A different venture

[AlgoDan]

Dang you know there comes a time when we need change. You need a change and a challenge, and you have it all planned out. Good luck and keep us posted as you go...

[Martinup]

Good for you Steve:

Best of luck for fun and profit and better places , piece of mind and fire in your stride.

Martin,

[S. Heisley]

Steve, if you call your new business SECOND CHANCES & PERSPECTIVES, you'll have your before and after cancer life, restored products, and art all covered in the name.

Wishing you well in business and life.

[S. Heisley]

Yeah but Sharon I'm still waiting for the second life That's a few months off, I could die by then
I have a few ideas for names, I just need to print off some business cards and see which one I like better

The threat of dying teaches one a lot about how to live.

[Fenlason]

good luck..

[droid_ca]

Good luck Steve, I'd love to check out your gallery sometime, if you have a site for it please post a link

[eamarquardt]

Ya know, sometimes I have "original thoughts" and sometimes I "plagiarizistically" copy things that work.

I'm not sure how much thought you've put into this venture but if I were starting out on a new path, I'd look around and talk to folks that have gone down the same path and learn from them. My brother asked me to help him sell his Ferrari. So, thinking along these lines I called a couple of folks that were advertising similar cars and see if it was worth spending the money on an ad (this was before the internet and Craigslist). One of the fellows that I called bought the car and I didn't have to lift a finger, ha. You never know where questions will lead you. Ask lots and lots of questions of anyone that might have something to offer.

I doubt any other gallery owners in your town would be too interested in talking to you and sharing their experiences. Just a guess. However, if you wander not too afar you might find an owner in a neighboring town, that you won't be a threat to or be in competition with, who will share their hard earned experiences with you. I kinda think a "road trip" is in order.

Some of the questions that come to my mind are: Is your town a tourist stop or will you be limited to "local clientele"? If local clientele only, are there enough locals to support your business? Will it be a seasonal business or will it be "business as usual" all year round? What exactly will you sell and where will you get it? Can you save expenses and live in part of the building you rent or buy? I loved working from home, rolling out of the sack, and being at my desk ready to go with a cuppa tea and a bowl of cereal under my belt in about 5 minutes. It was GREAT. Can EBay be a help. I understand shipping between Canada and the US is a PITA. Is there a "work-a-round" for that? Can you "multitask" as in have a workshop as part of your business and rather than sitting around waiting for something to happen use your time productively? I think you've hinted at that.

The more you post on the forum and other places you might be sharing your thoughts on, the more others will understand what you have in mind and it may trigger thoughts or suggestions. None of my thoughts/questions are intended to discourage you, but merely intended to help you think and plan so that you will be successful.

Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.

Just some random drug induced thoughts.

Good luck.

Gus

[milliejohn]

I have been making my own art and selling it myself for a long time, and before the latest downturn I even kept a store full along with antiques, even now I find the vintage trailer market is one of the warmer spots on the economy, so I adapt to what is selling today. I find an itch that needs scratched and go from there. Glamping decor in the form of nostalgia themed items for canned hams, airstreams, rat rods, and of course teardrops and classic cars is a hot ticket item today.

Paintings of classic trailers and cruisers sell like hot cakes, as do custom made trophies that give the buyer first place in the contest that never was

I could go on but you get the picture, when one door closes, open another, life has an expiration date, use it all up

[eamarquardt]

[quote="biziedizie" What's this drug induced thoughts all about [/quote]

I live with pain, daily, that is well recognized for it's ability to drive people to suicide. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_disease

There are 12 cranial nerves on each side of the brain that don't go through the spinal column. When they go crazy and generate pain it's called a neuralgia. The trigeminal nerve is the one that goes crazy most often. Others can and do go crazy causing similar pain. Most folks have trouble with one nerve on one side of the brain causing episodes of pain. I have 5 nerves on both sides of the brain that cause me pain 24/7. I have continuous pain versus "episodes" of pain. This, type 2 neuralgia, has only recently been recognized as a variant and "in the beginning" of my journey the doctors discounted my telling them that I'm always in pain and that it's just a matter of degree.

I've been to over 200+ doctors, had 11 surgical procedures including brain surgery and one surgery where the doctor used NO anesthesia. Nothing helped.

So, the only way to deal with the situation was to quit work, lay low as much as possible at times, and use opiates daily.

I, being inexperienced with opiates, got in way over my head using them, experienced unacceptable side effects, and eventually decided that opiates were not a long term solution and quit w/o professional help. Then,I ended up in insane asylums, twice, for anxiety and depression that are common and expected side effects of "detox".

The "professionals" in the hospitals told me that NO ONE could do what I did and quit, from as high a usage as I did, w/o professional help. WTF do they know. I know I did it.

So, after about 8 years of going drug free, I was no longer able to be functional w/o "using" again. So, I use opiates daily. I cut the pills I get (Nucynta 50mg) into quarters and try to limit myself to a quarter of a pill twice a day. I average about 3/4 of a pill per day (37.5 mg). The max allowed dose is 600mg so I'm way under the dependence, tolerance, and withdrawal envelope.

Anyway, my way of dealing with what some consider a lifestyle not worth living is to joke about it and poke fun at my drug usage and the disease. I think I'm winning.

So, folks are free to disagree with anything I say because all of my thoughts are clouded in the fog of opiates, ha. On the plus side I'm living every abusers dream as my doctors will give me virtually whatever I want. I do, though, keep a log of every fraction of a pill I take so I know exactly how much I am using. This way I can see trends and I'm not fooling me or my doctors about how much I use.

Be thankful that you beat the cancer into remission. Some diseases "keep on giving".

Cheers,

Gus

[eamarquardt]

Gus, reading what you're saying is like talking to a friend of mine that suffers from it aswell.
I've watched him for years with the meds and the many docs.
He has a great sense of humor and laughs it off for the most part as there's not much he can do about it.
You would think by now they would have a pill or a cure for it but they don't

Oh they have pills! They "make everything OK" for a while. It's only temporary though, and eventually the treatment is worse than the disease. That's why I am so very careful to manage my "fixes" and fly under the radar.

Cheers,

Gus

[PKCSPT]

Best of Luck,, I am one and married to another who will only dream of doing what you are planning.