The B12 (XII) Forum, home of the 'Front Porch, y'all' at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

yup

now he's the governor

I'd be happy he refused and not put me through it

if I was a voter in Nebraska

you're welcome

I wasn't even a Husker fan at the time (78), but many of my relatives from Omaha were.
I was rooting for the Sooners, just to annoy them

Even Barry has stated many times, the 78 team was his most talented

I will tell you that the split from my younger brother was one of the most painful things I've ever endured.  It really felt like I got stabbed in the chest, I was in the worst pain of my life for awhile.  After we settled up, I honestly didn't know what I wanted to do.  I'm at the point where I'm getting older, tired of the amount of physical labor needed to maintain my own business, and with my son going off to college I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to press forward.  I considered getting out of the business entirely, selling off my equipment, getting back my time, maybe buying a nice boat or something.  

Thankfully, I decided to do nothing.  I just laid low for a few months, we continued doing a little work here and there.  We ended up hiring a young man who is friends with my son, about two years younger, and he turned out to be a good employee and he can do most of the work that I was doing before.  I hired him in at about $12 per hour, and he was making $15 before he was 18 years old.  Don't get me wrong, there is a lot of things that he needs to improve on, and sometimes I find myself getting mad about things, but overall it's been a blessing.  And now my youngest son, who is 16, is helping, along with my oldest son who will be home this summer and will basically run the show while I'm at my day job (only part time at 40 hours per week :wink .  ).  

Already this year we've surpassed any other year, on track to maybe do 300% of what we did in any other year.  Which really isn't much, because working part time at a business you can only bring in so much revenue.  I'm hopeful that within two years we can do over $1MM in sales.  We're bringing in a piece of equipment this summer which will change the game for us, and we'll go from a limited capabilities outfit to a full service outfit.  I actually have 4 employees now, two young men who are barely 18, and my two sons, and I may add another before the summer is out.  

Meanwhile, I don't have much contact with either brother.  My younger brother tried to contact me a few times, but I basically kept it short and maybe not too sweet.  When my older brother was on "substances", he would not come to work.  He literally didn't come to work for years, at least 1-2 years.  Just laying up at home, doing stuff, staying out all night, and sleeping all day.  When we cut him off of the money (he was drawing between $3,000-5,000 per week out of the business, unbeknownst to my other brother), and spending it all on drugs.   To be more specific, spending it on crack or whatever it is now with vaping etc.  

We had to get a lawyer involved, and fire him from the business.  Long story short, my mom had to buy his home, he was going to lose it to the bank/ex wife.  I arranged it, but I had it put in her name.  When he didn't have access to the money, he tried to get back involved in the business.  My younger brother wouldn't stop him, and slowly he wormed his way back in and then when we went to finalize the new business I guess he conned the YB that he was changed or whatever.  I told my YB that I refused to ever be in business with the OB.  So that ended our business relationship and our personal relationship.  

Well, I go by his house often, and guess what, he's home a lot during the day.  During work hours.  9-11 in the morning, 12 PM, 2-3 PM.  He's home.  I hear from their employees (they still call me, several have asked me for a job) that he doesn't work, barely shows up, etc.  So I feel somewhat vindicated that I was doing the right thing.  And I'm glad that we are doing well in our business, but if I'm honest 2022 was one of the worst years of my life, and I'm not sure if I'll ever have any sort of a relationship with my YB ever again, which sucks because my boys adored him.  Heck, they even liked my OB, who at times can be personable and a good guy even with all his problems.  But he's got a bi-polar thingy, where one day he's the best guy ever, and the next he's the dark supervillan.  

Rough situation all around ...