This entry doesn’t follow my typical logging formats. It’s been over 2 years since my last entry, and so much has changed.
Since March 2024, the Papineau Homes project was spectacularly torpedoed by incompetence and indifference. Bernice and Alain had given up on their project, and by extension, on ours. They messed up our paperwork, which means we didn’t get to close on our portion of property in time.
Because we had to purchase our own house temporarily, due to John and Wendy changing the terms of our living arrangement, we no longer had any contingency to absorb the cost of price increases due to delay. So, that was that.
We moved to North Bay on August 29, 2024. It’s taken me some time to settle in. The first year here felt like a blur as I had difficulty coming to terms with what happened. We’ve since broken off contact with John and Wendy, and Bernice and Alain.
I’m now living in a paradox of feelings.
Asher has been diagnosed with Autism, and we’ve discovered he has a tendency to “elope”, or make a runner for it, when given an opportunity. Had we gone forward with building a property surrounded by acres and acres of nothing, this could have been problematic. But as it stands, we’re surrounded by neighbours that have had to pull in Asher from the cold, and by supports to help Asher to develop the skills he’ll need.
So, that’s a very high level of the last 2 years. What now?
I find myself contemplating the possibility of starting a new business, and looking for new work in North Bay at the same time. I’ve started networking to meet new people. And more recently, I’ve visited the “start with why” ideology to better wrap my head around what service I want to deliver, exactly, and to who?
So far, when I read the services I offer back to myself, it sounds a lot like setting up another web design business, which I’m not really keen to do.
But perhaps, if I’m thoughtful around why I’m doing what I’m doing, I can perhaps avoid the mistake of competing with web development “sweat shops” in China and India.
From a practical perspective, having a business provides opportunities to connect with other business owners in North Nay and surrounding area.
But there’s more to it than that.
We moved north to build something, specifically, a house. And we didn’t get to see that come to fruition. The fact that this project was meant to honour Toby makes it all the more challenging to accept.
So, what else can we build?
I recently read a post on social that discusses being a billionaire vs. a millionaire. At some point, more money is just a personal best score. It doesn’t profoundly change your quality of life. But finding more time does.
And I think that’s what I want to provide to small business owners: Time. Rest. Peace. The very thing, I suppose, that I wish I had more of with Toby. By offering time, rest, and peace to small business owners, perhaps they’ll appreciate the extra time they have available to be with their family, the way I wish I had more time to be with Toby.
More on this later, it’s currently 12:30am and I don’t want to stay up too late. But I need to dig into this a little more. Perhaps this is a new chance at building something to honour Toby’s memory.