My 200th post finds me in a state of suspended animation so to speak. Losing my job has put the brakes on all house related projects, thus I don’t have much to share in terms of projects, mistakes, breakthroughs or whatnot. Looking for a new gig is pretty much a full-time job in and of itself. Pickings are slim in this part of Ohio, so I’ve expanded my search outside the area as well; which unfortunately would mean the end of this endeavor at least for our family, but luckily we’re not to that stage yet. We’ve made keeping the house a priority (our 4-year-old said “dad I don’t want to move, I like it here“) but we’re certainly not going to let it bankrupt us. In the meantime I have a steady stream of clichés (e.g.“it takes a while”, “I’m sure he’ll be fine”, “everything happens for a reason”) to provide me with peace of mind that “it will all work out“.
So while I’m waiting for “it to all work out” I’m taking destiny (the fickle bitch that she is) into my own hands, and showing her who is in charge around these parts. I am looking at a variety of jobs and networking. Based on everything I’m reading and hearing, basically I’ll have to stumble upon an unlisted job by way of someone in my network. So a more likely scenario is that I’ll be self-employed short-term and quite possibly long-term / permanently. I’m spending my time now, in addition to the job search, assessing my skills and capabilities and looking for consulting and freelance work. hint, hint. I’m an industrial designer by trade, and have worked my way up to design management by virtue of my leadership abilities, expertise and knowledge. I can apply all of these to be a successful entrepreneur I’m sure of it. While it will be nice to get a full-time gig, I can’t risk sitting on my hands waiting for that to happen. Maybe if I was single without kids but that’s not the case. You learn a lot of interesting things very quickly when you’re looking for a job; and the environment is constantly changing. Doing my own thing in the meantime is at least one constant in an otherwise hectic situation.
I’m going to work on filling my dance card with design consulting in a variety of areas…retail design, interior design, product design and a few other areas. I can also leverage my knowledge and interest in sustainability as well. Art wise, the wife and I will be hitting the juried art show circuit again this summer and really trying to turn even more of a profit on that front.
On the home front there are a few endeavors we’ll be undertaking that will hopefully offset some expenses or bring in money. I want to get the tent(s) we use for weekend art shows working for us the rest of the week too, so we’ll be looking into working farmer’s markets. I am going to plan out a vegetable garden in March. Off the top of my head I’m thinking tomatoes and peppers will grow readily and abundantly. A herb garden will be a good option too. And hopefully the berry bushes will come into their own this year too.
Two major expenses will round out our self-sustaining produce initiative. First off I want to buy those nine apple trees. I need to figure out where they’ll go still, but I want to get trees that are large enough to produce a small amount of fruit this year. There’s a nursery that sells them that big (like 1″-2″ caliper) up on the east side. I’m guessing about $1,000 budgeted for those.
The other expense will be the most exciting thing you’ll read about on ‘nine apple trees‘ this year (other than if we have to sell the house). We’re looking into raising bees. Bees are important for our ecosystem as they pollinate all the fruits and vegetables that we use for food. As of late bees have been in great decline around the globe. If bees go away then we all die. Dying sucks so we feel it’s a cool idea to support bees. The bees will pollinate our crops and provide us with honey; potentially 20-40 lbs of honey in year one. We’ll keep you posted. The bees are Christine’s hobby. I’ll just provide the heavy lifting, moral support and technical assistance. Plan on getting honey for Christmas if you’re a friend of ‘nine apple trees’.
All other projects are on hold indefinitely. I will probably do the design of the laundry room and basement just so I can put those in my portfolio. But otherwise I don’t see me doing any handyman projects any time soon.
It will all work out in the end I’m sure of it. I’m just not going to leave it in the hands of others. That’s what got me into this mess in the first place. In this day and age god truly does help those who help themselves. My greatest asset is my mind, talent, work ethic, family and all the other great things that make me and my life what it is. No one else has any of those things in the unique way I do, and that is what will put me / us on top in the end.
So stay tuned because we’ve got a lot of great things to learn together in the coming year. Our first bee meeting is later this week. 🙂
-Chris
Will paint for food.
nine apple trees 