Looking for opinions on "lost" hobby / Trying HARD to break out of my funk

This past summer, I was doing really well. My interest in detailing was improving, I actually detailed 4 different cars in about a month's time (including 2 SUVs, which I even enjoyed despite having to work on a ladder), and I was seeing signs of my old self returning. In early August, a girl in Texas started a new detailing page on Facebook, had asked me to join and after seeing a few of my posts, made me an Admin of the page (a HUGE Ego boost!). Things were going extremely well for me. The page
s basi\cally set up for people brand new to the detailing hobby (obsession) and those who might have been doing it for a while but had no clue as to the "How's" and "Why's" of what they were doing.

I posted on the page - A LOT. Actually, I was about the ONLY person posting, but I kept at it. Unlike many Facebook pages, on this site, you can see how many views your posts get (which was pretty much the only feedback I would get). Even the owner of the page has seemed to have taken a powder, but still I posted until I pretty much ran out of things to post, that I was comfortable enough in my own skill/experience to write a "How-To" on.

I tried to keep my posts basic enough so that ANYONE coming to the site could understand the point I was trying to get across. But at the same time, giving plenty of information, so people could learn and advance from what I was posting. I was really enjoying the writing/posting, until I was blindsided at work by a surprise "attack." Then everything stopped. I lost interest in everything, you all know where this leads, but now I'm trying to get it together. Detailing was the last thing I enjoyed and the last thing for me to lose interest in, so I think it might be the easiest to work on recovering first.

This is where I'm in need of help/opinions and differing points of view. It is a public page, meaning anyone, member or not, can find/read/post on the page.

So If anyone interested could visit the page and look over what I've posted (warning, they are long posts) and come back here and let me know if I'm doing OK and should continue, or if I'm way off base and should find a new hobby, it might help me get back to maybe not who I once was, but close enough for me to be 'happier' in my own skin.

The page is called "Detailing For Dummies" and I post under Don Michaels.

Detailing for Dummies

opie said:

Sorry don i dont have bookface so the link wont work for me, but im sure with the way ya always kept your car lookin good that whatever knowledge your sharing over there is good info.

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Thanks anyway, I'm thinking of just deleting this post to be honest, I'm starting to believe all this *stuff* I'm dealing with is making me WAY too insecure.

noorth said:

To keep things fresh i try new pads and/or polishes.

I had to figure out how to avoid using so much water too - 2 wash buckets and a wheel bucket - it was just a chore. I had no interest at all but rinseless washing solved that problem. I still rinse off my car with my garden hose or pressure washer. I'm keen to try one of those sponges too.

I plan to buy a used car in the phillphines in a few weeks and the number one product i'm looking for is a rinseless wash and sponge. Detialing products are actually a little more expensive there. The SPTA 15mm throw is cheap however. It's 750w and less than $200!

Not much to choose LSP wise. Colly 845 or gtechniq spray sealant..

I think i will go with gtechniq.

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Experimenting with 'New to Me' products is a good idea, however - until my disability is approved and the retirement checks start coming in, I'm in a serious financial limbo - medical coverage too. Since I am technically still employed and receiving a paycheck by burning through all my accumulated time, I still have medical. But when I hit 'unpaid status' (still employed, but not receiving a check, medical stops) ...unless I pay the premium myself, through my company's Human Resources Dept ($1,100/month/family coverage). Sadly, I'll most likely have to have to turn to family to keep my disabled wife/kids covered until it's sorted out.

Besides, I stocked up so much on the Hybrid Solutions stuff over the summer, before the slump hit, my wife would be receiving "survivor benefits" if I bought anything else LOL

dgage said:

Please don’t. You’re dealing with a trauma and trauma of the mind takes much longer to deal with than trauma of the body. You’re at an early stage and still sensitive, the same as you’d be sensitive if having just had surgery. So yes, you may be sensitive but it is to be expected and this is a safe place. We will support you. Let us support you.

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dgage said:

I’d personally like to see you continue with helpful how-to posts but also add in some product reviews. Maybe you could do some real world tests like clean tires really well and put 4 different products on the tires to see how they hold up. Then give regular updates. Or work with various sealants and put them on different sections of your car and see how they hold up. So real-world, not a hood that sits in the backyard. I’d like to send you some products to test and I’m sure some others would as well.

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I appreciate the thought, but detailing season is about done for me (winter and all / no electric or heat in a garage that's about 4 feet too narrow to detail in). Come summer, it would be a different story, particularly with my wife's car as a test subject, since I'm not as "over the top" in its care like I am with the Camaro.

briarpatch said:

I joined the FB page.....it's tailor-made for someone like me

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Thanks, once you get through reading the BOOKS I posted, give me some feedback on them - that's something that's seriously lacking about the page.

vobro said:

Don’t delete it, part of stress,anxiety and depression is a lack of self confidence. You obviously spent the time and effort so don’t sell yourself short and instead of tearing it down I say build on it

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You're right. I DID work really hard on the page, typing the posts out on a word document, then copying and pasting onto FB and taking, then adding the pictures relevant to the topic in the post(s), each post taking literally hours to complete. BTW, I DID save everything I wrote and it's all in a file on my computer. I wasn't going to take those down. I figured at the very least someone might chance across them and learn something that may help them in their detailing pursuits.

Again, thanks to all of you who responded or at least looked at my post(s) here, it means more than I can say. Over the last 30+ years, I've subconsciously pushed people away, or at very best, let them get within arm's reach, but no closer. I'm paying for that now, since all that's left is my wife and mother, and there are some things you just can't talk about to either of them.

Coatingsarecrack said:

Don,

Don’t have face book but read through some post and they are sound. Leave it. Guaranteed you are/will help someone new to the game.


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Thank you. It's nice to have people, especially people who I consider to be more 'advanced' than me in skill/experience (like most here at AGO), say that what I'm doing/have done, has merit.

John U said:

I have the shirt you referenced on "book". My car pals gave it to me!

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I saw it, and responded with a story that happened TODAY LOL

My wife and I went to Walmart today for "Just a couple of things." We split up, because she had some returns, so I went and picked up what we had come for...plus a few "extras." When she saw my cart, her mouth dropped open and she started to give me "The Look." Before she could say anything, I said: "Well I WAS unsupervised." A woman walking past said loud enough for my wife to hear (she saw The Look coming too) "Well that's always trouble." I couldn't help but bust out laughing.