And all through the land nothing was stirring.

Except for a ginormous mixing truck!

That's right, Tiny Tim, it is true. Our little job in Durham has been waiting for weeks and weeks and...

FINALLY! The concrete is in at Hazel. (Baby got some new shoes!) Yes. Yes. Yeeeeeeesssssss!!

We are super stoked and just want to share the joy with absolutely everyone. So, with that being said...

God Bless Us, Everyone!

Merry Christmas from Box Bend.
​

Our little plat for Moncure is finally with Lee County for approval. This has been a looooooong slog.

This is big news because Box Bend has a potential lease option on 52 of the acres and a contract for deed on the remaining 20 acres. This is cool. The 20 acres is a contract for deed/seller financing which will give us cash for taxes and expansion. The option (with some good fortune/blessings) will turn into a lease. The lease is for a 35 year term.

Stay tuned.

Well, well, well, race fans, the question has come up lately, "Where ya been?" Or, if you prefer, "Where you at, home fries?" Or, "We've noticed that posts have waned on the Box Bend site like the slow sedimentary deposits of an alluvial floodplain."

Yes, sir or mam. You are correct, sir or mam. This is true, sir or mam. And here's why...

We've been working through the day gig conundrum. You know, the: love-job-and-work-hard-but-have-had-it-with-the-gymnastics-but-still-need-to-feed-the-kids-and-it-is-not-like-breaking-rocks-or-digging-ditches-and-it-is-a-cool-product-but-some-of-the-recent-moves-by-guys-who-should-know-better-are-a-real-head-scratcher-type-of-conundrum. There are a few variables in that algebraic equation. Plus the day to day grind of working and smiling for the troops. Not to mention a lot of travel lately. Don't misunderstand, we're not complaining (much), just trying to sort through the silly season. And that's during the daylight hours.

Off hours have been spent working through a few different new businesses and getting our background right before getting our partners set up.

We've filed and are waiting for the state tax folks to issue our tax resale cert for one company we are planning to do with our college aged kid -who is actually in college.

We've set up a little side-hustle project with our good buddy and long time friend, Scotty G in Minnesota. Think "Box Bend for cars and motorbikes." We're calling that bad boy "Mad Dog Auto." This is a tip of the hat to our college classmate, Chad "Mad Dog" M. Chad is terminally ill.

We've working on our first love -architecture-and a tangentially related business. Stalled for a moment with website issues. But no worries. This one should become fairly automated. Which is Supercalifragilosticexpialidocious.

And we are debating between two other businesses -closely aligned, and a third, logistics, type of business. We've been debating these for a while now. It comes down to three criteria: capital employed, margins, and scalability. We also have to consider partners if we are to avoid the time-for-moola trap. Speaking of algebra...

And we are actually working on Box Bend. That is, if you call waiting work. Waiting on a permit on Hazel. Some framing on Main. Some cleanup work on Richmond. Some well, electrical, termite... work on Barbour. Some plans on Hazel 2. Some new candidates. Some new friends and associates.

And then there are the important items in life; the family and the friends and the pets and why (for the love of Pete and all he holds sacred) the flippin' cat uses the new rug in the entryway as a scratching post.

So it may appear like a staid, bucolic and pastoral scene, but look closely. The song remains the same. There is a bustle in the hedgerow. And there is no need to be alarmed now. We are entrepreneurs, and (mixed musical metaphors aside) no moss gathers on a rolling stone.

Stay tuned.

Some butthead decided his couch needed a home in front of Hazel. This is where waiting for one permit and a couple of other factors to be resolved becomes frustrating. However, the thing to do in such a situation is to wipe your nose and buck up. Time to wait it out - admidst bursts of activity elsewhere. Oh, and do a pre-autopsy autopsy on the deal. What did you learn? What will you do differently? Take notes.

There re are no "safe spaces" in this game.

​Here's a tissue.