It’s tough to feel sorry for yourself for too long when the times are rough for so many people. I found many of the folks that I work with carry burdens, some are just not as obvious. To all who struggle this season–keep your chin up and find at least one thing for which you can be thankful.

I’m hording some frustration. Anyone want some extra?

This year, our finances have taken a huge hit. I lost my job at daZZee when they shut down their Springfield office, but picked up a new job, all at a time when the economy was showing it’s first signs of stress. I bought a new house and started that new job all in the same month and at one point, I really didn’t think I could handle the stress.

I watched my savings disappear. All of it. I used it to pay bills and get one house sold while buying another. All of those events conspired to put me in one place–on the margins. That leaves me frustrated.

I can’t dig out of my hole as fast as I would like. I can’t sacrafice or cut very much more than I have. I’m frustrated at so many things in my life that yesterday, I could not think straight. Seriously. I could barely string together two thoughts. I constantly lost my train of thought, forcing me to start my work over and over again.

I’m happy with who I am and what I’m doing. I just not happy with the way I got here. I certainly don’t know how to get away from this–the crushing debt, the fear of job loss, the pressure to be and act normal.

Frustrating. Better than a different f-word, I guess.

[Tammy](http://tammykirks.com) was exhibiting at [Winterfest](http://hammonshall.com/Shows.aspx?id=60) again this year, so I called her bank and asked about a credit card machine. For $20 we had the use of a traditional swipe card reader with receipt printer, an upgrade from the late-1970’s knuckle buster manual imprint machine. Without a phone line at the show, our authorization options are limited, but the machine has been well worth it. The transaction process is simple and the batch processing at the end of the day turns 15 minutes of manual key pressing in to about 60 seconds of beeping and hissing.

Upgrayedd!