Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Cutting Bait And Moving On

Sunday December 19th, 2010 - Milwaukee, WI/Kenosha,WI

   I went up to the sports card show at Gonzaga Hall in West Allis, WI to meet up with my good friend Richard today. He’s been helping me sell my mountain of sports cards for the last few months and has gone above and beyond the call of duty to help me unload them.

   Richard has an Ebay business and sells high end cards. My stuff was mostly mid-grade, which is always hardest to sell. I knew that when I bought them, but I wasn’t planning on selling them as quickly as I’ve had to. It was a mistake, and now I’m trying to recover.

   There was a big card show in Chicago in November and Rich took a bunch of my stuff to shop around on my behalf. He didn’t have to do that, but he’s a good friend and wanted to help me get the best price, or at least a lump of cash rather than boxes of old cardboard.

   It’s not easy to eat mistakes and move on, but that’s the best thing to do right now. I can always buy more cards, but my time in the sun as a comedian is getting shorter by the day so clearing everything else out and going for it is the right decision, even if I lose a chunk of money in the short run. Richard has really helped me make the best of this ugly mess.

   He set up at his table with my stuff today, and ended up selling a couple hundred bucks worth of it. I paid the table fee, but it was totally worth it. He also gave me a nice stack of cash he got for some of my other stuff in Chicago and I wanted to hug him immediately.

   That money will be able to give me even more of a financial cushion and allow myself a little leeway to work on projects in the new year. And, it allowed me to remove the pile of heavy boxes from where I was living just in time to avoid me having to move it to storage and spend money letting it rot. I took action, and Richard kept it going. He’s a true friend.

   After a lifetime of farting around with sports cards, I think I’m finally finished for good. I had a blast with them from childhood on, but I drifted in and out of them and never had the constant focus required to be a big time dealer. I made a few bucks, lost a lot more but I have to admit the chase was a lot of fun. I’ve finally outgrown it now, but that’s okay.

   I’ve got some scraps left, and Richard said he’d do his best to help me get as much cash back as possible. Again, he didn’t have to do that and I totally appreciate it. I love to hang out with him and some of the other card guys I’ve known, but as far as collecting or being a dealer myself that’s over with. I’ve learned my lesson and won’t consider that anymore.

   This is all part of the lessons of life. Try something, tweak it, adjust it, see if it fits. This was a fun hobby for a lifetime, but now it’s over. Even though I ended up losing my ass in it, the money that’s coming in now is much appreciated. I’m living and learning. So be it.

   If we’re all here on this cosmic plane to learn, I’m sure getting my share of education. If I knew life was going to be this difficult, I might not have signed up. Too late. It’s a never ending constantly evolving classroom, and I’m a perpetual student. I wonder if I’ll pass?

     Tonight it was back to AM 1050 WLIP in Kenosha, WI for The Mothership Connection radio show. The crew all got together for a Christmas dinner beforehand, and I’m glad the show has been able to stay on the air in my absence on the ships. Everyone has pitched in.

   The show has always been fun, and still is. We had some excellent guests and callers to keep it moving, and four hours ended up flying by as it usually does. I hadn’t been on the air in a while, and it felt good to get back in the saddle. The energy all around was good.

   But, like with sports cards, it may be time to get out of this racket too. It’s been a lot of fun for a long time, but where is it leading? With everything else going on, it’s hard to be focusing on projects that don’t make money. If I had a bigger cushion to fall back on, I’d be able to do this without any question. But. is this the smartest way to invest my time?

   That can only be answered if we’re able to get paid. How can that happen? I’m a fan of Coast To Coast AM with George Noory, and that’s the big dog of shows like this. If we’d get a chance to fill in on weekends or something that would be worth it just for the big ray of exposure it would give. But would it pay? And, would they let the crew stay together?

   Part of what makes it all so fun is the crew of people involved. It’s a blast going into the studio with Shelley Maas-Hernandez, Greg DeGuire, Gary Pansch and whomever else we can get to show up and join us. It’s a cross between a morning show and Coast To Coast.

   In a perfect world, we’d be able to get a syndication deal which would put us on nightly to open for Coast To Coast. It would be a perfect lead in, but are the radio powers that be even interested in something like that? I don’t have any idea who to even talk to about it.

   Kipper McGee knows the show exists, and if anyone can give me pointers, it’s him. He would help me sell it if there were any openings, but he’s got his own career to maintain. He’s got an impressive resume, but no job right now. That’s common in the radio game.

   Virtually everyone I know in that business is scrambling, and I’ve had my share of that too. Playing that game is a cross between musical chairs and whack-a-mole. There’s a lot of carnage with no real reason for it, so why tempt the meat grinder? The other people on the show are all bright eyed and bushy tailed, and that’s fine. They haven’t been scorched.

    I’d be fine with letting them take over the show, and maybe showing up once a month or so to hang out on air if they’d let me. I’m sure they would, but putting maximum effort into it just isn’t the best way to spend my time now. This is the time to create whatever is possible to go into some kind of retirement fund. I’m not going to have it willed to me.

   I don’t regret any of this, and it’s a sign I’m still growing in a positive way. Playing the sports card game and having a radio talk show are both great fun, but I have to think a big wad of cash socked away wouldn’t suck either. That’s just where my instincts take me at this time. Making hay while the sun shines is the right thing to do, and hopefully clearing out the time suckers from my life will open up new avenues I’ll be able to make use of.

Posted via email from Dobie Maxwell's "Dented Can" Diary

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