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Pretzel_Guy

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Posts posted by Pretzel_Guy

  1. I haven’t really made a lot of time to be on here since our son (who was born 2 months early) arrived.  This real life miracle came into our lives on 8/30/2017, he is such a blessing, so happy and so full of life! Life for him hasn't always been this way, as he had a very tough start... He arrived weighing  3lb 9oz, 17 inches long, and was unable to breathe on his own...he literally fought for every breath.  He was given Surfactant, this helped him to be able to breath the first few hours of his life, without it we don’t know what might’ve happened. March of Dimes donations/research helped in the development of it.  With permission from a Mod.... I have never asked in the 13+ years I’ve been a member here for any type of donation,  but this is so very close to my heart. You can follow the link to make a donation https://www.marchforbabies.org/Fundraising/Team?teamId=1405709&teamEventId=2912031&#  and click donate to team.   It doesn't matter to me how much..... anything will help further research so that someone who might not ever get the chance, can experience hearing mama & dada like we do now.  There is a place to mark your donation 100% anonymous, so none of your info will be shared.   Thank you so much.   -Jason

  2. 56 minutes ago, Tara said:

    Congratulations! That is a very pretty house

    Thank you!

    44 minutes ago, emanon said:

    Congrats on the spread!  I dig the farmhouse look!  Very warm and inviting, and tons you can do with it.

    Yes there’s so many options. It has done nothing but rain here since the snow ended.  The plan is to build about 1K feet off the road so we need some dry weather. Hopefully we can get out there and start staking off where it will be soon!

  3. 8 hours ago, Destructo said:

    Congratulations on the land! They aren't making more of that lately, so you are ahead of most! :lol2:

    What kind of style and architecture do you enjoy? How big are you going? Any must-haves on your list?

    Thank you and yes I’ve spent the last 2 years trying to find the right property in the area where I wanted to be.  During that time I searched the PVA and have been literally knocking on doors to see if anyone would sell. After being told no dozens of times, I finally got a yes!  Picked  up just under 50 acres of rolling farmland that had been in the family for 2 generations.  As far as style and size, I’m not in a position to rival some of the amazing homes shared here, but we have found what we like.  Making changes to fit our needs better....colors, room sizes, adding a detached garage and enclosing the open walkway from garage to house and so on. Here are a couple photos. 

    E219604E-6519-45D4-BEE9-2F820A777154.jpeg

    F7717A41-9AC0-48A3-AA8F-C14E6AA1902D.jpeg

    D4F54ABD-A8F1-445C-99EA-A39B881B7815.jpeg

  4. I haven’t been on here really since our son (born 2 months early) was born.  Surfactant helped him to be able to breath the first few hours of his life, without it we don’t know what might’ve happened. March of Dimes donations/research helped in the development of it.  Would it be possible to post a link in the general section Incase anyone wanted to donate?  Everything goes straight to the charity. I’ve never asked in the 13+ years I’ve been a member here for any type of donation,  it this is very close to my heart. If not, I understand.  Thank you..... Jason

  5. Great advice. My wife and I toyed with the idea of "oh we should open a wine bar" or franchise or something. This thread has put all such thoughts to rest.

     

    Back to dreaming of a beach house I suppose.

     

     

    Beach house is a much better plan! At least if it consumes you 24/7 like a franchise, it's time much better spent :eusa_dance:

     

  6. Some VERY good advice given already.

     

    I owned multiple (5) food franchise locations for several years. I bought them one at a time and they were in bad shape losing thousands a month for multiple reasons. I spent a couple years going through them, implementing new procedures to "make them right" as I called it. They all became profitable and I started selling them off.

     

    I worked my ass off 7 days a week at each location in order to accomplish this......no such thing as a 40 hour week..........

     

    In the end did I have success, yes....

     

    Do I consider myself lucky for having success....Yes!

     

    Did I learn a lot about business in general, what to do and what NOT to do....Yes!

     

    Was it worth it considering the ROI.......HELL NO! I'll never get back the time I spent......

     

    My advice is this... If this is something you are deeply passionate about, like you get butterflies and shit every morning thinking about this being your career the rest of your life, then great! Go for it! but if you are going into a "franchise" thinking you are gonna have multiple locations, make all this money and stop by and check in on things in the next "few" years then stop now.

     

    Not trying to be a downer, just giving you my honest opinion based on my experience.

     

    Best of luck in whatever you decide!

  7. You wire him money then he should instantly be able to fill in your info on the title and get that notarized and sent out to you. Car to follow.

     

     

    That is the route I've always taken when dealing with an individual from either side of the transaction. Maybe I'm lucky, but I have never had an issue.

  8. Update.

     

    We went for our 20 week ultrasound and everything looks great! (Halfway there!!!) He is growing right on track with where he should be! So thankful that things are looking good with what we went through the last time. I apologize for not replying sooner....I just wanted to say Thank You to all of you who gave the advice I asked for and shared some of your own stories with me here and outside the forum. I really appreciate you taking the time out of your day to do so.

     

    I'm starting to feel some better about it (still scared shitless) but getting there.

     

    Thank you again for all the nice comments and advice.

     

     

     

  9. I ran into the Chiron a few weeks ago. The driver said the Carrera Gt was one of his favorite cars of all time.

     

    Inmo, Chiron although Im certain it drives amazing, and is fast as shit, did nothing for me. The back especially is very blah. Prefer the Veyron.

     

     

    I'm not in a position to own a Chiron..........but that CGT is :eusa_dance: :eusa_drool:

  10. Mike, your thought process and mine are a mirror image. Got married when I was 25. Precondition of the marriage was, we would have no children. I had lofty goals. However after seven years of marriage and much success, I started to have some of the thoughts you been having. I can honestly say that it was the best decision of my life. It changes your perspective on everything. However, still having a few friends that never had kids. If you choose not to have children, you will never know what you missed. People will say, you've got to have kids, you don't know what you're missing. That's the truth. You won't know what you're missing. So not having children is still a good choice. Your life can still be fun and complete. However, I am glad that I made the decision that we did. We have two great boys. My oldest recently started his own company and his first year, he's been more successful than you ever imagine. It's so much fun to watch them grow.

     

    OP, As far as suggestions, make your kids work for everything. Too often, successful and wealthy people tend to give their kids everything. Almost no child that's given things, ever appreciates it. I've watched a few trust fund babies, grow up to be absolutely horrible miserable people. Make them earn and work for everything. If you want to give them something, give them a 401(k) or a Roth. Invest in their future. Buy them a house for their wedding. But don't give them too much early on in life. They won't learn how to hunt.

     

    As far as a few of the other suggestions, they really won't remember much when they're young. You can take them all over the world, prior to eight years old, and by 10 they won't recall any of it. Just bits and pieces. Spend a lot of time with them when they're young. But don't think taking them tons of places will give them great memories. Spend that money after their eight years old. When my boys turned 10, we start doing guy trips. They got to select the location to go someplace and do something for a week. Just the two of us. I did a trip with each of my boys. We will cherish and remember those trips more than anything. Having them pick the location and plan the trip, gives incredible buy in. It may be something you are absolutely not interested in, but you've now started to understand what they're interested in, and you need to immerse yourself into their world. Understand It. When they get their learners permit for driving a car, absolutely go out and do the 50 hours with them. Don't cheat. Some of our best nights were the nights we went driving together. One night they pick the music, the next night I pick the music. We learned about each other's music. Once you start to listen to their music and understand what they like and why they like it, you may in fact find yourself going to concerts with them. My 23-year-old son recently called me up and asked me if I wanted to go to a Corey Taylor/Slipknot concert. His friends are still blown away that not only did I go, but I knew the music and understood the lyrics. Best advice ever, just be involved.

     

     

    Scotty

     

    I agree with everything you mentioned about making them work for everything. I can honestly say I have worked for everything I have, because we never had anything left over after paying bills the whole time I was growing up. I knew guys in high school that had everything given to them (new cars, money, whatever) never had a job or worked through school. They never amounted to shit. A couple of them took over the family business, ran them into the ground in just a few years. Very sad really but like you mentioned they had no appreciation for it.

     

    I love the idea of that with the driving, that's one to remember for sure!

     

     

    I want him to learn as much as he can, try to do things, struggle with them, fail and try again. I don't know if that's the right thing or not, but it is how I learned and got to where I am.

     

    Thank you

     

    Jason

  11. My kids try that all the time I always ask them "What did your mom say??" The look on their faces quickly changes from hope to despair, they turn around to go try to work on mom again LOL

     

    My advice to the OP:

     

    You've got some phenomenal advice from the members here, the reason I love this board is because of the quality of the people participating and their maturity when required :icon_mrgreen: ,

     

    I lurk on few different forums and the comments I see from the greater majority seem to be made by children rather than adults anyway I digress.

     

    My advice to you, always remember that your kids joined your life not you theirs, we never let the arrival of our children impede on our lifestyle, of course we've made slight adjustments but we carry on the same while integrating them.

     

    Your relationship with your partner is equally as important, do not ignore each other while fully devoting yourselves to the children, they need your love and support but they also need to learn to be independent and make their own mistakes along the way, they need to understand life isn't easy and things do not fall from the sky, somebody needs to work for the food which magically seems to appear on the table. They know they mean the world to me but they also know that I will discipline them when I have to, also they need to understand value and need to earn the extras they want.

     

    Also do your best, and this will be very hard, to stay on the same page with your partner, kids are brilliant at manipulation they are born with PHD in that art LOL

     

    Good luck and congrats, there is no better feeling in the world than experiencing the love for your children, I would also like to add, I never leave the house without hugging and kissing them and my wife, if I come and go 5 times in a day, I always do it.

     

     

    Fortis

     

    I appreciate all the advice! I have one part covered already. I never leave home without hugging and kissing my wife, multiple times a day (drives her crazy when she's trying to do something and I interrupt her doing this having just seen her an hour earlier) :lol: Something I plan to continue with my son!

     

    Thank you

     

    Jason

     

     

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