It All Comes Down To This

Edit - Carpal Tunnel has rendered my right arm and hand useless. It will be a while before I can again type so bear with me while I heal. Going in tomorrow for further tests and treatment options. As an organization, here's where we are at the moment. Check in with my cronies and cohorts on G+ for updates.

It started out innocently enough...taking the Reglue Explorer in to get the oil changed. I told them to check the transmission too. The old Ford had been hesitating a bit when accelerating on an incline or when put into reverse. Not a big deal. I check the fluids regularly. Besides, the transmission had been serviced less than 5000 miles ago.

Turns out it is a big deal. It is a big, big deal. The transmission is failing. With
copious amounts of metal chunks and junk laying in the bottom of the pan, it turns out that some of the transmission bands have failed. This is going to take more than a transmission service. It's going to take a transmission rebuild or replacement.

At a starting price of $3,000.00, that's out of the question. And yeah, we have that much money, but spending that much for a vehicle repair for a truck over 300K isn't simply ill advised, it's irresponsible.  I can't ask you to tolerate Reglue spending over three thousand of your donated dollars to repair a vehicle that may blow a piston rod right through the engine block the next day. We're talking metal stress and fatigue here. Ugly business that.

A vehicle this old and with the original motor is destined for a long list of possible engine failures to come. My mechanic, a Ford certified technician; said he was impressed that engine failure hasn't yet occurred. It still has the original timing chain. That is most certainly the Sword of Damocles. One of many it turns out.

It's simple. We are dead in the water until we can get another vehicle. I rented a car to deliver and set up the computers to be installed last week but sustaining that plan is untenable. We cannot afford to rent a car or van to do our work. This Ford served us way past her duty to do so, but we need to buy another car.  We have no other options.

Our funding goal is simple and it's not an amount of money that should be too hard to raise. When a poor lady bus monitor gets hassled and mocked on a school bus and a fund raiser nets her almost three quarters of a million dollars...well, that's pretty amazing. Bless her heart. When we, as a vetted, proven and transparent non profit cannot raise mid 4 figures to buy a vehicle...well, maybe we will have to consider other options. We need to raise a minimum of five thousand dollars in the next 58 days. Of course, that's not going to buy us a lot of vehicle but I can and will personally finance the rest if need be. Diane has offered to donate 75.00 a month toward that payment as well if that is necessary. Why?

The Reglue bylaws state without any room for ambiguity, that the Reglue non profit will not, under any circumstance; incur debt of any type that is not repayable in full within 60 days.

That's plain language and there are only two outcomes. We are able to purchase a vehicle to continue the work we've been doing for a decade, or we file with the IRS for an intent to dismantle the non profit Reglue and/or choose another non profit with like missions to acquire our physical and financial assets. Then we walk away.

There are no other options and we need your support. We have an indiegogo campaign and you can find it at:

http://igg.me/at/shes-dead-jim/x/729034

And the truth of it? I fought off stage 4 cancer to continue my work, so far anyway. I would feel like a complete idiot if the lack of a relatively small amount of money was all that hindered Reglue's efforts.

There are some extremely nice perks available and even more are added every Friday at 12PM, that is as soon as I can double check that the hardware is in good shape. This is not hyperbole...you folks are not gonna believe the good stuff we have to place this Friday, and every other Friday until the campaign ends. We'll announce those additions here as well as my Google Plus page. 

Or if you prefer to donate via paypal, you can click the yellow donate button on the top left side of this page. Should you have any questions or comments, you can place them here or email me ken att reglue dott org.

All-Righty Then...