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Whooo-eee, where to begin.... (this is gonna be long, so grab a sandwich and a strong cocktail)
The last I "saw" most of you, the whole AV123 debacle was winding down. I won't dwell on that other than to say, I placed a lot of faith in MLS, he was always very kind to me. As most of you older posters know, I was a fixture on the AV123 forum and a "chef" at many of the GTG's. Contrary to what many believed, I never owned a single Rocket speaker.
MLS gifted me speakers several times for all the hard work I put in at the GTG's, but I never actually took any of them for myself. I gave two pairs of the X-SLS towers to a dear friend to start his HT, who then bought the center and sub from AV123, and any others I was supposed to receive, I never asked for.
We simply became friends through our interactions at the various GTG's and I tended to stand up for him on the forums. It was never because I was bribed with gear as many presumed, I just liked the guy. Little did I know, what was going on behind the curtains. It was such a tragedy what happened in the end.... for ALL involved.
Shortly before I stopped posting (about four years ago give or take), many of you will remember I was right smack dab in the middle of a big bathroom remodel here at the Casa. I ended up not knowing that I had a SEVERE case of pneumonia and nearly died. Well, I DID actually die in the back of the ambulance, but a cracked sternum and two broken ribs was evidence of some most excellent CPR that ended up saving my life.
About a month into my recovery at home, I went into work to pick up a check. I was told that it would be my last (thank you very much, being the first week of December), because the owner was shutting down the company.
Well, a couple of months later, I landed on my feet as the Showroom Manager at the recently opened Feldco Window branch. It was a GREAT gig. I worked M-F 9 AM to 5 PM and Saturday, 10 AM - 2 PM. Plus, ran any appointments that I set from folks that came into the showroom, during the evening and Saturday afternoon. I earned a nice salary, commission on anything I sold and had GREAT benefits, including most excellent health insurance. Which I truly needed. You see, not only did I have a terrible case of pneumonia, but they discovered that I had an enlarged heart due to unregulated high blood pressure (I hadn't been to a doctor in years) and I was diabetic. So, regular doctor visits and all the requisite blood work every three months, not to mention all the meds.... well, the health insurance was a Godsend.
Then with absolutely no warning at all, Feldco pulls the plug, shuts down the Indy branch and lets me go. So, I lose one of the most important things I needed to keep me healthy.... My insurance. I was able to keep going to the Doctor without it and keep up with all of the blood work every three months, because the Doctor gave me great pricing and there was a fairly low cost lab right near me. The meds were easy enough because most of them were the $4 generics from Walmart.
Plus, my partner and I had started Complete Window and Door www.completewindowanddoor.com shortly after Feldco pulled the plug, so I at least had an income. It wasn't much as you can imagine with a start up company from scratch, but it was fun. However, shortly after we got the company started, my wife's supervisor called her into his office and said.... "Indiana is an AT WILL employer and your services are no longer needed." No warnings, no write ups, no bad employee reviews, never late and never missed a single day of work, no nothing.... just good bye.
As any of you who have met the Mrs knows, she's an extreme introvert. Very intelligent, a great sense of humor, but unless you've really known her a while, you would never know it. IOW, about as diabolically opposite of me as you can get. As you would expect, despite a fairly impressive resume, excellent work history and experience out the wazoo.... the jobs for a 52 year old MLT (Medical Lab Technician) that didn't interview particularly well, were nearly non existent. She ended up being out of work for over seven months. We could no longer afford the blood work the Doctor wanted (at $350 - $400 bucks per pop). Our local low cost lab, had closed and I had to switch to one of the big national outfits that were pretty pricey. Anyway, without blood work, no more prescriptions from the doctor, so no more meds.
Well, you can imagine with the new company, working 12 hour days the Mrs out of work, no blood pressure meds or Metformin for my diabetes, all the stress, I died a second time in four years. Yup, I flat lined again as they were wheeling me into the emergency room. But after a shock or two and some adrenaline I was brought back. But it was another week in the intensive care unit and another three days on a ventilator.
Well, the Mrs finally got a job. It was in the lab of one of the nations best trauma centers and adult burn units - Wishard Hospital (soon to be located in a brand new hospital from the ground up and renamed Eskanazi for a huge donor for the new facility). She was actually hired as an MT (Medical Technologist) which they felt she qualified for not based on education, but her experience. So she was making a good deal more money, but unfortunately, she now works nights. One nice thing about working for a hospital, is you get GREAT health insurance. So once again, after the required waiting period, I now have health insurance again. The coverage isn't quite as good for family members, but it's a Godsend none the less.
So, if there is a sliver of good news on the health front, I won't need to even sniff Obamacare, my blood pressure this morning was 124/74 with a resting hear rate of 86 and my last A1C was a 6.9. Unfortunately, I'm smoking again after all the stress of what went on. Yeah, I KNOW I need to quit again, but damn that **** takes hold of you and won't let go. Plus, when I went of my meds when the Mrs lost her job, I put a lot of the weight back on that I had lost. But, fortunately, it's coming back off again since the blood sugars are now regulated and I'm doing a LOT better watching my carb, sugar and salt intake.
So, that's about where things are in general. This post was mostly health related, because that's been a huge issue for me over the last few years. Honest, there are tons of good things to bring you up to date on, but the health issues have been a big factor and really.... probably one of the reasons I lost interest in the forums.
So, whether you like it or not.... you've got the quadman back (at least a little bit). And, you're gonna be subjugated to some really cool picture threads of some of the nicest installs on windows and doors you'll see anywhere!
The last I "saw" most of you, the whole AV123 debacle was winding down. I won't dwell on that other than to say, I placed a lot of faith in MLS, he was always very kind to me. As most of you older posters know, I was a fixture on the AV123 forum and a "chef" at many of the GTG's. Contrary to what many believed, I never owned a single Rocket speaker.
MLS gifted me speakers several times for all the hard work I put in at the GTG's, but I never actually took any of them for myself. I gave two pairs of the X-SLS towers to a dear friend to start his HT, who then bought the center and sub from AV123, and any others I was supposed to receive, I never asked for.
We simply became friends through our interactions at the various GTG's and I tended to stand up for him on the forums. It was never because I was bribed with gear as many presumed, I just liked the guy. Little did I know, what was going on behind the curtains. It was such a tragedy what happened in the end.... for ALL involved.
Shortly before I stopped posting (about four years ago give or take), many of you will remember I was right smack dab in the middle of a big bathroom remodel here at the Casa. I ended up not knowing that I had a SEVERE case of pneumonia and nearly died. Well, I DID actually die in the back of the ambulance, but a cracked sternum and two broken ribs was evidence of some most excellent CPR that ended up saving my life.
About a month into my recovery at home, I went into work to pick up a check. I was told that it would be my last (thank you very much, being the first week of December), because the owner was shutting down the company.
Well, a couple of months later, I landed on my feet as the Showroom Manager at the recently opened Feldco Window branch. It was a GREAT gig. I worked M-F 9 AM to 5 PM and Saturday, 10 AM - 2 PM. Plus, ran any appointments that I set from folks that came into the showroom, during the evening and Saturday afternoon. I earned a nice salary, commission on anything I sold and had GREAT benefits, including most excellent health insurance. Which I truly needed. You see, not only did I have a terrible case of pneumonia, but they discovered that I had an enlarged heart due to unregulated high blood pressure (I hadn't been to a doctor in years) and I was diabetic. So, regular doctor visits and all the requisite blood work every three months, not to mention all the meds.... well, the health insurance was a Godsend.
Then with absolutely no warning at all, Feldco pulls the plug, shuts down the Indy branch and lets me go. So, I lose one of the most important things I needed to keep me healthy.... My insurance. I was able to keep going to the Doctor without it and keep up with all of the blood work every three months, because the Doctor gave me great pricing and there was a fairly low cost lab right near me. The meds were easy enough because most of them were the $4 generics from Walmart.
Plus, my partner and I had started Complete Window and Door www.completewindowanddoor.com shortly after Feldco pulled the plug, so I at least had an income. It wasn't much as you can imagine with a start up company from scratch, but it was fun. However, shortly after we got the company started, my wife's supervisor called her into his office and said.... "Indiana is an AT WILL employer and your services are no longer needed." No warnings, no write ups, no bad employee reviews, never late and never missed a single day of work, no nothing.... just good bye.
As any of you who have met the Mrs knows, she's an extreme introvert. Very intelligent, a great sense of humor, but unless you've really known her a while, you would never know it. IOW, about as diabolically opposite of me as you can get. As you would expect, despite a fairly impressive resume, excellent work history and experience out the wazoo.... the jobs for a 52 year old MLT (Medical Lab Technician) that didn't interview particularly well, were nearly non existent. She ended up being out of work for over seven months. We could no longer afford the blood work the Doctor wanted (at $350 - $400 bucks per pop). Our local low cost lab, had closed and I had to switch to one of the big national outfits that were pretty pricey. Anyway, without blood work, no more prescriptions from the doctor, so no more meds.
Well, you can imagine with the new company, working 12 hour days the Mrs out of work, no blood pressure meds or Metformin for my diabetes, all the stress, I died a second time in four years. Yup, I flat lined again as they were wheeling me into the emergency room. But after a shock or two and some adrenaline I was brought back. But it was another week in the intensive care unit and another three days on a ventilator.
Well, the Mrs finally got a job. It was in the lab of one of the nations best trauma centers and adult burn units - Wishard Hospital (soon to be located in a brand new hospital from the ground up and renamed Eskanazi for a huge donor for the new facility). She was actually hired as an MT (Medical Technologist) which they felt she qualified for not based on education, but her experience. So she was making a good deal more money, but unfortunately, she now works nights. One nice thing about working for a hospital, is you get GREAT health insurance. So once again, after the required waiting period, I now have health insurance again. The coverage isn't quite as good for family members, but it's a Godsend none the less.
So, if there is a sliver of good news on the health front, I won't need to even sniff Obamacare, my blood pressure this morning was 124/74 with a resting hear rate of 86 and my last A1C was a 6.9. Unfortunately, I'm smoking again after all the stress of what went on. Yeah, I KNOW I need to quit again, but damn that **** takes hold of you and won't let go. Plus, when I went of my meds when the Mrs lost her job, I put a lot of the weight back on that I had lost. But, fortunately, it's coming back off again since the blood sugars are now regulated and I'm doing a LOT better watching my carb, sugar and salt intake.
So, that's about where things are in general. This post was mostly health related, because that's been a huge issue for me over the last few years. Honest, there are tons of good things to bring you up to date on, but the health issues have been a big factor and really.... probably one of the reasons I lost interest in the forums.
So, whether you like it or not.... you've got the quadman back (at least a little bit). And, you're gonna be subjugated to some really cool picture threads of some of the nicest installs on windows and doors you'll see anywhere!
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