My Jobs Report Month 24

Posted on August 24, 2013 by Tom Trimbath

Cheers to all who’ve followed my job search. Your monthly vigil is over, not because I got a job but, because applying for jobs through ads and applications seems to be an anachronism – at least for middle-aged guys who semi-retired over a decade ago. The good news: US unemployment is down almost a full point from last year, GDP continues to “rise”, Apple will be releasing a new gadget in September. The bad news: I haven’t found a conventional job, my growing business still only pays half of my bills, and the mortgage calendar marks off a day per day. The reason to stop posting Jobs Reports: while hundreds of thousands are finding conventional employment, I haven’t and that may be a good thing.

The US Jobs report:

  • unemployment = 7.4% (July 2013), down from 8.2% (July 2012)
  • part time employment = steady at 8,245,000
  • discouraged workers = 988,000 (July 2013), up from 852,000 (July 2012)

My Jobs report summary:

  • jobs applied for: hundreds
  • interviews for part-time jobs: less than two dozen
  • interviews for full-time job: one (1) uno
  • jobs resulting from interviews: zero (0) nil none
  • most effective job search technique (which can only be measured by interviews, not offers): personal reference and drewslist
  • most time efficient job search technique (which can only be measured by interviews, not offers): personal reference and drewslist
  • only successful income generator: personal reference and consultation leading to part-time employment

I’m working seven days a week (Rule of 7), making about half of what I need. No job dominates the day, though there have been three or four major contenders. It is diversification, and also opportunity. Some jobs have deadlines. Tomorrow is the last day of managing the Whidbey Open Studio Tour‘s social media campaign. Others may not be permanent, but their targets are years away. Virtual museums are not created by whim. The bigger the job, the more opportunity for the job to grow. Partial support of an hour or two can grow to half-time or full-time if there are sufficient funds. (Anyone want to preserve the era of computers’ entry into the classroom, while also upping my billable hours?)

Some folks have passed along email congratulations that I’ve made it this far and am doing this well. It is easy to become discouraged and disenfranchised when unemployment goes on for months or years. Listen to the pundits blame the poor for being poor and be amazed if the poor don’t just feel like giving up. Full-time pundits usually have incomes that put them multiples above the poverty line. If they were ever poor they may have selective amnesia, or may recall an era that no longer exists. They recall a steamship era while we live in a world of airliners. I appreciate the congratulations, but I feel like a sailor bailing out a gallon of water for every two that pour in. Such boats can’t stay afloat forever unless something changes.

Change is what I focus on. Look at my work list. Task list August 2013 Those tasks are a shifting collection of skills and talents, titles and pay scales. I’m glad I have so much to work with. I’ve been endorsed for so many things on LinkedIn that they’ve asked me to delete a few before any more can be added. My goal now, is to develop some subset that pays me more than enough, that I enjoy more than enough, and that helps the world more than enough. Follow your passions. Well, my passions are for people and ideas. That’s why I so enjoy helping people develop plans, make decisions, and spread their message. I get paid for that, and usually save them money too.

Fortunately, the definition of enough is also changing. Changes in my lifestyle can decrease expenses. Improvements in my portfolio can reduce the reliance on income. (Hey Apple, are you going to make MVIS pop by using a MicroVision component, please?) The best jobs pay well, are engaging, and aren’t expensive to keep.

Those folks sending congratulations know about the change because they know how much worse things were a year ago. I didn’t even have a bucket to bail with back then. I was busy building it.

Opportunities are arising. My work for The Tour is complete on Sunday, but I’ve been asked to help an advocate (the noun) advocate (the verb) starting Monday. Within the last few weeks I’ve been asked to become a core member of two photography endeavours. February Reflects February Imagine my relief when they decided to collaborate and cooperate rather than compete. My first post for WhidbeyFocus’ blog should be published tomorrow. My next class with Whidbey Island Community Education Center starts September 5th. I have to restock my books that are selling so well at a local shop (Wander on Whidbey). And there are always three or four opportunities simply waiting for the return call to schedule that first conversation.

Whether through frustration with convention or simply an entrepreneurial spirit that must be expressed, I know others who are paying less attention to the unemployment numbers and more attention to their business. Biscotti? There’s a business in that. Innovative wallets? There’s a business there, too. How about a tiny house? Buy this one and help someone launch a career in building more. Cabin by Angela If I listed every person I knew who was trying something new I’d probably be better off providing a link to the island’s phone book.

My job search will continue, until it doesn’t have to. I’m certainly not limiting myself to the want ads and yet another edit of a resume that will only be read by robots. My best job has been developing myself, and my best benefit has been helping others with their development. No wonder there are so many consultants and coaches. It is fascinating, fun, mutually beneficial, and far less dependent on increasingly anachronistic convention.

As Wynn Allen says at the end of our Anacortes video; “Who knows where that may lead us?“

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Buying Back In

Posted on August 21, 2013 by Tom Trimbath

I haven’t done this in years. I bought a bit of hope. I bought a bit of stock. It was even MVIS. I hope that’s a good idea. Last week’s Early Harvest of selling some GERN met this week’s business receipts, leaving me with a bit of extra cash (though not enough to assuage the mortgage or the credit card balances.) One of the powers of money is that it can make more money. Rather than have the excess sit, waiting for the next bill, I decided to send it back to work, for at least a short while, by buying some stock. It goes against my normal strategy, but it’s worth a try. Good things can happen.

Most financial plans include an emergency fund. It is the backup in case of bad luck. Accidents happen, and one way to be prepared is to have that rainy-day fund sitting there, just in case. We discuss those funds as if they’ll never get touched. Witness here what happens when so much of the rest is gone that the emergency fund becomes the main fund. It happens. That’s why they exist. My plan had various pockets of emergency funds. My primary funds weren’t up to “enough”, but they were headed that way – until the Triple Whammy I’ve described elsewhere. Those primary funds have almost completely vanished over the last two years. What remains isn’t enough to pay the mortgage. For a while I tapped my IRA for the mortgage payments, but the primary stock (No More Dendreon) finally ran out, and so did my payments. Welcome to the world of approaching foreclosure.

My consulting business is up. Yay! (Need someone to help you make a decision or develop a plan?) But the revenues have to double before I can pay all of my bills solely from that work. The growth is good, and at this rate can hit that target in 2015. In the meantime though, there was a cash flow dip that had to be filled with the early harvest of some GERN stock from my IRA. Regardless of the way I keep my house, I am a tidy guy in many ways. I sold off a nice round number of shares which gave me a bit more money than the gap required.

The money was transferred to my regular brokerage account so I could more readily pay my bills; and as I went to it I paused. What would I do with an extra few hundred dollars? I haven’t had that dilemma in years. It was the proverbial money burning a hole in my pocket, though the money and the pocket were ditigal.
“Do not move unless it is to your advantage.” – lesson from karate and The Art of War.
I sat. I pondered. Then I remembered. Two years of financial turmoil, of wondering how I was going to encounter the monthly bill paying challenge, had trained me to concentrate on preservation of capital. It is easy to fall into habits and never step back out of the ruts they create. What did I do when my portfolio was healthier? I’d put the money to use.

Two hundred dollars aren’t much. I watch people walk by wearing that much on each foot. That’s a couple of fill-ups for my truck. (Its got a 26 gallon tank.) But, remembering back to my investing beginnings, two hundred dollars is about what I used to start many of my original holdings. It doesn’t take much to make it worth the effort. I already have enough for most of my other bills: insurance, utilities, food, gas, and even enough to pay down a bit of the credit card debt that I incurred as I anticipated a portfolio recovery. The difference is, when I started those positions I did so to create my emergency fund from which I have been drawing. Now, I am in the midst of that draw. Instead of investing with a decades mindset, I am investing with a months mindset.

The shorter the investment horizon, the more chance is involved. Any given day, MSFT may go up or down; but buying MSFT in 1986 and selling ten or fifteen years later got beyond noisy fluctuations in the market. Buy small companies and sell them when they are large takes a long time, isn’t a sure thing, but requires little work and can have great rewards. Check Figure L, page 233 in my book Dream. Invest. Live. for my personal performance. Dream. Invest. Live. Long Term Buy and Hold can work well. And did, until my book came out and the market crashed. (No, my book did not make the market crash.) At the other end of the investing spectrum are the day traders who aren’t investing in companies. Day traders buy stocks and rely on the fact that on any given day some stocks will go up 20%, 30%, or more. Buy low. Sell high. and get out of the market at the end of each day.

Between the two extremes exists a continuum. LTBH can experience over 2,000% gains, but it takes years of patience. Day-traders can experience 20% gains within a day, but it takes frenetic work and good luck. Investing over the course of weeks or months decreases the influence of luck and increases the consequences of company performance.

I bought MVIS because I believe they are in a critical phase of their transition. We shareholders do not know the precise timing, the customers, or the products that are to be announced; but, from what we’ve been able to discern there should be significant news within the next few months or quarters. Maybe we’ll even get news within the next few weeks. Products to be sold for Christmas have to be announced soon. Just like with my business, one or two major customers can suddenly create a significant cash cushion.

Within the next month Samsung and Sony are expected to announce new devices before Apple’s announcement of a new device on September 10. Therefore, within the next 20 days those three major OEMs are announcing products which could include pico-projectors like those invented by MicroVision. I didn’t buy a hundred shares of MVIS from certainty, but from a reasonably informed guess with an acceptable risk.

If the stock goes up, the investment was worth it as long as it at least paid for the taxes and the commission. If the stock goes down, those $200 will be reduced but probably not eliminated. If the stock goes nowhere, then I’ve at least opened a door that was otherwise locked.

As I described in the previous post, financial losses are most likely temporary losses of an abstraction, not a true loss (though that doesn’t appease my mortgage company). Of all the things we risk, many fear finances far more than real losses. One freedom I enjoy is the realization that if I buy a stock I can also sell it. The commitment lasts as long as I decide. The market may control the price but I control whether I decide to participate. As of today, I’ve decided to start participating again; maybe not the way I prefer, but at least in a way that reminds me that I am in control. I’m buying back in. (Okay, MVIS, do good things for all of us.)

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Losses And Opportunities

Posted on August 17, 2013 by Tom Trimbath

“Get that foot out of your mouth. That’s no way to dance.” Dancing is fun – and an excellent opportunity to put feet in the wrong place. Socializing while dancing provides more targets. Oops. Hopefully, there’s only a bit of embarrassment, and no great loss. Keep dancing and maybe no one will notice, or they’ll think you just made up a new move.

For the last few months, I’ve rented an office over a restaurant and within shouting distance of two coffeeshops. We’ve been in the middle of our summer drought, which means a lot of customers sitting outside enjoying the sunshine. I’m treated to hearing some of their orders and their responses. “But, I wanted the dressing on the side. Take it back and get it right.” A lot of emotion can be tied to some oil and vinegar.

For the last few years, I’ve been entering that phase of life when loss of life becomes sadly more common. Deep loves are lost. There is no chance to take it back and get it right. The healthiest response seems to be celebrate the best of what was, and continue on with proper respect. Within the space of a moment I can think of at least four people who have done that. Some losses were stretched out over months. Some happened in less than a second.
One candle
For the last couple of years, you faithful readers have witnessed my losses. We’ll set aside the relationship ones. Those stories are only told in person to the right people and over the right drink. Almost all of my public losses have been financial. Yes, those losses do provide an opportunity for emotions; and yes, I have had my share of dismay and frustration – but, I keep in mind that those losses are probably temporary. They are more significant than getting the wrong salad. They are far easier to recover from than true loss.

I’m told that I look like I am doing fine. Thanks folks. It might have something to do with optimism, or maybe just habit. I actually feel better than I have in years. I’ve lost hundreds of thousands of dollars – measured by the stock and real estate markets. I’ve traded away lots of stuff to make money to pay bills. (By the way, does anyone want to buy a Folbot that has a tiny leak?) DSCN1190 I’ve delayed repairs and maintenance on me and almost everything I own. I’ve even a lost a bit of faith in our basic institutions.

One reason I am doing fine is because of my optimism. One source of my optimism is my awareness that my losses, while real, may also be temporary. I continue to trust in the value of my house, my portfolio, my skills, my community, my friends, my philosophy, and my self. That is a lot of value and most those losses are based more on misperceptions or misunderstandings, not on anything irrecoverable.

Sometimes you have to give it up to get it back. Giving it up, or even just being aware of the possibility of loss, heightens the awareness of value. As I have given up comforts, most socializing, most of my plans and projects,  I’ve become more aware of which ones matter most, and which ones existed by habit.

My losses are revealing opportunities.

Without this, can I now do that? If my house sells, I can work from anywhere on the planet that has a good internet connection. But, I probably won’t because I keep finding more reasons to stay on the island. Without so much stuff to tend, I have more space and more time. If my kayak lost its parking space, I’d have room for another garden plot. (And another exercise in loss, or another opportunity to find a way to guard against slugs, bunnies, and deer.)

When financial comfort returns, I know that I’ll dance more, hike more, socialize more, read more, enjoy the arts more, enjoy my friends more. I also know the work I’d enjoy even if I wasn’t being paid; and if I got paid, I have a better idea of what I’d use the money for. Philanthropy happens.

Losses are painful. Opportunities are healing. And reality seems to bundle them in packages that we must receive, open, and deal with.

To those with irrecoverable loss, my sympathies. To those who have lost money, my hopes. To those whose salads aren’t exactly what they expected, my pity.

And to dancers whose feet didn’t end up where they expected, maybe that was a small mistake that was actually a good move. Now, with a bit more practice, and the right partner . . .  what an opportunity.

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Early Harvests

Posted on August 14, 2013 by Tom Trimbath

It is harvest time, a little early for harvest festivals, but gardeners are already trying to cook, freeze, can, dry, or give away crops that are coming in faster than they can eat them. That’s a good year. In lean years, harvesting is a reminder that optimism doesn’t always succeed. Good years or bad, harvesting has to happen because people have to eat. I sold stock today. It was an early harvest, but I’ve got bills to pay.

For everyone else on Whidbey, growing veggies seems to be natural. For me, the slugs and bunnies beat me to any harvest. My apple trees were looking good – until the deer cleared the fence and ate all of the leaves they could reach.

Silly human. I scoff at your fencing.

Silly human. I scoff at your fencing.

Two of the three trees are young and short and lost almost every leaf. From three trees I can find one apple. Fortunately, my friends are better gardeners. Ten months of rain, a delayed start to the growing season, then two months of long, dry days. The corn may not be knee high by the Fourth of July, but there’s a bounty here eventually.

On the south half of Whidbey, which has fewer folks than some neighborhoods in Seattle, there are uncounted U-pic fields, farm stands, CSA‘s, and at least five farmers’ markets. Thursday (Clinton), Friday (Langley), Saturday (Bayview), and double-header Sunday (Tilth and Greenbank Farm) mean lots of fresh produce. Langley Second Street Market 060713 The local food bank even has its own garden, and a crew called the Gleeful Gleaners. The Gleaners harvest the fruits from neglected orchards or trees producing more than the owner can handle. The food bank benefits, and so do the gleaners and the land owners. I know their work from their gleaning of the apple trees on the land trust property I steward. WCLT - Hammons Tomorrow night I’ll help them at another site, and get to take some home too.

I’ve seen bountiful harvests in the stock market. The last two years have been lean for my portfolio, even as the market has recovered. The previous years were better for my portfolio, even as the market struggled. My portfolio is a bit of a micro-climate. Stocks in small companies are affected by the market, but the stronger effect is their own progress. That’s at least true in a rational market. As I’ve written before, I think small companies are trying to survive an irrational market even as the big companies drive the indices higher. I suspect the Fed quantitative easing and corporate profits are large sums of money that must find large roosts. Financial institutions make their lives easy by buying chunks of a few large companies instead of managing hundreds of smaller positions. Of course, the money could move around instead of roosting, in which case there would be even more purchasing and hiring going on; but hey, if the corporate finance officers can make more money in the market that’s where they’ll put the money.

Retirement is a concept that is being redefined regardless of how much we treat it as a fixed and necessary goal. For a variety of reasons, primarily strategic investing and frugal living, I was able to semi-retire early at 38. I knew it was a semi-retirement because a lot can happen in the decades of a normal lifespan following the first 38 years. Being the optimist and being frugal, I considered it an acceptable risk to step away from corporate work because the portfolio was large and growing. Being a realist, I also recognized the semi- part of that retirement and consequently worked at various aspects of my business these last 16 years. First karate, then writing, then photography, then teaching, and now my favorite – consulting.

Harvested - from Twelve Months at Cultus Bay

Harvested – from Twelve Months at Cultus Bay

It wasn’t until this year that my business grew enough to pay any of my bills. It has been years of building a foundation of work, connections, inventory, and on-the-job training in being a sole-proprietor and entrepreneur. I effectively was finding fertile ground, clearing it, and planting test crops. Every harvest of profits went back into improving the possibilities. With only a general strategy of providing a backup plan, I investigated opportunities as they volunteered. Even before I was hit by my Triple Whammy I’d started devoting more time to the business. I’ve continued to hope to harvest a healthy portfolio, but the stocks languish far below my estimates of their values. Now, I’m working seven days a week (as per my Rule of 7) with days off by necessity rather than choice. This feels like a version of the end of the Dust Bowl when dust storms and drought are somewhat related, continue to create a challenge, and yet may be about to abate.

My business is up 70% from last year, and last year was a record. At this rate, my business will cover my bills, including the mortgage, sometime in 2015. In the meantime, I’ve got bills to pay and have run into a cash flow squeeze. The only way to get through is to sell some stock (which is unfortunately coming out of my IRA). The good news about individual stocks is that as cash flow turns positive, I’ll be able to buy that stock back again – as long as it hasn’t jumped in the meantime.

Gardeners and farmers are familiar with the race between growing crops, changing weather, and ravening beasts. Grow quick. Hope for good weather. Fight back the hordes. I’m in a race as well. The business is growing and some of my stocks have possible significant near-term catalysts. The investing climate is incredibly uncertain between signs of a recovery and large cash hordes, while systemic failings in macro-economics are causes for concern. In the meantime, the next pre-foreclosure meeting is scheduled for October, followed by its scheduled events that can only be deterred by sufficient funds. Okay magic beans, grow, now!

Retirement planning can appear to be a set of spreadsheets that order a financial life. Retirement realities are that things can go better or worse than expected. I was so close to being debt-free as little as three years ago. Then the perfect storm hit. Storms happen, and that’s why gardeners and investors need to be flexible, have backup plans, and be tending fields and opportunities even if they may never be needed. It isn’t easy to harvest something early; especially, when you think it can grow much more if left alone. But I hope to replant. I hope for better weather. And I hope healthy harvests happen in time. I see it all around me. I know it happens.

Early apples and plums? Hmm, fruits can become desserts. I guess early harvests can actually be tasty.

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Odd Earnings News

Posted on August 10, 2013 by Tom Trimbath

That certainly didn’t go the way I expected. Sports have their seasons and so do corporations. Four times a year corporations officially announce their quarterly results. It is called the “earnings season”, but the official verbiage usually says “results” because “earnings” may not exist. Of the companies I follow (see my semi-annual exercise) all have had news. The reactions have been so surprising that I can’t convince myself of what my original expectations were. In the short term, stock investing can be a guessing game. In the long term, surprises should balance out and risk and guessing become less important. In the midst of my financial horse race, I could greatly benefit from good news and patience.

Before the slide that has been my portfolio since the Triple Whammy, my portfolio was diversified. At one point I had about a dozen stocks, which limited my exposure to losses from bad news from any one. Silly me. Almost seven years ago I “diversified” by selling some stock to make a large down payment on some real estate, my house. Another stock or two left the pack as I paid bills. Fortunately, just as my portfolio shrunk, one of my investments, Dendreon (DNDN) received FDA approval for a cancer vaccine. Yes! Then DNDN took part in the Triple Whammy, and I had to grudgingly sell it and a couple other stocks while I tried to find a job (unsuccessful so far) and sell my house (unsuccessful so far). Now, my portfolio has less than a half dozen stocks. Well, at least it is easier to track fewer positions.

I think this view is priceless, or $264,500.

I think this view is priceless, or $264,500.

With my semi-annual exercise in mind (when I review my investments), I expected:

  • AMSC to do nothing until the Chinese government decided what to do with Sinovel’s acquisition of AMSC’s intellectual property,
  • GERN to do nothing because they are only in phase two clinical trials, and using Dendreon as a guide suggests a stagnant stock for another year or two,
  • GIG should announce good news, and maybe finally get recognized for their market capture of a high-tech need,
  • MVIS could announce stellar news because they’ve already mentioned that five major customers will eventually announce major products
  • and,
  • RSOL might do well or not because, despite the need for renewable power, they are treated more as a construction firm or as a cousin of Solyndra.

Well, it didn’t go that way at all.

  • AMSC: Okay, I got this one right. They did have a spike when a US court ruled in their favor, but nothing to reflect the size of the potential settlement from China.
  • GERN: Biotech financials are almost moot because they all must spend immense amounts of cash to prove their drugs and please the FDA. But, GERN spiked because someone liked their phase two data well enough to suggest a 150% price appreciation.
  • GIG: GigOptix does have 50% of a high-end, and hopefully high profit margin, industry, yet the stock went nowhere because sales barely budged. But they did sneak in a possibility of working on consumer electronics. Hmm.
  • MVIS: MicroVision, the company that can make my mortgage company happy, managed to announce – nothing really. Yes, revenues were up and costs were down, but the numbers are small relative to what investors expect from a successful product.
  • RSOL: Real Goods, which is not stirring up any excitement, suddenly decided to merge with another company, and the stock spiked.

At one point on Friday, my portfolio was up by about one month’s non-mortgage living expenses. That’s encouraging.

I guessed wrong about what would move and what wouldn’t, but those were short term guesses. I continue to trust my semi-annual exercise results which estimate my portfolio’s value at several times above its current value. I could see results like Friday’s for months and just get back to what I consider a nominal, conservative valuation of my portfolio. That potential puts each day’s efforts into perspective because my average day’s income covers about a half a day’s expenses. Of course, I expect that to change too. Business is up, and the more consulting I do (got a project you want help with?), and the more passive income I receive from books and photos brings me closer to paying my bills without having to sell stocks.

my most recent sale

my most recent sale

Fortunately, I haven’t had to sell any stocks this year. I haven’t paid the mortgage either. Unfortunately, I might have to sell some this month, which would decrease my diversification. I almost sold some GERN a few days ago, and am glad I exercised a bit more patience. Friday’s impact on my GERN holding wouldn’t make much of difference in my bills. It is an encouragement to give GERN, and the others, a bit more patience.

Investing in individual stocks requires a high risk tolerance (or fatalism or good luck), patience, and a bit of research. Even with diversification and a Long Term Buy and Hold strategy, bad luck can coincide.

Investing in mutual funds is apparently easier, yet I don’t do that. I don’t do that because, as odd as individual stocks can be, mutual funds are nothing but dozens or hundreds of individual stocks. The task isn’t simpler. The task is so phenomenally complex that it is easier to ignore the complexity and slap on a label of simplicity.

My investments may be doing poorly, but at least I have an idea of why, and I have an idea of what they may be worth. Buy low. Sell high. Buy small companies. Sell when they become big companies.

As a measure of the irrationality of the market:

  • the company furthest from making money has the largest market cap (GERN),
  • the company with the highest revenues is three times smaller (RSOL),
  • the company with the next smallest price-to-sales has the smallest market cap (GIG), and
  • the company with the greatest present-value-of-future-revenues has the next smallest market cap.

A bit more patience, the right good news, and the results will turn into earnings and income.

By the way, in case you don’t recall, the stock I sold to buy my house is now up more than four-fold since then (FFIV); and Dendreon (DNDN), despite potentially revolutionizing cancer care, has managed to decrease sales and implode their stock price. It’s all so odd.

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Greener Pastures

Posted on August 7, 2013 by Tom Trimbath

“The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.” That’s advice we give to convince someone to not change for the sake of change. I’m no rancher, but I suspect that if you leave a horse in one pasture long enough the grass will be gone and any other pasture is worth the move. Sometimes change is the answer. Deciding what to write about was tougher than usual today because almost everything that is happening is waiting for a change. In the meantime, we paw our pens, waiting for the gate to open. A lot of my friends that feel penned in know their gates are about to open. It will be fun watching the herd run.

A $425,000,000 Powerball lottery is not the main change most are waiting for, because I suspect very few of my friends will play such long odds. I and a few others do. Constrained finances are probably a main cause of people feeling hobbled. I can attest to the feeling of entrapment when nothing seems to be working enough to make enough. The entrapment is internal and abstract, so it should be easy to dispel; but if shifting such a mindset was easy then enlightenment would be universal as we all simply “saw beyond the illusion” or “embraced the grace within.” Counselors, coaches, and therapists earn substantial livings helping people struggle with even tangential aspects of such concepts. A two dollar ticket is much cheaper and gives the mind an excuse to see beyond the gate. Besides, as entertainment, the effects last longer than a movie. And eventually, someone will win.

Of all the plans for changes I’ve heard, all require far less than a lottery jackpot. Six months of living expenses and a reasonable chance of making a sustainable income are sufficient. Unfortunately, the last few years have diminished most of those savings and launching into new careers has a recent history of low chances of success. And yet, people are moving.

The most public move is from a friend who made a house on wheels. Angela Ramseyer, tiny house builder extraordinaire, might be selling her house, moving from Whidbey to Portland, and immersing herself in the growing micro-mansion industry. She’s made such a move before. She can do so again. Cabin by Angela

A couple I know have felt locked in place for years, even as they dream of moving east (it’s hard to move farther west from here) to live a more unrestrained, frugal lifestyle that probably involves organic, sustainable farming, online sales, and a lot more quiet and freedom. Seattle’s housing market is bubbling. Fix up the house, sell the business, and move – but first fix the kitchen and take the time to figure out how to make such a change.

One of my friends who works retail is set on NYC. Like any small community, Whidbey is known for having limited social (dating) and job options. Work retail here, maybe get by, and do so within a crowd of friends but no partner; or move to New York City. Evidently, they have retail there too, may appreciate a person with manners (or maybe not depending on the stereotype), and there may even be more than a dozen or so people to date. (Wasn’t there a show about sex in that city?) That change may require no more than a deep breath and a fast jump.

A close friend dropped by my office here in downtown Langley, center of coffeeshops and bookstores, and threatened to conduct an intervention. UBCC 070613 “Isn’t it obvious that you should move off the island? Here you may, may, sustain a lifestyle. Anywhere else you may thrive!” Well, yep. Makes sense to me. As I’ve said before, without the house, I’m able to move almost anywhere. I’ve even applied for international jobs. Even a move as small as getting back onto the mainland may suffice. Evidently, some employers won’t hire people from the islands because of the ferry interruptions. Ah, but you see, I actually like and love where I am. (One advisor advised me to visualize the zip code I wanted to live within. Duh. I’m already there.)

November Sunset - Twelve Months at Cultus Bay

November Sunset – Twelve Months at Cultus Bay

Change for the sake of change is ill-advised. One saying I learned from karate is, “Do not move unless it is to your advantage to do so. Then move without hesitation.” Plans must accommodate change. We demonstrate wisdom when we decide whether the change is based on need, or whim, or want, or habit.

Many of the world’s problems can be traced to intransigent attitudes, archaic policies, and anachronistic organizations. Our society gets into ruts, just like we do. Fixed financial plans, reliance on conventional systems, and unedited aspirations can lead to dead-ends. I’ve followed an investment strategy that relied on rational markets and aimed myself at a particular lifestyle, but my current situation has encouraged me to rethink my strategy, question how much rational thought remains in the market, and revise my lifestyle expectations. If the world decides to change, then I can change again.

I’ve definitely been churning up this pasture. Trying to get a job, putting my house on the market, growing my business have all been efforts to affect change. I’ve also been staying in this pasture. The interruption in my strategy may be temporary. One of the best ways to be found is to stay in one place. And I have yet to identify an advantage to moving that is greater than the advantages to staying.

It is August 7th. Tomorrow MicroVision announces earnings. The expectations are so low that even the discussion boards are quiet. And yet many of us have inferred that the company’s long delayed success will be initiated with news in the second half of 2013. (Go back to Good News Sooner Please for a description of that possible upside.) When MicroVision announces sufficiently positive news, the grass under my feet will grow faster than any nearby pasture – unless, of course, that other pasture is winning the Powerball jackpot in which case it won’t be grass growing under my feet but forests.

What are the chances that all of that will happen? Understandably small. What are the chances that none of it will happen? I suspect even smaller. For now, it is time to get back to tending my pasture and checking over the fence whenever I get the chance.

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Triple Whammy Second Anniversary

Posted on August 3, 2013 by Tom Trimbath

Some anniversaries aren’t celebrated, but can be recognized. Two years ago I felt like I was hit by a Triple Whammy. As I said then, “my semi-sustainable lifestyle is at least temporarily threatened“. I re-read that post and am pondering the nature of the word “temporary”. Throughout these two years the potential for my closing thought from that blog continues. “I give the universe the opportunity to positively amaze me.” The pessimist says it won’t. The optimist says that every day of delay increases the positivity of the eventual amazement. Now would be a good time, and not just for me.

The last two years have made real a perspective I understood as an abstraction. Having less than enough is tough. That’s a major understatement. Many of life’s crises are traumatic and dynamic. Not having enough isn’t as dynamic but it is a moment-by-moment reminder that you can’t pay the entry fee to participate in our society. As I have found myself more frequently standing outside the gates of opportunities, I’ve been amazed to see the crowd of remarkable people who’ve been there for years. My attitude has gone from, “We really ought to do something about people who’ve been hit by misfortune” to “Who do we think we are if we’re not helping those who’ve been hit by misfortune?” Many of our “greatest nation” cliches are amazingly hollow; especially, when compared to “lesser” countries that are far smaller.

A friend asked the most frequent question yet again. “How are you doing? No, really. How are you doing?” My first quip of a response didn’t appease. This friend actually is one of the few that I’ll tell the fuller story to, but being asked in the middle of the grocery store wasn’t the place for me to launch into the real response. How am I doing? Any given day I encounter a wider range of emotions than I could when I had “enough”. I’m somewhat practiced with words, and I can’t convey the radically different experience. Demonstrating it through dance might succeed, but bouncing off the rutabagas would probably curtail my creative expression.

My reason for writing this is not to belabor my situation, but to illuminate what can happen to any of us. I know many who have lost much more; they’re just not as likely to talk about it. Shame, embarrassment, and truth live behind many facades.

My reason for writing this is also to emphasize the possibilities. While our society no longer provides enough safety nets for its citizens, the American form of government continues to provide opportunity and empowerment.

Chronicling this experience may be the best way to illustrate how our society, government, and civilization actually work.

For brevity, those who don’t want to hear the rest of the downside can skip ahead a paragraph. For completeness in my chronicling, welcome to the improbable litany of the last two years. A little more than two years ago, AMSC was a major portion of my portfolio, and had good reason to rise. They profit from alternative energies and from improving our power infrastructure – until their largest customer apparently stole AMSC’s intellectual property and cancelled their orders. AMSC dropped from over $40 to under $3. Wham. Dendreon (DNDN) looked like it would make up the difference because their cancer vaccine was approved and working better than expected medically; but, the company didn’t meet Wall Street’s expectations. The ~40% drop in DNDN was a bigger whammy. A stock that I thought would rise $22 dropped $22 and continued to fall. Instead of being out of debt, I found myself selling a decreasing stock from a diminishing portfolio, even as the treatment improved. I started looking for a job that month, August 2011. I thought the stock would recover quickly, and therefore put a few extra bills on credit, which became the stereotypical trap. I sold almost all of my non-IRA stock to pay bills, and then dipped into my IRA. I put my house on the market because it was the most likely source of equity, according to zillow.com. With my non-IRA stocks almost all gone, I finally quit paying the mortgage when the last of the DNDN sold out of my IRA. That was in the fall of 2012. My mortgager is not pleased. The third part of the whammy was actually a flounder. The whammy was the emotional hit I took when I realized that MicroVision (MVIS) wasn’t going to have their self-proclaimed “Super Bowl year” in 2011, 2012, (2013?). MVIS continues to languish at about a quarter of what it was then, which was also a drop from – well – much higher. While all of this was going on I ramped up my existing business. My Rule of 7 applied and eventually I was working seven days a week finishing my book about Scotland, completing a five-year photo essay of Whidbey Island, teaching classes, consulting with clients, and doing whatever I could to make money. My portfolio is about a tenth of what it was. My house has had less then six buyers even visit it in the year that it’s been on the market. I’ve only had one job interview for a full-time professional job, despite two years of applying. My pantry and freezer have a lot of empty space, and I’ve even been able to clear out a room because I’ve been selling my stuff. Being a bit discouraged shouldn’t be much of a surprise, and if you actually read through this entire paragraph I applaud your perseverance.

Here’s the upside. Things are looking better. My business is up 70% from last year. (Hi, want help with your projects? An hour or two with me may save you weeks or months.) Book sales are up, thanks to Walking Thinking Drinking Across Scotland. Walking Thinking Drinking Across Scotland Photo sales are up, thanks to my new online galleries (Gratitude Gallery

and Fine Art America). At this rate, my business will be able to pay my bills in 2015, not soon enough, but not bad either. The Puget Sound housing market is improving. Some of the work I’m doing for clients could turn into more hours, better pay, or even full time employment. My name recognition is high, and so many people have endorsed me on LinkedIn that I’ve maxed out the number of talents I’m allowed to display. And, despite the lack of DNDN, the companies in my portfolio have progressed to the point that even a return to conservative valuations will provide me years of living expenses. If companies like MicroVision succeed and trade at a premium my portfolio will provide decades of living expenses.

Two years is a long time (and so is this post). I wonder how much longer all of this can go on.

There are no guarantees. The elements within my situation are running at about the same pace. I’m living a race in which I am largely a spectator because most of the entrants are out of my control. Without guarantees, I don’t know which happens first: running out of money, or returning to comfortably enough.

The lack of control increases the frustration. One criterion for evaluating the functionality of a workplace is whether the people with responsibility are also given the appropriate authority, and whether people with authority also carry responsibility. Authority without responsibility is the life of the spoiled child. Responsibility without authority is the life of the scapegoat. Our treatment of the misfortunate is more the latter, and evident in the news. Excessive executive compensation in the midst of atrocious performance is an example of the former. What I look forward to is a return to that middle ground, which also embodied our stereotypical American spirit: a more rational world where value is valued, and that value reflects a person’s effort and also the fact that they are a person.

Stay tuned, and thanks for reading. Really, we’re getting to the good stuff, honest. (I hope, I hope, I hope.)

Destiny Is Hidden

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Looking Fine-ish

Posted on July 31, 2013 by Tom Trimbath

It looks fine from here. The rich are getting richer. Those with jobs and businesses are getting busier, and seem to have more discretionary cash. And, of the rest that aren’t in hiding – well, smiles look good. Even my septic tank looks good, but it is buried. But the septic alarm went off though, so later today I’ll find out if looks are deceiving. My computer looks good, considering the use it gets and its age. But it let out a chirp and froze for a while a couple of days ago, so I’m backing it up as I type. My future looks fine when I am feeling optimistic, but chirps and alarms and uncertainties may mean I’ll sell some stock, giving up a slice of future potential to make things look a little better in the present. That’s a dangerous game. But there may be a way out.

Langley looks good. (Want a quick tour? Watch our video: Two Guys Walk Around Langley)  Millionaires walk by. Billionaires reportedly drop in while visiting another of their houses. This is a nice town for relaxing. From my perch, high on the second floor of the Giraffe Building, I get to watch enough exotic cars roll by that Ferraris aren’t worth mentioning. It looks so fine that a couple I talked to thought everyone here was wealthy, or at least comfortably employed. That’s an image most tourist towns want to portray, and in Langley’s case, enough of it is true to encourage people to move here.
Langley, WA July 2013

Of course looks can be deceiving. We use that phrase so much that I wonder why it exists. Evidently, we must continually remind ourselves that what we see isn’t always real.

One of the tricks to enjoying frugal living is to live frugally by choice instead of by necessity. Living frugally by necessity can still be enjoyable, but it isn’t as relaxing because it is paired with caution, doubt, and maybe a fair share of worry. I’ve always lived frugally, even when I didn’t know I was doing it. A frugal lifestyle looks cheap from the outside, but the insides are buttresses of self-defined and reinforced values. Many have commented on my apparent style and ease as I pass through my financial turmoil. Evidently, my facade is fine. The interior is doing well enough too, but there are days when I’m surprised the turmoil doesn’t poke through.

I see the wealth that extends into the middle class. It isn’t just millionaires visiting the coffeeshops and stores. It’s harder to find parking. Unemployment is down. Consumer spending is up. Typically, more people making money means more money being spent which means more people making money – which is the upward spiral looked for in a recovery. It looks fine, and may even be fine.

It is too easy for me to see the concerns though. My diminished financial position has provided me yet another perspective. The wealth and income inequities do not seem to be resolving themselves. Discretionary income may be returning, but many are working from less stable foundations. They’ve been through foreclosures, bankruptcies, or have spent their way through home equity, credit limits, and now their IRAs. The increased consumer spending may be temporary and a reflection of years of pent-up demand.

A world-traveling friend called for a friendly chat. I was so impressed with what he’s been doing, especially, because I know a few years ago he was in need of a financial fix. He stayed positive, gradually built his business, and is enjoying the upward spiral of people asking him to do more good work because they’ve seen him doing so much good work. Now, if they’d only pay him what he is truly worth. And, maybe they will as his upward spiral continues. In the meantime, he looks like things are fine, or fine-ish.

As I check around with my friends, frequently as they check in on me, I continue to find increased busyness. The businesses though, aren’t necessarily seeing increased profits. Frequently they are at capacity limits. To truly make more they have to hire more or invest more, but those hurdles are costly risks prior to becoming possible rewards.

Rarely do I hear anyone describe their job or their business as a path to comfort. One honestly laughed when I asked if she could imagine her business becoming profitable; and then she caught herself as she realized that profitability shouldn’t be so foreign a concept. People do dream of comfort but I notice their hopes live within two main scenarios: win the lottery, of find some way to become self-sufficient. Self-sufficiency takes more work, but has better odds. If we lived in the era of homesteading many of my friends would be heading out to the territory, wherever that may be. Instead, many of them are building tiny houses or creating garden farms.

I consider myself lucky. My business is picking up. I’m being considered for more substantial, and profitable, assignments. (Got a project you need help planning or some choices you need to sort through? It is fun helping creative people create.) My portfolio is closer to realizing its potential. (Come on MVIS.) The housing market is improving. (My house is still for sale.) Home For Sale Yet, at this stage in the race with financial sustainability I may have to sell some stock to pay for foreclosure mediation, pumping the septic tank, and replacing the rear shocks in the truck.

I’d hoped that here, at the end of July, there’d be news that I got “the call” for the right job or assignment, or that one of my investments would finally make their major celebratory announcement. I look forward to writing that post. In the meantime, the computer went chirp. The septic alarm went squawk. And my checking account goes squeak because right now it can’t handle a new septic system or a new computer.

But stay tuned. The day isn’t over yet. Today is Wednesday, July 31, 2013. The Powerball jackpot is estimated to be $235,000,000. The drawing is tonight. Even the Washington State lottery is up to $2,500,000. I have tickets for both. Either will suffice. And in our conversations, those who are buying tickets aren’t doing it for appearances. They’re doing it as a hope for comfort and a chance at self-sufficiency. We’re also doing it as entertainment. A movie costs $10 and lasts a couple of hours. A lottery ticket costs $1 or $2 and it allows days of dreams, at least. At least.

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Planning For Unexpected Futures

Posted on July 27, 2013 by Tom Trimbath

Well, that didn’t turn out the way I expected, and the biggest issue was probably my expectation. Silly me, thinking I had some control over my life. I held a self-publishing class and workshop today, and everyone cancelled; but another person unexpectedly showed up, we had a strategy session for his business, and my business set a record. If – when – I succeed, it may be in unexpected ways. In which case, does it make any sense to plan for, or work at anything? Maybe I should work out a plan for that.

Self-publishing changed dramatically about the time someone noticed that high-speed laser and high-speed inkjet printers were just about as good as the average printing press. Back around 2000 a new type of printing enabled a new type of publishing. Print-on-demand printing enabled what I call Modern Self-Publishing. Load a couple of files into a computer. Print the insides. Print the cover. Glue the two together. Only print as many as are needed. Print one at a time just in time instead of printing a few thousand and hoping they sell before something ruins the inventory. Some ingenious person realized that most of the sales were online, therefore coming from people with computers, in which case skip the printer and just sell them the files. Ebooks were born. Thanks to a series of rejection letters, I was in the first wave of writers to use the news technologies. On average, since 2002, I’ve published one book per year.
Walking Thinking Drinking Across Scotland Twelve Months At Double Bluff on blurb

The publishing industry is undergoing a revolution as dramatic as the ones that hit the movie and music industries. Digital technologies decentralize authority and control. Fears of unencumbered shoddy work call the traditionalists to guard the gates. Empowered artists exercise the new technologies to go up, under, through, or totally ignore the gates, the walls, and the old fortresses. Hollywood exists. Record companies exist. Publishing houses exist. But they no longer hold the majority of the control. The majority of the control is held by unorganized crowds of individuals that do not require consensus. Some work is shoddy, from a certain perspective; but purer voices and unheralded talents are also unleashed.

I’ve watched the industry go from scoffing at a version of self-publishing that accounted for a few percent of the total, to an industry that sees the new technology producing more than the establishment. The industry is finally responding by using the same technology and buying the competition, but the momentum is too great and the change can’t be controlled or denied.

In some ways I’m an early adopter. I enjoy watching trends, and have used that habit as a basis for investing. (Read my book, Dream. Invest. Live. for details.) Dream. Invest. Live. That worked well until deregulation and the Great Recession. It may yet prove itself again because everything is temporary, including our financial environment and economy. My style of investing is called Long Term Buy and Hold. (LTBH). I didn’t make it up. I just use it. It is the anti-thesis of day-trading. My most encouraging investments were started over a decade ago. They are due.

I watch trends and I try to guess which way they’ll go, but I know they’ll take directions I can’t predict. New ideas rarely play by the old rules, and adaptation requires understanding the new more than the old because the old eventually passes away.

I expected to teach a class today, and run a workshop too. People signed up. Everyone cancelled. Maybe it’s the Sun’s fault. Yet, when my unexpected client walked in, he brought with him a conundrum that didn’t exactly fit with the class; but it did fit in nicely with a one-on-one strategy session, something I enjoy. A couple of hours later we were done, he had a plan, and I had a check. That check put my business over the top. As of that check, my business has already made more this year than it did on all of 2012. Hallelujah! At this rate, my business revenues are growing at 70% during a year when my expenses are down. At that rate, my business will be able to pay me more than enough by 2015. I’ll enjoy that but the mortgage company may not applaud that timing.

New ideas and changes to plans happen more rapidly than many can react. A retirement plan, honed for years, must be reassessed regularly as life, investments, and the world changes. (Watch Mike Brady’s videos for good descriptions of how that can be done.) My plan fell apart (at least apparently temporarily) within a few months two years ago. In perfect hindsight, an even quicker reaction would have meant a more comfortable present. That’s always the case. What I am glad about, despite my situation, is that my plan is flexible and that it had more than one element. Currently I am trying to sell my home, get a job, grow my business, and encourage my investments. I can develop plans based on a variety of scenarios, but it isn’t prudent to act until changes reveal themselves.

I planned to teach a class about publishing and ended up helping develop a business strategy. I didn’t plan for the unexpected, but I prepared myself so I could react.

Some indications are that the economy is returning to a new normal. Other indications are that the system’s oscillations are increasing and may lead to a collapse, whatever that may be. Planning for only one outcome produces a plan with poor odds of success.

Instead, I plan for long term goals and targets, and regularly adjust. I prefer to adjust at a slow and rational pace, something that works well with long afternoons considering possibilities while taking notes and sipping wine. Lately my plans are a bit rushed and flavored with spiced vodka and hope and energy.Cultus Drive deck and drink

There is great uncertainty in the world. A few of us are holding informal think tank sessions to sort through what we may do. I know we won’t come up with one answer. I want to keep my house, which I may do if finances return to normal soon enough. In some scenarios I lose my home and don’t have enough income to reach the poverty line, in which case finding a room with an understanding landlord would be a blessing. In some scenarios, my long term approach to investments may produce a recovery that lets me keep my home, and may even make it, or another home, comfortably self-sufficient. Acquiring self-sufficiency is one plan for disconnecting from the centralized turmoils. Each scenario, and several others, run through my head several times a day.

My client is also a friend. He, too, had a time when his plans seemed to have fallen apart and extrapolations were dire. And then he got “the” phone call. One change changed everything else for the better. That was a few years ago. Now, he is planning for the next thing; not in an attempt to firmly create a future, but to develop a plan that allows for flow, change, acceptance, and awareness. (Discretion keeps me from passing along more, but I hope he posts the pertinent links in the comments.)

As for me, I planned to do something else this afternoon. Instead, I’ll post this post, hit the deli to see if they have an after-five special, and then head out to two or three other events. You see, unexpectedly, a friend opened a gallery and is exhibiting my art; Light October Corduroy and unexpectedly, a friend and entrepreneur is hosting a party to celebrate their return to town; and, if I have time and energy, I’ll drop in on some friends playing music where a friend is tending bar where some of my other friends will be. But those are only my plans. Something even better may show up, and I want to be able to fit that into my plans.

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My Jobs Report Month 23

Posted on July 24, 2013 by Tom Trimbath

I’m turning the final corner into the second calendar lap of years of looking for a job. Two years ago I eagerly awaited the good news that would send my investments higher and cross me over to having “enough” and the retirement of a need to work. Well, that didn’t go the way I expected. Since then I’ve lost over 90% – 98% of my net worth (depending on the estimated value of my house and a few other things), I haven’t found a full-time job or even had an interview, haven’t paid my mortgage in months, and yet am working seven days a week. Numerous times within a day I’ll swing through pessimism, optimism, and confusion. Maybe that’s the motto for the long term unemployed.

Let’s get the bad news out of the way. Official job applications haven’t resulted in interviews; therefore, they haven’t resulted in a job. The other bad news, There Are Still 3 Times More Unemployed Workers Than Job Openings. I haven’t delved into those numbers but I know the sad fact that the official numbers used for counting the unemployed miss millions of people who’ve given up looking for work. Add in the upper estimate of eight million disaffected unemployed and the ratio is 5 people for every job.

The not-so-bad news is that unofficial job applications have been a more productive use of my time. They also haven’t resulted in interviews; but, they are more encouraging and actually provide feedback about why I didn’t get the job. Every rejection has included personal assurances that someone else will undoubtedly be equally impressed with my skills – and will hire me.

The better news is that my business is keeping me busy seven days a week, with most days longer than eight hours, frequently as much as ten hours, with occasional twelve hours days. The workload is good and bad news, but the trend is good. Spending that much time last year was almost all unpaid speculation on my part: writing a bookWalking Thinking Drinking Across Scotland, taking photographs, advertising classes, and planning collaborations. This year the billable hours are filling the time, the rate is increasing, and some of my clients have hired me for ongoing assignments. The sad fact that keeps this from being the best news is that the sum of all that good news is still less than what I need to pay all of my bills, even without paying the mortgage.

The best news so far is that this month, if the checks come through in time, my business will finally have made enough to pay all of those non-tax, non-mortgage, non-homeowners-association bills. This is progress. The other best news is that I’ve actually been able to decrease the number of twelve hour days without cutting back on revenue too much. Balancing time and money is a struggle when basic needs aren’t being met, but one basic need can’t be bought: health. At this level of effort, and under these conditions, “mental health days” are not euphemisms. Without time to recuperate physically, mentally, and emotionally, my body begins to deteriorate, my mind has a tougher time concentrating, and I can be a lot less pleasant to be around. At least now, I am making time almost every day to sit on the deck with a nightcap and just sit. Besides, eventually it is too dark to do yardwork or call anyone.

The best news probably hasn’t arrived yet. Two week ago I posted Good News Sooner Please where I listed many of my reasons for optimism. Since then there’s been reason for more optimism, not less. Seattle’s housing market continues to impress. My investments are with companies that are making progress, and some have actually had hints of good news. If my business continues its trend and switches to more consulting, and as sales increase, I may be able to pay all of my bills, even the mortgage. At the same time, I’ve been assured that my name is being included for various job possibilities. Thank you. Spread the good word.

The swings from pessimism through optimism and confusion happen with each bit of mail, phone call, and bit of news. The most useful recent revelation was that the things I can control most: filling out job applications, filling out paperwork for foreclosure forbearance, etc. are also the things that may be the least effective use of my time. Properly filled out forms don’t pay bills. The other part of the revelation was that the things that can resolve my situation: whether that is money through investments, the lottery, my business, sales, or a job; are out of my control. Control lives with my clients, customers, the market, and luck. Without enough money, the forms don’t matter. With enough money, the forms don’t matter. Filling out the forms can find me a job, though the resume bots guard that gate. Filling out forms can hold off foreclosure, maybe, but eventually I have to find the money or lose my home. Home For Sale The confusion steps in when I realize the most important aspects of my financial situation are out of my control, in which case pessimism and optimism are arbitrary.

If pessimism and optimism are arbitrary, then I might as well pick the one that’s more fun.

Many will say that pessimism and optimism are the attitudes that manifest the lives we live. That may be true. I’ve seen no way to prove it. There are sufficient examples of people dreaming of and achieving success, and of people with self-destructive habits that create self-fulfilling prophecies. There are also dismal people who are surprised at their success, and upbeat people who became homeless and hungry. I know that until two summers ago, I spent a lot of time manifesting (daydreaming) a relaxing, enjoyable, productive life that had far more security and comfort than I’ve experienced lately. Maybe I’ll manifest that positive future, and that I have to go through this turmoil to get there. Stay tuned.

Next month’s report will be My Jobs Report Month 24, and will be the last jobs report – unless there is something awesome to report. “What? You want me to run an incubator for triple bottom line innovators, it’s only a part-time job, and yet it pays more than I need to survive and thrive where I want to live? Thank you. Yes!” But I will give up the monthly reports. Our world is changing, and the search for traditional jobs may have changed to the point that a middle-aged guy reporting on a job search may be anachronistic.

So, now it is time to get back to work at this job and that job then that job and celebrate completing the other job and get ready for the next job – and check the web and the email and the phone and my friends for that bit of great news that we can all celebrate.

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