FROM NOW ON…

Last week I hauled furniture and equipment from my Riverside office and moved it to my home in Lake Forest…a few months after the great recession began I started downsizing because my workload was substantially reduced so the cost of doing business had to be lowered…

Even though I had some ongoing work I had to let some of my employees go and I converted them to consultants…I offered them work on a contract basis and they were glad to oblige… for me that meant no more paying sick leave, vacations or health insurance…

Laying off employees is very sad when you know spouses and children…I am still very sad to have created hardship for employees who were also my friends with whom we played golf, drank a few beers and ate lunches together…but as a business owner I had to do what I had to do… the move will save paying office rent, insurance, phones, faxes and internet fees as well as plenty of gas on a 78 mile round trip from Lake Forest…for years I drove the Toll Road saving 11 miles, nasty traffic and 30 minutes each way, but the cost was too much to keep up…taking the 5 Frwy to the 55 to the 91 takes much longer with traffic usually bumper to bumper…
From now on I will not miss this ride…

From now on I’ll be working in an office a few steps away from a queen size bed… the room features family photos, a computer, a printer, a paper shredder and a bookcase…I expect it’s gonna be fun… but that’s only if there’ll be work, and that remains to be seen… I can watch TV and listen to my I-Pod while working without disturbing anyone who may not like Eric Clapton or B. B. King…

From what I read the housing situation will not improve much in 2011 with so many unsold houses remaining to be sold…2012 is the earliest expected housing recovery to begin…my landscape architectural business is based on the housing industry which has almost ceased to exist in the past few years… golf development services have also taken a big hit… I may have to take an early retirement even though I’m hardly ready…I always thought retirement meant playing golf a few times a week, taking extended vacations and sitting around drinking martinis and reading best sellers…

From now on this office will be ‘open’ from 8 to 5 and I will be dressed for work every day…I will not work in pajamas… after hours an occasional computer could be kicked on in the middle of the night when good design ideas wake me up that will be saved for future projects…for coffee breaks I can see myself drinking more coffee than ever before and probably snacking a lot…I also see my self taking vacuuming, dish washing and plant watering breaks…

From now on I’m taking an early morning walk as soon as I get up…Starbucks is only a mile from here but there’s also a donut shop a half mile away…I’ll be going there for coffee!!!