Day 81- More Of The Same

Now, the work begins. I have to decide what to take to PA with us for the show. It’s been so long since we’ve packed for a show, I want to make sure we have everything we need, including enough paper and ink since I’m taking the printer with me for this one. And, it’s really muggy out so I don’t feel like moving. The only way it could be worse is if we were at a local show today in all this humidity. When I opened the door to the studio, I almost screamed. There were bugs and cob webs everywhere. I have to send in my exterminator before I can work there. Okay, so the bugs were mostly flies but where there are cob webs, there are spiders. I heard this trivia fact a while ago which says you are never more than 6 feet from a spider at any time. If that’s true, I’ll be lifting my feet from the floor quite a bit. It took quite a while before I made the decision on which photos to take and while I was repacking the blue plastic covered bucket, Carl put the racks, tables and tent into the truck. It took even more time to load everything else because my glasses kept fogging up and everything in the studio had steamed up too. The air conditioner in the studio works really well but we had to leave the door open for the loading process. By the time we were finished, the sky was black as night and we could hear the distant rumbling of what promised to be a whopper of a storm. And even before it started raining, we were drenched with sweat. I hit the shower which felt really good and spent another hour trying to figure out how to get a downloaded template from Avery to work on Microsoft Word. Avery uses the Word platform and I am unfamiliar with the program. I’d prefer to use Works which I’ve used for years. No go on the application so I asked Carl to come upstairs to get the printer which was the very last thing to be packed. I have one last thing to get tomorrow, ink. The photo was taken by my step-mom, Adena, while we were in WA state.

Day 80- Finally, No Techno Glitches

I managed to recreate a bunch of stuff so I could, at least, print some note cards and photo cards. It would have been the perfect opportunity to redesign my business card but, hey, I like the one I’ve got. We’ve had a couple of great conversations while we’ve been back with our daughter and Mom. They both hid health issues while we were away. Mom helped put together a new PA boxed set of note cards and I printed some of the best snapshots we took on our trip, grizzles, big mountains, cute fawns and an amazing shot of a monarch butterfly on a sunflower head. They look great. It was a productive day and best of all, the Red Sox won as well.

Day 79- Work, Work, Work

Well, that was the plan right up to the point in time where I discovered my desk top computer had a heart attack and a stroke while I was away. I tried every trick I knew to get it to respond to my key strokes but nothing I did made any difference. I even tried calling the shop who built it for me years ago. They were either all off for the long holiday weekend or some one forgot to shift the phone from fax mode to talk mode. I got that irritating squeal in my ear each time I called the number. So, I spent the better part of the day finding software install disks for my printer, card design and photo printing. Then I held my breath because they are all designed for Windows XP and my laptop is Windows 7. Have I mentioned how much I don’t like this platform? Sure enough, there were glitches left and right. When I tell Print Master to print a designed note card, instead of getting the 5 sheets I ask for, it decides to print 25. And my photo printing software will only print single pages even when I tell it I want 3 of the same. At one point today, I needed a serious technology break. Even my clothes dryer and I couldn’t see eye to eye for a while. I had to redesign my business cards, thank you pages and every note card I wanted to print. I needed labels for the backs of photos protecting my copyright and I’m sure by tomorrow, I will run out of ink because Carl had to make a trip to Staples because I was almost out of envelopes and matte paper card stock. It hasn’t been a very good day. I only hope tomorrow will be better. I need to finish printing everything and then get out into the studio to get things in order. We’ll pack up the truck on Sunday and head back on the road Monday morning. Carl was able to get the generator in to the repair shop and while they weren’t able to repair what’s wrong, they were able to tell him what the problem was. We just worked it too hard. It needed a deep cleaning and some TLC. So, Carl left it there for a much needed “spa treatment” and he purchased the companion model to the one we have. We’ll now be able to connect the two of them and end up with more electricity than two singles alone. Don’t ask me how it works, I just know it does.

A New Venture

I'm always on the lookout for ways to further my business and expose more patrons to my work so when I was asked to participate in the "Thyme To Heal Wellness Center", I was eager for the opportunity. Within the next couple of weeks, several positive care givers will come together to provide people with a place to go for comfort and healing. I know this sounds like new age gibberish but as time goes on, the concept will become more clear. Massage therapists, herbalists and a few select artisans will be housed in a restored nineteenth century Victorian house in the quaint village of Bath, NH. The theory is to enrich the body and mind as well as the spirit. I'm fortunate to have been asked to collaborate with such a talented group of practitioners. My photographic art will be for sale in the retail area, called Thymeless Essentials, and some of my work will also be on display in other areas of the building to provide a meditative and serene environment. This harmonious venture will be available for all of our clients to experience and the general public will also be able to purchase items from the retail area. As more information becomes available, I'll share it here with you.

Do You Have A "Things To Do" List?

Like most people, I tend to make lists of things to do. Slowly, I'll work my way through the least objectionable of them before I tire of this and throw the list away. It isn't too long before I've made another list. I can't help myself. Just before one of our big trips, I can't remember which one, I made several lists like what to pack, what to buy, documents needed and so forth. It is a fact that I had so many lists I needed a list of my lists. True Story!
Anyway, today is like that. I need to begin a list of things to get accomplished before my show season starts the end of April. I have mentioned how I have a slow time when I have lots of time to get things done but, in reality, with 5 galleries and a retail store to keep up with, some weeks have turned out to be a bit of a blur. So number one on my list for today is to get out into the studio and remove some older images, that for whatever reason haven't sold, from the perfectly good frames they have been occupying. This will give me a good idea of where I stand before I have to order new ones. My framer has recently moved and now it's going to cost more to get the frames to me. They still require me to order a minimum of six dozen frames which ads up to somewhere around $1600. You can see why I need an accurate picture of my inventory before I jump in.

The photo for today reminds me of myself, just sitting around and waiting for something. I don't know what but when it happens, I'll know. The truck, in Bethlehem, NH is a 1930 something Dodge but the plates on it say 1989. Any bets on if it was running in 1989?