When you’re finished changing, you’re finished.

Blog Post August 18, 2013

When you’re finished changing, you’re finished.

Benjamin Franklin

In the past 61 years I have accumulated a lot of things and a lot of memories. Ruth and I will have been married for 43 years in September of this year. Our children have grown from babies to adults 3 of our grandchildren are now in their teens or older. Through these years I know I have changed, hopefully for the better, we are all “works in progress”

I am sure that right up until the day I die I will be learning and changing and hopefully becoming better because of the changes, of course no one can do that alone and that is why I put my faith in Jesus. Last weekend at Heritage Church in Moultrie I seen what many would call a miracle that I would like to share with you.

There was this man that had been a sniper in the Army probably Viet Nam, he mentioned that he was stationed at Fort Campbell and that he had enjoyed his job as a sniper too much. He enjoyed killing people. I was military too in the Navy during Viet Nam and then joined the Army National Guard when I got out of the Navy. I started as a Machinist Mate then ended up as a Hospital Corpsman in the Navy and a Combat Field Medic in the Army. I did my best to save lives, so while I understand the military mentality I never understood why anyone would “like” or maybe even love killing other human beings. This man not only killed a number of enemy soldiers but he enjoyed it. He carried that attitude on over to his civilian life.

This hard hearted man was a person that no one really liked, and I think from hearing his story he really did not even like himself. A member of the church befriended this man and showed him a lot of love and understanding and reintroduced him to Christ.  The service that Sunday Morning actually ended with this gentlemen being baptized.  That was a huge change from a man that loved killing other humans and did not even like people to a man that now wishes to live his life for the lord.

I pray that the changes he made so far and the changes that I am sure are in for him in the future will improve his life and strengthen his faith. 

His story reminds me of a song by one of my favorite artists Marty Robbins that I heard many years back and actually have sang many times in my life, Of course I doubt that my own rendition could ever come close to Marty’s, but the name of the song is The Master’s Call and if I did this right you should be able to click here and listen to the great Marty Robbins sing The Master’s Call 

BIKES:

Let’s talk a little about bikes. I test out almost every bike I repair except the small bikes like say a 20” or an 18” or 12” I let my grandsons test those for me. Jason is now 14 and he is getting a little big for some of the bikes but he is a great tester. He can tell you if the bike does not feel right and is almost always right on the money. He is learning how to repair many of these problems but his ADHD does get in the way sometime. He does love to test them out though.

The BMX Race for this Thursday evening has been cancelled, but they are hoping to have it on Saturday. If they do race Saturday Jason, Kevin and I will probably all 3 race. Kevin is racing an SE Ripper X, Jason is racing a Free Agent Speedway, and I am racing an old Dingo that I built up from parts. All of our bikes are getting a little old, but they are still solid though the bearings need to be changes out in Jason’s Bottom Bracket, which I will do this week, so he can use it Saturday.

If you ever get down to Albany Georgia, stop by The Parks at Chehaw and check out the Zoo, the train and the BMX Track. There is also a pretty nice Mountain Bike trail there. The Pecan City Pedalers have been a tremendous help to the BMX Track and their members near completely built the Mountain Bike Trail.

Don’t forget that September 14 is coming up quickly and that is the date for the Nut Roll. As always it will start at The Parks at Chehaw and the riders will take any of several routes the longest being a 100 Mile (Century) ride through some lovely South Georgia Countryside.  I expect to be helping park the Cars before I head out, the length of my ride will depend on whether or not there is a BMX race that day or not.

If you need a bike, need a bike serviced or just want to talk about bikes or cycling I am usually around in the morning, if I don’t answer leave a message and I’ll give you a return call.

Have a great day

Jerry

Rain and more rain, Bikes and stuff

Blog Post 8-17-13

Today is Saturday, August 17, 2013 it is about 1:00 AM as I write this. I am working nights at the hospital and working Blood Bank/Microbiology departments. It has been a little slow so thought I would write something just to stay awake.

It has been raining a lot this week here in South Georgia and they have mentioned the possibility of flash floods. I drove from Moultrie to Tifton last evening with it raining nearly all the way.  Some areas here are expected to get as much as 5 inches. That much rain could cause creeks and rivers to back up and flood a lot of low areas.

Have you ever heard of Web.com?  They have a unique way of doing business that I would like to tell or maybe I should say warn everyone about. Back in July of 2012 they called to promote their product which is web site building and promotion. The sales person was very nice and offered me a 30 Day (He said 60 day) FREE Trial, the company would not even bill me until after the trial period and if I was not happy with their service I could cancel and owe absolutely nothing. With that sort of confidence in their product I told them fine, we would try it and see.

The sales rep had been very specific and I had asked at least 4 times during the “presentation” if the FREE trial was actually a free trial or was it a money back guarantee. It was made very clear that it was a FREE TRIAL and that my checkbook would not be debited for 60 days, he even gave me the date that the funds would be removed from the checkbook which was a date in September.

Imagine my surprise when I received notice from the bank that they had “Paid” and ACH for the exact same amount that we the Web.com rep had told me but it was less than 2 days from the time I spoke with them. When I called I was rather upset that they had done this. The person on the other end was very kind and said that he would cancel the account and refund the money, it took about 2 weeks but I did get the money back into my account.

That  particular account is one that I have had for years and do not use very often, I put some money into it each month and have one or two small bills that are paid with it through ACH. I always put about 80-100.00 more than what is suppose to be debited. I hardly ever check the balance.  I will start checking it a lot more now though. The next month after they refunded the money and cancelled the account they began again with taking out the monthly fees.  Like I said, don’t check that account very often, but about two weeks ago I was checking and it looked like the balance was not where it should be with me having put extra money in the account for the past year. Web.com had been taking monthly fees that added up to over 1800.00. I called and spoke with a young lady there that confirmed that the account had been closed and that they owed me a refund of over 1800.00. She said she would be sending a refund request to her supervisor and I should be getting the money back in my account within 10-15 days. So far it had been about 10 days and there have been 2 small amounts one for 260.00 and 1 for 120.00 refunded to my account, I have no idea what happened to the other 1300.00.  The plan at this point is to call them Monday morning, find out if they are willing to tell me anything and if not turn it over to an attorney. 

This could have all been a mistake and I am willing to overlook it as long as I get the money back.  I do think they should clean up their act though, one of the young ladies that I spoke with said that the sales force does this sort of thing a lot where they offer the customer one thing such as an absolutely FREE trial, you won’t be billed for 30 or 60 days, then sending it through as a “money back Guarantee” where they charge you up front and if you are not satisfied they return the funds.

With all that going on you may wonder what about bikes, isn’t this blog suppose to have stuff about bikes in it? Yes in fact it is about bikes. Every 2 months Heritage Church here in Moultrie has a Huge Yard Sale. This is held in a large old commercial building across from the church. Sometimes people donate bicycles. When people donate bicycles the people at the church think of and often call me.

There were 4 bikes donated to the “Storehouse” as it is called, they sent me one to be repaired which was a small 24” 18 Speed (triple on the Front and 6 on the rear). It had a bent derailleur and also a bent frame, the derailleur is not that hard to fix, unfortunately the frame is bent also, which quickly turned that bike into a parts (boneyard) bike. They had 3 more which I purchased from them. First there was 2 Huffy’s both ladies 26” bikes. 1 green, 1 grey, the third bike was a Takura 10 Speed.  I paid 30.00 each for them.

The green Huffy bike took about half a bottle of WD-40 to get everything loose as it had been sitting for quite some time. The tires were still acceptable and the tubes held air, so I cleaned it up checked the gears out and sold it for 40.00.

The Grey Huffy ladies bike is actually in better shape than the green one and I have a customer that has been looking for one like it for her daughter so can probably get 50 out of that and that will cover what I paid for all 3 bikes.

The Takura Competition 10 Speed is a real nice looking 10 speed bike that would fit someone with at least a 32” inseam, It is really too tall for me. I put new tires on it and cleaned and lubed everything and it rides great. The main drawback is the downtube shifters, but it does shift very well and smooth.  I am thinking 125, but would probably take 100.  I also have a nice ladies blue 10 Speed 26” Road Bike with downtube Shifters, which I am asking 99.00 but may take as low as 75.00.

When a customer buys a used bike from me they receive a 30 day warranty, they also receive 2 FREE Tuneups that can be used anytime in the first 2 years after the bike is delivered (4 tuneups and 4 years on a New Fuji or KHS bike).

If you ever get to Moultrie Georgia, give me a call, If possible we may have a cup of coffee at Beans and Strings a neat little coffee shop on the square that also offers music lessons.

The last few months, actually closer to the last year now has been a real drain on our budget with Ruth having to be treated for Cancer and me having some other health issues so I have been checking out different things to make some extra cash. I have tried MLM or Network Marketing companies in the past and have never really done well with them. I guess I am just not someone who gets into recruiting.   I do like helping people find what they need and I also love bicycles and cycling. Many of the links on this blog lead to products or services that I have either tried or that I receive a commission when they are sold through links on this site. While the amount I earn from these sites is small, it does help quite a bit, so if you see something you think you might want to know more about please click and check it out, many times I get paid a small fee if you just click the link.

Great news though is that Ruth is Cancer Free, she is now on a pill to keep the Cancer from returning.  My health is improving considerably and I expect it to just keep getting better.  Due to a change in work schedule I will be able to get some training rides in before I race in Grovania, so things are looking up.

                                      

Charity- the best room in the house

"Faith, Hope and Charity have been called the 3 steps of Jacob's Ladder, reaching from earth to heaven, Faith is the ground floor, Hope is part of the stairs... the best room in the house at the top is charity."

Benjamin Franklin

April 18th, 2013.

Our family has been the recipient of charity many times and we do our best to give whatever we can to help make this world a better place for everyone to live. Not long ago our house was painted, yard was cleaned up, a part of our floor was repaired and several other things were repaired in our house. This was done through a program at Heritage Church in Moultrie, Georgia called Mega Impact. Yes it did have a Mega Impact on our family and we will always be grateful to the many people that made it happen. I would love to mention everyone of the people involved but he list is exhaustive to say the least. There were 120 plus students from Tennessee that came down to participate, there were sponsors, donors and other volunteers that also participated. It was a joint effort of church an community and showed what people can do if they are willing to try.

The projects included in Mega Impact included 7 wheelchair ramps, roofs on houses, lots of painting and yard work, at least one handicapped bathroom installed and a whole lot of fellowship going on too. The students that worked on our house were absolutely wonderful. They did good work but were also very personable and really seemed interested in our family especially our 2 handicapped sons.

Over the years we have also helped with numerous charitable causes. I love bicycles and have for years. I got back into cycling as way to rehabilitate a messed up knee after an injury while in the military. I was injured playing softball in GTMO Cuba while our ship was doing refresher training back in the 70's , and during the recovery period I found that cycling helped my knee. After my discharge from the Navy in 1976 I sort of got away from cycling for a while. Ruth and I did keep doing some charity work like a walk for the March of Di,mes and such as that before we left Ohio.

Bicycles and charity have now become a common combination for us. In 1995 we moved to Georgia, and transferred my National Guard affiliation from the Kansas Artillery  to the Georgia Mechanized Infantry. It was about then that I realized that cycling was a way to stay fit as well as help others and our family has been doing that through numerous rides and events since then.

In 1997 B-100 Radio started a program through Toys for Tots called Bikes or Bust. Through this program a DJ and a Marine were raised in an RV 100 feet above the Wal Mart Parking lot in Albany. They were to stay up there until 100 bikes were donated by listeners or 100 hours whichever came first,  The first year as I recall "Mustang" Mike Kelly went up with a Marine Corporal, at 4 hours there were 100 bikes on the ground under the RV. Mustang would then say that they were not coming down but they would stay up the entire 100 hours and get as many bikes for the children as they could rather than stop at the 100. We donated a little money that year, but I wanted to do more.

Over the next year I did some extra training and even joined a cycling club in Albany (Pecan City Pedalers, "Nuts on wheels") I spoke with the radio people who at that time was  Ray Fox and Dottie Davis and set up a program where i would ride around 50 miles per day for 3 days totally 150 miles and have people sponsor me on a per mile basis, I would ride in to Albany on the 3rd day and give the money raised to the Marines. I set the goal at 1000.00. On the second day I had about 500.00 collected and the Albany Herald ran a front page full color picture of me on my bike telling about the plan. I heard Dottie and Ray talking about it on the morning show and it was all set. Three days later I would ride into Albany Georgia and meet Ray and Dottie and numerous Marine reservists to give them an envelope filled with cash, checks and pledges from businesses for slightly more than 1000.00. On Friday Morning I stopped at Baptist Hospital of Worth County where I was employed and was greeted by the administrator Billy Hayes. Mr Hayes asked how far I was from the goal, and I told him that I was about 200.00 short, so he donated the difference through he hospital.

I did the ride for the bikes every year until 2002 when they stopped doing that particular ride due to expenses of getting the RV, cranes and gasoline etc, so I found other rides and such to do for charity.

In 2000 I did my first Century ride which raised 1125.00 for Cystic Fibrosis. There were also many other charity rides like the Horrible Hundred in Orlando Florida, The Myrtle Beach Marathon in Myrtle Beach SC, Biking Bleckley in Cochran Georgia, and numerous others. In 2009 I became the event director for Caroline's Ride 2009 which was set up to help a friend with the expenses associated with his 5 year old daughter's disease, Neurofibromastosis. In 2010 Bret Wagenhorst started the Tour de Tifton and asked for some help, we had just started our little bike shop in Moultrie. For the past 4 years I have provided the mechanical SAG for the Tour as well as doing other charity rides whenever possible.

We are working on setting up an Honor Ride for wounded veterans here in Southwest Georgia hopefully in September of this year. The money from this ride would go o R2R (Ride to Recovery) to help wounded heros coming back from any war.  I will do several other charity rides in addition to this.

Another Charity program that I have developed is through the recycling of bicycles. I take old bikes that are discarded or sold really cheap and I repair them into usable bikes then donate them to either individuals or groups that distribute them So far I have repaired and donated a total of 6 bikes as well as repaired one for a young man staying at the mission in Moultrie. I am looking for donations of bikes and parts that may be usable and for places to donate these bikes too once they are ready. Funds are limited so can't do a lot of donations at this point, but will do my best to help out anyone that asks.

If you by any chance have any bicycles or bicycle parts that you don't need or want, please drop them off here or give me a call so I can pick them up. If you are out of town then call and we will see if we can make arrangements to pick them up or get them shipped.

I have also been working with Empower Network to help me raise funds so that I can make the bicycle charity program more productive.  You may need money for a charity, for your own expenses or just to pay bills, if so you should check out Empower Network.

I just heard from a good source that if you race BMX then you should check out Peachtree City BMX this weekend. We won't be able to make it, but Anthony and Shane always have great events and it is  a really nice track. Race for Life on Saturday, State Qualifier Sunday. 2 races in 2 days, can really get some points built up quickly.

For more info on me click here

For answers to questions on cycling click here

For answers to questions on Fitness click here 

For a program that is automatic and pays 100% Commissions click here

For Heritage Church Click here

Have a great day

Jerry

Plumbing and Bicycles

April 7 , 2013

"For  every failure , there's and alternative course of action. You just have to find it. When you come to a roadblock. take a detour. "

Mary Kay Ash

For more info on me click here

For answers to questions on cycling click here

For answers to questions on Fitness click here 

For a program that is automatic and pays 100% Commissions click here

For Heritage Church Click here

Several Months back the bathroom faucet started leaking so we went out to Lowe's and looked around for a suitable replacement. My wonderful wife picked out a really neat looking one that  she just fell in love with and since it was on clearance the price was OK with me.

I got it home glanced at the directions and decided this was going to be a project I would have to do on one of my days off. I had just started working nights so I was working 7 on/7 off at the hospital. I had done some plumbing in the past and was decent at it. I sure didn't want to spend the money on a plumber.

The old model that was in there was a Moen and a decent model but a piece inside the shell had broken and the hot water side was leaking. The new one is and American Standard and a completely different design. Old one uses two handles and one faucet, new one one handle and one faucet. The new install would also require replacing the plastic sheet that covers the wall and some carpentry modifications to get everything plumbed and fitted properly.

It has been several months now since the leak started, and it has gotten worse. I have been exceptionally busy  the last few months with taking Ruth to daily radiation treatments, repairing bicycles, taking the grandchildren to various events etc.

Ruth's last radiation treatment was Thursday, so I told her that Friday I would set aside to to 2 things 1 fix the drain under the house and 2 put in the new faucets for the bathtub and shower.

Luckily for me the drain was a real easy fix. We have a crawl space under the house and the drain for the bathtub which goes to the main drain runs in a way that makes in difficult to get through if anyone has to work down there. We had some people that did some work on the house, they did a great job, They had apparently removed that drain pipe so they could get in and out easier, but forgot to put it back when they were finished. The water from the tub had been running out on the ground since they had worked on the house. Luckily it was just bath water and really did not do any major damage. Anyway I just hooked that back up and it is working fine all the tub water is now going to the drain.

So after that it was time to remove and change out the faucets, The old plastic wall was removed and the old faucets came out without a hitch.  I was thinking this may be easier than I thought originally. Be real careful what you think as things that seem easy, may not turn out that way.

Old faucets are out, and it is time to put in the new. This is Friday about 1 PM, I have made a couple trips to Home Depot to pick up stuff that I din't know at first I would need, I decided to replace a couple of things that probably could have been reused but were not really in great shape. I figured I better go head and replace them now instead of having to take everything apart again in a week or 2 just to replace something that could be done while I have to all apart. Well that is where it got me (isn't there always a gotcha in these stories). I went to tighten a fitting on a piece of the pipe (this is old galvanized pipe, house was built around 1930).  Anyone that has ever worked on old house plumbing can probably relate to what happened next. The pipe broke in two just below  the threads and the HOT water, it's always the HOT water begins to spew out into the wall. I had installed shut off valves in the pipe several years back when I put the old faucets in, but this broke off on the other side of the valve.

This caused a hasty trip to the street to turn off the main valve, probably should have done that in the first place , but was trying to let Ruth use the water in the kitchen. Sometimes things just don't work out like you plan. The broken pipe is about 6" long and I figure I can just unscrew it, but since that pipe has been there for probably 80 plus years it just did not want to come loose, and to be honest I was a little scared that something else would break and I would end up replacing all the plumbing, which is probably also a very good idea, just not right now.

When I got to the street to turn off the water I noticed that the meter was damaged. It only took a few seconds to figure out what had happened. There had been a pile of leaves near the meter, the city had picked up the leaves. They had caught the meter box in the device they used to pick up leaves. I called and told them, they came out, said that since it was still working and not leaking they would be back Monday or Tuesday with a new meter and antenna,

I got the water off to the entire house and worked for several hours trying to get that 6" piece of pipe out without breaking something else. I did not get it out Friday and I had to be at The Tour de Tifton Saturday Morning. I had planned to take the race trailer with me and a few bikes to show at the TdT. When I went to crank up the trailer the handle for the jack broke off in my hand, so I just took the van and tools and what I could get in the van. Did you ever feel like everything is against you? I was beginning to get just slightly depressed.

It was abut 6 PM Saturday before I could work on the faucets again, and I had to get that piece out before I could go any further, a can of WD-40 and several hundred blows with a hammer did not budge anything. I told Ruth I needed a pipe to put on the end of the pipe wrench to get that loose. She brought me several different things all too small or too weak.

I had just about given up, when she comes in the bathroom where I am still trying to budge this thing and getting absolutely nowhere carrying of all things a fence post setting tool. This thing weighs about 10 or 12 pounds and has handles on both sides. It is used to pound the metal fence posts into the ground.  Neat thing though is it a sort of pipe and it fits over the handle of the pipe wrench so why not. I set the pipe wrench put that fence post tool on the end and pulled, amazingly the pipe moved a small amount. I could only turn it about 1/4 of a turn each time because the wall was in the way, but at least it was moving. It took a while but I got it off. I was too tired to do anymore Saturday evening so went to bed, got up this morning at 4 and finished the installation of the plumbing parts. Everyone will get a nice warm bath before church and I will cut the new plastic after church .

Now some stuff about bikes. The 4th annual Tour de Tifton was held yesterday in Tifton Georgia. Bret Wagenhorst and his crew of volunteers as always did a fantastic job of setting up the courses and getting everything prepared.  I have provided SAG for the Tdt each year since it began. I ride throughout the routes and check to see if the riders are safe, need any mechanical support or maybe even need a ride back to the Y.  I keep a supply of tools and small parts like tubes and such in the van. Yesterday a young man picked up something that tore a hole in his tire. It just so happened that I had a new one in the carrier on my van, Placed it on his bike for him and changed out the tube so he could finish his 62 mile ride on his bike. It always feels good to help someone. He came up later to pay for the Tire and we spoke for a few minutes.  I don't charge labor on anything at events like this, but I do have to get reimbursed for parts, so I just tell the riders to stop by the van or booth after the ride and give them a business card, telling them to call Monday or just send a check to the address on the card if we miss each other.  As yet I have always collected from every person I have done work for at one of these events.

The Tour de Tifton ride went very well and is for a great cause. This year the ride was dedicated to a good friend Ilse Boyette. Ilse was born in Germany and married Henry Boyette from South Georgia. She was a special lady that loved cycling, the outdoors and her family. Ilse always had a great outlook and as one of her good friends said at the opening ceremony she could light up a room just by walking in. This year we had exceptional weather for the ride. Do you suppose Ilse had anything to do with that?

The money from this years ride will be divided between the Ilse Boyette Scholarship fund  Tiftarea YMCA programs for children.  Ilse was a Nurse at TRMC and a scholarship has been started in her name to help cover the cost of books for Nursing Students.

I have not heard how much the ride raised for the charities, the target was 10,000.00 total with 5000 going to each.  It would be wonderful if they ,made even more.  I am looking forward to doing it again next year.

I have been speaking with Linda from the R2R and am going to start trying to put together an Honor Ride for wounded veterans ) can be physical or emotional wounds. The target date is September 28th, but I am looking for a place to have it. YMCA's, Churches, and certain Veteran's organizations are usually good places.  I will probably start calling places like that Monday.

If you  are like me your money always seems to run out way before the month ends. If so why not check out the Empower Network. I am starting to show some progress with the Empower Network and I am sure I can help you too, that way we can both make some extra money.

Have  great day

Jerry

Mega Impact

There was never yet a great man that was not at the same time truly virtuous"

Benjamin Franklin

For more info on me click here

For answers to questions on cycling click here

For answers to questions on Fitness click here 

For a program that is automatic and pays 100% Commissions click here

For Heritage Church Click here

My family and I have had rough times and wonderful times in our lives. The rough times make you appreciate  the good times that much more. We have been very poor financially. I remember when the kids were small I lost my job and we ended up living in a 1964 Ford Van for several months. For a while we had a tent too but one day when we went to town for me to look for work some of the cows from one of the ranchers knocked it over and it blew into some hot coals from the campfire we had to cook on and burnt up, so we all 6 slept in the van.

I finally got work and we found a small trailer for 20.00 a week, It was an older camper style trailer, but it had a shower and I had a job, so things were looking up.  That was in Deming New Mexico around 1982. We survived and were a stronger family because of it.   We moved to Silver City where the job was into a 3 room house, that was like a Mansion compared to the Van. we lived in that house for about 2 years before moving to a larger house in Silver City then buying a Mobile Home in Central NM.

Things got a lot better for us for the next several years and I started a printing and advertising specialty business in Silver City NM. It did OK and we made some real good money, but a few business mistakes cost the business and so we moved to Tucson Az where I went to school for Computer Robotics. I received my diploma in 1989 from ABC Technical College. I worked in Nogales as a Medical Technologist and ran a part time computer repair service out out of our house.  We found our dream house and everything seemed to be doing quite well.

Things are not always as they seem and we ended up moving from Tucson to Kansas where I took a job as a Lab Manager and was able to really live, but there were a lot of problems there, small towns in Western Kansas have little to no resources for handicapped chlldren and we ended up moving to Georgia, mainly because hat is where I found work. That was 1995 and we have stayed here in South Georgia. I wonder sometimes if it weren't all in God's plan for us. We have seen more than most people do in their lifetime. We have been hurt by a few people that had bad motives and we have been helped by many people along the way. We have always had faith in the lord and in Jesus Christ and that has sometimes been all we had.

I know for a fact that as bad as some of the things are that have happened to our family there are families out there that have it a lot worse, so I am not complaining, it could have been a whole lot worse.

I mean we never had to bury a child and many people do, Our grandchildren's uncle was murdered a few years back, and every once in a while our oldest will say he misses his Uncle Josh. I can remember walking around the ponds and lakes out by where he was last seen looking for any sign of a body. We didn't find it that day, but the helicopter crew form Warner Robbins did, They picked up the person that murdered him the next day and he is in prison for 30 years.  I am thankful that we never had to bury one of our children though that came awful close when Christopher our youngest who is now 32 had a bad seizure in Dallas Texas and was flat lined for about 3 minutes before they were able to bring him back then he spent a week in Children's Hospital ICU.

Now we are getting older and have settled down, I am hoping for good. We have been searching for a Church to attend since we came to Moultrie and have tried out a few, most of which did not really welcome us with open arms. When you have 2 Children who are no longer really children that have Autism it is really difficult to find a church that doesn't prefer you stay away. Last September we found a church that actually welcomes handicapped adults and children. They actually have a ministry called Breathe and it is wonderful for the children and the parents.

We had pretty much given up finding a church though we really were still hoping and had prayed many times for what we considered a miracle. One day though we received an invitation from the Center where Scot and Chris attend telling us about a 2 hour respite care program at Heritage Church. We called and spoke with Tara Torbert, who git us all set up and we took Scot and Chris out to them for a couple hours. I think she ,may have asked where we go to church and my wife said we didn't because of the boys so she invited us to come. It was several weeks though before we got up enough courage or whatever to try it out. We had some bad experiences before were not really expecting his to be much different.  I think we Ruth and I both knew when we met Tara and then Nettie that it was a good thing and Heritage Church was right for us.  The boys were taken into the main church we were told that they would say there until after the Music was finished then hey would go to their room and they would have activities to do back there. Scot and Chris both seemed happy with that way of doing things, sometimes it can be pretty hard to figure out what is making Chris Happy or upset.

The last 3 years have really drained us financially, first the hospital where I work cut out the call pay which effectively cut my pay by about 1000.00 a month. that was 2009, then Chris had to have surgery on his right arm to fix a dislocated shoulder. Due to what I can only call medical malpractice on the part of  the surgeon he may never gain the complete use of the right arm again. Then Scot was found to have Kidney Cancer and because at the time there was not a urologist that did surgery in Moultrie we had to take him to Emory in Atlanta to get his left kidney removed. We were starting to recover slightly when we found out that Ruth had DCIS Ductal Carcinoma in Situ which after  the tissue was removed, the she has to have daily radiation treatments, she is over 1/2 way through them. I have insurance which I pay the first 500.00 and 25% of everything else up to 5000.00 then the insurance pays the rest. My share went over the 5000.00 in January after the surgery so with what was left from December then added in January I owe the hospital alone over 8000.00. so you can see why finances are tight.

Anyway because the finances are tight and have been for a few years now a lot of things have been let go, especially anything in the house that we thought could wait, things like painting the house and fixing the Central Heat and air unit which will probably cost around 600.00 and other stuff like that.

Well it seems the church has a program they call Mega Impact and this year they have been trying to help as many families that have children  Special Needs as possible. Scot and Chris both have degrees of Autism and the church asked me to make a list of things that we needed so I did , thinking that they could pick out any 1 or 2 things on the list.  Based on what they have told us they plan to do there are projects all over Southwest Georgia and some have already started. A young man's family in Funston GA, got a new roof on his house on the 15th and 16th. Our house was brought up to the City Electric Code which means we no longer have any of the old glass screw in fuses we had last week, and that our electric doesn't flicker whenever we use the toaster and the microwave at the same time. Jeffrey's house in Funston sure looks good in the pictures. The plan as I understand it is to also pressure wash and paint  our house and the Mega Impact Team has about 10 or 15 other projects all over the area. There will be about 120 people coming in from Tennessee, the crew chiefs will be from the church here.

It looks to me as if Mega Impact is going to be a tremendous IMPACT on the community of Moultrie and Southwest Georgia. If you are in the area you can stop by the Church on March 23rd 2013 for the Family Fun Day which will officially kick off Mega Impact for 2013. There will be a lot of stuff going on free food a 5 K and a 10 K race and a wheelchair race also and just a whole bunch of activities.Come out an join in the festivities, everyone is welcome.

Also join us for the Tour de Tifton?Ilse Boyette Memorial Bike Ride on April 6th at the Tiftarea YMCA Hunt Park Campus exit I-75 Exit 63 B. Tifton Georgia.

Have a great day

Jerry "The Bicycle Nut" Goodwin

War is Hell

March 17, 2013

I believe it was General Sherman of the Union Army that was credited with "War is Hell" as he burned a path through the south during the Civil War.

I am not going to disagree with him, if war is not hell it is pretty close. It is far much closer to hell than I ever want to be. Yes I served in the military, I was in the Navy serving as a Machinist Mate aboard the USS Jesse L. Brown DE1089 during Viet Nam. I was a plank owner on the Brown and still have my little piece of wood that signifies that. the Brown is now gone as it was Decommissioned in 1996. I believe it was then sold to Turkey for their Navy.

After leaving the Navy in 1976 (probably one of the many mistakes I would make in this life) I served in the Army National Guard for about 14 years mostly as a Combat Field Medic 91B.  In the National Guard I was awarded the Ohio Special Services Ribbon and the  Ohio Award of Merit, as well as the Army Commendation Medal along with a few achievement medals.

I never was assigned to go to the front lines and fight against an armed enemy. The closest I came to that was when a Russian ship came up on the Horizon and went to general quarters for a long time waiting to see what they would do. They never fired and neither did we, then there was working the floods in Ottawa Ohio in 1981 and working the floods in Albany Georgia in 1998.  When you are assigned to a unit, you go where you are told and do the job you are told to do. If I had been assigned to the front lines, I would have went without question and I would have done what I had to do, not only to stay alive but also to keep the soldiers with me alive.

Several years AGO the Ride 2 Recovery was started to help people that have come back from various wars, battles and military actions that are wounded in some way recover. These wounds can be physical like having an arm or leg blown off by an IED. These wounds can also be mental such as PTSD.  These men and women are heros in every sense of the word and they deserve every bit of respect we can muster. Many of them find it very difficult to fit in once they get back to the states. They are changed and they need the support that events like Honor Rides cam help them get. Honor rides help with raising funds and awareness of the trauma and the pain that these man and women have gone through and are still going through to protect our rights.

Currently I am trying with a great bit of determination to get an Honor Ride Started her in South Georgia. I have sent an email to my friend Jimmy Moore at the Tifarea YMCA to find out if we could use the same facilities in September that the Tour de Tifton will be using April 6, 2013. If I get a positive response then I will start looking for sponsors, if a negative response then I will start looking for other places to have the Honor Ride for Southwest Georgia's Wounded Heros.  In my book every Veteran of the Armed Forces is a Hero. If you think about it this way I think you will agree. Every Veteran of every US Armed Force has when he/she took an oath gave the American People a Blank Check Payable with anything up to and including their life. Since most of these people joining the military are 18 and 19 years of age that means they actually are giving up 2 lives, the lives. They are giving up the life they have right now, and the life they would have had if they had never joined the military in the first place.

Anyway if all goes well we will be having an Honor Ride to Honor the Wounded Warriors on September 28th  2013 and we are expecting to make that an annual event here in Southwest Georgia. At this point we are expecting that the honor ride will be out of the Tiftarea YMCA Hunt Park Campus, but dates and locations are subject to change if need be.

In the meantime for the runners that are reading this post there is a 5 K and 10 K run at Heritage Church in Moultrie, Georgia on March 23rd, It is Family Fun day so there will be free food and lots of other stuff going on also. You can get info on the run at www.active.com

For cyclists don't forget the Tour de Tifton coming up April 6, 2013 at the Tiftarea YMCA Hunt Park Campus Exit 63B off I-75. You can find out moe about the TdT by going to www.tiftareaymca.org.

Have a great day

Jerry "The Bicycle Nut" Goodwin

A Home for the beautiful

March 16, 2013

"Though we travel the world over to find beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not" Ralph Waldo Emerson

What is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen in your life? Was it the sunrise over the Grand Canyon, the moon at the end of the desert, a magnificent painting or maybe an eagle flying majestically in the sky.  If you are the parent of a handicapped (special needs) child it could be something as simple as them picking up a spoon or saying bugga bugga at a bag of hamburgers.

Once you have seen these things they can become part of a magnificent life. You can call recall them and maybe visit them again, possibly. These things of beauty can lead you to ever more beautiful experiences.

Today why not be on the watch for the beautiful things in life no matter how small or large.

I personally have had a lot of wonderful experiences in my own life and enjoy sharing them with people. As I grow older I seem to recognize more of these beautiful things and happenings. There have been plenty of bad times too, but those just make you appreciate the good times that much more, and as many would say "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

Sometimes something wonderful and beautiful comes from something tragic.

A few years back I met a wonderful lady named Ilse Boyette.  Ilse and I both had a few common interests. She was a cyclist, I am still cycling, She was a Nurse at the same hopsital where I work. We rode together in the Honey Bee Festival with Ilse's good friend Sharon.

On our bikes we rode through downtown Hahira Georgia, Ilse told me as we were riding along that my jersey made her homesick as it was the same colors as her homeland's flag. I asked what country that would be and she told me she was born and raised in Germany. Germany's flag is yellow, brown and black apparently, because that is the color of my jersey. Ilse was married to an American Soldier and had moved with him from Germany to  South Georgia. She was a nurse at Tift Regional Medical Center, loved nature and was just an outright joy to be around.

4 years ago Ilse joined Dr. Wagenhorst and several others to setup an annual charity bicycle ride called the Tour de Tifton.  The Tour de Tifton is a fund raising charity bicycle ride which benefits the Tiftarea YMCA.  Unfortunately Ilse was stricken with a type of Cancer and passed away last year. This year the TdT organizers decide to name the ride in her honor. The ride this year will be called the Tour de Tifton/Ilse Boyette Memorial Bike Ride and will be held on April 6, 2013 at the Tiftarea YMCA  Hunt Park Campus.  The money raised from past TdT events has all went to the YMCA programs, htis year it will be split between the YMCA and a Nursing Scholarship fund though Tift Regional Medical Center.

Losing Ilse was definitely a bad thing, everyone that knew her will miss her, but because of her and the way she lived there will be funds set aside for another nurse that may not have been ab;e to become a nurse without the funds set aside by that scholarship. Also because of Ilse and other like minded cyclists there has been funds helping the YMCA to provide services that may have had to be cut for the past 4 years. This may not be something that some would consider beautiful, but beauty is in the eyes of the eye of the beholder. Personally I think Bret, Ilse, Sharon and all the others associated with the Tour de Tifton are beautiful people and the world could learn lessons from their selflessness.

If you would like to join us for the Tour de Tifton/Ilse Boyette Memorial Bike Ride you can find out more by calling the Tiftarea YMCA at 229-391-9622 or go to the website at www.tiftareaymca.org There are rides of 11,25, 45, 62 and 100 miles.

I will be providing SAG for the Tour de Tifton again this year. I will riding around in my van trying to keep everyone safe and on the right route.

Have a great day

Jerry "The Bicycle Nut" Goodwin

For more info on me click here

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