Sitting at the keyboard thinking, a couple things come to mind, I love watching Mike and how he diagnoses issues and then the steps followed to a correct solution. Mike delves into the 5 w's and takes us along on the journey. I truly appreciate this-even though I'll never be rebuilding a Mustang rearend.
I learned over time that most folks, google says 72%, don't have $1000. Repairs, home, car, trailer, etc require cash and usually occur at the worst time! So therefor the quick and dirty, cheap and fast, even if it means doing something again or even causing bigger issues later happens and is championed by the viewers/commenters on social media allowing us/them to get by in times of crisis.
Ponder how many times have you've driven past a vehicle along side the road that has been there a couple days, can't afford repairs or a tow, think about it! JSMH
Mike, keep posting we're cheering for you and awaiting the next issue of the tractor repair!
Thanks for the comments Joel and I appreciate your continued support and frequency of visits.
I am ashamed to say this, but in mine and my wife's early years of marriage, right after our son was born, we were one of those statistics that had no emergency fund. Before our son was born I wasn't the best with money and pretty much lived paycheck to paycheck. My parents were not well off, but they had a farm so we never realized how poor we were because we had a roof over our heads and food on the table as kids. It wasn't until I was in Jr. High that I realized we were poor. I did however, watch my dad stress and strategize over money and how one thing or another was going to get paid and he managed to amaze me, even at a relatively young age I took note of what the man stood for and I particularly admired his integrity and his work ethic. He went without many times just so his children did not. I idolized the man and what he stood for. However, I think I've mentioned this before that I hated the farm and working the farm. I didn't want that life and by the time I was in High School I started taking notice a couple people in particular who were in the mechanical field that made an impression upon me, and I sought that life and what it "could" provide if one applied himself and was dedicated. It was at that point that I think I realized what my calling in life was. I started dating my wife at the end of my Senior year and she was able to get me an interview with a gentleman who ran the Maintenance Department at a local warehouse and we hit it off. He hired me and he became my mentor and eventually my good friend. I looked up to this man nearly as much as my own father and he really took me under his wing as far as teaching me anything and everything I wanted to know. He didn't grow tired of all my questions nor discount my desire to continuously improve, he encouraged it in fact.
Once I got married and had a little extra money coming in being a dual income household, as much as it pains me to say this, my brains fell out. Everything I had learned by watching my parents manage money and prioritizing went right out the window and I got stupid with money. I started spending way more than I should have on vehicles and thinking I had the world by the balls, but little did I realize it was an illusion. Within about a year or so after marriage I was smacked into reality with the medical issues both my wife and then son would experience and I had the wind knocked out of me. I still remember the night my son was born and the flood of emotion that overtook me and more importantly, the promise I made to God at that time, as it lives with me daily. Granted I feel like I fall short daily, but I get up the next morning and pray that I can redeem myself yet again. Our son was born 11-weeks premature and was given a very low chance of survival for the first 24 hours. He truly is a miracle and I am reminded of that each and every day.
Prior to our son being born by a few months, we dropped to a single income it really took its toll on us financially, and after bringing him home after his 72-day stint in the NICU, the bills really started stacking up. There were many times we only had $25 in our savings account and that was just to keep it open. It was "suggested" (which meant more like mandatory) during our son's stay in the hospital that we regularly met with counselors as divorce and bankruptcy were common themes among people who had premature babies in the condition our son was. The wife and I didn't respond all that well to the counseling part as we felt like we had the issue in hand, but actually I think I faked it for my wife's sake as I had to appear to be the strong one, but in reality I think she was my pillar in which I leaned against.
One of the counselors highly suggested that we file for medical bankruptcy due to our situation, but neither the wife nor I could bring ourselves to even consider that. We wanted to pay our way and pay what we owed to the doctors who had saved our son's life and given us a reason for continuing. We both devoted ourselves to the fact that when we got through that ordeal we would never be in that financial situation again.
But even when we were so close to losing everything, I still couldn't bring myself to half-*** things just to get by. I was early on in my learning curve and spent a lot of time getting parts from wrecking or salvage yards because I couldn't afford new parts and I definitely couldn't afford to have anyone else do the work. I swore I would do the best job I could on any repair and I especially didn't want to put my wife in a car that was unreliable. My truck went sometimes weeks at a time with a minor issue because we couldn't afford to fix it, but not the wife's. As funny as this may sound, I remember thinking to myself that one day I wanted to be able to purchase parts from the parts store rather than the salvage yard. Even while working at several parts stores in High School in our area, I still bought the large items from wrecking or salvage yards and many times had to repair those parts before installing. As much as I hated it back then and to some degree was embarrassed by it, I actually have to accredit some of those experiences to my learning. More times than not I would buy something from a salvage yard only to have to disassemble, clean and make a minor repair before being put to use. It became a challenge that I have to give credit to because I would have weigh the choice to spend several hours on and maybe a lesser dollar amount and then compare that to the cost of new or remanned parts. Looking back, I owe a lot to those early experiences trudging through salvage yards looking for what I had in my head and then thinking through the process to conclude the best financial path.
Within about six months of our son being born and seeing the miracle he had become, and he was healthy enough to come off oxygen and continued to improve, the wife was able to go back to work. Her office was awesome to hold a position for her during her leave of absence of nearly 9 months between her being bedridden before delivery and about six months after our son was born, also keep in mind this was long before FMLA was a law, so when she was able to go back to work we began our "comeback tour" if you will. We went about paying the doctors and hospital bills from least to most and multiple phone calls with the accounts receivable personnel to get our feet under us. The hospitals and doctor's offices were awesome to work with and we were grateful, but I also think that much of that was because we were honestly trying to repay our debt and they could see that. The wife and I were working our normal jobs and I was taking on any side job I could get my hands on with nearly everything going towards medical bills, mortgage and those expenses merely required for survival. After about 2 years we had dug our way out from under a mountain of debt and were starting to feel like we could breathe again.
The wife and I have been so very blessed throughout our life together and I recognize the Lords hands in every opportunity He has laid before me. By trying to help others to improve their skills sets and myself continually trying to be a better version of the person I was yesterday I feel is the best way I can even hope to show my gratitude and appreciation for the life we have been blessed with. I know that may sound naive and maybe even corny, but when I see people in society these days either give up way too soon, or feel like they have no options when it gets hard, I want to be able to say "been there, done that" and maybe be an example or sounding board to help others.
In today's world of social media, it seems like everyone is comparing themselves to what they see online. I realize that there are people that don't care for my wife and I because of only what they see on the surface and maybe think to themselve we've had it easy. Hell, I have coworkers that I have worked with for my entire career that still think we've had it easy, but they have no idea what it took to arrive at this point in life. We have family and other acquaintances that see where we are in life and what it looks like on the surface, but they have no idea the struggles nor the challenges we were faced with early in our life together, only what they "think they know". They never saw the checkbook when we barely had enough to keep our account open, they didn't see my wife leaving for work before 6am and not returning until after 7pm, then prepare dinner so we could all sit down as a family, help our son with his homework and then lay her tired head down on the pillow just to start all over again in about 5 or 6 hours. They never saw the hours I put in working in the shop on other people's stuff, stopping to eat dinner, read our son his bedtime story and then head back out to the shop for another several hours. We didn't tell people our troubles when we were in the middle of them, we just pushed through them knowing in our hearts there was a light at the end of the tunnel. We had to believe that because otherwise I don't think we could have continued. My wife and I grew closer together because of those struggles and grew closer to our Lord and Savior as we tried each and every day to be better people all while scrambling to improve our lot in life with the opportunities that He placed before us. I remember more times than not when money would get tight the phone would ring and someone would need some work done. That was not the Lord throwing money at us, it was Him opening the door and giving me the option to walk through it to learn and benefit. Our life has been filled with those blessings and opportunities.
I think one of the biggest factors in our relationship is that we never aired our dirty laundry to anyone else, not family members, parents or coworkers, we kept our heads down and talked through each situation to find solutions and to learn from them. Granted it wasn't always roses and rainbows, unfortunately there were some arguments in there, but we talked through them. My hopes and prayers are that those that my wife and I touch in some way are able to see that and maybe we can help someone else to see the light that we were shown by those we looked to for answers all those years ago.
Sorry to sound so metaphysical or bring spirituality into the mix, I realize this is Garage Journal, but I cannot take credit for my life. I used to really like Rush Limbaugh's motto of "talent on loan from God". I often feel that way because I have been blessed beyond measure much of my life.
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