I watched my 8 year old do more on my computer the other day than I could do a year ago, I played a mean game of spider solitare then, but she made personalized Christmas Cards in 20 minutes. I can't do that.

I don't like being left behind, for 20 years I felt I was an inovator in my field, always stayed on the peak of any wave, made a point of staying informed and educated ( god how I hated continuing ed retreats, seems every time I crossed the Mississippi River freak weather patterns brought snow to Dallas and Memphis, or drought to Miami, Hurricanes would delay their approach until they knew I was in the air, but I digress....I do that alot) I did not allow myself to become complacent, or so I thought.

I was, repeat was, in the automobile business. Sales, service, accessories, if it rolled I either sold it or sold something to bolt onto it. I started out as one of those much maligned "New Car Salesmen", straight out of 7 years in the US Army. I was selling Dodge Caravans to anyone who could muster a downpayment outside of an Airbase in South Carolina, and I was not alone. This small dealership had 25 salesmen, none of which could enter the building without a customer, you just stood outside, rain or shine, until you could snag a prospect and convince them to come in and speak with your manager.

From this humble beginning I moved into management, and then was recruited by a larger dealership in Raleigh, NC,I left there when the dealership was purchased about a 3yrs later by a larger dealer group, who brought in their on management. I then came to an Eastern NC import dealer on a buy-in option as Business Manager14 months later the owner shut down the dealership, consolidating the franchise in another city. Being the glutton for punishment that I am, I then took over management for a small domestic dealership until my paycheck bounced.

Enter the self-employment phase.

Eastern North Carolina for the most part is a socio-economic throw back to 1968, it's population is nearly equal racially, but economically it is a wasteland for the masses. Every indicator of poverty is represented ( dropout rates, STD's, drug use, unemployment, single mothers, etc... all rank in the top 5 in the state )

The economy was based on textiles and tobbaco, both dead or dying industries, granted some manufacturing has come into the area, but it is for the cheap, non-union labor, and all management is imported.

Hey, all those po' folk need a car to get to those low payin' jobs right?

Take $100k and buy 50 decent cars, mark um up 100%, and finance them at 29% APR, get half your money up front and get the rest over 2 years, build on that theory and within a year you have over 100 accounts paying close to 30K a month. Sell off a portion of the accounts for 75% of the outstanding balance and you have the perfect cash flow machine, unless you experience a 500 year flood following a hurricane, ever heard of Floyd? FEMA will loan you back into debt after a natural disaster.

Now get back on dry land, expand into tire and rim sales, corner the local market in chrome and the cash flows again, until of course you find that your employee theft insurance does not cover the sub-contractor who delivers your wholesale sales, who has been ripping off your distributor for 100 tires a week for the last 3 months, using your account.

Enter the reeducation of the dynosoar.

Bankrupcy! I used to hate the idea of that, legally breaking the promise of paying my bills, but if you can't, you can't. I lost houses, cars, trucks, equipment, accounts receivable, and respect.

Depression and depression drugs followed, then 9/11, then Afganistan, you have to remeber my military past now, not only was I depressed about lossing a business, I felt ashammed of not being able to help in a military manner (tried to re-up, too old ) .

So, now I buy an old fixer upper to move into, and put on my Bob Villa plaid, and work out therapy with a hammer and paint brush. I did it all, watched a lot of HGTV, and Discovery TV for ideas, and just did it( with the help of my 85 yr old father-in-law, and my 14 yr old son)

We moved in 6 months later, the only problem to date is the heat not working well in some rooms, getting on that this week.

I also registered at Thomas Edison State College on line, figured I'd finish a degree ( Army paid for Associate Degrees only for NCO"s back in the 80's got 3 of those....) been working on an MBM since Jan 03, got about 50 hours to go.....

Moral, never never never, ( did I say never?) give up ( Valvano said that, and then he died ) I don't know what I'll do with the Masters, probably teach or something....... save that for another entry.