Originally Posted by SilentKnight

Our report card on 2005:

For us 2005 was mostly an exercise of 'if it can go wrong...it will go wrong'. Despite all efforts and the long hours we put it, things continued to slide for us in the business department. The U.S./Canada currency exchange continued its downward spiral, resulting in less and less revenues as each month passed. In addition to that, we did a lot of bouncing around from one merchant account to another...resulting in a lot of lost momentum with recur billing. Unpaid revenues from former transaction processors continued to be a financial hardship that we had to absorb.

All this led to my taking on a second fulltime job for the first time since we started our company back in 1999. After eight hours working for another company, I'd come home and spend another 8 hours on our own production. Meals were often eaten in the office at the workstation, and I lost track of how many nights I crashed out on the office sofa at 4am to catch a few hours sleep before getting up at sunrise to head back off to work.

So I definitely got an 'F' in the quality time with the family category. It was almost necessary to email the wife and kids with pics of myself to remind them what I looked like.

Oddly enough, despite the dismal performance of the company...I somehow kept in good spirits throughout the year, taking the occasional time to do some personal photography (mainstream/non-adult) which cathartically helped clear the cobwebs and put a few things in to perspective. I managed to extricate myself from a few time-consuming endeavors as well that I was finding increasingly non-productive.

But after all was said and done, after ten years in the biz...I refused to let the year drag me down. I tend to think of it as nothing more than a temporary downward spike in the overall grand scheme of things. Sometimes you need to spend time in the valley to truly appreciate the mountain peaks. Its a reality check. I think of it in terms of Rocky Balboa revisiting the old gym (old school) long after his big successes, to find renewed inspiration and determination. We've lost a few battles, but the war is far from over...and we're gnarly veterans of the game with stories to tell about the battlescars.

I won't say I regret seeing the end of 2005. It certainly won't be a year I'd eagerly revisit in the time-hopping DeLorean.

But I'm thankful for my continued health, the love of my soulmate/wife...and two daughters who continue to make me a proud papa. I watch the daily news and read the stories in the newspaper of the unfortunate tragedies that overwhelmed so many others around the world in 2005 - tsunamis, hurricanes, terrorism and war...and remain thankful to live in relative peace and stability here in Canada - still one of the greatest nations on the planet for any number of reasons.

2006 promises to bode well for us and Kastle Archives Productions - with several new projects and plans on the drawing board. With a little luck and a helping of good 'ole ingenuinty, we're confident that we'll turn around the downward spike and revisit a few mountain tops again soon to enjoy the view.