Doing my part for mother nature!

 I WAS going to put this on DA TUBE as a video BUT I REALLY don't need the grief that would come my way..... So I am just going to write this down... 

 We, I MEAN my neighbors and I, have been inundated with 'forest rats' AKA squirrels! They are everywhere! When the d@mn things AREN'T eating all of my elderly neighbor's bird food, they are TEARING up my yard by burying the nuts they find. 

 So I sit by the window facing my backyard, usually with a cup of coffee, and patiently wait to see a forest rat, and with Grandpa McBride's .22, I send them to the big tree in the sky. I will do this EACH day until they are all gone. 

 

Being I have NOT used this in years, my aim is NOT up to speed. So I did a little research on 'DA NET' and got the average height and length of the American 'FOREST RAT' and made a little target to practice on...

10in x 2in= your average size of a forest rat.

                                                         https://youtu.be/4AxYhTs-6jg

 Oh and by the way, When I do hit one I throw the carcass in the woods for other animals to munch on. In a way, you can say I am recycling and helping Mother Nature out! 

If you are keeping count at home, this is the FOREST RAT' KILL total: 

Efilgnikcufecin

 HA!!! Look it up to see what it means!!!! I kinda forgot about this until today when I gave Doris (Who I work with) A.K.A MS. LOWES 2022 this shirt. 

Doris, and I 6/2024

Let's start from the beginning, shall we!??!?!?!?!

 It was 1988 and the McBride clan, Mom, Dad, and I just moved down to Charlotte. At the time, I was NOT a huge fan of it, I lived up in Allegany and Olean, NY my whole life and had a GREAT network of friends! I had to start all over again, and for a 15-year-old, that SUUUUUUUUUCKED! 

 I went to CCHS, Charlotte Catholic High School, SIDE NOTE, THANK GAWD for Jerry Healey! Not sure what he did because I was NOT a great athlete or a Rhode Scholar, BUT I got in! ANYWAYS, I was ALWAYS nice to pretty much EVERYONE and Jenny Tucker was in my religion class. She just won a radio contest on 99.7 THE FOX to go to the Ozzy Osbourne concert, go backstage, and meet Ozzy AND she won a signed guitar from Ozzy! Not sure if she just felt sorry for me OR if she appreciated me ALWAYS being nice to her, but she asked me to go with her. AND one of my favorite bands was opening for OZZY, ANTHRAX! THANKS JEN!!!!! Sure meeting and shaking hands with Ozzy was 'KOOL AND THE GANG' BUT seeing ANTHRAX again in a 6 month span was TOTALLY RAD! 1

 Back to the shirt, I got it that night and I MAYBE wore it 3 times from 1988 to 2024. One day Doris saw me wearing a Motley Crue 'Dr Feelgood' concert shirt and she told me to go online to a website and sell it for BIG MONEY! I guess old concert shirts fetch A LOT of $$$$$. I told her I have quite a few and Anthrax was one of the bands. She informed me that she LOOOOOOOOVES them. This got the wheels in the old noggin' of mine thinking. Sure making money RUUUUUULES but making someone's day is even better. So without hesitation, I got the shirt and put it in my car to give to her the next time I saw her. Well today was the day! I saw her and immediately went to my car got it for her!! HA!!! The OZZY/ANTHRAX concert is complete now! It ONLY took almost 36 years! HA!!!!

FYI- Ozzy and Sharon were SUPER nice people to me and Jen!

1. I saw them open for Kiss in LAS VEGAS!!! PRETTY COOL FIRST CONCERT HUH!?!?!?!??!?

The RR signal that we 'borrowed'!

 For 2+ years, we were on a 'road sign' kick. We 'borrowed' a bunch of them including 'bridge closed ahead', 'low flying planes', stop signs, and ones with street names on them, IT DID NOT MATTER! EVERYTHING was FAIR GAME!!!!! BUT this was our crowning moment. It was our senior year (1992) and like what most teenagers think, WE WERE INVINCIBLE! 

 Like a 'HIGHLY CLASSIFIED' document that is now DEclassified by the CIA, all the names will be blacked out. XXXXX's dad just got a new job in FL. and his mom went to go see him one weekend, so you know what that meant!!!! PARTY at casa de XXXXXX! If I recall, it was a typical teenage party, A LOT of beer was involved... It was LATE in the night and XXXXX, XXX X, XXXXX X., XXXXX X., XXXXX, and I decided to take his big @$$ Suburban and 'borrow' our crown jewel! It was a freakin' RR crossing sign! OKIE DOKIE! Let me explain a couple of things"

• It was NOT an active crossing! Matter of fact, It was not used for years, WARNING! I am going to get 'GEEKY' on ya! It was used to haul the 'spent' rods, A.K.A nuclear waste from the NUCLEAR POWER PLANT on Lake Wylie many moons ago and the tracks were NOT used for AT LEAST 10 years prior to 1992 when it was 'borrowed'.
• The RR company just left the signs up for years and I guess, forgot about them...

 OKIE DOKIE!!! Back to our shinanagines! It was like a 1/2 hour drive away but we did NOT care, all of us loaded up in the 'BURBAN' and being 'preparers' we were, XXXXX and I had the tools we needed to get the job done. When we got there, we all underestimated the SIZE of it! IT WAS HUGE! We analyzed it and came up with a game plan. XXXXX and I would loosen the bolts and the others would hold it to GENTLY let it fall to the ground! FORESHADOWING! It did NOT go to plan!! When we racheted the bolts loose, we yelled at everyone to let it fall to the ground because it was so heavy and we did NOT want any of our friends to get crushed!!!!! It came CRASHING down!! Luckily, there were NOT TOO many houses out there to hear the huge BOOM when it fell..... We quickly took it apart so we could put it in the 'BUBAN'. AND just like that, we had the crown jewel! One of the things I VIVIDLY remember is that we took the bell and that thing was LOUD! XXXXX  ran around the house ALL night ringing that thing! Trust me, It was GREAT (Add sarcasm here) to hear in the morning! 

 It was stored in two locations, In my garage for a year, I tried to clean it up, and in the crawl space at casa de XXXXX for over 30 years. XXXXX recently texted me that his mom was moving and if I wanted to come over and get the RR sign that was in the crawl space for 30+ years. About a year ago, XXXX called me and asked if I knew if there were any signs left because his son wanted one to hang in his room. At the time, there were none BUT now I have the crown jewel and the video I posted on DA TUBE will document me cleaning up one of the lights and giving it to him. 

Me breaking down the lights..

The RR lights broke down...

 

So I don't forget!!!!!!

  My EDDIE Van Halen/ General Lee theory is kinda stupid BUT it kinda resonates with A LOT of stuff in life!

  OKIE DOKIE!!!!! Let's delve into it. First, you have Eddie Van Halen

Next you have BO and LUKE of the Dukes of Hazzard

  In the 5th season of this ENORMOUSLY successful series. The actors that played BO and LUKE were up for new contracts. They saw the HUGE success of the merchandise it was producing and wanted a piece of it in their new contracts. The producers balked at this and they kept telling themselves, "The show is VERY popular because people turn in for the car NOT Bo and Luke. HECK! We can replace them and we will not skip a beat." So they replaced them with Coy and Vance.... Let's just say that it DID NOT work so well. Ratings DROPPED and within year and a few months, The producers of the show 'SAW THE LIGHT' and brought back Bo and Luke..

 Fast forward to 1997. Van Halen was in need of another lead singer. Eddie thought "KRIPES! No BIGGIE!! People love Van Halen because of my guitar! I can put anyone out there and it will work like it ALWAYS has." Sorry BUDDY!!! It doesn't work that way! He was VERY WRONG and poor Gary Chereon lasted ONE album! 

 Sure EVERYONE is replacable BUT there are a very few exceptions to the rule! And these two examples demostrate that.... 

PBRmeASAP

 From 1994 to 1998, We, GARY, MARK, JUSTIN, TOM, TODD, BOIKE, and I would make our annual trip to the 'WINSTON' NASCAR race. I just think they call it the ALL-STAR event now. And it never failed, early in the afternoon Gary would mock Boike and I 

Boike and I 

because we had a couple of coolers of Pabst Blue Ribbon, he would always say, "WHY are you drinking that cheap 'horse piss? I would NEVER drink that!" And Boike or I would ALWAYS respond with, "When you run out of your, usually it was Miller Genuine draft', you will be begging us for one." Sure enough, by 11 that night, He would quietly ask us, "Hey can I have one of those?" One time we said SURE and took this picture of him!!!!! To show what a great sport he was, he had it framed and it was right next to the couch where he always ate his pork grids, NASTY, while watching TV until the day he died in 2017.

Gary drinking the 'NECTAR OF THE GODS' A.K.A PBR 5-1996

Dear Bills.....

 Dear Buffalo Bills,

                                We need to 'take a break'........First off, It is NOT you, it's me, well yeah, it is actually all you! We have been together for a VERY long time and had a few great moments BUT you have given me a bunch more moments when I 'question' why we are together. The SB losses, the heartbreaking ways you find to lose games, the constant fear of teams that you should handle with ease, coming into your stadium and beating you. I could go on but I will spare you. I am tired of having to defend you when others call you a choker. Sure I will cheer you on if you EVER win the big one (but it looks like this will NEVER happen in my lifetime) and I wish you no bad will. It is just that we need to move on from each other.. Take care of yourself and as mission control told John Glenn in the 60s "GOD SPEED."

PS. I MIGHT take you back but only if you prove to me that you can win it all!

                                                                                                                       Yours Truly,

                                                                                                                        ANDY

A night I will NOT ever forget......

  I was getting in my car yesterday to go home from my weekly visit of free dinner at casa de mama y papa McBride when I saw a notice on my phone. Like the majority of people, I put A LOT of info in my phone. I must have put this notification in years ago and forgotten all about it.... It informed me that 36 years ago was Dave Donavan's house party. I looked at my phone and all the great memories of that night came flooding back. 

 

Where it all happened on Oct. 23 1987

 I was a little 8th grader BUT for some reason A LOT of my older brother's friends liked me. Dave had been planning this for months. His parents who we affectionally called Suzi and NuNu bong!!!! HA! I think Dave and a few others found some of his parent's stash one time and they were ALWAYS called that from that point on. ANYWAYS, They were going to be out of town that weekend. (SIDE NOTE) to this day, I am amazed that they didn't hear about it, we lived in a very small town and EVERYONE knew EVERYTHING about EVERYBODY! It was a perfect night because there was no high school football game. So you know H.S football was a HUGE deal in a small town where there wasn't much to do. Being a nerdy little 8th grader, 

Me circa 1987, SWEET MULLET HUH!?!?!?!

I didn't invite anyone because I didn't want to p!ss off Dave or any of my older friends. BUT I vividly remember, that's a statement I will say A LOT in this story, Dave's BEST FRIEND, Todd, asking my friends Mark and Billy if they were coming. OF COURSE they said yes and I think two days before the party, we had it all arranged that they would spend the night at my house because I lived less than a mile from Dave.

 Dave and his crew had the planning of a party down to an art form. He had sort of a 'planning' get together with his friends and for some reason, I tagged along with my brother to it. They planned who would get the keg and who had a pump for it, where the keg would be. I vividly remember Bob C. saying that there needs to be black paper over the windows of the garage so the cops wouldn't see all the people in there. My brother suggested that they have a sign up by the keg telling kids to 'donate' a BUCK or two for the keg, Bob quickly replied, "THAT'S GAY AND WE ARE NOT DOING THAT'! CLASSIC! 

 The day of, kinda felt like a day before a holiday break, you know that feeling, when you are just on 'cruise control' because you KNOW something AWESOME is gonna happen and YOU don't have to go to school the next day! My friends and I just hung out at my house playing Nintendo and mom ALWAYS got pizza from the Sub Shop for dinner. (SIDE NOTE) to this day, EVERY Friday is pizza day! But instead of SUB SHOP pizza, it is a frozen one from Aldi. After dinner it was ON. We went to Dave's house, 'donated' our dollar for the keg and proceeded to drink as much beer as our little bodies could handle. 

 It was like a party out of one of those movies. EVERYONE was there, HECK, even kids from other towns. Kids were EVERYWHERE! I vividly remember Dustin F. (RIP) being 'tipsy' and walking around with my two friends Mark and Billy under each arm, going around looking for 'skully' A.K.A girls! HA!!!!!! I was just hanging around the stereo drinking my 5th cup of beer when Todd said "You are officially in charge of the music.' WELL! Let's just say that hairbands were played A LOT that night! PLUS, this was one of the first moments when I knew what my calling was. I tell people that I wished I knew nuclear engineering like I do music knowledge. There are songs and bands I hear and I will just spit out 'usually' stupid knowledge about it, like "Did you know Prince played keyboards on this song?" I thank Todd for starting my love for music back in 1987. At one point of the party, a girl who will remain nameless fell down the stairs and came an inch away from hitting a wall stud and dying. HA!! The day after, Our friend Dave A. fixed the hole in the wall and I don't think Suzi and NuNu 'bong' EVER knew about it..

 My curfew was midnight and Mark and I were plastered, For some reason, Billy was kinda sober. We had to go up a hill, through woods and the back of a school to get home. Mark and I were so drunk that we could barely walk. Billy was so upset about us floundering that he started crying and went back to the party to get help. Two older guys, Dustin F and Dan B. came up to help. KAYE, ELLIE, JAE, MAGGIE, SHAE SHAE, CARLA and all the Fleming clan!  KAYLA, MELISSA, and EVERYBODY at casa de H-B. THIS IS WHY I will ALWAYS think Dustin and Dan are the 'cat's meow'! They came and assessed the situation, got Mark and I sober enough to walk, and those two guys made sure we got back to my house. To this day, I have NO IDEA how we made it past my parents! Maybe they knew but let it slide and just chalked it up as, "Well it's not too bad, they didn't die."