COMEBACK VERSION 1.3

I know I stated in January "I have decided that this will be my last entry for a while, maybe ever". So like KISS and their 'Farewell Tour' in 2000, I am back because there is ALWAYS something happening around casa de McBride and I KNOW with no doubt in my mind that YOU need to read about it!!!! I just needed to take a break for a few months, KOOL AND THE GANG!?!?! OKIE DOKIE and we go a lil' somethang like this, HIT IT!!!!

 Not gonna lie to ya, this year has kinda sucked so far. Let the BAD NEWS commence! So everyone knows now, and frankly I could give an EFF if you don't, BECAUSE THEY WERE A HUGE PART OF MY LIFE!!!!! Anyways, after a very long time, My best friend and his wife (who is like a sister to me) are no more. I was told NOT to delve into it further but I need to let you know my LIFE changed at 4:10PM on 4/19/13....

 As you know Wylie (a pupper I had with a former girlfriend) passed away in 2010 and it took me over 2 1/2 years to realize Mary, my old girlfriend, did something very cool!!! Now I, and people that I know, have not always looked at her in the ‘brightest light’ from time to time BUT what she did was a very sweet thing, and I for one think she is very cool for doing this. At the same time Wylie had to be put down, I had a friend who went out to New Mexico and was going to send me some dirt from there. WELL I got a package and I ASSUMED it was the dirt so I just put it in a cabinet for when I did something in the yard and I needed a little 'fill in' dirt. In those 2 1/2 years, I moved it to the garage. One day a few months ago I was cleaning out the garage and said to myself, “Open up that package and dump the dirt in the yard and get it OUT of the garage.” When I opened it, there was a note from Mary and a bag of some of Wylie’s ashes!!!!!! The note said that they were ashes and I might want to scatter them at Lake Wylie (HENCE her name)… AGAIN, VERY COOL OF HER TO DO! So some of the ashes are by one of the trees I have in the front and off a dock at Lake Wylie.

 I turned 40 in April and I am happy to report that I haven’t had a midlife crisis yet and bought a Vette!

 My best friend’s (yeah the same one going through a divorce - it's not just a kick in the balls for him but it's when someone uses the top of their foot and causes a 'slapping' effect) dad was diagnosed with brain cancer and so I told Mrs. Boike that EVERYTHING that I am going through (Going to Duke Medical) is on hold because I can deal with my issues and she has A LOT on her plate! So with a ton on my mind, I went on my annual tour to go visit people in the OH., NY., PA. areas. Usually VA. is the last stop BUT I made the call NOT to go down there. Do I regret my decision? Is the Pope Catholic????? ANYWAYS, let's start;

 The night before I was to leave, my old friends Mike Carbonara and Boike came over and we had a couple, OK A LOT, of beers and talked about ‘stuff’ on the front porch. Needless to say, I didn’t get on the road until around 8ish and let me tell ya, driving eight hours with a bitchin’ hangover kinda stinks…

Mansfield, OH-

The first stop was Grandma McBride’s apartment at the assisted living complex in Mansfield, OH. She is 94 and can hardly see but STILL INSISTS to do everything herself. She made some Stouffers lasagna, like she did EVERY NIGHT when her and Grandpa watched me in 1989 while Catholic KATE and Big RON went to Hawaii. The next morning we went to breakfast with Sue who takes very good care of grandma and is just a freakin’ SAINT!!!!! We then went for a walk around the complex and she pointed out plants that she likes to take care of. AGAIN FOLKS SHE CAN HARDLY SEE BUT SHE MAKES DUE!!!!!! I then went to my cousin Chris’s house and he drove me around to some places I have NEVER seen and/or not seen in years…. One place we SHOULD NOT have drove by was my Nana’s old house! GOOD LORD!!!! WHAT A DUMP!!!! I will just leave it at that because I will get too upset about it. ANYWAYS! It was very cool to just hang out with him on his back patio and shoot the $hit about the demons that every family has, our grandpa and the Pink Floyd concert (which was his first) he and 90K other people were at in 1977 at the old Cleveland Stadium! HA!!!!!!!

One or the first regrets of the trip occurred the 2nd day I was there. I decided NOT to see my 95 year old Nana at the nursing home, I KINDA know myself and I don’t think I could handle it. This has been ‘weighing’ on my mind since the last time I saw her last June. Kripes when I went to see her at the nursing home, I almost ‘lost’ it. I know she doesn’t even know me anymore and from what the hospice nurses have said, she is very thin and feeble.

Before heading out, I stopped by casa de Amy (She’s my cousin) in a way it’s like mine, in shouting distance of a race track. Mine is Lancaster Speedway and her’s is Mid-Ohio. FYI- her hubby is pretty funny, I can’t go into detail BUT his body language around some people is pretty funny. Then I drove up to Cleveland for a game at Progressive field or whatever they call it now, for an Indians game.

I ALWAYS stay at my friend Scott and Dustin’s house where the hospitality ALWAYS rules and the beer is always cold! After last year's debacle of getting super drunk thus having a terrible hangover the next day. I only had a couple and we just hung outside and chit chatted for a little bit. YES!!!!! They are a gay couple!!! I know you were wondering that and don't lie and say you weren't. GET READY cause' I'm sooooooooooo getting on my soap box!!! TEST 1-2-3!!!! This thing on? OKIE DOKIE!!!! They are the coolest guys and they are A LOT nicer to fellow humans then some. I would LOVE to find a girl that loves me as much as Scott and Dustin love each other!!! THERE! I'm off now.


Allegany, Olean, Bolivar, Buffalo, NY SunnyHill Campground

After an evening of hanging out and drinking, I drove up to A-TOWN, Allegany, NY for some MORE!!!!!!
BUCKOFEST 2013- You might remember when an old friend of mine unexpectedly passed away in 2012. Well his mom who is a very sweet lady, and his step dad had a party for all of his friends and family. It was a great time! NOT only did I get to drink some of Scott Sonneborn's YUMMY IN MY TUMMY home brew but I also saw some old friends that I love spending time with.

HEY LOOK!!! We didn’t ever have anything BUT Kathleen Donavon had the ‘hey pass that over EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR’ look going in every picture! HA!!

A few of us stayed there until 3AM and during that time I was EYED UP by Cindy and made me feel REALLY CHEAP and one of Dave’s daughters FARTED A LOT hence I started calling her ‘FART GIRL’ which I don’t think her mother really appreciated. HA!!!!! I was up there for more than a week just :

• Going to some dining establishments that I crave for a year between visits Like Renna’s, The Burton, The Chuck Wagon, Tasta Pizza, Randy’s Up The River and Duffs ( don’t get the mild hot ones! I couldn’t finish them because they were so HOT.)  One night my friend Kelly and I went to get some YUMMY IN MY TUMMY pizza and after we went to a local watering hole for a few drinks. Well we made the mistake of sitting at the bar next to this old DRUNK who was ‘undressing her with his eyes' from the first minute we sat down.…. He and I didn't get along from the moment we walked in. Not sure if he was just HITTING on her but he mentioned that he knew people in her family and that caused her to instantly gravitate towards him. In their conversation he said he was a Vietnam vet and I thanked him for his service and also said that I am sorry he was exposed to such a nasty chemical. He in turn said the exact quote 'Agent Orange wasn't that bad." REALLY!?! I respectfully disagree with you fine sir… I think he was arguing with me just to argue. Another argument revolved around NASCAR! I admit I was WRONG to a point but this ‘A’ hole kept on saying "DON’T ARGUE NASCAR WITH ME BECAUSE I KNOW MY NASCAR...." he kept on saying it over and over again. CRAZY LUSH!!!!!!!!!
• Cleaning up some old friend’s graves because IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO!
• Going to CUTCO to have the knives my mom gave me (I think they are from the 70's) sharpened so I can cut me finger without even knowing it!
• Just checking out places that I think about throughout the year. I LOVE history and so I go to places that I remember as a kid or someone on ‘DA BOOK’ (F/B) mentioned it.
• Chillin’ out with someone and enjoying a cold beverage (usually a beer) on their porch while visiting. I did A LOT of this at casa de Kiener. It's where I stayed some nights, Oh and Kylee, their daughter, thanks for letting me sleep in your bed while I was there! Don't mind the wet spot, I just peed a little in it THAT'S ALL and their son said the quote of the TRIP when he told his little sister that "GOD doesn’t like liars and bad actors"! Speaking of beer, Saturday night 6-29 was the annual BEER-PA-LOOZA. Sure the turn out wasn’t that good, I blame the rain and the crappy @$$ carnival, BUT three events happened that made it all worth it to me:
• Seeing Mike Wilber’s girlfriend and saying “Hi Joy.” See she wasn’t expecting me to remember her name. Needless to say, she lit up like a Christmas tree….
• Seeing an old friend Stacey for the first time in over 25 years!
• Seeing another friend Rita and meeting her funny husband Matt
• Hanging out with Mark Vitale at the bar and him telling some GREAT stories about some of the trips we took to go see concerts in Buffalo or Rochester... He's ALSO a SAINT (at least in my eyes he is) for letting me hold his shoulder while he lead me to the bathroom!!!
• One day my cousin Jeff and I installed a new POOP PIPE at Camper de Margeson up on Sunny Hill camp. Kinda glad I washed my hands AFTER it was done and it was BEER THIRTY on his DECK ‘MAHAL’!!!! I don’t need spinal meningitis.
• Went up to Buffalo and was almost arrested at Ralph Wilson Stadium apparently they don't like strange looking people wandering around the stadium. FYI- they are doing some work up there because I heard jack hammers and stuff before I was 'escorted' to my car by security.... BEFORE I was 'almost arrested' , I was in the field house and I was talking to this guy. Buffalo Bills fans know who he is. He is the voice of the Bills and I was chatting with him while he was blowing his nose, The poor guy had a nasty head cold.....

BUS TRIPS Revisited after 20+ years.....

 The Chronicles of DA BUS TRIPS to concerts! FIRST OFF, this kind of stuff will NEVER happen again. Think about it as a parent, your teenager comes to you and says “Can I go to a concert on a bus that another teenager rented oh and BTW, there will be NO adult supervision.” You would say ‘H’ to the ‘E’ to the double ‘L’ NO!!!!! Anyways, I don’t know about you BUT I LOVE telling people that as a 14 year, my friends and I went on a rented bus to a concert of some band that is of no more but was HUGE at the time. People are blown away!!!! According to the GODFATHER of the trips, Todd Hopkins, This is how it started:
 “One day while on a typical after school "hanging at the fantastical Olean Center Mall" session, we were walking to Blue Bird Coach Lines on Union St to catch the Bona Bus home. As we stood there waiting, I said "you know Dave, We should charter a bus to UB Spring Fest to see the Ramones." Dave thought about that for a minute and then replied "How would we go about this bus idea Todd?" To which I responded "I'll call Blue bird and try to set things up," So when I got home, I called the Blue Bird office and said to the woman who answered "I would like to charter a bus please." She asked me for the pick-up time and location, and asked which type of bus we required and gave us pricing options. I realized that the $$ was completely feasible and that if we could fill each seat, it would only cost about $10 per rider. Later that evening we realized what a great service we would be providing people so nobody would need to drink and drive. It also afforded many who had no means to get to Buffalo or Rochester an opportunity to go see a concert.”

 So it began with the pioneer trip to UofB’s ‘Spring Fest’ (4-88) to an all day festival where the Ramones were headlining. I was on this trip!!!! WOO HOO!!! The school principal and a few teachers actually watched us get on the bus! Their ‘red flags’ were raised when they received a bunch of notes from our parents asking us to be excused from school on the SAME day!!! Word on the street is that they were amazed how organized we were in pulling this off. Can you verify that Mr. Petruzzi? ANYWAYS, I can tell people that I saw Living Colour before anyone knew who they were! HA!!!! I soooooo remember Corey Glover telling the crowd of maybe 200 people, to STAND UP because we were all sitting on the ground….. An act before the Ramones took the stage was Grand Master Flash…. Sure they were on the ‘downward spiral’ of their career BUT still!!!! People at work are AMAZED that a white boy saw them and actually knows who they are! HA!!!! The Ramones were no thrills just B@LL to the wall music with the only thing between songs being Dee Dee yelling 1-2-3-4!!!! One of the many HIGHLIGHTS from that day was Todd and Dave leading me to an empty car (Ford Taurus) at the side of the stage. I wasn’t quite sure why we were there until I saw all four of the Ramones get in and being whisked away. WOO HOO!! I was 5 ft away from freakin’ ROCK ‘N’ ROLL legends!!!!! I remember Todd yelling at Joey that he wanted to play ‘pocket pool’ with him and Joey saying ‘”WHOW!!! I don’t play for your ‘team’ kid.” HA!!! I soooooooooooooo just made that last part up BUT Todd did say something and Joey said “ALRIGHT MAN!”

06-88 Monsters of Rock (Kingdom Come, Metallica, Dokken, The Scorpions, Van Halen) Rich Stadium, Buffalo: Dare I say, one of the greatest days of my life! As an 8th grader and 25 years LATER I still pinch myself when I think of it and say “was I really there?”…. So many memories, the trip up and getting PLASTERED at 9AM in THE MORNING, people screaming that Steve Lippert was SHOT when he really had a bottle thrown at him, people wondering where my brother was when he was passed out someplace from all the booze he drank, Billy Miller being taken to the E.R and having his stomach pumped because he drank too much Night Train wine, Watching Van Halen with my best friend Mark Singer……. I could go on BUT I will resist the urge.

03-89 Metallica/Queensryche Buffalo: I wasn’t on this one but Todd wrote “Dave and I were at the dept. store in the mall that had ticketmaster. Bob & Phil Quinlan's mom worked there. We would always stop there on paydays, get our checks cashed and she would look up any shows coming to Buffalo, Erie or Rochester. On this particular day she saw that Metallica just went on sale. There was no internet yet so we were able to get third row on the floor. The 2 end seats. When the lights went down for Queensryche we ran like hell around those first 2 rows and ended up front row center right up against the wall. James Hetfield literally stood over us”.

05-89 Cinderella, Bullet Boys, Winger Rochester: I was not on this one either BUT Todd told me that on the way home the state troopers stopped the bus and boarded it. He said that he was freakin’ because everyone was drunk or hung over and the police were walking over empty beer bottle and stuff going from seat to seat looking. It turns out they were looking for someone that just escaped from jail. Basically they could give a cr@p about all the underage drinking that was going on, they were on a mission to find this escape fugitive and that’s it….

12-89 Motley Crue/Warrant Rochester: Again, I was NOT on this one but Mark Vitale and Mark Singer told me a great story about it. Usually the bus driver was very cool! Heck, I think he was the same guy for a lot of them, he was the husband of one of the managers at McDonalds where Todd and Dave worked BUT this was a different driver and he was kind of a prune! He wouldn’t let everyone drink on the bus. WHAT THE H@LL, he had a conscious!!!!! So after some ‘negotiating’ he agreed to let everyone have ‘adult beverages’ BUT only after they got out of the city limits? Not sure how that would help BUT OH WELL! Mark Vitale donated his services and packed his little Dodge Colt full of ALL the booze and met the bus at the designated place where everyone paid him for his services and they loaded the bus up with all of the alcohol. I forget how much $ he told me he made BUT it was A LOT!

06-89 Ozzy, White Lion, Vixen Darien Lake- Even after moving to Charlotte, NC 10 months before, Mark Singer and I STILL talked on the phone at least every month and he asked me if I wanted to go up on a bus to see Ozzy Osbourne at Darien Lake in June. WELL DUH!!!!! Of course I do!!!!! I knew it was going to be a BLAST being I had been on two already. Well I don’t remember the trip up because Mark Vitale made me some lemonade and vodka drinks. Needless to say I was PLASTERED! The concert you ask?? Well I have no idea, I assume it was good. The one thing I DO remember about was making the HUGE mistake of getting some chocolate cookies and milk and downing it!!! HUGE MISTAKE because 10 minutes after that they had to stop the bus so I could PUKE on the side of the highway!!!!! HA!!!!!!!!

06-90 Aerosmith/Metallica/Dokken/Black Crows at Silver Stadium Rochester: Todd stated that Dave Howard started organizing the trips BUT when I emailed him he stated ”I was not at that show. I think Mike Z and doc did that trip.” So who did this trip and WHO is Mike Z. and 'doc'?

This is from Todd:

"Here are a couple corrections and answers to your questions. It was the Crue/Warrant/Bullet Boys show that Dave Howard put together. The bus left from the old Kmart parking lot. When Dave and I arrived as participants and not organizers for the first time, we were greeted by everyone freaking out about Jack being a dick not allowing alcohol. We knew him very well....he drove a few of our earlier trips and yes he was married to one of my McD's managers. He said that the Blue Bird folks had caught wind to the whole underage drinking thing we had going and he didn't want to get in trouble. We talked him into the outside the city limits thing. The Silver Stadium show with Metallica/Aerosmith/Dokken/Black Crows was organized by Dave and I. I can't tell you a damn thing about the show because my girlfriend at that time left her ticket at home in Olean. I stayed on the bus with her the entire day while everyone else enjoyed the show. It was pouring rain and Richie B was moshing down in the front in like a foot or so of standing water. He lost his shoes."

COMEBACK VERSION 1.2

 I know I stated in January "I have decided that this will be my last entry for a while, maybe ever". So like KISS and their 'Farewell Tour' in 2000, I am back because there is ALWAYS something happening around casa de McBride and I KNOW with no doubt in my mind that YOU need to read about it!!!! I just needed to take a break for a few months, KOOL AND THE GANG!?!?! OKIE DOKIE and we go a lil' somethang like this, HIT IT!!!!

 Not gonna lie to ya, this year has kinda sucked so far. Let the BAD NEWS commence! So everyone knows now, and frankly I could give an EFF if you don't, BECAUSE THEY WERE A HUGE PART OF MY LIFE!!!!! Anyways, after a very long time, My best friend and his wife (who is like a sister to me) are no more. I was told NOT to delve into it further but I need to let you know my LIFE changed at 4:10PM on 4/19/13....

 As you know Wylie (a pupper I had with a former girlfriend) passed away in 2010 and it took me over 2 1/2 years to realize Mary, my old girlfriend, did something very cool!!! Now I, and people that I know, have not always looked at her in the ‘brightest light’ from time to time BUT what she did was a very sweet thing, and I for one think she is very cool for doing this. At the same time Wylie had to be put down, I had a friend who went out to New Mexico and was going to send me some dirt from there. WELL I got a package and I ASSUMED it was the dirt so I just put it in a cabinet for when I did something in the yard and I needed a little 'fill in' dirt. In those 2 1/2 years, I moved it to the garage. One day a few months ago I was cleaning out the garage and said to myself, “Open up that package and dump the dirt in the yard and get it OUT of the garage.” When I opened it, there was a note from Mary and a bag of some of Wylie’s ashes!!!!!! The note said that they were ashes and I might want to scatter them at Lake Wylie (HENCE her name)… AGAIN, VERY COOL OF HER TO DO! So some of the ashes are by one of the trees I have in the front and off a dock at Lake Wylie.

 I turned 40 in April and I am happy to report that I haven’t had a midlife crisis yet and bought a Vette!

 My best friend’s (yeah the same one going through a divorce - it's not just a kick in the balls for him but it's when someone uses the top of their foot and causes a 'slapping' effect) dad was diagnosed with brain cancer and so I told Mrs. Boike that EVERYTHING that I am going through (Going to Duke Medical) is on hold because I can deal with my issues and she has A LOT on her plate! So with a ton on my mind, I went on my annual tour to go visit people in the OH., NY., PA. areas. Usually VA. is the last stop BUT I made the call NOT to go down there. Do I regret my decision? Is the Pope Catholic????? ANYWAYS, let's start;

 The night before I was to leave, my old friends Mike Carbonara and Boike came over and we had a couple, OK A LOT, of beers and talked about ‘stuff’ on the front porch. Needless to say, I didn’t get on the road until around 8ish and let me tell ya, driving eight hours with a bitchin’ hangover kinda stinks…

Mansfield, OH-

The first stop was Grandma McBride’s apartment at the assisted living complex in Mansfield, OH. She is 94 and can hardly see but STILL INSISTS to do everything herself. She made some Stouffers lasagna, like she did EVERY NIGHT when her and Grandpa watched me in 1989 while Catholic KATE and Big RON went to Hawaii. The next morning we went to breakfast with Sue who takes very good care of grandma and is just a freakin’ SAINT!!!!! We then went for a walk around the complex and she pointed out plants that she likes to take care of. AGAIN FOLKS SHE CAN HARDLY SEE BUT SHE MAKES DUE!!!!!! I then went to my cousin Chris’s house and he drove me around to some places I have NEVER seen and/or not seen in years…. One place we SHOULD NOT have drove by was my Nana’s old house! GOOD LORD!!!! WHAT A DUMP!!!! I will just leave it at that because I will get too upset about it. ANYWAYS! It was very cool to just hang out with him on his back patio and shoot the $hit about the demons that every family has, our grandpa and the Pink Floyd concert (which was his first) he and 90K other people were at in 1977 at the old Cleveland Stadium! HA!!!!!!!

 One or the first regrets of the trip occurred the 2nd day I was there. I decided NOT to see my 95 year old Nana at the nursing home, I KINDA know myself and I don’t think I could handle it. This has been ‘weighing’ on my mind since the last time I saw her in June 2012. Kripes when I went to see her at the nursing home, I almost ‘lost’ it. I know she doesn’t even know me anymore and from what the hospice nurses have said, she is very thin and feeble.

 Before heading out, I stopped by casa de Amy (She’s my cousin) in a way it’s like mine, in shouting distance of a race track. Mine is Lancaster Speedway and her’s is Mid-Ohio. FYI- her hubby is pretty funny, I can’t go into detail BUT his body language around some people is pretty funny. Then I drove up to Cleveland for a game at Progressive field or whatever they call it now, for an Indians game.

 I ALWAYS stay at my friend Scott and Dustin’s house where the hospitality ALWAYS rules and the beer is always cold! After last year's debacle of getting super drunk thus having a terrible hangover the next day. I only had a couple and we just hung outside and chit chatted for a little bit. YES!!!!! They are a gay couple!!! I know you were wondering that and don't lie and say you weren't. GET READY cause' I'm sooooooooooo getting on my soap box!!! TEST 1-2-3!!!! This thing on? OKIE DOKIE!!!! They are the coolest guys and they are A LOT nicer to fellow humans then some. I would LOVE to find a girl that loves me as much as Scott and Dustin love each other!!! THERE! I'm off now. 

 I will have an update for you next Monday, OKIE DOKIE???

COMEBACK

 I know I stated in January "I have decided that this will be my last entry for a while, maybe ever". So like KISS and their 'Farewell Tour' in 2000, I am back because there is ALWAYS something happening around casa de McBride and I KNOW with no doubt in my mind that YOU need to read about it!!!! I just needed to take a break for a few months, KOOL AND THE GANG!?!?! OKIE DOKIE and we go a lil' somethang like this, HIT IT!!!!

 Not gonna lie to ya, this year has kinda sucked so far. Let the BAD NEWS commence! So everyone knows now, and frankly I could give an EFF if you don't, BECAUSE THEY WERE A HUGE PART OF MY LIFE!!!!! Anyways, after a very long time, My best friend and his wife (who is like a sister to me) are no more. I was told NOT to delve into it further but I need to let you know my LIFE changed at 4:10PM on 4/19/13....

 As you know Wylie (a pupper I had with a former girlfriend) passed away in 2010 and it took me over 2 1/2 years to realize Mary, my old girlfriend, did something very cool!!! Now I, and people that I know, have not always looked at her in the ‘brightest light’ from time to time BUT what she did was a very sweet thing, and I for one think she is very cool for doing this. At the same time Wylie had to be put down, I had a friend who went out to New Mexico and was going to send me some dirt from there. WELL I got a package and I ASSUMED it was the dirt so I just put it in a cabinet for when I did something in the yard and I needed a little 'fill in' dirt. In those 2 1/2 years, I moved it to the garage. One day a few months ago I was cleaning out the garage and said to myself, “Open up that package and dump the dirt in the yard and get it OUT of the garage.” When I opened it, there was a note from Mary and a bag of some of Wylie’s ashes!!!!!! The note said that they were ashes and I might want to scatter them at Lake Wylie (HENCE her name)… AGAIN, VERY COOL OF HER TO DO! So some of the ashes are by one of the trees I have in the front and off a dock at Lake Wylie.

 I turned 40 in April and I am happy to report that I haven’t had a midlife crisis yet and bought a Vette!

 My best friend’s (yeah the same one going through a divorce - it's not just a kick in the balls for him but it's when someone uses the top of their foot and causes a 'slapping' effect) dad was diagnosed with brain cancer and so I told Mrs. Boike that EVERYTHING that I am going through (Going to Duke Medical) is on hold because I can deal with my issues and she has A LOT on her plate! So with a ton on my mind, I went on my annual tour to go visit people in the OH., NY., PA. areas. Usually VA. is the last stop BUT I made the call NOT to go down there. Do I regret my decision? Is the Pope Catholic????? ANYWAYS, let's start;

 The night before I was to leave, my old friends Mike Carbonara and Boike came over and we had a couple, OK A LOT, of beers and talked about ‘stuff’ on the front porch. Needless to say, I didn’t get on the road until around 8ish and let me tell ya, driving eight hours with a bitchin’ hangover kinda stinks…

 SCREEEEEEEEECH!!!! I will have an update each Monday of the week for the month of August... Each new update will be in RED..

FINALE

So you know, I, ANDY McBRIDE, has been dealing with a health issue for the couple of years or so. If you have been on the emails that I have sent or I have told you then you already know. Not going to my 20th class reunion was the kicker!! I wrote this to a friend of mine:
 Oct 15, 2012
"It started out fine. Friday, a bunch of us met at the football game and drinks afterwards. As you are aware, I have some health ‘issues’ and I tend to slur and kinda walk funny. Well I am still very self conscious about it. Well a couple people made comments to others to make sure I had a ride home because people thought I was drunk….. They meant no harm whatsoever BUT I kinda saw the writing on the wall so while lying in bed that night I made the decision NOT to go to the actual reunion the following night. I didn’t want people to see me like this and think I was a DRUNKEN FOOL. Plus I kinda felt bad because I have said stuff to some of the girls that I don’t think they or their spouses found too amusing…  I think it was just best that I didn’t go. Do I have regrets? SURE but I still think it was the right thing to do. This whole experience made me realize that I need to just announce to all that I have some ‘issues’ and quit trying to hide it like I have been for the past 2+ years…. "

Let's start from the beginning shall we:
Oct 10, 2010

subject: GETTING MY AFFAIRS IN ORDER!!!

"I soooooooooooo just gave my mom a heart attack!!! SORRY MOM!!! First off to all that didn't know, a little background info for ya, I have been having some balancing 'issues', I just can't do the stuff I use to be able to do. Simple stuff, so I went to a neurologist and he had me have a cat scan done, TALK ABOUT A NOISY MACHINE!!! It's like standing next to a freakin' freight train.. Anyways, I just had my follow up appointment with him and he said it's not a tumor! And it's not MS, which I made the mistake of telling my mother it might be. He said that it's a hereditary gene that is causing my cerebellum, which controls my speak and balance, to shrink. THERE IS NO TREATMENT FOR IT! It is a gradual thing. SOOOOOOO!!! I MIGHT eventually need a walking assistant, like a cane or wheelchair. He wants me to get some more blood work done, so I am off to have that done. EVERYONE!!!! Sure I'm a little freaked out by this BUT as God as my witness, THIS WILL NOT STOP ME! I, Robert Andrew McBride, will just need to put on my 'BIG BOY BRITCHES' and deal with it. And I expect y'all to do the same. Sure there is stuff I can't do or I am really slow at doing BUT I'm STILL Andy!!! OKIE DOKIE????? That's it! I really don't want to talk about it anymore...... Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to go get POKED with a needle and then going to the DUMP to be asked by the attendant where I am from because I talk funny...... BYE!!!"


I went to get a 2nd opinion and so the following emails are about the second Dr. I saw.

Nov 22, 2010
"Not sure about if you had to take it in your school but we had to and when I become fired up due to incompetence and confusion I go into the 'IOWA TEST MODE'. That's where I shut down and don't really care what the outcome is. First off, The Dr. I saw name was Patel! Cool guy but his ENGLISH SUCKED so he talked and instead of me asking him to repeat it because I didn't understand him, I just nodded my head and said yes. I THINK he said something about it maybe being a vitamin deficiency, I guess I can look forward to a stocking FULL of vitamins for Christmas right mom? THEY DIDN'T EVEN HAVE A COPY OF THE EFFING CAT SCAN!!!! I guess I have to get an EFFing copy of it and bring it to him!!! DUDE!!!!! Ya think that after spending $1700 EFFing bucks the Dr. I go to get a EFFing 2nd opinion would have the data cd along with my medical records! SWEET JESUS! ANYWAYS! He examined me and all that fun stuff and said a few things. BLAH BLAH BLAH!!!!!! SO AT THIS POINT I REALLY DON'T CARE IF I NEED A NURSE TO WIPE MY @$$ EVENTUALLY! Let's just ALL agree that I'm CURED and everything is OKIE DOKIE! I'm just slow doing stuff, THAT'S ALL!!!!! I DO NOT want to talk about it anymore! NO MOM, please don't call me. FAMILY, DO NOT bring it up at Thanksgiving, Ya want me to go home earlier, then bring it up!"




Jan 24, 2011
"Okie dokie, First off, I was REALLY pissed the last time I went and saw the Dr.! They had NOTHING, including my freaking CAT SCAN/MRI...... So that's why I sent that BLISTERING email. I was PISSED!!! Anyways, I had an appointment this afternoon and I was VERY LUCKY to have Mrs. Boike, a registered nurse and a hospital administrator go with me. She was ABLE to explain EVERYTHING to me and when the Dr. said something SHE WOULD write it down and ask further questions. This is what went down:

1. He thinks I have spinal cerebellum ataxia BUT he wants to run a few more tests to see, KRIPES! It could be just a vitamin deficiency.
2. He order a blood test and I had it done a few minutes ago. They are for certain things like vitamin stuff and ect.
3. I have to PEE in a jug for a day so they can analyze that too! (I think I'll wait to do that on a Saturday because it would FREAK out EVERYONE at work if I was walking around with a jug full of PEE!
4. He is going to have another DR. check out my MRI and get this thoughts on it too.
5. I'm going to start having some genetic testing done too. (They come to your house to do it.) That's pretty cool if ya ask me.

May 6th, 2011
I'm running out of patience..... The Dr. has me do the SAME stuff every time I am in there PLUS he told me that the EFFing lab LOST my blood work so I have to go and give 10 more samples of blood again!! I LOVE getting pricked by a needle!!!!! Very relaxing! (Rolling my eyes).........  Due to a scheduling conflict, Mrs. Boike was not able to come with me but if she did, ALL HELL WOULD HAVE BROKEN LOOSE let me tell ya..... She is a 'GOD SEND' because she makes the Dr. stop and says "Can you please explain that so Andy can understand that". I can totally tell that the Dr. HATES being 2nd guessed and made to explain stuff in 'layman" terms.... BUT it is my health!!!

Nov 4, 2011
NO answers!!!!! I went to my Dr. appointment today and we are STILL at where we were over a year ago! They have run quite a few tests, KRIPES! I can't tell you how much blood they have taken and DON'T get me started about the $! F.U.B.A.R best describes it.... He recommended that I go to the Duke Medical Center for a 'DR. that knows what the EFF they are doing' my opinion, to examine me plus he wants me to go to a physical therapist so I can learn to do stuff WITHOUT falling.... I'd write more BUT all day and Mrs. Boike will attest to this, I've been on the edge of 'LOSING IT' so I will try not to talk about it anymore until I have a few days to digest the UNCERTAINTY...... Trying to keep my chin up, So now you can FIRE away with the questions I KNOW you have. Will I answer them???? MAYBE, Maybe NOT! It depends on my mood."

Again, it’s called spinal cerebellum ataxia, ‘GOOGLE’ it! I did once and it kinda freaked me out. There is a video of someone with it trying to walk…… That image will ALWAYS be in my mind! So now we are all on the same page. I have had 'issues' with my balance for the last 5 or so years but being the male I am, I just ignored them and went on with my life BUT one day two summers ago, I just couldn't hide it anymore and my mother ORDERED ME to go to my Dr... He said EVERYTHING checked out groovy. Blood, Urine, EXT. BUT he said that he would feel more comfortable sending me to a specialist.

HA!!!! Sometime I will tell you the story involving a certain EX supervisor, my family, friends and an MRI/CAT SCAN appointment. All I will say about it is, Issac Newton 3rd law of motion "For every action there is an equal and opposite re-action." sums it up quite well. ANYWAYS, it affects my balance and my speech as if you think I am DRUNK because I slur really bad sometimes. A great example of this was at the last BEER-PA-LOOZA when an ex cop, Tammy R., gave me a sobriety test and I failed because I was doing something with my eyes..... I SOOOOOOOOO wanted to tell her but I didn't..
Some people think that I don't ACT like I have something wrong with me, Sorry BUT I WON'T be one of those people that ACT THEIR ILLNESS! I CHOOSE to NOT let it stop me and be like my nephew Jack who is autistic, happy with the way I am NO MATTER WHAT!!!!! Sure I have my good and bad days BUT I'm STILL Andy McBride, some might say that I am still immature, cold, snobby and just flat out contentious, I'm just slower at what I do. Whether it be doing anything that's normal to working on projects I have at casa de McBride or doing everyday things. So no more of this!

So if you see me going down the stairs at work and I am slow, It’s not that I am holding you up on purpose, it’s just that I have to take my time, OKIE DOKIE? Also, I don’t want you to think I am ‘hitting’ on you when I ask to hold your hand when we are someplace and I need to get up and walk to the restroom. I just need something ‘steady’ to hold on to sometimes. A great example of this was when I was graciously asked to be a pall barrier at Dave Donavan’s funeral and I asked Todd Hopkins, Richie Bess and Mike Nenno if I could hold on to their shoulder while we walked so I didn’t fall…. I fall sometimes and YES it’s embarrassing, I am still young so hopefully I don’t break anything, BUT I hate that other people see it because they can get upset seeing something like that. I think it was last time I was up at the Boike/Mese farm in VA. and he saw me fall and I know it upset him to see it. I get CRAZY LOOKS when I say how early I get up in the morning to stretch, do yoga and work out but it helps me control the 'balance issues' I have.. I've held out telling everyone because I have learned that people treat you different when they know something is wrong with you, plus when people see you the first thing they ask is about your health. To be honest with ya, I REALLY don't want to talk about it in depth..... Please don't think that I'm ALWAYS 'happy go lucky' with all of this. 99% of me accepts my fate but there are times I get very upset with this, it’s not every day a couple neurologists tell you that you will need an ‘assistant’ to help ya walk. And by ‘assistant’ they mean a freakin’ wheelchair….. I don’t care who ya are! That’s a big pill to have to swallow.

I'm THINKING that in the next couple of months that I MIGHT go to the Duke Medical Center and have ANOTHER EFFing neurologist check me out again, HOPEFULLY one that can help me!!! I have started working out the details and I just need someone to go with me because I have a SNEAKING suspicion that they will need to do a 'spinal tap' on me (FUNNY BAND BUT A SCARY PROCEDURE) to hold my hand and to take notes of what they say. Mrs. Boike is doing the research to see what Dr. I should go to and that will be the one I go to because she knows what the EFF she is doing and I TRUST her!!! ON a side note, YOU can tell BIG TIME if I don't trust you!!!! It's a HUGE thing for me!!! Always has and ALWAYS will be..... BUT in all, I hope the nurse is HOT who has to 'clean me' when I can't do it myself anymore and always to JUST LET IT BE!! ****** So you know, I deleted a few comments after I spoke with some former and current friends in the H.R (Human Resources) Dept. that would have MIGHT riled up some people BUT, I did leave the following statement in BECAUSE......******* As always take care of yourself and I would LOVE to take a drug test at work! I'd pass with 'flying colors' you would too right!?!?!?!

ACTUNG!!!! I have decided that this will be my last entry for a while. GOD SPEED KIDS!!! I have a few more blog entries in DA WORKS, because I am ALWAYS THINKING

and I MIGHT post them in the future. The KEY word is MIGHT!!!

'HAPPY whatever doesn't offend you'!!!

Because I like MOST of you and I am taking a break from cleaning my kitchen, I'm here to give you some knowledge about finance, computers, cars and a few things in between so YOU can have a net worth of 5.5 MILLION like me! HA!!!!!! KIDDING OR AM I!?!??!!? You decide.............

*#*#* All the stuff I am about to give you is FREE! I LIKE THAT PRICE!!! WOO HOO!!!*#*#*

FINANCE:

• https://www.quizzle.com/ It's a great way to MANAGE your finances and gives you your credit score! ###### NOW IT'S NOT YOUR TRUE FICO SCORE BUT IT'S CLOSE AND GIVES YOU A 'BALL PARK' FIGURE!######

• https://www.mint.com/ THIS is another GREAT site!!! It downloads and manages all of your bank and loan accounts.

• https://www.creditkarma.com/ This gives your credit score AGAIN!!! ###### NOW IT'S NOT YOUR TRUE FICO SCORE BUT IT'S CLOSE AND GIVES YOU A 'BALL PARK' FIGURE!######

• https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp It's your RIGHT as an AMERICAN CITIZEN to be able to pull your credit report each year FOR FREE!!!! DO IT and check for errors. The credit reporting agencies are NOTORIOUS for that kind of stuff!

• http://www.clarkhoward.com/ and http://www.daveramsey.com/home/ THESE two are my 'GO TO GUYS' when I have ANY financial question, WORDS can't describe what I have learned from them!!!!!! They rock like KISS at the Thomas and Mack Center at Las Vegas in 88!!!! I KNOW BECAUSE I WAS THERE AND 'Rock 'N' Rolled All Night and Partied Everyday'!!!!!!

COMPUTER:

• http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage This is a FREE anti virus program for your home computer. It's all you need TRUST ME ON THIS! I have been using it for YEARS and I have had no problems ever!!!

• http://www.openoffice.org/ So your all set to pay a lot of $ for Microsoft Office? WELL!!!! This looks a little different BUT is basically the same thing and it's A LOT cheaper then Microsoft Office!!! IT'S FREE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!

• http://www.iobit.com/advancedsystemcareper.html This FREE program scans your computer and fixes 'issue' that are making your computer run slow.....

AUTO:

• http://www.recalls.gov/ Don't be that guy/gal that has possible 'issues' with your car because you weren't aware of a recall that was issued by your auto maker months ago! Register your email and they will send you a notice if there is a recall on your car!

MISC:

• http://www.ehow.com/ This site RULES!!! It shows you how to do ANYTHING!!!! KRIPES!! It helped me learn how to freakin tile and I would say it turned out OKIE DOKIE!

• http://www.antennaweb.org/ It's ALL good if you think of me as a NERD, I'm cool with it, but I know about TV and radio stuff (HELLO! I'm a 'TV and radio production' degree holder from ASU, YEAP I went to college, SHOCKER HUH? ALL stations in the USA are mandated by the FCC to broadcast in HDTV! I know the reason they did this but I will spare you that info, all you need to know is that you can get a 'CRAZY' amount of channels (network TV, NOT ESPN and stuff) just with an antenna! ********** AGAIN! NETWORK TV NOT CABLE STATIONS BUT don't fret because you can ask Shonteea, co worker, about some reality show and she will give you detailed events of each episode (THANK GOD FOR MY iTouch!).................

• https://twitter.com/ Say what you want about social media, TWITTER and 'DA BOOK' aka Facebook, BUT it's GREAT because of all the info you get from it! PEOPLE! I get all the information I can handle about football and other stuff by 'following' people from current and past players of the Buffalo Bills and news outlets from around the country. KRIPES! I knew Ryan Fitzpatrick (the Bills QB) was going to throw an interception because he tweeted that he had a hang nail early in the day. HANG NAIL=INT!!!!! PLUS Famous people will reply to you if you ask them a question! KRIPES! I almost FAINTED when Thurman Thomas 'retweeted' me!!!! MY life was complete at that moment!

There are other sites but I can't think of them right now and I SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO need to get back in the kitchen to clean and to watch my Bills get HUMILIATED!!!! OH THE JOY!!!

AT THE CAR WASH!

One of my first jobs was at the ‘STP Car Wash’ in 1990…..

I and others could write a FREAKIN’ book about the stuff that we saw and did there! Forgive me if I remember this stuff like it happened yesterday BUT there were things that occurred that I WILL never forget…..These are GREAT examples of how NOT to run a business… I knew when Mike Carbonara and I applied when they were still building it, that we were in for quite a ride! A guy by the name of Jerry Beaver (I’m pretty sure he liked to drink A LOT!!!! KRIPES! He always REEKED of it) said to us, “I’m going to take a chance and hire you two.” Looking back, we were probably the most ‘normal’ and ‘straight-laced’ kids there!!

-One of the first days, we were getting the place ready to open and Jerry Beaver brought out a phone and began to scream in it like a madman!!!! Carb and I looked at each other and questioned it but this was just one of the few signs of things to come.

-There was a ‘healthy’ looking coworker of ours and one day we were all picking on him, REMEMBER, this was when ‘bullying’ someone was OKIE DOKIE and one of the guys told him that he would give him $5 bucks if the kid could do a push-up. THE POOR KID COULDN’T EVEN DO ONE!!!!!!!

-We were just a bunch of teenagers ‘looking up’ to “management”. Were most of them shady?? Is the Pope Catholic? This also applied to the guys in the LUBE area who showed us that there was a room downstairs full of all the filters and supplies needed to change oil and they and us kids had no problem ‘borrowing stuff’ KRIPES!!!! I think I had enough oil filters for every oil change I had to do on my, older brother and parent's cars for the next 5 years! THANK GOD for the statute of limitations. A person who will remain anonymous was rebuilding an engine and needed some STP Oil Treatment. Lo and behold, he had enough to use on 15 engine rebuilds the next day at school!! Oh don’t even get me started on the car cleaning stuff I had!!! Let’s just say that I ALWAYS had the best stuff to clean up your car!!!! This was the time that I honed my detailing skills…. Speaking of honing, I learn how to drive a manual-speed car... I TORE UP other people's cars while learning the 'finer' points of releasing the clutch...
-Meetings were a FREE FOR ALL!!! HECK! Boike and his then-girlfriend would come to a few…. They didn’t work there BUT they showed up anyway and NO ONE cared!!! At one he was at, we had a stripper. I think it was Tony’s (manager) birthday and I’m not sure who got the stripper but we had our meetings in the main lobby and she started to strip let’s remember that the majority of us were teenage boys so we were all dead silent and staring at the woman taking her clothes off. I remember her saying “Y’all are too quiet, I need some noise to strip.” So one of us turned on the radio and then she proceeded to get NAKED!!!! HA!!!!! She made Tony get on all fours put a leash on him and bark like a dog. I will NEVER forget him saying in his deep southern accent “BOWWWWWWWWW-WWWWWWOWWWWWW!” Boike and I were reminiscing about it the other day and he said "It was the best meeting EVVVVVVVVER!" I agree with his assessment.     
-It was my first experience having to DEAL with people from 'corporate', I think First Brands was headquartered in CT, (they owned STP), they thought they knew it ALL but were just IDIOTS in suits. Mr. Dalton (a big V.P) was a crusty old man who was 99% of the time just 'bitter' but once in a while he would lighten up and tell us stories about how ummmmmmmmmmmm a woman’s parts taste like CHICKEN!! I also learned the motto “work SMART NOT hard” from a guy that I think was a high up and used to work at Ford.

-LOOK!!!! At one time STP did tune ups and inspections, when they stopped I asked if I could have the cabinets that held all the stuff and they said sure! I STILL have them TODAY and I even gave my friend two of them……….

-STP sponsored the 43 car of Richard Petty and when the show car came to our store we would spend HOURS trying to jump start it and drive it around the parking lot. FYI, we never could. They locked up the battery so we couldn’t get to it…JERKS!

-There was an older guy there (probably in his 40s) that we ALL HATED (more than likely, it was because he made more money in tips then all of us) and one day he showed up to work all BANGED UP! He said he was in a car wreck BUT the real story was that he got SUPER DUPER drunk and tried to ride home on his 10 speed bicycle and fell off. It must have been a doozy of a wreck because he got really banged up! 

-Tony (manager) also liked to DRINK and drive, he showed up at work one day in really bad shape, neck brace and all, he wrecked his car driving home from a bar!!! THERE'S A SHOCKER! He liked to ask us if we were thirsty and then saying he was too, then he proceeded to pull out a beer from a cooler that we had on the ‘front line’ to stay cool on HOT @$$ summer days…… One day he asked Jon Brown, we called him Jelly Bean, if he really drank like 42 beers and Jelly Bean responded "Buy me the beer and I will show ya" I think Tony did!!!!! HA!! 

-Bruce (manager) was the funniest guy but was a full blown ‘coke head’. To this day, I STILL use the line he would use when someone would come up to him and say "Bruce I have a question for ya." He would say "OH it's about this big" and use his hands to describe his 'MANHOOD'.

-Mike was an ex-police officer and he would show us how to ‘subdue’ and pull a suspect out of a car by their head! I was the ‘assistant’ in him showing us how and he freakin’ grabbed me under my cheeks and above my throat and proceeded to pull me out of a car window….. It was a JOY let me tell ya! Oh and he was like in his 40’s and ‘doing’ A 20ish year old, Amy. I think it was customary to be an older guy and have ‘relations’ with a younger girl…….. Speaking of that, Tony (manager) was ‘doing’ LYNN and I asked Tony’s little boy “if he likes FAT CHICKS like his dad does”! Ask Joe Walker, He STILL brings that up when we see each other. Not sure if the job made us EVIL or we were already but, we wrote L-Y-N-N on Tony's windshield in Rain X so it only appeared when it rained! HA!!!!! ALSO, there was a 'HOLY ROLLER' that we worked with and we really were not fans, mostly because he was such a prude and according to him GOD DID EVERYTHING!!
Example:

One of us- "Mike, that car's got a flat tire."
Mike E.- "OH IT MUST BE BECAUSE GOD WANTED IT TO BE FLAT."
One of us- "OK JERRY FARWELL I guess that effin' nail had nothing to do with it..."

So we would do stuff to 'mess' with him like parking our cars around his so he couldn't move it!!! HA!! He would get soooooooo fired up and scream at us to "MOVE YOUR CARS MAAAAAAAAN"!

-One time after work we all went to the Redskins vs. Jets preseason game down in Columbia, SC and I fell off Scott Fasse’s jeep, which was black, in traffic. Oh, and I MIGHT have been a little intoxicated KRIPES! I think everyone was!!! I remember all of us 'trying' to get some from Leann, an old GROUPIE who worked there..... Let's say, that I think she lived a VERY hard life!!! She would tell us about Van Halen, She HATED Michael Anthony’s wife and how CRAZY David Lee Roth was, and how she had NEVER heard that crazy amount of noises coming from a hotel room EVER!!!!! $10 bucks says SHE was the cause of a lot of those ‘noises’.

-We used the SUPER STRONG vacuums to suck almost all of the change in someone’s ashtray (we left just enough so people didn’t think we took any) and then we would clean out the vacuum in the evening and collect the change so we had enough to buy some beer and have ANYONE, managers/the guys in the oil change area, over the age of 21 go and buy us some beer! If I recall, Bruce bought ALL of our beer for when we went to Myrtle Beach for our senior spring break in 92!!! HA!!!!!  

-We had to shut off the HUGE blow dryer at the end of the car wash for all convertibles and old cars that had a vinyl roof we forgot to turn it off and it blew a top to SHREDS and the lady didn't even notice!!!! She drove off like nothing ever happened!   

- One time, we ran out of car wash soap and we saw a big barrel full of, what we thought was more, but it was freakin’ wheel cleaner!! HA!!!!! I think STP (First Brands, the corporation) had to pay to have a few cars be repainted because we jacked them up!

-FYI! I am laughing at the same time I type this stuff. There are more stories BUT I can’t think of all of them now. Oh and DON’T JUDGE because we ALL did ‘stuff’ at our ‘teenage jobs’….

AND LET THIS BE A P.S.A FOR ALL OF YOU!!!! DO NOT take your car to a car wash! No matter how busy you think you are, do it yourself! TRUST ME ON THIS!!!! These ‘events’ molded me into the person I am today. When I witness something that’s out of whack today, I just think back to those days and say to myself, “that’s nothing out of the ordinary, One time at STP we (INSERT STORY HERE)………..”

The only other thing that happened and I deemed 'BLOG WORTHY' was that the house that my Nana and step grandpa Russ lived in had a fire. Not gonna lie to ya, I wish it burned to the ground because WHITE TRASH have lived in it for the last 20 years and the place looks like CRAP!!! MY GOD MAN!!!! Did you see how many EFFING dogs they had to rescue!?!?!?! My cousin Chris summed it up quite well by saying " Russ probably crawled out of his grave and set the fire!!!!!" DUDE!!! He built that house and my dad helped him.... So many good memories of my youth there! EFFin' WHITE TRASH!!!!! Yeah I said it!!!!!!!!

That's all got for ya this month.... Happy birthday BABY JESUS!

And remember, I have friends in high places so pretty please with a cherry on top of it, BE FRAKIN' GOOD!!!

Just a friendly reminder; I and OTHERS notice when you don't know what you are doing but act and say you do....

And today’s word is RECALCITRANT !!!

I can HONESTLY say that I have NEVER heard that word before but my sister-in-law's mother used it A LOT when raising her children!!! Now I am not one to ‘JUDGE’ but some people believe she is CO CO for Cocoa Puffs and I will neither confirm nor deny that, she is BUT I live for the stuff that comes out of her mouth!!!! DARE I SAY, SOLID EFFIN' GOLD!!! She is one of the wild and wacky characters at casa de Mike y Liz McBride... As all of you that have met my brother Mike know, we are like NIGHT and DAY!!!

He is very reserved and is very careful with what he says and does. I on the other hand, WELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL............. He is ALWAYS trying to give things away because he likes to 'organize' and he will find stuff and try to give it to Liz's brother Will, my cousin Fartin' Martin', any of his 14000+ follows on Twitter @McBride or me.... This is CLASSIC MIKE McBRIDE for ya and if you are friends with him, you will nod your head in agreement when I show you what that wild and wacky brother of mine did.

He gave me a can of cement sealer/paint. I used it to paint a section of my garage and when I opened it I found this!!!!!!!!! HA!!!!! He left the brush in there from when he used it, probably years ago!!!!!!!!! All I could say was OHHHHHHHHHHHHH MICHAEL!!!!!!

In my constant pursuit to always be prepared, I bought a generator. So the plan was ‘seeded’ in July when I went to Boike and Mese’s casa. They had a very BAD thunderstorm and they were without power for a few days. Boike and I discussed generators the day I was up there. I knew I needed one for ‘JUST IN CASE’ plus seeing Boike’s pale white @$$ showering on the front porch really helped me decide. A Honda one would be the ULTIMATE but for as little as you need one THOSE THINGS ARE LIKE $2k, WEEEEEEEEEEEL! I was in Aldi the other day doing some grocery shopping and I saw this!

Now FIRST OFF, it’s a name I have NEVER heard of BUT for $230 it was a chance I was willing to take, plus it is small and is really all I need to run my refrigerator and little A/C window unit is needed.... AGAIN!!! I don’t need a TOP OF THE LINE one, just something I can use for times that the power goes out and the last time that happened was like three years ago……

Let SEE, what else have I done????? Instead of going to my 20th class reunion (I'll tell ya why on 1/1/13), I worked on some trim in my bathroom, so that while pondering life on the throne I don't have to look at the old trim and say to myself "I should fix that"..... I also played out in the yard (that's what I call working out in the yard) and planted some grass in an area where it's ALWAYS a challenge to grow it!!! ALSO, I LOVE eating sunflower seeds when I am outside playing in the yard. Well a few days ago I was all ready to put a pinch of them in and start weed whacking. I keep them in a bag on the mustang….. WELL I go to get some and they are ALL shells!!!! A freakin’ mouse ate them all!! LITTLE B#ST#RD!!!! This fired me up so I set a trap for him with yummy peanut butter as bait….. The next morning after working out, I went out to the garage and YAHTZEE!! The trap worked and the little feller was deader than a door nail!!!! NOW! I’m still kinda fired up because I have to go to Dollar General and buy another bag!!! I ain’t made of $ ya know!!!
Installed a security camera for $#iT$ and giggles, Wanna see it???? Here's what it is aimed at

 

And ALWAYS remember: