State of the Sparr, December 2018
It has been far too long since I posted a general update of the state and progress of my life, and I am joining a number of new (and long-ignored) social networks so this seems like a way to catch up quickly.
Currently I am working at HotSchedules, a restaurant management SAAS platform. I am living in a space that I co-founded, called Loophole, in SF, with 8-11 other people and that is going decently so far. I am slowly getting out of the vehicle-owning business, aiming to keep just one big bus for road trips and parties. Some vehicles I have sold, some I have given away, some have seen unfortunate ends. Marriage is going well enough, we are making some progress on her immigration paperwork, and I will soon reap the tax benefits (~$7k?) for the first time. I am going to fewer regional burns and big kink events, more big public and private festivals / retreats / parties. I continue to make small steps towards starting projects of significant scale or scope, and then give up out of lack of motivation. That's about all for now; below are some highlights (and lowlights) for the last five years:
Crossposts:
https://sparr.dreamwidth.org/84129.html
https://joindiaspora.com/posts/13584393
https://www.reddit.com/r/sparr/comments/a852na/state_of_the_sparr_december_2018
https://www.facebook.com/notes/sparr-risher/state-of-the-sparr-december-2018/2496772323671312/
Currently I am working at HotSchedules, a restaurant management SAAS platform. I am living in a space that I co-founded, called Loophole, in SF, with 8-11 other people and that is going decently so far. I am slowly getting out of the vehicle-owning business, aiming to keep just one big bus for road trips and parties. Some vehicles I have sold, some I have given away, some have seen unfortunate ends. Marriage is going well enough, we are making some progress on her immigration paperwork, and I will soon reap the tax benefits (~$7k?) for the first time. I am going to fewer regional burns and big kink events, more big public and private festivals / retreats / parties. I continue to make small steps towards starting projects of significant scale or scope, and then give up out of lack of motivation. That's about all for now; below are some highlights (and lowlights) for the last five years:
- 2018
- December
- Another resolution to try moving some of my online interaction off Facebook, forcing myself to use ~6 other sites regularly to find a good fit
- Gave away 1/4 of my board games to declutter
- November
- Friend's landlord gutted my last two 40ft buses, leaving them unusable
- Gave away Morello (police prisoner transport van) and last short school bus to friends in need
- Road trip to Lake Tahoe for a hotel party in Arthur (60ft bus)
- Rejected job offer at startup so awesome that I expected them to be acquired before my equity vested
- October
- Started first "legacy" board game campaign with housemates
- Applied to SF City College, because tuition is free and I might want to take some classes in 2019
- Came up with the most fundamental and novel philosophy/ethical problem I ever have
- September
- My first time appearing in small claims court, leading to a relatively quick victory and 10 more years to collect
- Designed, built, and installed a small climbing wall at Loophole
- Bought a storage unit at auction for the first time
- Discovered that bus borrowed by a friend of a friend for Burning Man suffered serious damage due to bad driving, bad decision making, and neglect
- Folsom Street Fair party at Loophole, our first big event, and a big success
- August
- Registered Arthur (60ft bus) as a motorhome after much bureaucracy
- Attended Burning Man for the 4th time
- Ran a BM camp for the 1st time, along with Victoria, Buspatch BRC centered around my 60ft bus; it was a moderate success
- July
- Married Victoria
- Right shoulder surgery, labrum repair same as the left four years prior, plus adhesive capsulitis
- Third year attending Ephemerisle, second bringing Flatland (my mini barge), first bringing my cabin boat
- Sold one of the short schoolbuses for more than I paid for the pair
- June
- Co-found Loophole, a live/art/event space in the SOMA neighborhood of SF
- Passed the written tests for a CA CDL
- Bought two cheap short schoolbuses
- Camping retreat party with Victoria and a few hundred other people
- May
- Found new manager for Buspatch, started transitioning leadership
- Filed a small claims lawsuit for the first time, against an ex-friend who borrowed $4000 and now refuses to talk to me
- Seriously considered buying an alley in NYC to try converting into a tiny home
- April
- Received and responded to "Notice of Violation" from Oakland CA planning department regarding Buspatch, starting a possibly-years-long battle
- Unrelated, announced my planned departure from Buspatch and beginning of a search for a new manager
- March
- Visited Europe for the first time, mostly with Victoria, 2 weeks to see Stockholm, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Rome
- First encounter with US Customs, some civil disobedience, some detainment.
- February
- Victory in court over citations for deploying liferafts in city park in 2017
- January
- Got banned from the building containing my office for attracting the wrath of a fire inspector by reporting a locked fire exit after they refused to fix it repeatedly
- December
- 2017
- Met and started dating Victoria
- Kat broke up with me
- Left Splunk, worked at LinkedIn for 3 months on a damaged-beyond-repair team, joined HotSchedules
- Attended big private parties in Tahoe and north of SF, Frolicon, Priceless, Burning Man, Ephemerisle
- Founded and lived at Buspatch, a vehicle dwelling community on a private parking lot in SOMA, SF, and later moved it to Oakland
- 2016
- Joined TechShop, got certified on a bunch of fabrication tools, did my first big welding projects
- Bus got towed illegitimately, city of SF had to pay $4k tow+storage bill.
- SFPD confused me with my father due to his suspended [right to get a] CA driver license
- Attended Burning Man, Ephemerisle
- Bought and lived in an Optima Opus transit bus
- Sold my ambulance
- 2015
- Started working at Splunk
- Fell in love with SF, decided to stay
- Emma broke up with me
- 3 months of travel, living in an ex-SWAT ex-ambulance, mostly with Emma
- Left Chicago and SK Intertainment
- 2014
- Met and started dating Emma
- Left Boston and Scholastic for Chicago where I accidentally got a new job
- First time having sole responsibility for a major hardware and software system design and deployment
Crossposts:
https://sparr.dreamwidth.org/84129.html
https://joindiaspora.com/posts/13584393
https://www.reddit.com/r/sparr/comments/a852na/state_of_the_sparr_december_2018
https://www.facebook.com/notes/sparr-risher/state-of-the-sparr-december-2018/2496772323671312/