Countdown Clock...No Overtime

Not having a job is time-consuming.  Writing about not having a job takes time...sort of like a job, which I don't have.

The goal was to create a log of events leading to the next job, re-education, re-branding, etc.  Once you reach the age of "you're almost done" you fight it.  "I AM NOT DONE!!!"  The reality is that you're now working on a countdown clock. There are no overtimes (Bill Murray's line is something like "This is not a rehearsal.").

Being remiss in writing has several reasons:

1.   The small business remains small but takes a great deal of time.  There's not really any money in it but I spend time explaining "it's not about the money."  People don't get that but they don't want us to stop.  We are a community thing.  On Facebook one of my acquaintances is a guy from Western Minnesota, a farmer and writer who thought the small town cafe should be open, be a community resource for people to meet and to use the commercial kitchen to add value to their small crops,  and become an incubator of sorts.  He applied for a Bush Foundation grant to do some upgrades.  Following his efforts has been comforting, a bit of a parallel path to our small business.  He committed to four years which has now expired with a new owner taking over.  We've done this for six years.  I've been there the last three.  We'd like to transition from day-to-day operations to pursue some ideas.  There's a book or two of experiences, practical and human interest.  I'm working on a draft, sort of a Studs Terkel "Working" format.
2. The election campaign was exhausting.  The Presidency has been
   
   exhausting.  The Russians have been following my numerous posts.  Many Facebook friends have dumped me.  I hear voices all the time.  Some are worried that their microwaves are spying on them.  That is something I've always known, ever since the first Little Litton entered our kitchen.  My original one is in the barn, still listening, sending encrypted messages to the KGB.
3. "Writing Down the Bones" by Natalie Goldberg inspired me years ago to start writing.  I remember carrying a copy in my briefcase to my 'real job' and reading it during breaks.  Her premise is to just write.  Every book on writing that I've read since includes the same theme.  The demons in our lives, jobs, relationships, distractions, the internet, music, obligations and hunger cause us to stop writing.  The re-start process is complex, like cold-starting a barn-find car left sitting for forty years.  There's hope.
4. My daughter owns a new dog.  I've had "let the dog out duty" a few days.  It's not really taken any significant time but I wanted to work the dog into this post.  Dogs know stuff.  It's been good having conversations with him.
5. Year-end small business accounting and business and personal taxes.
6. I've been putting locks (literally & figuratively) on doors that have been unsecured for decades.

So getting people to read you blog is interesting.  My break was broken because another blogger mentioned the tediousness of blogging and the fact that it might be out of vogue and mentioned several people who seemed to have disappeared.  Not writing has hence motivated me to write. 

Apparently I either have to write more or get a job.