YEAR THIRTY SIX: THE YEAR IN REVIEW
Another really good year.
Patrick Baynes || patbaynes@gmail.com. || We thoughtfully and quickly respond to emails. || Call or Text: (414) 588-2373 || We work to answer phone calls within four rings.
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“The Last 12 Months” || YEAR 36 “IN REVIEW”
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Preface: This was a really good year. I had a slight fear that I would go broke. So I went “for broke” (as the expression goes).
I decided to publish a long form piece on my birthday. Partially because I can’t even afford to publish to the web. On my hierarchy of needs or wants, I’m left with Google’s”free” product suite.
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October 31, 2023 || I remember this day clearly. I drove up to Desoto State Park in St. Petersburg and met with Heidi. She purchased me an awesome cake with a map of The Tampa / St. Pete / Sarasota area. It was a good day.
After I got home, I called Heidi to say thank you.
After that, my Mom, sister Emily, sister Sarah, and brother-in-law Luke showed up dressed up as Jurassic Park characters. I generally eschew dressing up for Halloween – but these characters were really well done. I think Jay Reilly threw a Halloween party.
NOVEMBER 2023 || I was so amped to make sales this month. I love the concept of working on commission. I was working for a company Alert 360 that sells SmartHome.
On the Weekends, I was working at the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport.
Don't ask too many questions…. Working at the Airport is how I unwind. The people watching is world class and my coworkers are the “salt of the earth” (that’s an expression, right?)
DECEMBER 2023 || I knew weeks in advance I wasn’t gonna show up for Christmas. Luke’s mom was in sales and marketing, and she has this great punch line: “if you can’t SELL, SELL, SELL – you can’t, EAT, EAT, EAT.” It’s unsettling at first when you hear it, but it's a really good punch line.
Another cool thing happened this month. The office at Cimarron Lake passed out a one page document saying the Clubhouse was available for rent for a small sum. I don't use the word love casually – but I love the Holidays.
The Clubhouse at Cimarron Lake didn’t work out, but I did throw a small holiday get-together at my apartment with pizza, salad, and other good stuff.
JANUARY 2024 || On December 31st, I door knocked my neighbor. He was the Sports Editor and one-man Sports department for The Observer, the local Sarasota newspaper. He told me to send my message via email. I didn't hear back from him, but this set the tone for how I would spend my last five months in Sarasota. I was gonna work to explore as many of the angles and options available to me.
FEBRUARY 2024 || Another failed Valentine’s Month. Valentine’s isn’t a Day. It engulfs the entire month and I’m not so sure I agree with what it does to our culture.
MARCH 2024 || I had a really cool experience this month. I arranged a Box Suite with the Baltimore Orioles for the Toronto Blue Jays Spring Training game. I never got around to selling tickets to the Suite. I went door to door to the fancy condominiums near the Ritz-Carlton, but no buyers. Not surprising.
Instead, before the game I posted up inside a restaurant outside Ed Smith Stadium. I looked for people who I thought would enjoy the game and just gave them tickets with the concept that if they enjoyed the game they would pay me on the back end. I didn't recover as many costs as I had hoped, but the Suite was a blast and it was the culmination of almost my whole life as a Baltimore Orioles fan. It was a blast, actually.
APRIL 2024 || I used this month to close the loose ends of my Florida experience. This state is really spectacular, but once things fall apart for you, you are generally pushed out of the state. Anyone who moves to this state should take this into consideration before you move there.
MAY 2024 || I knew this would be a good month. Between Sarasota County, Florida more or less kicking me out by not renewing my lease, and the Police Department giving me shit all Winter, I was ready to get out of there.
I was so happy to find a seasonal job in North Dakota for the summer. I was expecting to move to North Dakota, but in reality I moved to Medora.
I like to think I am an expert on “places”. Medora is the most spectacular and astonishing place I have ever been.
The Foundation sent an employee to pick me up at the airport in his personal car. I couldn't believe this. My flight was late, but he didn't even mention that.
He laughed when he saw I showed up with just a briefcase.
There are very few segments of American Life where you feel like you are dealing with competent, sane, and reasonable and happy people. The Medora Foundation and its Hospitality assets are one of those.
After my first dinner at the Life Skills Center, I told my coworkers at the office that it was “a top ten meal of the last ten years”. They thought that was so funny.
Every day Medora just kept getting better. The women were astonishingly good looking, reserved, and attractive. Any woman that picks up and relocates to North Dakota for a low-ish paid summer hospitality job is inherently attractive. I won't name any names.
To start work I needed a physical Social Security card. A lady named Jean was driving to Bismarck in a big-ass yellow box truck, and I hitched a ride. I often think back on that ride. Jean is one of the nicest people I've ever met. Our conversation went in a hundred different directions.
I rented a bike from the Dakota Cyclery. I also put a basket on the front. Between walking and biking, Medora has to be the greatest small place on Planet Earth.
JUNE 2024 || As any good job-jumper will tell you, jobs have a honeymoon period, and then there's the inevitable plateau.
This time was somewhat different. I was phone center based, and I was tasked with talking to clients about Medora and the area and the hotels and tour properties. The calls kept getting heavier and heavier. You know how when something is really important and so near-and-dear to you that you avoid it? This was that.
I was in-so-deep with Medora that I kinda wanted to leave. My voice started cracking and dragging on phone calls. The moment kind-of-in-a-way got too big for me.
I kinda fired myself. I started showing up late frequently. Supposedly, this is a no-no out West and in North Dakota culture.
Madi let me know to stop doing that. Instead, I decided to go out in a blaze of glory lol. I brought my wireless speaker to the central campus center location called the Like Skills Center and hacked together a makeshift party room. For hours, I blasted music and set up a pong set up and did all sorts of weird stuff to turn the plain-ass social room into a party room. I got pastries from the cafeteria and made a sweets spread. Even the kids from the musical thought it was really funny. I saw Bailey Payne smirk when she walked past. I blasted only the best music. It was one of my finer moments. On the way out, I overheard Randy Hutzenbuhler, the President of The Medora Foundation, say under his breath, “I need a drink”. So yeah, the water pong setup was a big hit.
JULY 2024 || Since I had to be out of employee housing in Medora, I moved to Dickinson. I really, really did not want to move away from North Dakota.
I spent quite a bit of money on staying at a Red Roof Inn. After that, I was more or less living on the street. It was not easy.
A local highly regarded business man named Brooks arranged for three nights at the Nodak Motel. This is one of the most natural and well done hotel accommodations I have stayed at. The owner was gracious and I got to learn Dickinson and its features. It is an awesome city. Meranda from the House of Manna was also very, very good to me. She picked me up from Walmart, arranged for food and other stuff, and made the connection with Brooks. She is the best of what America has to offer.
Moving to Dickinson didn’t work out, but I had an amazing month. I learned resilience when I decided I would just sleep in the Walmart parking lot (with no car). I even got to attend a good amount of country music shows. Savannah Benz is a young country musician and watching her perform was one of the highlights of my year. She is an incredible, incredible artist and live performer. She is the best of what America has to offer.
AUGUST 2024 || This month I moved to Madison, Wisconsin. My brother lives here and it is fun to live near him and learn the City of Madison. I started riding the bus, which is a really good way to get around town.
SEPTEMBER 2024 ||The Bills Season started. Before the Game in Week Three, I met a Bills fan on Saturday in the lobby of the AC Hotel in Madison. We made tentative plans to watch the game. I think they were at a work conference though, so maybe it was a challenge for them. 12 people I think he said.
The Bills Fan base is calling themselves a Mafia, which in my opinion is a major reach. A mafia is a serious deal, and I don’t think you should intermingle the two.
Anyhow, I wanted to test this Mafia concept. Before the game, I went to the really fancy Hotel rooftop bar. I wont say too much about what I did at the bar, but I acted like a “Wiseguy”. I’m not sure what happened after that, but they called the police on me and I got arrested.
I watched the game from jail.
OCTOBER 2024 || I got arrested again. And sent to the mental ward in Winnebago in Northern Wisconsin. The state of Wisconsin outside of Madison is also really excellent. It has really fresh air and a crisp climate. We live in such an amazing country.