HULLABALOO!!!!!!!

My aunt and God mother, although she had forgotten that part until I reminded her of it like 5 years ago, Nancy informed me that she enjoys the pictures on my blog but she is not too sure about all the hullabaloo I write about. That silly lady had me confused. I didn't know what that word meant. So my aunt Kathy informed me of what that word meant as well as told me that there was a show with that name back in the 60's. LIKE GROOVY MAN!!!!!

Now that we are straight with the meaning of hullabaloo it's time for another entry on the best BLOG on the net!!!!!

Now for like 15 years, give or take a few years when I was in WI. or the Boikes were in Co., we would spend July 4th on Lake Wylie at the Boike Lakeland, MMMMMMMMMMMM!!!! Great times, I went up to the Boike farm up in Va.. Sure it was weird not being down at the lake but hey things change, HELLO THAT'S LIFE! In all it was a good time and I realized that no matter where we are for the 4th there will be someone that can't handle their alcohol and yells obscenities to people then passes out... No this is not the person. I forget her name. This was from a couple of years ago when she yelled at Mr. Williamson and I because we told her that she was too drunk to waterski. She cussed us out then promptly passed out..... AHHH Good times!!!!! Anyways! It was a male this time and he carried on the tradition of, someway or another, upsetting almost everyone there.... It would not be a July 4th without one!!!!! I want to apologize that I have no pictures of my trip up there because being the idiot I can be sometimes I forgot to charge the battery in my camera before I went up there. So you'll have to take my word that I had fun... We even went to the Shenandoah river and floated down it...... That was a blast!!! Chilling out in an inner tube and drinking a beer is the best cure that ails ya EVER! I gave some old beer signs and NASCAR stuff I had accumulated over the years and I thought they would be perfect to give to Hatcher as my contribution to the 'Man Room'. Being that Boike was the only person who actually responded to my request for what the heck I should do with the side yard, he won the magnet/'to do' list.... I do not have a picture of him accepting his award, HECK I even forgot to bring it up with me when I was up there. I guess I will mail it to him. His suggestion was to lay stone down... The other side of the house has 'issues' too with not growing grass and looking nasty so Mom got me some ivy to plant... I figure it will cover this whole area in a few years.... As you can see the rose garden has a problem with the soil staying in one place. I don't know about your neck of the woods but we have had some pretty fierce thunderstorms around here and it has rained so hard that the my gutters overflow and spill over onto the ground.... But besides that everything is growing pretty good. The Wii has been great to play!!!!! It comes with a boxing game that kicks your butt!!!! The workout you get playing it is better than any membership to a gym.... I also got a WWII game that is sweet too.... I ask you? How can you go wrong killing Nazis?????? Exactly!!! You can't!!!! Next month's entry will be all about the eye sore I mean ditch in the front. I have big plans that include A Bobcat, Boike, some RR ties and a case or two of PBR. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go and liberate a French town and kick some Nazi butt!!!!! ACHTUNG BABY!!!!

MULCH-A-PALOOZA

Gas is $4 a gallon now but I still love having my truck!!!!! BEHOLD!!!!! A 1997 F-150 with a 5.8 V8!!!! It drinks gas faster than an alcoholic who has not had a drink in two days!!!! But I wouldn't change a thing!!! When it's time for mulch all I do is go the the dump and pick up a load and start spreading it!!!!



Pretty sweet deal!!!!! Sure does beat going to Lowes or Home Depot and buying a 2 Cu. Ft. of the stuff for $5.00!!!! Can you say "rip off"!?!?! If I say so myself, I think the old F-150 still looks great for all the stuff it's been through like going through a WI. winter and then being loaded down and towing a Mustang for a 15 hour trip when I moved back here in 2001, pucked in, slept in, plus hauling a boat around and going to and from Talladega, MMMMMMMM dega, towing a Scotty.


HE HE HE HE!!!! I found a picture of the day I got it back in 12/98..... WOW!!!! That was almost 10 years ago!!!! Where does the time go???????


OK! Back to the subject of mulch..... I finished the front of the house as well as around the trees.


I know, I know....... The bushes need to be trimmed..... I'll do that next weekend.... Patients young Jedis..... I have a couple more areas to cover like the side of the driveway and another area and that will be next weekends project.... Here's the deal with the mulch.... I put it in areas that grass doesn't grow.....

SOOOOOOOOOO As most of you know I was pretty sick in May and didn't get a chance to go up to the Boike farm in VA. but rest assure!!! I'll be heading up there for July 4th weekend for some fun!!!!! Have a great Independence Day weekend....

HOLY CHAUTAUQUA LAKE!!!!!! I wish I could sit here and tell you what a great time I had up at the Boike farm in VA.. But I got very sick and was not able to go up there and I was pretty bummed out about the whole situation. It got so bad that my parents had to come get me and take me to the hospital....... My parents ROCK!!!! And thanks to all who were concerned about me....Mr. & Mrs. Carbonara, GOD BLESS THEM, called my parents because I didn't show up to work on their computer... So I have spent the last two weeks watching 'trash TV' like Jerry Springer and having to be fed yogurt by my mom because I was soooooooo weak..... I am happy to report that I am getting back on track and will be 100% in no time..... I really wanted to go up to Boike and Mese's and clear some more land with Hillary...


Why Hillary? Because she takes out anything in here way and leaves destruction and emptiness behind!!!! HE HE HE HE HE HE!! GEE I wonder what political party I am a part of??????

Don't get me wrong, I love getting free stuff but it can be a very bittersweet experience.... Let's delve into my thoughts shall we!?!?!?! Not to get all depressing but you know the times when someone like a relative or good friend starts giving you stuff they say "no longer can use"? It's a good sign that they know that they will not be on this earth much longer. I think it's a stage of knowing you are going to die. Am I right? Correct me if I am wrong. My Grandpa Cawley did it to me, I picked up his old .22 rifle and his SWEET A$$ bowling shirt!


But I am going through it again with my Grandpa McBride. Sure "he's got this ultimate set of tools", name that movie, but it bums me out that he can't use them anymore at the same time I feels honored that he is giving them to me...... He knows I will use them.... I tell ya, the circle of life sure can suck sometimes....

One of the things he gave me was this hatchet..... It is in pristine condition... He probably bought it back in the 60's thinking he would need it sometime. From the looks of it I say he may of used it a few times over the years.! Look at it.... Hardly a nick or scratch on it...... The lettering is a little smeared but so what and don't get my started on the blade... I cut myself on it when I checked to see if it needed to be sharpened....


Things have been busy at casa de McBride..... Big Ron hooked me up with the old outdoor lights from their house..... I guess mom wanted new ones that went better with the outdoor decor of their Taj Mahal. They were a copper color and it was 'suggested' to me to paint them black....


So after a trip to Big Lots for some black spray paint and Food Dawg for a sixer of High Life I spent the evening getting a contact high from the paint and taking breaks to enjoy a beer while jamming to Hair Nation on Sirius.


I had flashbacks to when I was 17 working on the Mustang, of course there was no beer involved because I was under age.... HELL I had no one to buy me some..... My older brother was a Puritan or something and would never buy it for my friends and I. A topic that is still mentioned when I am together with some of my high school friends... They don't refer to him as Andy's older brother but Andy's older brother that NEVER bought us beer. So anyways, what do you think????? I think they turned out pretty good.....

These are the ones I replaced.


And the new ones.


I built some trellises for my rose/saint garden...... See the one on your left??? As you can see, I have high hopes for the roses to grow and climb up to the top..... I will call this one "Barry Bonds" because I will 'juice' it until it reaches the top!!!! The RGH, Rose Growth Hormone, will consist of a healthy dose of Miracle-Gro and a bunch of plant food that's specialized for roses.


Slowly but surely I am getting all the necessary parts for my entertainment center..... Behold!!!! The Wii in all of it's glory!!!!!

I've been waiting to snag one for almost two years now.... I found a web site that alerted me when there was one available at about 50 different online stores. Well I woke up a couple of Sundays ago and checked my email and I had one telling me one was at Sears.com. So using my Jedi like skills I quickly ordered it!!! With the work outs I'll get playing it I will look like this in a matter of weeks and I can start being his body double again.....

Here's a little movie info for ya.... All the scenes where he has to be naked with a woman, that's actually me!!!!! I say if you got the money maker why not show it off!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!

Ladies and gentlemen this is what dry rot looks like!!!!! I'm not going to sit here and sound like a nerd, even though I probably did in the last paragraph, and explain what causes it but I will be like my brother and send you a link that explains it.....

Anyways, I spend the morning getting the tire replaced, luckily there's Wilson Tire down the road!!!! That's what's great about a small town, everything is so close and everyone is soooooo nice........ Mr. Wilson put a new tire on while I enjoyed some coffee with some of the ol' timers talkin' NASCAR!!!! This is what I have realized, now as y'all know I have your typically whiny northern accent but I don't care who you are, if you know your NASCAR you can talk to any good ol' boy.......

And this is what happens to your yard when you try to move your boat, so you can change the flat tire, on really soggy ground.... I tore it up pretty good didn't I?????


So it looks like I have an excuse to rototill it plant new seed or spread some mulch on it..... What do you think..... Drop me an email or just leave a comment on here.... The winner of the contest will receive this lovely grocery list/magnet!!!!!

It's never been used and sticks well to any metal surface..... You see these are from Johnny who was my Realtor.... He still has me on his mailing list so I have about 55 of these things....
Talk to you later I'm off to bed to try to get some sleep because I have a full day of being poked and pronged at by the Dr...... Oh the joy!!!!!!

Yeah I like to be a high roller once in a while!!!! So shoot me!?!?!?!? Big Ron and my Uncle Bill needed my truck to get some lumber and build a shelf similar to the one in my garage for my cousin Marty.



So he offered to have me drive the truck over to his house and I would take his car home with me and use it for the next couple days.... Do you know what kind of car Big Ron has??????? A freakin' BMW Z4!!!! Oh yeah baby!!!!!


People look at you in a different way whether good or bad when you drive a really nice car like this and I really don't mind to be that person once in a while. The Bavarian Motor Works , BMW, sure can make a car!!! I have no problem getting up to speed in this thing. I'm doing like 80 MPH before I know it!!! It's 6 speed shifting of pure fun and the handling in that little baby!!!!! GEEZ!!!! I can take a corner like I was in a race car!!! Here's a good one for ya..... I drove it to Big Lots and when I got out of it this young kid and I think his girlfriend said to me, "Hey that's a nice car." My reply, "Thanks and you too can get one with the money you save shopping at Big Lots." That really didn't happen but that is one AWESOME commercial idea for them!!!!! HELL!!!! Don't let me catch them running a commercial like that or I will sue them faster than Hillary Clinton changing her story about going to Bosnia.... In all it's great to drive it and feel like a king once in a while but I still love driving my Civic or my F-150. When I drive the 'Z' it reminds me of my Mustang when I was younger....


Here it is these days.... Poor thing hasn't run since 2001... Sad I know.....


I know this is really a short update but I can assure you that the next one will have tons of pictures and some good tales because I will be heading up for my annual pilgrimage to the Boike and Mese farm up in VA. for the Gold Cup. I am taking a week off so I can go up there and drive the tractor and do farmer stuff, be a tecky nerd and do some computer stuff for them, enjoy a beer or two in front of a bon fire, marinate in Janice and Hatcher's new house, tell some of the ladies at the Gold Cup that my name is Andy but they can call Thor the God of thunder!!!! So look for an update the first weekend of May.....

A man has to know his limitations.... Those were my exact thoughts when I was knee deep in mud working on the ditch.... It's just too big of a job for me and a shovel.... It's Napoleon's Waterloo, Jimi Hendrix's night of binging on heroin, Eliot Spitzer's fling with a 22 year old hooker, The Patriots losing to the Giants in the Super Bowl. You get my drift. Soooooo I have two options, hire a landscaping crew to come out with there heavy machinery or make the call on the BAT phone and arrange a weekend where a couple of my friends come down from VA. and we rent a Bobcat and get-r-done..... This is what the big hurdle is....... The ditch needs to be graded and sloped so water runs freely in one direction. Then I can use that pile of broken up concrete as a bed along with the RR ties as a retaining wall.... This is my dream and it will be a reality!!! Oh yes it will be a reality!!!!! I talked to Boike about him and Hatcher coming down a long weekend and helping... I sure hope he recalls our conservation because as he explained in a slurred speech he was at the horse races all day drinking a few adult beverages. I think it will be some weekend in the next month or so.....

Speaking of that kooky kid Boike, we went down to Atlanta for the race last weekend and DANG what a wild and wacky time.... It freakin' snowed on Saturday morning....



Yeah it was cold but it' was still a great time. We met some great people and not so great ones too... OK I'm going to get this off my chest, There was this old grumpy man who thought it was still 1862 and we were fighting the Civil war. He found out I was a Yankee, I think it was my northern accent that gave me away, and started calling me a damn Yankee and all the problems in this country is because of me and everyone else from the north.... He was serious the whole time, not smiling or laughing like he was having fun with me. The kicker was when Boike, gotta love him, added fuel to the fire and told this guy, "Yeah and he even voted for Hilary for senate!"GEEZ!!!! For the record, I have not lived in NY for 20 years and she came along well after. The guy went cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs when he said that. Thanks Boike! The guy did a great job in putting me into a foul mood. THERE!!! I let it off my chest..... I'm good now. I will never see that ,TOOL, guy again and it's just too bad that some people are just flat out bitter about stuff... Let it go DUDE!!! It was 150 years ago.......

Back to the great people we met. Meet Cale!!! He's a good old boy from Monroe, Ga and runs the local pawn shop.

He told us some funny stories about the crystal meth addicts that come in and the stuff they try to pawn. I know it's sad the way there life is in a downward spiral but we still chuckled at the stories.... A bunch of heathens we are..... Back to Cale, who was named for Cale Yarborough. He was such a nice guy that he even helped the 24 crew push the car onto the hauler. What a guy!!!


But I would say the highlight of our trip and the story that will never be resolved was our run in with Bill Elliott. Let's begin shall we……. It was Saturday night and Boike and I were doing our ritual walk around the infield. They were running legends cars on the little 1/8 mile on the front stretch. We wandered on over there onto pit road to watch a little racin'. We were there for about 10 minutes when this guy in Dickey's coveralls comes over and starts watching the races. He was maybe 5 feet away from us. Boike says, "hey I think that is Bill Elliott." So I glance over there and I thought it was too….. Then another guy comes over and starts watching the race with him. Boike says, "And look, I think that is his brother Ernie." I glanced over there again and I concurred…. As soon as I said yeah I think it is, Boike does a 180 and starts saying "NO it's not Bill. He would be dressed better and he would be mobbed by people wanting his autograph….." I made the argument that he was probably there watching his son in the Legends race and he wears those coveralls because he is working on the car between races PLUS let's not forget that Bill is a good old boy from the backwoods of GA…. Of course he wears Dickey coveralls. What else would he be wearing? A tuxedo?????? And he wasn't being mobbed by people because they are use to seeing him because there kids race legend cars with his son every week. Of course Boike and I were too scared to go over and ask him. Before we knew it he went back to the garage area. So Boike and I debated it the whole walk back and even asked the local guys who were camped out next to us. They agreed with me that it probably was Bill and that is what he would wear. Boike was still on the fence until we heard on the radio that Bill's son won the legends event that night. Also I found this too.

Bill Elliott's son wins title: Twelve-year-old Chase Elliott, son of NASCAR legend Bill Elliott, won his first major racing title Saturday by clinching the Young Guns division of Atlanta Motor Speedway's Winter Flurry. The Winter Flurry is a six-race competition for eight divisions of Legends, Bandolero and Roadsters. Other champions crowned Saturday were Bubba Harry (Roadsters), Kyle Plott (Bandits), Trey Maughan (Outlaws), Rawlin West (Chargers), Justin Swilling (Semi-Pro), Jeff Haynie (Masters) and Billy Fulson (Pro). Elliott's crew chief is his father Bill, who said he was just "tickled to death that nothing fell off the car" during the race. But he shouldn't start looking for a full-time gig in that arena, according to his son. "He climbed out and said, 'It's junk,'" Bill Elliott said. "I guess he must have got that from me. But he's doing a good job. Right now, it's just been a good way to spend time with him. I didn't get to spend too much time with my other kids, and I regret that." Chase Elliott, from Ballground, Ga., also sees these early races as a stepping stone for his future. "It was fun," Chase Elliott said. "We're just working hard, having a good time. We're moving in to a Legends car this summer and just want to keep moving up. I guess my goal is to get to Cup one day." His mother, Cindy, is bracing herself for that. "I tried to deter him when he was younger; I gave him golf lessons, tried to get him involved in baseball," Cindy Elliott said, laughing. "But ever since he's been old enough to talk, he's wanted to be a race car driver. And he's doing a great job, having a lot of fun. I'm so proud of him."

There you have it! Boike swears he knew the whole time that it was Bill but I'm not buying it.

I never thought I would see the day when someone wanted to look like me but Charlie was all about looking like his uncle Andy!!! Being the simple guy I am, I get my hair cut with a #3 shed on the trimmers.... Very simple and maintenance free... Well he saw me getting my hair cut and wanted it done on him. FYI When a 3 year old asks to have this hair shaved off it's best to ask his mother first if it's OK. So I asked Lizzy and see gave the green light.... And here is the results!!!! fine looking hair cut if you ask me!

While I sit here doing my damn est to fight the craving for coffee, I gave it up for lent; you did know it was lent right?, I realized that I didn't mention in my last update that my cousin Marty and I went to the Charlotte Bobcats game..... The downtown arena is beautiful!!! Thanks tax payers of Mecklenburg County! I scored some AMAZING seats, GOOD GOD ALMIGHTY, right behind the visitors bench!!! We were so close that we were an arm reach away from grabbing some Gatorade that the players drink, We could listen in on everything the coaches said and let me tell you, they talk like they are a sailor!!!! They can cuss up a storm, especially if they see you screwing up a play...... AND!!! When you are that low they give you FREE BEER!!!!!! Marty and I didn't want to leave!!!!! We were in heaven!!!!! Ok it was one free complimentary Bud Light but still!!!!!! It was FREE!!!!!! You can't say anything bad about that!!!! Combined with the beer and Marty's humor, my stomach hurt from laughing so hard...... Chalk up another fun night!!!!


WOW!?!?!?! I sure do have a cheesy smile don't I????

I hope y'all got back some of the money Uncle Sam took throughout the year and you have big plans for the rebate check your going to get pretty soon!!!! What am I going to do with mine you ask??? I'm thinking I will go out and support one of the single mothers at my local strip joint!!! Preferably with the stage name 'Unique' or maybe 'Moca'!!!! KIDDING!!!!


The doors are all painted up, thanks again mom and dad, and work great keeping the heat in the main room.


I have had it for about a month now and I can totally tell a difference. The heat is staying in the main room but being the "how can I make it better?" type of guy I made a few more modifications to it..... As you can see in my brilliant diagram there is quite a draft between the two doors...


I worked on this picture using Photo Shop, MAN the freakin' manual is the size of War and Peace! It took me an hour just to figure out how to put those arrows on there...

So being the aspiring rocket propulsion scientist I am, I went and got some of that foam insulation tape and sealed up the doors..... Pretty sweet huh??? French doors sealed and ready to go!!! Up next, finishing up my design for a flux capacitor requiring 1.21 gigawatts of electricity to operate.


Well it looks like talks between Boike and I about him coming down and helping me with the ditch broke down..... Apparently he had to go fraternize with a bunch of socialites at an annual fox and hound dinner....... "yeeees, can you please pass the Gray Poupone?" So I had to I.A.O, Improvise, Adapt, Overcome. I have had my eye on a pile of broken up concrete that I could use for the bed and for each side of the driveway....


Now before you jump all over me about how cheap I am, let the court be witness to my changing ever so slightly to becoming more 'green'.... Don't worry! I'm still a pretty conservative PBR drinkin', NASCAR lovin', GOD fearin', big a$$ truck drivin', less government guy but this is what I realized, the days of helping my Grandpa Cawley dump the used oil that we drained out of his HUGE 79 Buick in the back yard next to the pine trees are over!!! GOD I hope the EPA never does any soil samples there!!! Can you say "hazardous waist dump"?????? I just figured that I can recycle the old concrete and use it for landscaping and also clean up that area so it doesn't look like the opening scene to Sanford & Son. Plus I see those yahoos on those home shows do it all the time..... I didn't get to actually start on it yet but don't worry, I will have some pictures for you in my next entry.


One thing I did start and finish was planting some rose bushes and a tree in my "zen" area....

I go there to meditate each morning...... Not really...... It's just an area that grass never grew in so I filled it in with some compost.... See the statue of St. Francis??? I'm not sure about this but I think the Catholic bylaws issued by the Vatican state that if you are Catholic you must have a statue of St. Francis someone around your house along with a healthy dose of Catholic guilt.... I know you really cannot see any roses but give it a few weeks and I will take another picture hopefully showing so beautiful flowers, that's if I planted them right.....


Well I hope you all have a great weekend and remember to always have a designated driver for all the celebrating you will do for Presidents day....

Not a big fan of the French except for their doors, the way they kiss and their fries... Matter of fact, I was on Ebay the other day and saw an auction for a French soldier's gun that was dropped twice and never fired!!!! HE HE HE HE HE!!! Here's another good one....... Next time you see a Frenchman ask him if he speaks German. When he says no you can tell him to thank your grandfather for that....... Ungrateful yellow bellies!!!!! Enough of that....... I hope y'all had a great Christmas..... I know I did.... Besides treating myself to a new TV, MMMMMMMMMMMMM HDTV!, the major gift I received for Christmas was some French doors!!! Thanks mom and dad! They are going to help out tremendously in keeping the heat in the winter and air in the summer stay in the main room instead of being sucked out through the back room.... It is to be installed today but the guys still haven't shown up yet.... They were to be here between 12 and 3. It's 3:30 and still no sign of them..... I'm really not in a good mood when I take a half day off of work and sit around waiting...... I hate tardiness!!!! I'm sorry if anyone reading this is a contractor but y'all suck when it comes to being on time!!! At least call me and tell me you're going to be late!!!!! KRIPES!!!!


WELL!!!! They are finally here!!!!!! They are some young guys and I'm pretty easy going with them but I did express how UNCOOL it was not to call me to tell me they were running late....

Alrighty enough of me whining...... Here they are in all their glory!!!! Don't worry!!! I won't be keeping them with the natural wood look. My personal interior decorator, mom, advised that I paint them white so they match with all the other stuff they painted when I first bought the house.


What perfect timing too!!! It's going to be 20 degrees tonight!!!! BRRRRRRR!!!! I'm pretty sure I will notice a difference with them when it comes to keeping the heat in the main room.....

Santa also hooked me up with some ASU gear celebrating the back to back to back championships and the improbable Michigan victory,


Gift cards!!! MMMMMMM I love me some gift cards and some clothes for work because Mom knows that if she doesn't get me some new ones then I will be like my grandpa and wear the same old clothes for years.

And say hello to my new phone!!!! It's light years ahead of the one I had before, heck it probably has the capability to launch the space shuttle, and I promise that I won't drop this one in the urinal!!!!!! HE HE HE HE HE!!! And being the NERD that I am, I found a site where you can make your own ring tones and send them to your phone for free!!!! That's right! I said FREE!!!! Check it out!! I have a ring tone for almost everyone in my contacts list!!! From the Benny Hill Show theme song to the Buffalo Bills 'Shout' song and everything in between....


I got a sweet cover for it too so it lasts me longer then the last new phone I had... I HOPE!!!!!!



Hey look!!!! It's a picture of Andre' The Giant and I!!!! KIDDING!!!! This is Matthew.... He is my good friend's son and as you can see he's very healthy!!! I'm smiling in the picture but I was in excruciatingly pain because I threw my back out picking him up.... AGAIN! I am kidding!!!! For the record, he is 11 month old and weighs 40 pounds!!!! Can you say offensive lineman!?!?!?!?!?


Unfortunately I do not have a picture to show this monumental event so you will have to settle for me telling you. Charlie, my 3 year old nephew, did something for me that was like the man landing on the moon... He got my beer for me!!! I was over at Mike and Liz's house and I was upstairs working on something and Charlie was up there with me and I asked him if he could go back downstairs and get my beer..... So he went and asked Liz "Where's uncle Andy's beer? I need to get it for him." He then comes slowly walking up the stairs holding my bottle of beer with both hands...... I was a proud uncle that day!!!! See!!!! I told you it was a huge event!


Finally I have an update for you... After reading my last entry where I pleaded him to, Singer was overwhelmed with emotion and asked Melissa to marry him!!! Word on the street is that her response was "Not if you were the last airplane mechanic on earth!" NOOOOOO!!!!! Again I am kidding...... She said yes! I think the pink snowmobile sealed the deal....