Bankruptcy: Revisited

I have been stressing about money. Nothing is new. Hailie started working fulltime from home, so we had talked about potentially selling my car and using that money to pay off on her car. The problem there is we're so upside down on her car that it would only help us for a few months before getting right back into the same situation. And selling her car would force us into payments for something we would no longer have until the upside down portion was paid off. Then the letter came.

"Re: Vehicle 2014 HYUNDAI VELOSTER

Dear CHRISTOPHER BENTLEY

We have received notification from the bankruptcy court that a discharge has been granted in your recent Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The entry of discharge means you are no longer legally obligated to pay the indebtedness to Hyundai Motor Finance.

Hyundai Motor Finance, however, has retained a security interest in the above-referenced vehicle. The security interest created a lien, which survives the bankruptcy discharge. Since you did not elect to reaffirm the indebtedness with Hyundai Motor Finance in the Chapter 7 proceeding, Hyundai Motor Finance is entitled to enforce its lien rights and take possession of the vehicle.

Please contact our office at xxx.xxx.xxxx to arrange a time and place for surrender of the vehicle or to make other mutually satisfactory arrangements. If we do not hear from you within 10 days of the date of this letter, we will proceed with the efforts to recover our unit."

Oh, my god. They want me to surrender the car. I had talked with my lawyer, and specifically said I wanted to file the paperwork to ensure the Hyundai was not included in the bankruptcy. Apparently, something else happened. But here's the thing, this was all right before Hailie lost her job. Originally, we had bought the car because she was doing so well at the company she was working for and I was still making quite a bit of money as a supervisor at Maximus.We're getting this letter six months later after our lives have flipped upside down.

Financially speaking, this letter is one of the best things that could happen to us right now. This means getting out of this apartment. This means date nights. This means not being reclusive out of necessity. This means taking my second foot through the door and leaving call centers behind.

This means stress I won't have.

We needed to get out of the house, so we went to the Idaho Youth Ranch over by our apartment. I've seen it a few times, but I've never taken note or thought to stop in. Usually, we go to savers or D.I. if we go thrift shopping, but we stopped here today. I was trying to work my way past all of the trinkets that would fit in a 1963 basement when I finally found my intended target, the tie rack.

I don't know what it is that fascinates me about ties, but ever since I was 16 I have always enjoyed ties. I never knew how to tie them, so I'd have my one tie that I would loosen off and tighten. Then the first year I started tying them myself they would always be crooked. Now I go on YouTube to try and find new ways to tie the knot. I'm typically wearing a pratt knot or trinity knot if I'm not wearing a bow tie.

So this tie rack was essentially the purgatory home to what was close to 200 ties that I went through individually to find the chosen few to make it into the pearly gates of my closet. There were 17 ties to be exact. Looking at the selection alone, I was ecstatic to find as much variety and surprisingly find a few treasures. I haven't found another thrift store in town with even a fraction of quality ties and quality selection. But even better was I got all the ties for $1.58 each.

I know this makes me come off as a huge nerd, but I don't care. My moms got me 6 new bow ties for my birthday, and I was explaining to them why it was such a great gift. 

If there is one thing about going to school that I absolutely hate, it's how much I cannot fucking stand the color black. Every morning I put on black pants with black dress shoes and a black dress shirt. The only selection I get to make is my tie, so I've made it an important part of my morning ritual. I pick my tie and knot based on how I'm feeling that morning, but with it being the only part of my routine being unique, I spend extra care to ensuring it comes out perfect. If I try a knot twice and I don't get it, I will grab a different tie and chalk it up to incompatible daily energy. I'm not terribly obsessed, I've only maxed out at getting two new ties one morning.

I have been wearing the same ties over and over, though, and I've been eager for some variety. I need to remind myself to be nicer to Hailie and myself. This is a small action that is going to give me 3 weeks of new morning variety, but it's these small actions that keep me excited to find new ways to motivate myself.

Goals for School:
Get new shears - check
 

Get straight razor - check

Get leather strop - next step
Get blade set - following steps

I'm setting goals so my skills and tools will have an opportunity to meet up before I leave school and move into the shop.

It's getting closer and closer. I still can't believe this is real.