I need your Prayers

[mudwoman]

Sparky-
Mudman and I are both right there with you- we have both been through tough times and have weathered those storms as stronger people.
Two things come to mind.
I work at a nursing home and my patients have lost everything- husbands, wives, homes, health, independance- everything- yet they keep going. Once I said to one of them "You know, God never hands you anything you can't handle." and she looked at me and said "I think He has me mixed up with someone else!"- boy! do I know how she feels!!
And then another time one of my patients told me, "If we were all sitting in a circle, and we put our troubles in the middle, we would look at each others troubles, and take our own back."- I think that is abslutely right (although there have been times..................).
I will keep holding you and your family in my heart! Mudwoman

 

[randomjeeper]

i'll keep you and sunshine in my thoughts. hang in there, we're rooting for you!

 

[Sparky-Watts]

3.5" BDS or 4" RE?

Mudwoman, that last one about taking back our own troubles really hit home!!! Thank you so much for posting that! Sunshine and I took the trip to the farm today as planned. Left home a little later than we wanted, around 7:30am, and got back around 8pm tonight. Forecast called for highs in the mid 40's with strong north winds, but God smiled on us and gave us highs in the upper 50's and mild north winds! We took a little walk in the timber, but mostly just sat in the opening of the big shed with the sun shining on us and the shed blocking the breeze, soaking in that wonderful light therapy. You know how too many gray, overcast days can give you the blahs. I've got some pics (a bunch, actually), but I'm too tired right now to even unload them from the camera. Maybe tomorrow I'll pic out a couple and post them here. The drive out there and the time we spent together away from the whole outside world in the middle of nowhere did wonders for my state of mind, and hers too, I could tell. But, alas, tomorrow is another day to trudge out and look again for a job.

Sunshine reminded me of a billboard we saw when we were returning from our honeymoon. It was one of a series that a local church had sponsored. This one simply said,

"You invited me to the wedding. Now invite me into the marriage.

Love, Jesus."

Seeing it on our way back from the honeymoon seemed almost.....well, almost like a sign from above! Any other time, I doubt it would have stuck in our minds like that.

Well, it's reassuring to know that we've got the farm to go to anytime we want, even though it's 200 miles away. It's always been a special place to me. My great-great-great-grandfather homesteaded it in 1856, and it has been in the family ever since. There is still an old foundation of the house where my father was born, and the barn where he milked the cows, as well as two wells my g-g-g-grandfather dug by hand. In my father's last several years, he and I got to go out there together, just the two of us, on several occasions. I know to most folks, it's just 80 acres of timber and 40 acres of cropland, not anything different than most of the eastern 1/4 of Kansas, but to me, it's a place I can call my own now, and a place where I can always find my dad when I need to be with him. He died March 21st, 2003 and is buried a few miles from there, but I know he is always there on the farm, always with me when I'm in the timber, and always watching over me. And that thought soothes my troubled soul.

 

[TwistedCU]

RE: 3.5" BDS or 4" RE?

Surprisingly good advice from a billboard

 

[mingez]

RE: retreads

Mudwoman, that last one about taking back our own troubles really hit home!!! Thank you so much for posting that!

No kidding. Mudwoman is very insightful, luckily she uses her powers for good instead of evil.

 

[Sparky-Watts]

RE: Broken rear axle

On a windswept ridge in the Eastern Kansas hills,
My father takes his rest.
Miles and miles from nowhere, in a land
He knew the best;

-excerpt from "My Father Who Art in Heaven" By Sparky

......here's the entrance to the land he knew the best:

 

[mud4feet]

RE: Re: RE: Question to moderators

Sparky, seein' the pics, I understand why you went there............beautiful country. Had to be good for the soul. God, I wish you the best.

 

[Special_K]

You got my prayers Sparky. I'm sure you're make it through just fine.

"I know God won't give me more than I can handle...I just wish he didn't trust me so much."
- Mother Teresa

 

[LBR]

Does R.E. 4" YJ lift vibrate?

Sparky - so sorry to hear the troubles looming over you and yours - 10-4 on the COBRA insurance as it is required to be offered under what sounds to be the proper circumstances - the Mrs. & I wish you the very, very best - the Zfam here will take great care of you - just keep us updated LBR

 

[Sparky-Watts]

RE: New Member At Jeepz

Thanks again. Sunshine was asking me about COBRA insurance, but I don't know anything about it. She was reading some of the replies here yesterday. Where do we find out about this? At the unemployment office? I was on unemployment for awhile last year, and it seems like they had mentioned something about it.

 

[_(OIIIIO)_Jeeper]

Don't know about Kansas, ToTo (I've always wanted to say that...)..er..oh...but here in Arkansas its the employer that has to offer the cobra insurance to you. You have to pay full tilt for it. Example..a company I worked for payed 75% of my insurance every month as part of the benefit package. My 25% was I think (been awhile) 85.00 month or 21.25 each pay week. The COBRA I had to pay the entire amount plus some which was about 380/month. Cobra is basically designed to allow a person to continue their coverage untill they can aquire insurance from another source as so not to have a laps in coverage. It is alot more exspencive then say insurance from your own insurance company. It really wasn't made for long term.

 

[Sparky-Watts]

attn Snitty Joopin

True, Jeeper, definitely not for the long haul. Sunshine suddenly spouted forth all she knows about COBRA ( I knew it was in there, but she had too much other stuff on her mind to remember it). We'd pay full pop for our insurance coverage, which would be upwards of $900 a month through COBRA. If and when she loses her job, she'll get unemployment at the top tier of $371 a week. Doing the math, that would leave us around $500 a month for house payment, auto payment, auto ins., house ins., gas, utilities, and food.......from what we've budgeted for all of the above, we'd end up around $300 a month in the hole. It's a no-win situation. We've got some expenses we can cut, including our satellite service, internet, cell phones.....I rely on the internet in part for support (mostly from you guys) and in part for job hunting. I don't want her to go anywhere without her cell phone for safety reasons, and I give out my cell phone number at job interviews. The satellite service......well.....I can't justify keeping it, just that it provides us with the programs we watch most. We rarely ever watch local stations, keeping mostly to HGTV for both of us, Speed for my racing fix, DIY for both of us, and the Travel Channel for her. When it gets down to brass tacks, yeah, we will drop it. Then next would be the internet. Then as a last resort the cell phones, as you can use a cell phone with no account to at least dial 911. There are a few other things we can cut from the budget that are necessary luxuries like the internet and satellite. Like I said, we're not destitute yet, and won't be for a while, just making plans on how to hold off sleeping in a cardboard box and eating out of dumpsters. Seriously, we've got family that would take us in, so that will never become reality for us.

 

[Saurian]

RE: Adventures in the Gadget Cave

Is there any chance of you getting back into the EMT/Paramedic field, or something of that nature? Just a thought off the top of my head.

 

[jeepguy46176]

That furniture repair business is a great idea if u are good at it and have the tools to do it. One of my boss's buddy's started a business like that about 5yrs ago and now employs 8 ppl and makes a butt load of cash.

 

[Sparky-Watts]

RE: rear shock/spring bound

Is there any chance of you getting back into the EMT/Paramedic field, or something of that nature? Just a thought off the top of my head.

Not likely. I'd have to go through all that training again since my certification is lapsed (over 5 years now). I've thought about phlebotomy, but now most of those require some type of degree, at least up to an associates in Biology, some even going up to Bachelor's. I'm 33 credits from my Bachelor's degree in medicine, but Chemistry and Micro-Biology are the two courses that killed that for me. Flunked out of Chemistry for Dummies 3 times in two years.....and my dad was a Chemistry teacher, and even he couldn't get me through it. Besides, I've got enough nightmares from EMS to last me a lifetime now. It never bothered me while I was working on the people, only when I'd get home and try to close my eyes for a little sleep, then it all came back at me.

The cost of running an ad for the Furniture Repair aren't as high as I expected, so I'm working that text out now. I used to do it just sort of part time, and it was enough to make some extra spending money. I've got the shop and all the tools to do it, so that's taken care of. It's just a matter of finding customers now. A lot of that stuff can be done at the customer's house, usually just some wood glue and clamps, or maybe some touch-up stain. Bigger jobs can be taken to the shop. I had a partnership of sorts with an upholstery company here in town the last time I ran my business, and that not only brought me business, but also broadened the range of work. I could do the repair and they could do the upholstery. Problem was, they were ssssssllllllllllloooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!! One of my customers brought in 4 dinner chairs to be refinished. I did my part (stripping, sanding, staining, clear coat, and minor repair work) in about a week and a half. The upholstery took them 4 months!!! I lost that customer, and even gave them a 50% discount because it took so long. But, I love working with wood, and love doing that type of work, so that's most likely the direction I'll head with it. Sunshine has always had a knack for decorating, and I've always told her she should start a business for it. She doesn't think she could do it, because she says she only knows how to design for her tastes, not others. Heck, most people that hire interior decorators do so because they don't have any taste!!

Here's a couple examples of my work:

Before:

After:

The first was a hope chest made of walnut from my farm lined with cedar. The others were a buffet I bought for Sunshine for our 4th wedding anniversary that I stripped and refinished. The top was a sheet of burl maple veneer that I got from my last job building aircraft furniture that they were going to throw away. Just the piece on the top would cost close to $2000. I finished it out with about 25 coats of high gloss polyurethane. I dunno, what do you think, have I got the knack for that sort of thing? Sorry, just had to brag! :lol:

 

[mud4feet]

Sparky, I was scrolling around (a rather lengthy - spacewise - post, you have to agree) and I happened upon that burl maple top...........Man!!!! Outstanding!! If you have the patience and the love for that kinda work, I once again say GO FOR IT!!!! May be a little slow at first, of course, but I have faith that the work will come. To butcherdly (word?) paraphrase a Costner movie....."Refinish it...and they will come" :lol: :lol: Seriously, those are some beautiful pieces..you have talent (I've tried it with a few things, and it winds up looking like my Jeep :shock: ).

 

[mud4feet]

On a side note, Sparky. I ditched my cellphone (monthly charges...contract!) for a prepaid ($40 at walmart). minutes are expensive ($.25) but you let everybody know that it's not for "gabbin" and you still have the peace of mind (re: Sunshine/Mudwoman). You buy more mins. as you need them.......just a thought. Always hated those monthly charges for minutes I never used.

 

[Sparky-Watts]

Yeah, I found out a while ago that we've got a 2 year contract on our phones (only way to get such cheap rates at the time we got them) and it would cost $600 to break it. We're paying $45 a month for two phones with 1500 free minutes, plus unlimited minutes to each other or anyone else on the network (Sprint). My mom carries a pre-paid phone now and likes it.

 

[Saurian]

Re: selling 1989 yj in durham nc

Sparky, those are incredible looking... I would say you have a knack for it...

So, you had it going on the side for a while, and have a few connections... This is good, you're a step closer to establishing a clientele... I really hope that works for ya...

 

[judge09]

People with skills will always find work. It looks like you have a great set of skills with that wood working. I am sure your business will take off once people start seeing the quality of your work.