Take a Number!
Working from the back seat of my own car while I had a moment.
This is going to come off a little unusual, and I even sat on it before writing, but it’s the reality of my life and I need to put it out there.
This blog is the only public space where I write about what’s happening in my world. The other five I keep are either tied to Hudson Cloud, E@RTC, behind a paywall, or written just for close friends. Most of what I write is done at odd hours; the middle of the night, or when an idea hits and I have a moment. Sometimes I’ll bang out half a dozen pieces on a weekend because that’s the only window I have.
Here’s the hard part: I’ve reached a point where I simply can’t chat, meet, or respond to everyone who wants time. If I say that directly, people stop trying. If I don’t say it, people assume I’m being rude. Sometimes it’s assumed that if I’ve posted here, that means I’ve got time for anything else, and it just doesn’t work that way.
Even Calendly gets plugged with meetings I know nothing about until I see them on the calendar. It’s not that I don’t want to help, it’s just physics. There aren’t enough hours in the day. I’ve had people suggest I hire someone to screen requests, but who pays for that?
I do my best to write articles around FAQs, and GPT-5 helps me refine those so I can reach more people at once. But a lot of folks simply want a personal conversation. I get it. The problem is, as much as I’d like to, my life isn’t working that way right now. My priority has to be Hudson Cloud and paying clients. That’s not about being cold, it’s just reality.
I’ve tried screening inquiries and setting guardrails. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I’ve even had people go as far as showing up at my door with a book in hand. It’s flattering, it really is, but I’m still just one person. I can’t do it all.