Motrin and Mechanics

Certainly the past two weeks have no reflection on the remainder of this year in business! First, we invested in a luxury sport utility vehicle that would allow me to conduct business both as a consultant as well as travel to youth camp sites during camp seasons. God blessed, and we were able to pay cash and get the vehicle for an extremely low price, as well as talk the dealer into giving us a warranty on the transmission for no additional cost. A week after driving it, we decided to take it in to have the transmission looked at (just in case) before the warranty ran out. The dealer had us take it directly to their transmission mechanic shop. It has now been over a week, and the mechanic hasn't even looked at the vehicle. Just when I thought I had figured out what the process would be for drumming up new clients without the use of a decent vehicle (as my best friend says, there is a combination to driving all of our other trucks). The suburban, which we call "The Tank" because of it's gas guzzling quality and it's ability to roll over smaller cars and keep going, is now stalling and cutting out when idling. The Jeep sputters, and the Ford Ranger pops out of fifth gear so you have to hold it in gear. None of these vehicles speak to having had any success in business, however they are all paid for, and George and I are against acquiring a car payment if we don't have to.

I decide I'm gonna use the Jeep. It's dusty on the inside, and you can't wash it because the windows leak water (so it also cannot be driven in the rain), so it's extremely dirty. I sit down last Thursday to finalize my game plan for the following week. I had meetings and obligations on Friday, so I decided to get a fresh start on Monday. As you all know, I have been really pushing past my own physical exhaust. Well the problem in doing that, is our body's immune system relies on plenty of rest and a good diet in order to combat illnesses. Seeing as how I took neither one of those items seriously, when the flu went around I found myself bed ridden and not able to stand without the room swirling around. You may say it to yourselves ("I told you so") but refrain for sending me comments stating how you knew I should have taken a break and other wonderful after-the-fact advice (lovingly smiling).

Today, while I am still running a low grade fever of 99.7, I decided I needed to get out into the day, get some things taken care of, and now here I sit, back on my couch, dizzy and typing this blog post. So now I have lost one week without transportation, one week with the flu (and they still have not finished with my vehicle) and if I don't do something soon in business, we may be eating Top Ramen noodles for a long time. I'm trying to remain calm and not call the transmission mechanic, however staying calm when someone is clearly wrong is not necessarily my strength. George, however, is able to face ignorance and stupidity in the face, politely ask it's supervisors name, and move forward to get the job done, all without raising his voice. He has the ability to keep a person on the phone for over an hour annoying them until they make something happen. I will leave the mechanics up to him, continue taking Motrin for a fever reducer, and let the illness play out so I can be clear in what needs to be my next step to producing in our businesses and making sure my six year old gets a better dinner than dad's "pizza again nights."