Get the bare minimum done to make the truck SAFE and take it for a spin! Heck that's the step I left off of and am still on.

Financially, think about it this way. You are taking a financial action to ensure you are safe, healthy, or at the very least getting by without losing much. You need to make the same decision later when you have more disposable income; it's not just the bad times that you need to make sure you are going to be ok. What I'm getting at is you need to set more money aside when things start to0 turn for the better.

People borrow money in times of need to give them that little "buffer" and extra moving room. You need to do this when you have more money to play with to: set some extra aside, make another account and throw something in it.

The financial door MUST swing both ways. Look out for yourself when things are bad(take a loan/401k). Look out for yourself when things are good(put extra money in a savings account instead of a week vacation to Hawaii/new motor/big screen TV).

You're going to be just fine.

P.S.--About your son and weed, don't worry, what you now need to do is help him understand how bad everything else is(other drugs, cigarettes). You aren't going to scare him off of weed, you'll just **** him off and make him feel "inferior", like you think he's lesser or stupid, and possibly ostracize him.
That's bad. Very bad.

You need to get him on the same page as you, not knock him down a chapter or two.
That is something a lot of parents don't seem to understand, or at least try.(They've already made their decision, all you can do now is influence their future decisions)

 

Don´t mean to sound like what anyone else would say at a time like this, but keeping busy is always great help to get you moving again.

Most people have a strange tendency to fall into a one way momentum, if you let yourself get on the downside of things you're probably going to stay there for a while. Being demotivated will keep you going in that direction.

As the others have said, look a the little things that you can focus on. Remember, when you got into that project it was like starting a puzzle; some parts of it are easier to put together than others, but if you're patient and keep focused it all gets completed at some point.

I too would like to be able to tear my whole panel apart and get it all spankin' new in a couple of weeks, but reality is that since she moved from one parking spot to another last December, nothing else has been done; not even a couple of cranks to keep the engine from going numb.

Hang in there, Jeff. There's more than knowledge being shared in this group.

Ed.

 

Hey Jeff,

What wont your truck do? IN essence what will it take to get it running? My pastor at church always says "behind each dark cloud the sun must shine". I say get it running and use it to get you thru those moments when life "appears" to have you in a vise. Vent all you want. As I heard a little boy say one time "we family"

 

Sometimes taking a road trip to nowhere with the wife is the best medicine, doesn't cost much but get's you out of the rut and fresh air blowing through your hair (for those that have it). My wife an I will take a scenic road trip over a weekend and find that our outlook has changed for the better....give it a try, you might just get that motivation back to do the same in the old truck.
As for the truck, I find that cleaning up the shop, putting away the tools, etc. allows me to "reset" and re-focus on the list.....
Keep your head up, keep the wife happy, and everything will work out just fine.
w

 

maybe we just need to go out and get plowed there jeff .... im in a funk myself and it isn't getting any better ........... oh well i just keep getting up and keep smiling at all !!!!!!!!! it makes 'em wonder what the he__ im up too !!!!!!!!!! it will get better and we will be laughing our ***** off at it in a couple 'o' months !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! especially if i can get bessie back together and you get yours done and we go wandering around to the others living here in this corn field and make a nuisance of ourselves .............

 

I believe we all go through this discouraging stage in our project and at times thought it was only me. Look back to how many of us has vented in this way. I think it's all part of the build process,lol. Hang in there things always get better at some point. I've been hitting roadblocks since I purchased my panel in 1999, for the last 2 or 3 years it was going to be in final paint and still wondering if it's going to happen this year. But even if all you do is go out to sit with your project for awhile and think of the process you are actually working on your project. After I had my heart surgery I couldn't do anything but think through what had to be done, now hopefully I won't miss any of the things I thought of,lol.

 

I know how you feel.A couple of years ago i was really discouraged with my
progress. So much so that I put it up for sale and had it sold but the deal fell through.Now I am glad it did. Last year it seamed like everything that I did on it either went terribly wrong or lead to another problem but I sucked it up and kept thrashing at it.This year everything is going great ( knock on wood) and starting to come together. I try to do a little something on the truck everyday no matter how small. Even if it is just to plan what I want to do the next day. I know it is tough sometimes but hang in there it will get better.

 

Well....I'll chime in too, but there isn't much that hasn't been said already.....so vent away, and hang in there!

Dan

 

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger ,Tonto .More than a few of us are in the same boat . It is tough times out there and is hard to build a project on your own . Things will turn around . Be patient

 

+1 I keep telling myself - what will I do when I "finish" it? then I try to get one little thing done even if it's just a few bolts. Or I clean and organize my garage a little. That's a hard task to get started on but I always feel a lot better when it's done. Keep at it.

 

We have very few dull moments around here, and very few funds to have them with. We've been in the middle of a custody battle for our great Nephew. His first 16 months was turmoil and abuse, both physical and mental. He's been in therapy and getting extra help for the 2 years now that he's been here. Once he's in bed, I'll make a window roll up and down easier, replace a single wire, or even just oil the ashtray. I always seem to find something to putz with to take my mind off the day's frustrations.

In the last few weeks, the Judge announced his intentions to grant our Petition for Permanent full Legal and Physical custody, and the pickumuptruck is to the point of being a daily driver. Lots of work to do yet, and it kinda looks like heck, but hey, she's moving.

I guess what I'm saying is you just keep plugging along. If I've had a really bad day, or am really feeling frustrated, I get on the bike, twist the throttle, and get some relief for my head that way too. Now I can choose to take the pickumuptruck for that same ride.

 

Wow! All the replies are appreciated very much! And I now realize that I am not the only one that struggles with everyday stuff, truck stuff, etc.
You guys have been a huge lift on my spirits! and now its time to get to work on a "to do" list ! I am very lucky to be a part of this forum!

Thanks to ALL of you folks!
Jeff

 

A lot of good advise here so far. I try to do at least one thing to the truck every day, even if it is a small thing. Amazing how fast all the small things add up even when you don't realize it every day. If I don't get to it every single day I don't sweat it, but I still try to. My wife was without work last summer and early fall and I know how it is. I am self employed and don't always have enough work. Even when I don't have money to spend on the project there is always some work that can be done on it.

 

Have one of these and relax, i do know what you mean when cash is rare, i sunk in my life savings and more into my business plus had a day job, did the 20 hour thing for many years and one day suddenly woke up and realised that i was just in the negative so badly that there was no way out!!(recesion did not help!), sold the house and dream shop and moved into town, 3 years later i still have a mountain of dept, single income,2 kids and just making it by month, the key is never quit!! 2 months ago i applied for a cleaning contract and got it!! now bills are getting paid and life goes on!! Its always nice to take a break from a project, if your always working on it it kinda gets tiring and thats when you just start to slap it together not realising you will probably have to take it apart again and do it the way you want it at a later date, you get re-focused and it seem like you get more done, the to do list is a great idea!! i have one in my head the problem with that is it keeps on changing monthly.

 

What I found kept me from "staring blindly" was to list out everything that needed done in tiny bits. I.e. Don't list 'body work' as an item, list 'straighten front right fender' ... And my list gets broken down to what has to wait on parts even. Then when you walk into the shop don't look at the big picture (overwhelming) but go pick up the fender and work on it till it is done. My truck had plates on it for a full year it didn't get driven (outsourced job) and 8 years of mixed time/money issues. I'm only close now because the time&money came together and instead of getting overwhelmed I went out and wired one headlight one night, one horn another night. I'm on vacation this week putting interior in and buttoning up all the little stuff. I didn't even realize I was close this spring. It will all come together suddenly if you keep crossing of things that are small and achievable.