quarter of the people on a waiting
list actually order) but that turned bad when things took longer than
anticipated.  At one point, I was set up to buy a couple big pieces of
machinery, and even tried to place one of the orders only to be told
that the transaction was denied.  Turns out that Chase Bank, in their
infinite wisdom, decided that I had purchased too many things, so they
reduced my business credit line from $10,000 to $600.  Yes, that's ten
thousand down to six hundred.  How do you convince a bank like Chase
that the $35,000 you just put on your other charge cards will come back
soon if you can just buy the machinery to build things???  In the end, I
sub-contracted things out in small batches, but it cost me almost three
times as much...

I too moved into a new house some time ago, but in my case we kept the
first house as a rental.  Well, we had a water leak, a replumb, a gas
leak, and then an AC failure.  I haven't been able to afford $8,000 for
a new unit just yet, so that house lies vacant.  (Rent a house in Tucson
without AC?  Good luck!)  Fortunately, I am able to pay the mortgage, so
I'm not in danger of foreclosure or bankruptcy, but I'm sure not
climbing out of the muck very quickly.  Oh, by the way, *NEVER* hire an
out of work construction guy who is the son of one of your co-workers! 
Trust me on this.  (Hey boss, there's some bad mojo here at the office,
can I go TDY again?)

Did I mention that the daughter went off to college, failed out the
first semester and then didn't think about the fact that she was
supposed to be paying her fees on time?  At NAU, after you owe a
thousand bucks, they start dinging you $50/month late fee.  Seven months
later I found out about it when they told her she couldn't register for
classes next year.  Guess who got to fix that problem?  (Tricky thing
being married to a woman who refuses to let a kid learn a lesson if it
means they won't be able to attend college...)

On top of all the day to day trauma, about a year ago, I lost my
father-in-law to pancreatic cancer, which was a topper to a previous bad
year.  And did I mention that my favorite dog Maggie, a 17 year old
Husky, died on tax day last year?  Sigh...

2012 is already better.

Regards,
Doug