I sometimes am criticized for always thinking about getting paid or always
tooting my own horn. My personal life is my work is my way to earn a living.
I am a one-person operation who works by hourly labor and thought, to earn a
living. I have no profitable schemes by which money is generated without my
direct attention. If I am thinking about where the dollars are coming from
my family is eating. If I am working with my hands my destiny is fulfilled.
If am helping other people my heart is glad. If someone wants my attention
to ask a simple question which has a quick answer I am willing to help
them with no charge but they will soon have to listen to an advertisement
about how I can sell them something. With me life, work and money are very
closely related. It would waste too much of my time time to try to separate
them.

The idea that commercialism can be separated from other aspects of life in
this society is a stretch for me to understand. I was once called on the
carpet for promoting my own commercial interests with the mention of my
business in my signature on a maillist by an academic who said
that he was not involved in any commercial activity whatsoever. Yet his
academic institution which paid his salary was advertised at the end of
every one of his message signatures. More than once I have been called on
the carpet because I have not been philanthropic enough in giving away my
services. Actually my business does give away 10% of post-tax profits, but
only to fields outside of preservation because I do not think it is right to
undercut the market for the services of my fellow preservationeers. I am
often called on the carpet by my wife who has difficulty
understanding how I can justify spending the time to answer an email message
from a stranger. It is because I NEED to. The carpet is getting a little
worn over here in the corner where I stand
shuffling my shoes, wondering what I'm going to say and do next, trying to
get
through life and keep out of trouble.

I think we need to relax a little on this issue of non-commercialism. On the
one hand it seems ludicrous to me that much at all happens without
dollars changing hands in the hopes that someone comes out ahead; and on the
other hand a lot seems to happen when a friend (or a stranger) asks for
help and gets even more than is expected. Let's face it: it can be (and
often
is) in someone else's best interest to promote our own best interests to
them. The better off I am commercially the better off are those who ask for
my help, whether they pay me or not.


I have arranged my life, work and business so I can help people whether they
have no money, a little money or a lot of money.

What's the point? Don't ask me for conclusions, I'm not a philosopher, just
a guy in the middle of the Night in middle of
Maine in the middle of the Winter. Did you notice how bright the Moon is?

John Leeke, Preservation Consultant

publisher:               Practical Restoration Reports
contributing editor: Old-House Journal
postal:                    26 Higgins St., Portland, Maine  04103, USA
phone & fax:           01 207 773-2306
email:                      [log in to unmask]
website:                  www.HistoricHomeWorks.com