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![20180128_113536a.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmdqNZBRfBPARD8JLvYWiB9E77baVQ7KiE2SCPBcvh5zFN/20180128_113536a.jpg)

It's one of those days where I have an urge to post yet am not sure what to post about. I stared at my screen for a solid 15 minutes deep in thought about what to write and nothing...So it's time for a freewrite. 

The last week has been kind of crazy for me. I [turned 41](steem-bounty.com/services/forever/@thedarkhorse/just-another-day-but-a-year-older), 2 of my best friends back to high school turned 40, I've been prepping for what typically is my biggest toy show of the year, and I've been trying to keep the house warm with frost cold nights with our boiler out until it can be replaced on the 30th. All of this has kept me from being on steemit much and has kept me from taking time to start outlining future posts which keeps me from sitting down with writers block. 

#### My Birthday
I remember last year when I turned 40 it was a big deal. Not sure why I cared so much about it, but honestly growing up I wasn't sure I'd ever live to 40. Had more then my fair share of [friends who died along the way](steem-bounty.com/services/forever/@thedarkhorse/we-all-have-sorrow-but-if-we-are-wise-we-know-that-there-s-always-tomorrow-a4cc264d1fae5) and honestly most of them were nearly as stupid as I was back then. This year turning 41 wasn't a big deal, but it was a nice break from an overly stressful week. 

![20180529_115110.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmRuu8Gx7Bo1ptsKPBB7LfSWk4eANRU7eka8YnjgGXhsnw/20180529_115110.jpg)
#### Heat issues
My family has been dealing with living without heat due to our boiler crapping out. It's a major project and besides needing time to find a way to pay the $13k cost the soonest a company could get this project done is Oct 30th. Most years this really wouldn't matter as our "average" high should be around 60 degrees, but we have had a string of highs in the upper 40s with heavy frost on the ground each morning. With all of our electric heaters running it's still getting cold in the house at night. It's one of those annoying things that we deal with and one day down the road will look back on and realize it wasn't that big of a deal...but for right now it's a stress point for me. Can't wait for the boiler to be installed and still trying to sort out how to pay for it by the time the 30th comes around.

#### More Birthdays
Last night was another break in the stress as two of my friends who where both groomsmen in my wedding and I in theirs celebrated turning 40. A large group of us hung out for the night drinking and swapping some stories that people didn't know about. They did a fun quiz and it spurred all sorts of conversations about past craziness. Made me realize how intertwined our lives were and still are. Pretty amazing to stand there talking with a group friends who have all been friends for 25+ years.  

#### Real World Work
Today was back to reality and getting ready for my biggest toy show of the year. Have been loading up on great inventory for this show and truly feel this will be my best show ever. The timing of this will be great as the show is next weekend and only 2 days before I need to pay for the boiler. Sometimes things happen for a reason and I've been on a great streak of finding high quality vintage toys. Was thinking it was going to allow me to get ahead a little, but instead it looks like it will bail my butt out from the massive expense of the boiler and electrical work that has been deemed required by the city. Now hopefully the show will get the traffic it normally does. 

Here are a couple photos of some of the inventory I priced today:
<div class="pull-left">https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmbVhDanLMLQf4ww8zUnDriBBeGt4i5XxP4mnsr24rJzUS/toyshow.jpg</div><div class="pull-right">
https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmXhTVVzHtHdNVKCup7G9GjLd7LwNL2ywvMxD5wWDmCtvW/toyshow3.jpg</div>

![toyshow2.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmUmKpdcxkvuRyDsRuVLqcVRnox2HFBEU3WWAXJgN93ysN/toyshow2.jpg)
![toyshow4.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmTPPbr2eqksU23be6x1xN7P2xHmViCYxHXBLXFRYW9j45/toyshow4.jpg)

Sorry that looks like a mess, but spending a ton of time formatting would mess with my freewrite...onward I go. 

My business has reached a point that it's running smoothly and we are constantly reaping the rewards of past seeds that were planted sometimes years ago. The next week will be all about preparing for the [Chicago Toy Show](http://www.chicagotoyshow.com/) which is one of the largest straight toy shows in the world (even with that website...oh how I would love to get my hands on their social media marketing). It's a show I would travel across country for if needed, but luckily is only about an hour from home. This gives me a huge advantage over some of the vendors who come from out of town and can't bring different/more inventory on Sunday if Saturday goes really well. Add in that all my regulars come to this show and know where to find me it makes what is already a really good show become great. Will try to remember to take a few photos of how crazy my booth gets next Sunday.

#### Testing Steem Forever
@knircky is the creator of @steem-bounty which is a great program designed to allow bloggers to reward those who engage on their posts (also a witness who has my vote). He resteemed [Steem-Bounty's Post](https://steemit.com/steem-bounty/@steem-bounty/looking-for-some-beta-testers) that they needed beta testers. Took a look and it was for a program that I spoke to @knircky on the phone about maybe a month ago. He is trying to make it so we can earn past 7 days and our votes count past 7 days. So you will notice the couple posts of mine that I linked to above used the steem-bounty.com domain as that is what hosts Steem Forever. The process was so simple, I just copied the URL from the address bar for my post and pasted it into the bar on [Steem Forever](https://steem-bounty.com/services/forever) and then clicked the little button that looks like 2 pieces of paper with folded corners and it converted the domain name for me, then click the same button and it will copy the link to your clipboard for easy pasting into a post. 

No idea how this will work out for payouts, of if that is even working yet, but the concept of getting paid over the long haul for posts that are made to stand the test of time has real appeal to me. Really hoping that this idea takes off and we see some of the great resources that are available around steemit get the lifetime earnings they deserve. This project is very forward thinking and I'm sure @knircky would appreciate a few more beta testers if you have time to try it out.

### That's a wrap
For thinking I didn't have anything to talk about that turned into a pretty long post. Funny how once you get started sometimes it keeps flowing. If your still reading...thanks and sorry for any grammatical errors or spelling as in true freewrite spirit I'm not fixing anything...oh how I love that about freewriting...lol.

<sub>All photos were taken by @thedarkhorse and all rights reserved</sub>

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