I am feeling quite down this evening, as I hear about the various family events my father will avoid because he doesn’t feel comfortable around me. I think the step-mother has finally got her wish and isolated him fully. I don’t understand how that improves the standing of my kid brother at all.

On the one hand Dad’s absence is no skin off my nose, on the other it’s a sad behaviour I saw when my parents divorced. It’s just not right.

So the succession wars at my company are probably almost over. I suspect Mutual Assured Destruction is almost inevitable.

It is probably cheaper to stop fighting the court battles and show faith in the legal structure I put in place early last year. Even if I lose all the court cases there are no assets at risk. But the principal of the dispute sticks in my throat. Not contesting these claims seems like an admission that they are true and not some delusion dreamed up in my father’s and step-mother’s minds.

Lastly I had a distributor quit today. Again he wasn’t the best I had. I didn’t even think he’d come back after the Christmas break, but now I have to find and train a replacement.

I found myself wishing for a business that didn’t rely on distributors. Give me something with multiple locations and staff who show up or are fired. 😉

But I’ll bet there’s a retailer out there who would kill to swap businesses with me.

Actually that reminds me of a discussion I had in a supplier’s showroom with a retailer. He and I got to complaining about the worst aspects of Wholesale/Direct Marketing versus Retail. Everybody thinks the other guy in the supply chain is making more money than them. It passed the time while we were waiting for the invoices to be produced.

Anyway tomorrow is a new day filled with fresh challenges and opportunities. I’m going to wallow tonight and attack the business fresh in the morning. After all it’s only money.