Our NYE celebration was curtailed last night due to my stupid stomach deciding that everything was going to burn like lava: wine, water, prosecco, any and all foods. BAH. So I was already cranky as shit, THEN, THEN fucking Apple ID pitched a fit and demanded a reset…Which it did not like and it got its panties in a wad. Typical.
Fucking hell.
So, this morning I got Apple beaten into submission and did the billing and my idiot stomach seems fine. ?? Whatever, dude, I plan to get my drink on later, to make up for last night. ;)
2017 was a bastard for pretty much everyone I know. It sucked, it was expensive and it was stressful. I lost my Honda Civic, Rhonda, and we had to buy Romeo. I’m VERY happy with the car, but the doubled insurance and car payment suck. Can’t wait to get it paid off. The loan rate was 2.8%, so it’s almost free and I’m in no hurry to pay that off, but the insurance is HELL. Well, honestly, it’s not that bad since I’m old. It’s about $100/month for BOTH vehicles, but Romeo is the bulk of that cuz he’s fancy. While the loan is fine to carry, the full insurance is what’s costing us.
Let’s see, what other big things happened in 2017… I think Romeo is the biggest trauma besides NuVision Graphics closing. Of course both Nick and I have posted extensively about this process, so I don’t feel the need to go into deep detail, but I will say that it’s finally done for the most part and we are glad. Nick has worked his fucking ass off to get that place liquidated. His coworkers did little until the last few weeks – they were in serious denial. But now it’s 99% done and we are ready to move on. We got a nice little nest egg from the owners (which we appreciate GREATLY) and they also topped off our 401k with the maximum they could, which is also VERY NICE.
As for immediate goals, I really want to lose my last 10#. I think the new Kroger job will help with that simply by upping my activity. Oh, did I mention the Kroger job? I was hired around Thanksgiving, but Kroger moves at glacial speed, so I’m not actually getting started until this Friday. Which is fine. I wanted to wrap up 2017 and kick it out the door before starting anything new anyway. I was told I’d probably make $9.75/hr, but they offered me $11/hr – and I’m more than happy to take it. It’s just a p/t job at the new wine and beer bar at the N Decatur Rd Kroger. It’s very p/t and I don’t plan to put much effort into it. But I’ll happily putter around for $11/hr. Every little bit helps! I’m also doing this because Kroger is union and even p/t employees can get insurance after 8-9 months. IN CASE our pub doesn’t get going, I’d like to have this job in my back pocket. If needed, I can pursue it and go f/t. I like having that option. It’s especially great since I’ve not had a “real” on the books job in 15 years.
As for Nick’s immediate plans, well, he’s going to get unemployment – which should be FAT since he’s paid into it for 20+ years. We figure it’ll be the only money we ever get out of all he’s paid in, so we’re taking it. With that little cushion in place, he’s going to begin sorting out all the fucking TRUCKLOADS of crap we got from NuVision. OMG. SO. MUCH. STUFF. We have TWO storage units, folks, TWO. ARGH! However, the madness has a reason and the reason is our pub concept. We are going to try the SBA for funding. Why the fuck not? If I had a dollar for every asshole who’s opened a business with SBA funding and NO background and NO clue, I’d not need the goddam loan. So that’s the working plan: Nick is organising all the piles of crap from NVG and then getting to work building games. Just getting all the stuff organised will be a large job. We have piles of computers, printers, desks, shelves, office supplies for a lifetime, chairs, TVs, OMG EVERYTHING! Hell, we even have floor signs and a mop bucket! LOL We scarfed all this stuff because everything we can get for free is one less expense for our startup. If we can’t get traction, then we’ll sell or donate it all.
BUT. We WILL get traction. We’ve had Player One Arcade Services up and running for over two years. We’ve got more than $25k in inventory with POAS. We’ve got brand recognition, too. I think we have a real shot at getting our SBA startup money. We are excited about going forward with Player One Arcade Pub. It’s our goal and we’re putting everything we have into it. Feel free to send us any and all good energy (or even tots and pears – we like those, too!).
So I guess that’s my main desire for 2018: get the pub going. Succeed or fail, we’ll never know if we don’t try. And try we shall! Life is about TRYING. If you never try, you’ll never move forward. We hope all our friends have much success and happiness in 2018. No matter what you do, BE HAPPY!