Hey all, I knows it's been a long time yet again but the last 6 months have been hectic, especially the last 2 months. In October had the final court date and AIG gave us the best offer they were willing to give, we countered, they balked and we finally accepted the final offer. Essentially, they ended up giving me more than $20K less than we were hoping for. My attorney told me it was up to me, he was confident we could get the extra $20K but AIG would most likely drag it out another year fighting it. Since it was costing me about $1,400 per month to stay in Cali, another year would end up costing me another $16,800, netting me only another $3,400 and I didn't see the point of holding out for that small of an amount.
I received final payment in early November, paid off a bunch of debts, and on November 26th, after days of packing up, headed of on a 6 day trip to here. I stopped in Hammond Indiana for a couple of days to visit family, then got here on December 2nd. The very next day I started my search for work out here and believe it or not, I am still looking. I thought I would find a job much faster than this but I don't plan on giving up, I'm too stubborn for that. I spend hours every day searching most career sites, and more hours going through phone books and the local employment agencies. The problem is all my mechanical experience counts for crap with my permanent disabilities thanks to AIG mismanagement. I absolutely refuse to consider welfare so I will keep plugging away til something presents itself.
The second thing I did when I got here was to find housing. Amazingly, I found it within two weeks. I actually hooked up with a realtor for most of those two weeks but the house I found was actually on craigslist. It's a 4 bedroom, 1 bath house, 1 and a half story plus a full basement, 1,660 square feet not including the basement. No garage but I can build a big shed out back. The front yard is pretty small but the back yard is good sized plus alley access. There are a few concerns, part of the roof is screwed, electrical needs updating, plumbing needs updating, but for the price I paid for a free and clear house I can't complain much. If anyone is close to South Bend, Indiana, and can help with any of these problems, let me know. Can't pay right now but I expect to have work soon. I still don't have electricity or gas in the house and won't til I get the wiring and breaker box replaced with code compliant gear.
I bought a van for the move and planned to sell it once here, but as yet it hasn't sold. I also hope to have it sold within the next week, which will be a great help. I want to do as much work as I can to try to save some money, the electrician who came out to check out the house gave me an estimate of almost $10,000 to get power into the house. I will get that number down one way or another and hopefully stay within code guidelines, lolol.
Rita is on hold once again but hopefully not for long. I have pretty much everything I need I think, just need to get the jugs and head sent out to Cycle Exchange. It seems CycleX went through some kind of shakeup but I talked with the owner on the phone and he will honor the prepay I made back in March for the work but never got the parts sent out. He also said he would do what he could to help out with the extra parts I have on hand and don't need. I have three sets of jugs and two heads, two cams and a bunch of other parts. I am going to send him everything and see if he can hook me up with 1 complete set of parts to install on Rita and he can keep whats left for his own work. All I have to do after the jugs and head is done is get the tank prepped and painted, then will start the whole rebuild process. I hope to have it done later this year but it all depends on how these first few months go.
Those who want to, PM me for my address, and feel free to drop by for a how-de-do. It would be cool to visit. I plan to visit another friend soon down in Anderson, hopefully in the next couple of weeks.
More to come soon,
Peace and Long Rides,
Jeff
