Long Time No See

Hello everyone.
Well, it has been a very long time since I posted anything. Seems I just got started and then took a very long sabbatical. The fact is, I have had lots on my plate and much to say, but no time to say it OR I didn't know how to say it.

It all started in September, when for the first time in many years, I was doing manual labor for a friend while renovating his new home. He really needed some professional help because he is no handy-man. So I opened my big mouth and found myself doing work I hadn't done in the better part of 20 years. As a side note .. it appears I haven't lost my golden touch.

Before I was done working for him, my daughter who is and was then pregnant and was going through some high-risk difficulties with the pregnancy, couldn't look after the new puppy she had but she was hard pressed to part with it. So I go nominated as new adoptee for this dog. It was a 6 month old, female Jack Russell Terrier with tons of energy but also a puppy bladder. This resulted in minimum 8 walks per day when prior to the renovations, I hadn't walked more than 2 blocks in several years. I should mention, that I am financially subsidized with a Disability Pension due to a Back Injury many years ago. I deal with constant pain which has continued to worsen, although the addition of 60 (or so) extra pounds doesn't help either.

So anyway, now that I have had the dog for several months, I have lost approximately 35 pounds which while I am still in constant and possibly even more severe pain, I am now in much better physical shape and now on the 5th belt notch instead of the first.

To top it all off, I like millions of others, suffered through a horrendous economic meltdown, thanks to the Greedy Bankers, Stock Traders and Corporate Insurance companies. As such, I had to close my business of 20 years in October of '09. This left me a bit speechless or otherwise in a state during which no one would have wanted to hear my words. ... or at least not the words I chose to use !!!

Anyway, it's business as usual .. at least in a sense. I have always been resourceful, especially through times like these. As such, I have been working on a new business venture relating to 3D Modeling for other businesses. I am still working on my portfolio (as can be seen in the Google 3D Warehouse) and the Google "Model Your Town" competition as well as developing a new business name, new business plan, a couple Google Earth Tours for promotional purposes AND a new domain name (which will soon to be publicly released). I hope to succeed with this in both the short and long terms, although now that Street View has come online in my area, it is going to be that much more difficult because people can model without ever having to be in those/these areas.
BTW: Here are a couple links to my models in the 3DWH.
Note: I will post my new website link once I have finished preparing it and with the new domain name.
SnowTiger's Models

Madoc in 3D

Welcome to Belleville

Anyway, times have been tough and remain tough for now, but I am working hard to overcome the worst of it and hope to come back more often to let everyone know how things are going with regular updates. In the meantime, I wish the very best to everyone during these times, with confidence that all those that try hard, will end up back in the saddle sooner rather than later.

Until next time ... !!