Dare I say, it's too much of a good thing in the SUN room........

 At casa de McBride, I have a back room that I usually hang out in because it has lots of windows and I have direct access to get WIFI that my neighbor's have and gave me the password to!!! WOO HOO!!!! FREE RULES!! Here is what it was and I placed 'bullet points' for each thing I and others did.

•  March 1, 2016 The first thing I did was replace the ceiling fan. My friend Scott S. helped do that. 

• March 1, 2016 Then we also started taking the stupid 'popcorn' off the ceiling. I think EVERY house built in the 80s and 90s, mine was built in 1997, had this CRAP.

•  May 1, 2016 After consulting with many females, I painted it GRAY, it's actually called 'DARK ASH'. My cousin Chris calls it 'boiler room gray' HA!!

•  May 9th, 2016 Ripped out the carpet.

•  May 12, 2016 Secured a mount for the where a TV will go eventually.

•  May 15, 2016 My neighbor Jimmy came over and showed me how to make sure the ceiling is all smooth to paint.

• May 15, 2016 He helped cut a hole in the ceiling so I could add some heat barrier to it.

• May 19, 2016 Tiled a section and used some tile left over from casa Mike and Liz also some that I picked up from the parking lot of the old tile factory in Olean, NY.

 

• May 27, 2016 Jimmy helped cover the hole we made in the ceiling and I finished painting it...

 

• May 27, 2016 Placed wall tile where an old wood stove will go eventually.

• May 28, 2016 Installed brand new hardwood floors, well actually they are lament flooring but YOU would have never know if I did not tell you.

Day 1

Day 2

• July 5th, 2016 Hung some 'nostalgic' stuff around it and made it all pretty. 

And now it's time to show off the final result.

 I also went on my annual tour to see people and go some places I have NOT been in a long time:

• First stop was Boone, NC, where I went to college. I just walked around the campus and reminisced and thought that there is NO WAY I could EVER get into this fine establishment today!

• Then went to Charleston, West ' BY GOD' Virginia to hang out with an old radio buddy who is very 'unique' and as he said it, "In EXILE" up there.

       
           He took me to a FREE concert that night too!!! I consider Joe Walsh one of the most
          'unappreciated' guitarist EVER!!

•  The next day I drove up to Mansfield, OH to spend a day with my grandma McBride, YES! She is STILL alive!!! In her 90's and still pretty darn feisty!!! I also hung out with my cousin Chris! He and I are kindred souls! We both like doing the same stuff.
•  The day after that, I drove up to Erie, PA and stayed at casa de Kaye for TACO NIGHT! Her daughter SHAY SHAY, showed me the WONDERFUL world of 'walking tacos'! WOO HOO!!!! I have SEEN the top of the mountain, AND it is GOOOOOOOOOOD! Anyways, Kaye is an old friend and her and I just hang out on the back porch and busted out old photo albums and we reminisce about stuff and laughed. She has 4 teenagers so it's needless to say that the house is ALWAYS busy. She also gave me a gift for the back room. 
 

 It's an old pot belly stove that needs some TLC and will look AWESOME in the back room I just redid.

 FYI- They use to have POT BELLY wood stoves in railroad stations and cabooses. I thought it would be PERFECT for keeping the room warm on those few days it gets cold here. FYI- whenever you are placing something REAL heavy in your house, you have to support the beams under it. So I went and did just that a few months ago.... SORRY but I took no pictures because the LAST thing I want to do in a wet, dark, dirty and cramped space is stop what I am doing and take a picture. So just 'image' it in your mind.....

•  The next day I drove to Allegany, NY but made a stop at the R.R museum in Salamanca. I went 20+ YEARS ago but I needed to go again for a refresher. Got a thing or two for the back room I just did. Hung out with Steve and Lynda K. I know I was a special guest because Lynda put on a bra for me. HA!

•  Went to a wedding on Saturday, saw some relatives that are ALWAYS great to see at my cousin Karen's 'getting hitched' day

•  Sunday, the majority of the Cawley Clan gathered up at the Sunny Hill camp site.

•  Took my morning walk with an uncle of mine and I was SOOOOOOOOOO excited when he asked me if he could go with me! We just solved a few of the world's problems and talked about life! It was GREAT! AHHHHHH the simple things are the most precious!

•  Monday: I hung out with an old friend who is sick BUT we still had a blast just hanging out and talking. I'm all about 'free will' but I will say that smoking= a very yucky and slow death...

•  Tuesday: Evan K. (E-Train) and I went hiking at Rock City. We had fun hiking around and exploring. E-Train just turned 16 and is learning to drive, so I had him drive us to lunch. GOOD LORD! Teaching someone to drive through a 4 way stop sign and round about can be really stressful BUT he did a great job.

•  Went up to Buffalo and had lunch with an old friend and checked out the Bills and Sabres stores. OH and the new Harbor Center is SWEEEEEEEEET!

•  Another uncle along with his buddies took me canoeing on the Alleghany river

       And I reminisced about when I was a kid and my buddies and I made 'Molotov cocktails' and would throw them against this old bridge. AHHHHH the stupid stuff we ALL did as kids!! If I did
that today, I would so be getting a knock on the door from 'homeland security'.

       I am ashamed to say this BUT I had NEVER seen a bald eagle, OUR national bird, until that
      day! I know, HELLO COMMUNIST!

• Then went to my BFF's house in Virginia. We hung out with some other friends, Mo and Travis.

        

        The next day we went to the Manasses Battle field park. Pretty cool stuff but VERY bloody!

     That's it for McBride Tour '16, see y'all next time! And to everyone I saw on my trip, THANKS
     for putting up with me! After a 6 month 'sabbatical' and a 1730 mile road trip, it's time for me to
     look for a job... FYI- I am bored! Talk to y'all next month.