"[email protected]" <[email protected]> wrote: > Wow Mike. What a wonderful plan you have. I'm so impressed. It > seems you ve thought of everything for our single, hurried mom. I > know so many women in that same situation, and when you start > saying "here's this electric device you can build--or, here's a > $150 device you can buy" they just go "oh I don't have the money > and I have zero idea how to build anything".
> So if you make it simple and easy enough we can get them into the > hands of all these families. > Great, great idea. You have a big heart with a lot of compassion. >Samala, >Renee Hi Renee, Thanks for the very kind words. When I think of all the things that can happen in life, there is little to compare with having to leave an abusive husband and take the kids to a shelter. You have no income and no way to feed the kids, no way to wash the diapers, and no transportation to find a job. When I think of this, it breaks my heart. We have a woman's shelter here in Midland called Rosewood. There was an appliance store nearby called Barber & Haskill. They used to store old washers and dryers and microwave ovens outside before taking them to the dump. I used to go down with my dolly after dark and bring back appliances that looked to be in good shape. Most of the time all they needed was a thorough cleaning and maybe replacing a switch or a belt or a fuse, then I would take them down to Rosewood to give to the girls. The look in their eyes when I showed up at their door would melt the hardest granite. Of course, there were No Trespassing signs all over, so if I got caught, I could be charged with theft. And my landlord threatened to evict me numerous times since I put dings in the walls when I brought the appliances up the stairs to my apartment. But he really couldn't afford to do that, since I fixed all the washers and dryers in his laundromat for free, and any other things around the building that needed fixing. So I kept bringing appliances up the stairs, and he kept telling me to stop or he would evict me. Then he would call and ask me to try to fix the latest broken washer in the laundromat. I guess you call that a Mexican Standoff. Unfortunately, the appliance store moved out of town and was too far for me to go. They also started keeping the old appliances inside and locked up, so there was no way I could get at them. I talked with the owner about trying to make some kind of arrangement to get these old appliances, but he was afraid I would try to to sell them and take business away from him. There are no other appliance stores in Midland, so I had to stop. But I will be moving to Waterloo soon to finish the degree I started back in 1967. And when I get there, I am sure I can enlist some of the engineering students to form a club to gather all these old appliances and repair them, and distribute them to Habitant for Humanity and all the other women's shelters in the metropolitan region. After all, this will not be taking business away from the appliance companies. The people who will get them could never afford to waltz in a store and buy them, so they are non-customers as far as the store is concerned. But there is a chance that once people get back on their feet, then they would become a customer, so the store could benefit in the long run. All I need to do is make the owners see this logic. It seems that caring for people has gone out of style. There are exceptions - for example Mike D. in running this forum for such a long time for everyone's benefit. But I think most people have not seen examples of how to find ways to do things to help others, so they have no idea of how or where to start. We can change that. Blessings, Mike Monett -- The Silver List is a moderated forum for discussing Colloidal Silver. Rules and Instructions: http://www.silverlist.org Unsubscribe: <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html Off-Topic discussions: <mailto:[email protected]> List Owner: Mike Devour <mailto:[email protected]>
