A weekend adventure and a healing heart

[editor’s note : this share is ridiculously long so the bullet points are : This weekend I got a new truck to replace the one I totaled while driving drunk. At the same time, I took my Mom to the Grand Canyon and now I think life is magical. The End]

So, I got to put a little piece of my life back together this weekend and I thought I’d share it with all of you.
As some of you might remember, at the end of last October, I drove drunk and totalled my prize possession, my truck. The loss was devastating because the truck is absolutely essential to my work as well as my wife’s business. On top of that, it was highly modified and customized, practically a show truck; the nicest thing I’ve ever owned.
I realize now that I had WAY TOO MUCH of my sense of self wrapped up in that truck. I made that truck a part of my ego and that’s simply not healthy. It still hurts, when I think about it. I can’t believe I did that.
But ultimately, it might have been the best thing that ever happen to me. I’m sober now and I don’t have this giant expensive object telling me I’m great all the time. I can assure you, I wasn’t great.
The whole experience reminds me so much of the Tyler Durden speech :
“You’re not your job. You’re not how much money you have in the bank. You’re not the car you drive. You’re not the contents of your wallet. You’re not your f***ing khakis. You’re the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.”
Anyway, back to the story.
For the first 6 weeks after, I didn’t know what was gonna happen with my insurance. They took a really long time to do anything for me and I was on pins and needles, terrified that they would deny me coverage and I would have to continue to make payments on a truck I didn’t even have.
Thankfully, my HP saw fit to make sure that didn’t happen. My insurance covered what I owed on it and I was free to start the heart wrenching process of looking for a new truck. I knew that whatever I got wouldn’t be even half as “wow” as the last one, but maybe overtime I could slowly build it back up.
I felt pressure to get something immediately, because I was seeing really nice ones for sale that were right around my spending limit. One of them was actually 6k below market value, which was way below my limit! I was torn. Do I get a newer, lifted, almost-as-good CL, and blow all my cash, or do I temper myself and get something modest and simple and save some dough? My better half talked some sense into me [like they do] and had me wait until we were back from our holiday travels. I felt certain that all of those trucks would be gone when we returned, but I was willing to let them go and be at peace with whatever happened.
ENTER MY HIGHER POWER :
When we got back and I was finally ready to get after it again there were basically 4 options.
A) An expensive, newer truck with everything I wanted.
B) An expensive, stylish, not so new lifted one that was only 68 miles from home
C) A market value stock truck 65 miles in the other direction
D) That suspiciously low priced truck that I saw before the trip, 25 miles away in Arizona.
Option A) wound up getting taken apart by the dealership, so when I tried get it, all of the features I liked about it were stripped off the truck (yet the price remained high) :thinking:
Option B was more or less on the way to Option D) so I decided to start there, hoping to negotiate a fair price. (they were way over). Mom came and got me and we hit the road. I was so sure I could make a deal. Of course, when we got there the truck was not as nice as it looked in the pictures and, on top of that, the sales manager wouldn’t budge on the price AT ALL! WTF?
So now I’m like, “Great, I gotta drag my mom 3-1/2 hours to the middle of the desert to look at a stock truck with a suspiciously low sticker price. This makes sense”. We got lunch and I got to thinking, if we’re gonna go out there, I’m gonna show my mom The Grand Canyon. That way, if the truck is shit, we still got a kickass road trip out of it. I booked us a lodge for that night, we finished our fries and got back on the road.
We get there and right away, I really like the staff. It’s a very small dealership and the owner and his staff are amazingly cool. What’s even better is the truck is legit, clean history, clean title, clean everything. After lots of laughs, tire kicking, a few vehicle history reports and a test drive, I get the truck, for $7,000 below market value. It turns out the dealer bought it on the fly at a vehicle auction and, for reasons only God knows, it hadn’t sold. So he just kept lowering the price. Now, not only do I have a great, super reliable truck, i also have just enough money for the extras we need. (shell, running boards, bed slide etc)
HOW IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE!? :flushed:
Happy as hell, my mom and I spent the night and our Sunday at the GC national park. The beauty of this whole experience cannot be put into words. I feel almost whole again. A crucial piece of my life puzzle has fallen into place and we are one step closer to being back on track, this time with the added value of sober health. Life never ceases to amaze me. My faith in a higher power is unshakeable and I just feel so goddamned fortunate every day.
I hope life offers you the same peace and for fortune. If I deserve it, you certainly do too.
:blush::heart::+1:

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Wahey MrCade!!
Well done, as they say, good things come to those that wait!

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Thanks for the cliff notes but I enjoyed the read as well lol I am so happy you have seemed to find your footing again after your long trip over the holidays. Awesome truck and super cute picture with your mom, you should frame that.

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Hey he’s back!!!

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Oi!
How have you been doing @anon12657779

Pretty good thanks! Truck looks cool. Love to know what the other one looked like if you say it was tricked up.
Been lurking in here and getting on with life sober!

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@anon12657779. Yeah matey, I’ve been more lurky lately too. Kinda introverted.

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I’m sensing an affinity for black… :black_heart:

Who, me?

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I’m going to take a stab that your profession is either vampire hunter or a wheel man for for the yakuza (either would explain the need for a tricked out truck).

Nice!!!
@Mtrav0040. He’s got a little red polka dot key fob just to break it up a bit​:joy::joy::joy::joy::joy:

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My job’s not quite as cool as that, but it’s pretty damn close. I’m a Special Effects Technician.
That truck allowed me to take heavy equipment and hoses anywhere we needed it.
Lately, I’ve just been working on kids shows, so there’s been no need for the lift. I think I’m keep this new truck pretty close to stock.

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That sounds like a really interesting job. Also, I’m really curious why one would need a truck full of hoses at the ready. I’m guessing to spray fake blood or gasoline…

I could see how one would need less of that stuff dealing in kids shows. Although a well timed explosion might make learning more fun.

Post of the day, dude! Thank you for sharing this story with us. You made me start my day with all the warm fuzzies.:hugs:

Nice!
I always feel like I’m being totally self - obsessed when I share my stories. I’m glad someone we enjoyed it.

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