How do they...?!

[marko]

It had an awning that read "Albanian Gentlemans Social Club"

The owner had an old tan Mercedes E class that he drove. It was the only car in the parking lot. Ever. And it was only there once in a while.

In 2000, the awning came down, the building got repainted and a new awning went up that read "Black Eagle Restaurant"

The tan Mercedes E class was there for a few days then.....
....Nowadays, the building is still there, same awning, same name.
No customers.

A restaurant near us has been "opening soon" for five years. Seems that the owners are doing that in order to hold onto their old liquor license which is a lot more expensive and harder to get than when they got theirs.

Your example seems a bit more umm...interesting.

As someone said in a movie once: "You ever think there's a whole world out there you know nothing about?..."

 

[kcowan]

Another is that many people don't realize that you still have a full day (or more) of work to get done. Some seem to think you watch a lot of TV, do laundry, have time to run their errands during the day when you are supposed to be working. Several times I was asked to drive 30 minutes to check on so-and-so who is not answering her phone -- you have time because you are working from home today, right?

When I opened my home office, I had to establish visiting hours: 15 minutes mid-morning and afternoon and 60 minutes at noon. Any other time, there is a virtual do not disturb sign on the door. It worked well. Occasionally there might have been a scheduled interruption like a delivery at other times, but I never answered the home phone line otherwise.

 

[CaptTom]

Getting beyond money laundering, hobby businesses, and legitimate work-at-home, there's still a world of possible answers to the OP's questions.

The accountant who quit that gig to guide white-water rafting trips in summer and hunting trips in winter in far northern Maine. The guy who closed up shop and sold everything to run rum-punch catamaran tours in the islands. The couple we rented jet-skis from on another island.

I love to hear these people's stories when I travel. For many in the rat race, they are living the dream. Takes a lot of guts, and often hard work, but on the whole they seem pretty happy.

 

[RachaelandtheGoose]

Getting beyond money laundering, hobby businesses, and legitimate work-at-home, there's still a world of possible answers to the OP's questions.

The accountant who quit that gig to guide white-water rafting trips in summer and hunting trips in winter in far northern Maine. The guy who closed up shop and sold everything to run rum-punch catamaran tours in the islands. The couple we rented jet-skis from on another island.

I love to hear these people's stories when I travel. For many in the rat race, they are living the dream. Takes a lot of guts, and often hard work, but on the whole they seem pretty happy.

Yep, those are brave, cool people. Sometimes with very fresh perspectives. A sort of funny one from my own travels: My husband and I were on our honeymoon in the Puget Sound area and ended up chatting with a very sweet t-shirt shop owner in Port Townsend. It turns out she, like us, was originally from Illinois, so we got to talking and asked her how she'd ended up in Washington.



She told us she and her husband had just up and left one day because they were afraid of tornadoes. Having spent the day driving around the Hoh Rainforest, observing different signs, pointing in opposite directions, indicating escape routes for tsunamis and mud slides, signs about what to do if you're attacked by a cougar or an elk, signs warning of large falling rocks, and of course have driven down a few days earlier to see Mt. St. Helens, this really gave us a chuckle. Illinois residents our whole lives, neither my husband or I had ever seen a tornado, but the many dangers of Washington are real and imminent. Seemed like funny tradeoff if safety was the main concern.



Nevertheless, her story of determined escape was inspiring and her new life gave her a ton of freedom and daily views that can't be beat. She was obviously very content and her happy nature was contagious. Though she left for reasons that seemed to us like oddly out of proportion fears, we both felt like we wished we were as brave as her. (And we'd both take Port Townsend over our hometown if we could afford it!)



Does any one person's story stick out in your mind when you think of the ones you've heard in your travels?