Gonzo
Well-Known Member
I can see why people who have met you don't have a lot of nice things to say about you. My guess is I_money makes or will in a few years make more money then you ever did.
Bankruptcy from the most expensive helicopter ride ever!
- Thread starter TexasFlyer
- Start date
z987k
Well-Known Member
yeah I was pretty sure that was the case given the injuries. Helmets are a must unless someone has a death wish, then a jacket, gloves pants and proper riding boots if you don't wan't to deal with the bodily injury. I guarantee a $150 pair of proper riding boots would have saved your foot. You could drive a truck over my boots.
When I go out, I have about $400 worth of clothing on, to prevent just this. I've slid many many motorcycles(not on purpose), especially DS's and I've never once not gotten up and rode away.
Anyways, hopefully when you get back on the bike next time you are properly dressed and this won't happen again the same way.
I_Money
Moderator
TexasFlyer your story and mine are not too dissimilar - I graduated university with honors at age 19, worked in finance for a year earned what seemed like bucket loads of money before taking a rather extravagant vacation (6 months playing polo in Australia). When I arrived back I worked for an investment bank doing M&As earning fairly good money - I owned a string of polo ponies, played polo, flew over to England every year to go fox hunting for a weekend, had a personal shopper at Nieman Marcus where I spent a $800 on a Prada jacket, or $450 on a pair of Gucci shoes - typically what I think many would classify as extravagant. I decided I wanted to work in the medical field, went off to an Ivy League school to get my medical school pre-reqs. It was a little over 6 months of volunteering I decided what I really want to do is become a nurse - nothing particularly prestigious, nor glamorous many would say it was a step down from my previous career or where I was going - but it is what I wanted to do.
Now I am 10 months away from graduating nursing school - so you could say our career changes were similar. The difference is I sold every single one of my 'luxury' items, I own 0 horses, drive a bog standard card with no whistles or balls, I haven't bought designer clothes in 5 years, my clothes much like your came from WalMart or Kohls. The couch I am sitting on I won in a contest, the dining room table was on special offer at Target for $60 (open box baby). When it is time to buy school books I scour my apartment to find things to sell on ebay - once I couldn't afford a school book and goggled subjects and read what I found online - luckily the class wasn't too difficult.
I will move to a studio apartment, take a year off school and postpone my dream, drive an older car, sell the clothes of my back but my family will never go without - food, shelter, safe tires on their car, and health insurance. I would have loved to have kept one my of horses (I still plan on getting her back one day
), drive a car with more bells and whistles, or even worry about money less - but none of those are as important as if my wife or I get sick we are prepared.
I doubt we will meet in the cockpit - but if you continue to ride without a helmet we could well meet in the ICU. More than likely the conversation will be rather one sided, but we will be holding hands - as I ask you to squeeze mine!
I still think you have your priorities wildly mixed up and nothing you have said points to someone who can't afford insurance but would rather have toys! What you don't realize is that medical bills are highly negotiable - I would call up each one of these companies and ask to sit down and discuss options with them - you will likely get medicaid rates instantly. This will mean your helicopter bill will be something like $3000 for lift off, then $16 per mile, making your total $4300. Being smart you could easily walk away with this for $70,000 paid over 10 years. The companies will be happy to get some money, you will be doing something more honorable than your current plans, and your credit will not suffer.
Now I am 10 months away from graduating nursing school - so you could say our career changes were similar. The difference is I sold every single one of my 'luxury' items, I own 0 horses, drive a bog standard card with no whistles or balls, I haven't bought designer clothes in 5 years, my clothes much like your came from WalMart or Kohls. The couch I am sitting on I won in a contest, the dining room table was on special offer at Target for $60 (open box baby). When it is time to buy school books I scour my apartment to find things to sell on ebay - once I couldn't afford a school book and goggled subjects and read what I found online - luckily the class wasn't too difficult.
I will move to a studio apartment, take a year off school and postpone my dream, drive an older car, sell the clothes of my back but my family will never go without - food, shelter, safe tires on their car, and health insurance. I would have loved to have kept one my of horses (I still plan on getting her back one day
), drive a car with more bells and whistles, or even worry about money less - but none of those are as important as if my wife or I get sick we are prepared. I doubt we will meet in the cockpit - but if you continue to ride without a helmet we could well meet in the ICU. More than likely the conversation will be rather one sided, but we will be holding hands - as I ask you to squeeze mine!
I still think you have your priorities wildly mixed up and nothing you have said points to someone who can't afford insurance but would rather have toys! What you don't realize is that medical bills are highly negotiable - I would call up each one of these companies and ask to sit down and discuss options with them - you will likely get medicaid rates instantly. This will mean your helicopter bill will be something like $3000 for lift off, then $16 per mile, making your total $4300. Being smart you could easily walk away with this for $70,000 paid over 10 years. The companies will be happy to get some money, you will be doing something more honorable than your current plans, and your credit will not suffer.
TexasFlyer
Living the Dream (well at least trying to)
I had a pair of $120 Harley riding boots on, but the problem is that they were really old. I probably bought them back around 2005 or 2006 and wore them most every ride for all those years. So the toes and heels were worn very bad and the leather real beat up all around. So while when new these boots were probably proper. With all the miles and wear on those boots, they were well overdue to be replaced.
So that is a good point. Have proper gear. But also be sure the proper gear is in good condition or they may just shred apart like mine did. And that there is new wisdom for me. I never even thought about the condition of my boots!
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Oh, and for the guy who thinks everyone hates me...lol. Years ago that would be true. I was a shrewed business man. That made people love me in some areas, but the majority of people disliked me. Just like most executives. We are unfortunately more disliked than liked in many cases. Although those close to us love us. But again, this is years ago.
People change when their life changes drastically. And when I left that old career, it also shaped my friendships and bonded new ones. A lot of stress lifted from me and my eyes opened to my surrounding a lot more. And most of my friends from those old business days are no longer my friends because I myself can not stand them!!! Yet I was one of them years ago.
So if you knew me in person three or more years ago, I understand where you are coming from. But if you met me during my flying career, you are certainly in the minority of people. And that comment comes from my personal experience.
If you ask any one student of mine in the last year, you would learn a story of people who absolutely care for me and love me. As matter of fact, many of my recent students have come by and continue to stop by weekly. We all care for one another very much. And I know this for two reasons. One is their actions. They come and see me when I tell them do not have to. And a few call me daily! And many over the last year have even said the words I am one of the best people they have ever met, and they thank me.
If it was not for me being such a jerk in my past business life, I may not be such a good person to these people and most everyone else in my current life. And I truly believe that because I learned that people and your relationship with them are most important, then all else after that. I would have said hogwash to that theory years ago as a businessman since people were only used for networking and nothing else back then. Notice, the word used there. See, now networking is just a natural thing as it comes with friendship and simply helping others achieve their dreams. Through that, you will ultimately achieve yours.
And this is exactly why I stick with aviation in general. In general, pilots and people who love aviation and work in it understand the challenges and have great respect for others. We are like one big family. And those who do not understand that, will ultimately be forced to wash out of the family.
So please don't take comments out of context of the whole. Sometimes it's hard to express complex ideas in writing. So you have to write many sentences to shape one complete idea. If some sentences come out of the total context, you end up missing the overall theme. So be sure you read beyond the beginning of the post and get to the meat of the story and the ending where friendship is offered with an appreciation for the post I responded to (whether I agree or disagree with what is being said). And I try to do it in good humor as well, although in writing that can backfire on you as well.
And yes, I also said I made more because I know there is a 99% change I did. I never met a pilot in modern times who plans on making over $20k a month in current dollars anytime in the near future (maybe if ever!). It was not stated with bitterness. It was stated in the context of a total post on how I may have acquired and decided to keep such a bike. And as to why I kept such a bike and other things like a house, that took some history on where I came from and what I became.
And yes I have met many people who are bitter toward people who have a lot of money (I meet them daily in my neighborhood since my house is actually in a lower class neighborhood where sometimes I see people frown at others just because they see someone drive by in a BMW or such). And I just tell those people, no one should be damned for what they earned; only for what they stole. Did they steal it or earn it? So in no way did I mean to sound as if the poster is one of these people who truly would be angry at me for owning a machine such as that bike. It was just the way I write to express myself. So my apology to anyone who may be offended if I sounded like an idiot when that was not the direct intention.
After all, life is only about one thing. Relationships you make. So keep them honest. And keep them good. I wish I can say keep them close, but that is tough to do. But at least try to keep them close. And while you can not befriend everyone, you can still respect everyone.
Oh yeah. And thanks for the comment too. I hope to meet you sometime as well in an airport to chat about something a little more fun. Or even debate the meaning of life. And if you knew me from years ago, you probably made that comment out of your own experience with me. And for that I am sorry
TexasFlyer
Living the Dream (well at least trying to)
Wow. Very cool past life. And Merger and Acquisitions I can imagine would be quite exciting at such a young age (I assume that is what that means in the banking world as well). I was a CPA in my first career before it grew into a recruiting/ business consulting business. And the travel and things you did make for great memories and stories of a prior life you had. Oh, and I was no where near 19 when I finished college.
So I love your story! It is a little more similar to mine than you may think. And yes, our career changes are similar too. So while a bit different, we do have a correlation there.
One thing I do see, is your knowledge of health insurance. You through school and/or your current experience has shown a daily need to never be without it. A lesson I did not see until now. And if you do look at the first post, I open it with the 'it would never happen to me' attitude. Bad mistake indeed. Now I did not ever say those words. I just thought since I never used my health insurance in all the years I had it, history told me I can cut it for a few years and be okay. Heck, I only been to a doctor maybe 3 times in my whole adult life! So cutting it out was no big deal to me at the time. And yes, that was the wrong decision. I know now, I would beg or borrow for at least a major coverage plan. And so here I am learning a new lesson the hard way.
I am glad you shared this with me (and I should say us since this is a public forum). And I hope if we do meet, it is not us holding hands in a one sided conversation!!! I hope it is over a drink with you asking how I ultimately pulled through or are dealing with the accident I had XXX years ago. And I hope I have a great story to tell of how life is back on track thanks in part to advice I have received from you and others. And I get to hear how you also are having success in your career and life.
I still have medical bills coming in weekly from all kinds of stuff. My main surgeon who did the skin graft still has not billed me. Not has some of the other doctors who I expect bills from.
BK is a strong reality, but it is also a very last step. Before I get there, I will take your advise though for sure. I will call every bill I have from my student loan to all the hospital bill and helicopter, etc. I will make it known the situation and that BK is a possibility if I can not come to some reasonable terms with everyone in the short term and in the long term.
No one wants BK since then everyone from the medical folks to me come out at a major loss. And if things like the helicopter come down to $4k and the hospital works with me on that $56k and the surgeons and doctors are willing to reduce to a reasonable rate, I will be more than happy to work hard or even take on a second job to pay these people. I can fly all day and wait tables all night if that's what it takes. And my waiter money can go to the medical folks. It may be a drop in the bucket, but it will be much more than they would get otherwise. And all the hard work will remind me daily of why insurance is important. And of course that second job would pay that premium as well!!!
That would make me feel good. After all, all those people did a great job in helping me back to health so far and they still do. And they knew from the first hour I did not have insurance since I was asked and I said no. All these people deserve something if we can come to reasonable terms.
I am certain this will take many months to work through, but you have my word that I will do this.
If I can get the $300k to $500k of bills down to reasonable (from what I see I think it will be closer to the top end of that estimate since they keep on coming and every one seems to be larger than the previous one!). I am thinking reasonable is $30k to $50k total bills based on what my income is and will be for the long term. That will hurt, but with that I can see light at the end of the tunnel. Even that may take 20 or 30 years before I pay that all off. And it will mean I may never get to ride that nice of a bike again since these people get to be paid before I would ever get another bike of that caliber. But it is the best thing to do and right thing to do if possible.
So if they are willing and have the patience, I have the fortitude to get through this in the most honorable way possible. And that is paying more than a life of insurance premiums for this injury. But not enough to break me into BK. And then being certain I carry insurance from here on out since this can never be repeated.
So thanks for the advice. Thanks for reading my rambling statements. And thanks for sharing part of your story as well.
Hootie
Old Skool
Don't sweat it man. 95% of all airlines have been through a bankruptcy...who are they to judge you. Life happens...but I do remember getting ultra high deductable ins when I was a CFI for like 30-35 a month, just throwing that out there for the CFI's reading this who are currently skipping this.
FlyGuy9k4
Old Skool
HAHAHAHAHAHA- well played! That would be the best answer to give in an interview..
So Mr. "Smith", I see that you were bankrupt a few years ago. How is that going to affect your performance at this company?
Well Mr. "Regional/Major" I see that you were bankrupt a few years ago as well. How did that affect you? lol
I_Money
Moderator
TexasFlyer - I commend you for replying to my rather rough initial post and subsequent posts which were not much better. You hit the nail on the head when you pointed out my experiences make me understand how we are all so vulnerable and the importance of health insurance. I think you will be surprised how responsive the companies will be if you call them, I know a doctor who accept $950 as payment in full from a family whose son was shot 19 times, had multiple surgeries, etc. As much as I think you should have health insurance I do not think for a second you should pay anything more medicaid (the lowest reimbursement rate) - what they billed you is 5-7 times higher than that, which is terrible IMHO!
I think you offering to make the gesture of waiting tables at nights and forwarding that money to them is fantastic and if they choose not to accept it - then screw em I say.
I think you offering to make the gesture of waiting tables at nights and forwarding that money to them is fantastic and if they choose not to accept it - then screw em I say.
HeyEng
Well-Known Member
Good discussion fellas...it's nice to see that people here can actually discuss their opinions without throwing mud at each other.
But TF...no helmet? In San Antonio?!? You are freakin' whacky man. I ride around in a full size truck and STILL worry about someone trying to take me out. But on a bike, with NO HELMET? Do you not watch the news here? Now I know why my property taxes here in Bexar County are so freakin' high!!! (University Health System too, of course).
Seriously though...since we are in the same town, if you ever need anything, let me know. Even if it's just me cruising over with a 12 pack of PBR then so be it...
Oh yeah...you might update your income amount on MySpace...looks a bit outdated...well, unless of course you have been making "special flights" to and form Mexico...
But TF...no helmet? In San Antonio?!? You are freakin' whacky man. I ride around in a full size truck and STILL worry about someone trying to take me out. But on a bike, with NO HELMET? Do you not watch the news here? Now I know why my property taxes here in Bexar County are so freakin' high!!! (University Health System too, of course).
Seriously though...since we are in the same town, if you ever need anything, let me know. Even if it's just me cruising over with a 12 pack of PBR then so be it...
Oh yeah...you might update your income amount on MySpace...looks a bit outdated...well, unless of course you have been making "special flights" to and form Mexico...
It might be appropriate to ask you to read that paragraph again, but this time substitute "didn't wear a helmet" for "didn't have health insurance".
Seriously, I'm not being flippant. My wife used to work in a rehab hospital, specializing in brain injuries. Trust me, you don't want to be there even less than you want to be where you are now.
On to the rest of the story. Nice job outlining your backstory, and kudos for how you worked through IMoney and your situations. Interesting stuff!
Best of luck to you. You'll do fine with your attitude and determination!
TexasFlyer
Living the Dream (well at least trying to)
Last year when I cancelled my insurance and my cable tv and I was down to my last of my savings, I actually did wait tables. I worked at Outback for about 4 months. I flew from 9am to 6pm every day with what ever students I had. And then I worked from 6:30 to 9:30/ 11:00 (weekday vs weekend). It totally exhausted me so I only lasted 4 months. But I did all I could to stay afloat. It still was not enough to get back my TV or insurance, but it allowed me to pay everyone else and keep my bank balance small but steady. And luckily I picked up a few instrument student to get me through the rest of winter and up until May when I had my accident.
Good call on the Myspace. I better update the income. It has one zero too many zeros! I haven't updated some of that site in years, so I did a rough update a few weeks ago for family and friends. And that was still when I was on some pretty heavy meds for the foot so at least it come out halfway coherent.
Almost everyone I know is non-Myspace family and friends curious about my health. I made the site public so they can see my progress. The majority of my friends and relatives are not on social networking sites and they live in Cincinnati, Baltimore, Bethlehem, Boston, and Atlanta. So this gave them a way to check up on me in addition their weekly phone calls.
And thanks for the offer. I may very well take you up on that. I may be able to have a beer starting next week. I go see my surgeon on Thursday for a progress check. I am hopeful it looks okay and he says I can start to put weight on my foot which means I get to learn to walk again.
Right now my biggest challenge is figuring out how to get my dirty laundry to the laundry room when I can not carry the basket quite yet and my wheel chair is stuck in my truck...lol.
Good call on the Myspace. I better update the income. It has one zero too many zeros! I haven't updated some of that site in years, so I did a rough update a few weeks ago for family and friends. And that was still when I was on some pretty heavy meds for the foot so at least it come out halfway coherent.
Almost everyone I know is non-Myspace family and friends curious about my health. I made the site public so they can see my progress. The majority of my friends and relatives are not on social networking sites and they live in Cincinnati, Baltimore, Bethlehem, Boston, and Atlanta. So this gave them a way to check up on me in addition their weekly phone calls.
And thanks for the offer. I may very well take you up on that. I may be able to have a beer starting next week. I go see my surgeon on Thursday for a progress check. I am hopeful it looks okay and he says I can start to put weight on my foot which means I get to learn to walk again.
Right now my biggest challenge is figuring out how to get my dirty laundry to the laundry room when I can not carry the basket quite yet and my wheel chair is stuck in my truck...lol.
HeyEng
Well-Known Member
Good deal man...I comment often that there a few of us here in San Antonio but we rarely get together, so perhaps we can get together and enjoy ourselves. AND...since you have peeps down in ATL (my hometown), then you must be an OK dude. :laff:
One other thing, I saw that you frequent a hot dog stand...where is this? The only real HD stand that I knew about was off Marbach/410 and closed a while back.
Oh one LAST thing...I know you have mentioned perhaps selling your house. If you are interested, my wife could hook you up with a CMA and since you're a JC guy, I bet I could convince her to cut you a break on commission too. No pressure of course, but I thought I'd put it out there anyway!
I_Money
Moderator
CMA? Crystal Meth Anonymous? http://www.crystalmeth.org......
Mariano
Well-Known Member
HeyEng
Well-Known Member
HA! I know we're close to the border and all, but this was referring to a "comparative market analysis".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparables
I_Money
Moderator
No I just regularly see people who are suffering and think what our society and their families are doing to them is wrong. Death is inevitable, suffering is preventable - I see nothing wrong with promoting as little suffering as possible!
Mariano
Well-Known Member
Not if the person in question decides to end life. However, deciding to stop giving care to people as you illustrate in your post, just sounds like one of those fictitious "death panels" that the right wing loves to talk about when debating about socialized medicine in Europe.
TexasFlyer
Living the Dream (well at least trying to)
Off topic so I will add to this. When I was in the hospital I went through 4 different room mates, if that is what you call them. The last one was an old man in very bad shape who refused to eat and refused any treatment he could hold his hand up to. He could not talk due to his trake (spelling?). He would write notes and spell words very slow as he drew letters on a piece of paper to communicate with people. He said on a regular basis that he wanted to be left to die. Now they would not force food in him or abuse him, but they were very firm with him that this was not an option for him. Honestly. I felt sorry for him. They should have left him in peace since this is what he asked for.
On the flip side. Another guy was there for 24 hours just to be watched. Not sure for what, but since he had insurance I guess they held him...lol. He fell 50 feet off a bucket working for the city and crashed onto the roof of the bucket truck. He was a power line worked. He only had a broken rib and not a single other thing wrong with him. Amazing. He was certainly being looked after that day since I have a feeling if that was me I'd be in much worse shape! And that man was so full of positive energy, that made my day!
Okay. That's way off topic. Don't want to ruin my forum but thought I'd add that. The hospital is sometimes an interesting place.
I_Money
Moderator
The end of life decisions aren't as easy or as peachy as you would like to think it is - Terri Schaivo is one example where it went horrible wrong, many MRCPers medical decisions are managed by the state and they require every medical intervention, and there are all sorts of other factors that create suffering for countless people who have no hope of a viable existance. We live in a society that shuns death, this seems good in the Christopher Robin bliss of the outer world, but take a step into a hospital and I think most people would be troubled with what they see.
You are trying to be sly with mixing the care with appropiate care - appropiate care should always be in the best interest of the patient and sometimes palliative measures are best!
I think you would hard pressed to find anyone who like myself cares for acutely and chronically ill people that states every intervention should be sought and no one should have a DNR.
You are trying to be sly with mixing the care with appropiate care - appropiate care should always be in the best interest of the patient and sometimes palliative measures are best!
I think you would hard pressed to find anyone who like myself cares for acutely and chronically ill people that states every intervention should be sought and no one should have a DNR.