Day 317 of 362

Yeah... I have three black 'Gopher sweaters. So wearing black two days in a row is bound to happen every now and then. Sue me...

Another "come-from-behind" start to the morning... Feedback keeps coming in on the store move, and it's all important for us to listen to. Keep in mind, though, Loq and I are still the ones who have to make this decision, and it has to be right for our financial well-being (as a store *AND* as a family), as well as being good for the community. It is our every intention to keep the Gopher community happy, hale, and THRIVING.

With that in mind, apparently there are people who are saying that I've changed. I'm hearing folks are thinking I am becoming less of a friend, and more of a businessman, and that I am detaching from them in the process. To some extent, they're correct. I have detached myself a bit, mostly due to the overwhelming amount of time it takes to run a store like what we have. I don't have the time to hang out like I would like to because I am currently at the store 70+ hours a week. On the evenings I do get off, most of these friends are either gaming in the store, or busy with other aspects of their own lives, be it work, family, other friends, or whatever. Even when we are at the store together, there is so much work to do for the store that I don't get to just hang/game with these folks as much as I'd like. There are so many of those times it that makes me physically ache... I miss just being a husband, a father, a gamer, and a friend... Hell, I miss being able to have taco parties at my house...

Then I begin to think about what would happen if the store goes belly up because I neglected some important aspect of it in order to just chill... and that thought hurts me even more because I will have left these very good friends of mine without a place to hang out and enjoy each other's company. There is so much life, laughter, and joy that has spilled out into this store that I am humbled by it. I am thankful to God *EVERY DAY* for placing me in a position to steward such a wonderful place where folks can get together, laugh, joke around, and ENJOY LIFE WITH EACH OTHER.

However, running this place takes major sacrifice. Sacrifice that I make daily and willingly, out of love for what we have here at Gopher...

So please... trust me when I say that any decision Loquacious, and I make in regard to the future of this business is made for the good of everyone who enjoys what we have going at Armored Gopher Games, be they Original Gophers, New Gophers, or gophers we haven't met yet...

-- GopherDave