End Trucking/Begin Teaching Violin
Very Big News! Jan 18, about 3:30 a.m. I was driving on I-84 east bound in Hartford, CT. It was snowing and very cold. Peggy and our pup were asleep in the bunk. As I came around a curve at I-84 exit 56, I suddenly saw an accident just ahead, headlights pointing at me, so I touched the brakes. The road was snow packed; the truck jack-knifed and slid to the left into the guard rail, short of the disabled car. Our trailer pushed forward into the rear of the truck. The truck was smashed against the guard rail, facing the wrong direction, the trailer forming a tight V shape with the truck. I could open the door only partially because the trailer was in the way, but it was enough to get in and out of the cab. Fortunately no-one was hurt. I have a sore rib and a circular scar where my left leg hit the window handle, but nothing serious at all. We are very fortunate, but the truck is totaled. The brand new Strick trailer from Monroe, IN sustained little damage, but the landing gear post on the left side was bent inward, so the landing gear won't crank down. We were towed to the tow company shop a few miles away. We spent most of the day in the driver's lounge or in our truck, organizing all our stuff to clear out. I made a few phone calls early in the morning. I called Floyd, who had provided us this truck. He immediately offered to drive out to pick us up. Floyd & Paula have blessed us many times over. I cannot believe how quickly Floyd is always ready to help! Peggy keeps saying, "Floyd is Jesus with skin on." As soon as he arrived on Wednesday morning – just about 27 yours after the accident, we were ready to throw all our stuff into his big pick-up truck. Our lives suddenly changed. The adjuster flew out from Indiana to look at the wrecked truck on Thursday. God allowed this for a purpose. We are anxious to see what the future will bring, and we are still praising the Lord for all His mercy and grace. He is our provider.
We got home on Thursday from our adventure-on-ice-with-a-truck in Connecticut. We had taken a motel at the end of the day on Tuesday. Floyd had left that morning shortly after we called him. He was at our door Wednesday morning about 8:30 a.m. eastern time We drove to the towing company and loaded everything into Floyd's luxurious 2005 Ford Super Duty pick up truck. Almost everything fit into the truck bed, but computers, violin, pillows & blankets, etc. went into the back seat. The inside of this truck is just like a large car with a full sized back seat. This is a nice ride! Floyd arrived very tired. He didn't stop much on the way up - at least 18 hours of driving. We left Hartford around noon. We all took turns driving home, so we kept moving pretty continuously all the way to Goreville, except for stops at Denny's in PA, at Waffle House in Hubbard, OH – plus 3 fuel stops and a couple rest areas. Roads were clear most of the way until Illinois. Then we had good opportunity to click over to 4-wheel drive. We took a 50 mile detour up to Charleston, IL to drop off a pile of stuff at RexDon, the company we've been with the past 5 years. Now, sadly, we're finished with RexDon. Just north of Marion, IL as Floyd was driving, we saw a north bound pick up truck go into a sideways slide into the ditch, out of the way of the semis just behind him – no contact! We got to Floyd & Paula's house about 10 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 20 and spent a couple hours in front of the fire talking and resting. They have been a major blessing to us so many times, and they had good ideas for us as we chatted about what God might do next in our lives. Floyd was just then in a similar situation as we were – unemployed. The week before, he had sold his Peterbilt at a good price with intent to get a more practical, cheaper truck. He really loved the truck we wrecked, which we'd gotten from him about a year previous. That is the type he wanted next – a smaller Volvo autoshift. Since then he's bought a 1999 Kenworth, bigger than the Pete he just sold, because it was such a good deal. It was a pleasure to sit with them in their country style cozy house, formerly a great big barn. Floyd sent us home with his truck to unload our stuff. I am now spoiled by the 4-wheel drive. There are times in our neighborhood when 4WD is required to get out. We didn't even try our own car (Volvo S70) because we knew it wouldn't have gotten up that bad hill. Next day the roads were plowed and cindered. Thursday night we met F&P at Cowboy Church in Goreville. I joined the worship team on fiddle. Afterward we drove the cool 4WD Super Duty home, laid on the couch in front of the fire for awhile and finally went up to bed. Friday we returned the big Ford to Floyd and stayed for a meal and dominoes.
We won't be getting another truck. We were considering other trucking companies as company drivers, but have finally committed to staying home and finding work locally. I started teaching violin in a community development program through Southern IL University. On Sunday Jan 23, in church I thought of calling Paula Melton, whom I worked with 10 years ago at SIU, teaching violin. The only reason I left that program was money. I was stuck at a low income and couldn't keep up with bills. That's when we turned to trucking. We had visited with Paula about a year ago over lunch during a Paducah Symphony weekend. I remembered that conversation and how excited Paula was about the new direction this program had taken and how much she needed help. So I called her, and Peggy and I ended up at her house for about 5 hours that Sunday evening to see if this would work for us. We were pretty much drawn in and assured that this time I could actually make a living at it. Peggy is starting part-time work as Administrative Assistant to Paula, who has been the director of this program for 13 years. Peggy is also considering other employment, and so am I to fill in until my studio grows large enough. Life changes so fast. We already have gotten a settlement for the wrecked truck. We have to use some of that for awhile till our new income kicks in. The program I'm teaching in is a cost recovery program, so I'm paid according to the hours I teach. I need to build up my studio as quickly as possible. We don't want to use up that truck settlement. We want to save as much of it as possible. It's nice to be home permanently. I'm 60 now, so it is really good to spend the last of my working years doing what I love to do – teaching and playing violin/viola. As soon as I reach a certain level of income in this program, I'll be eligible for SIU's excellent insurance benefits. I hope to be teaching through SIU for the next 10 years. Peggy is very excited about this program too. She may be able to work into a larger role. She is not a trained musician but is very gifted musically and sings beautifully, so now she is aiming to master the psaltery and get certified in Kindermusik so she can do some teaching in the program. She can be very tenacious to achieve her goals. We have gotten hooked on psaltery the past few years, and I consider it a nice intro-to-music instrument, that could lay groundwork for violin because both are bowed instruments. Many bow issues could be addressed and solved on psaltery before starting violin. And psaltery stands on its own as a folk instrument. My vision for that is to gather enough people to form a psaltery ensemble, at church and at the antique mall. The harmonies will be lovely.
We got home on Thursday from our adventure-on-ice-with-a-truck in Connecticut. We had taken a motel at the end of the day on Tuesday. Floyd had left that morning shortly after we called him. He was at our door Wednesday morning about 8:30 a.m. eastern time We drove to the towing company and loaded everything into Floyd's luxurious 2005 Ford Super Duty pick up truck. Almost everything fit into the truck bed, but computers, violin, pillows & blankets, etc. went into the back seat. The inside of this truck is just like a large car with a full sized back seat. This is a nice ride! Floyd arrived very tired. He didn't stop much on the way up - at least 18 hours of driving. We left Hartford around noon. We all took turns driving home, so we kept moving pretty continuously all the way to Goreville, except for stops at Denny's in PA, at Waffle House in Hubbard, OH – plus 3 fuel stops and a couple rest areas. Roads were clear most of the way until Illinois. Then we had good opportunity to click over to 4-wheel drive. We took a 50 mile detour up to Charleston, IL to drop off a pile of stuff at RexDon, the company we've been with the past 5 years. Now, sadly, we're finished with RexDon. Just north of Marion, IL as Floyd was driving, we saw a north bound pick up truck go into a sideways slide into the ditch, out of the way of the semis just behind him – no contact! We got to Floyd & Paula's house about 10 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 20 and spent a couple hours in front of the fire talking and resting. They have been a major blessing to us so many times, and they had good ideas for us as we chatted about what God might do next in our lives. Floyd was just then in a similar situation as we were – unemployed. The week before, he had sold his Peterbilt at a good price with intent to get a more practical, cheaper truck. He really loved the truck we wrecked, which we'd gotten from him about a year previous. That is the type he wanted next – a smaller Volvo autoshift. Since then he's bought a 1999 Kenworth, bigger than the Pete he just sold, because it was such a good deal. It was a pleasure to sit with them in their country style cozy house, formerly a great big barn. Floyd sent us home with his truck to unload our stuff. I am now spoiled by the 4-wheel drive. There are times in our neighborhood when 4WD is required to get out. We didn't even try our own car (Volvo S70) because we knew it wouldn't have gotten up that bad hill. Next day the roads were plowed and cindered. Thursday night we met F&P at Cowboy Church in Goreville. I joined the worship team on fiddle. Afterward we drove the cool 4WD Super Duty home, laid on the couch in front of the fire for awhile and finally went up to bed. Friday we returned the big Ford to Floyd and stayed for a meal and dominoes.
We won't be getting another truck. We were considering other trucking companies as company drivers, but have finally committed to staying home and finding work locally. I started teaching violin in a community development program through Southern IL University. On Sunday Jan 23, in church I thought of calling Paula Melton, whom I worked with 10 years ago at SIU, teaching violin. The only reason I left that program was money. I was stuck at a low income and couldn't keep up with bills. That's when we turned to trucking. We had visited with Paula about a year ago over lunch during a Paducah Symphony weekend. I remembered that conversation and how excited Paula was about the new direction this program had taken and how much she needed help. So I called her, and Peggy and I ended up at her house for about 5 hours that Sunday evening to see if this would work for us. We were pretty much drawn in and assured that this time I could actually make a living at it. Peggy is starting part-time work as Administrative Assistant to Paula, who has been the director of this program for 13 years. Peggy is also considering other employment, and so am I to fill in until my studio grows large enough. Life changes so fast. We already have gotten a settlement for the wrecked truck. We have to use some of that for awhile till our new income kicks in. The program I'm teaching in is a cost recovery program, so I'm paid according to the hours I teach. I need to build up my studio as quickly as possible. We don't want to use up that truck settlement. We want to save as much of it as possible. It's nice to be home permanently. I'm 60 now, so it is really good to spend the last of my working years doing what I love to do – teaching and playing violin/viola. As soon as I reach a certain level of income in this program, I'll be eligible for SIU's excellent insurance benefits. I hope to be teaching through SIU for the next 10 years. Peggy is very excited about this program too. She may be able to work into a larger role. She is not a trained musician but is very gifted musically and sings beautifully, so now she is aiming to master the psaltery and get certified in Kindermusik so she can do some teaching in the program. She can be very tenacious to achieve her goals. We have gotten hooked on psaltery the past few years, and I consider it a nice intro-to-music instrument, that could lay groundwork for violin because both are bowed instruments. Many bow issues could be addressed and solved on psaltery before starting violin. And psaltery stands on its own as a folk instrument. My vision for that is to gather enough people to form a psaltery ensemble, at church and at the antique mall. The harmonies will be lovely.
posted by Trucking Fiddler at 3:04 PM
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