Hey Folks,
Sorry I've been away for a while now...a lot has been happening the past few months here at my house. As some of you know, last October my mother pasted away from her ongoing battle with cancer (not unexpected but difficult none the less) and then just two months after that, my 76 year old father fell and broke his hip requiring emergency surgery and several months of physical therapy to get him back on his feet. Well, the crap storm that's been hanging over my house dumped a couple more times on us after that...the -day- my father finished his pt, my older brother ended up in the hospital with a ruptured colon (he finally had surgery for that about 2 weeks ago but he's doing well now) and then back in June, my wife lost her job! Of course that all doesn't even take in to account that one of my cats was diagnosed as having a hyper-thyroid and is now on medications twice a day for the rest of his life or that we still need to come up with $4000 for a new roof for the house. Oh...the new band I had going this last year fell apart again too. Needless to say, 2010 has not been a particularly kind year around the old Walczak household...it really has been one thing after another after another around here.

Now there -is- some good news to go with all of that. With my wife having lost her job and me having been out of work since 2002, we were able to successfully apply for the Pell grant and both my wife and I are going back to college! We're trying to take something negative and turn it in to something positive. In fact my wife may be eligible for additional funding so she's taking a certificate program at one college and she may be going for her bachlor's degree at yet another...although that second bit is still very much up in the air as of this point. For those interested, I'm going to be going for my Associate of Arts degree...I really wanted to go for a degree in music but let's just say there were some "complications" (the one funding program I was trying to get would pay for an arts degree but not music) and I'll leave it at that. They've really made us jump thru the proverbial hoops with our pants on fire for the funding but at least we got some of it. My classes start Monday and I'll be going for at least the next year...we'll have to see what kind of funding is available for next year when next year gets here.

Also on the good news front, I went back and re-read a manuscript for a book that I wrote about 4 years ago when my wife was going thru her run with cancer and I decided that I'm going to try and get it published. So on top of everything else that's going on, I'm in the process of trying to find a literary agent...we'll see what happens there. The book itself is sci-fi but if I should by some miracle get a publishing deal, I may come back here and dig out my "how to spot a fake" posts and work on a book for that as well...but for now I'm just going to burn one bridge at a time in that regard.

Anyways, I had a couple of minutes this morn (something that hasn't happened a lot lately) so I wanted to let my friends here at Fender.com and here on the Strat forum know what happened to me and why my loud mouth...er...long typing, seemed to have dropped off the face of the planet. It's been incredibly busy around my house here lately...dealing with multiple family issues, trying to get all the paper work done for the funding, attending various employment workshops, dealing with the financial aid crap (they make it -very- hard for people to go back to school), getting my school books and trying to get some of them read so I can get a jump on my classes, etc.. Since my wife is still out of work, I'm probably going to have to pick up a part time job as well and with going to college full time (5 classes/15 credit hours) it's probably going to be a while before I get to write again. I also wanted to take a moment to again say thank you to the many of you who have shown your kindness and support over this past year as my family and I have been going through some of this stuff...I know that some of my posts in the past (especially this past year) haven't always indicated that I do very much appreciate the people here and that I -am- grateful for the friends that I've made here at Fender.

I really don't know if/when I'm going to have a chance to post again...I strongly suspect that starting Monday I'm not even going to have time to go to the bathroom for a while. In other words, if you don't see me post for a while, it's not that anyone ps'd me off or anything, just busy with life and school...I may not make it back here until December when the semester ends. So with all of that let me say that I do wish all of you well and that I hope all of your "Strat dreams" (both as musicians and with the guitars themselves) all come true. I'm still thinkin' about you folks out there...even if I don't have a chance to write much for a while!

Peace,
Jim

(p.s. You can view my new online photography & graphics portfolio at http://www.walczak.99k.org)

Wishing you all the luck in your new indevers. I can understand the tough
times that you are experiencing because I myself have faced them.

And like the old saying goes ''when the going gets tough..................."
well you all know how it goes.

Again good luck, and hope to here from ya soon.

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hey jim,

man 2010 has really been a terrible year for you. i hope things look up for you, your family, school, and your book.

good luck.

btw, i saw your photography work, you really are good.

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"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present."

oogway, kungfu panda 2008

Sounds like very trying times there.
I wish you strength to get through them.

Enjoy school! Keep us updated on how you're doing too.
Hope the book sees the light of day!

All the best,
-T

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

Sorry about your mum and all the problems, you have a good head on your shoulders and youll be ok Holy Jesus will look after you and get you back on track, theres good people here

Jim,

Hang tough, Bro. You and Mrs lomitus enjoy your time back at school. It will be tough and frustrating. At times you'll wonder if it will be worth it, but I promise you in the end it will be!

Good luck with the rest of 2010. 2011 will be a better year!

Stop in once in a while and give us an update.

RickyD

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Old age and treachery will win every time over youth and enthusiasm.

"You can never have too many Tele's." A quote from my Sweetwater Sales Engineer

Hey Jim! Sorry to hear about your year my friend but glad to see things are picking up for you and your wife. Lots of luck and good wishes from the bayous!!

Hi Jim,

Wishing you all the best with your studies. Sending Big Hairy Mojo your way!

Andy

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Pending Greatness

Jim , sorry to hear about your mom and family trials.Glad to hear things are looking up.From one tough bird to another, good luck going back to school.I was laid off once and took the opportunity to go back to school and it was one of the best things I ever did.

Kudos to you Jim for keeping a good attitude. I wish you all the luck in the world

Bill

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Hey, Boy Blue is back!

Hi Jim,Glad to see that things are looking up,we have certainly missed your input around here.Good luck with College,I'm sure someone as articulate and well read as yourself will have no problem acing it.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Hiya Jim.

Sorry about your recent string of hard times, but it's good to hear things are looking up for you.

You've been missed around here.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

Jim, good to see your post and to know that although you have been handling many serious issues this year you are OK. Sorry to read about family health problem as an older guy myself I understand that these things happen and hope that things calm down for you in that department, great news about school and your book and the best of luck with both. Sending prayers and mojo your way from Chicago, thanks for keeping us posted, looking forward to seeing your posts in the future whenever you can find the time.

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

Hi Jim. I couldn't help but notice as I read your post; This guy should be a writer! I happen to have a friend with connections to the publishing world. He's a writer himself. I've know him since I was a kid and re-connected via Facebook recently. Let me know if you're interested in looking into the possibilities.

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-Kirk

GUITARS
'12 Sonoran Acoustic - black (dated 10/31/12)
'13 Standard Strat
AMP
Vox ac4c1-bl
PEDALS
Compressor
Big Muff
Vox Stomplab 1G
Carbon Copy Delay