August 12, 2003
Decent day in office yesterday. Abby out for a family reunion. Robert Ray building ads. Best of the West issue is going to be big, probably 136 pages. Concerned that there isn’t enough history in it. R.G. is thinking of adding a four pager on collecting. Good, solid piece. Bush layout for actual BOW listings. Type is leaded out half-way through, nothing is locked to the baseline grid. Disturbing. Supposed to have a meeting today about it.

Came home for lunch, had a warmed over hamburger, started right in on painting. Did a large Billy jumping through the gate. Not sure it works. Stayed on it until around three. Went back to office.

The Custer battlefield called and ordered another 288 Custer issues. This is the second order this month and finally vindicates a decision I made a year-and-a-half ago when I paid $6K (we didn't have) to send that issue (June, 2001) back on the press. We changed the dateline to read “Special Battlefield Edition” and I waited and waited to get that money back. Now that we are in pure profit, and it is a proven moneymaker, I wish I had printed even more. Like Wyatt was fond of saying, “The less you bet, the more you lose when you win.”

Dr. M’s office called and said my colonoscopy was negative and I’ll need another one in 10 years. The nurse also wanted to alert me that the doctor saw “ulceration around the rectal area.” She asked me if I had any symptoms of itching or discomfort. I told her, “Not yet, but now that you’ve told me, I’ll probably start itching like crazy as soon as I hang up.”

“In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.”
—Robert Frost