was loosing steam.. found some inspiration though..

[bigdirty]

tried to post last night... board crashed or something.. :noidea:



Been fighting with things on the boat, (and the site...) lots to do and getting a bit gloomy about putting it all together, so I 'took a break' after work today and went to help a friend with his boat. :lol: He called me last night, needed help to put his drive back on. He pulled the drive and motor last week to change head gaskets (overheat last season) and had the motor back in but was struggling to put the drive back in place. Doesn't sound too difficult, but the thing you have to understand here is this:

The man is in a WHEELCHAIR, paralyzed from the waist down from an atv accident 3 years ago. :ya..

Yup, i get there and the boat is in the shop in between the 2 post hoist, his chair is on one arm, lifted up about 5 feet, tied to the boat, and hes IN it, adjusting valves and putting manifolds on.(OMC 4.3l 'bat wings' at that..) :laugh: No working legs? BAH! That don't stop him! Guess I cant complain about how much I have climbed in and out of my boat working on it the last month or so... so if this guy is getting it done, I don't have much of an excuse not to...

 

[aspeck]

Where there is a will, there is a way ... great thing to remember when life starts getting you down! Awesome spirit. Picked me up and gave me some inspiration also. Thanks for sharing!

 

[southkogs]

I've got a buddy like that ... does one more with his one arm (missing the other) than most do with two and some help. Cool story.

 

[ezbtr]

I;M ALMOST SPEECHLESS! And I've been pissy cuz of leg recovery last 6 months!

 

[bonz_d]

I can relate to that. Some give up, others don't. I have PAD in both legs and have had 3 bypass surgeries. Have lost a lot of strength in my legs and they are always in pain. Have also been told that at some point I most likey will lose one or both of them. But I still try to do the same things I used to do.

 

[Gyrene]

Excellent story.
I always find it helps to put things in perspective. My wife will start bitching about something, say the electric bill, and I'll just say "be glad we have enough money to pay it".
I remember once at work a big boss called me out by name and laid a big objective on me, and a co-worker wispered to me that it was a kiss of death, and I just said, "Pete, I was in Khe Sanh - this is nothing".

 

[bigdirty]

Just to add to the story, this guy showed up today to return the engine and drive stands he borrowed from me.. I offered him a beer, so he got his chair out (crane/llift mounted in the box of his truck under the cap) and we hung out for a bit in the driveway, talking about boats and blah blah blah.. Hes got a great sence of humor this guy... A little bit later as he's leaving and getting back into his truck (all on his own, hes got it down pat), i go to the back of the truck to grab my stands and he says;

"Ya, you should be able to get them out on your own, I had some cripple put them in there today... "

:laugh:

AND.. his boat is gona be in the water before mine... :lol: