Are we there yet.....?

I'm starting to grow impatient. I've tried not to get here, but it's on a subconscious level at this point. I'm aggravated.

The studio is already 2 weeks behind schedule on it's construction. I've been told why, and I understand, but it doesn't aggravate me any less. There are clients left and right who want to continue work. It's very uncomfortable to work on an imac on a dresser in the corner of a bedroom with kids in the house. It's very quick headache material. But on the occasion that a client calls and wants an edit done that doesn't require my studio monitors (i.e. a splicing job), I can't tell them no just because I am not in an ideal work environment.

So I fight through the (literal) headaches that this not-ergonomically/not-acoustically-ideal-in-any-way set up brings with it to make sure the clients stay happy, and I don't mind doing it for the clients. My clients are awesome, and it's fun to work with them. But it also is really annoying on my side because my studio isn't done, and I'm forced to work in 9 square feet of space. This isn't the clients fault, and I'm not frustrated with the clients. I just want my promised studio to be finished already so I can get to living the American dream and what not.

When it IS finished, it's going to be an amazing thing to behold! It'll be meager compared to a lot of studios, but I'm a small business with a smaller budget and I see no point in going into debt to go into something that might fail. So in the interest of being fiscally responsible, I'm making sure I can afford what I'm moving into based on what I had coming in before the move.

What I had before the move was a house.

 

The control room was in a bedroom upstairs.

Before that, the control room was in the corner of a different bedroom. I had blankets on the walls because I didn't have a budget for acoustical treatment.

The live room was in the living room downstairs. This is the live room used by Enemy By Mourning, Liquid Ghandi, Project DIVIDE, Stimulus, Antiseptic Soul, and others.

Before that, the control room was in a bedroom in Conifer Colorado. I was not as good of an engineer then, and didn't really understand the need for acoustic treatment. My walls were bare. My computer was crap. It was very basic, and complicated to use.

But that was AFTER Bob Swanson helped me acquire some gear as a favor. Before that, I was so bare bones it wasn't funny!

So I'm very grateful for how much I've grown over 4 years, and how far I've come with my abilities. But still, the downtime is frustrating me and my clients. Work on Jovy's projects for F.R.O.E. Records can't continue till the studio is up. Work on Project DIVIDE can't continue till the studio is up. None of what I do can move forward until the studio is up and running…..

…..so I wait.

Lessons of a first time business.

I've operated Skyline Sound Studios in a residential area for years. The studio was always basically a collection of equipment and acoustic treatment that was made to look nice in the residence I happened to be occupying at the time. This month, I made the leap and leased space to put the studio. I'm official! YAY!

.....'cept that so far the services I need are more costly for a business than they are for a residence. This smacked me hard in the face, as I'm faced with $25 more per month minimum for a high speed internet connection than I'm currently paying at my residence. The kicker is that this connection is slower than my home connection, but since it's in a business location they will not install it as a residential connection. Evidently, the two are completely different logistically. Business service gets priority for bandwidth. Home service will slow down when the bandwidth is stretched thin. Business service will not. If I have a business that were using up 80% of the bandwidth available in Grove City, then that would slow down the internet connections of everyone who had a residential connection in Grove City so that I can keep my money making internet speed. That to me seems a bit unfair, but that's how it is.

I talked to my contractors last week, and they told me that I needed to have the internet turned on and wired before the drywall went up. At this time, the studs were in place but the drywall wasn't in. The electrical wasn't in. I had some time, but not much. So I start calling. I call Time Warner, and got my first dose of sticker shock. I call W.O.W., and though their prices were much more favorable (about 60% the cost of Time Warner's quote), the connection was half that of Time Warner.

So I ask them to tell me how much it will cost to do the install. Time Warner drags their feet and I hear nothing. W.O.W. does an on site check, and 3 days later alerts me that the install would be free. Then I ask her to clarify what that would involve, and she says it would involve the internet being tethered from the pole to the building. I clearly told them that I needed it wired inside, and reminded her of this. She said she'd check with her tech and get back to me.

.....that was Friday, 5 calendar days ago.

I talk to the contractor yesterday and inform him that the cable companies are being slowpokes and not getting back to me, so he checks with his electrician to see if he can wire it for high speed internet. Unfortunately, he can't, so I've been on the phone with W.O.W. and Time Warner for the past 90 minutes trying to get this sorted out. The contractors are ready to drywall in 48 hours, and once it's drywalled it's too late. They would either have to rip out the drywall to install the cable, which would be a waste of time and money, or tether the cable through the room in an insightly manner that would not look very attractive. I'm getting this space built to my specs, I want it done right damn it!

So I call Time Warner, who checks to see if they can expidite the installation. It'll cost me $100 to install, but they may be able to expidite the installation for me. Ugh. $100 to install, plus $90-month for slower-than-home internet? I'm not happy.

So I call W.O.W., and I get the rep whom I spoke to on Friday last week. She seemed stunned that the tech had never returned my call, but there is no missed call on my phone and no voicemail in my mailbox. I asked her if this would be able to be done in 48 hours, and she said it was doubtful but she'd have the tech call me.

W.O.W. was the clear winner with regard to price. But if W.O.W. isn't competent enough to call me to set up the install, and W.O.W. can't do it in the next 48 hours as I must now have, then Time Warner will win the contract at nearly double the cost to me. It would be more expensive for me to delay the opening of my studio just to save money on the internet bill.

But even then, Time Warner gave me no guarantee that they could get it done in time. I swear, sometimes I feel like I'm surrounded by complete idiots!

On that note, the operators have been trying their best to accomodate me. I have no complaints about the specific operators. But I tried to shop around, and now my choice may have to cost me more because the cheaper option was too incompetent.

I guess you get what you pay for.

Attitude

So here I sit, waiting for a mix to finish processing, and I'm taking a moment to reflect on myself and my attitude.

Laura's suggested that I'm starting to sound agitated in my interactions to people. She's not the only one who's ever said this to me, I've been told it throughout my life. But now I feel like it's casting a negative impression to my clients, my friends, and my colleagues.

So I'm gonna try to work on my attitude. I guess that means I should stop doing things that put me in an easily agitated state.

I should eat first thing in the morning, rather than wait til 4 in the afternoon when my stomach is ready to kill me.

I should listen to when my head is telling me to quit listening to a mix and take an ear break

I should listen to when my eyes are telling me to quit staring at a computer screen

I should get a decent night's sleep

I have noticed that it's been easier and easier for me to become agitated, and I don't like it. I need to do something to keep it under control, because it's not anyone's fault. I could really hurt some feelings, or even possibly lose a client, so it's really important that I get it under wraps.

Maybe I should take up yoga?

Or maybe I don't bang out my stresses enough on my guitar?

Whatever it is, it's time it stopped.

Something's gotta change.

My life is just on hold. I'm trying to work to get things done, but it's taking too long. Yeah, I know, patience is a virtue and good things come to those who wait. But if that's the case, then why do I feel so damned stagnant? Maybe it's because now that I have all this free time to focus on my goals, I realize how much time I was wasting doing the 9-5 thing to make ends meet. Now that I'm stable enough to live without that for a bit, I see the opportunity to get things done and I don't feel that I'm moving fast enough.

I want to see the fruits of my labors. The problem is that these labors take time, and in a lot of cases, money. So we'll see. Maybe I'm just being impatient. But it's about time something changed.