nobody asked…

After being in the same location for 11 years, my little business is moving on. It seems the landlord has discovered that their lease rates are significantly below market, a fact that everyone has always known. But they were making money, tenants were happy and for the most part loyal and stable, god’s in his heaven, all is right with the world. Not…it seems.

A couple of down months in March and April certainly biased my thinking, but overall we were doing OK — not great, but OK. Then a 17% increase in rent, coupled with all the other increases we’ve seen (regardless of what the pols and their hired-gun economists say, we have inflation going on — bigtime), and blood-priced gasoline to get me around to my customers… You get my drift without me even finishing the sentence. 17 freaking percent… And that doesn’t really get the rates up to where they need to be. Similar hikes will almost surely come along over the next couple of lease renewal periods.

I’m outta here. Just found a new place, closer into Nashville and the epicenter of my customer base, but further from home. Hey, you can’t have it all. It is smaller, but big enough. The building is more attractive than where I am, contemporary architecture nestled in a stand of tall pines. My suite is ground-level, a must for hauling sick, dead, and dying computers in and out. Plus I park right in front, 15 feet from the front door. To offset the issue that started this entire mischance, the new lease with utilities is about 28% below what we have been paying, and a whopping 37% below what we would be paying if we stayed at the old location. Oooohhh… I can do a lot of things with 37% savings! New blogging machine for Blog Central… A special year-end bonus for moi, just for being such a nice guy… But more than likely, I’ll so something very daring and exciting, like pay off some debts.

Already, my mood has changed from being totally pissed off to a bubbling excitement about moving on with a fresh start. It’s amazing how much junque I have accumulated over the 11 years at this location and the 17 years with this business. Much of it will have to go, and that hurts since I am such a packrat. But with less space to pile it in … gotta go.

If you notice a decrease in frequency or quality of postings here over the next few weeks, you may feel blessed. Unfortunately the sorting, pitching, packing, moving, and arranging my stuff will also eat into time available to respond to your comments and to read and comment on your blogs. I ask your patience. I will get back to normal. Whatever that is…