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Post Info TOPIC: Can't get a break!
John


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Can't get a break!
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I work and I work hard.  Of course this time of year is extremely slow for pressure washing and painting.  But I keep putting the word out there and catch a job or two a week, which just allows me to hold on until spring.  I even sold my Ford F250 work truck and got a small Nissian truck which saves me a bunch on gas money,  Sold my motorcycle a few months ago as well and rented a room in my apartment.  Just trying so hard to keep things from spiralling downhill, and trying to keep my lifestyle down to the right size.  Well, this past month has been hell. 

Beginning of the month.  I get 400.00 in utility bills and 400.00 in work.  I'm grateful.  God has my back!  Right on time!  

While doing the second of 3 jobs, the pump goes out on my pressure washer.  New pump cost 450.00! And that is a deal.  It's an industrial washer and the pump for it usually goes for about 600.00! (4200psi @ 5.5 gpm) Well, without my pressure washer running I'm flat in the water.  That's what I use to make a living.  So, I have to let the bills go, and get the pump.  In short, I end up working for my equipment instead of being able to pay my bills.

The next week, I get 2 good easy to do, fast, good paying jobs. The money will be made for and is ear marked for the bills!  I'm grateful, God has my back! Right on time! I get the jobs done, all is good! I'm on my way to the bank to make the deposit... and the truck dies.  Cranks, won't start.  Have to have it towed to a repair shop, only to find out the fuel pump has gone out and it plus the towing bill is going to be 440.00!  In short, I end up working to get my work truck back on the road, for without it, I'm unable to get my equipment to any jobs I get....instead of being able to pay my bills again.

Now while all this is going on, I am just trying to get my electric and water bill paid, and not only is this not happening, I'm getting other bills, like cell phone bill (which is the only phone I have and its where I get all my calls for work, MIP housing inquiries ect), auto liability insurance, cable/internet...

This week, I do a few estimates and get a few small jobs worth 530.00.  I am grateful, God has my back! Right on time!  I get up, get ready to head out the door to go do this work and one of my little dogs crawls out from under the bed (which he usually sleeps on), on his belly.  I pick him up, he is shaking like a leaf.  I put him down and he can't support himself, he is too weak. It is obvious I have a very sick dog on my hands.  I take him as a walk-in to a veterinian clinic.  They say I will need to leave him so they can fit him in between scheduled appointments and they will get to him asap, and call me on the job with what they determine the problem is, and its cost.  Two hours later I get the call.  My dog has a very severe upper sinus infection and bad pneumonia virus in his respriatory system.  They need to treat him aggressively or put him down.  There is no middle of the road solution.  Cost to treat him would be approximately 500.00!  I am at awe!  There was nothing apparently wrong with him the day before!  Why were there not any signs of this previously to him crawling out from under the bed??  I'm questioning them in such a way that they state that I am welcome to take him else where for a second opinion, but in doing so, I'd owe them 150.00 for the blood work, examine and meds they have already provided, and I'm not going to get a different diag. no matter how much I want one.  The vet Dr. explains to me that a small dog, like mine (I have two white Maltese and a black mini Poodle, which altogether on a scale only weigh about 17 lbs, not each, but all of them on it at once!) anyways, he tells me that their personalities coupled with their immune system is such that something like this can go undetected because the dogs can appear viberate and well, throughout the onset of the illness, but their immune system cannot hold out once it hits them hard.  Often by the time the symtoms are visual or obvious, the dog is as close to death as it can get.  The dogs system liver and kidney starts shutting down, in just a few hours time.  I am lucky I saw and got to him when I did or my dog would be dead by the end of the day!  Now, what do I want to do???  The vet tells  me that they cannot extend any credit or work out any payment plan, its cash, credit card or check at time of pick up.  If I put him down, I'll have to pay the 150.00 for what they have done thus far and 125.00 for putting him under. If I try to have him saved, it could get as high as 500.00 as they will likely have to treat him and keep him for two or three days minimum.

Some might think.. this is just a dog, let it go and get out before the bill gets any bigger!  But to me its not just a dog.  His life is worth to me every dollar the vet might have to charge to save him.  I won't go into why, but me putting this dog down to save a few hundred dollars just won't float.   So, I agree to let them do what they need to do to save the dogs life.  I picked him up this afternoon.  He is doing very well now, but still has some recovery to go through.  It can just be done here at home from this point.  Cost  565.00!  

Now tonight, or actually this morning I am sitting here wide awake at 2am, without a dime.  Completely broke, not enough to even buy toilet paper, kitty litter or any of the small things that life is made up of, no less pay the bills which have become urgent.

I live a good life.  Not extravagant, pretty simple.  An apartment I have been in since 2004, a car, a work truck, 3 dogs and two cats.  My involvement in AA and Al-Anon is the most valuable part of my daily life.  The MIP recovery home is the next most important area of my life.  It helps many take their first steps into the world of recovery, and find their place within our rooms, and learn how to live clean and sober one day at a time.  While there is not a mergin of profit from doing this, the guys have been good about taking care of things so that their home is self supporting now and I'm not having to struggle to see that their bills are paid as well.  I just need to pay my own personal bills now.  I am grateful for that!!

Today I am faced with a utility being turned off and car insurance canceled if I don't find a way to pay them before 4pm.  

I am hopeful and I pray that my phone will ring early this morning for a job to be done today.  I will live in a place of faith and trust in my Higher Power.  I know He has my back and shows up right on time, when I'm about to give up hope.  He might work in the 11th hour and show up at 11:59, but He never shows up at 12:01, late.  I have to believe that today will be no different.

Below is a picture of my dog that just got out of the vet.  He looks very happy to be back home.

John



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Pythonpappy


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For John, ... A little inspiration ...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmfKlXMbTw4&list=PL280F5BC406932CE7



-- Edited by Pythonpappy on Friday 15th of February 2013 02:57:57 PM

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Pythonpappy


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WOW John, ... ... ... that's quite a lot of stuff going on in your life right now ... similar to my son's situation ... my son has had multiple problems with his wheelchair ... the drive motors among other things ... if he gets caught in his basement with a dead chair, he has to be towed back up stairs where he can work on the chair ... and while he has had to put out a lot of money to do repairs here, his Great Dane got some kind of 'twisted stomach' problem requiring expensive surgery to correct ...

My son woke up the other day to Molly being very ill ... it was no small challenge to get this hundred pound dog to the Vet ... $700/800 later ... Molly comes home okay ... ALL this after having her cancerous 'lymph' nodes removed recently ... and this after having a 'spur' removed from her spinal cord in her neck last year ... all totaled ... $1,000s of dollars ...

I questioned his continuing to fork out this kind of dough for, like you said, a dog ... My son said, you don't understand, she more than a dog, she's my companion ... they sleep together and Molly is always by my son's side ... he puts 'saddle bags' on Molly and takes her to the stores with him to load her down with his shopping items ...

So it has become with me and my 'Rose' now too ... Rose was rescued from a shelter and very timid to start with ... but in the last couple years, she's become very trusting and also sleeps with me at night too ... so I truly understand how our pets can become as important, if not more so, than some people in our lives ...

John, I will certainly be saying prayers in your behalf and for the health of your furry friend ... I can't afford much, but I will send small donation through 'PayPal' here shortly ... the least I can do is to be sure you have the funds to keep the MIP site up and running ... and if there happens to be a little extra, then by all means, take care of your other obligations ...


Love ya man and God Bless,
Pappy



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mikef


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John

In prayer and support man. We also had a very sick cat ,same diagnosis,upper respiratory,sneezing,very sick.Vet was a lot.When we moved South to Florida we left

Alphie with in laws. I will also make a small donation thru PAYPal so we can continue on your work here..Food Pantries,churches,maybe Social Services etc may be an outlet for ya???Let us know what goes on okay.....With our faith on top it does show WE get what we need when it is time.....Peace brother... 



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justadrunk


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What is the cost of this site per year John?



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John


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Oh Pappy! That video had me with a lump in my darn throat!  What an encouragement to keep on going even when the odds seem so against me these past few weeks!  Thanks for sharing it with me, and I will surely share it with many others.  Also, thank you for the donation, its not the amount that makes up its value.  It's the caring heart that it came from that makes it worth a million dollars to me! Thank you so much.

mikef - Thank you for your donation, whatever its size may be.  I am not too proud to seek out the resources locally that might be able to help me, however with the recovery home(s) I found that the resources are so slim, that churches are giving to Social Services and other organizations, and thus do not cater to the individual in need any more.  Here, most the aid that is available is rightfully reserved for woman with children, military vets, and those on low disability income.  A working man, has to go through so much red tape, with little chance of getting any help, that by the time a decision is made to help him... he has been reduced to living in a homeless shelter, and they never provide enough to fix that problem.  I hate sounding so pessamistic but its reality here.  And again, my situation compared to many others is not much different with this bad economy and this time of year.  I am a little bit proud maybe, because I tend to want to hold on so tight to "God's got my back", and trust and be a spiritual demostration of faith that He doesn't bring people this far, to merely drop them off to become dependent on anything or any one besides Himself, and He does His part any time we are willing to participate and cooperate with His Will.  That being said, I am in really bad shape here financially, but I'm a single man with no children living under my roof who is very capable and happy to work, and for me to stand in line to take funds that could be better utilized by those who do not have my abilities, that are raising children, or suffering the ramifications of being war time vets, etc... just doesn't settle in my spirit very well.  It might be pride, but I live inside my own skin comfortably knowing I didn't take something from someone else whose needs were greater than mine and couldn't get the need met because I was standing in line, instead of trying to find work and utilize whatever other resources might be available to me that others don't have available to them.  I truly hope I don't sound too prideful or irrogant in saying this.

Tasha - The web hosting cost is 110.00 per year. Domain name registration (our web address url) is 12.99 per year and our message board is 59.40 per year.  For a total of 182.39 each year.  When I put up the Donations Needed post up in early December, enough came in to cover 125.00 of the over all cost of the site.  I made up the difference.  Now, our web hosting is good until December 2013, domain name registration is covered until 5/31/2014 and this message board cost is deducted from my checking account at 4.95 per month so its good on a month to month basis as there is not a annual package they offer at this time.  They are however giving me a break in the cost because I have so many message boards related to MIP, so instead of charging me the regular 7.95 per month, I am only having to pay 4.95 a month for each board on the MIP site.  In short our site, domain name, message boards, chatrooms, etc is not in jeapardy because of my financial problems.  I promise you, that no matter what, this site will be here will out live me and my little ol' problems.  Even if I were to pass away, (which I am not projecting will happen any time soon) I have the site secured with another MIP member who has been with us for years and made arrangement to have all the related information, passwords, etc. passed on to them at that time. So, breath easy my friend...  you will never be homeless.  smile If you want to help me and you can, without taking away from your own family or creditors great, but let's not make it about the site, as it is secure and I don't want anyone who uses it as a life line to think otherwise.  K?  ((((hugs))))

Thanks to everyone, for prayers, financial help, words of encouragement... it all means a great deal to me, beyond what I can describe in mere words.  I will simply say that I see a very strong reflection of God in you people, your words and your actions.  Thank you for letting me be a witness to it.

I didn't get to go do any work today, but I did get a two calls for estimates, one of which I did, and now he "has to talk it over with the boss" (his wife) and the other estimate I'll do in the morning when the lady of the house is off work.  Hopefully between the two I will pull out a job or two.  I'll keep ya'll posted.  Heck, right now I feel so desparate for work, that I would almost do it for free, just to have something to do besides sit inside my head wondering what I'm going to do.  LOL  It hasn't been actually a bad day.. me and my HP did a lot of communicating. smile  I put together enough to take care of the water bill before it was scheduled for shut off tomorrow, and my auto insurance is carrying me for 10 days grace period to pay them (only owe 66.03), so now I just need to move on to the next bills in line, and they are hitting me, one right behind the other... with last notices... so if nothing else, put me in your prayers.  Most urgent right now is my electric bill of 223.84, followed within just a few days by my cable/internet bill of 132.63. Electric is due Monday and Cable/internet is due Wenesday.  They have to be paid by then to avoid disconnects the following day, so while I got some relief today, the crunch is still on big time.  This time of year really sucks for pressure washing and painting bids.  Alot of the time people are just shopping around for the best price for their spring cleaning plans... so I'm spending gas money driving to do the estimates for work that isn't going to take place... TODAY!  LOL  Since I know this, I always throw in an enticement that says, "if you do it then when my services are in high demand it will cost blah, blah, blah... but if you let me do it today, while I'm here, I can do it for..." some of them bite the bait and get it done now opposed to later, and others, well, they are stuck on doing it at some future point in time.

Oh, good news too! Regarding Vet and my dog.  The dog is doing much better today.  He is drinking water and eating on his own now, and went poop outside when I opened the door for the other two.  He just wants to be let right back in, where he is usually the last to want to come in and has to be called in a few times to get his attention.  He has just hung out on the couch most of the day, but he is not acting all lethargic and not wanting to be bothered.  A little bit mounie, but I think he is playing it for all the attention he can get! LOL  So he is coming around.  Then... my vet called me this afternoon to find out how the dog was doing, we talked and he asked me about taking a look at his house and giving him a price on pressure washing it the first week of March.  I told him I already figured it out... it would be 565.00, no payment plan, cash, credit card or check upon completion!  We both laughed, and I told him I'd take a look and get back to him with a price before the beginning of the week. So, March might start off much better than Feburary did.. I sure hope so.

Well, thats it folks... I'm still sober, I'm still alive and so is everyone I have had contact with today... so all things considered... its another successful day.

Again, thanks for your words of encouragement, your prayers and your financial help.  It is all very valuable to me.

John



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StPeteDean


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Hey John, I've been self employed during my whole sobriety. Been through a couple of recessions and a major move to FL. One thing that really helped me is praying for work. I works every time. Do you have a website for your business? Is it registered with "google places".

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John


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yes and yes.. its at http://www.propertygroomers.com

I also have very good ratings on Angie's list,

I post daily on Craigslist and backpage...

Have even sent out balk mail in the coupon envelope thingy that people get from time to time and use..

I run an ad occassionally in the newspaper service directory 

I call and talk to customers I had worked for 2-3 years ago to see if they would like to schedule another pressure washing of their homes...

This time of year here in NC is always the same... very slow for the pressure washing and painting industry...just enough to keep the wood stove burning, so to speak.

This month however, I got hit from all sides with stuff that could not be anticipated like the pump going on both the washer and the truck...dog going down ...

When things are so tight, it doesn't take much to throw everything off kilter.  I just got hit with too many of those "other things" at one time or too close back to back... and it racked me good.

John

 

 

 

 

 

 



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Pythonpappy


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Hi John, ... ... ... just think, your sponsor could have you back in Texas putting quarters into parking meters that have 'expired' or are about to 'expire' ... Do you remember that lesson ??? ... ... ... HeeeHeee


You've come a long way man from the days under the bridge ... you already know what Hell is like, so just keep on walking beside the MAN upstairs ... Today is THE only day that matters!!!


God Bless!



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Pythonpappy


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I don't recall you mentioning your dog's name ... But 'Rose' and I want you to know you and your furry friends are in our prayers ...

dog_praying.jpg

 

DSC00374.JPG004.JPG003.JPG006.JPGdog14.jpgcomichugs.jpg

 

I have to confess, a couple of the pictures of Rose was during an approaching 'thunderstorm' ... she hates thunderstorms ... so if she looked 'frightened', then you know why!!! (espceially the one where she is under the computer desk ...) ... the other pics??? are just some of my favorites ...  



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'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'
justadrunk


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Very cute pics John and Pappy thanks : )

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