It's been a long time since my last blog update. A lot has happened in my life. I'll use this post as an update and the next to start blogging on a normal basis again.

Shortly after my last post I packed up my truck and started driving to Michigan (was in Dallas, Texas). When I left I heard something that made me get off the freeway and take my truck to a service station. I broke an oxygen line and it would take 2 days for them to get the part. So I booked a room at a local hotel (since I locked my keys in the house I was staying at). My truck was loaded to the hilt with my personal belongings. Well that night my truck was stolen out of the hotel parking lot. Till this day it has not been recovered. It was hard. I lost all my documentation, disaster relief equipment, computers, clothing, etc. The only thing I still had left was in my bag up in the hotel room. I stayed at the hotel for a week to see if the police would recover my truck. They did not so I spent a majority of what funds I had left on a Ford conversion van. I made my way back to Michigan and made it just in time for my cousins wedding.

I chose to not do disaster relief any more. I lost everything in my attempt to help others. There's a point where you have to take care of yourself before you can help others. There's also a point where others don't want your help. Texas was very unfriendly to me. Also very untrusting. They couldn't understand the concept of someone offering to help others without wanting nothing in return. They didn't trust me and suspected I was a thief of some sort. I even had a preacher in the Church of Christ tell me that he didn't trust me. After I helped provide his church with a truckload of appliances, furniture and food. That was really the straw that broker the camels back.

After the 9/11 attacks I hurt both of my feet at the Pentagon. I was called to a suspected package at one of the corridors and while en route, I ripped all the tendons and ligaments in both feet. They never healed. It made things that much harder. So I decided to seek some help after I arrived back in Michigan. It was much worse than I imagined. I actually spent a year in the hospital while dealing with that and other health issues. I lost my hearing in an explosion many years ago while serving in Europe. The VA completely rebuilt my right ear by removing the damaged bones and installing a complete titanium bone structure. So I can hear fantastic now. It's time to get the left ear done but I've been slacking off a bit. I also had problems depression and PTSD. The VA was able to assist me with those also. And while it did help, those are both things that will plague me for a long time. Guilt is a powerful feeling that has been something I've lived with for many years now. So talking with fellow veterans and knowing I'm not the only one with these feeling has greatly helped but understanding you have a problem is always the first step. Treatment for these ailments isn't as easy as one might think. My attitude was to "fix it" but there is no "fix" really. Just understanding and learning to live with it is the only way find solitude for me.

After the hospital I went to the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans. I did this to continue to seek help and to properly reintegrate myself back into society. Something I struggled with was how to come from 12 years in the Army and be a civilian again. It's a lifestyle and not a career choice. I discovered many soldiers have this problem. My stay at the Home for Vets was short lived. I didn't like how the veterans were treated. I didn't like how the facility was focused on money and not on the veterans well being. It's a business and should be shut down in my opinion. So I left the Home for vets and moved back up near my parents in Houghton Lake, Michigan. That's currently where I am. I don't do much these days. I have income that comes from the VA to compensate me for my disabilities. I take a ton of pain medication for my feet. They've gotten much worse in the past 5 years. I actually have to make my shopping list before I go to the store. I cant stand on my feet for long periods of time anymore. I will more than likely be in a wheel chair in about 5 years. The VA still wont recognize my injury at the Pentagon. Senator Levin's office could not even get the documents from the Pentagon. It appears to of vanished into thin air. Meanwhile I focus on staying out of a wheelchair. But that wont bring an end to my adventuring. It will just encourage me more. I'm planning on leaving Michigan sometime in the spring and heading to the east coast.

There's a lot more to this story. But for the meantime this will have to suffice. But it has been a busy few years since I last updated this blog. I'm hoping to get back into it and keep posting on a regular basis. I know from past experience that it doesnt always work out as I hope. But I'll try. Thanks for reading.