HOM: Proceeding

After a lot of soul searching and discussion, I decided to be a Bookman. I figured I'd rather try that and fail than to go on fighting logs and treading the usual career paths. I'd hit thirty a while back, and of all the "Ending In Zero" birthdays, that was the worst. I was vastly unhappy with my life, my marriage and my job. The idea of working with something I cared about and had a little knowledge about appealed to me and seemed like something worth making some sacrifices for. With that out of the way, the next decision was financing. I decided to sell a couple of acres of the farm over in the far corner for just enough to cover the price Jerry & I agreed on. It was a good plan, but there was a problem, which I suppose I could call The Uprising Of The Farmers. Yeah, the neighbors objected. Boy, did they object. I'd never been a real member in good standing of the community out there, and when folks heard what I wanted to do, my popularity hot rock bottom. Dealing with planning boards was bad, dealing with folks I'd known all my life was worse. "Childish" and "Thoughtless" were two of the nicer things I was called. I finally capitulated and sold half the place, which was on a separate deed as a result of a family feud and thus wasn't a "subdivision" of the existing property. It was not a good move, it was overkill for what I wanted or needed, but it was my only option. Ironically, the land use thing I fought was thrown out a few years later, challenged in court and decreed illegal. I consoled myself by thinking that a financial cushion would be a good thing and would help all three of us in the future. Lyn consoled herself by going shopping. TBC (Me) (Blacktail Books)