Day 763

I spent way too much time this morning putting together my little video demo for the Shop NBC folks. Honestly, I don't know why I bothered. I mumble when I talk. I often get a totally blank look on my face when I'm listening to someone else. When I look down, my chin disappears. I don't know what these guys were thinking when they asked me to be a pitchman on a shopping channel. Oddly, the video did have a certain charm. Janet helped me make it, playing the "host" while I was the "guest." We do have a good sense of humor. I don't know if they were looking for humor though. Like Janet told me when we finished the demo, "Hey, if they'd asked us to make this twenty years ago, we would have been pretty good." Somehow, I doubt if I'll ever hear about me selling things on TV again.

I may not get the Shop NBC gig, but it does look like I'll be getting more work from my German client. I got an e-mail today from the public relations coordinator I met with in Houston last month and they want me to bid on a good size project. This is great news! I really need to get more corporate work if I want my business to grow. I'm totally maxed out on small, low budget jobs that make me tired and earn me very little.

Remember that I told you I met with my financial adviser yesterday? Well, I got a message from the guy today telling me that all the charts he was showing me for a company he was recommending were really for another company that he wouldn't recommend at all. Really? You certainly could have fooled me. All these charts with their moving average lines look exactly the same to me. My adviser apologized for his mistake and then sent me new information about the "good" company. I'll have to call the guy tomorrow and see whether we actually bought the bad company or the good company. The two charts still look the same to me.

I've got a photo shoot tomorrow. I'm going to be taking more employee photos that will eventually wind up on the company's website. I've taken tons of pictures for this client before, but now they've gotten it in their heads that they need to look prettier. I'm kind of dreading tomorrow. I never take a makeup artist with me, because it's just not in the budget. Good makeup is what they need though. It's not the lighting, it's the makeup.

The furnace still isn't working properly. It will operate normally for about half a day and then the burners refuse to light for no apparent reason. The only way I can get it to start is turn the furnace on and off at the thermostat several times in a row. I know the service folks aren't going to want to come out again. They've been here twice already for this problem and told me they'd fixed things both times.

Chief is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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