It’s been nine months since Alissa and I shared a lunch in New Jersey, with Riley refereeing the discussion about “burying the hatchet, and coming back to Addicts.” To be honest, I don’t know who instigated the idea…but we both knew that I was burned out on managing a business, TSTO Friends (by myself), a giant family, and our work in Uganda. Something had to give…
In the end, it was one of the best decisions I have made in a long time. Yes, there was wailing and gnashing of teeth on both sides, as my loyal readers at Friends didn’t want me to quit, and those who had come to hate me for various reasons (founded and unfounded) at Addicts were more than protective and wary of my “ruining” Addicts with my “Cranky Posts” and “guilt trips.”
What I hope we have ALL learned in the past year (especially those who watch our Addicts Live posts) is that I have softened, am generally happy, and love being here.
The friendships that have been rekindled between Alissa, Wookie and I are important (perhaps someday they will explain where Bunny ran off to…but, it’s just not important at this juncture). We are a team…and good friends…and willingly donate our time and efforts to keeping you informed and entertained about TSTO, while offering a place to hang out.
I get pestered regularly by my old regulars (many of whom followed me over, but remain relatively quiet over here) to tell the story of our work in Buyijja. But the fact is, my “Less than welcoming vibe” about the topic (as in, I was warned by countless TSTO diehards NOT to talk about anything but TSTO!!!!!), has kept me from doing so.
However, Alissa is a huge supporter of our work (everything I earn here goes directly to our work there)…and even in the worst of times between us all, Wookie/Joe donated, knowing that the work surpassed the disagreements we had. It was Alissa who gave me the OK to start the conversation, but I had still been hesitant.
But now, there is an emergency situation that makes it necessary for me to shout, “COME ON… GET OVER IT…WE ARE MORE THAN JUST TSTO!!!!”
And we are…
I have seen the best of this place, and the fact is, many of you have followed me over to “CrankyOldGuy.com” for my political rants…and some have even made the leap over to FriendsOfBuyijja.com to follow our work there on your own.
And to that point, the last Addicts Live chapter…I was challenged by one of our own to perform a task to earn a donation.
Thanks JosephineKickAss/GranmamaDar! So…there has been “Crossover assimilation” with no horrible results.
But…I need to do more. There is a crisis in Buyijja. The well we built has run dry, and the water tables have dropped, due to the drought conditions that have plagued Central Africa for the past year. The rain season is late in coming, but offers us a chance to help immediately with something that can stem the tide of need while we come up with a more permanent solution.
The Rain Collection/Storage tank will change lives…immediately.
I’m not going to go into how messed up the world is right now…and that while we seem fixated on Government, and more international issues than I could list in an afternoon, I will point out that this region of the world is completely forgotten. The lack of basic needs…food, water, shelter and education, are what we work to solve.
I call it “Preemptive Security” in that we are stemming the tide of poverty, ignorance and famine, which are the building blocks that turn desperate people into “terrorists.” The irony of the cost of a single missile -vs- funding and support for an entire region is not lost on me. But, concentrating on economies of scale makes my head hurt.
I will also not point out, that literally EVERY DOLLAR donated…even $5 (or a fraction of what we spend in donuts/digital baubles in our game) can help save a life.
So………………………
Take the Time to Do Something That Matters… this community is capable of so much more. Let’s start with changing lives while we all worry about “getting everything in this update.”
YOU CAN DONATE FOR THE WATER TANK HERE…DONATE
YOU CAN FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OUR WORK IN UGANDA HERE...
Let’s do this… there are tens of thousands of you who swing by here for info on a weekly basis. Take the time to do something more. Thanks for your support!
Donation Made. Keep up the good work.
Good luck on getting to the goal. Spent my monthly donut budget on my donation. Not much, but I hope it helps. (not going to lie, also helps i managed to get Bont with 2 hours left, making in game donut expendature not necessary). Real life for the win!
Donated, Good luck!
My thoughts on what is spent on this game (not a life necessity), that we sit back and enjoy, our bellies full, a glass of anything drinkable sitting next to us? Well the answer is obvious. There are zillions of charities to donate to for everything under the sky, unfortunately most of the most popular ones use 90% of the donations on “administrative costs”. What does that mean… it means too many people aren’t willing to be as charitable as the people they are guilting into donating. I’ve donated to them, most of us have. One day I was going through a three inch pile of “junk” mail (the pile I refer to that is not needing to be looked at immediately), and I noticed a few duplicates from charities I donated to. The first thing that came to mind was that it was a shame the money and time it took to send it to me wasn’t spent on the charity itself. I then did some research, and decided my monthly donation dollars could be used more efficiently. We all have our favorite charities, whether it be animals, veterans, humanitarian, religious… too many to list. Take pet food to your local animal shelter, spend time playing cards or simply holding hands with a senior, take clothing to a homeless shelter, go to a child’s school with a box with crayons, glue sticks, construction paper, etc., we all have a passion to help someone, it doesn’t have to be monetary when you are charitable, every little thing you can do helps. When you do have the ability to contribute money, do it where it will have the most impact, where the ones you are giving your money to help, that it is actually helping. This now brings me back to Patric, his wonderful wife, and his daughters. They do not take anything from what you donate, they add to what you donate. They use their time and what they’ve been blessed with to help a small village that would otherwise go ignored. Pretty awesome if you ask me. I’m not saying you have to donate to his cause, but find something you are passionate about and do what you can. I choose to help because I believe in the good the Millers are doing. We all are able to help someone, don’t ever think you have nothing to offer. I have yet to find anyone who reads this blog regularly to be unkind and selfish, on the contrary, we’ve become a pretty awesome “family”… we care about each other, we are from all over the world, have different views, different beliefs, but still have respect for each other. If only the rest of the world did the same 😊
You are the best…thanks for those kind words…all true!
I have been amazed and humbled by the reaction from the Addicts community this weekend. It gives me a sense of hope that I had admittedly lost.
I can tell you…giving time and effort to this community is a lot easier when I know that there are good people here…that can step away from the TSTO world to help others. This is an amazing place…we all owe a debt of gratitude to Alissa for making it so.
I agree with you, Alissa’s hard work has taken it beyond “TSTOA the blog”. She has set a great example of the kindness and selflessness that brought us to this point. 😊
Patric, I enjoy your non TSTO posts! Keep up the good writing! I added my donation, good luck!
Wow! I’m completely humbled… thanks so much.
People so why we do this? Because we can. It’s so wonderful yo know that we are “more than just tappers.”
Thanks much!
Good luck raising funds for this worthy cause, Patric. I just added my contribution.😊
Thanks so much!
Donated 10$, good luck with that dude!
Perfect! If everyone did that…Boom! Done!
I really wish you the best of luck! I’ll see if I can spread the word around in my group of friends! That water tank will be as good as gotten!
Thanks! Viral community action/ love it.
I donated and hope that everyone who reads your article does as well! I also shared on Facebook and Twitter. Thank you for sharing this and making a difference in the world…and letting me be a part of it too. Take care and have a lovely day!! : )
Thanks so much!
I think it’s great seeing stuff like that on here. I used to donate all the time, then since I went on disability not so much. I used to work on the Sanders campaign so I know what effect even very small donations can make.
We are the Bernie of Uganda! Love it!
Happy you were given permission to do this here Patric. Grateful to be able to help out, Thank you for the opportunity, and for the work you are doing!!!
Alissa “gets it!” For sure…
This is exactly what this world needs. Why can’t “intelligent” people see that. Alas, they only see the man in the mirror. Thank you…thank you.
Inward reflection is needed…as long as it doesn’t turn you into a narcissist! Lol!
Done.
I just donated my donut money. Great work!!
Thanks!!!!
I’m embarrassed about how much time has lapsed since my last donation but very pleased to see this post. This is what I loved about friends. Please donate it will make you feel great!
You are one of the good ones, Fred. No worries!!
Thank you for linking. I know a lot of us are looking for concrete positive actions to take at this point. Let’s do this, Addicts!
Happy to do so. And the key is, STRENGTH IN NUMBERS. We have done most of our work with a lot of donations of $20 or less. EVERY dollar helps…and outside of the conversion rates and the 3.5% that GoFundme and PayPal charge, every dollar goes to work. No admin. No skimming.
WOW….and BOOM!! Off to a great start! As it turns out, Addicts CAN be more! Let’s make this happen ASAP… so grateful to those who have already donated!
Donated!
YOU ROCK!! Thanks!
I was wondering how long it would be until you got the blessing to talk about the work in Uganda 🇺🇬:)
And it didn’t even take a disclaimer by Allision on the post telling people to calm down.
Alissa? LOL! Nope…we are off and running! Times have changed…and we already have some donations coming in!