Change is in the air

There is a time for a change and that time is now.  First Change will be the name of this blog.  I am leaning toward “The Life of Bob” and that will be the working title, but if you have an idea I will be open.  

Now for the rest of the story.

Two weeks ago (that would be 3/18/13) the day before my 50^th birthday, Storage Management Associates, the management company my old boss hired at the first of the year sent an area manager to Yukon Oklahoma to relieve Linda and myself from our servitude to the company. In other words we got fired. Ok not really a big deal I didn’t trust SMA anyway. Now I will let you know I do not hold any real grudge with SMA I could tell from the beginning it was never going to work.  The style of business that they do and what I have been so successful with are diametrically opposed.  So in the big scheme of things it was not a big surprise. 

Now on that day they fired us they also gave us 7 days to move out, and that did give Linda and I a fairly blue night.  Remember Tuesday is my Birthday and on my birthday for the past 6 years I have baked cookies and given them away last year I did 21 dozen.  This year I really wanted to make 50 dozen so Linda jumped in and started baking. Hey job or no job my 50^th birthday only comes once. That is when we got the call from a real close friend in California that her husband had passed away.  No matter how bad your problems seem there are always people whose problems are worse.  Anyway God is the one who is ultimately in control and he will lead us where he wants.

Tuesday happens and since Linda and I no longer have Jobs we could spend the whole day handing out Bob day cookies. The actual name of my Birthday is “Unofficial International Bob Day” I have networked this day with friends of mine to reach people on six continents.  It is crazy to think on March 19^th people all over the world are making and giving away cookies just to bring a smile.

 

 

Armed with 50 dozen cookies in 100 Red solo cups Linda and I gave cookies away from the north side of Oklahoma City through Yukon and ended up in El Reno.  We spread as much joy as possible and promoted the Military Prayer Group of Yukon an organization that prays for our men and women who serve our armed forces.  Bob Day ended very well.

 

Wednesday we woke up and started packing like crazy.  With the help of our friends lead by the unstoppable Joyce Roper

 

 

 we moved our 300 Square foot storage and our 200 square foot shop to 5 Star Storage owned buy one very honest and honorable man Rick Opitz.

 

Thursday I put my wife on an airplane to California to be with her best friend at the funeral of her husband.   Joyce and Samantha Matthews continued to move wood and boxes from Guardian to Five Star and Started packing up the house.

 

Friday we had more help come in and continue packing the house up. Once again Joyce led the charge and kept me focused.  Without my wife I can get bogged down in the little things it is nice to have someone step in and help.

 

 Saturday night Danielle and her son Gavin came by and packed like crazy. It was the final touch that made me feel ready for the morning.

Saturday was the big move our son Bobby brought the Red Neck army over to help.

 

My dad stopped by and lent a hand packing cleaning and moving.  My body had taken as much abuse as it could stand and it was nice to have the help. Saturday also brought the rain. So it looked like it was going to be a soggy move but Pastor Ron Rasmussen from Christ Church of Yukon brought a line of pickup trucks and we had the house cleared in no time. At one point it felt like we had so much help that I could easily lose control. God is so good he blessed us with an overflowing cup.

Monday I did some cleanup work in storage and ran errands around town. Then spent a long night at scouts explaining what just happened to Linda and me.

Tuesday I started work with John Miller doing some work on a home he was refurbishing. I also received a call from a company to come in for an interview.  Then I spent a long night at Joshua’s Karate class explaining what happened to Linda and me.

Wednesday I came in late to work on the house because of the Job interview.  Then I received a call that afternoon offering me the job.

Thursday I never made it to the house due to the fact it took most of the day to fill out employment paperwork and take a drug test. I then had the great pleasure of picking up my wife from the airport.

Friday I spent the day working for John and the evening with my family.

All that to bring us to today, we are staying with friends, my new jobs starts Monday,  we are blessed with more friends than you can imagine, tomorrow is Easter and God is good… all the time.

The Marx's Brothers

Guardian Storage was visited by some people whom must have failed the I. D. 10-T test. We will introduce Harpo,  Zeppo and Groucho.  That is right the Marx’s Brothers where right here on the property and what a show they put on. 

Groucho and Zeppo called in to find out if there was a parking space available for rent. It seems that Zeppo’s offspring had totaled one of the family vehicles and they needed a place to put it for 30 to 60 day until they could make it go away permanently.  Zeppo had called his good pal Groucho to help him drag this smoking wreckage across the state to the Guardian facility.  Well, being good friends and desperate for a rental of course we said yes.

When they arrived they elicited the help of their third friend Harpo.  After looking at the package that was once a car Harpo asked how they got it on top of the trailer in the first place.  It seems that Groucho and Zeppo had used a come-along to slowly drag the car up on trailer, but there was no real plan on getting it back off.  The major problem it seemed was the driver’s side front wheel was almost snapped off and had no control of where it went. Three of the four tires were flat, the drive train was busted and the engine was in no condition to turn over again.  How could the Marx’s Brothers ever get this hunk of junk into a standard parking space?  Well it was Harpo’s idea to park the trailer in the middle of the space use the come-along to get the back wheels on the ground then drive the trailer out from underneath the car, effectively dropping the broken and twisted wreckage into the space.

After hooking the come-along to Harpo’s car to give a solid base to pull against, the team watched as Groucho started wrenching the car to solid earth, but something went wrong.  As the straps were pulled tighter the wreck did not move but Harpo’s car did start to lift. No matter how much the team pushed, pulled or used engineering terms the wheels of the damaged car would not turn.  Twenty minutes our trio scratched their heads till finally it came to them….  Release the parking break. 

Yes at that point the car rolled, with just some minor coaching from Zeppo, off the trailer and into the parking spot.

You would think that I would have been rolling on the floor, tears flowing from my eyes as I observed this story unfolding.

Ah, but alas I have met Harpo and he is me…..

Some days it just doesn’t pay to be a Bob.