June 17, 2004
The past
two days have been a mess of drama and regrouping. I know now why I was
getting the "power surges"
and what the big thing was that was going down.
Eric
called his partner night before last to find out what time they were meeting
to go finish up the model homes, his partner, Mike, informed him that the
other sort of partner, Dan, refused to work with Eric!
A bit of
history here. The guys started the company, DSI (Diversified Systems
Integration) together as equal partners just over a year ago. I told
Mike and Eric waaaay back then that I had a bad feeling about this guy, Dan,
and they needed to get rid of him while they still could. There were
LOTS of instances where he directly lied to them, stole things, etc and still
they were bound by this loyalty crap about him being a partner. Men, I
swear.
They
started making contacts and setting things up and Dan went out and got a full
time job on the sly and didn't bother telling the other two for quite a
while. He just wasn't available to them. Now, they weren't making
much money, so it's no problem that he got a job, just that he was
duplicitous about it. After they found out what was actually going on,
he pretty much told them "call me when you're making some real money."
Eric and
Mike went on to do a number of small jobs here and there, filling in some of
the budget cracks for the better part of the year. In April, they
finally were able to start working on the housing projects where they stood
to at least make a decent living (once it got rolling) and what did they do?
Called Dan. >:< NO one listens to me, I swear. They were
pretty sure they needed him to help do the work. He agreed to come back
on his off duty time, so he still has a full time job even now. Mike
and Eric have been dedicated to the business from the beginning and haven't
had any other jobs. They've been busy making contacts, setting up
contracts, having meetings with contractors, etc.
So the
situation came up that I told you about a couple of weeks ago where one of
their friends, who had in fact lent them some seed money for materials when
they first started, needed a person to go through 2 weeks of training.
It was decided by the three of them that Eric should go.
He went.
At the end of the training, he was offered to continue the job full time and
after conferring with Mike to make sure the houses were ready to go and to
pay out soon, he declined the job offer.
That was
last Friday, what, 6 days ago?
Then on
Tuesday night, he called and was told not to come to work the next day
because Dan refuse to work with him. WTF? I know exactly what is
going on and that is that since the real money is in the works and close at
hand, Dan is wanting to make a 1/2 share rather than a 1/3 share. Since
the three of them work under Mike's contractor's license, he has to stay.
Eric has to be the one to go in Dan's master plan. He let Eric stay in
place and do the grunge work, then when it was time to make the money, he
moved in for the kill.
I wasn't
surprised that Dan made his move, but more surprised that Mike didn't tell
him to hit the road. Mike is a really good guy and is working hard to
"be fair to everyone" without realizing that fair has nothing to do with
this. It's about loyalty to Eric, who has been with him all the way,
through the hard times as well as the upcoming good times.
But poor
Mike is a Gemini and lord help'em, Gemini's can't burn bridges to save their
very souls. So Mike told Eric he could continue on with the commercial
work (which would not likely make any more money than he has all along, which
has barely been enough to get by) and let Dan do the residential work (big
money). Of course, that wouldn't work so Eric talked to me about it,
asking what he should do since it seems like his choices have been limited.
Because they are not yet incorporated, the partnership is unofficial and
since he holds the license, Mike is boss on paper.
They had a
big three way phone conference and Eric confronted Dan on why he couldn't
come to him with any problems he had, what problems DID he have and why was
he doing this? Dan refused to answer anything (because he didn't HAVE
any answers other than greed) and just kept saying, "I said I wouldn't work
with you and I stand by it." He could offer absolutely no justification
for it at all.
Pretty
much, it comes down to Eric's honor (continuing to work with a partner - or
two actually - who basically betrayed him) or our financial means. I
felt like a deer caught in headlights. Honor and dignity are very big
things for Eric and for me as well, but do you really cut off your nose to
spite your face? With a brand new mortgage looming?
Eric told
Mike that if he (Eric) isn't involved with the residential projects, then he
won't be doing business with them at all. I knew that's what he needed
to say and he just wanted my blessing to say it. But hey, this marriage
is a partnership and these leaps of faith are becoming old hat. What's
one more?
Eric and I
slept very little Tuesday night and on Wednesday morning, Mike called and
suggested that they split the two housing projects between Eric and Dan.
That was OK for Eric, so I guess that's what they're doing. I know this
little weasel, Dan, is bound to make another move to get rid of Eric.
He's just not to be trusted and has it out for Eric in a big way. For
the meantime, we should (eventually) still have income, but damn, I'm getting
old for these heart attacks and knowing another one is always going to be
pending sucks.
I just
wish Mike would be a man and tell this guy that Eric has been his partner all
along and if he doesn't like it, he can get bent.
Security
has such a lovely sound to it, but I have no idea what it's like.
Eric is
down the hill talking to Mike now and has been gone for hours, so no telling
what they're up to. Hmm. That means I should call him, bwahahaha.
And that
phone call revealed that everything is still as it is. I was so hoping
that once Mike got Eric alone, he'd redeem himself somehow. They've
been practically brothers all the way through this and I'm so very
disappointed in him as a person. He has just hit my "total idiot" list.
Now that
I've bored you with THAT story, let me just say that trying to deal with and
recover from THAT scare has been a full time job. Eric and I mostly
healed yesterday, rested and talked about things. I'm so very tired of
being breathless with one problem after another. Sure, I can trust the
process and celebrate the miracles as they come, but dammit, I want to NOT
have to put on a brave face and ward off the worry and keep Eric's spirits up
and juggle bills like mad according to who is being the most threatening and
the loudest. I want to be able to write checks for bills before the
due date, buy underwear when I need it and stop thinking of fabric
softener as a luxury. When the electricity goes out in the middle of a
wind storm, I want to NOT default to the idea that it's because the bill is
so late being paid.
I'm just
weary as hell from years of financial disaster being the rule rather than the
exception. When all this was going to, I told Eric to take out a huge
life insurance policy on me so he could be rich and I could just rest and not
have to go through this any more. After years of being married to an
enlisted Air Force man (and for those who don't know, most of those folks
live below the poverty level), then being a single parent of 3 children and
later of 4 children and now of the ups and downs that have followed since
Eric (my second AF guy) left the military, I'm just tired in my bones.
This year
at Spring Equinox, I planted financial abundance and prosperity as well as
healthy weight loss. We actually plant, putting a bean for each goal
into a little pot of soil. One of my beans died :( and the
other two are doing OK. Since I have stalled out on my weight loss, I
think I know which bean is dead. Three little beans, all with my hopes
for the year imbedded in them. Harvest is from August 1st through
October 31st, which leaves a huge window for it to come about. It's not
here yet. Summer Solstice is this weekend and that is the point in the
process where you can see the crops in the field, metaphorically speaking,
and although they won't usually feed you yet, but you know it's coming.
I'll be watching for the signs that it's on its way. I have to hope
that Eric pulls a giant boulder of gold out of the river or something.
<-----rock
There is a
scene in the wonderful movie "Pale Rider" where Hull Barrett (Michael
Moriarty) tells "Preacher" (Clint Eastwood) that he's always had a feeling
that the huge rock in the river is covering a ton of gold if only he could
break it apart. He'd been working to break it forever, but never could
get it to give. The two men start going at it with sledge hammers, the
rock breaks and Hull is rich when a huge hunk of gold is revealed.
I figure
Eric just has to find the right rock. :) He's made friends with a
guy who has a great deal of professional equipment, like a trommel and a
dredge. Pfft. Who knows? I'm open to the possibilities.
One scary
part was that when all this was going on with Eric's job or notjob or however
it was going to go is that for a couple of days, my trip to LA was in
jeopardy. How could I possibly justify that expense if Eric was without
income? For now, I guess I'm safe, but I know that the whole situation
is just completely instable. I also know (after the past 2 days
especially) that I've been looking forward to it way too much. I had a
really hard time being wise and generous and noble when it came under threat.
Last
night, after healing and resting for the day (Eric even stayed up late and
cleaned the kitchen AFTER he grilled dinner), I thought a lot about what I
wanted to change in my life and spent some meditative time trying to figure
out exactly how I want my life to be. It was nice to be out in the
circle area in the dark with the torches lit and the stars everywhere.
The night was really clear and crisp. Eric came out and joined me after
a while. It was nice, but I need to do more work. Right now, I just
feel tired and wounded, but I do trust that all will be well. :)
The world
just has to turn a few more times for it all to work out.
I
was going to write today about the differences in whores and sluts and hos
and empowered women, but it just isn't coming together today. I
definitely didn't intend to spend the whole column whining about what other
people are doing. I guess that's just what was in there that needed to
come out.
Maybe
we'll explore the whores tomorrow.
Tomorrow
is another day and the whores will still be there. :)~
Have a
wonderful night.
Love,
Katrina
PS:
Just reread some of the work of
The Psychic Monkey,
one of Joe's characters. That always makes me smile. :)
This work is entitled "Winter Queen" ŠAmy Brown all rights reserved, by clicking
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prints of this painting, as well as browse through her other works. |