business

I've been expecting two packages in the mail. Today I got one of them.

It was a nondescript, slightly bulky envelope that showed up in the mailbox. Inside was a shrinkwrapped hunk of styrofoam and, gently but securely wedged in the middle of that hunk of protective whiteness, was a little hunk of plastic with an 1/8th inch mail audio jack connector.

This was my Square card reader.

This is, perhaps, one of the more depressing stories I've seen come through lately.

Among all the turmoil in the world of newspapers and magazines, there was always one place I knew I could turn to get straight and solid information: Editor & Publisher. Now, after 125 years in business, the magazine is shutting down both print and online operations by the end of this year.

As of right now, I've got a handful of irons in the fire.

Mostly out of necessity, they're going to get hammered into something useful.

The hospital bill is in, I'm running around half the month doing things that cost money, and those credit cards just aren't paying themselves off. Needless to say, the economy kind of ate most of my stocks, which was the only thing even vaguely resembling an "emergency fun" I had around.

Sure, I could take money from my family. They've offered. But they need it more than I do--or they will soon enough (something always goes wrong in my family just when we start to get financially comfortable, at least for the last couple of decades).

Thankfully, I've got a good solid job that covers most of the normal bills.

It's been an abnormal year, so far, though, and I want to get away from toeing the red line.

How am I going to do that? Hopefully, with your help.