Picking up the pieces

After my channel partner quit on me, I needed to figure out how I could continue to make videos myself.  With him gone, I lost my recording space, camera, editor, lights, microphone, and experience.  Additionally, my kids dropped my personal laptop on the floor and broke it beyond repair.  Yikes.
I reached out to local friends and gamers I knew for anyone experienced with filming or editing.  After a couple weeks, I hadn't found anyone that was interested in joining up, without being paid a salary.  It's a hobby project, and one that I have no funding for- so it's difficult to find any help.
I knew I had to get at least the basic resources myself, and learn the editing process as I go.
Thankfully, my parents supported the channel idea and wanted to help.  They gave me an early Christmas AND birthday gift in the form of a new laptop.  Bingo!
My wife is an amateur photographer and uses a high quality digital camera.  She was very happy to help me continue filming gaming videos, and agreed to let me use her camera when I needed it.  We still share it!
Around this time, a friend of mine was working at Sam Ash music and was about to quit for a different career.  On his last day, I was able to pick up some supplies using his employee discount, which was a big help!  I got an attachable microphone for the camera, mic stands, cables, and some other things.
Lighting was my next concern, so I asked my first recording buddy where he got his lights and what he uses to diffuse it.  He gave me some great advice and referred me to some very practical items to get 4 clip lights to use.  He also had an extra green screen I could have, so I can record almost anywhere!
To start recording again, I needed a space.  We have a playroom that our kids use, but only on the rarest occasions.  They really prefer not to be alone, and tend to play wherever mom and dad are.  So, the room was largely unused and available.  I set up the green screen on the wall, set up lights around the room using mic stands, and set up the camera.
After some tests and practice, I got comfortable with how to light the room, and where to place the camera.  I was happy to see the channel may survive after all!  I continued on my own like this, but still open to finding people to help.  Slowly, some people reached out to me... at varying degrees of assistance.