Life can change on a dime

Hello my LinkedIn friends and thank you for reading my article. As the title says, your life can change in a flicker. Hard times or a death of a friend or love one can change the trajectory of your life in a blink. My heart is heavy today for a couple of reasons. I found out from my old boss at Riello Burners that we've lost two great burner and boiler phenoms, both guys were wicked sharp on work time. One of the two in a tragic mower accident which makes my heart bleed today,he was crazy smart and I went on several burner jobsites with him over the years working at Riello.

As you're reading my article, Remember I was the guy who had everything I wanted out of life. I was married, had a great house I built and have two great boys and a German Sheppard that we just lost a few weeks ago. That was the hardest decision I've ever made to leave my wife. But when trust is gone..you have nothing left in the marriage. We tried one counseling session that was a preliminary meeting, and I was crucified. Nothing constructive came out of the meeting, not one thing to try to rebuild on, I was devistated and she knew it, it was her plan. I ended it that night. The memory of it haunts me from time to time. But part of the reason the marriage went sideways was because I lost my job, the best one for us up to that point. Money sucks.

I lived in my camper for a year and a half, met a woman who I thought was my next and final love, and that went sideways because of the job I had at the time, carrying mail for United States Postal Service. I was working 80-100 hours a week at USPS during Covid. The mail district I was working for mandated a 14 day work tour to only get the 15th day off, it was flat out aweful. I suffer from complications from having Lyme Disease 10 years ago and am in daily pain @ a 3-8 pain threshhold. During that tour I wastaking epson salt baths nightly I was in so much pain. Sleep was a flicker. I was so exhausted I was a afraid I was going to run an old lady or a child over. And one day I walked out because I couldn't put a thought together I was so tired. When I got my last check with that tour at USPS (I went back again to USPS as its strange...USPS gets in your blood so to speak.) I realized I worked 117 hours in 10 days.

And the story gets severely worse for my tours at USPS - my government EIN account was hacked internally fall of 2022 by a VERY EVIL postmaster and I was never paid properly again and was still expected to come into work without getting paid. To sum it up, my USPS experience was so horrible that I took a leap of faith and wrote a book for the first time, as I thrived in my senior year of high school in creative writing class - who knew. My book was recently picked up by a major publisher and is expected to be out for sale in a few months, globally on 61 platforms, so I'm pumped about everyone reading my story andgetting back on my feet.

With all that said, with the state of the US economy, and having a difficult time finding a RSM position back in the HVAC industry, and with that said I've been fighting homelessness for the last 2 1/2 years. I'm loosing my apartment this week, I've sold everything I own practically including two cars and a lot of personal items on marketplace to keep my apartment last winter and this past one. So my apartment ends this week and my food assistance ended 2 months ago. I've got nerves of steel and eat nails for breakfast lol, but I am very afraid to become homeless again. People are finally realizing we have a homeless problem in the US, especially since covid, but my gut isn't giving me the confidence I had last time I was homeless, because homelessness resources are drying up and many homeless people are getting attacked as we hear on the news. I just need to make it a couple months until the book is released. Everyone including the publisher is confident this is book I wrote is going to sell well, so I wake up with that confidence everyday.

My youngest son and I had a very heartfelt conversation about a year ago. Back WHEN I had a car, I picked up my (then 14 year old) from school one day, and I'll never forget the conversation. He seemed quieter than normal so I asked him "Grayson is something bothering you bud?" and I'll never forget his response; "Dad there's this kid in my class who comes in with $1000 outfits everyday and brags about how much money his Dad makes". And I said back to my son "Well as you NOW know it can all change on a dime for his Dad tomorrow...look at my situation" And he got quiet. After a ten second pause he said "You're right Dad". When I dropped him off to his mothers (MY OLD HOUSE) I said to Grayson "I'm sorry G I'm struggling like this, I had everything but I had to do what I had to do, once trust is gone in any type of situation; work, personal, whatever, you have nothing left bud. I hope you haven't lost faith in me man, I'm trying as hard as I can in a crazy post covid world, to get back on my feet."

My son said "I know Dad and you're still my hero, you'll get there I know it!" Out of the mouth of babes of a 14 year old, I've cried so many times that I help create such a wonderful son, and he's my hero too.

Thanks for reading my story and please keep me in your prayers, I hope this story will help you if you're ever find yourself on hard times - NEVER GIVE UP.

I've put together a GoFundMe if you can help me attain my first goal to get a car. I've landed a position with a verticle growing roofing company, I start in two weeks but I need wheels. If your heart leads you to help me, I would be eternally grateful. Stay safe, family first and when you get anxious, bitter or hateful, stop and denounce those thoughts...LOVE always wins ;-)

https://gofund.me/bac2709f