What the heck does everyone look like?

[mixalive]

Bakachy to all you guys. It is cool to put a face on the names.

T...

[willywill]

Ditto to the all the above, but I stand by my guns, WE ARE A SEXY AS HELL BUNCH!

AND SOLID TO THE CORE!

In the shit filled, screw your mother, stab your brother for a buck world that we live in it is more than a breath of fresh air to turn to this group for a laugh and some perspective on that which fills my heart and soul with love and joy.

I appreciate your comments very much Don, I wish my employer appreciated them more...just got dealt the severance package today. Seems like EVERYTHING can be outsourced these days, even INTERNAL audit, who'd a thunk it?? :lol

[neo_pop_71]

God damn man, that's ironic!!! Sorry to hear that brother... get beyond the initial nerves and hopefully with a clear head something better will show itself and it'll be better than it ever was! In the last two years, three of my friends all went through your same situation... each made themselves bulletproof to outsourcing... they each became their own boss. Willywill, enjoy the time off with the severance funds, hopefully you can ride and get some irons in the fire, then kick off the new year with a plan for success! I've seen the steep hills you've climbed in the rain, this is a cake walk... you got this one! The Cuda family will have you in our thoughts. Take your lovely lady out and celebrate this new chapter that is about to unfold!

All the best!!!

Peace'fo'real,

-D-

[Derek]

Brother brother brother Will. Lame sauce. Sorry man. Crap. I feel ya.

Joke for you to lighten things up. I am solid Scot (via Texas) I think I told y'all....

Know what the difference between a Mc (Irish) and a Mac (Scot)? Mac is "Son of" and Mc is "I think my dad is....."

[vpc66]

Sorry to hear the news Will...having gone through the same deal the only thing I can say is Don't give up on life,keep throwing punches no matter what..do not give into depression. I have been layed out flat on my back in the fight but keep up hope that things will return and try to keep looking for a way back...that is not illegal by the way.
BEST WISHES on a new and better LIFE for you!

[mixalive]

Dude.. I only received the severance package "once" in my career. I grabbed it and ran like hell..

[neo_pop_71]

Dude.. I only received the severance package "once" in my career. I grabbed it and ran like hell..

Yeah... never made it that long... most of my severance packages involved being escorted out of the building! I guess technically I did take a severance packet back when I was loading semi trucks for Nabisco in college, I had this piece of sh*t supervisor that always gave me the worst manifests... that night I'd had enough and I went up into his crow's nest office to get to the bottom of it all. He got in my face as soon as I stepped through the door, not being one to give an inch back then, I beat the sh*t out of him and headed straight to the parking lot... as I knew I wouldn't be collecting any of my promised employee package! I went from that incident right into my first job working with troubled kids and I've never looked back. This year marks 20 years working with at-risk and special needs kids... I think that may have been the best ass-kickin' of my life... it's served me well for two decades!!!

[willywill]

Thanks for the words of encouragement amigos! I try not to sweat these things; they are at worst a mild inconvenience when I really think about it. I still have a roof over my head, food in my belly, and love in my soul. When I start to get anxious is when I think about stuff that I can’t buy...at which point I kick myself in the nuts (it’s hard but can be done) and realize that the problem is in the "wanting."

Don, you made a point the other day about consumerism, something that we as cyclists are at moment’s total whores to. It is far too easy to get caught up in the latest greatest stuff and feeling like we "have" to have it. I don't have a problem per se with stuff, technology, etc. but the lengths some people will go and the sacrifices they will make just to have "stuff" disturbs me deeply.

I was with a friend in Asheville, NC checking out a Sonic Youth show (awesome!) and his car was broken into and a lot of out "stuff" was stolen. Satellite radio, wallets (no money), and some other odds and ends. My immediate, knee jerk reaction was complete and total dejection. My friend’s knee jerk reaction was the polar opposite. I think his exact words were, "Guess they needed it more than we did..."

This was a moment of clarity for me, the angst and anxiety that covered me was washed away with those words. I knew in the depths of my soul he was absolutely right. That stuff...was just stuff. It didn't matter in the least. We had a waterfall to visit, girls to hang out with, and two funny ass dogs that were entirely unconcerned with our little setback. I was liberated that night, liberated from stuff, and any compulsion to have attachments to things. This is not to say that I don't enjoy my bikes and other stuff I own, but if it were to all go up in flames tomorrow I would miss the feelings of riding my bike far more than the bike itself.

This job is the same way. We recently had to put down our beloved cat. This was one of the most special cats in the world, especially to my lady. I have never had to make the decision to end a life and it was not one that was made easily. Holding her and watching her take that last breath will stay with me the rest of my life. In that moment of grief I had another vision of clarity, of relevance, and of priorities. As an industrialized nation and global economic leader we value jobs far more than the average inhabitant of earth. But at that moment on the vets table my job was as insignificant as the piss pot under the cage. What was significant was my lady, was the cat, and the grieving that was just beginning to start. Life, love, and relationships have, and will always trump work, but it is far too easy to lose sight of how important these things are when all one is caught up in is working to accumulate stuff.

Fight Club must be one of my favorite movies. "The things you own end up owning you." How very very true. I can't quote it verbatim but the statement about us working jobs we hate just to buy stuff we don’t need, what a sad state of life. You gentlemen inspire me with your passion for the bike. You, we, are all romantics when it comes to this love. I would be surprised if we follow technical instructions. We learn through feel, and through error, and through that romantic connection with the machine we become part of it. You guys can read on a screen the symptoms of distress and diagnose the problem. You can do this because life and learning happens through experience. Technical manuals can supplement this but they can never, and should never, replace it.

Again, thanks for all the kind words. WillyWill will (that’s a lot of wills) not let this world get him down. There is far too much beauty in people and places for that to happen.

Peace,

Will

[mixalive]

That is like me, Neo... I never left a job that I did not find a better one..

[vpc66]

Not meaning to sound like a ass but different times RIGHT..I mean pre what has become of our country. I would go on interviews where they would tell me that they love the fact of twenty four years at one place with no issues and those that knew the Yacht that I built would talk about how they love the work done....BUT...and always a BUT...we are not hiring right now, or we do not care to deal with someone that has not done this work before or we can not pay what you were making before the economy died...so after a few heart aches I found a job that I make just below half of what I did. I do have a couple of young kids that needed something coming in,thought my pay would have gone up by now..almost two years later but no..and I do more than the person that I replaced. Some of the folks from the yacht company have done better while some still do not work so I know things could be far more nasty and smile with the crap I have been dealt at this time.
As I said to Will,just need to keep throwing punches at the bad stuff till things get better and try to keep moving foward.