Death and Flooding

Sometimes it's hard to look at the positive things in life when the shit hits the fan. Overall things continue to go well in daily living here at the Reinert household but in the past month, our dog Mickey died, and our house in Las Vegas flooded causing severe damage. A line going to the upstairs toilet broke and since the house was vacant,and no one was there to notice, it caused the ceiling in the downstairs to collapse. It caused major water damage to over half of the house. On top of that we had just got an offer from a buyer on the house. Now we are stuck with it for lord knows how long.

Mickey dying affected me a lot. He went too early. I worked so hard to train him and one day he was gone. It was a sad day. I miss him more and more as time passes. He was a big part of the family and never let you forget he was there. He would come up to me with a ball and drop it, then pick it up, drop it, pick it up...over and over. He was a lover and a licker. I'll never forget his great personality.

I'm working even more hours recently. I have taken on a lot of things that may or may not pay off in the end but they all are good. I just don't have time for much except work. I like it but it does take it's toll. Someday I'd like to make real money doing less work, don't we all. New guitars are coming down the pipeline slowly but surely. I'm writing a few music books based on a great idea that a friend came up with. I'm keeping up the website, designing products, repairing guitars and the list goes on. It seems as though things are really working. We shall see what the future holds. Today things have built up and I feel tired and mentally worn. Many little stresses and a couple big ones have affected my mental state. A new day will come.

Changing Times Changing Weather

Since moving to Raleigh things have changed a lot. At first Lisa spent all of her time at home with Sara. Now she is working as a part-time nanny. It's great because she can take Sara with here and we don't have to pay for daycare. I thought we were busy when I first moved here but it has become much busier and diversity of business is growing. When we first opened the shop we had a wide range of services that we were offering. This helped pay the bills and get things off the ground. Now that we have a larger client base, each thing is starting to take off, so our workload is far greater than we can handle. Thankfully Clay Conner is working with us and has made it much easier to get things done in a reasonable amount of time.

I've also been playing music with two guys that I met through a mutual friend. We've been playing acoustic instrumental music which I am very excited about. Currently we are continuing to grow our song list and working towards solid recordings and performances. As we get there we'll start releasing material for you all to hear.

In addition to all of this I have been asked to write a series of music theory books for a string company that is just about to launch their product. I was hesitant to take it because I can barely do the work I need to now. But it's a good opportunity and I like the idea behind the strings so I am going to go for it. Many people struggle for work everyday and I am blessed to have more than I can handle.