Torture Trifecta

Thursday October 2nd, 2008 - Lake Villa, IL

To be a baseball fan within 50 miles of where I live is no picnic right now. I am exactly halfway between Chicago and Milwaukee and everyone is on suicide watch. The Chicago Cubs stink. The Chicago White Sox suck. The Milwaukee Brewers rot. It’s all been ugly.

It’s amazing how the fortunes of a sports team can affect an entire region. If the Cubs or Brewers would win the World Series I’d be less than an hour away from mass hysteria for weeks. I remember when the White Sox won in 2005. I lived on the north side of Chicago then and even they were excited. Then there were the hardcore Cub fans who HATED it.

I watched or listened to the better part of all three games today and could sense them all being lost halfway through. It just wasn’t any of these teams’ day and nothing could make that change. Some days a team has it and some days not but to see all three go down hurt.

I’ve been following all three teams since I was a kid and I know I’m supposed to choose one but I can’t. I don’t hate any of these teams and wanted them all to get to the next level but it doesn’t look good for any of them. Good thing I don’t gamble. I’d be even broker.

At least I didn’t waste the day today. I had the games on but I still got lots of work done and that makes me feel energized. I worked on my comedy class syllabus for this new set of classes I’ve got coming up and realized just how much work I’ve put into them through the years. I have a very nice tight flow and it’s taken years to develop. It’s a solid product.

I put out a press release to the Zanies publicist and also an email to my new mailing list I had to start when the other goof stole my last one. He’s sending his information to all of MY old list and it infuriates me but I can’t stop it. I have to start all over but I am and am getting people to sign up so that’s encouraging. This will be a lot of work but I’m ready.

A few of the list are people from other towns who can only make it up for a single day seminar. I’ve had those before and they’re really fun but I went them one better. I said I’d come down to their town if they could set one up there and then they’d get in for free. It’s a great way to open up new markets and would be more than worth it for the students too.

I’m not going to let these classes die. I just won’t. I enjoy them too much and I meet SO many really good people along the way. Yeah, there are a few leakers in the bunch but on the whole the good ones outnumber them by about 50-1. Those are odds I can live with.

I also met with my accountant today to get my tax return taken care of. I filed for the old extension back in April but that just prolongs the agony. I let it go until now and I want to just get it out of the way. I don’t think I’ll owe anything but at least I’ll have them filed.

We also talked about the tax plan for Uranus Factory Outlet. That’s something I am not going to do half ass. If I start out keeping immaculate records from day one I will have an outstanding chance at success - or at least not going to prison. I’m going to do this right.