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May 2008 Blog
Rick Hampton Square Dance Caller

May 6th
A fun few days, The Party I had on Saturday had to be re-scheduled, so I had quality time at the house (Mowing, Weeding , Cooking )  I have an ear infection that may upset flying in the next few weeks-I hope the meds fix it asap!!
I've had 3 episodes of this in my life- The first at 7, the next at 28 and now-Sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!  I may have to back out of any gigs that involve altitude.
Thanks to y'all for prayers  I hope this goes away. I am feeling much better than 2 days ago but the doc says I'm grounded till it's gone.

Rick

May 8th
The ear is better, not well, but not hurting too much.   I've had to re-evaluate my fiscal situation and have accepted an opportunity to have a side career, learning new things. The impact on calling will be minimal, hopefully if I am able to succeed at this- It will be a win/win for my mentor (He's retired but still gets a lot of projects offered) and for me (I merely have to learn the ropes and if I do- all's well)  If not, ...............??  I love calling and I'm pretty good at it, I pray this arrangement will allow me to continue, cuz if it doesn't work out- I'll have to back off calling a whole lot, and get a radio job........I'm not sure I want to balance an unbalanceable  schedule again- I may have to choose fiscal responsibility over what I love to do........7-11 perhaps-radio?-truck driving? or as JR suggested a male pr####tute-at a penny a poke-Thanks Buddy-I luv ya too...PS OPEC Sucks

Rick

May 14th
The fiscal impact of rising costs continues, Yet I see light at the end of the tunnel- I see a career change-I do NOT want one but the reality is I've had to turn down 4 great part time jobs and 1 fulltime due solely to my calling schedule- One was an opportunity to learn the Produce Brokering business-HUGE in The san Joaquin Valley-It required me to be at the brokerage Every Fri/Sat till Labor day- Sadly I'm booked most of those weekends and ALL out of town.......Sigh.......The side career mentioned above is still happening, Yet (It is based on new construction) the new work has evaporated- Don't get me wrong, I will have some work-on my schedule, but it wont be as profitable as expected-a MERE 4 weeks ago- My mentor says he's never (in 40 years) seen a drop-off like this.........Folks I have to try to balance my commitments in s/d (And rest assured I will honor my agreements already made!!!!!!) But at what point do I just MAYBE call for 1-2 groups locally and say ce'la Vi'..........I remain open to ideas!!!!!!................BTW due to the ear issue (all better now) I had to so delay the booking of flights that Nationals were not possible- I'm flying the weekend before to the east coast and at the late date to book (I just got my ear issue fixed)  the 7 leg trip was out of que$tion      I then (responsibly let Nationals know I could not attend) THEN UPDATE I will be at nationals solely thanks to another caller on the label who gave up frequent flyer miles to get my fat "a$$""  (quoted) there......Wow Thanks and I'm amazed what friends will do........Meanwhile .........Mirdza wants me to finish college yet at 48 there doesn't seem to be a way to fiscally justify it- and frankly (Much to Lynn's chagrin) I can't see to point of going bankrupt to have a degree in 3 years.

SH*T Happens eh' Yet Nice happens too- I'm confused

Rick "Not proud of me at the Moment-Should've done this college thing 30 years ago-Yet I LOVE calling and until the last 11 months it worked pretty well"

May 15th
Ok nobody freak out- I have no plans of stopping calling, traveling, recording- I also have no plans of losing (literally) money on every gig- The plan I don't have is how to work this out..........Gang the days of 4/person square dances are over-Halls cost more-It costs dancers more to get to the dance- I am certain of 2 things   1) S/D must value itself more and budget accordingly and 2) The callers must provide a product that also reflects the value.......Some reading this may say "I just want more money".....NOPE......What I want is to make the same (more is good of course) that I was making a mere year ago- Heck I'll lower EVERY fee I have if the expenses I incur are reimbursed-I would hope clubs also wish they were at the same financial point of a year ago.......The answer is simple 4 bucks wont do it

Rick

May 19th
A long hot summer appears to be looming, I hope all are well, Tonight is "graduation" A term I HATE!!!
Do-see-Do is going to see a change- Local callers and only Local callers........Good thing I'm a Local caller too

Rick