Just more sharing along the lines of what was just posted.
I don’t know why I do some of the things that I do. I guess it could technically be classified as insanity.
What you see here is the REAL me, mostly because I don’t have the time to fake or lie or make up some online character. I honestly have better things to do with my time. Basically, I am a nice guy. I help when and where i can.
Stuff I used to do was rescue horses. No, this isn’t all dramatic like getting a horse out of a well or a mud pit, but more like getting a horse back home when it escape from it’s corral, typically due to a board in the 3-rail fence breaking due to age and rot. Where I used to live, everyone has like an acre to 1.5 acres, and a lot of people had horses, and once in a while, one would get out. Now, I don’t ride, but I generally love animals. I’m no horse expert, but time after time I was able to calm down the horses and ponies and get them back to their owners.
Some charity work I’ve done as of late:
I did sound for Koncert for Katrina after the hurricane. The event I think rose NO money and I’m out hotel, food and fuel, but yet, I did the gig anyways, loved it and had a great time anyways. It was for a good cause. I donate my sound production services to my kids’ school. To take it the extra mile, I record the school productions and then make DVD’s that the school sells to parents or whatever and they use that as a fundraiser. I do this out of my own pocket.
People need help, I help when I can. Neighbors were doing some prayer ceremony and I can’t stand their craptastic sound so I volunteered my gear and services to make their prayer ceremony all it could be. Plus, being next door, I can’t ask for a better vantage point to keep an eye on my gear. I do have to admit I had a hidden agenda as I got a chance to work with tablas and harmonium, as I don’t often get to run across authentic indian instruments. The challenge was enjoyable.
Most people pay me back by saying “thank you” and being appreciative, which is often all I need to justify what I do.
Now, my family, well, that’s another matter. In their case, regarding me, it’s “no good deed goes unpunished.”. They ask to borrow my trailer, I let them borrow it. They pop a tire and lose all the locks(we’re talking $200+ in cable locks, hitch lock, another smaller lock and the lock for both the rear latches and the lock for the leg underneath the rear door.
They ask to borrow my truck. They do so. They lose a set of keys, I loan them the second set. They lose that too. I need my keys back and my truck back, and they can’t be bothered to find my keys. Well, lo and behold, I lost the gig. A month later they generously find my keys. Begging, pleading and screaming and showing them a contract did nothing. Oh, and they returned the truck empty. As a result, I also had to replace the fuel pump. It also messed up the fuel/water separator and the fuel injectors. Total costs: Over $2000 in repairs.
They need to borrow my car to take someone to the airport. They drive with the emergency brake on the whole time and wrecked my brakes. I forget what that cost since my wife doesn’t want to share that information with me. I do know I donated over $400 to that cause.
They borrow lights of mine, they break them and don’t tell me so when I get to a gig, I got a tree full of broken lights and no way to deal with this. They borrow power cables and if they aren’t losing them or giving them away, they yank the grounding plug out. Take my tools, take them, break them, let the dogs use them as chew toys.
Loan them money, they refuse to pay it back. It cost me a business. “When do I get paid back?” Answer: Tomorrow. Well, in this case, tomorrow never comes, because when it flips from 23:59:59 back to 00:00:00, it’s no longer tomorrow, it’s today. Tomorrow never comes, and neither did the $11,000 I needed to buy hardware for VISA to resell to them. Its how I make a living at the time. Well, not anymore after that.
The list of abuse is endless. No good deed goes unpunished. Now, with the death of their father, the blatant disrespect is more out in the open, which is an improvement as it’s easier to deal with things that aren’t hidden.
Now I am forced to make some changes to who I am. I generally don’t like this. But after stuff that happened yesterday, I have little to no choice but to cut them off until they make some changes. However, I’m not a very compromising person in certain areas, and this is going to be one of those areas.
Those who work with me doing live sound know I bring more, do more and charge less. I will not compromise my artistic integrity just because of something as stupid as money. Granted, I NEED money. Food, fuel, gear maintenance, yoyos, it all costs something. But I dislike the business end of what I do, I always ahve, I always will, yet it’s a necessary “evil”.
Since certain individuals in my extended family have chosen to behave in a manner I can no longer tolerate, I have to cut them off. I hate this, but I have no choice. I refuse to compromise my general happiness(what there is of it) because a bunch of inconsiderate individuals have fabricated issues.
The short version is still the same as before:
If you’re not a bad person, don’t change who you are. If you’re happy with a kid’s toy, then do it.
Let’s look at stuff I see adults doing:
Yoyo(now that I’m into it)
Action figures, mostly collecting though.
RC Cars, and now helicopters and for the really well off, airplanes including mini-jets
Model Trains
Legos and other construction type toys.
Trains
Guns
Swords and other bladed weapons
Stuff NOT suitable for this forum
And so many other things.
Be yourself. Don’t force your views upon others. Be happy and be good. Trust me on this. I feel like one of the resident geezers here. Most people are kids, and here I am almost 40 and finally getting into this whole yoyo thing. I’ve spent a LOT of time in aggressive and negative environments, including very hostile environments. I’ve spent a LOT of time unhappy for a HUGE amount of reasons. It ain’t worth it. Hate ain’t worth it. Being unhappy ain’t worth it.
Ride the mountain bike. Throw that yoyo. Dress crazy. It doesn’t matter. If what you’re doing doesn’t harm anyone, then so be it. If people don’t agree, don’t hate, just move on. Be happy. Life IS good.
Good timing. I’m going through a lot of bad crap right now and this thread hits. Helps me get out some of the stuff I’m working through. I am working hard to be happy, or at least for the most part, stay happier than I usually am. The high of the show, the crash after it’s done. If I want ups and downs, I’d throw a yoyo. Wait, that IS what I’m doing. And for me, it helps. A simple toy.
And if anyone doesn’t like it, they can bite me.
no one judges anyone for what they do on their free time, cus seriously who has the time to really notice? everyone is busy doing their own thing…