Category: 2007

So, I finally get the news yesterday: Rob sold the stores. When I’d been thinking about this, I totally discounted the money factor and assumed that he’d never sell because it’s his livelihood. I didn’t take into account the fact that with enough money, Rob would be fine until he decided to do something else. The Greeks made an offer that Rob simply couldn’t refuse and I’m very happy for him. He will get to spend a lot of time with his family and that is a very good thing. He’s worked like a slave for the last 10 years and he totally deserves to make some money and take a frelling break!

For me, this means the end of an era. I’ll no longer be the Accounts Payable Wench – probably to the relief of many vendors! LOL I’ll also not have to deal with payroll anymore, which will be a relief – I fucking hate payroll!

However, I also host the website, administer the site and handle all the graphics, so I don’t know what’s going to happen with that stuff.

I think that once everything is wrapped with the store’s bills I may be kept on for payroll and such until the end of the year, which would be great. I’d keep the web/graphics gig with the Greeks, but that’s all. I really don’t like the owner much and they generally make me nervous with their scattershot management style. If they do retain me for web and graphics, then they will pay my normal rates. I’ll do stuff for Rob at half price because I’ve known him forever, but these guys can pay me full price or find someone else. I don’t like them enough to deal with their assholey tendencies on the cheap. I don’t work for people I don’t like – take the corset chick, for instance – and if I do, you can be sure it’ll be for FULL price to compensate me for putting up with their shit.

So, I’ll be busy as hell with Rob for this last bit. Then I may or may not have a large gig with the Greeks. Apparently they plan to rock the Moon concept – they’ve got 3 new locations arranged already. That could lend itself to a LOT of website work and advertising work. But we’ll see. Rob is advocating me, which is very nice. I’d certainly like the work IF and only IF I can negotiate a proper rate and IF I get paid on time.

I’m grateful to be in a lull right now with ID so I can concentrate on all the myriad things that need to be done for Rob. It’s been a wild ride, but ultimately I’ve learned soooooo much. The pay is not all that, but the actual hands on experience I’ve gained working for Rob has been invaluable. I am confident that I can run a business now. And that confidence will serve me well as Nick and I try to get our comics/art business off the ground.

The end of 07 is just fraught with surprises, isn’t it? I guess it makes sense with an 8 year coming up! (8 is the number of karma and plans coming to fruition. It’s a very powerful number.) More on this tangent later…

Well, another year, another $1000…

Yah, we’re done with DragonCon as far as the room and all that. We will still attend, but we’ve decided that this con is just not worth the money we spend every year. We are breaking even this year (what we had saved vs what we actually spent) and that’s a good thing, but honestly, it’s crazy to spend that kind of money for a few parties and a few panels. The ONE big panel we wanted to see (Terry Moore of Strangers In Paradise fame) we couldn’t due to the crowding issues at the Hyatt and frankly, that was the last straw. I’ve already bitched extensively about the 1.5 hr wait to pick up our prepaid badges and the long lines to buy our badges for next year, so yah, missing the one big panel was pretty much it for us.

So. Next year we will be the ones crashing on an air mattress in someone’s room. For FREE. And we also expect food, drinks and various other goodies to be tossed at us as well. After all these years of putting people up, I should hope that we’ll get the same hospitality! Taylor has already graciously offered up her room IF she gets one, that is. We shall see. Barry will have a suite, but again, we’ll see. [Never happened. Reciprocity rarely does when it comes to cons. -A]

Next year we want to go to the Decatur Book Festival and the Drive Invasion at the Starlight Six drive-in on Moreland on Sunday.

We totally love seeing everyone and all that, but about half our group is not attending the Con next year due to the jackassery of registration and crowds this year, so this con has lost most of its lustre. If they have any new guests (outside the TrekTrak), that will be an improvement, but still not worth the money.

We will attend ACE in February and Comic-Con in San Diego in July. Whatever is left over will go towards DragonCon. It won’t be much, I can tell you that. :-)

Anyhow, here are the requisite shout-outs:
Andy and Ellen!
Ted and Kelly!
The Cantley Collective!
Cat!
Barry!
Russell!
Pat!
Taylor and Jeff!
Chopper Dave!
Ben and Heather!
Black Heather!
Larry!
Walt and Susan!

We hope to see all of you next year when we come to the parties!

But got Con Crud. Ugh.

I’ll write about the con when I feel better!

Thanks to everyone who came by the room.

Mi trip is done, now: on to the Con!!

The MI trip was a pleasant surprise! We got bumped on the way up, which earned us $600 in cash coupons from Northwest Airlines – w00t! Not bad for a couple hours drinking beer at the airport! :-) We tried to get bumped again on the way home, but no such luck. But that’s ok, we are now officially going to Comic-Con next year! Squeeeeeee!

We had a wonderful time staying with Nick’s niece Meghan and her (very cute) boi Josh. They have a 7 wk old puppy that kept us all on our toes! He’s a beagle and OH SO CUTE! He can pee on your foot and give you a sweet look and you’re like “oooooo, how cuuuuuute!” It’s amazing, the power of the puppy! LOL

I also finally hit the sweet spot with Nick’s sis and could let my guard down enough to bond a little. We’re very much alike, which as always, is problematic to new relationships. But I had a few lightbulb moments and I think we’ve reached a new level of understanding. I like it! Nick’s other niece Kaitlin is a lovely young woman whom we’d like to scarf away from MI and bring her down here. She’s got to finish college first, but once that’s done, I hope we can have her down here for a bit. She’s aching to get away from Wayne, just as I was aching to get away from Knoxville. I totally understand!

A big shout out to Meghan and Josh for putting us up and to Teri, Ed, Caitlin, Theresa and Patrick for a great time! It was great to see all of you. We must do it more often! (damn, why does airfare have to cost so much??)

It was in the 60s and gorgeous in Wayne on Friday, then it rained the rest of the time. It was actually chilly! What a nice break from the upper 90s we’ve had here.

We are now in get-shit-done mode from now until the Con. I can barely even write NEXT WEEK without getting wound up! I’ve not heard from Andy, I’d better give him a call. I’ve got a magazine to get online, a house to scrub, a tub to caulk, costuming to arrange, shopping to do and let’s not forget the usual stuff like Moon bills, etc. Oy!

I’ll probably not post much until after the Con. We are not going on an out of town vacation this year, but we’ll be taking the week off and laying low here at home. I’ll still have inventory and such for the restaurant but that’s no biggie.

Off to get the magazine up! Ciao!