| [GMCnet] Wish everyone a Happy New Year. ( Got to be better than 2020 ) [message #361283] |
Thu, 31 December 2020 01:02  |
BobDunahugh
Messages: 2465
Registered: October 2010
Location: Cedar Rapids, IA
Karma:
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Senior Member |
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For most, our GMC travels got shortened. Lost dear friends, and family members due to Covid. Now above 340,000 have died.
To top things off for us. The Midwest got hit with an extreme Derecho on August 9th. And what's that you might ask? It's a storm of very high straight-line winds for an extended period of time. 50 minutes for us. That's not hurricane related. This one was around 50 miles wide and went for 717 miles, Nebraska to Indiana with Cedar Rapids Iowa getting hit with the highest sustained winds of the entire storm, 147mph. GMCMI members Dave and Karen Roberts and our house being in the highest wind gust area of around 160 mph. A nuclear power plant near both our homes had both of their cooling towers come down. Train cars were tipped off the tracks about 5 miles away. Large heating/cooling units came flying off of large/tall buildings. And blocked most of the streets downtown. Just the trees that got destroyed in the Cedar Rapids area would fill the Rose Bowl 16 times. FEMA had 1324 self-loading trucks here (still here) that can hold 100 cubic yards of material each. (9 got loaded at our house alone.) I was extremely impressed with the work that they do. We ended up with about $90,000 in damages. Dave, Karen, Linda, and myself got extremely lucky. As both of our GMCs were inside each of their respective garages - untouched. And we could stay in our homes. I've got a Bobcat loader and my dump truck. Spent almost 3 months helping other home owners that just didn't have the funds for their cleanup. I got paid well with seeing the stress of it all leaving their faces. That was my pay along with some great food. ( Will work for food? )
Then there were the fires out West. We had our first 78 Royale burn 5 years ago. We were devastated. But to have your home of many year plus the deaths that were fire related - ALL your belongings lost. I just can't imagine that. Never. For us closure was simple. Got dealt lemons - made lemonade. Why? Because I could. And we ended up with the GMC that Linda had dreamed of.
The hurricanes along the coast. Again - The personal loss.
Then the anger in the streets, and in relationships during the last 3 years. All these things bring stress to the entire country. If you were lucky enough to have missed these types of tragedies, be thankful. Oprah Winfrey came up with her "Do random acts of kindness to people that you don't know - or do know. Love that. The Aldi stores have flowers for $3.99 a bunch. I bring some home for Linda at times. Helps to make up for all my bad deeds. Any acts of kindness will bring a little joy to your day and others. If you're at a stop light and someone needs to exit a parking lot - let them out. We need more kindness nationwide. If someone wants to argue and continues after your attempts to smooth things out remember that we all have the right to our opinions. We must be respectful of those that disagree. But, when all attempts to make peace fail. Tell them "Have a great day” and walk away. As arguing solves ZERO. Clubs in real time or on line, of any type, are dependent on good PR among its leadership and its members. Clubs must have people. People don't need clubs.
I'm an optimistic person by nature. I can't comprehend the point of being a pessimist. Because if you look for the down side of life. You'll just put yourself there along with others around you.
May the winds be at your back. Tires stay round, and your tank be full. Make the best of the hand that you get dealt this coming year and make it the best year that you can.
Bob Dunahugh
78 Royale since 2003.
4 COPO Yenkos that I enjoy road racing a lot. My true passion.
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