Moving Day.....

[Bulldog]

You fail to understand Im the kinda guy who'd kill a half gallon of Southern Comfort in 30 minutes.... I've chosen to slow my roll on drinking at NOT drink and drive AGAIN!. I plan to stay the hell at home where its cheaper and safer to do so...

Aint no shame in drinking just have to do it wisely... Some people say I am/was an alcoholic. I dont see it that way. Do I enjoy/like alcohol HELL YES! Do I depend on it to function... NOPE! I can go days, weeks, months with out it or hardly any consumption at all, never phase me a bit. Like I said in the past it was just party mode and enjoying life which came at a price.

Eric my brother, glad to see you getting back on your feet again. You bring back thoughts of my younger days when I thought everyone was wrong and I had a handle on my drinking. NO I said, I can quit any time I want to. I don't have a problem, you just don't understand.

Praise the Lord for putting my wife in my life and her standing up to me and making me choose what I wanted, the bottle or my family. Up to that point in my life I had made lots of bad choices but putting down the bottle was the best thing I ever did. That was 17 yrs ago and the only regret I have is starting to drink in the first place.

Eric, your still young with lots of life left to live. With everything going on it sounds like you're at a important crossroad. New crib, business is good, sounds like a great time to drop the bad stuff behind you and make a run for the checkered flag. You'll thank yourself and be a better stronger man for it.

 

[lsmurphy]

You fail to understand Im the kinda guy who'd kill a half gallon of Southern Comfort in 30 minutes.... I've chosen to slow my roll on drinking at NOT drink and drive AGAIN!. I plan to stay the hell at home where its cheaper and safer to do so...

Aint no shame in drinking just have to do it wisely... Some people say I am/was an alcoholic. I dont see it that way. Do I enjoy/like alcohol HELL YES! Do I depend on it to function... NOPE! I can go days, weeks, months with out it or hardly any consumption at all, never phase me a bit. Like I said in the past it was just party mode and enjoying life which came at a price.

I have been sober now for 14.5 years.
It's hard work getting sober but worth it.

 

[Eric McCarthy]

NOPE not really a drinking problem... I pretty much have it figured out LMAO! Like I was saying guy's I dont feel as if I was/am an alcoholic. I seldom keep beer in the house. I do have a few bottles of liquor in my bed room but those are just liquids I sip on an consume with a damn fine cigar.

I don't crave alcohol, as I said I can go for days/weeks/months without drinking a drop and dont miss it for phase me one bit. In the past with my hayday of drinking it was to go out and party, let my hard down and have fun and interact with people after been cooped up in the cab of the big rig all week.

Will I still drink yes, will I get shitfaced ONCE IN A WHILE yes, will I go out and binge drink and drive again and get another DUI... HELL NO!

I too come from a long family line of drinker/alcoholics. And having the Irish blood line I can drink most under the table and still stand tall.

My past problem was binge drinking EVERY Friday and Saturday night and dropping $130 - $150 a night at a bar just in alcohol. I'd mix it up with both beer and liquior.

Now a days I dont look at alcohol and partying as a top priority its been several weeks since I've stepped inside a bar and when I have lately its been no more then $40 or $50 total spent, that includes cover charge, a few beers and tips.

And TrippleR NOOOO I'm not offended nor did I get all butt hurt by what you said. I genuinely appreciate yours and everyone's concern.

 

[Eric McCarthy]

Well DAMMIT back to the drawing board on moving and finding another place AGAIN. Sadly the guy I moved in with went through a divorce from his wife and in order to get her name off the mortage he has no option but to sell the house so she can live some where too.

Don't want to air out dirty laundry of someone else's problem!

But I'm back to square one of trying to find me another place to live again.

I don't know what the hell Im going to do since my past has yet to come back to haunt me again. With past mistakes and wrecked credit its going to be hard for me to secure a place of my own with everthing I have to my name.

UUUUGGGHHHHHH it never ends!!!

 

[olthumpa]

Hang in there my friend! You have done it in the past and you can do it again. Starting over is hard but you WILL do it. I have faith in you. One foot in front of the other and you will get there.

 

[Eric McCarthy]

Just getting to be a pain in the ass... everytime I take steps forward to do better and go down the right path something always keeps knocking me back!

I need to hurry up and be the next lotto winner and buy my own shack.

 

[Bulldog]

I'm on schedule to be the next lotto winner but if I hit it I'll buy you a new shack ol buddy. I feel your pain, I hate moving.

 

[skeets]

Bulldog, I guess we are going to have to split that jack pot

 

[Bulldog]

Fine by me skeets, I would just like to have enough to get by on.

 

[skeets]

Me too I got my eye on a plot of land,,,about 1000 acres along lake Superior on the canuck side, and build right in the middle of it,lol

 

[Eric McCarthy]

As much as I'd love to have a plot of dirt to call my own right now its just not in the cards anytime soon. It hate the fact that I'm 32 and dont own, my own place by now. I did when I was 21 and lost it.

It's tough right now trying to find an afforable place to live and build my business back up even harder again in the Spring.

 

[TripleR]

Eric, I sure don't have any short terms answers. As a young man I was to the point of being homeless and it took years to crawl out of that hole, all I can do is offer empathy and my best of wishes.

 

[BadDog]

Hang in there.

I bought land and built my own first house when I was 21. 1700 sf and I did the drawings acting as my own sub. Started a business too, doing good. Then hit a run of bad luck (local economy turned and some unfortunate weather plus bad choices) and it got so bad I almost lost everything and was within weeks of foreclosure (way into the nasty notice territory) on my house and land, calling the power company dickering/begging to try to keep the power on.

Came back from that, got ahead, doing great, planning for and on track for "early retirement by 45". Lost it all again in my 30s. Rented an apartment for a while, just getting by, trying to figure out what's next.

Now I'm in my late 40s, not retired, but own a nice "horse property" (fixer uppering) that appraised over $1 mill in 2006 (sold for nearly $900k in 2004) that I bought "short sale" on the day it was going to foreclosure (when the banks didn't want to add another house to their foreclosure portfolio). I also own another house worth about half this one that is in a great area and generating nice rental income. Hopefully in a few more years, with real estate growing again, I'll be able to sell out and combine with other resources to retire. That or I'll work till I die...

It's been a rollercoaster ride for me, and I know most of my friends who are doing ok now have lived the same type of ride. Like me, my friends all started in poverty too. I spent the first 10 years of my life in an old single wide trailer on a rutted dirt road in rural N AL. The main difference in those that are doing ok and those that still barely get by is sticking to it and MAKING it work till something works out.

Hopefully my down swings have ended, don't know if I could take much more, but if it does, I guess I'll just keep scratching and clawing till I can get my head above water again. What choice do we have?

Don't know if that will help, but I've been there, so don't give up.

 

[85Hokie]

damn good stuff BADDOG! kuddos to you and Eric will get there too!!!

 

[hodge]

"The main difference in those that are doing ok and those that still barely get by is sticking to it and MAKING it work till something works out."

That's an amazing statement right there, and the absolute truth. Eric, you're down, but you are a hard worker, and you keep pressing on. Those are two very necessary ingredients for surviving. Plus, you aren't alone- there are plenty of folks here who do what they can to help you.
On a side note, baddog's statement is the epitomy of one thing wrong in this country- people aren't willing to make it work. They expect someone else to bail them out, and the well is now dry. Making it work builds character that carries you through the next down turn.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

I've been homeless and/or broke more times than I care to admit!
Make smart choices and keep working hard!
There is a light at the end of the tunnel... just jump out of the way if it's the light of a freight train or a big truck!

 

[BadDog]

There is a light at the end of the tunnel... just jump out of the way if it's the light of a freight train or a big truck!

LOL! In other words, know when to fold-em and try something different...

 

[ipz2222]

From experince comes GREAT words of wisdom. Like others, I have been at the last day, " tomorrow is the last day, we have to close the doors". Life is a roller coaster and any high is subject to a down. The winner is always the one who never gives up.

 

[Eric McCarthy]

One things for sure, I sure as hell didn't have this life for me mapped out when I was a kid. You know that old deal. What do you want to be when you grow up. Been wanting to be a landscaper ever since I was a kid and it was a realistic career choice. The trials and tribulations of life have put alot of set backs in that aspect.

Normally I'm quick on my feet and have an answer or a plan of action as to what my next step is going to be, but honestly this time around I'm stumped.

One thing is for sure, I've learned quite a bit staying with the fellow I'm with. It's to stay humble and live within reason and not to let money go to your head. He grew up more or less in poverty and has a job as a Super for an excavation company. Not bad to be 35 and make a triple digit pay check.

When he and his wife got married and they raked in 7k a month between them they got greedy and custom built the home of their dreams. And now 10 years later and a divorce he has to sell his 300k home and find somewhere else to go himself. Out of everyone here in the house I'm not the only one suffering but they have better means to secure a dwelling then I do.

 

[Eric McCarthy]

HOT DAMN! I went today and signed the lease to my very own home stead! I get the keys to the house on Jan 31st and can start moving it... I had to be out of the place I just recently moved into by this weekend coming up because it was going for sale on the market. In the mean time I'm rooming with mom in an itty bitty ass 2 bed room apartment which I have been here for 24 hours now and HATE!

But its a roof over my head and cheaper then a hotel for the time being. I can tough it out... I'm renting a small econo box of a house. It's square with a flat top roof and 4 walls. Also has 2.5 acres of land that comes along with it so I have some elbow room to play.

This is the first time in 9 years I have a place thats all MINE by myself.

If my fat ass could do cartwheels on the 31st when I get the keys I probably would!!