Honestly, though? You're giving up all circus dreams after one clown class? That seems like a huge overreaction. Clowning is mostly about falling and jokes, not tightrope skills. You could hate face paint but still love balancing high up. It's not like failing at pratfalls means you'd be bad at everything. Tbh, quitting over that feels a bit much.

You said "mail and fax lag" but faxes are instant, the lag was him mailing things to you. The three day wait was for postal mail, not the fax machine. That whirring and beeping was the only fast part of the whole mess. I once had a client who would courier printed changes to my office, which was somehow even slower than mail.

Switched to tea after lunch and my sleep got way better almost right away.

That "face to face" talk sounds ideal, but trade shows are a HUGE time and money sink. You can get the same deal making connections online if you're willing to put in the legwork.

What kind of research were you doing though? Reading articles and reports is different from testing a real product or talking to people who have used it. Your best guess from reading alone is still a guess, but hands-on checking gives you actual facts to work with.