Mike, ( I assume this is Mike Tobey?),
A friend alerted me to this posting, I havn't had time to get on the forums much lately. In my reply to you dated 6/10, I indicated that I was indeed interested in your proposition, but that I would need a few weeks to get things caught up. You are interested in a "Forge Kit" at a reduced price than we sell the full forges at....this is a special request, and one I am happy to accommodate, it's not something I've done in the past, but you seem like a nice guy from your emails, and I understand your situation, so I am happy to do this.....the only thing is, is that my normal customers have to come first, especially the ones who have already paid for items. We got behind because of events that transpired this year.....it's been a tough year, probably one of the worst I've ever lived through....I lost my mother who I was the primary caregiver for for the last few years of her life (I am her only child)....I saw her every day, helped take care of her, and in the last few days of her life, made critical medical decisions that ended her suffering...if was literally the hardest thing I have ever had to do.....so yes, if I got a little depressed about the situation and needed a few days off, well, I think I deserved it. Then as soon as we started to get things caught up again, and a few days before the biggest show we do each year, our home was flooded....not like the big floods in Iowa with homes washing away, but river water flowing through the downstairs of our home...we couldn't even make it to the show, which is the largest earning show for us each year. So, yes, you assume correctly that we need the business...Heck, my wife and business partner is doing an unpaid internship with an appellate court judge this Summer (you should know what that is like), so we don't even have her income to fall back on.....financially we're in dire straights at the moment because of everything, but I have to take care of the people who came first in line....it's only fair. If you can hang on for a bit, I'll get this kit together for you, but you're going to have to be patient for a little bit longer.
I don't normally air my dirty laundry out on a public forum, but it seems my integrity and business sense has come under question a couple of times in the past few weeks.....and the thing is that years of hard work and excellent service can be made null too easily on Internet forums. We value everyones business who has helped support us over the years, and also sincerely appreciate peoples patience while we have been going through this difficult time. Things are starting to return to normal here, and in short order, this will be all behind us, and god willing, the rest of the year won't suck as bad as the first half has.
Now Mike, on a personal note, from your emails you seem like someone I would like to get to know, you have an interesting and rich (in experience) background...my wife got a full scholarship to law school after finishing her ph.d. in History, and she's interested in areas of law that are geared towards areas of public service, so it seems you two have similar interests. Please don't take anything I said above in a negative way, I'd like to do business with you now and in the future, and I'd like to get to know you on a more personal level. I've found my friendships with craftsman and artists to be lasting and rewarding...it's actually one of the reasons we travel to shows and hammer-ins when we can....we get to see friends that we don't get to hang out with on a regular basis.
Hang in there my friend, we'll connect up here pretty soon.
-Darren
