🏡 A Most Unreliable Narrator 🐶 Issue #188 We’re at the cabin!,

This week: business updates, OA and DBSA, tarot cards, and Bridgerton (again)

May 26, 2024

Dear Internet,

I met with two local business mentors this week and it was eye opening. One mentor was from a local tech incubator and the other from a non-profit that supports women in business. While coming from two different perspectives, both gave me good and actionable advice. For example, instead of offering a “free 30 minute consultation,” it was suggested to change to “15 minute discovery call” to set expectations with the client as well as not abuse my own time. I have a habit of giving the milk away for free and they are not wrong, I would totally do that.

I also learned on building my brand and what products I offer. I may have overextended myself (quelle surprise) on what I can do. The mentor from the tech incubator suggested I figure out three products and ask questions from a layman’s point of view as well as someone in the field. She asked me to explain “information architecture” and I found myself stumbling. It’s like porn, you know it when you see it, but that’s not an answer to give to potential clients.

I have been busy with travel prep to move to the cabin for the summer, so a lot did not get done in the business world. I’ve carved out this upcoming week to do work including getting my fucking website finished.

We left mid-week so Mr. Lisa could have a long weekend and we could get back in the swing of things in N. Michigan. Going from city life to rural can be shocking for some but we’ve split our time like this for over a decade so it gets easier every year. Packing is significantly lighter. Our toiletries are up here and now that we have clothing storage, I didn’t have to pack much. I did not take inventory of what was left up here, so I did bring some duplicates but that’s fine. The one hiccup this year is Mr. Lisa received a Solo Stove for his big work anniversary. After measuring and flipping around, we got the box in the car and were able to pack around it.

The drive up was uneventful until we got to my hometown where we are waylaid twice by construction. Google maps put us at nearly 8 hours. With gas/bathroom breaks and construction delays, it took 10.5 hours to get up here. I drove the entire way as Mr. Lisa wasn’t feeling that great and it was just easier for me to handle the driving. I don’t mind. I’m from the Midwest. All we do is drive!

Mr. Lisa and I have disparate taste when it comes to podcast, so we find audiobooks of mutual interest on long drives. The trip up was The Last Leonardo: The Secret Lives of the World’s Most Expensive Painting. Mr. Lisa and I both knew the basics of the story but good lord, the writing meandering and dropped points. We got over 50% through and when we got to the cabin, I returned it back to the library. I still don’t know if the Salvatore Mundi found in New Orleans over two decades ago is a true DaVinci but frankly, I do not care.

I’ve started making appointments for what work we’re doing this summer. We had a new water heater installed on Friday (ours was over 20 years old and was on its last legs) and this week we are having a company come out to give us a quote on conditioning the crawl space. We’re getting blinds this year and some Adirondack chairs to place around the Solo Stove. We also need the pipes in the crawl space wrapped and something to heat the cabin in the winter. Mr. Lisa is in-love with getting a gas stove and I don’t care one way or another. We do have baseboard heat but it costs over $500 / month to heat the cabin even keeping the cabin temp at a chilly 65F (18C). Winters can get quite brutal here between the snow (over 120” every season) and the lake effect weather. It’s a big commitment to move up here so we’re going to try a winter before making the leap. I was hoping for winter 24/25 but looks like 25/26.

Neither Mr. Lisa nor I are fans of Kentucky from political reasons, the local art scene is terrible, and the overall suckiness of the city we live. The city’s 24/25 budget was recently released, and the police department gained 8% increase bringing their budget into $225M (a quarter of the total budget). Libraries lost money and now operate almost twelve branches with $26M. It’s just so infuriating. I’m not saying N. Michigan is a zillion times better, maybe a million times. That’ll work.

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I opted to work in a a coffee shop in downtown TC. The coffee shops around the cabin close super early so I drove into town to one of my favs. It’s near the gym so I can come here after I work out. The one I was working in last year moved to a location 40 minutes from the cabin. I love their coffee but not that much plus the one I’m at is also local and their coffee is just as good.

The drive from the cabin to the coffee shop is about 25 minutes and about 20 miles. There are three stop lights and two stop signs. I had lunch with my MIL last week and the restaurant is six miles from the condo and that took 20 minutes to get to and I hated every minute of the drive. Yes, I get it, more stop lights in a city but it’s still a pain in the ass. Here, I throw on a podcast, drive 65-70 down county roads and keep eyeballs out for local wildlie. Mr. Lisa thinks I’m a bit crazy for enjoying the drive around N. Michigan and honestly, I don’t get it either. Maybe it is that there is only three stop lights and two stop signs, or it’s a near straight shot, but driving around here just does not bother me and I can catch up on my podcasts.

Mr. Lisa (and even Kristin remarked) that I get tired of being up here towards the end of our stay (late October) and I honestly don’t remember bitchin’ about it but I’m also not going to disagree with them. I’m going to be mindful when we leave this year and have deep thoughts on my discovery.

If we do make the big jump and move here, we’re upgrading the MINI. My first MINI made it through many Michigan winters and this one would to but S. Michigan doesn’t get the snow N. Michigan does and the ground clearance on the MINI is pretty short. We both want a Bronco and get the big one and not the Sport or the Ford Maverick truck which is a hybrid. I’m already thinking of names even though it’ll be years before we buy a new car/SUV.

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At lunch with my MIL, I told her that I was attending one-on-one therapy every other week and the weekly DBSA meetings. She asked, coupled with my daily meds, if I found the meetings helpful and I told her I did. As I’ve said in the past, I have a great support system between family and friends but that bonding experience with others who share the same maladies gives me a level of safety I didn’t have before.

I’ve also attended a support meeting for those specifically with bipolar and that was also great. It’s also a safe space and a community so that’s nice. The group is popular because I’ve tried to sign up a week ahead of time and it was full with no wait list. I pre-booked a month’s worth of meetings ahead of time and set a reminder to check and schedule every couple of weeks. Two group meetings a week may be a bit much but we’ll see.

I haven’t been to an OA meeting in a few weeks. The meeting I choose, a LGTBQI+ group, meets early afternoon on Tuesdays. The last few weeks, I’ve scheduled meetings related to the business or something and that time on Tuesdays gets eaten right away which is why I’ve missed OA. There is also an OA group on Wednesday afternoons dedicated to body image which I did meet and that was good. I also found another online group that meets at 9 a.m. on Wednesday which I’m hoping to start trying this upcoming week. OA literature recommends that you try various meetings to get a feel for one that is a better fit for you so I’m not super stressed about missing a meeting.

I bought OA’s The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions and I’ve started working through that. I pick a step and write honestly about it in my private journal. This is not to say that I don’t write honestly, as I believe I do, but it’s more that I want to talk about the hard truths about myself that I don’t discuss in public.

I also joined a secular OA group and hope to attend one of their meetings. If you’re a long time reader of AMUN, you know that I struggle with a belief system of a “higher power” but there have been a few kerfuffle in the WhatsApp groups I’m in where many clutch pearls when they feel God/Jesus is being dismissed.

Speaking of higher powers, I pulled two of my tarot decks out, wrapped them in satin, put them in a velvet bag with cleansing quartz crystals and brought them with me to N. Michigan.

I brought them with me for two reasons:

I bought Tarot for Writers which was recommended as a way to help build your story and develop characters and I thought I would give it a try.
My MIL is going to teach me how to read tarot. She used to work as a telephone psychic back in the ‘80s and also read tarot. She said doing both really took a lot of out of her emotionally, physically, and mentally. While she’s not opposed to teaching me how to read tarot, she would prefer I read for myself or maybe for friends and not make a career out of it even though it can be lucrative. I should also mention my MIL is a devout Mormon. She contains multitudes.

A Most Unreliable Narrator

🏡 A Most Unreliable Narrator 🐶 Issue #188 We’re at the cabin!,

This week: business updates, OA and DBSA, tarot cards, and Bridgerton (again)

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