I was thinking about this while driving to my new favorite store, OLLIE'S in Monroe, NC yesterday and it falls under the category of "I DON'T WANT TO FORGET THIS", plus it has something to do with Operation 'F150 REVIVAL 2025'!

 I used to go up to New York for Thanksgiving. I would take my F150 chariot up there.

My 1997 F150 12-98

If I recall, I went up there on a Monday, and my cousin and his wife Brandy, were coming up on Tuesday. Well, Tuesday came and we got A LOT of snow and at night it got REALLY cold and icy! We were expecting Marty and Brandy in the late afternoon/early evening. Well, those times came and went. We were not concerned, We just thought Marty was driving slower due to the weather. We just expected them later on that night. We all went to bed. Well, around 2am, Marty called his mom, my aunt Nancy, He explained that they were taking the back roads and hit some ice on top of a hill and skidded down it. They wrecked the car pretty bad. He stressed that they were ok but were stranded in a very SMALL town in PA..... Not sure how it all went down, but Jeff (his brother) and I woke up, and after a few minutes of talking about our options, We found out where they were, Jeff knew how to get there and I had a 4x4 truck to get us there. I know for a fact, that we did not even hesitate to put on some warm clothes, get a cup of coffee, and go get them. The ride down there was VERY uneventful, Sure there was A LOT of snow but nothing the F150 couldn't handle. Marty told his mom that the town volunteer fire dept got them and they are at the firehouse. HA!!!! DUDEZILLAS, we got there and the WHOLE volunteer fire department was there! I made a joke to Jeff that they probably have not seen that much excitement in YEARS! HA! They reacted like it was a full-blown HUGE accident with fatalities and everything. I remember going in the 'conference room' well I think that is what it was, and it was full of all the crew! They asked us if Jeff and I wanted anything to drink, I asked for a coffee, Between you and me, it was REALLY NASTY! We made some small talk and we all thanked the crew for helping Marty and Brandy. They saw what I was driving and told us that we would have no problem getting back to Bolivar.  Again, the trip back up to Bolivar was VERY uneventful. The next morning, our grandpa, Bob Cawley, came down to see us and this picture was taken then. 

The day after our adventure.
 Jeff, Joe, Marty Margeson, Bob Cawley, and
Andy McBride 11-2002

 AND during that same week, my other cousin, Joe Margeson, got his Suzuki Sidekick stuck.... This time, we only were outside of town, and we pulled it out too...

Just a few more things I love about having a big 4x4 F150! 

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