how are you? - Page 3

atari 2600 · 12.10.2007, 06:50 PM

I did something I didn't expect to do today. I went and applied for a night job. I've worked two jobs before, but it's been at least ten years since I did so.

Towards the end of every year, the business doesn't do well and it's touch and go. To compound my troubles, sales this whole year haven't been all that great. Things are looking particularly grim at this moment.

So the worry and stress has been leading me to look for escapes from reality even moreso than usual, but I'm slowly coming to the sobering realization that it may be finally "time to grow up." And that sort of scares the shit out of me.

alteredcourse · 12.10.2007, 06:56 PM

what does "time to grow up " mean to you ?

atari 2600 · 12.10.2007, 06:59 PM

For me it means that I actually have to watch what I spend and save money for the future which is something that I've never been able to do properly, at least in any "adult" sense. I feel embarrased for squandering so very much, whether it be money or talent or whatever. The shame has been with me for quite some time, but I'm only now really acknowledging it and beginning to accept what I have to do about it.

!@#$%! · 12.10.2007, 07:30 PM

atari, i think you're a bit of a lunatic and often a pain in the ass, but regardless, i wish you no ill, and that which you say actually sucks.

my suggestion (honestly, not mocking) would be to cut down your marijuana consumption. if you smoke any kind of good quality shit, at the rate you do, it must be a big line of your budget--unless of course you also sell to recover the costs, but selling is never a smart idea , unless you crave showering with other men for years at some point in the future.

so my other suggestion, coupled with the first one, is would be to diversify your business rather than seeking the comfort of a cashier job. You already have the tools for selling shit online & know how to use them; it could be relatively simple to branch out to different items with a different inventory cycle. think of converting your marijuana budget into some kind of inventory, and that should give you better returns than being a night watchman, or whatever you're planning to do.

anyway, i do not wish to engage in lunatic discussions with you, but i felt morally obligated to offer you some advice, as retreats of this sort often lead to implosions, and we don't want you to become the poster child for amotivational syndrome, whether it actually exists or it's just another name for chronic cannabis intoxication.

yeah, rationalize all you want, but you know i speak the truth-- you need to detox & get back your energy & drive-- & best wishes.

oh yeah, one more thing-- if you're not willing or able to pay a business consultant, your local SBA should have some experts on staff. SCORE is actually a pretty good resource (retired business executives) and they are affiliated with the SBA.

flophousefloozie · 12.10.2007, 07:41 PM

My nephew was born this morning! Very excited right now. So I'm great, thanks.

I don't mean to cut in. This is just the thread I was looking for to share my delight with the world.

flophousefloozie · 12.10.2007, 07:41 PM

I mean, I'm an aunt now. A god damn aunt.

!@#$%! · 12.10.2007, 07:44 PM

ha ha, congrats aunt floozie

atari 2600 · 12.10.2007, 07:46 PM

I was an uncle when I was only six months old, for whatever that info is worth.

Thanks for your genuine concern, !@#$%!, but it isn't only the mary jane that sucks the money. It's everything. I have expensive habits and fairly expensive tastes unfortunately. Some thought about diversifying into some other line of products (professional recording gear maybe) and doing google adwords and a site was seriously deliberated at one time when things were better financially, but now the credit for something like that just isn't there anymore. And at one time a franchise situation for a product that coats gravel roads to keep them from kicking up so much dust on vehicles was also considered, but the Virgina Department of Transportation screwed things up on that front. A Quizno's franchise was considered years ago too, but that ship has sailed also. Somebody else opened one and it did well for a little while, but now that guy is losing his ass like so many others in small business. My friend who owns a restaurant and bar is also in the process of going belly up since his primary means of income from commercial real estate has tanked for a long while now.
At any rate, the only good news is that so many others are in the same boat as myself with the coming recession. It seems lawmakers are starting to consider bailing some people out of the mess, and that help can't come soon enough.

!@#$%! · 12.10.2007, 07:50 PM

atari 2600 · 12.10.2007, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

Hmm, well so much for the "genuine concern." haha

Hey, I didn't vote for Bush/Cheney who have ruined this economy by selling America's future out and running up astronomical debt.

But yeah, you're right, time to pull up the bootstraps.

flophousefloozie · 12.10.2007, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atari 2600

I was an uncle when I was only six months old, for whatever that info is worth.

I'd imagine he/she is more of a younger sibling in your eyes? I'd find that strange. Of course, how could you if it's all you've ever known.

Savage Clone · 12.10.2007, 07:56 PM

I have an aunt on my biological father's side who is almost a year younger than me.

atari 2600 · 12.10.2007, 07:57 PM

I haven't seen or talked to him in years, but yeah we are the same age basically so I don't view him as younger really; it's sort of odd in that sense.

I also have another nephew and a niece who are twins born to another stepsister when I was almost eight, so they see me as older. They were born on the fourth of July, 1976, so they are bicentennial twins hehe.

One of my uncles is loaded (everyone seems to have a rich one, right?) and I am the only male that carries the family name, yet I've never fathered any children; well, none that I know of anyway.

!@#$%! · 12.10.2007, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atari 2600

Hmm, well so much for the "genuine concern." haha

Hey, I didn't vote for Bush/Cheney who have ruined this economy by selling America's future out and running up astronomical debt.

yeah neither do i but adapt or die is how it works. the days of the guaranteed company job are long gone. counting on the government to protect the little guy-- same thing. social reform is a very slow path to personal profits; while i sympathize, i do not intend to commiserate with you. complaining abut bush won't make you a penny.

anyway, inferior goods sell more during recessions-- potatos, matches, kerosene, and.... ??

atari 2600 · 12.10.2007, 08:05 PM

Overall you're right, time to pull up the bootstraps.

atari 2600 · 12.10.2007, 08:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Savage Clone

I have an aunt on my biological father's side who is almost a year younger than me.

Yep. That is even more out-of-the-ordinary. Puzzled me for a second just thinking about it.

flophousefloozie · 12.10.2007, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atari 2600

I haven't seen or talked to him in years, but yeah we are the same age basically so I don't view him as younger really; it's sort of odd in that sense.

I also have another nephew and a niece who are twins born to another stepsister when I was almost eight, so they see me as older. They were born on the fourth of July, 1976, so they are bicentennial twins hehe.

One of my uncles is loaded (everyone seems to have a rich one, right?) and I am the only male that carries the family name, yet I've never fathered any children; well, none that I know of anyway.

There must be a large age difference between you and your siblings.

atari 2600 · 12.10.2007, 08:11 PM

Yeah, there is. I have one stepbrother and two stepsisters who are both from my mother's previous marraige. A stepfather is listed as my dad on my birth certificate. So, even though I'm the only male with the last name, it's not my biological last name. I'm a bastard love child from 1968, born in September and probably conceived at or around New Year's Eve that year.* I was more-or-less disowned by my mother and stepfather the day before my twentieth birthday when I asked if my stepfather was my real father or not. My stepfather, a (now retired) Master Chief in the Navy Seabees, kicked me out "for upsetting my mother." I had been living at home off and on and just returned back to Georgia from an unsuccessful stint in Dallas, TX at the time. They live in Mississippi on the Gulf Coast now and that's where I mostly lived until the ninth grade. They returned back to the house they owned in MS from GA after I had gone away to Athens. I haven't had much contact since. And no support from them since I was twenty. I was seriously starting to feel fucked-up that I didn't know if they were still living or not, so I called a few months ago and they are still around.

*Just like the Diana Ross (& The Supremes) song which was released mere days after my birth:

Tenement slum
Ooh, ooh, ooh....aaaahhh

You think that I don't feel love
What I feel for you is real love
In other's eyes I see reflected
A hurt, scorned, rejected

Love child
Never meant to be
Love Child
Born in poverty
Love Child
Never meant to be
Love Child
Take a look at me

Started my life
In a old, cold, run-down tenament slum (tenement slum)
My father left he never even married mama
I shared the guilt my mama knew
So afraid that others knew I had no name

This love we're contemplatin'
Is worth the pain of waitin'
We'll only end up hatin'
The child we may be creatin'

Love Child
Never meant to be
Love Child
(Scorned by) Society
Love Child
Always second best
Love Child
(Different from) Different from the rest

(Hold on hold on just a little bit longer) Mmmmm baby
(Hold on hold on just a little bit longer) Mmmmm baby

I started school
And a worn, torn dress that somebody threw out
(Somebody threw out)
I knew the way it felt to always live in doubt
To be without the simple things
So afraid my friends would see the guilt in me

Don't think that I don't need ya
Don't think I don't want to please ya
But no child of mine will be bearing
The name of shame I've been wearing

Love Child
Love Child
Never quite as good
Afraid, ashamed
Misunderstood

But I'll always love you
Always love you

I'll always love you
Always love you

flophousefloozie · 12.10.2007, 08:19 PM

I hope you don't believe that.

atari 2600 · 12.10.2007, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flophousefloozie

I hope you don't believe that.

Not all that much consciously, no, but subconsciously, yeah, probably I do.

Quote:

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

Anthropology teaches us that the primary factor in the success of the offspring in primates is the love and care of the mother. An anthropology professor I had once stated that this is the case with human beings also.
So, not to get too Freudian and blame my mother, but just sayin'...submitted for your consideration.

12.10.2007, 06:50 PM	#41
atari 2600 invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 8,212	I did something I didn't expect to do today. I went and applied for a night job. I've worked two jobs before, but it's been at least ten years since I did so. Towards the end of every year, the business doesn't do well and it's touch and go. To compound my troubles, sales this whole year haven't been all that great. Things are looking particularly grim at this moment. So the worry and stress has been leading me to look for escapes from reality even moreso than usual, but I'm slowly coming to the sobering realization that it may be finally "time to grow up." And that sort of scares the shit out of me.
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

12.10.2007, 06:56 PM	#42
alteredcourse expwy. to yr skull Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 1,503	what does "time to grow up " mean to you ?
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

12.10.2007, 06:59 PM	#43
atari 2600 invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 8,212	For me it means that I actually have to watch what I spend and save money for the future which is something that I've never been able to do properly, at least in any "adult" sense. I feel embarrased for squandering so very much, whether it be money or talent or whatever. The shame has been with me for quite some time, but I'm only now really acknowledging it and beginning to accept what I have to do about it.
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

12.10.2007, 07:30 PM	#44
!@#$%! invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: mars attacks Posts: 42,564	atari, i think you're a bit of a lunatic and often a pain in the ass, but regardless, i wish you no ill, and that which you say actually sucks. my suggestion (honestly, not mocking) would be to cut down your marijuana consumption. if you smoke any kind of good quality shit, at the rate you do, it must be a big line of your budget--unless of course you also sell to recover the costs, but selling is never a smart idea , unless you crave showering with other men for years at some point in the future. so my other suggestion, coupled with the first one, is would be to diversify your business rather than seeking the comfort of a cashier job. You already have the tools for selling shit online & know how to use them; it could be relatively simple to branch out to different items with a different inventory cycle. think of converting your marijuana budget into some kind of inventory, and that should give you better returns than being a night watchman, or whatever you're planning to do. anyway, i do not wish to engage in lunatic discussions with you, but i felt morally obligated to offer you some advice, as retreats of this sort often lead to implosions, and we don't want you to become the poster child for amotivational syndrome, whether it actually exists or it's just another name for chronic cannabis intoxication. yeah, rationalize all you want, but you know i speak the truth-- you need to detox & get back your energy & drive-- & best wishes. oh yeah, one more thing-- if you're not willing or able to pay a business consultant, your local SBA should have some experts on staff. SCORE is actually a pretty good resource (retired business executives) and they are affiliated with the SBA.
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

12.10.2007, 07:41 PM	#45
flophousefloozie expwy. to yr skull Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Cowtown, Canada Posts: 1,694	My nephew was born this morning! Very excited right now. So I'm great, thanks. I don't mean to cut in. This is just the thread I was looking for to share my delight with the world.
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

12.10.2007, 07:44 PM	#47
!@#$%! invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: mars attacks Posts: 42,564	ha ha, congrats aunt floozie
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

12.10.2007, 07:46 PM	#48
atari 2600 invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 8,212	I was an uncle when I was only six months old, for whatever that info is worth. Thanks for your genuine concern, !@#$%!, but it isn't only the mary jane that sucks the money. It's everything. I have expensive habits and fairly expensive tastes unfortunately. Some thought about diversifying into some other line of products (professional recording gear maybe) and doing google adwords and a site was seriously deliberated at one time when things were better financially, but now the credit for something like that just isn't there anymore. And at one time a franchise situation for a product that coats gravel roads to keep them from kicking up so much dust on vehicles was also considered, but the Virgina Department of Transportation screwed things up on that front. A Quizno's franchise was considered years ago too, but that ship has sailed also. Somebody else opened one and it did well for a little while, but now that guy is losing his ass like so many others in small business. My friend who owns a restaurant and bar is also in the process of going belly up since his primary means of income from commercial real estate has tanked for a long while now. At any rate, the only good news is that so many others are in the same boat as myself with the coming recession. It seems lawmakers are starting to consider bailing some people out of the mess, and that help can't come soon enough.
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

12.10.2007, 07:50 PM	#49
!@#$%! invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: mars attacks Posts: 42,564
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

12.10.2007, 07:56 PM	#52
Savage Clone invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 11,290	I have an aunt on my biological father's side who is almost a year younger than me.
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

12.10.2007, 07:57 PM	#53
atari 2600 invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 8,212	I haven't seen or talked to him in years, but yeah we are the same age basically so I don't view him as younger really; it's sort of odd in that sense. I also have another nephew and a niece who are twins born to another stepsister when I was almost eight, so they see me as older. They were born on the fourth of July, 1976, so they are bicentennial twins hehe. One of my uncles is loaded (everyone seems to have a rich one, right?) and I am the only male that carries the family name, yet I've never fathered any children; well, none that I know of anyway.
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

12.10.2007, 08:05 PM	#55
atari 2600 invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 8,212	Overall you're right, time to pull up the bootstraps.
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

12.10.2007, 08:11 PM	#58
atari 2600 invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 8,212	Yeah, there is. I have one stepbrother and two stepsisters who are both from my mother's previous marraige. A stepfather is listed as my dad on my birth certificate. So, even though I'm the only male with the last name, it's not my biological last name. I'm a bastard love child from 1968, born in September and probably conceived at or around New Year's Eve that year.* I was more-or-less disowned by my mother and stepfather the day before my twentieth birthday when I asked if my stepfather was my real father or not. My stepfather, a (now retired) Master Chief in the Navy Seabees, kicked me out "for upsetting my mother." I had been living at home off and on and just returned back to Georgia from an unsuccessful stint in Dallas, TX at the time. They live in Mississippi on the Gulf Coast now and that's where I mostly lived until the ninth grade. They returned back to the house they owned in MS from GA after I had gone away to Athens. I haven't had much contact since. And no support from them since I was twenty. I was seriously starting to feel fucked-up that I didn't know if they were still living or not, so I called a few months ago and they are still around. *Just like the Diana Ross (& The Supremes) song which was released mere days after my birth: Tenement slum Ooh, ooh, ooh....aaaahhh You think that I don't feel love What I feel for you is real love In other's eyes I see reflected A hurt, scorned, rejected Love child Never meant to be Love Child Born in poverty Love Child Never meant to be Love Child Take a look at me Started my life In a old, cold, run-down tenament slum (tenement slum) My father left he never even married mama I shared the guilt my mama knew So afraid that others knew I had no name This love we're contemplatin' Is worth the pain of waitin' We'll only end up hatin' The child we may be creatin' Love Child Never meant to be Love Child (Scorned by) Society Love Child Always second best Love Child (Different from) Different from the rest (Hold on hold on just a little bit longer) Mmmmm baby (Hold on hold on just a little bit longer) Mmmmm baby I started school And a worn, torn dress that somebody threw out (Somebody threw out) I knew the way it felt to always live in doubt To be without the simple things So afraid my friends would see the guilt in me Don't think that I don't need ya Don't think I don't want to please ya But no child of mine will be bearing The name of shame I've been wearing Love Child Love Child Never quite as good Afraid, ashamed Misunderstood But I'll always love you Always love you I'll always love you Always love you
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

12.10.2007, 08:19 PM	#59
flophousefloozie expwy. to yr skull Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Cowtown, Canada Posts: 1,694	I hope you don't believe that.
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|