[TheForge] new year to get on with living (long)

[terry l. ridder]

hello;

at the stroke of midnight jan 6th 2009, legal nightmare 1, the 12+yr
legal nightmare came to an end. no more court hearing no more appeals no
more delays. the settlement agreement was worked out before christmas
and now that the 30 days has passed since the last court ruling that
settlement agreement goes into effect by default. it in many ways seems
surreal that both legal nightmares have come to their respective ends.
i had been making plans for this day but part of me honestly never
thought it would occur. what is sad that i am the same disabled, broken,
and damaged person that i was one month ago. suddenly people will talk
with me and listen to what i am attempting to accomplish now that my
name is backed by a sizeable amount of usds. with the end of the legal
nightmares comes serious responsibilities. i am going to try and do my
small part to help those who also find themself disabled, broken, and
damaged and just need a break and a helping hand.

i have not gone over board on wild shopping sprees. i have purchased a
few items. a kubota bx2360 3 cylinder diesel engine tractor with
front-end loader, 60 inch mower, and 48 inch cat 1 3-point hitch tiller.

that takes care of the snow, lawn, and garden work.
i have purchased an enclosed 12 ft x 6 ft trailer with ramp and
side-door. it was onsale at blain's farm & fleet. that takes care of
moving the adult children back home again and back out of the nest when
they are ready once again.

the big purchases are yet to come. i am currently talking with several
ship dealers. so far i have tendered offers on 2 out of 3 ships. since
no one would hire me for any meaningful work i decided to create my own
job.

the first ship is located in canada, it needs a paint job and some
engine work but she is sound and seaworthy.  the minesweeper is located
in sweden, and the mother ship in new zealand.

For Sale: 46.45M work vessel 
http://commercial.apolloduck.com/feature.phtml?id=84250

For Sale: Mine sweeper
http://commercial.apolloduck.com/feature.phtml?id=97330

For Sale: Mother ship, Standby Vessel
http://commercial.apolloduck.com/feature.phtml?id=87001

basically, search and recovery. the first jobs are all ready lined up.
search the waters around the solomon islands for a wwii usn submarine
that was sunk in 1943 and a wwii usn destroyer. after that there is a
vessel off of nome alaska that several non-profits would like to raise
and place in a museum.

the mine sweeper will be doing duty recovering sunken old growth logs in
the great lakes for 6 months out of the year.

i am still working on finding a home port for the ships. since the state
of illinois is so corrupt i will not be bringing the ships into state of
illinois waters. the port of chicago is controlled by gangs, unions, and
the mob. the canadians are offering a nice package to home port the
ships in windsor ontario canada.

on the blacksmithing and metalworking front the lawyers are busy
figuring out setting up a trust/foundation that will provide educational
opportunities to disabled and financially disadvantaged people who have
the aptitude for blacksmithing and metalworking and the arts and just
need a break and a helping hand. the basic outline at the moment is to
look a what is offered locally at the community college , continuing
adult education programs, and local known blacksmiths, metalworkers,
and industrial artists. 4-yr colleges/universities and trade schools
will be looked at next. the folk schools like john campbell will also be
considered. i am writing the part which covers 'non-paid work
experience'. this is where a known blacksmith, metalworker, industrial
artist agrees to take on a student for a period of time. the student
will receive a stipend from the foundation and the instructor will
receive an agreed amount for each student. the student will be coached
in to dealing with a normal work schedule to find a working arrangement
that takes into account the disability/disabilities of the student.
basically, the entire purpose of the foundation/trust is to give the
disabled and financial disadvantaged the helping hand and breaks that
they need to get on with living. there will be medical support and
counselling support for those provided the help. all this needs to be
done in such a way so that the person does not face a tax liability for
the help given to them. this is not going to happen overnight. i am
still working with the lawyers and accountants on just how to accomplish
what i want to accomplish with the least amount of liability and red
tape.

i see opportunities for the disabled students to be part of the crews on
the ships providing necessary skills to make the tasks at hand but also
to learn and experience life in a way they may never thought possible.

i am currently looking at putting together a crew to fetch the
minesweeper from sweden and bring her back to florida via the southern
route, basically follow columbus' 1492 voyage route.

the trawler will be moving to a ship yard in either wilmington, north
carolina or charleston, south carolina. suggestions for a paint job
that is subject to ocean salt air would be very welcomed.

anyway, things are being to happen here. time to get on with living.
cannot make up the lost 12+ yrs  but i can try to live a life with
purpose from here on out.


-- 
terry l. ridder ><>