I'm back, a little bruised, a lot frazzled, but I'm here. It's been the worst few months of my life, but I'm about through it and headed back to tall cotton I think. Er...at least somewhat normal-height cotton. What a train wreck it's been, and with all the horrific crap going on, my biggest stress has been not being able to deal with the mess that my presence here (or the lack of it) has become.
My Internet, web/email hosting server, and cell phone service has been intermittent at best, or at least my ability to pay those bills (all the bills, realistically) has been intermittent. I've checked in from my brother's house a few times when he's home - he and his wife are now over-the-road truck drivers instead of running their construction business, more economic casualties - and haven't had time to do anything constructive besides poke around the new forum for a minute or two and wonder where things are and how to find them. The new forum is great, by the way, nice work Jeff and Co.
Now that my email is back, I'm going through my inbox (hoowee...what a mess that is) and I'll be catching up with all of you. I'll address the individual inquiries first and move forward to a group Blank of the Month 'touch-base' email. I'll have to keep them short and to the point (tough for me, I know *sigh*) just to get through them. It might take me a little bit to work my way through. I'm starting at the oldest and moving forward. If you don't hear from me in a few days, send me a heads-up and say hi, ask about status or even cuss me out for being a knucklehead.
[sidenote...oh yeah - I'm still going to ramble, they can't take that away from me...]
On the upside, sifting through the spam I learned that there's a Nigerian prince who'll send me a pill that will enlarge my mortgage to impressive proportions, and if I hurry and send him my personal information, I'll automatically be entered into a no-lose drawing and win a government grant that will pay me thousands to chat 24/7 with hot, sexy singles right now.
I owe a lot of you some blanks and some of you a lot of blanks. I'm not going to even try to justify or excuse the anxiety and stress I've caused you while going through this muck. I've made a real mess of things, 'nuff said, and I'm going to make it right by you all. I'd never screw any of you over for anything, that'd be a tragic loss for me. I'm hoping that you'll all find it in your hearts to forgive me, continue to help me come out of the land of "You-Gotta-Be-Kiddin'-Me", and move forward into the turning season now that it's cool enough in the shop to work, let alone breathe.
That being said, just flowing quickly through my 'unread' list, I've been amazed at the amount of support and prayers that have come my way, many of which have come from the people I owe the most to. I can't thank you enough for that. I'll get through them all and respond, but just knowing that you guys were out there thinking and praying about me has had me in tears a couple of times as I read them. Things have been so hard, and on the really dark days when I pondered somewhat less-than-optimal solutions, I know that it was those prayers that propped me up for round 27. ("Cut me, Mick...")
Anyways, it'll probably be a stuttering, hiccup restart for me, but I'll get there and be in full swing again soon. Bezalel Woodcrafting will move forward. When I've had good ideas, I've been jotting them down, and I have a lot of neat new stuff to try. One morning at 4:05 a.m. in the shower, I finally fleshed out the design for the business logo/insignia in the steam on the door glass (okay, it's probably more soap-scum than steam...I've not been real good about playing Susie Homemaker...but now I'm afraid to wash it off, it gives me inspiration every morning!). I'll post a picture of what I've got so far (not the slimy shower door thing, I mean what I've actually put on the computer). It's rough, but it's there, and I can refine it later. We have a new laser engraver at work, and I've about gotten set up to make use of it, and have even sent a pen through it, worked like a champ, and really easy. It'll be neat to be able to cut precise things like that on the cheap.
Most of my spare time this week has been in the shop, getting to know my 'fun' tools again, or at least the ones I didn't sell off to pay the rent. The new job has been going really well, by the way. I'm really good at it, and I love working there. I'm coming up on three months now, and while the economy is hurting us a lot, I'm doing everything I can to make myself indispensable.
There's talk of layoffs, and I just grin, since it's all I can do. I sorta lost my sense of humor in the middle of the tunnel, but I'm coming back. I've even managed to lose a good bit of weight (Top Ramen only has so much nutritional value, but it beats starving - I've come up with some good recipes, too! - Just a word of caution...an egg will still explode in the microwave even without a shell...so much for egg-drop ramen in a minute. heh...those noodles really fly and it makes for a cheap thrill if you're feeling adventurous!)
Man, I sure missed you guys.
