50 yrs. on the Planet!

[Levenbrech 54]

50 yrs. on the Planet

 

After celebrating my time on this planet with family last week I thought that I would share my good fortune with a random person/tanker from the internet.

 

This is what I would like to do. I would like to gift a Tier 8 premium tank from the NA server shop to a worthy tanker who plays on the NA server. But, they must first share a story about themselves here with us in this forum by submitting a post (written, drawn, pictures or videos) to this contest. The story can be happy, sad, funny, or even mad about what they are truly thankful for in life at this point in time. The best story as graded by me WINS!

 

Stipulations: The tier 8 premium tank will be a single tank giveaway, no bundles of any kind. I alone will be judging. I understand that many other people will/may upvote stories posted but I retain the right to judge the winner. As far as judging, I will copy and paste all posted (written, drawn, pictures) stories, print them out without the names and review them prior to casting my lone ballot for the winner. The contest will end at 0600hrs EDT on the 21^st of August. I will then judge the entries, notify the winner, and post the results before 2000hrs EDT of the same day. GL/HF

 

[thwQ 14]

Gratz on lvl up! .. 

Sadly iam on EU

[koel76 1,355]

How is this planet compared to your previous one?

 

I might write a story..

[Joyrider216 1,028]

I am thankful for a family that loves me.

A mother that cares about my future and well being, even if I think she is just nagging me. I am thankful she puts up with my shenanigans and love for WoT

A father that is present and a good role-model for who I hope to be in the future.

A brother and sister who deal with me as an older sibling.

I am thankful for everything I have been blessed with, friends that are beside me, and for the life that has been set before me.

Gratz on your level up and half a century of existence on this planet! 

[KrVa46 73]

WTF, 50 years and still taking up space??  Come on dude, make way for the new generations!!

But seriously, happy birthday on your "Abraham" (50 years), as it's called over here in Belgium 

 

[RutgerS 2,585]

Excellent work, until now you're having eternal life!

Please share us wisdom you've accumulated over the years!

[jimjim975 168]

Sorry if this is super long, but it was over the course of 2 or 3 years;

Well, I haven't even been on the planet half the time you are, but I do have my fair share of stories. Most happy and fun, but some are downright disheartening. However, they usually had positive outcomes. I live in a prominently white neighborhood, that is known for having some awful drug problems. I'm in New Jersey, and am not far from Paterson (One of the worst places in the state when it comes to drugs, most of the heroin in the state is homemade there.) My sister, whom we always thought would make great things out of herself, got herself in a bit of a bind. She was just starting in state college, and had a rich boyfriend who was a bit of a lowlife. He (the boyfriend) started getting mixed up into some stupid stuff, because he was being cut off by his parents, financially wise,) and my sister was not making much from her job and having to help pay for college. They went down to Paterson one time to help a friend out, and discovered this mysterious drug named heroin. They didn't think anything of it, what was one time going to do to them? Well, it's one of the most addictive drugs on the planet, and is very lethal due to how addicted you become. Well, they were very low on money, so they started to sell this stuff, thinking there weren't going to be any consequences. This spiraled down for months without us (my family) knowing, because she had moved in with her lowlife boyfriend. The first time we found out was when we went on vacation with her, and she started having withdrawal. I'll say one thing, that vacation was probably the worst vacation I've ever been on. We spent about a week admitting her into a hospital, and trying to get her as much help as possible. The doctor said her kidneys were pretty much giving out at that point, and we were very lucky to catch it when we did. We got her stable and went back to Jersey to get a proper detox and rehabilitation. We spent a large amount of money trying to get her clean. She was there for three weeks, and when she got out we were extremely happy to see her well nourished and happy. We thought that was the end of it, until she found a new boyfriend. This one was a lot less well off than the former, and was a hard working man. We thought he was a good guy, seemed decent enough. Well, you can probably see where this is headed. Same thing, except a lot faster and less gradual. We found out about 3 months later when, what do you know, we went on vacation again. This time, she insisted that he stay and work, while she go. He agreed and we went on our merry way. When we got down there, we knew what was happening. We immediately admitted her into a hospital, and the doctor said she was extremely close to kidney failure, to the point where she couldn't do anything on her own. She was in the hospital for about a month, resting and getting better. My aunt and uncle (who we went on vacation to see,) agreed that it would be best if she stayed with them in Florida, instead of Jersey, so that they could keep an eye on her, and so that she had no druggie contacts. We agreed, she agreed, and we made a "contract" (not really a contract, more just a promise so that she can stay with them, or get kicked out.) She agreed, and was extremely grateful. Since then, she has not only gotten better, but now has a great paying job and is working on getting the money to go to school again. The reason I shared this story is because IF you need help, FIND IT. Please, there's always a second, or possibly third chance at life. This was a very traumatizing and heart wrenching time in my life, and I didn't think I could ever forgive my sister for what she did. A couple years later, I wisened up, and decided that I wasn't going to hate myself forever over stupid mistakes that were had. I immediately called her and apologized for ignoring her all those years, after all the pain. We're now closer siblings than we've ever been, and I'm truly greatful that she changed. Thanks.

 

EDIT: I forgot to say what I was thankful for, lol. I'm extremely thankful for my wonderful family, who is very flexible when it comes to problems, is always there for me in my time of need, and is always understanding of some bad situations. I don't think I could ask for a better one.

[Machiav 47]

Happy Birthday, congratulations on Your achievement. 

As I am from Poland I will just add polish version of wishes "sto lat, sto lat niech żyje nam :)". 

Good luck with winning for NA guys and congrats on idea I guess?

[UnusualMedic 1,472]

Happy Birthday!!

 

o7

[RC_Tank 467]

Happy birthday LABS friend!

 

 

[Shifty_101st 1,144]

Happy Birthday!!! 

Let's see what am I truly thankful for huh? That's an easy answer, my dad is still alive after this summer, which to me is pretty damn good cause to be thankful for!  So here's why I'm thankful

My father lived in LA during the 1970s, you know when it was smog heaven and all that.  Well, that is the time when we think he picked up a blood disease (mutation maybe) from all the chemicals and stuff, which finally culminated in an actual disease in 1992, 2 years before I was born.  This disease is called polycythemia vera.  Basically it causes too much red blood cells to be produced, and you don't need to be a medical student to know that too much blood in the body leads to thicker blood, which leads to more clots, which leads to higher percentage chance of death.  The only solution to this disease is to get your blood taken every other day in the week......which sucks and takes up a lot of time, time which my father could not afford to expend (he's a CEO soooooo time is money you know?). The other option is to go on medication, basically a blood "thinner" which reduces the production of the red blood cells.  So of course, my father went on medication to alleviate that burden of having to give up time every other day of the week to stay alive.  Naturally the medication has side effects so we had some pretty weird things happen over the years.  2002, my father actually had his tastebuds reverse.  Sweet was bitter and bitter was sweet........can you imagine the chaos of figuring out wtf we had to get him to eat?  Then he had his taste go away completely.....which was odd.  He couldn't taste anything.  Even water has a taste but he couldn't taste it (so naturally to take full advantage of the situation he ate salads only and BOOM weight loss).

Ok now it comes to the thankful part .  So early this year I came home for a job interview during school, and I had a sit down talk with my parents about something important (no idea what it was at the time).  They told me that his polycythemia vera developed into what you might call a stage 2.  The good news! Now that it developed into stage 2 he can be cured completely!!! No more taste bud problems, no more medication, he's back to normal!!! The bad news, this stage 2 part was forcing all of his stem cells out of his bone marrow, and within 6 months he would be dead completely without life support.........naturally this kind of shocked the hell out of me at 21, thinking my father was invincible and shit.  I won't go into any more extreme boring detail about checking him into the hospital, or stuff like that.  But here is where it took a kind of turn for the worst.  My father needed about 100x the normal amount of chemo comparative to a regular cancer patient, and he is 59......so naturally we were concerned and the doc said that there was a chance he may not even survive the chemo.

WELL lo and behold he not only survived the chemo, he kicked it's ass! He was doing yoga, pilates on like day 8 of all the chemo, where he should have been resting he was trying to keep his body in shape.  Tier for tier, he made me look severely out of shape.  He went through the chemo, recovered at a record pace (or close to) and was ejected after only being in the hospital for around 3 1/2 weeks.  Naturally he took kind of a down turn at home, he had a viral infection which scared the ever living crap out of us (even the common cold can kill), which was then cured, and had yet ANOTHER infection about a month later (which was cured as well). 

So yeah, I'm thankful that my dad is still alive after all the chemo and all the years of fighting this weird disease.  Now he's about to be cured completely when he recovers yay!!! He's doing very well recovery wise and it looks like I will have a dad in the foreseeable future  

[jimjim975 168]

- snip

That is probably the greatest story I've ever heard about a cancer patient. Did your dad have the problem with chemo where he cant pick up cold things? My dad told me a funny as shit story. When he was going through his second stage 4, he tried to grab some hamburgers out of the freezer, not even realizing that he was on chemo. He grabs them and immediately yells "FUCK MY TITTIES" in a full house of people. I can't even begin to explain how funny that moment was in such a dire situation. Congrats to your father on becoming a stronger and better man, and may serb nerf cancer, it's too freaking OP.

[Enroh 293]

1) HB friend.

2) Story:

I am thankful for the love of someone in my life. After all we have been through in the last 24 years, and how much we have pissed each other off, gone our separate ways, and reunited. She is a rock, fighting off cancer from the age of 19, to living with a congential heart condition for all her adult life until last week when they finally decided to give her a valve replacement. I am thanksful that in this time of our distance apart she has the strength to let me know that surgery is being done and that she is ok. She is my soul mate. Bless her and all she is. And to all who survive the true cancers in this world.

[Shifty_101st 1,144]

That is probably the greatest story I've ever heard about a cancer patient. Did your dad have the problem with chemo where he cant pick up cold things? My dad told me a funny as shit story. When he was going through his second stage 4, he tried to grab some hamburgers out of the freezer, not even realizing that he was on chemo. He grabs them and immediately yells "FUCK MY TITTIES" in a full house of people. I can't even begin to explain how funny that moment was in such a dire situation. Congrats to your father on becoming a stronger and better man, and may serb nerf cancer, it's too freaking OP.

No he did not have a problem like that, so far as I know.  He's extremely pain tolerant, so if the cold actually bothered him to a screaming point he didn't show it.  And thanks for that  I'm just super happy that he's recovering at an incredible pace.  I'll admit it's weird seeing him without hair.......he should have his hair back by December though!!!! (Even though it may be completely white from the stress on his body).

[jimjim975 168]

No he did not have a problem like that, so far as I know.  He's extremely pain tolerant, so if the cold actually bothered him to a screaming point he didn't show it.  And thanks for that  I'm just super happy that he's recovering at an incredible pace.  I'll admit it's weird seeing him without hair.......he should have his hair back by December though!!!! (Even though it may be completely white from the stress on his body).

He said it only fucked with his fingertips, and it may have been because his blood and iron was super low, making his entire body weak af. My dad shaved the hair, he said fuck it XD.

[Necrophore 143]

49 years, 49 weeks. (Three weeks to go before I have to decide on a mid-life crisis.)

Around mid-January, I came down with some sort of bug (flu or pneumonia, we never did figure out which). A week without water put me into the ER, and I followed that up with three weeks without food. I started recovering in February and was mostly back to normal, except for a small sore spot just above the belly button.

After a week of grousing about it, my wife finally forced me to see a doctor. The likely culprit was an ulcer from me dropping ibuprofen on an empty stomach for three weeks, and a blood test showed I was extremely anemic. Bleeding ulcer, then, so off I go to the gastro doc for some quick camera work.

Camera goes down the throat to check out the stomach and...no ulcer. Since I'm already unconscious, they send the camera up the other direction to reveal that I'm hemorrhaging blood into my intestines in a big way. Into the CT scanner, and the pics are sent to the surgeon. He calls another surgeon, who calls in more surgeons, and my pictures are passed around in what becomes an all-night teleconference involving a couple dozen specialists from around the country.

Surgeon call me back: "What are you doing tomorrow?"

The tumor is the size of a football, and it's been slowly eating into everything nearby. I'm told I have two weeks to live, don't eat anything tonight, and we'll see you when the anesthesia wears off. I'm given a 70% chance of surviving the surgery, and a 50% chance of leaving the hospital someday. (Even better, I'm the first patient to undergo the two main procedures at the same time. I'm literally a test subject. Whee.)

• 6 surgeons, 8 hours on the table, 35 staples, 14 days in recovery ward.
• Gall bladder, gone.
• Duodenum, gone.
• Half of stomach removed.
• Half of pancreas removed.
• Random chunk of small intestines removed.
• Three-quarters of large intestines removed.
• Small intestines restrung every direction to reconnect what's left.

(No chemo, thank my lucky stars. My immune system eats the chemo drugs, so I'm off the hook. I think I was more worried about the chemo than I was about the surgery.)

That was in April. Still here. The docs are flabbergasted; the schedule says I should be barely able to get out of bed at this point, and not out running stairs and lifting weights. I was scheduled to be eating (drinking?) through a tube in my arm for 3-4 months as I transitioned from water to colored water to juice to baby food. That plan lasted a week. (I stopped at Chipotle's on my way home from the hospital. It took me two days to eat through that burrito bowel, but I really wanted that tube out of my arm.)

One silver lining is I'm now being forced to eat healthy. Fake food doesn't digest, so I've got a stack of cookbooks from the library for playing mad scientist in the kitchen. My blood numbers are better than before, and even got chewed out for my cholesterol being too low. I've lost so much weight none of my clothes fit anymore. (Moar shopping!)

Never surrender to old age.

[Enroh 293]

49 years, 49 weeks. (Three weeks to go before I have to decide on a mid-life crisis.)

*snip*

Glad you're still here to tell the tale...very definition of epic.

[RollerCoaster47 758]

What did you just post?  A story?  Bitch, I'll have you know that last year I graduated top of my class in the Navy Seals and I've been involved in numerous raids on Al-Quaeda and ISIS over the last year of my life with over 302 confirmed kills in that time.  I've been trained in the art of guerilla warfare and am one of the top snipers in the entire U.S. military.  You think you can get away with posting this thread?  I'll wipe you out with precision like the world hasn't seen in over a century.  As I type this I've contacted a number of acquaintances I have across the globe and they are tracing your IP so get ready for the storm that is coming your way.  You're going to die.  I can be anywhere at anytime and have over 758 different ways to kill you with my bare hands alone.  I have the strength of the entire U.S. Marine Corps on my side and will not hesitate to use it to ruin your birthday and this thread.  If only you could have known the consequences of offering a giveaway you wouldn't have posted this thread.  But now it's too late, we have you targeted, and not only will no one be getting that tier 8 premium, but you'll be dead and chopped up into little pieces in a ditch somewhere after I get through with you.

 

God I hope the OP is aware of this joke or it's going to be really awkward.

[sr360 4,988]

Many here know I'm a physician. I see and take care of sick people every day, and all too many times I'm humbled by the grace they exhibit under duress, the fortitude with which they deal with adversity, and the courage that they are able to summon. I'm thankful every single day for my health, and the health of my family. My grandparents are getting along in years, and I'm hoping that their exits will be quick and painless, not long drawn-out like the ones I see on a weekly basis. I signed three sympathy cards yesterday for long-time patients of mine who had passed away, and some had better endings than others.

But most of all these days, this is what I'm thankful for:

 

[SONOFABENCH 210]

It started in elementary school when my friend showed me the female body for the first time on a floppy disk. The title of the folder was called 'Stump' and it was a collection of a particular lady who had no limbs. She was attractive but that was not how I imagined I'd be introduced to the opposite gender. Looking back on my life, I think it was the cause of how messed up I became. I've always had a difficult time with females. All throughout middle school and high school, I went to dances only to find myself dancing alone or with circles of other guys who had decided it was a great idea to create a circle to keep the girls out. WTF. When I did muster the courage to ask a girl to a dance, she said couldn't go because her father would not allow it. I saw her with another guy that night. I stood by the punch bowl and cried. My yearbook listed me as World's Best Friend Zoned Friend. 

These events ultimately led to my ridiculous weight gain. I'm 6' and at my heaviest, weighed 300+ pounds. I tried to put the weight off but I love food and was never motivated. That is... until I discovered Subway. I love their 6 inch sandwiches. I always skip out on the mayo and cheese and ask for extra pickles, lettuce and olives. I like to put a dash of oil and vinegar because they play a fancy tune on my tongue. I lost over 100 lbs and eventually found myself looking attractive. I've met plenty of girls now who are attracted to me and things are looking good. I hope this is motivation for you to never give up. So what... if I didn't get laid til 40. Now I'm rich and I have plenty of girls on my contact list. Keep on going through life. Never give up.

-J Dawg

[GazT4R 61]

Married to a beautiful wife 11 years my younger with 3 daughters, 2 of which are by my wife. Upright and healthy, getting healthier since I pulled my finger out.
Debts from the ex that I chose to take for the sake of my other gorgeous daughter who I would love to see more but the debts restrict that but they will get paid off and once they are life will be even better.
Health, friends and family is what matters, having money is good but just a thing though I never give up on anything. Few more years and I see 40 whilst my wife is still under 30.

Whats not to love :). Grats on the 50 years, with some luck I hope you see 50 more.

[HurricaneLane 197]

Happy 50th, I'll be there in a long while. Hopefully you've still got plenty of good life left in you.

So I have a bit of a long story, it's a happy story in the end, but it does get a little rough at times.

I'm currently 24. When I was 3 years old, my brother was 1 (22 month difference) and we were both the same size. He was normal size, and I was tiny. My parents took me to our family doctor, who referred us to a specialist a town over (a little over an hour away) who ran several tests and figured out I was growth hormone deficient. Living in Ontario, with a dad with a well paying job and great benefits, I was immediately put on artificial growth hormone. This stuff is extremely expensive, but my parents didn't have to pay anything themselves. When I was taking the growth hormone (restating I was 3 years old at this time) I had to have an injection once a week. As I got older, the amount I had to take increased, the amount of times per week increased (at one point it was once every night). I've had injections in my arms, legs, stomach, and ass (intramuscular). I've had to take testosterone during puberty, once a month, which as you might guess, leads to raging hormones. Long story short, I kinda got bullied about the once a month thing.

Going back a little bit to grade 7 and 8, I was bullied a lot for my height. The growth hormone was working, but I was still extremely short. I was physically and mentally abused by almost everybody in my grade because of how different I was. It was a very dark time in my life, and school work was the only thing I enjoyed (yes, I've always been one of those guys who really likes learning and enjoys time spent at school). 

To sum up the growth hormone part of the story, I saw the same pediatric endocrinologist from the age of 3 to 21, when I was transferred to an adult endocrinologist. When I saw the pediatric endocrinologist for the last time, she told me what a success I was. Without any treatment at all, she said I would likely have not reached 4 feet tall, I'd have massive problems in several areas of my life, and things would be so much different. For the longest time, I had so much respect for her and thanked her for all of her help that several years of my life, that's what I had wanted to do when I grew up. As I grew up, my interests changed and I no longer wanted to go into that field, but that doctor that helped me out for so long, I hold her in the highest regard and to this day look up to her as a role model. 

Today, I'm a good 5'10" and healthy. I've gone through post secondary school twice, once for electrical engineering and once for chemical processing, and I've got a full time job. I've moved out of my parents house in Ontario and I now live in Alberta. I have good friends, a beautiful new TV, no girlfriend at the moment (but that could always change at a moments notice because life happens), and I'm happy with where I've ended up. 

[Levenbrech 54]

Contest is now closed!

 

 

 

I would like to thank everyone that entered for sharing a piece of their life outside of gaming.

 

I will contact the winner prior to 1700hrs EDT today. If you don’t hear from me…you didn’t win.

 

Thank you.

 

*edit- Congratulations to the Winner...jimjim975! He selected the Super Pershing!

2nd edit- I know I did not offer a second place...but since it was soooo close for me to call Shifty_101st will receive 1200 gold, 1 day premium, and 1 garage slot as a second place prize. I didn't have any steak knives to give him.

That's it all...I'm broke, lol. Thanks again to all!