Bright Idea Outdoors Weblog

Still Blogging... A Little

Well Christmas, New Year's Day and the end of deer season came and went and here it is again nearly three weeks since my last blog post.  I've been in some blogging slumps before in the four-and-a-half years I've been doing this, but never anything like this.

For anyone who cares, I'll provide a little update now on what's been eating up my time.  I'm still working for myself but now have the opportunity to represent two great companies, and I'd like to tell you a little about both of them.

The first is New York-based General Counsel Solutions, which provides managed legal services to its small and mid-sized clients with experienced general counsel, and larger clients with outsourced corporate attorneys, on an as-needed basis. By using GCS to manage the process, you can save an average of 50% annually on the fees you usually pay to traditional law firms or to hire additional, full-time, in-house corporate legal counsel.

I've also been fortunate to enter into a relationship with a local accounting firm, the Davidson Group, PC.  The Davidson Group is an accounting and profitability consulting firm, providing traditional accounting services such as corporate and individual tax preparation as well as forecasting and budget analysis.  We also provide profitability consultations and accounting systems coordination.  The Davidson Group specializes in assisting emerging companies who are committed to growth and strengthening their business.

Meanwhile, I'm still doing a lot of work for the County of Loudoun as well as consulting with some other small businesses.  Between all that work and trying to raise my three kids, my mind just hasn't been on writing about the outdoors.  But I must that admit I'm excited about the direction I'm going and, every once in awhile, allow myself a moment of pride.

Remember, a year-and-a-half ago I was just a laid off landscaper, and this time last year I was crawling around under houses hoping to find a termite tube!

But I do hope someday to get back into a routine that allows me to devote some time to writing about what I really love: the outdoors.  Until then. . .

So What Do You Do?

I've never lived anywhere other than Northern Virginia as an adult, so I'm not sure if the question in the title of this post is as prevalent elsewhere as it is here.  In this part of the country, that question:

"What do you do?" is a tough one to avoid.

Part of the reason for that is most of the people who are here aren't from here.  And this may be hard to believe, but most of them didn't come because we have a seven-month-long deer season.  They came here to work and that's mainly what they "do."

Because that's what they do, they want to know what I do too.

For several years, I answered that question "I'm in the landscaping business."  Most people, I think, pictured me walking behind a lawn mower.  Truth is, I hadn't touched a lawn mower other than the Murray in my garage in 15 years before last summer.  I actually steered clear of the mowers altogether because I didn't want the guys who worked for me to know I didn't know how to use them (although I'm sure they did anyway.)

Then I got laid off last summer and suddenly had to get creative.  All those years of taking the credit for the guys who really did the work came back to haunt me. 

 I've had to do some backbreaking stuff in the last year, and I've gone into some places that most men wouldn't.

About three months ago, I started--when people asked me that 'what do you do' question--telling them:

"I do a lot of different things."

That's the truth, and it's not going to change.  Still, I should probably be more specific about what some of those different things are. 

Check back soon to find out. . .

Jobs I've Had #1

Since I've been writing a little lately about what I do for a living, I thought it might be interesting to go back and mention some of the jobs I've had since I started working about 26 years ago.  OK, it might not be that interesting to the general public; it's not like I've ever worked anywhere really exciting.  But it might be interesting to my kids someday, and it will be interesting to me; and, hey, it's my blog!

The first job I remember having where I went to work and got paid in return was in the summer of 1984 when I worked for my Uncle Tom.  He had a landscaping company and was nice enough to let his 13-year-old nephew come help him one or two days a week.  I did a little weedeating, some mulching, pulled weeds and removed some sod.  Tom picked me up at the house and put me on the clock when we got to the first job site.  He paid me $3 an hour, and I was thrilled to go home with $24 in my pocket at the end of the day.

Tom was then and still is one of the hardest working people I know.  Although I've never even come close to matching him in that arena, I did at least that summer gain more respect and admiration for hard work and the people that do it.  It was probably then also that I put myself on a "career" path that would not put me behind a desk.

Tom lives about 45 minutes away and, like me, leads an extremely busy life.  We don't get to see each other nearly as much as I'd like.  Still, whenever I'm in my work truck I somehow feel like Tom is with me, encouraging me to get the job done and showing me better ways to do it.

How different things might have been if my first summer job had been in, say, the office of an accountant or a lawyer.  Then again, who would want to sit in an office all day when he could be riding around in a pickup truck with his uncle?