Turning it all around

Things are moving in the right direction.  The past 4 months have been pretty good, overall.  It's amazing how badly things were going back in March and April.  I was nearly broke, getting fat and wasn't in a good frame of mind at all.

The thing that keeps me in small business, despite the absolute misery sometimes, is that it also has the potential to be great when things are going well.  Yeah, having a small biz put me in a pretty bad hole, but having a small biz is also my best shot at digging out.

Our overhead is so low right now that if we can get a reasonable amount of business (not always a foregone conclusion), we make our nut without a lot of drama.  My employees are amazing and have really carried me through this time. 

This is the second time I can remember where I felt like I, personally, was going to give up, and my employees carried me through. 

Only time will tell if I'll start prospering again, or whether things will stay down, but I've seen the business do well in the past.  That's why I keep slugging away at things.  Sure would be nice to return to prosperity and profitability.

We had a little bit of a good run due to a very little rain we got in the Spring.  We are getting rain today after a couple of draught months.  I still contend that my drop in volume is primarily driven by the weather.  During good years, we were having 3 weather events per year that gave us more business than we could handle.  During bad years, like the last two, we haven't had any. 

Paying off debt is going to be the main financial meter that will tell me when I've gotten totally out of the woods.  I have some notes to pay off over the course of the next 3 years.  When they're gone, my finances will be changed for the better.  We were growing so fast, I took on debt to accomodate the growth and anticipated continued growth.  When things went the other direction, the debt really became a burden.

Not sure how I could have done things differently, but it's done, now.  I'll just keep chipping away at the debt and eventually, it'll all be gone. 

My fitness is definitely improving and that is good in every conceivable way.  At my age, dropping dead of a heart attack is not out of the question, and over the next 20 years, if I don't take care of myself, it is a distinct possibility.

The main reason I started exercising again wasn't weight loss, oddly enough.  It was that with law school coming up, I felt like I needed more energy.  I do have that.  I'm keeping up with chores around the house monumentally better than in the past.

The one constant in all this is my son who has been a source of both pride and joy.  He did great last baseball season, had a fantastic swimming season, and in a week, he starts football workouts.  I am glad I've got such an energetic young man as a son. 

He's sincere, sensitive, hard-working, helpful and athletic.  He's also very friendly and makes friends wherever he goes.  I think he'll go far in life.  I really wish he wouldn't grow up so fast.  He'll finish High School just shy of his 18th birthday.  So, 8 more years with the kid.  I hope to make them all count.

It is still possible that the Navy could take me away for a year, and that's not something I'm eager to do, but not something I'd shy away from, either.  A lot of kids have dealt with a parent leaving for a year to serve the US, and some unfortunate ones have had to deal with much worse.  I take comfort in the fact that although it'll be hard for me, he's got a great mother to take care of him and he'll learn a valuable lesson on the nature of service to the country.

Next week, I'll start my CON 120 class to finish up my basic defense acquisition certification.  I'll have my DAWIA level 1 certification.  This means that if I deploy, it'll almost certainly be as a contracting officer.

The contracting officers continue to be some of the most frequently deployed guys in the navy reserve.  That's part of why I decided to pursue this. 

If I spent a year away, it quite likely would be a financial boon.  Military officer pay is pretty good, especially with a combat-zone exemption.  With the tax implications, it's probably analogous to making six figures as a civilian. 

My only worry would be my business, but chances are the business would do just fine. 

When I get back from my contracting class, law school starts.  I'm glad to be doing this.  I'm really looking forward to meeting my fellow students. 

So, all in all, things are better than they were just a few short months ago.  I'm hoping that things continue to improve.