Sunday, September 12, 2010

Another day, another drive


We've been so busy lately I've been out in the field. We had bid on some bigger jobs that seemed to go nowhere and then suddenly, "Hi, we need your part done yesterday." Plus, we've had a lot of small jobs come in that need on-site work done. These are jobs we didn't bid on and didn't know about until the phone rings and we hear, "HELP!"

The upshot is that here I am, last Thursday, heading into Chicago to do some video taping because no one else is available to do it. I had spent Tuesday in Chicago but then a faulty battery prevented the video camera from working. Wednesday, I was in south suburban Thornton, which is 10 miles from the Indiana border. Friday, I went back to the Thornton area and I will have to be back there on Monday morning to finish this large project.

Paperwork? HA! That's that pile, off to the left there. Read my emails? Not until I stagger into the office and maybe remember to do it before I leave, otherwise, it's done the next morning.

My face got sunburned on Friday. I had sunscreen and I did apply it, but I became focused on what I do and didn't reapply. It was quite red Friday night and my nose is still pink. This is, however, my first sunburn of the year. I'm proud of that.

What I hope, is that the upturn in business that we see is an indication of an upturn in business everywhere. I have friends, going on 2 years now, without a job, who have one foot in despair while trying to keep an upbeat outlook. It's very, very tough for them. It really makes me wish I could do something other than wish for good luck.

Being out in my car working means that I will see a brief upturn in the finances. I get a mileage check for the miles I drive using my car and my semi-official move to being in the office actually managing the office means I don't use my car for work. This is good in one respect in that lord knows I've had to sink some funds into it just to keep it working. But it's not good when I could certainly use the extra funds to pay down debt. As I was all over the place this past week, there was overtime and mileage. This will be good at the end of September. Maybe I can take another baby step forward.

The other good side is that the weather has been extraordinarily wonderful lately. The temps are in the upper 70's with the lows in the upper 50's. There is mild humidity and it makes having to walk a parking lot with a video camera so tolerable. The rain is not to arrive until Wednesday and, by then, all my field work will be done and I won't have to drive between the drops because the wipers don't work.

With this kind of weather, even stuck in Chicago construction traffic doesn't bother me.

Beverage: grape juice

Deb

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