I'm blessed to be alive.

I'm sitting here still pretty shaken up over 24 hours later. Amazed that despite how bad I'm hurting. That things didn't go dramatically worse. Given what happened it could have gone in a very different direction and you wouldn't be reading this blog post.

Kat was taking off with her mom and aunt out of town. Which is no big deal. My plan was to do one of my infamous "insanity" bike rides that would take me around 10 miles give or take. After taking it over with my mom and asking to borrow some money so I could get a bite to eat. She insisted that I trim it down to five miles. Which I agreed.

On the Beach Cruiser I have I tend to take side walks. Bay Rd in Saginaw is not a bike friendly street. Very busy traffic. Side walks are a must. Most times I take the south bound side of the walks because it's more of a straight shot. Pretty easy to move around and most times no real things I need to navigate. In this case their were a few issues I ran into that I felt would be less than fun to try and move around. For a five mile trip or so I stop at Bay and Tittabawassee and then turn around on the same side of the road. In this case I decided to cross and take the other side most of the way back.

A few hours after being in the area and just going around it was on my ride back almost a mile and a half from home that I had the problem. On a pedal bike their are a lot of things that can and often times will go wrong. Most common is either the chain or the tires. Rare is the crankshaft or pedals. I was just about to cross a drive entrance I was pointed at an angle to reach the next section of side walk when I felt my left pedal give way and heard it hit the ground. Next thing I know I'm on the ground on top of the bike almost in traffic on Bay. I landed in an odd way with my left knee taking a direct hit and my right bicep feeling like I had been impaled by part of the handle bar.

I've fallen before. It is a constant danger with me. This isn't the first time I've had the crank break. In fact over the 8 years I've had the bike this is the third one that has given out in the same way and spot. I was flat on the bike for a few mins before cars pulled up and people helped me to get up. They called MMR and I was checked out. No broken bones. All soft tissue damage. You fall as may times as I have. You know what your body will do. You know what kind of damage to expect.

But it still shakes you to the core. I have no idea how close I got to being in Bay Rd. From my best guess it was pretty damn close. I'm beat up. I'm hurting all over. But I'm very much alive. Very much blessed. Another half a foot and it would be a different story. Rather sobering thought. Still this was one of the bad one. But By the Grace of God I'm still standing.

I end this with a little appeal. I'm still looking for help with the Lego Church Project. See "What can you do to help?" Would mean a lot to me. Thankful for the support I do have. Right now I'm just trying to heal up and rest.

-JM

Lego Church: What I need

Little under a month ago I posted over here that I was still accepting either LEGO Bricks/Parts or monetary donations for the Lego Church Project. However I never went into full detail of what is I'm looking to get at some point.

This is a partial list based on some ideas I'm toying with currently and some primary parts that I do need to replace with in the next year or so due to wear and tear. With some reasons as to why I'm looking for them.

Unless noted using the basic "stud" measurement format.

-Basic Bricks in Red, Blue, White, yellow: in various sizes including 2x4, 2x2, 1x4, 1x6, 1x1, 1x2. These are the core blocks that I use. Out of all of them I probably go though more 2x4, and 2x2 red bricks. You would think that I would need larger sizes. But working with with what I do. Sometimes its easier to take care of issues using the smaller sizes. These are the bricks that get abused the most. Keep in mind when I'm looking up on Bricklink. I'm always looking for used. In most cases they are still decent enough shape and have a little character to them still. I also use a lot of white parts for the alter and such. Sadly they do get sun damaged over time.

-basic plates: info pretty much same as the above. For these I often need the smaller sizes such as 1x2 and 2x2. These get used for a lot of the detail work. But I also use some of the bigger plates as filler for the floors. The longer 2x?? get used for longer custom built beams that keep the project together. At some point I would like to be able to the full first row of the roof grid in plates. I think that would shave off a pound or two and also make the project much more sound in terms of building.

-Building an impressive and proper pipe organ. I think some of the older parishes that still have the Pipe organs are rather neat from a building stand point. To be able to do something that is dramatic and impressive would be fun to attempt. I know from past ideas that I don't have enough parts to pull off something like this. But praying that I can try at some point.

-More translucent bricks in many colors. Their are some sections which I like to have clear windows. But their are some sections where a translucent brick would work/look better.

The reality is that LEGO. Even used is costly for someone on a fixed income. I'm not one to ask for help. Either for stuff with the project, transportation, or even asking for help in setting up display sites.

If you have LEGO that you are looking to donate directly drop me an e-mail at kc8wzm@gmail.com and I will send you my address.

If you would like to donate money you can send it to this link: http://paypal.me/LegoChurchProject.

If you would like more info on my over all vision for the Lego Church Project. Check out the blog post "My Vision for the Project."

My thanks to everyone who has given me the support needed to make this project possible. I am deeply humbled.

-JM

Donations update

Recently over Twitter I've been asked if I'm still taking donation for the Lego Church Project.

The answer is: YES. Any money donated to the PayPal account will allow me to replace existing bricks that have worn out and are no longer use able. Keep in mind my collection, thanks to donations, expands well over several decades. The Project moves around a lot during a typical season and that can cause parts to wear out. In some rare cases those parts can break! The list of stuff I'm always needing to replace is long.

I am also still willing to accept donations directly of LEGO parts. In fact in many ways I would rather take the parts over the donations. For more information on donating LEGO.. check out "What Can You do to Help?" Blog post!

Thanks to everyone for your help and kindness means the world to me.

-JM