Frank’s Corner

Seems like only yesterday I was whining and complaining about not knowing what I’d actually managed to do or not do in the 6 months previous. And now I’m looking back on a month saying Wow “How did all that happen?” - where’d the time go!

Let’s see, first there’s Brooklyn’s birthday. (Yeah, I know, that happens every year, but this year I have no idea what he may want or what to get him.) Well hey, turn a light bulb on over my head - He said he’d like to figure out how to market MILK & CHASE merchandise and we’ve already made bowling shirts, I’ve got the logo files. We want to sell footage and stills for the business and there was a time when when I was doing some research on this stuff - what’d I do with that? Found it, I can set up a pro account at Photo Stock Plus for selling stills and products made from them. Then I can order M&C shirts and mugs from myself for his birthday and see what kind of a job they do on their products at the same time. (He liked them so much he had me set up files for the 4 main characters of M&C the comic and then he ordered a mug of each and a poster showing the 4 of them for himself, which he ended up hanging in the video control room at church.)

Army Dude finishes AIT and is coming home for 2 weeks of Hometown Recruiting before leaving for his first true duty station in Korea (Where he will probably not be coming home from for at least 6 months and definitely not be phoning as often from.) Only two weeks and he’ll be working and mom’ll be working and his brother’ll be working, but it’s over Easter so everyone’ll be around and together for at least one day. Well everyone was working, but we did manage some family time and some individual time with him and we did get the computer and third screen at Church working as correctly as possible in the time we had - After Easter pastor asked if we could put his notes up on the rear screen instead of the sermon outline we were putting up for the rest of the congregation on the front screens - of course the possibility of using multiple images on multiple screens was why they allowed the 3 projectors, screens and computer (specially built and programed by Army dude, Linux based with multiple video inputs and outputs) system we ended up installing. Naturally though, the original idea was to grow into the system and keep adding the new features over time AND that Army dude would either have already accomplished all the programing or be around to do it as Brooklyn and I got the wiring and video equipment in place to even send it all to the computer for distribution, let alone have the operators, much less trained operators to work it. Anyway, we just told pastor “sure, no problem.” Then the two of them went about figuring out how and making it work. Now pastor sends us the slides for the 2 services and a single slide of his notes and we set up the 4 slide presentations, 2 front and 2 rear. Some day we’ll get additional switching equipment and run the other video lines from the control room to the balcony for the projection computer, for now the projectionist just switches between front and rear slide presentations. Anyway, the boys said their goodbyes and mom and I got Army dude to the Airport (where, with no amount of moms pleading would they let “we’re his parents, he’s in the Army and going to Korea” us go to the gate with him.) and as far as security would allow to the gate. We’ve had a couple emails from him and he seems to be doing fine.

Let’s see Brooklyn’s birthday, Army dude finished AIT, was home for hometown recruiting and left for Korea, we got some work at church finished, I set up a still photography account to compliment our video stock account, we celebrated Easter with family, and Oh Yeah at the end of March mom retired. Everything had been piling up on mom for a while- She wasn’t happy at work, then they changed her job, son the younger wasn’t happy with college so he joined the Army (He did do the research and got a good deal and a contract guaranteeing the job he choose, but HE JOINED THE ARMY.) Son the older having graduated college and being hired where he had been interning and hating the 4 hour a day commute moved to Brooklyn, and then dad (me) goes and gets cancer so I guess yeah mom had allot on her plate, so we looked into and revised and revised and revised her retirement plans again and again and then she just decided this was it and did it. Mom’s still settling into getting used to being retired, but I think it’s difficult for her to understand I really do things most of the day most of the time. When I “retired” both boys were still in school and mom was working so I just continued going about things as usual except for going to “work” and then replaced that with working at setting up and growing a family business based on synergizing our complimentary talents and interests with what we were already doing at church. In other words putting together a business which allowed us to have to buy the equipment we needed to make the technology we were pushing the envelope at church with work. So I never had huge vacant time periods to deal with that mom now has. I only hope I’m smart enough to put aside time from some of the “stuff” I’m doing to really spend it with her now that we can. We’ve taken a couple days and gone to the beach and a couple parks where we’ve just walked around and taken some cameras so I’ve gotten some stills for Photo Stock Plus and footage for Brooklyn to edit for Shutterskock. And of course we’re going to Cape Cod for several days to visit an old friend, who just happened to be pastor at our old church. Also it’s like only a week after our 35th anniversary—-.

Admittedly just learning to do the web sites Army dude had been handling and working at growing the business much less adding a new large web site and dealing with the idea of having cancer has not been as easy as I thought it would. And while I Know GOD never allows us more than we can handle I don’t Believe that means we’ll always handle it as well as we could, so yeah it’s been a pain in the butt and that means I’ve undoubtedly been one also. With my platelet count stabilizing, the Dr’s been getting the Prednisone cut back further and further to the point where lately my count averages just about 100,000 and I’m only taking 2.5mg every other day, which has finally gotten me feeling almost the way I think I should - well at least I’m not exhausted all the time. So, even though it’s still watch & wait with the CLL for symptoms to show up and have to then consider what, when and how to do about it, it’s back to life as usual. (I hope.) Which unfortunately included catching up with and taking care of those mundane things like the bills I’ve never liked doing anyway and therefore found being tired a really good excuse for not keeping up with. Yeah, that didn’t work for long - you don’t pay them, they just send you more, you still don’t pay them they just start calling you and send you more till you do pay them. Anyhow with mom retiring it’s only right to start off with everything in order, so of course our newest and we thought best running vehicle decides to roll over and play dead - for keeps! It was replace the engine or the car and as the car was a ‘96 we decided to replace it. We found a ‘98 with only 64,000 miles on it, the price was right and mom liked it - so we bought it.