Tag Archives: disappointment

animals, life, people, relationships, The Vees Big Adventure, travel

Difficult decisions, difficult times

The Vees Big Adventure is up in the air, free-falling, and we are devastated.

Due to circumstances beyond our control and unscrupulous RV dealers, the costs to repair the RV properly (despite us being told by the salesman AND the technician that it had a FULL check out and some “brand new” bits and pieces) are piling up at an alarming rate. The repairs could cost almost as much as the RV. The RV dealership basically told us to take a hike and read the documentation. Husband is reeling. We’re both reeling. Our savings is pretty much gone at this stage and we’re faced with some very difficult decisions.

I’m still struggling to find work, despite my certifications and practical experience. I’ve applied to more than 50 jobs and written at least 12 different entrance tests and been told: “we’ll get back to you.” The movers come to pack up our household goods tomorrow morning and remove it all the next day. We have to vacate the house within the week after that. Dogs still have to go to the vet for their annual checkups and vaccinations (always an expensive visit for all three). We still have to buy some things we really NEED for the RV in order for us to live in it and WORK in it, and these are NOT cheap.

We have nowhere to stay, no income, and no means of transporting the dogs and us across the country. The Jeep was going to be towed behind the RV because it still needs some work and we were going to do that in New Mexico, before heading to Oregon – we don’t know if it would make the trip being driven.

Husband has crunched numbers and no matter how he slices it we come out of it incredibly badly. Our hearts are broken.

This was going to be our big adventure – everything seemed so bright, so inviting, so promising. Husband could finally work on himself, instead of being at the whim of the military; I was going to finally be the breadwinner for a while and take some weight off his shoulders – I was looking FORWARD to it!

Everything just feels so soiled and broken thanks to these dishonest asshats at the dealership. Our dreams are crushed. There’s no more excitement, only a vague desperation to everything we now decide.

I take people at face value, and I’m the one who dealt with them right up until the day we drove the 4.5 hours to go fetch our Brave. We were SO excited. I give people the benefit of the doubt, always, and that’s my downfall, apparently. I treat people honestly, and I’m clearly under the misguided assumption that people would do the same for me. I am so wrong. I will never again trust anyone who has any kind of sway in my life when it comes to these kinds of things. My heart is crushed. I am so disappointed it makes my throat ache. I feel so responsible for the whole mess, which makes me feel quite sick.

I’m also angry. Seething, fuming, red-eyed, silent raging angry. (Unfortunately, when I get really angry I also tend to cry, which makes people take me less seriously and think I’m weak and pathetic. It’s infuriating.)

We have to get the RV repaired either way – whether we decide to try living in it and traveling up to Oregon and even if we want to sell it. So we’re screwed either way.

I’ve never been in such a hole of despair before. I’ve had moments close to it, but nothing like this where there’s just NO decision that leads to some sort of head-above-water for us both.

 

UNIVERSE, I NEED TO GET SOME WORK!

I don’t have to earn much for us to get by, but I have to get SOMETHING!

*Shakes fist*

 

*deep breath*

 

So, that’s our unfortunate tale – not even on the road yet and our adventure has hit major bumps and our lust for adventure is severely tarnished.

 

 

food, life

Don’t believe the hype

Generally, I don’t believe the hype when it comes to “miracle pills” that will change your life and you don’t have to do ANYTHING. I feel that you have to work at everything – especially when it comes to weight loss and your health.

sweat is fat crying

Through my blogging connections, I got offered a “chance” to try the latest “miracle” weight loss tablet taking the world by storm. According to the ever-commercial Dr. Oz, this new plant is the BEST EVER and he is “thrilled” to endorse it “to the max” and all that usual hype.

I thought, why not. Who knows,
this time it might actually do something. It was supposedly all “natural” and the tablets I have also had added chromium to support blood sugar levels as well. Not that I have an issue with that, but it couldn’t hurt. I have tried a few types of plant based weight loss products before, and in every single case I had zero positive results. Mostly, nothing negative, but definitely nothing positive and definitely NO results as hyped in the commercials. I go into everything like this with a healthy dose of skepticism.

forskolin plus+
Don’t believe the hype! Forskolin Plus + with chromium from Naturewise

So, I received my bottle of Naturewise Forskolin Plus+ with added Chromium with a little bit of trepidation, but with a small measure of hopeful anticipation. I didn’t need to lose much weight – just a few pounds to get to my goal – so I thought perhaps this could help me overcome that last little plateau that I had been fighting with for months, as it was hyped to the point of “You could lose up to 30 lbs in one month!” and other wild claims backed up with before and after photos.  As per usual, right?

So I measured myself, and took my initial weight and the next day I began with a half dosage – I tend to be very wary when I begin a regimen like this. Yes, half dose probably wasn’t going to do much, but I’d read of people who dropped to a half dose after initially doing the full dose, and they had majorly good results. I tried this for a week. Nothing happened. I fluctuated as per normal… 1 pound up, 2 pounds down, 1 pound up again, 2 pounds up. Same old, same old. I did, if I think about it, notice that I wasn’t as “snacky” as I was before. There was some measure of control of my appetite and cravings. After a week of nothing happening, I decided to try the full dosage.

Bad move. Not only did I GAIN weight (and I changed NOTHING – my diet, my portions, my exercise levels) I also became heavily bloated, and had a terribly upset stomach for the 5 days that I have been on the full dose. I tried to match these symptoms with other variables… but nothing was as constant in my daily diet as these tablets that I was now taking “as suggested” by the manufacturers.

I’ve gained over 5 pounds and I am now as heavy as I was 2 months ago, before I even started fighting with these “last few pounds” that I was so hopeful the forskolin would help me to get rid of.

So, I’ve stopped taking it. This morning I awoke with such painful stomach cramps that I knew that it was just not working for me. I have a tough-as-nails system, generally, and I can get away with just about anything, but clearly this little plant (related to mint – which doesn’t normally upset my innards in any way) is way too much for me.

I am disappointed, to say the least – BUT, not surprised, being the pessimist that I am.

Lesson learned. Don’t believe the hype.

Back to hard work and portion control and a little bit of will power. If the Georgia weather would just play along, I will even start running again.

 

And wow, just had some major deja vu typing this post!