A case study in being lazy

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rickryan.com

rickryan.com

Mac Daddy DJ
ODJT Supporter
Dec 9, 2009
20,055
18,453
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Hendersonville, TN
www.rickryan.com
As a reformed musician, I've seen a lot of lazy slugs who only want to play music and, by diggity, they don't care what happens, that's all they're going to do. Most often, it usually ends up the picker finds some girl who digs him for his music and marries her. She works and often ends up carrying the bulk (or all) of the bill-paying load. They have a couple of kids and one day she finally wakes up and realizes what a life-sucking slug she's married to and she kicks him to the curb. Amazing what some guys will do in "chasing the dream".

Yesterday, I saw some FB posts from an old drummer friend of mine who has moved to Florida. This guy is in his early 50s, I believe he's always been single and has played for some fairly big-name artists. The guy's a monster musician but unfortunately, all he ever would do is bang on them drums all day. I've watched his FB for several years now and he's always in turmoil because he's always just sponged off others, living on their couches or wherever else they'd let him stay. Yesterday, he posted that he'd had all he could take and that he'd gotten a bottle of whiskey, was going to drink it all, then go for a swim in the rough seas/rip tides and "see what happens". Lots of concerned people chimed in all evening and someone finally got the cops to go intervene to stop his suicide. Saw a post this morning that he was "back at his apartment".

Now I'm concerned for my friend (not that close mind you) but the thought just hit me "Dude, if you'd just get a job you wouldn't have to live like this." I hope he somehow finds peace and comes to understand that he's got to become a productive person in order to prosper. Thanks for listening.
 
A job isn't always the answer to financial woes. JOB can also equal Just Over Broke. One can have financial security providing one's own income. You want benefits you may say? Ok, Health Insurance?....... Do enough gigs to pay for it on a monthly basis. Vacation.....want a two week paid $1,000. per week vacation?.....................put aside $40.00 per week and in 50 weeks Voila! Money will be there. Retirement?.....Get with an accountant and he will help you figure out the cost for an IRA, 401K or whatever. All those figures are part of a financial Goal so you know what to work for on a monthly basis. If you can do that, then we now start looking at the benefits your other job cannot give you. Such as, freedom, more time with family, you don't have to be in queue for vacation time etc., you are your own boss and if you decide to kiss yer own azz then you have an immediate sideshow! :sqlaugh:
 
ahoustondj said:
A job isn't always the answer to financial woes. JOB can also equal Just Over Broke. One can have financial security providing one's own income. You want benefits you may say? Ok, Health Insurance?....... Do enough gigs to pay for it on a monthly basis. Vacation.....want a two week paid $1,000. per week vacation?.....................put aside $40.00 per week and in 50 weeks Voila! Money will be there. Retirement?.....Get with an accountant and he will help you figure out the cost for an IRA, 401K or whatever. All those figures are part of a financial Goal so you know what to work for on a monthly basis. If you can do that, then we now start looking at the benefits your other job cannot give you. Such as, freedom, more time with family, you don't have to be in queue for vacation time etc., you are your own boss and if you decide to kiss yer own azz then you have an immediate sideshow! :sqlaugh:
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Yes but see you're still coming at this from the angle of someone who will WORK. What I'm talking about are guys who will slack around at the house all day, then go out 2-3 times per week to pick at a bar job, usually for $50-$100 per night, and still try to call it a career. In my friend's case, he's obviously got problems with depression as well but if he'd just do something besides just goofing off he'd have money to live on and wouldn't be bouncing around from house to house and wondering why things never seem to go right for him.

I guess the same holds true, to a degree, in the DJ field as well. You have some guys who just slack around and maybe work a gig here and there then wonder why their wife kicks them to the curb a few years down the line. I know it doesn't apply to the people on this board but it just stands as a good reminder to us all to stay diligent at whatever you're doing. Things can be a lot worse.
 
rickryan.com said:
Things can be a lot worse.
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Yeah, you could be like me, and the tax people wipe out your bank account 25 years after the fact, because they couldn't find your ex wife :sqeek:

I'm not depressed -- but I am pissed off!

I may even have to sell my guitars to make ends meet until I get back on my feet. That pisses me off even more -- probably a good thing she's 1500 miles away...
 
djsarge said:
Tell the IRS where she is.
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I did Sarge. But since I'm the ex, they ignored it.

What I've figured out, is that the tax people (state or fed), will go after the easiest target. She's under the radar, and I have a corporation ;)

She works under the table, and uses a different name now -- so I'm sorta guessing it's not worth their trouble, since they can grab the money from me...
 
rickryan.com said:
Sarge, the IRS doesn't care about who the money comes from. They'll extract it the easiest way possible. Unfortunately for Rick, that paints the target on his back. Any luck on digging up some contracts, Rick?
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How right you are about the tax people... :eek:

Not yet, I've been trying to find my old business card file, but I fear I may have left that in NY, which means my brother probably tossed it...

I did manage to save a copy of my resume though (haven't made one since '99). I'm going to update it today to bring it to present tense...
 
SoftJock Rick said:
How right you are about the tax people... :eek:

Not yet, I've been trying to find my old business card file, but I fear I may have left that in NY, which means my brother probably tossed it...

I did manage to save a copy of my resume though (haven't made one since '99). I'm going to update it today to bring it to present tense...
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You really think a resume/day job is going to be the quickest course to cash?
 
rickryan.com said:
You really think a resume/day job is going to be the quickest course to cash?
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No, but some contracts require you show your prior work history, so it behooves me to retype this whole thing in again, and bring it up to date. I don't have the file, just the printed version.

BTW, I don't want a day job -- I've been working at home for ages (about 15 years now) -- I have everything I need in my office to do any coding, website work, video and audio comm., etc...
 
SoftJock Rick said:
No, but some contracts require you show your prior work history, so it behooves me to retype this whole thing in again, and bring it up to date. I don't have the file, just the printed version.

BTW, I don't want a day job -- I've been working at home for ages (about 15 years now) -- I have everything I need in my office to do any coding, website work, video and audio comm., etc...
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If I can offer it, take a look at http://app.cat/

I just downloaded this yesterday and created my first app the same day. We were able to load it on my son's ipod and really makes a slick-looking app biz card. I believe you could send out some mailers, or just send emails and have plenty of $300-$500 app-building gigs lined up within the week and yes, it really does just take about a minute to put one together. It's certainly not what I'd call real programming but if a gimmick will sell, take advantage. Hope this helps.
 
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