08/14/2026
So yeah
Yall know how Im always on my high horse about learning lessons and all that, blah blah blah
My current situation should really be an eye opener if you haven't paid any attention yet
Well, its true, yall......settle in, grab a drink, enjoy the read
Im a stubborn person, unfortunately
Im also one half of a team, and the responsibility of that team is to provide for our family
I pushed my body to hard and too fast during a critical recover phase post surgery, and ended up with a life threatening lung infection for my efforts
"Oh, Greg, dont be so dramatic....."
"Drink some concrete, Greg, harden the f**k up"
"Dude, you just gonna bitch about everything or be a man?"
Etc etc
Yeah, right..
...my surgeon did clear me for light duty.....he also warned me,
" Mr. Nicholl, youre only only on week 3 of an 8 to 12 week healing process, take it easy, yes?"
Yessir, doc
My friends warned me, my wife warned me, my own gut warned me
Told you, I am stubborn bastard
I didnt listen, and for one main reason only-
There was work to be done and people are tired of waiting for me to get back in the shop to finish the jobs
Several individuals that have had enough delays, too many perceived excuses, just simply wanted their stuff done already.....
So, I went back, made all kinds of announcements and s**t on here, got in the shop and went straight to going hard, first day back
hey, I was feeling pretty damn good, all things considered
Monday, worked most of the day, it was miserable, but Im working and making progess
Tuesday, made it half way thru the day before starting to feel like I was gonna pass out at any moment and I had shortness of breath, weak body, and so on.....had no business driving home and by bedtime, I felt like Id been hit by a truck
Had my 6 yr old with me both days
Stupid stupid STUPID
Literally walked myself into full on case of pneumonia that we didnt even get properly diagnosed until several days AFTER it hit me......
Why did it take several days??
Well, we were forced to wait to get back to the hospital because I couldn't drive myself, wasnt safe for me to drive in my condition
My wife had already burned thru all her paid leaving previously taking care of me and the kiddos up to this point-
we literally had to wait til her next regular scheduled day off, which was this past Wednesday
We didnt think it was anything serious at first, blaming the heat, blaming the post surgery jazz and thinking I just got a little overzealous on my big return to the shop
Yall, no bulls**t, I was knocking on the door of my body going into sepsis.....thats not something to be taken lightly....it will absolutley kill a person, and can do so very quickly
When they drew my blood a few days ago, it was literally purple...like grape koolaid purple, yall
.never seen that before, and learned thats a sign of severely low oxygen concentrations in your blood......scary s**t right there
The anxiety about work and meeting certain customer expectations, combined with being afraid of the consequences of failure, upsetting customers, all of that, overwhelmed my common sense
I damn near paid the ultimate price for it
Im currently on day three of the antibiotics, and can honestly feel the difference starting to happen, its amazing, truly and exciting too
Im ready to feel good again, dammit
Its also very scary to realize even tho I can glimpse some light at the end of the tunnel now, less than 72 hours ago, I was flirting with death, sincerely and very much in reality
All for the sake of trying to please a few customers
I will be spending the remainder of this healing process making careful considerations about my future, along with the future of the shop
Being successful in a small business isnt worth killing myself for....keeping a handful of impatient customers happy damn sure isnt anywhere worth it, especially when they have no apparent consideration of my reality...
Its only thanks to the the outstanding generosity of those folks that have chosen to contribute to the gofundme that my wife set up that I can even have this discussion now
Without the donations, we would've been closing the shop next week anyway and liquidating all my equipment and tools to pay the bills at home, then facing the task of trying to cover refunds at the shop, dealing with all the other outstanding debt, all while trying to heal AND finding another job working for someone else....
Id be starting all over again, for the second time this year, after having just gone thru the same starting over process and extreme financial stress only a few months back, when PWD closed and I went back to being self employed
That was NOT an easy transition and emptied our savings, stressing all of us to the ragged edge
2026 has not been a great year for our family just yet, lol
Hoping dearly that changes soon for us and everyone else that is struggling too
If you have toughed it out and made it thru, you have my utmost respect and admiration
If you have chosen to help us when no one else would, then you have my eternal love and gratitude as well
Greg
