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I
have been on eBay since January 9, 2001 - my first
account on eBay was
chrisandkimberlybusinessservices
and I currently have
4 business
accounts and 1 personal account.
I opened my first eBay account
while working in a computer center. about 2 weeks
later I was wrongfully terminated from that job.
While I was home I started spending more and more time
on eBay instead of looking for a new job.
 In
September of 2001 I attended my first eBay University in
Sacramento CA and I loved it. The following June,
after recently getting engaged, I attended the very
first eBay Live in Anaheim California. While at
eBay Live I had some trouble walking but declined
medical attention. After all I knew in July I was
going to have heart surgery to correct a birth defect
with my heart - one that had been corrected at birth and
again at age 9 but needed one more surgery as my body
has grown over the years. I had a great time at
eBay Live 2002.
The photos taken at eBay Live 2002
are the last known photos of me standing.
I returned home to Modesto to have
the heart surgery on July 25th as scheduled. I
walked into the hospital and got onto the gurney - when
I woke up in CVICU (Cardio-Vascular Intensive Care Unit)
I could not stand - I fell to the floor. A few
days later after a MRI it was determined that I had a
stroke. Looking back the not being able to walk in
Anaheim could have been a warning sign of the stroke -
if I only would have sought medical attention there.
What was suppose to be a 3-5 day
stay at the hospital turned into 16 days at the hospital
and 21 days in a rehabilitation hospital. I
finally returned home at the end of August 2002 after a
lot of hard work in the rehabilitation hospital.
To be honest during those 37 days I was not sure if I
would ever come home or would be placed in long term
care. I was only home for a few weeks before a
blood clot wound me back into the hospital for 5 days.
I am still on blood thinners and now face monthly blood
draws to make sure the blood thinners are working.
I honestly thought that I would be
in the hospital for 3 to 5 days but when I had the
stroke and ended up the hospital longer many of the
people who purchased items from me experienced a delay
in shipping. I was obviously unable to ship any
orders and my fiancée was more concerned about my care
than taking care of the orders for me. It is a
decision we both stand by today - however our feedback
took a hit - we received 10 negative feedbacks
(out of 31) during the 37 days I was in the hospital and
rehab hospital.
 Shortly
after I returned home near the end of September I
started physical therapy at a PT center in town 2 to 3
times a week. It helped but the travel time there
and back took a lot of time out of my day.
I not only exercised at PT I have
always pushed myself at home. Over the years since
my stroke I have from hard work and determination I have
learned how to walk around my kitchen, down the hallway
and into the bathroom and back - both while holding onto
objects in the house. I can craw backwards and
forwards and just recently started to transfer from my
scooter to a regular seat on the bus.
 Since
I was in rehab I have always been determined to get my
life back to where it was before the stroke and to that
end in the Spring of 2003 I took my first scooter (which
was a loaner from my soon to be in-laws) to Sacramento
by myself. I always loved to take Amtrak to
Sacramento 2 or 3 times a year by myself.
In June 2003 I got married to my
wife. I was still very active on eBay and continue
to work on eBay since I felt I was semi-retired by the
stroke.
 Due to the wedding in 2003 I was
unable to fly to Florida for eBay live 2003. Due
to the stroke and not being able to walk without some
assistance and my wife's schedule (and cost) we did not
attend eBay Live 2004 in New Orleans.
August
2004 I took my wife with me and we attended my second
( her first) eBay University in Modesto California.
It was great. We both met Marsha Coiler, author of
the eBay Dummies book, (I have met her in Anaheim in
2002) and we both met Jim "Griff" Griffin who
autographed my copy of his eBay Bible book.
 Fall
of 2004 I started teaching eBay classes at Modesto
Junior College Community Education department.
While teaching these classes I studied hard and become
an
Education Specialist trained by eBay®.
A certification I worked hard for
and I am very proud of.
Spring 2005 I returned to teaching
eBay classes at MJC Community Education. I have
been featured on a local news program, Central Valley
Report (http://www.centralvalleyreport.com)
I attended eBay Live in San Jose
in 2005 and it was great. It was
my second eBay live and was my wife's first.
 I was also a guest on eBay Radio from eBay live 2005 in
San Jose.
Fall
2005 I was featured in an article in
Entrepreneur's eBay Startup Guide "Be An eBay
Success"
September 2005.
July 2006 my wife and I moved ourselves and our 2 cats
from Modesto California to Webb City Missouri
 In
late summer of 2007 i was contacted by a publishing
company who wanted to publish my story in a textbook.
The first part of 2008 my eBay story appears at the start of
chapter 9 in the fourteenth edition of the textbook
"Small Business Management" (2008) by Justin G.
Longenecker, Carlos W. Moore, J. William Petty, Leslie
E. Palich (ISBN: 0324569726) |
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place to meet other eBayers from Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas
(everyone is welcome)
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