I caught a rag on fire in the shed today and thought about this again............ 
Jeeessuuusssss Tony, it's not farkin funny..... I hope you had a fire extinguisher handy, or at least a full bladder
So how about an update. Thanks to all you guys and gals here we had a fantastic christmas and new year when it could have been so miserable. The charity also meant I could spend a decent amount of time with family and friends - the first time in a very long time. It really made a difference knowing that so many folks cared. VMX247 and family sent a little gift - a flip over of motivational sayings. Thanks Alisen, we love it and we each have our favourites. The boys flip them every day. I didn't mean to single anyone out as everyones gift was so helpful, but I guess it just takes a girls touch. A bunch of friends from way back arrived from all over and we ended up having new years on two seperate nights and three days - we have almost recovered. I've gone off beer for a while, especially after magoos visit..........
We didn't lose everything in the fire. We had most of the necessities of life in a mates little house in town - summer time clothes, toothbrushes, cooking gear, some of the kids trophies, a few pictures and photos and some basic furniture. But we did lose an awful lot of gear, and depending on what you value your old KTM's, SWM's and old Hondas at, the total is something over 400,000 dollars. Bikes and riding gear, horse gear, our tinnie outboard and fishing gear, farming gear, our books (thousands of them), my environmental consulting gear and laboratory instruments, our good furniture, most of our photographs, all the good plates and cutlery, knick knacks and mementoes - from kitchen to workshop types, a mountain of plumbing, electrical and building stuff, a bolt collection (you know - all the odd witworth sizes), and not to mention the tools of trade and stock. We keep remembering extra stuff all the time.....
But it all really means nothing compared to what we gained -an unbelievable sense of the caring nature of people. Wow. More than enough to get going with.
So we have got going. We'll keep the farm because that is the dream. We'll build a home there one day. We have a plan to get us back up and running - it will mean some risk, but that won't be the first time. We'll get there.
As far as 4RoBs goes, yes I will start again. I need about 150,000 dollars to build a new shed and stock it with tools and equipment. I need a year of just making moulds to get back to a position where it can support me. I just can't see that happening. Instead I'll build it up slowly again, like I did the first time. Part of our plan involves buying a house block with a little 6 x 3 shed on it. That'll be the 4RoBs manufacturing shed. And I'll keep the finished parts (and all our other gear) some where else just in case! I'll probably start with simple parts I need to get my own projects running (so if you need something better make sure I have one of those bikes in the collection - hint hint
). But it will be slow because I now have a real job four days a week - doing IT and network stuff at a school. And it doesn't pay anywhere near as good as the consulting work I did to support 4RoBs the first time. But we'll get there.
Thank you all again, you're amazing.
