{"id":22583,"date":"2023-12-01T19:00:47","date_gmt":"2023-12-02T02:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beardogco.com\/theroadhome\/?p=22583"},"modified":"2023-12-01T19:06:18","modified_gmt":"2023-12-02T02:06:18","slug":"december-1-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beardogco.com\/theroadhome\/2023\/12\/december-1-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"December 1, 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Here we go &#8230; headed toward Christmas and the end of 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some catching up from late September &#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My work hiatus\/retirement that occurred 7\/6 &#8230; kind of came to an end in early October.  I was not actually thrilled &#8230; I had a LOT of time to think about things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Short story is that I realized how much anger\/angst\/annoyance had been involved in the work environment.  And at 68 with hopefully 20-25 ish years left on this earth &#8230; I re-evaluated and decided that my mental health and happiness did NOT lie in that situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The work hiatus started\/stopped and holy cow &#8230; what a mess.  I could not just walk away as I had been paid and owed some hours.  But I did make clear that I would work those hours and then I was done &#8230; time for me to move on.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was not what I planned.  I hoped to work into my 70th year (end of 2025).  We (tech team) had a great plan and I anticipated that we would complete deployment of that plan in 2025 and it would be a timely time for me to be done:  2 more years of income at a level that would allow me to get the house in shape to be most easily maintained as I aged as well as a good reserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I saw two quotes that resonated with me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cSometimes, no matter how much you love what you\u2019re doing, it\u2019s not worth becoming the person it\u2019s turning you into.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u2014 Whale Harbor Dreams (Saltwater Sunsets Book 1) by Fiona Baker <a href=\"https:\/\/a.co\/gvTwCEs\">https:\/\/a.co\/gvTwCEs<\/a> ***<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And &#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>&#8220;What you tolerate is what you validate&#8221; <\/em>&#8230; Instagram anonymous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Those words helped me understand my need to step away from my plan, from a long-time team and client and from sure-ish income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I should be done, i.e. fulfilled my hours owed commitment by 12\/20 latest:  Merry Christmas to me!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile &#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I need to fill in some income in order to stay in this house.  Or I could sell and be able to buy a little house in a different area for cash and &#8230; well be darn comfortable.  I want to try to keep this house &#8230; I think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, I have some &#8220;irons in the fire&#8221; !!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Social media content producing:  I enjoy the videography and photography AND writing  so I am pursuing that.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Business consulting:  Not my first choice but maybe some opportunities to leverage my own experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My own social media:  I&#8217;ve had limited success with blog and YouTube, but I haven&#8217;t been giving it my all, so maybe a possibility<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Various online work from home gigs:  bookkeeping, virtual assistant, database entry\/programming ???<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At any rate, some options and I am excited to see what happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I did an experimental walk through of Wild Thing (RV) using my 360 camera.  This was to give info to a consignment dealer as well as gain experience with doing interior 360 video:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"2003 Winnebago Adventurer 33V Walk Through\" width=\"658\" height=\"370\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9Pdf77bwpT8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanksgiving 2023 &#8230;  I had a lovely day &#8230; cooking, walking and being outside with Oscar and Emmett, a delicious meal &#8230; it was one of those days where I just relaxed and did all that I wanted to do.  As I was doing all, I was posting photos and short video to Instagram stories.  Finally, I made a mini-movie from all of the IG story posts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"A short Thanksgiving story\" width=\"658\" height=\"370\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uXS2AHJuxVE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>One of my &#8220;for fun&#8221; things &#8230; I decided to learn watercolor painting and colored pencil drawing.  I am very much enjoying both!  It is relaxing to spend some time in the evening messing with one or the other.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I did realize that I needed a spot somewhat dedicated to painting and drawing.  I ended up getting a small art\/drafting table.  The bookcase in my office was really just a place holder piece of furniture so it went away and the art table is in its place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.beardogco.com\/theroadhome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/4AmazonReview5357.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22585\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.beardogco.com\/theroadhome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/4AmazonReview5357.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.beardogco.com\/theroadhome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/4AmazonReview5357-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.beardogco.com\/theroadhome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/4AmazonReview5357-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.beardogco.com\/theroadhome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/4AmazonReview5357-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.beardogco.com\/theroadhome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/4AmazonReview5357-40x40.jpg 40w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The table fits perfectly in place of the bookcase.  It has a pull-out shelf which holds my iPad so I can follow along with tutorials.  Two small drawers to hold supplies or at least supplies for current projects.  To the right is a ring light.  I bought that for multiple purposes:  light on me for Zoom meetings, light on objects and\/or food for photography and videography and light on that table for evening painting.  The ring light is shown fully shortened but it extends to nearly the ceiling.  It has a built in battery so can be run cordless, thus easy to move around &#8230; AND it has a phone holder so I can set up my phone to record video.  There is an adjustment that allows the ring light to bend to 90 degrees and all in between.  I have used it with much success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ultimately I am thrilled to be semi-retired and exploring other projects and light work opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>AND!!! It is December 1 and we woke to an inch of snow and 2 Winter Storm warnings &#8230; YEA!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"892\" src=\"https:\/\/www.beardogco.com\/theroadhome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Snow5367.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22587\" style=\"width:840px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.beardogco.com\/theroadhome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Snow5367.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.beardogco.com\/theroadhome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Snow5367-235x300.jpg 235w, https:\/\/www.beardogco.com\/theroadhome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Snow5367-118x150.jpg 118w, https:\/\/www.beardogco.com\/theroadhome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Snow5367-31x40.jpg 31w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Here we go Winter!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here we go &#8230; headed toward Christmas and the end of 2023. Some catching up from late September &#8230; My work hiatus\/retirement that occurred 7\/6 &#8230; kind of came to an end in early October. I was not actually thrilled &#8230; I had a LOT of time to think about things. Short story is that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-front-porch-musings"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beardogco.com\/theroadhome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beardogco.com\/theroadhome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beardogco.com\/theroadhome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beardogco.com\/theroadhome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beardogco.com\/theroadhome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22583"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.beardogco.com\/theroadhome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22583\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22589,"href":"https:\/\/www.beardogco.com\/theroadhome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22583\/revisions\/22589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beardogco.com\/theroadhome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beardogco.com\/theroadhome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beardogco.com\/theroadhome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}