A lot, and not just trips to the range.
I was forced into an involuntary early retirement when the combined effects of repeated stressing over time and advancing osteoarthritis aggravated the damages to my sacral spine from a wreck in '73 to the point where I could no longer perform the physical tasks required in my work.
Due to the nature and location of the damage, there were no "commonly accepted" surgical options to remediate it which didn't entail a better than 60-70% risk of rendering me a paraplegic. The HMO repeatedly refused to approve coverage for any procedure that could be deemed "experimental" under their extremely broad definition of that term.
The company which employed me for nearly 12 years decided that there were no 'accomodation' jobs available which I had both the seniority and the skill sets for, so they fired me.
I avidly sought other employment for the next 2 years. Try finding a company or temp service who's willing to hire a skilled industrial mechanic in his mid-to-late 50's with a medical history of spinal problems. The most common way of saying "no" is to tell you that you're "overqualified".
I've applied for SS Disability twice and been denied twice. I have an attorney working on my final appeal, but the process has been dragging along for nearly 3 years now and the statutory clock keeps ticking away while the hearing keeps getting postponed.
Our savings are effectively wiped out and my wife's salary and benefits were barely keeping us afloat as things were. With the fuel, food and insurance costs and property, sales and local income tax increases in the last couple of years we've gone from 'scaping by with a small cushion' to living literally from paycheck to paycheck.
It's a bit under 30 miles to my club. Unless I can hitch a ride with someone who's going, I can't go anymore. Our current budget dictates that a tank of fuel for my vehicle has to last for at least 6 weeks now, and that includes all errands, grocery shopping , doctor/lawyer appointments and once a week trips to check on my 83 year old mother 40-odd miles away.
My wife's commute to her job covers 70 miles a day, 5 days a week. There are no "car pools" in or near her company from our town that we have been able to find. Fuel for that isn't optional, and has eaten into more than just "recreation" in the budget.
I've sold about half of my firearms and gear accumulation and am hoping that the rest doesn't have to be sacrificed. If it weren't for the caches of ammo and components from happier times, I wouldn't be able to shoot at all.
Before the price of a gallon of gas hit $4+, I could usually find a way to cut enough corners elsewhere to pay for a plinking excursion for us once or twice a month. Those have disappeared as all of the places where there were any have virtually vanished.
Yeah, it's had an effect on my shooting habits. They're not habits anymore: they're fading dreams.
:banghead:
