Just in time for Christmas (Patreon)

Some of you may have surmised that I'm not one for dragging the details of my personal life into public forums.  Hell, I've never had a Facebook account for just that reason.  But this time it's a little different.

Nearly fourteen years ago I got into the private / corporate aviation industry and started working for a company that I grew to love.  What's that old adage, everyone hates their job?  I didn't...I put my heart and soul into it.  That guy who everyone gets along with, can trust in, and was rewarded accordingly.  Heck, my personal cell phone number was on the front door for a decade...just in case.  A small company that, honestly, puts it's people first.

Prior to that I was a military man.  Eighteen years of blood, sweat, tears, and a significant portion of my immortal soul.

Flash forward to two years ago and the company I loved so much merged with a much, much larger company with multiple locations nationwide.  They touted...no, they rammed it down our throats that they "put their people first", but a year later they did away with my department entirely.  To their credit however, they did keep all of us employed, working elsewhere within the company.

More recently, at the beginning of the fiscal year (October 1st for most companies), there was/is an industry-wide downturn in the aviation maintenance business.  I'm not an aircraft mechanic, nor management by the way...just another blue collar dude.  Over the next two months I watched as the attitudes and general demeanor of upper management shifted from "our people first" to...something else.  Towards the end of November I stopped telling my people that this was just some temporary monetary glitch and began telling them to get ready.  Something was coming.

Sure enough, this past Friday, three weeks before Christmas, thirty-some-odd people found themselves unemployed...

Myself included.

Talk about a kick in the gut.  After nearly fourteen years of faithful service....poof....gone.  I haven't been unemployed since I was fifteen years old...I'll be the big Five-O next year.  Yeah, starting over from square one, at 49, three weeks before Christmas.

A wife, two dogs, three cats, and...more recently...my step-daughter and her fiance' (and his three year old daughter) moved back in.  A mortgage, two car notes, and all of the usual bills...including being hospitalized just before Thanksgiving with a kidney stone.  I do get a little money from my military service, but it's faaaar from being enough to make ends meet.  I applied for state unemployment, but...ironically enough...I can't draw on it until Christmas Eve.  Needless to say, it's gonna look pretty barren underneath the Christmas tree this year.  I can handle adults not getting gifts, but small children....

How does one properly articulate a loooong sigh?

Right now you, loyal Patrons, are my only real source of income.   I like to think of myself as too proud to beg, but here I am, hat in hand...asking for a favor.  Any little bit...even a single dollar patronage...would be greatly appreciated.  At least I'd be giving you something back, rather than just asking for donations.

Worry not...I've been kicked and beaten down before.  I always bounce back.  Always.  In the short term I may have to dial back the number of commissions I get from other artists.  Save for the worst case scenario, this little life snafu will not effect my semi-daily flow of content to you.  Considering that I now have a lot more time on my hands, it'll probably increase.  :D

Regards,

Phillip