My name is Mark, I'm from Michigan. I'm the father of ten children and now have three grand children. I have a lovely wife that I try to spend as much time with as possible. We have three dogs, two boxers Windy and Choncho. And then there is Stella our English bulldog. Needless to say there is never a dull moment in our home. At our house if it's quiet you start to wonder what's wrong. When no one is home (a very rare thing) it feels lonely.
A Little back ground
Our family, the wife and I along with all of our children. Lived in town for many years in a very small house. We had lots of struggles, low paying jobs and too many bills. Our house was way to small for our growing family. So with all our ten children in mind, we purchased an old one room school house that had been converted into a church in the 1940's. Then later someone converted it to a home. We purchased the place after it had gone into foreclosure back in 2010. The kids, my brother in-law, other family members and I worked on that place every chance we got. Trying to get it good enough to live in. Even though we were having big problems financially, we pushed on.
We ended up entering into bankruptcy shortly there after. I don't know how we did it but we came out of the bankruptcy house still intact. That was in 2013 and we still aren't done making this place our home. It's been a shoe string budget project the whole time. When we have money we put it into our home. When we don't have cash, most of the time. We are content knowing we've got a place we call home.
A source of real stress
I realized a few months ago after I had gone to bed that I had a problem. A very big problem that had been and continues to effect my well being. This is how it went. The work phone sitting on my night stand next to my head started ringing. Now I had been lying there for about a half hour. I had just started to doz off when this happened. My heart started to pound. I thought it was going to pound out of my chest. I instantly realized that I didn't even know what was going on at work. But for some reason, I went into fight or flight. It was so bad I couldn't even answer the phone. I waited for them to leave a message. Then an email came in, then a text message. Then the phone started ringing again. I new something horrible was happening at the shop. Come to find out it was an issue with a shipping door. Nothing that would effect production. I was freaking out over nothing. This is what I go through every time that work phone rings. I feel like it's killing me. My body doesn't know the difference between the phone ringing and a car crash.
I work full time in a factory, currently in a high stress managerial position. I manage two departments that serve critical roles to keep the facility operating. I'm on call 24/7 I am required to carry a company supplied cell phone. I'm admittedly compensated pretty well for all of this. And I am not complaining, I do love my job and the people I work with. But I'm not happy. I'm so unhappy I've asked to step down from the position. I'm not sure what will happen now. I'm fearful I've put my families well being at risk. But I can't handle this anymore. In my job failure is not an option. If one thing goes wrong you end up with sixty to eighty employees standing around with nothing to do. Eventually they have to be sent home without pay. I think about their families and their bills. I know how it is to live check to check. Or what happens when the alternator goes out on the one vehicle you have and there is no one to give you a ride to work. For some people that three or four hours may mean they wont be back. Or they might point out and get fired. I don't know why but I feel directly responsible for this sort of thing.
Then there's the customers whom we build our products for. If the plant goes down we suddenly aren't producing those products. We aren't able to meet the due dates. I start to worry about if the customer will pull the work out of our facility. Or if they will not let us quote new work due to past performance failures. Then I've got upper management coming down on me until it's fixed. Thankfully they are always understanding of the situation. And these things are a rare occurrence. But the longer things are down the larger the issue becomes. It can be very costly. It is crushing stress knowing that because there was a failure on a piece of equipment peoples paychecks are effected. We wont get a good bonus, or raises might be effected. Even though it is not directly my fault I always feel that it is somehow. Even as I write this I know I'm not responsible for a lot of the problems and the eventual chain reaction of mechanical failures at work. But when that phone rings I feel like I've been tossed against a brick wall.
My Garden
My mother told me over and over while growing up. “Find what you love to do. And figure out a way to make a living at it.” I'm still working on the how to make a living at it part. But at least I have direction.
I am two things. I am a problem solver first and foremost. If there is a problem I can usually find a solution. If I don't have a solution, I know how to find one. Secondly, I am a gardener. I love growing things. I love spending time in the garden. When winter comes, I am so sad. I pine for the spring when I can get back out there and get my hands dirty. I enjoy learning new ways to use what I've grown in the garden. I believe it's important to grow things naturally without chemicals. I believe in building good soil and working with nature. To do so is paramount to good vegetables, good herb and good health.
A new start
I want to continue to learn about growing the best food and medicinal plants. I want to share with others what I've learned over the years about growing a garden, how to relieve stress and how to become healthier. I want continue to learn and share as I go with anyone that wants to learn and grow too.
I have a somewhat neglected website that I'm working to re-establish and keep updated. Along with my efforts here. I hope to eventually find my way to independent income. A way to work on projects that are meaningful not just to me but to potentially everyone who comes across them. I'm not looking to get rich, I'm just looking for a little less stress. New friends to network with and hopefully a new career. I look forward to meeting new people and learning how this all works. I believe I have something to offer this community and will do my best to be beneficial to all of you. If you made it this far, thanks for taking the time to read this. I hope to learn more about all of you too!
Welcome to Steem!
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Thank you, I'll try not to disappoint. I've got a lot to learn about Steemit.
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Welcome to Steem @stanmr! I make a daily news video called the steemit news minute and have chosen to feature you as the new steemian of the day! We hand-pick some of the best new users each day and give them a jump-start to success on the platform. This post will be given more exposure on the platform to grow your following plus some nice upvotes to get you started sponsored by @yabapmatt and the @postpromoter content promotion service!
Check out the Video Here: https://steemit.com/dtube/@reseller/urodhhv4
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Well thank you very much! That's really a great thing. Thank you for the exposure.
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Welcome to Steemit @stanmr!
I wish you much success and hope you find Steemit to be as rewarding and informative as I have.
Here are some links you might find useful.
Your stats on SteemNow
Your stats on SteemWorld
Your stats on SteemD
How does Steemit actually work?
Oh yea, I have upvoted you and followed you. Many blessings!
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Beautiful house and garden you have. Welcome to steemit!
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Welcome to Steem stanmr! Partiko is officially the fastest and most popular mobile app for Steem. Unlike other Steem apps, we take 0% cut of your earnings! You can also be rewarded with Partiko Points while using Partiko and exchange Partiko Points for upvotes!
Partiko for Android can be downloaded here on Google Play and the iOS version is available here on the App Store.
If you have more questions, feel free to join our Discord channel and ask @crypto.talk, we're always here to help!
Thank you so much for your interest!
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Congratulations @stanmr! You have completed the following achievement on the Steem blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Click here to view your Board
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOP
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Welcome stanmr!
eSteem is the application that improves your experience on Steem. You have full control over your data and content, unlike some apps we don't use our users to promote our application or services.
We have Mobile application for Android and iOS users. We also have developed Surfer Desktop application that helps you to gain new followers and stay connected with your friends, unique features - notifications, bookmarks, favorites, drafts, and more.
We reward our users with encouragement upvotes as well as monthly giveaways rewarding Spotlight top users and active Discord users.
Learn more: https://esteem.app
Join our discord: https://discord.gg/8eHupPq
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Welcome @stanmr! Lovely that you found your way here and I'm sure you will be meeting lots of wonderful folks here. There are lots of wonderful communities too and one I find very helpful in regards to growing your own medicinal plants and using them plus healthy living (with ways of reducing your stress) is the @naturalmedicine community. You can use the #naturalmedicine tag and it helps them find you.
If you're a supporter of all things natural healing, and haven't already got on board our collective, you might like to read our introductory post here. We'd also love to welcome you on Discord here
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Thank you @porters. I'll definitely check out the @naturalmedicine community. I've read some of your stuff and agree with a lot of the things you talk about.
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Hope to see you on the @NaturalMedicine discord and look forward to seeing more of how your passionate gardening projects are coming along.
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Now that's what I call a proper introductory post. Welcome!
I just gave you a re-steem.
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Thank you so much! I worked on it for some time. It was even harder to post. I've never really put myself out there like that before.
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Welcome to steemit @stanmr.
Welcome the new steemians. Have a great day!
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This post was shared in the Curation Collective Discord community for curators, and upvoted and resteemed by the @c-squared community account after manual review.
@c-squared runs a community witness. Please consider using one of your witness votes on us here
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I will check you guys out and consider using one of my witness votes there. as soon as I figure out what that is. Thank you.
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Well that's a really cool picture @barbara-orenya! Thank you for the welcome. And I hope to see you around.
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Great intro...and welcome! Happy to have come across your story. I know how hard living paycheck to paycheck really is. Your passion for gardening is an inspiration...truly. I wish you all the best to come and look forward to seeing your journey continue :)
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Wow what a great introduction post, you put a lot of effort into it.
I am happy that we found another passionate Steemit member.
Wish you and your family all the best.
Enjoy your time on here.
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This blew me away! I want to wish you a big welcome to the community. With a first post like this you should do great around here. Upvoted
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I hope so, thank you for the encouragement.
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Welcome Stan to the great community of Steemit, YESS You are a new Steemian now! I saw your #introduceyourself and its nice to meet you. We havent met before but that changes now.
Blogging, building and uplifting eachother is what steemit needs and what its all about on this blockchain. The best part is that you could earn money too.💴💸💰
I never blogged before I started but I just do. But always be carefull with all your passwords, Never give those up !!
For safety tips visit https://steemit.com/steem/@verhp11/safety-first-first-aid-kit-for-steemians-who-are-just-beginning-this-great-journey from Our fellow steemy @verhp11. The Steemify App I use is great, it is available in the Appstore and free, go cheque it out. Or read this blog
https://steemit.com/busy/@exyle/using-steemify-to-stay-up-to-date-about-the-blockchain-like-project-destiny-please-consider-blockbrothers-for-your-witness-vote
I wish you good luck with steeming and I Will See you around🍀
Your value and input is appreciated!
Good luck with your journey and may you find what you are looking for.
Just remember that all good things come in good time and never giving up is they key to big succes on Steemit.
Please vote for a witness to. Also you could join the SteemTerminal Discord.
Or visit @heyhaveyamet #HHYA and My friend @xcountytravelers for more newbies exposure.
Let me know if this was helpfull or you need more help, I am in Discord too @ brittandjosie3488
Greetings from Brittandjosie from the Netherlands
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Congratulations @stanmr!
Your post was mentioned in the Steem Hit Parade for newcomers in the following category:
I also upvoted your post to increase its reward
If you like my work to promote newcomers and give them more visibility on the Steem blockchain, consider to vote for my witness!
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Wow this is really great. There is so much support from everyone.
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Welcome to Steem! So happy to see you getting a fresh new start and that you have such a wonderful attitude. We love when there are people who appreciate life and all of its adventures.
We wanted to let you know, we have given you a 100% upvote, are now following you, and are introducing you to everyone we know. You can visit our post HERE.
Welcome to the SteemIt Community.
Britt & Ren
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Thank you, this is a wonderful thing you are doing.
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Welcome to steemit uncle @stanmr lets be friend
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Very well written introduction.
I hope you relief enough stress through your gardening.
Welcome
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Welcome to Steemit! I just joined today and saw your post. Hope your gardening goes great! I'm a homesteader so gardening is a big part of my life. Please share how your garden goes this year!
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Welcome to Steemit! You have taken the first step in achieving many goals here at the crossroads of cryptocurrencies, blockchain, and social media. Consistent engagement is needed to progress and grow your following and influence. I am currently working on a weekly post to curate new users and providing them an introduction to the ecosystem. I have selected your post as one I will feature in an upcoming post! I explain this initiative on one of my previous post.
There are a number of great content creators on the platform to help you on your journey. I have recently ran into a great post by @roleerob that is great to get off to a great start here on the ecosystem. As I continue to expand this initiative, I continue to find great content and guides for new users such as this post from @finnian who not only includes a great step-by-step process of registering for #Steemit but also provides great security and engagement tips as well to help you on your journey. Another great user creating content for new Steemians is @paulag who is creating community backed video series on learning to navigate STEEM.
As you decide how to engage on the platform, there are a number of decentralized applications or Dapps that can be used to interface with the blockchain directly other that Steemit.com. For example, additional web-based interfaces to consider are @busy.org and @steempeak which offer attractive features to interact with the various communities around the ecosystem. For your mobile needs, I have enjoyed the use the @partiko mobile app available for both Android and iOS. The are also offering delegation of Steem Power for downloading and using the app. You can sign up for the app using my referral link. The communities surrounding these interfaces are growing fast as they are providing great ways to engage on the blockchain.
The #STEEM ecosystem continues to grow with the addition and development of many Dapps that are providing great ways to engage in the ecosystem. A great place to view some of these Dapps is the web site from @stateofthedapps which have a ranking of the top Dapps on the blockchain. Some of these projects provide you the ability to interact and engage within the community and have the potential to provide rewards for your engagement. For example, @actifit is a fitness app that tracks your daily activity which you can post to the blockchain and earn rewards for your participation. Another interesting project is @steemmonsters which is a digital trading card game that enables you to collect and battle with the community all within the #STEEM ecosystem.
I wish you the best in your future endeavors!
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Your reply alone @newageinv is a wealth of good information. It's been very helpful. I'll do my best as I move forward on the block blockchain. Thanks for all of your help.
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Enjoy the adventure and journey!
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Mark, you are the kind of man that I aspire to become, a father. I believe in family first priorities. I'm from Oregon. Knew a man, Adam Wills, from Michigan. Good guy. I have a garden. More people should focus more on families and gardens. Yeah, work can be tough. I have done some web design. It can be boring but it can be creatively rewarding. Welcome to Steemit. I'm Doctor Oatmeal.
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I'm sure you will make a fine father. Thanks for the kind words.
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TEN children? The mind reels...
Great job keeping it all together. You definitely don't have an easy life but it's an interesting one. I'll keep reading for sure.
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TEN children? The mind reels...
Great job keeping it all together. You definitely don't have an easy life but it's an interesting one. I'll keep reading for sure.
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Oh my! I question myself daily if I'm actually keeping it together. Some of the kids are grown and out of the house. Then there are some that should be out but aren't. And there is still no shortage of little ones around here grand babies too. I wouldn't trade it for the world though. As my great uncle used to say. "I wouldn't take a million dollars for one, and I wouldn't give a dime for another." He had six kids.
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Hi,
This is a lovely introductory post, Thank you for taking the time to write the post and say hello to the community!
I am here to help!
I would encourage you to keep posting and comment on others users content to help make a name for yourself and to get the most out of the platform!
Feel free to comment on my content and I'll up vote your comments! Drop me a follow so you can comment a lot and get a lot of my upvotes!
I have upvoted your post!
Luppers :)
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Welcome to Steemit. Your story inspires.
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Congratulations @stanmr! You've received the 2nd place upvote this week :)
You have been nominated by @newageinv in our contest located here! If you haven't already. Swing by our Discord and say hello https://discord.gg/MacHHF9
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@fingersik and @newageinv I had no idea people were so generous around here. I continue to be surprised every day. Thank you!
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Welcome to STEEM :)
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Hi @stanmr Thanks for downloading Partiko app. I am Partiko partner and can help you to earn more Partiko points and explain about app features. Please reply.
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