How wonderful! Dire Straits was a special part of my music collection. Thank you for sharing
3 APRIL
Well, Friday came and went. And I am actually
smarter for having lived it. For example, I found out today that Mr Clipped will keep his SG status until 2022. Not a bad achievement when you consider the closest he will come to a airplane in the next 12 months, is driving past Mascot.
Our work day was spent mostly packing up boxes and condensing a 270sqm factory for a 50sqm storage unit. Hard yacca if you don't have the gumption. There's no time for emotional or sentimental moments. You either throw it, or stow it. Perhaps the hardest thing was scrapping the thousands of job sheets we kept. No legal reason to save them, but it was an immense collection of personal achievement. It's like going through a box of old photos. You end up sitting on the floor, marvelling at your early triumphs, and cringing at the Big Jobs that got away. Every job sheet told a story. And ours was a pretty great read.
We started our business in 1993, long before Windows/MYOB or Quickbooks. Everything was hard copy. We'd both worked for a large sign firm for many years and had finally decided to jump ship: into mortgage, a new business and a new baby all in the same year. Then we threw in another baby and marriage for good measure.
We had no idea what we were thinking. In those days, we worked 24/7 and carried our infants everywhere we went. In a capsule. Our first born has the dubious honor of scaling more extension ladders in her first year of life than most people will in their lifetime. I'm pretty sure that would be illegal now, but for us it was a way of life. Every sign was hand painted. Including the lofty walls of office blocks. I would climb down the ladder and find somewhere to breastfeed while Mr Clipped painted. Then, he would babysit while I painted. The only time we could afford a fancy vinyl-cutting computer, was when I scratched $5000 in 1996 on one of those Lottery Scratchies. I'd bought it from the newsagent and gave it to our toddler as she sat in the shopping trolley while I (now 8 months pregnant again) bought groceries. She had sucked all four edges, so it was all soft and slimy when I finally sat down in the mall to rest my (very swollen) feet. I scratched to see three $5000's smiling at me and my first thought was that I was on Candid Camera. Trembling, I approached the newsagent and meekly asked in my quietest voice "um, excuse me....is this a winner?"
The rest is history. We used the money to purchase a brand new Roland Plotter and CAD software. Business took off with a solid reputation for quality, honesty and integrity. Two more tin lids followed, before a relocation to the Central Coast to find care for our autistic son, who was diagnosed as profoundly disabled in 2003. Our association with the Canterbury Bulldogs had also came about the same time. Mr Clipped was a Born&Bred Doggies fan and was one day asked to do a quote at the Leagues Club. He was more excited at being in the
Inner Sanctum, than he was about the tender! One job led to another and soon he was the preferred supplier. We gave back with sponsorship in 2012 and formed a mutually productive relationship that continues to endure. There's nothing like putting up your own company sign at Belmore Sports Ground when the team is training!
It was the most fabulous 25 years, but we never once lost sight of why we chose to be self-employed:
our kids. Every first step, every first word, every school concert and excursion. We were there for all of them. I did tuck shops, Mr Clipped would chaperone the bus trips to zoos, Luna Park - wherever. We donated our time and signage to a variety of school endeavors and I still to this day - volunteer at the annual Fair by the Sea as a face painter. Mr Clipped still hangs the banners around town. Our special son received intervention and flourished to become an adorable and participating member of our family. He recently graduated from High School with a (special edition) HSC certificate. And he still melts my heart.
I put the job sheets in the bin and reflected what an amazing roller coaster it has been. We got way more out of it than we put in.
That kind of investment and return is without quantification. You can't trade it. You can't buy it back. Once it's gone, it's gone. I said at the beginning of this post that I was benefiting on an intellectual level. That is because I continue to learn things about myself that I was previously ignorant to.
Pooh Bear said it best: I am stronger than I thought. Braver than I believed. And smarter than I knew.
We are without income. We are
not without riches.