Ups and Downs

“Remember, a dead fish can float downstream, but it takes a live one to swim upstream.” W.C. Fields

Yesterday, I met with my friend Kathy at Common Grounds, a beloved local coffee house. We managed to snag the last empty table. I always wonder who all these people are who have time in the middle of the day to hang around the coffee house. Kathy reminds me that they are people just like us, who work at home and find somewhere else to meet so they don’t have to clean house.

Kathy was feeling down because a big contract she was counting on next year is suddenly no longer a sure thing. When I got home, I found a message from a new client (one that Kathy, ironically, recommended) about a possibility for a big contract for me next year. I was elated. Of course, mine is also not a sure thing.

That’s the way things go when you are self-employed: one day you’re up and the next you’re down. You have to learn not to get carried away with either option. If you lose a client, you have to find another one. If you get a big contract, you have to save some of the income to tide you over the bad times. You really never know what’s going to happen next.

Some people just can’t deal with all the ups and downs. They need the stability of a regular paycheck and the structure of regular hours. That would make me crazy, but I know that my life would make other people crazy. The great thing about this life is that you get to choose what you want and then create it.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Shopping Habits

“The universe has its own set of rules and its own sense of timing.” Richard Carlson, Don’t Worry, Make Money

Yesterday, I participated in a market research focus group. I spent two hours talking about grocery stores with five other women and the research leader. They handed each of us $100 as we left.

They only call me to do this about once a year, so it can’t really be considered a profit center, but it’s a nice piece of change, especially this time of year. It’s also fun, and I learned something from the other participants about a new grocery store that is being built in my neighborhood. It may turn out to be my regular store. After hearing what these women had to say about their own grocery shopping habits, I may also stop running around to different stores to follow the sales. One woman said she goes to only one store and figures it all evens out in the end. She might spend a little less there on some items and a little more on others, but she saves the gas and time that I spend going from place to place. That made a lot of sense to me.

If you’d like to participate in a focus group, look up market research companies in your local yellow pages. They are always looking for new people.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Homework

"You can have anything you want if you will give up the belief that you can't have it." Robert Anthony

In my quest to find people with unusual approaches to self-employment, I find that sometimes I just need to listen to whoever is around me. Yesterday, my writer friend Irv was talking about having Thanksgiving at his daughter’s house. She lives in a rural area outside of Denver and works as a midwife.

Thousands of midwives work in the U.S., but Jean’s business is a little different. Most midwives go to their clients’ homes or work in hospitals or birthing centers. Jean has set up a room in her house as a birthing center and the mothers-to-be come to her.

* * *

On another note, a local homeowners association made the news when a woman resident put up an outdoor wreath in the shape of a peace sign. The HOA told her to take it down because they interpreted it as a sign of protest against the war in Iraq. The resident explained that peace has a spiritual meaning, especially at this time of the year. She vowed to keep the wreath up, even if the accumulated fines reached $1,000. The negative publicity about their anti-peace stance caused the HOA to back down and allow her to keep her wreath.

It’s an interesting world we live in, where peace is a controversial goal.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Time Is On My Side (Not)

May you live in interesting times.

Chinese curse

Time is definitely NOT on my side this week. Maybe that is why this little gadget caught my eye, when they featured it on one of those HGTV gift shows:

It’s called a Tempo Time Tag. Only about an inch long, it clips on your sleeve or notebook or anywhere else you might need a discreet time check. I’m not sure why anyone who wears a watch would need one, and everybody I know wears a watch except me, which is probably why I’m intrigued by it. I haven’t ordered it yet because they only come in packs of two and I don’t know why I would need more than one.

This is a practice that drives me crazy in things like batteries. Why can’t I buy exactly the number I want instead of the 2 or 4 or 8 that come in a package?

I’d also like to find someplace local that I can buy it to avoid paying the $5 or more shipping charge for something that weighs a couple of ounces. Maybe I’ll check the dollar store and see if they have something similar.

Have you noticed the proliferation of dollar stores? They’re everywhere. The current equivalent of the dime stores that abounded when I was a kid (and where very little was available for 10¢), these stores are as popular as thrift stores were a few years ago.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

The Holiday Siege Begins

“I have seen more artists damaged by unlimited time than limited time.” Julia Cameron Letters to a Young Artist

Every year, I get to the holiday season feeling rushed and overwhelmed with everything I have to do in a short period of time. I don’t know why it still surprises me. Today, the advent study class I signed up for at church begins and I start teaching a new class at the University tonight. I have three new classes starting in the next three weeks, one of which I have never taught before. My unfinished column is due at the newspaper, I need to get plastic on my windows before a winter storm hits tomorrow night, and I have to change the batteries in my smoke detectors.

I’ll work on the column for a couple of hours this morning, then walk to church and back to get my exercise in. Meanwhile, I try to make sure to write everything down. Knowing that I have a list eliminates the endless loop of reminders running through my head—at least that’s the theory. Somewhere in the mix, I need to decorate for Christmas, write my Christmas letter, address and mail cards, get together with friends, shop for (and wrap) gifts. Of course, there are also the usual activities of grading papers, preparing for class, attending meetings, writing here and on and on. I have to stop now because I’m starting to feel inundated again.

Breathe. Know that I will either get everything done or I won’t. Either way, I will emerge on the other side of the holidays, looking forward to my birthday in January and to spring of another year beyond. As Martha would say, it’s a good thing.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved