[RedRaven]

I thought bad luck came in 3's... It has been a week I would just as soon forget...

One of my dogs ended up being attacked by a dog that was his only buddy, in a situation of mis-understanding... No blood drawn thankfully, but, my boy did need anti-inflamatory medication, and had to stay in for the weekend, no walks... The owner of the other dog did pay the Vet bill, and apologized... We're friends through our dogs, and it was just a sad situation all round... Don't know how their dog will react next time we see him on our walk... :sad:

Then I take my 4x4 for an oil change, and am told that it needs more repair work, and that it will cost more than it's worth... :shock: :sad:

Then my Dad who had planned to go view a new boat with a friend finds out his friend's wife just suffered a stroke... :shock: :sad:

Then my Dad tells me he is in such physical pain, he is having an extremely difficult time functioning on a daily basis, and has to cut way back on the work he does in his business... :sad:

He suffers with a shoulder, and two knees that have been long over due for joint replacement surgery, and has spinal stenosis surrounding his spinal cord, causing extreme pain, along with his bladder cancer... :sad:

He said to me last night, that if he can't work even though their home is paid for, and he's receiving SSI now he's semi retired. They won't be able to afford to keep their home, they've worked hard for all their lives (the property taxes are extremely high in their area). If he takes the time off from work this winter to have all these surgeries done... :shock: :sad:

It has all left me very depressed, sad, and very worried... Because there isn't anything I can do to help my Dad... When he started his business we talked about my possibly helping him out in the business... He decided he would rather be a one man show, and do it all himself... Now, it's cost him his health, and you know what they say about your health...

"When you have your health you have everything"... Well, both my dad, and I don't have our health anymore, and neither one of us can truly help the other, and it is just a very sad situation...

I tried to say to my dad, maybe he could consider hiring people to do the work, and he could just manage the business... He doesn't want to hear it...

I've got to try to come up with some ideas of what he maybe able to do to keep the business going, stay in their home, and basically come up with a great idea to save the day (sort of speak)...

While still trying to figure out a way to help my own situation...

I think at this moment, I'm just a little bit overwhelmed by it all... It's one of those moments when you wish you were on a desert island, and all your problems could just be washed away... :roll: :sad:

[Twilight Flyer]

Interesting that you should say that. I'd chalk this week up to one of the worst I've experienced in a long while. :sad:

[RedRaven]

Originally Posted by Twilight Flyer

Interesting that you should say that. I'd chalk this week up to one of the worst I've experienced in a long while. :sad:

I'm sorry to hear that TF... Hope it's not serious, and things get better for you soon...

Me... Well.... I don't know when things will get better... It seems that things just keep getting worse day by day... It seems as though bad luck comes my way, while I'm just minding my own business... I don't do anything wrong, I don't go looking for bad luck... It just manages to find me...

With all that's happened to me in my life, sometimes I think I was just born under a dark cloud... :roll: :sad:

If anyone wants to send some "good luck" my way, I will gladly accept it... :wink:

[shyykatt]

Originally Posted by Twilight Flyer

Interesting that you should say that. I'd chalk this week up to one of the worst I've experienced in a long while. :sad:

OMG- me too! what the heck is up with that???

[RedRaven]

Well ShyyKatt, hope things get better for you too... :wink:

[silvan]

I've been having one of those years.

We had been arguing with my grandmother for years to take the keys away from my grandfather, but she was stubborn as hell, and stupid. "As long as he wants to drive, he's going to drive." He eventually had the inevitable wreck. My grandmother broke her hip, my grandfather had the skin around his arms ripped all the way around and down, like the scene in Terminator where the cyborg removes the skin "glove" from his forearm. Months of in and out of nursing homes, months of misery, months of Mom fighting with my asshole uncle over care issues. He went on vacation, didn't leave a number. The social workers came after Mom with threats of parental abuse (yes, you can go to jail for not taking care of the parents who abused you as a child.) My cousin wouldn't give Mom his number, and now that entire quarter of my family tree is all to hell with fighting and bad feelings.

After months of this misery, my grandfather blessfully died. He left such a sad empty husk for someone who used to be such a big man. When my grandfather died, my grandmother's master died, and let her strings fall to the ground, which drove her quite mad. Her constant complaining about not knowing what to do without her lord and master dictating every minute of her life drove my mother to remove some memory blocks, and relive her forgotten childhood.

Getting raped in the basement by my grandfather. Getting beaten so bad on one occasion that they finally had to take her to the hospital, after he cracked her skull open. My grandmother catching her touching her genitals in the tub, and beating her bloody with a hairbrush.

All of this flooding back drove my mother quite mad for awhile. At one point, she was walking around in the back yard naked. On another occasion, at Family Monopoly Night, she scarred my children for life by whipping out her big sagging boobs right at the damn dinner table in front of everybody.

On the other side, my father has worked for the same abusive Ebeneezer Scrooge type asshole for more than 30 years, and now he's getting old, and going quite mad himself. Making ridiculous, stupid decisions that cost millions of dollars. Dad is going to lose his $50K a year job sooner or later, and he's desperate. He's tried all kinds of stupid get-rich-quick schemes. All these bleeding edge technologies that only need the right push to make $10,000,000. One after another, and no sales. The most recent one seemed the most promising, because it actually works, but the patent holder and manufacturer has been failing. Dad borrowed $200,000 to bail him out and keep his factory running. He spent up the money, and the product still hasn't taken off, and the factory finally closed anyway.

So now my parents are two strangers who are legally separated, but still living in the same house. My mother is quite mad. My children's favorite person on earth has become someone I have to keep away from them at all costs. My father has gone nuts with visions of millions of dollars he's too inept to bring home, and he's put himself in a situation where financial ruin is completely inevitable. He's going to lose the house, and all those Arbor Day trees I planted when I was a kid. I'm going to have complete strangers living next door, and probably have to put one or both of my parents up in my own den or something.

On top of all this, I've been going through this whole career angst thing over being a truck driver for a long time. Last July, after my vacation, I put in for a promotion. They said they were going to move me into the office to be a webmaster/graphic designer/copywriter/etc. They gave me the speech on expectations and dress code and blah de blah blah blah, and I would start in two weeks. I said my goodbyes to all my old friends, prepared for my new life, spent $500 on a new wardrobe, and two weeks became two months became six. They went a different way. Then they hung me out to dry with the other nine truck drivers, laying us all off, and kicking us all to the curb.

Oh, in the middle of this, well, personal marriage problems. I'm not going to get into that.

I'm not trying to say any of this is more or less tragic than your own situation. I'm just empathizing with you having a bad time. That's something I understand all too well right now.

Brighter futures to both of us. 2007 has lost its chance to be a better year than that pile of foetid gopher turds called 2006, so I'm hoping maybe 2008 will turn it around.

[RedRaven]

Silvan, you ever hear the saying... The straw that broke the camels back... That's the kind of week it has been...

I can see that your having your troubles too, I can relate to some of it...

I took my dogs for a walk this evening, and I have a really bad feeling about the dog that is "buddies" with my own...

I've walked by their home several days now, walking my dogs along a trail that runs by their home. I've not seen their dog, or heard him at all... He's usually out, and about, and even if a dog in the neighborhood barks, he will bark as well... I've not heard a peep out of their home, and their side door was open, and no dog to be seen... I didn't see the dog's bed pad out on their porch either...

It has me worried... I hope they didn't do something extreme with their dog over this accidental attack... I know they said, that their dog has in the past gotten into scraps with other dogs. But, then they didn't have him neutered then either... He appears to be neutered now, and he's put on weight. I'm just worried they may have done something drastic, like get rid of him, or worse... There are a million bad things going through my mind about their dog...

He is really a very good dog, very smart, and really does do well off leash... But, the owners had told me that when they walk him on a leash, he can be very possessive of them...

I've already contacted two dog behaviorist, and told them the situation... They said, anything could have triggered their dog to react... They also said, that if our dogs met up again, it would be a 50/50 chance as to whether their dog would greet my dogs in his old happy manner...

I've not had the chance to find out, since I've not seen their dog now, since I last saw the owners last Saturday...

I would hate to think that this incident would make them get rid of the dog... I liked this dog so much myself, that if I could I would have wanted him for myself...

I was told by the behaviorists that their dog is dominating them, and that he is ruling over them... Instead of them ruling over their dog... It is a common mistake with people who just don't realize how to train, and deal with a dog that has a dominant personality...

Tonight of all the things I could be worrying about, it is that poor dog, I am concerned with at this moment... I've wanted to call and find out why the dog hasn't been outdoors. But, I don't know them well, and if they did do something terrible with him, I would be heartbroken, and crushed... I wouldn't know what to say to them, and I would probably say something to the effect of, why did you do that, he didn't mean it, and it was just a simple mis-communication...

Their dog had me more impressed, then my own dogs, and it is eating away at me, that they may have done something with the dog... I maybe over reacting, and worrying about nothing... But, when you haven't seen, nor heard the dog since the day you told his owners, and they offered to pay the Vet bill... I would feel horrible if they over reacted, and did something bad with the dog...

That dog is the only dog my own dogs will tolerate being around them... I would hate to think that they've possibly lost their only local dog buddy... It would be a bad thing all around...

I can not make my parents do anything they don't want to do, so, I can not help them... No matter what I suggest it is up to them as to what they want to do about their situation...

My own is a nightmare I've been living for over 7 years, since the auto accident I was seriously injured in, and left me with problems no one should have to deal with on their own... Every day is a struggle, and I do my best to try to find some light at the end of the tunnel... But, time is my enemy... My 4x4... That is a symbol of how I feel... It is 18 years old, and I've got a lot of good memories from that silly piece of metal... Now they say it needs work, that I can ill afford, and that the costs are almost equal to what it's book value is now... 260,000 miles, the engine is great, could run forever, it is the rest that is fading away... It looks how I feel...

I don't know what I'm going to do... I envy my dogs, all they have to worry about in this life, is when will they be fed, when will they get to go outside, and when the next adventure will be... They get all the love in the world from me, and don't have to think about their lives, or their future...

I on the other hand as a mere mortal, human being, I have the worries of the world on my shoulders... I wish they would all just go away, and I could have some peace in my life... A little joy once in a while wouldn't hurt either...

I think I need to take a long, long, long camping trip, somewhere remote, where I can shut out the world for a while... :wink:

[Mack2]

I've had a decent year except that we just did $171,000 worth of work for free.

[RedRaven]

A small bit of relief today... The dog that was involved in that scrap last weekend is still at his home, whew!... I was worried they may have gotten rid of him... It was good to hear, and see him again. He was in his yard with one of the owners... I spoke to his owner for a moment, then we continued on our way home (walking my dogs) I was happy again...

My Dad ended up getting a great deal on that power boat they were considering, so they are happy... At least my mother is, she wanted the boat... My dad is in such physical pain, he's going to have a tough time dealing with the boat, but, he said, he'd manage... Take a couple aspirin...

I visited my parents this past Saturday, showed my dad my 4x4, and he is going to look into whether a guy he knows who does body work, will give it a make over... It's got a lot of cab area rot now...

I'm looking into trying to find a better garage, than the dealership, to see about getting some of the mechanical repairs done at a lower price... I was absolutely shocked that the dealership is charging $85.00 per hour flat rate for labor... It's ridiculous... :shock:

Was looking at buying another vehicle but, couldn't get the deal the way I wanted it, so that was canceled... I'll keep looking though... It is funny to see people try to high pressure sell you... They don't know I know the automobile business very well. So, they can't get away with anything with me, hahaha... :wink:

[RedRaven]

Took my dogs for a walk by their "dog buddy's" home a couple weeks ago, and I spotted him ahead of us on the trail, he went off into a yard to greet some other dogs we know, that are behind an electric invisible fenced yard. He enters their yard, greets, sniffs, wags tail, then turns, and heads back onto the trail...

Well, this time we approached on the trail, and he came running out of that yard, up onto the trail near us... I just looked at him, called his name, in a happy, upbeat voice, and asked him if he wanted to go walk with us. He had his hackles up at first when he approached us. But, then he just stood their for a moment, pondered the question of whether he wanted to walk with us, then turned tail, and just started walking toward the direction of his home...

Well, I guess I got my fears, and questions answered... He wasn't going to attack my dog again, though he just appeared to be still a little bent out of shape maybe about our last encounter... Since his owner grabbed him by his collar wrenching him away from the situation, and putting him in their house...

So, who knows what goes on in a dogs mind... But, at least it appeared he wasn't going to hold the situation against my dog, and try to attack him again... My dogs just ignored him, and didn't direct any attention his way. Which is good, in dogs any direct attention can be considered an act of, or appearence of aggression...

I on the other hand looked him straight in the eyes, while I talked to him, letting him know I wasn't going to tolerate any dominance from him... That's why he just stood there, then bowed his head, turned, and headed toward his home... One of the things I've learned about dogs is you never turn your back on them, and you never run away from them. Then they know you are weak, vulnerable, and subject to attack, if that is their intent...

So, the dog drama appears to be over... For now anyway... :wink:


My family well, they bought that new (used) power boat, it is being prepared for the ocean, needs some updating, and a little work. Then it will go in the ocean... Don't know when they will have it in the water, and ready to go yet... Hopefully before boating season ends...

Stopped in on my Dad at his business, he seemed to be in better spirits, though he was going fishing with some buddies shortly after my visit... :lol: Don't know what his long term plan is for his surgeries, and his business... Will have to wait until it is a better time to discuss that with him...

My 4x4... Well, turns out some of the repairs were not needed after all... Just the dealership trying to sell me something I don't need, and isn't worn out, or broken... Lying thieves dealerships are, I can tell you that from experience... Dealerships are the worst for any auto repairs. Because the fact is that they don't repair anything, they replace it with all new parts... Charge you a small fortune for flat rate labor, and you walk away with that sick feeling in the pit of your stomach...

I took my truck to the garage I had it inspected by, and basically for now, all it needed out of 3 different repair issues, was to have the front brakes done... One of the other repair needs isn't really necessary right now, it can wait, not a safety issue. The other was a total lie by the dealership, and was double checked by my garage, and they said, you don't need a repair of those parts...

So, had the brake pads replaced, and that was the end of that... The guy my Dad was going to contact about the rust on the truck said, forget it... It isn't worth repairing the rust, when compared to the value of the truck... If I were a collector of this truck, and had money to spare, I would have it completely restored. But, I'm not, and don't have money to burn...

Eventually, I will have to replace it, probably when it won't pass inspection any longer... But, for now it passed this years inspection, and it's still running strong, so, I'm saved for at least another year...

I will miss that truck when it finally has to go though, it's been in my life for 18 years. It would feel strange to drive something different in the near future... I found out that the manufacturer of these 4x4's aren't even going to build any new ones of this 4x4 with standard shifts anymore... I was shocked at that... If you know anything about driving, and control of a vehicle. You are better off having a manual transmission. Sure, you may have to change the clutch plate once in a blue moon, from normal wear. But, to not offer the option of a standard transmission to new buyers, that is just ridiculous. Oh well, guess that would make my 4x4 that much more rare to a collector down the road... Who knows maybe I could get a great price on it as a collectors item restoration project eventually... :lol:

Think I've found my future endeavor as well... My plan for my own business that is... Can't discuss it since it is a unique idea... But, hopefully it will turn into a success, and I'll be building that dream home log cabin in the countryside I've always wanted, with at least one horse out back... :wink: 8)

Lot of planning, leg work, research, and updating certain educational requirements, and I'll be on my way to business ownership, hopefully in the near future... :wink:

Then I can be like my Dad, and take the late afternoon off to go ocean fishing with friends if I so choose. Even if, it is the busy season!... :lol:

Well, the hard work comes first, and I'll have to see how it goes. Was told 80% of new businesses fail in the first 5 years... So, only time, and effort will tell... But, I'm being optomistic, and hope I get to grab that brass ring in this life, and really make some serious money... If I can't have good health, I'll gladly accept making a lot of money instead... :lol: