Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums  

Cole is the oldest, Nicole and I met January of 2008, we'd both been through some shiznit and bad partners/spouses, so we really hit it off fast. At that point, I was sure I couldn't father a child, but, well, fate said that was a lie LOL, and Cole was born November of '08. When he was still only a few months old, we decided that we'd have another....since Cole was such a great baby. Annika was born February 2010, and to date, the only planned brat.

In January 2014, Nicole and I made a trip to West by-god Virginia to help her sister and her then-boyfriend. We also met Scott and his wife and one of their boys....the first night we were there though, Nicole got horribly sick at Ruby Tuesday.
It ended up screwing up her system a bit, and 9 months later here comes Liam.

She says if she gets preggers one more time she's gonna cut my rod off and shoot me with my rifle LOL.

(I think she's more than half serious....all the knives AND the guns are locked up now...) LOL.....

Nah, I truly have no complaints...all my old friends are all drunks, drug addicts, or are dead. My co workers are probably the closest thing to good friends, and that's not a bad thing as I don't make friends easily. But enough about me...I've said far too much already.

Hah!  I did forget to check back in.  I think the last thing I really posted was that I was getting married, we got married, we went to the last CJ after that and I think that's where it left off. 

My T-bird still sits in the garage at my mom's house, new suspension bits all under it but badly in need of paint, etc.  I'll get to it someday.  I still have all the EFI parts I bought from vinnietbird!  Otherwise on the car front I put about 200K miles on the '05 Neon I bought new, changed the timing belt at 180k and overheated it to death at 202k.  The car did well considering I never took shiznit for care of it.  Ironically it died on the way home from my in-laws in NC where I picked up a nice '04 Mercury Mountaineer as we needed a bigger family car and AWD/4WD.  After we got home I scoured CL around where my in-laws live (rust-free, baby!) and found a sweet yellow '01 Ford Focus.  Sent my FIL to go look at it, he said it was good and picked it up for me.  Got it home last July and I've been loving being back in Fords since then.

I worked at a body shop for about a year, then got fired because someone else was screwing around in a customer's car.  Ended up unemployed for about a year and a half and then got the job I have now.  Working at a circuit board manufacturer whose primary customers are defense and aerospace contractors, etc.  Started out as an operators, then after 3 years I got promoted to 2nd shift supervisor and about a year and a half ago I made the switch to 3rd shift.  It was a change for the better but life is a little harder now.  This is the longest I've had a job and probably the 'best' job I've had.  I wasn't even going to apply because the 'requirements' were way beyond my experience.  But, my wife, like she tends to do, pushed me to do it anyway and I'm so glad she did. 

In between that time, my wife and I had our son (Sept 2013), his name is Fox and he just turned 3 at the end of September.  It was pretty unexpected, my wife and I were together for about 5 years and it had never happened.  Granted, we never really tried to have children but we never took preventative measures either.  You can imagine the surprise when my wife told me.  Now we're expecting a 2nd and my wife is due in February '17.  This one will be a girl, so I guess you could say I'm going to up the difficulty on this one... or so I'm told.

It's good to read about everyone else and see what folks have been up to.  I'm glad a lot of the 'old gang' is still here.

times they are about  to get much better for you and the heartland of the USA.

I do remember you and your wife coming through CJ. It's amazing how this is jogging so many memories. I also remember your Neon, and you being pissed at the adaptive ECM when you put the intake on it. Also remember the burnout you did when you left CJ. Didn't you put the old school Pizza wheels on that thing?

You still happen to have the old 600 sitting in the garage? I know it's been forever since I was out there, but I do remember that 600 and remember wanting it back then.

Three year gap between undergrad and your masters? You beat the statistics there. Most people who take a break end up never going back. What did you get your degree in?

times they are about  to get much better for you and the heartland of the USA.

Got bit by 135 lb Rottweiler at work and was forced to put it down.  My hand still cramps in about 2 minutes when writing

I dont often post personal stuff here, maybe I should actually say whats been going on with me. Might shed a bit of light on my moods and things for the past few years.

How often does that happen? They are animals, after all and I've always wondered what the odds are that one could become "renegade".

AI can look back at some my posts here from those times and let me tell you I put on a good public face despite how shaged up I was then.

.

Suppose it's my turn already...I'm a little older, the facial hair is a little more grey, but I'm still hairy as ever! LOL

Let's see...in the past 8 years:

- Still have the '84 and the '86, no major updates to either of them
- Paid off the house
- New daily driver (Lincoln MKX)
- Same job
- Still with Woman™

I guess 'steady as she goes' for me. Sorry so boring!

Unfortunately I am at the point in my life where I'm gonna see some more of the closest people to me start to pass on. It's inevitable but still a harsh reality. So I'm focused more on spending time with everyone now, and also getting my own affairs more in order. Most things were taken care of a little over a year ago before I had heart surgery, but there are still a few things to button up. Once that happens...I'm ready to go whenever I'm called. Anything I got past last fall are bonus years in my book. So...I find most of my "spare" time taken up by other things and people, not so much car-related anymore.

The house has been getting slow but steady updates over the years (shingles, porch awning replaced with a wood roof, garage reorganization, basp00get finishing/walls, cement patio in back). I'm down to just the furnace and a/c unit, as far as major expenses yet to arise, but I'm ready for them if something happens. Right now I'm working on the shelves in the basp00get for storage, closet storage, new carpet for the basp00get steps, and new bookshelves to finally organize all my books. Hoping to get a basp00get drop ceiling in there also. Then next year, probably a storage shed and closing in the back porch. It's always something but I love my little house, it's a peaceful place and it makes me happy. And did I mention it's paid for?

I'm enjoying everyone's candid answers, it's really great to see everyone's lives coming together. Glad you're all still here!

Masters in library and information science. I waited a couple years before going back to save some $$$. Plus I was a bit tired of school. My employer helped to defer some of the cost of the degree, which helped my decision to go back. 

Ok....
I'll sum up 8 years....

Had my second daughter.  My brother, who lives about 70 miles away, has never seen her.  Im not sure he know she exists....what can I say, I tried to keep the communication going, but...

Bought a Dodge Nitro R/T.

Wife went back to work for NYC BOE.

Her 2000 Cougar bit the dust.

Bought a 2012 Focus to replace it.

Got bit by 135 lb Rottweiler at work and was forced to put it down.  My hand still cramps in about 2 minutes when writing.

Sent the wife and kids to Hawaii and couldn't go due to not being able to get off from work for it. 

Did a shiznit ton of work to the Cougar and Mustang, almost all of which is dospoogeented here.

Turned 40. 

Quit smoking.  I think this time for good.  Had a 3 year stint once before.  This one feels more promising though.  Been 4 months.

Nice to hear that everyone its still doing fairly well. This is still the only forum i came back every now an then. It looks like some of those old school meetings.

Never read an entire post from that Renzo guy, only knew it was a PITA.  It was  like our old friend 351Bird (Ben) or something ?

I dont often post personal stuff here, maybe I should actually say whats been going on with me. Might shed a bit of light on my moods and things for the past few years.

Me and the wife split hust before my second son was born. Been just over five years now. My ex had an obsession with shoppping and dug herself about $20k in credit card debt without my knowledge. I got sent 2500 miles from home for work in Pittsburgh and came home to an empty house with an eviction notice on the door.

I haven't spoken to my ex since then. She told her parent's I beat her up and ran up all the credit cards while I was gone, the re mortgaged their house to pay them off and helped her to file  protective order against me. I am not a violent person and actually came from an abusive home. My mother abused prescription drugs, went crazy and left when I was 14 years old. I feel very strongly about violence and have never hurt anyone because of it.

Long story short, my ex wouldnt let me see my kids at all after she left, and I spent 3 years dealing with all the court stuff. Hired a lawyer which cost me $7k and finally settled outside of court for state minimums.

I was in a very, very dark place for about two years. While I was doing construction, I was a forman in charge of as many as 50 people and was always working after my ex left. I dug myself into work and just shut down emotionally while I couldnt see my kids. I kept getting migraines that would last for days straight. I got really sick and lost a ton of weight. I am 6'5, I went from 240lbs down to 157lbs during that time.

Once my divorce got finallized and I was able to see my kids again, I started to get much better and I am in a much better place now. I moved back in with my dad and things started to look up. Ive given up on construction at least for now, and am just trying to enjoy life with my kids whenever I can. Right now I am working part time delivering pizza because it's easy money and one of the few jobs I can easily work now that we live about 50 miles from any major cities. Financially I  crippled due to a low income after years of making okay money. When I settled outside of court I got saddled with a ton of bills and past due child support putting me somewhere around $16k in debt which Ive slowly paid down to about $12k.

I will catch up on it, and I am probably going to go to college and just take some general classes once I am all caught up. I finally got my ged in november 2014 after my oldest started asking me about my school grades and I had to tell him that I dropped out of school and never finished.

Next month I start a new local job for okay money working 3 12hr days a week. The plan is to keep dominos part time and use the entire income of my second job to pay everything off.

Overall, this forum has helped me get through a ton of things. I feel more like this place is family. Even though ive never met anyone from the forum, ive spent a ton of time here since I was 16 and got my first cougar. I turn 30 next year and am looking forwards to a new and better life.

Anyway, I didn't mean this to come off as a pity me post, believe me, I've had enough pity and I ain't wanting more. Just be glad I made it through. Life is good. Go live it.

Never read an entire post from that Renzo guy, ?