Life seems to mirror back, any aspect I entertain in thought. X2 RichG, and those who spoke of gratitude earlier.
RichG<SCRIPT type=text/javascript> vbmenu_register("postmenu_5990826", true); </SCRIPT> AMEN Brother ! AND Special Sam LIKE THE OLD SAYING GOES, A day above ground is better than a day under ground !
Sam, I'm glad you posted, especially near Christmas. You've got the double-whammy of health issues, plus bills that are hard or impossible to pay. Maybe it'll give you some comfort to know there are many of us in the same boat with you: Iffy to bad health, can't work, or can't get a hire due to health issues. You are not alone in this world, or situation. Keep your dauber up, and seek any legitimate local help where you are to get you through, buddy. AND, try and keep yer spirits up, especially if you tend to be hard on yourself (my issue, bro). As BigBadJohn said on Post #20: If you want to see how rich you are...... don't count your money..... count everything that money can't buy.... thats what life is all about. I miss my late big brother. He'd tell me: "Jim, never forget, it's the little things in life that count the most." God bless you, man. Hang in. Maybe you and lots of us others, it's all we can do. One foot in front of the other, every day!
Oh yeah, jimi'shemi just reminded of something that might be helping bring me down. I also recently lost my big brother to cancer. He was only 54. My mother died of cancer at the age of 51. I presently am 52. I always like sitting around doing math and this equation scares me. Damn them algebra classes
Your mind is a powerful thing, and only you can control it..do not dwell on the negatives, there are no winners in that game. Oh yeah, keep your sense of humor, a necessity for positive thinking.
It's pretty sad when you can come somewhere, such as this board and get more support than it seems like you can get from your family and friends. Oh, I have to mention the car wholesaler for whom I have worked nights and weekends for for the last 7 years. You know the type, call Friday at 4pm and say, I got a car, only thing is I need it back first thing Monday morning. All the times I've pulled his cars out at 4am Monday and now I'm down sick and he don't even know my name. Gotta love it. I just hope he's prepared when Karma comes a callin'.
My signature pretty much sums up my life. Thanks for some of your posts. We all deal with our demons it is just how we cope mentally makes all the difference in the world. I wish the best for you.....
I was lucky enough to get my car finished before the major health issues took over.Hang in and do what you can do. It's better than the alternative
I , too, have severe COPD. I am on oxygen 24/7, but so what? Oxygen improves quality of life and quantity of life. I woke up this morning and thanked God for another day. I'll be 67 in a few days, and I am blessed with the important things in life, a loving wife, son, daughter, grandchildren and good friends. It is easy to get depressed, but not much fun. I prefer to laugh at a joke, try to fix a mistake, and remember what a lucky man I am I own a hot rod Ford!
I know where your coming from,sometimes all the problems adding up makes life seem kind of hopeless at times. But if you can break things down into small individual problems and work those out one by one,you will have some victories and things can turn around.Pick one problem at a time and make a plan of what you can do about it and work on it.Once you start to beat things your mental state will improve and stuff will get easier.
Appears to be a little pick me up. New debit card arrived in the mail just today. May go ahead and order the welder. Just afraid I'll order and never make it back out to the garage to use it. Of couse my son could probably find something to do with it. You can see how into cars he is in this pic.
My Farther's advive in 1973 (he passed in 1984, day after my son was born) when I was telling him what I wanted to do to the 1953 Mercury Monterey 2dr hardtop he had given me. That's right. Spend about $1500 on it and you'll have a good $500 car. He didn't think much of fixing up old cars. Son loves to fix cars up, just tuners not classics.
had a laminectomy several years ago - doctor said no work - two years....so, I swapped an LT-1/M21 into my CJ5...a couple of bolts at a time...plenty of rest in between. Sam, you're way worse off than I was - at least I knew I was going to get better. Follow doctor's orders and stay on your meds. dj
I'm diabetic on insulin with severe Diabetic neuropathy in both feet 100%, getting in my hands now (not good for pinstriping!) All the meds that are supposed to work don't unless you're talkiing about screwing with my brain. But, that 37 Chevy delivery I just bought pulls me in no matter how I feel. Sometimes I use the handicap scooter, or the cane, but I get up every day and grab myself by the head and just go. Sometimes for an hour, somedays 4 or 5 hours and other days nothing happens but I know there's always something to do or just think about when it comes to our hot rods. They are good medicine.
I also take smaller bites at these projects than I used too because of health issues. I just feel lucky that I am still able to go out to the garage and at least look, I just try and keep things in perspective and look forward to getting little projects no matter how small, finished. I'm comming back, slowly, just hang in there---hell sometimes I grab a beer and sit in a cold car and dream what it will be like when it's done-- sound's stupid-- but it works for me, gets me through a tuff day--just hang man, it ain't over, I wish I lived in your area
ya just gotta be nuts to spend a small fortune for a pile of tin that has holes rusted throught the body and a maybe somewhat useable frame. then the lil lady says "you paid how much for that? looks like a pile of junk." You knowing full well the worth of this car in its finished state. Then you procede to spend every available hour and most weekends toiling over the new found jewell and dumping a small fortune into making it streetworthy again. yes call me nuts or maybe its just a cruel affliction for old cars from back in the day.
hellerods, I see you are a Pontiac man. I remember the old man buying a new 1964 Pontiac Catalina. Man I loved that car. Been trying to find a reasonable priced Pontiac for a while but havn't had any luck, not locally anyway. I do love me some Pontiacs.
Hang in there Man..... Waking up each day is the greatest !!! This is a good thread. I have been working on my '63 Biscayne project for close to a year now. Ten years ago it would have been done in a (6) months. Will turn 67 in Feb, and have bad back, neck, and both legs have had surgery, and need it again on one of them...so what, it just slows me down a bit...but that is life. Fortunately my (22) year old Grandson helps me out...(Doing the crawling under duties, and hard to get places) Been waiting for three weeks for help to drop my engine in....frustrating, but hey, that is life. Good luck to you....and do as I do....Sit in the garage, smoke a ceegar, and sip a little moonshine, and dream about it getting done!! Cheers
It is in your mind ... the depression At age 52, I had a heart attack and was dead for 5 minutes when the EMS got to my home and jump started me back. Then a week later it was heart surgery with 5 bypasses ( at one time ). I was overweight ( 330 pounds @ 6 foot 2 inches tall ) and had diabetes. I struggled along for 8 years, working @ my job and trying to work on my old car projects. Then, at age 60, I decided that I was going to get BETTER. I lost over 120 pounds ( no surgery ... just being REAL careful about what I ate ). Now I take no blood pressure medicene, NO diabetes medicene, and very, very little other medicene. The Doctor did put me on a Aspirin a day. I feel GREAT. I can get around vastly better. I am in better shape ( IMHO ) than I was @ 45. This year I drove over 5 thousand miles to the LA Roadster show and back. 2 weeks after we got back home ... I drove 4800+ miles to Canada to get a old Mercury truck and bring it home. The above later photo was shot in South Dakota at the Mount Rushmore site on the way home from Canada. Talk with your Doctor about these feelings ... It could be the medicene. He may be able to HELP ...
May 21st I was shot four times by an Iraq-Veteran who was my roommate, trusted best friend of nearly a decade, and 'supposed' brother. Coming home from Iraq from his fourth tour I offered him a room as he had nowhere to go and I, AND MY FAMILY, dearly cared for him. He so much as referred to my mother and sister as 'Mom' and 'Sis'. We all prayed for his safety overseas daily while serving, as anyone would in our situation. That night 7 months ago in a drunken-blackout PTSD-flipout he used a .40 handgun equipped with hydro-shock rounds to gun me down in my own home and leave me for dead on my back patio in 38 degree weather to die. For seven hours I screamed for help with half my jaw shot off and nearly bled out when my neighbor BARELY heard me acre away and came to my rescue around 6am, saving my life. I was shot in the forearm (defensive wound stopping a headshot), the chest/shoulder (intended heartshot), the face (left mandible), and back of neck (killshot, aiming for back of head excecution-style) destroying my C4 vertebrae and causing a severe spinal cord injury. The total injuries are too long to list as he left me for dead and I developed hypothermia in that time, which led to an insane list of further complications. My core temperature was 84 degrees when I was found and had I not been a healthy six-one 275lb brick-shithouse I would surely have passed away from that alone. I spent 3.5 months in the hospital/rehab and my bill totaled $900,000. Between my excellent medical insurance, medicaid, and Victims of Violent Crimes my portion is $83.47 for the ambulance and helicopter ride. I keep my head up everyday, despite being a quadrapelidgic, and vow to walk again, then turn a wrench, then lay a bead, etc. One step at a time fellas. I actually feel like a badass to be honest! Thank goodness for the HAMB, MFS dvd's, and the ability to type one-handed; I got some time on my hands as I recover. Sorry about the novel, I figured I would chime in.
Dang Steady, now I feel like a big ole' whiny puss thats needs to have my rear kicked and drug out to the woodshed for a good old talkin' to. Hope your situation improves and I hope they dealt with your "friend" in an appropriate manner. Somebody has always got it worse, sorry to here it's you.
Wow! Just when I started to feel sorry for myself, I read this...Amazing how strong the instinct to survive is. I wish you well...you are an inspiration... God Bless
I would like to say one other thing. Thank you to all the responces on this post and thank you for not making any responces about being a whiny ass. One thing I've learned over the last year, Mental health can be a bigger problem than physical health. My brother told me to stop thinking about the things that are causing me problems and I'd be okay. I told him he should go public with that knowledge and he could cure all the mental problems of the world.
I personally, would never do that, (make fun of anybody's problems) I respect the fact that you started a thread like this. I'm not alone..
Thank you all. I think I may be feeling a little better just getting to talk about it here. Not a lot of support here on the homefront. Maybe like Army said in that Geico commercial, maybe I should just go over to H.A.M.B.y pamby land and see if I can find a little self respect. That is what he said isn't it. I know some think he said mamby pamby.
I can't find the thread now, but did you ever see the quad New Zealand dude who was learning how to weld with his disability? I hope someone can find that, freakin' inspiring is what he is!
The Jalopy Journal
