I was a very active poster on these boards until the spring of 2014. Landed in the hospital and then a nursing home for a severe leg fracture which took over 6 months to heal. When I went back to work in October of 2014, I was moved to the company's main office. Too many rules and prying eyes to get on the forum. Also, a 31 mile, one hour drive to and from work. Couldn't get out to go shooting. Kinda gave up on the hobby I love. Let my S&W Collectors Assn. membership lapse too.
Then I got sick, landing in the hospital three times in 2015. Luckily I had 22 years on the job and lots of paid days off. Well, that ended in January when I was in a group of over 160 employees to be permanently laid off during a "corporate structure and marketplace adjustment" AKA- get rid of as many people over 45 years old with over 15 years seniority. The average age of those canned was 55 and years of service was 16.
Started a new job in the same field immediately, making half what I did before and with no vacation or any other perks. Oh the joys of being a very experienced new hire. Anyhow, I ended up selling off over half my S&W stable to a collector/dealer fiend to pay some bills.

Well, I'm finally over the depression and shock. I am back on the boards and back at the range. Just can't buy S&W's to add to the stable. Heck buying ammo is tough enough. So look out for my sometimes witty, sometimes snarky and occasionally educational posts.

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Virtue,Liberty & Independence

Welcome back. I hope your run of difficulties is over.

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Richard Gillespie
FBINA 102

The worst is over, welcome back.

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14 S&W Revs none with locks!

Welcome back. Further proof, you can't keep a good man down!

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Real men love cats!

Welcome back. Hope shooting brings you the joy it does for me.

Welcome back! We loves us some snark

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50 Years of DSOTM

Similar story. Constant health problems that led to having to retire early. Fought the courts for years, horrible experiences. I was out of business with everything I enjoyed doing for years. You know how it goes. I find that guns and shooting are really good medicine.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Welcome back. I am sorry to hear about your difficult experiences but am glad that is behind you now and you are moving forward.

Having recently ridden that dragon myself, I applaude you.

Welcome back.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

steamloco76, welcome back. I for one am looking forward to your posting, again.

Sounds like a good run of bad luck. Welcome back, look forward to more posts.

Fiend is quite appropriate, though I did mean friend.

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Virtue,Liberty & Independence

Welcome back! I've had a similar experience too. All you can
do is pick your self up and carry on.

Glad you are back 76
A run of bad luck doesn't seem to keep you down or define the man
and rest assured we are all pulling for you.


Chuck

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They hold no Quarter

Welcome back! Hope you enjoyed that book I sent you, if I'd known you were gonna be down so long I would've sent another one or two. ; )

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Halfway and one more step

Excellent read. My wife enjoyed it too. The modern US Marshalls do much more than I ever knew.

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Virtue,Liberty & Independence

Good for you. Any one gun you regret giving up the most?


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Welcome back
Life has many strange ways to get us where it wants us to be.

Truer words were never spoken. Thanks Maddog, I needed that this morning.

Here's to brighter days ahead!

And more than is in that book, too.

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Halfway and one more step

A pair- S&W 520 and a 4 inch 28-2 marked NYSP- the gun they ordered and cancelled, then gun the NYSP actually received.

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Virtue,Liberty & Independence

very therapeutic actually... I am in the middle of treatment for colon/rectal cancer... finished with pre op chemo and radiation... had the surgery to remove most of my rectum and some of my large intestine... installed ileostomy (poop bag on stomach from small intestine)... now going through post op chemo... had big complications when it started... simply put I died once... med cocktail that caused seizure and my heart stopped... I got better... with my sub-dermal chemo port I can not shoot long guns for long time... and can only shoot small pistols... but I haven't even tried that yet... hopefully I can pistol hunt deer this fall... but need to get permission first...

the people here have made the lack of both range time and gunshow wandering a lot easier... I just day dream about the good times that lay ahead and try to hole away a bit of $ for when the the co-pays and prescriptions stop and health returns to near normal...

sorry for the long story.. just wanted to say thanks...

It takes a strong will and equal character to get through bad times. We're glad you made it. Welcome back!

Wow, no thanks are necessary. Guys need to talk about stuff like this, though I feel like a total piker compared to you. Cancer treatment is just plain brutal. You just have to trust in the Lord and fight through it.

My hospitalizations last year were, I am nearly positive, due to an un-diagnosed bladder infection that lingered for nearly a year. I kept getting fevers and flu like symptoms from the time I left the personal care home. I am a diabetic- why didn't the doctors do a urine culture? They did blood tests and a urine test for ketones, however they never checked for a bladder or UT infection until I landed in the emergency room with a 104F degree fever. I had gone septic and had a raging blood infection. Then, my second day in the hospital, I got cellulitis in my left leg! They decided to put in a catheter for an IV tap to do long term IV antibiotics. Took the Dr. seven tries to get it in one of the correct veins.

I was out of the hospital one week when the cellulitis hit the other leg and forced me back in for a few days. I continued home IV therapy for a month. After another three weeks, they removed the catheter. . A week later I got cellulitis AGAIN and ended up in the hospital for six more days.

During the time between hospitalizations is when they called a company wide meeting to announce the layoffs. Two minutes after the meeting I was in the boss's office getting told that my services were no longer needed as of January 15th.

I retrospect, I really think something in the air where I worked was making me ill. I was sick nearly the entire year and a half I worked there. Being canned may have saved my life.

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Virtue,Liberty & Independence

Life is a roller coaster ride full of ups and downs. Somehow we survive.

Hang in there. Bill

Hey Bill, glad to see you're back and getting better. Didn't know all this happened. Keep a good positive attitude even if it gets tough at times. I actually thought you lost interest in Smiths. I retired and so far it's great. If you want back in the SWCA, let me know, I'll re-sponsor you. Welcome back, Larry

Larry, no way I'd lose interest in Smiths! Just can't afford to be a true collector any longer. A 50% pay reduction will do that to you. Great economy my posterior. Just saw a 24-3 6.5 inch at my favorite pusher yesterday. Made me drool, but someone else will scarf it up! And thanks for the Re-sposor offer, I will probably take you up on it later-car insurance due now (ouch!).

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Virtue,Liberty & Independence

Are you near the burg? I'm in 2 clubs south -Library and DMSC- and one north -ACRC. Be funny if we were in same club and did not know it. I met a great guy at the Trafford club on this forum.


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Sometimes when we're down we get kicked around a bit. The test of the human spirit is to get up, dust yourself off and get back to it. Sounds like you already knew that.

Glad to have you back in the mix.

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paws for friendship

Welcome back bruh!