Efilgnikcufecin

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

Doris, and I 6/2024

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

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

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

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

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

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

The RR signal that we 'borrowed'!

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

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

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

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

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

Me breaking down the lights..

The RR lights broke down...

 

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

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

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

Next you have BO and LUKE of the Dukes of Hazzard

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

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

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

PBRmeASAP

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

Boike and I 

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

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

Dear Bills.....

 Dear Buffalo Bills,

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

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

                                                                                                                       Yours Truly,

                                                                                                                        ANDY

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

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

 

Where it all happened on Oct. 23 1987

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DA LAKE HOUSE and in the later years, DA LAKELAND!

 1978- I am pretty sure Mr. Boike told me that they bought the lot with his parents as owning the other half this year. It was bought within mind that it was a place where his family and Grandpa and Grandma Boike could go and relax.......

                                                              Matthew, Rick, Pat, and Mike Boike 2005

Summer of 1990- This was the first time Boike invited me out there. I remember Donnie M., my friend from NY Mark S., and Tim W. all went. Being that we were 'SUPERVISED' we just swam and that was it. Also, I think that same summer, The Boike family and I went out there because Boike bought a 1970 Challenger parts car, and we tore it all apart and salvaged a few things for the Challenger he was restoring. FYI- it is 33 years later, AND IT STILL ISN'T RESTORED!!!!

1990-92- The lake house was the place for horny teenage boys looking to touch a bare breast!!!! Not sure if he'll EVER acknowledge this, but he had the key to it copied and he gave all of us one. YEAH Boike, you KNOW it's true!!!! A big song at the time was 'LOVE SHACK' and so we dubbed it that whenever we referred to it. It also was a great place to drink A LOT of beer, A constant theme for a very long time!!!!! It didn't matter what time of the year it was, we had a house with a wood stove, bedrooms, a full kitchen, bathroom. Sure the house reeked of mildew, built on the ground, BUT to us, it smelled of 'FREEDOM'!

• I vividly remember us 'borrowing' a keg of green beer from the high school, the faculty had a St. Patricks party, and one of us noticed it at the end of a school day. So we put it in the trunk of one of our cars and being it was still cold weather, we took it to the lake house and put it in the lake to chill it while we waited for FRIDAY! We went out there and drank all the green beer we could handle. HA! I so remember our friend Jon B. A.K.A Jellybean, sitting on the dock with a huge cup of green beer with a grin from ear to ear... 
• When it got warmer and we couldn't put the keg in the water, we simply moved a few shelves in the refrigerator and 'made' the keg fit in there!!! We had a functioning fridge that kept our beer cold! GOD THIS COUNTRY IS GREAT!!!!
• There was only three rules at the lakehouse 1. Don't die!, 2. don't sit in the old rocking chair he was breastfed in, 3. NO GLASS of any kind! 
• One time, we had a hammock set up, and we wanted to see how many people it would hold before it ripped apart. I think we had 6 kids on it before it finally broke. 
• 95% of the time, we had campfires down there, either for warmth or ambiance. One night, our friend Jimmy E. was so drunk, he freakin' fell in the fire. NOW he was not hurt at all but the shock of it sobered him up real quick. After we all made sure he was OKIE DOKIE, we all busted out laughing out of control. 
• During the summer months, a bunch of us, from school and people we DEEMED cool from our jobs, would go out there and just chill in the lake. It was in the flight path of incoming jets that were landing at Charlotte- Douglas Airport. We would just 'marinate' in our inner tubes and look up at the planes and talk about our futures. GOOD TIMES!
• A group of us liked maintaining it, matter of fact, Scott F. who is in this photo,

                                       Don Maul, Jason Walker, Scott Fasse, Blake Tenore, and Andy McBride Lake 1991

and I would go down there, and do some stuff like trimming and mowing. And then make an excuse to take a break to drink ice cold beer we had chilling in the refrigerator. 

                                                                            Joe W. and Andy McBride 1992

                                                                          Mike B. and Andy McBride 1992

• This was before every imagable area by a body of water was developed, so it was at the end of a gravel, WHOOPS SORRY, I mean DIRT road.  ANYONE WANTING TO TRY THIS, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PLEASE DON'T! One of our friends drove an old 1969 Thunderbirds with a freakin' HUGE 429 cubic inch V8!!!! To everyone reading this that is not into cars, THAT WAS A HUGE V8, and matter of fact, it was one of the biggest engines Ford made that year!!!! ANYWAYS, we thought it would be a great idea to have someone hold a rope while in the trunk with one of us holding the other end on a FREAKIN' GO-KART. Tim would stomp on the gas and someone would hold the rope with one hand and the other one steering the freakin' GO-KART! Oh and did I mention that the GO-KART had a single strap around one of the wheels as a brake?? It is a wonder one of us was NOT killed! Image a huge Thunderbird going down a dirt road with a kid in the trunk holding a rope that another kid on a go-kart was holding and steering. BAD IDEA I KNOW but it was fun at the time. Oh and Mark S. STILL holds the record of going 55MPH....

1992-98- We all sort of went our separate ways with college and stuff, I went to the local Community College and was sort of in charge of maintaining it, In a way, I nominated myself to do it because I kinda like mowing the lawn and racking. Boike and I remained close while he went to Virginia Tech (3 hrs. away. Thanks to him, I had a bunch of NEW friends and we continued to use the lake house as our 'social gathering' place. EVERY chance he got, he and his friends would come down to the lake house. He would say, "when you see 'Joe's Mustang' make a right onto our road, Mill Pond." FYI- Joe's Mustang was an actual store. Some of his friends thought that it was a guy named Joe with a Mustang in the front yard. HA!!!!!!!

• In the summer of 93, he was STILL dating the girl he knew in high school. At one of the parties, the cops came, shocker huh!?!?!?!?! HA!!!!! I am giggling as I type this, well the cop was walking around seeing all the underage drinking going on and was looking for the owner of the property to give the "Break this party up now" speech... He went into the house and there was Boike BUCK NAKED! HA!!!!!! And the cop asked' "BOY, WHY ARE YOU NAKED???" One of the greatest lines ever!!!!!! 
• At one party, there were a bunch of our old high school buddies there.. The house across the cove had a fiberglass life-sized cow! Well, I remember Pat P. and a few other guys swimming over and getting it! We spent the rest of the night taking turns riding it. I remember Carlton H. pushing it through the door and riding it like it was bucking and he was a cowboy at a rodeo holding on for dear life! A few weeks later, Boike and our friend ANNA ROSE tied it up to my mailbox with hopes it would fire up my dad. WELL Boike. Big Ron calmly told me the next morning that there is a fiberglass cow tied up to our mailbox. We thought about what we can do about returning it. That evening dad and I drove my Nissan truck A.K.A 'DA BLACK WIDOW' to your lake house and put it on the dock for the owners to see it and reclaim it. Then we went and got ice cream! HA!! Put that in your pipe and smoke it!!!?!?!?!?!?!
• Being that I lived in town, I was in charge of returning the keg. My brother's friend from college Ann told me years later, that the first time she met me was when I pulled up to my house with an empty keg in the back of my truck looking like 'DEATH'... I am saying, I was probably coming back from one of those lakehouse parties!
• We still talk about it when we see each other to this day, is when Boike brought down his new friend who I did not know. He was a really tall white guy with a huge white man afro. Well after smoking 'left-handed cigarettes' for hours. He comes out to the dock and proclaims that he is an expert knee boarder..  I was like, "WHO IS THIS CLOWN?" So you know, Boike had a boat by then, not a good one. But we did not care! It was a boat, dude! Anyways, so he tells all that he will be extra cool by doing a 'dock start', which is when you start on dry land and ski, wake or kneeboard onto the water. Now mind you, he is doing all of this while looking all professional in a wet suit.  He straps into the board and instructs Boike to drive out so there is no slack in the rope... Then the magic happened! HA! He gave the call for Boike, 'TO HIT IT!' and when he did, Todd went head first into the water and held onto the rope for a few seconds. This caused him to be dragged farther out. So you know, he was still underwater when this was all happening! We all died laughing and when he finally came up, he swam back to shore and walked back into the house.... I DO NOT think I saw him again for the whole weekend. It was one of the funniest moments EVVVVVVVVER!
• Speaking of Boike's crappy boat, at one point, Fasse, Joe W., and I took it to a bar/restaurant (T- Bones) on the lake. It had an outdoor bar and it was PACKED. We were all too cool because we had a boat dang nabbit! Where was I? OH YEAH, we 'docked' it right next to a REALLY nice one and would talk to some 'super' hot girls and tell them to look out at the dock and check out what we came over in. They pointed to the nice one and asked us, "Is that the one you came over in?" And we all shook our heads NO and pointed out the crappy boat next to it. 'THAT'S OUR BOAT RIGHT NEXT TO IT." Needless to say, we did NOT impress them BUT we didn't care, WE HAD A BOAT!!!!!!
• We also utilized the boat to hone our waterskiing skills! Sure it had a freakin' styrofoam block we found somewhere as a seat and the back of the boat had to be fortified by metal beams from an old power line that Mr. Willamson had lying around, to hold it together. BUT it allowed us to waterski, naked sometimes, and be cool by driving it over to a party, Missy's mom lived in the same cove, and when she was out of town we ALWAYS showed up. Looking back, it's funny how that worked. We were TOTALLY RAD because we had a boat and we docked it and proceeded to claim we were pirates and walk around with a shirt wrapped around our torso like a 'banana hammock' 
• During this time, Boike started throwing a 4th of July party. He would have new friends we made recently SHOUT OUT TO ANNA ROSE, kids he met in college, old high school friends, and family, or just ANYONE he knew, to come out to the lake, camp out, drink cheap beer, and 'marinate' in old truck tire inner tubes out in the lake. KRIPES! He didn't care who it was! ALL IS WELCOME was his motto.
• In 1993 we were commissioned by his parents to replace the top of the dock. He brought his girlfriend at the time who I called 'RAG DOLL' and his parents came out too. It was lunchtime and like 30 years ago, there was NOT much out in Lake Wylie except for a KFC. Well, they started advertising a few months prior that they were serving chicken wings. Being from near Buffalo, NY, this sparked my curiosity. So I proclaimed to Mr. and MRS. Boike to 'GET LOTS OF WINGS!'..... Well, they did and I had like two of them because they were so disgusting. I sure hope their wings are better now. ANYWAYS, the Boike clan has NEVER let me forget that... I DO NOT blame them! They wasted $ on wings that I deemed NASTY, therefore, I only ate 2!!!!! SIDE NOTE- I directly think this event began the downward spiral of KFC.
• One time Boike, Anna Rose, and I were 'chilling' on his recently bought boat trailer while the party raged and we all were wondering WHO were some of the people there. It was a 'cornucopia' of humanity!
• Another time, Anna Rose, Boike and I were out cruizing on my new, well new to me, 1977 MasterCraft, after a few days of heavy rain. You see, when there is a ton of rain, the lake rises very fast and things like floating docks lose their anchors and float in the middle of the lake, and there was a new floating dock just for the pickin'. The one we had, If I recall, we found that too, looked as beat as Tina Turner after a night with Ike. So we tied it up to my boat and dragged it back. Never mind it was on the other side of the lake and I could only do 1 mph. It took us 4 hrs to get back BUT we had a new floating dock!
• To show how much of an @$$ I was then, I am pretty sure this happened at the same party. I liked to set up my site right by the water so I could wake up looking at a great view. At the time, I was driving a Ford Ranger. There were a bunch of people around it just having a good time. There was this one kid leaning on it. I am sure he was a really nice guy BUT I was not a fan of this. He asked me "You having a good time?" And I snapped back "I'd be having a better time if you stopped leaning on my truck." Everyone got silent and could not believe I said that. I kinda knew I was going to get BEAT DOWN but I was cool with it. He lost his composure and was about to kick my butt when a few others 'restrained' him. My friend Jeff was there and witnessed the whole thing. He still brings it up when I see him!!!

NOT the Ranger but my 1997 F-150

                                                   

• In the summer of 1995, we had a REALLY bad thunderstorm and Boike informed me that a HUGE tree had fallen on the house. Mr. Boike, Mike, and Suzanne M.(the girl I was messing around with at the time) went out there to survey the damage. Per Mr. Boike, it was a loss, plus he and the Mrs. ALWAYS were not huge fans of the 'sketchy' building. Like I mentioned before, she, in particular, was NOT big on the musty smell it ALWAYS had because it was built on the ground. They decided to just tear it down and just have it as an empty lot. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO they collected the insurance money and paid Boike and I to tear it down. So when he was on Christmas break, we did a little. Then on spring break, we tore/ burned down the rest. FYI- DEMOLISHING stuff RUUUUUUUUULES!

                                    

                                                                                                                    Mike Boike and Andy McBride 1996

• We did not have a house but we STILL had the lake property! We just had to set up tents now. NO BIGGY... For the rest of the 90s, he threw some great parties. A party that will ALWAYS stick out as one of the best ever was the July 4th, 1998 one... I had my own boat, a picture of it below, a steady girlfriend, and more new friends! This was one of the first years I met Thompson, He IS the smartest man I know, he freakin' knows everything! He drove his dad's HUGE Dodge van and instead of taking my boat to see the fireworks, we all piled into the van! 

        

                                                                                        My 1977 MasterCraft

       

                                                                      Mike Thompson and Andy McBride 

                                                                                       Mike B. 1998

2002-2007- From 1999-2001 I was in WI. I really don't like talking about it but if you need to know the 411, you are in luck because back in 2010 I wrote it all down. Heck, I loved the lake so much that I freakin named a dog after it! 

                                                                          Wylie and Andy McBride 2004

So in 2002, I moved down to some apartments by Lake Wylie and thanks to my future sister-in-law I had a 'SUPER DUPER' nice boat! WOO HOO!!!!! 

                                                                                            1999 Rinker
I was not even a mile away from the Lakeland and only 2 miles away from a boat ramp to put it in. On a side note, I would haul the boat down to the ramp with my truck. Put my bike in the boat, put the boat in the lake, drive it over to Lakeland, dock it, and ride my bike back to the ramp to get my truck! DUDEZILLAS, I had it down to a science! On ANOTHER side note- If you EVER want to see a great verbal fight between a man and a woman, just hang out at a boat landing! I saw some GREEEEAT fights there!

MAN in the boat- "Go straight in! NO!!!!! Don't turn the wheel!"

WOMAN In the truck backing into the water- "Dan, STOP yelling at me!"

MAN-"Pull out and try it again, this time just straight back"!

WOMAN- "What did you say???? Straighten it up????"

MAN- "DAMMIT SUZANNE, back straight in!"

• To show what a great guy Mr. Boike was, he would pay me to mow the grass down at Lakeland! He also paid me to clean his office. He KNEW I was coming back to Charlotte with my 'tail between my legs' And with those little things he did, made it easier for me! GOD, I MISS HIM!
• OKIE DOKIE! Enough of me whining, being I lived so close to Lakeland, after work, I would ride my bike over to it and do yard work with anticipation of the 4th of July party. Raking up 'gum balls' and working all frustration that some people at work, Angela G. I am looking at you, caused me. 
• I KNEW that July 4th WAS GOING TO HAPPEN, and it NEVER disappointed! 

 Mike B., Mike C., and Andy McBride 2002

• In 2004 some old friends came down, Mr. and Mrs. Williamson. If you don't know, Mr. Williamson was NEVER too shy to say what was on his mind. I told him that I was dating a girl named Amber. And he replied with a big grin "WHAT? She a stripper with that name?" I told her what he said when she got there and without hesitation, went right up to him and said 'WHAT? So you saying I can't be a stripper?" FYI- It was the only time I saw the man speechless! I told that story at his memorial service and got people who knew him well to LOL.

 Sweet Amber taking a 'nap' after being over-served. 2003

• Like I mentioned before, "beer, was a constant theme for a very long time" and we did our part to recycle, AHHHHHH HELL! Who am I kidding?!?!?!? We put all the cans in one barrel to make it easier to take it to the scrap yard and get $, we would float out in the cove with a cooler of beer.

                                            Mike B. and a floating cooler that Thompson got him for a wedding gift

When a beer was empty, we would fill the can full of water and 'attempt' to throw it in the barrel we had on shore. I think through the years, there were 3 successful attempts. I know I NEVER made it, matter of fact, I sliced my finger and had to have my friend Marianne bandage it up. 

The barrel we 'attempted' to throw empty beer cans in.

Oh and the pink flamingos were bought by my Grandma McBride in the 60s

• One year, Jeff (YES he lived in a freakin' TEEPEE) and my old college roommate Dave, and I got a floating buoy!!! If I recall, it was the last night we were there that year. We all piled in my boat and watched the fireworks. On our way back we noticed a floating buoy in the middle of the cove. I dropped everyone off at LAKELAND and we went back and got it. That thing was a heavy sucker too!!! We brought it back and posed with it like it was a huge trophy!

        

       David C., Jeff H., and Andy McBride 2004

• I had sooooooooo many good memories there that I had my friend, ANNE paint an old picture of it and it is in my kitchen here at casa de McBride.

         

                                                                 A painting of the lake house by Anne Conroy-Baiter

        

                                                         This is what happens to ya when you start drinking beer @8am! 

                                                                        Ya crash by 2pm!!!! Andy McBride 

        

                                                                  One of the last pictures I took of Lakeland in 2007

                                                             

 Now I need GPS just to see where I am when I go there. So MUCH has changed and it is all built up. Eventually, the Boikes KIND OF gave part of the land to their son Matthew. He and his family built a house there. I only have been there once when Wylie, my dog, went to doggy heaven and her mom was SO sweet to send me some of her ashes. I made it a point to spread some of the ashes here at CASA DE McBride, and while having to listen to Matthew's first wife BLABBER NON-STOP, I went to LAKELAND and spread the rest of her ashes there. 

Has it really been 10 years??????

 Dave was one of the kids (Todd was the other one) I hung out with that molded me and I took his passing very hard! BUT there were blessings that came with his passing. 

• Seeing old friends that I thought I would NEVER see again and hanging out with them at casa de Sean y Annette after the Giants beat the Patriots AGAIN in the SB.
• Seeing Sean D. 'put the smack down' on that tool, I think you all know who I am talking about, who thought they should be a pale barrier.
• Annette letting Todd, Reesa and I stay at her house!!!!!!!!
• Eating some 'yummy in my tummy' cinnamon buns and drinking coffee while talking with Reesa at breakfast while Todd was still sleeping.... 
• Meeting Frank's awesome family Amy, Gabby and Elena, sorry if I was crying like a baby the first time we met. FYI- We have TAST-PA-LOOZA every year since!
• Singing at the tops of our lungs Butch Walker's 'Synthesizers' at Annette's house before the wake.
• His mom being so sweet to me and having me be a pale barrier.
• Richie B letting me hold on his shoulder so I did not fall while being a pale barrier.
• Mike A. opening up his bar to let us all gather there and drink a few after the wake.
• Reconnecting with Marcy A. who was telling Lisa K. and I some funny stories about the students she had while being a sub teacher. 
• BOB C. just being BOB and STILL calling me RA! GREAT STUFF!
• Dave's mom not 'blinking an eye' at me accidently blowing snot on her when I was crying!
• Walking to the old 'S&G' pizza place with Kaye to get a pizza...
• Going to TOPS with Todd and Reesa late at night to get goodies that we could not get where we live.
• KAT, Dave's sister being, so sweet to me even though she was morning the loss of her brother.

A very sad time BUT it was a blessing in a way!!!!!

I wrote this after Dave's funeral.

DODGE OMNI!!!!

 HA!!! I have to use code words to describe what I think I have so I don't get banned or censored from our T@#H OVERLORDS!... THANKS to the 'Real Music Observer' on 'DA TUBE' for using 'DODGE OMNI'! Sorry but filming and editing this has not been fun. I have a head ache and a sore throat, the chills and my whole body aches! Basically I feel like poopy! BUT I will just deal with it and keep on keeping on, although I might need to take a nap.... 

Not gonna lie to ya.....

  I'm kinda depressed, IF you HATE reading please do not go any further because I am going to write/type until I feel better! OKIE DOKIE!!!! First off, I always get depressed around this time because I remember what Christmas USE to be!!! KRIPES! Looking back, I really could care less about the gifts. I just loved being at 120 Plum St.in B-TOWN A.K.A Bolivar, NY.... for one of my Grandma Cawley's parties! The house was full of family and people NOT with us today.... A highlight was ALWAYS playing NFL draft with my uncles and cousins, I sure do miss it! 

https://youtu.be/OiCLcXgetVo

 Not making things better for me is: as most of you know, I have a little part time job delivering pizza. Well about a month ago, Nov 4th to be exact, I was about to go into work and I got a text from the owner saying not to come in. He stated that his insurance company will NOT cover his business or drivers!!! My 'spider senses' started to tickle that something was kinda shady about the whole deal..... He has, and does, deal with some shady stuff and trust me! It WILL bite him in the end. I have seen it happen a million times! FYI kids, it is called KARMA!!! ANYWAYS I have been just hanging around casa de McBride and BORED out of my mind, DARE I SAY, GOING BAT $HIT CRAZY!!!! I need to do something! I know that $ is NOT a problem but since 4/27/73, I have ALWAYS let stuff add up that cause me to stress! With me just sitting around doing nothing but thinking, I am getting depressed!

JUST A COUPLE MORE THINGS AND I WILL BE DONE!!

 I have an old friend that I have done a TON of stuff with over the years. I have been very close to his family as well and they have done A LOT for me over the years. I know he comes down to see his mom for Christmas. We really are not that close anymore, I kinda blame his divorce for this, I shot him an email stating that he can come over if he wants to but it's no biggy if he doesn't. He replied saying cool but then asked, 'you vaccinated' Now I could have pulled an Aaron Rodgers and played a Jedi mind trick saying 'I've been immunized' or an Antonio Brown and lied and said YES but instead I refused to answer! I rank it up there with, How much money do you make? Who did you vote for? Stuff like that. NONE OF YOUR D@MN BUSINESS! For the record, I think this whole thing is a JOKE! Save your breath! I REALLY don't care what you think. I am a expert in MY opinion. 

 UGH! I shouldn't care too much BUT the Bills are PI$$ING me off too. I think they thought just beating the crap out of the Chiefs was all they needed to do and everything else would fall into place BUT it does NOT work that way. I kinda compare it to the 89 season, YES I remember stuff from the past. They were the 'cat's meow' in 88 and EVERYONE was talking them up! WELL 89 was a let down and they lost to the Browns in the first round of the playoffs! 

 I am trying to stop drinking so much coffee. I was having two or three big cups of it a day! TOO MUCH and I was getting head aches. Dealing with caffeine withdraws suck too and is not helping me with my depression. 

 I know just talking ALWAYS makes me feel better. KRIPES, I am gonna tell you something that I think just a few people knew. I just told my friends in MN. so I think it is OKIE DOKIE to tell you too. When all the crap happened in WI., I went and saw a DR. because all the guys at work were worried about me, The dr. prescribed PAXIL and a few sessions with a therapist /counselor. To this day, I feel that just talking to someone was much better than any drug they put me on....  

SON OF A!!!

 And in the 'I could care two $&it$ about this' category, I am going to use you as my 'emotional tampon', You are going to 'absorb' my issue. OKIE DOKIE!!!!
 I like to listen to music while I edit videos on my computer, I just use my 'APPLE TV' and hit the 'shuffle' on all the songs I have purchased over the years. Well I will be jamming to a song I downloaded and BOOM the next song is that I didn't even download. You see U2 and apple made a deal in 2014 to have EVERY person who has an Apple product download the new U2 album whether they wanted it or not. https://www.eonline.com/news/1071481/remember-when-apple-forced-a-u2-album-on-us-all


 Now I am NOT mad at U2 because the music industry has changed SO much that you CAN'T just drop a new album and have it become a hit. They were thinking 'outside the box' and I am not mad at Apple! I'm just mad at myself for NOT taking this matter seriously and remove it for good! FYI- I should have done this in 2014...
https://buy.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZFinance.woa/wa/offerOptOut?at=10l6Xd&ct=kbr9s9m38h0023dg01g90

OKIE DOKIE! My "whining time' is done, carry on!

RailRoads

I just posted a video about an RR bell that I and my friends 'borrowed' in 92 from an old abandoned RR crossing!!!!!

And while doing this, I felt nostalgic and Jack, my nephew and I went hiking on those tracks and got some old rusty RR spike. In part two I am going to show Jack how to clean them up........

Another You Tube video! 'POP'S VICE'!

 If I recall, my grandpa, my dad's dad, gave this to him back in the 60s. I did a 'half@$$ed' attempt to restore it back when I was a teenager but now I am going to do it right this time. Check it out if ya want, If not then that's OKIE DOKIE to! FREE WILL!!!!!!

 

 I forgot I have my step grandfather's pipe vice too! Same old story of doing a 'half@$$ed' job on that thing as well. BUT after watching someone restore the same one on YOU TUBE I decided to clean it up and look like the day Russ bought it, probably in the 30s. As you may know, I LOOOOOOOOVE history and I 'Googled' 'Trimont Tool MFG.' and learned all about it...

trip-pa-looza 2019

 I haven't done one of these in a few years. Being most people on this God's green earth have the attention span of a freakin' gnat, I made a SHORT video of it and posted it on You Tube.

TODD-PA-LOOZA 2019!

This is my old friend Todd!1.

 He and his girl Elouise are very good to me and come down and help cut up trees and are just groovy people! It's a WIN/WIN situation because he gets to use his Stihl chainsaw and I get some crappy trees taken out! I say this because they are getting married this month and I am very blessed they are in my life...

 This is a busy month for me:

• Going up to Todd and Elouise wedding.
• Going up to Duke for my annual check up, FYI- I ALWAYS get nervous.
• Taking a trip:

          1. Seeing my old radio buddy Kenny in West Virginia.
          2. Heading to Pittsburgh to see a Pirate's game with an old friend! MIKE C. IN DA HOUSE
          3. Driving over to Mansfield, OH to see my cousin Chris.
          4. Heading up to Erie to hang out with Kaye and her kids.
          5. From there, I am heading to Bolivar, NY to see my relatives.
          6. Having 'tasta-pa-looza 2019' at casa de Wilson.
          7. Going up to Buffalo and having lunch with Scott C.   
          8. Having a 'yummy in my tummy' Burton Burger with Marci
          9. AND finally going to install a back splash for my cousin Joe and his wife Amanda.

Should be a good time! Talk to you next month and remember "If you choose not to decide, you STILL have made a choice, FREE WILL" Free Will by Rush 1980. Oh and don't forget that I will be posting one, possibly two, videos in the near future.


1. He went to Virginia Tech and he became friends with Mike Boike, my good friend. So he and I became good friends even though the first time I met him, I thought he was a TOOL! HA!!! Let me explain, Boike brought him down for July 4th which we ALWAYS spent at Boike's Lake house on Lake Wylie. Todd showed up with a HUGE white boy afro, like the one John McEnroe had and a wet suit and thought he was the 'S#!T'. 

YOU TUBE

    I have been debating doing this for a while. HECK! My major in college was 'Electric media and broadcasting production' so I KNEW how to do this stuff. Now granted, things have CHANGED A LOT in 20+ years 1. BUT I am fairly confident in my abilities BUT be kind! It's my first video in YEARS! I know I NEED a new computer because editing takes a TON of memory that my old computer just does NOT have. KRIPES it took me three freakin' days just to edit it! ANYWAYS, my first one is of 'modifying' a tap handle for my brother's neighbor, Greg, who has a keg-o-rator. He is a cool guy even though he NEVER remembers my name, HA! Anyways, here it is ENJOY!

1. I graduated from Appalachian State University in 1997.

The day was......

 April 2nd, how do I know that???? It freakin' snowed that day!!! GOOD LORD! And it was cold at casa de McBride. I went to turn up my thermostat and (low and behold) the batteries were dead. I went and put some new ones in it but it STILL didn't work. SON OF A! I guess the life cycle of the thing was NOT over 14 years (I installed when I first moved in, and folks, that was in 2005!

 Well it's new to me, Mike my brother, gave it to me years ago, and I assume it's 'TOP NOTCH'.....He NEVER buys cheap crap, unlike his younger brother (ME).

 WHOA!!!! I just 'googled' it and I was right! The cheapest I could find one was for $150! SWEEEEEEET! I've said it before and I will say it again, I LOOOOOOOVE being his 'GOOD WILL'!!!!!

 I can promise that I will NOT need it for the next 6 months, but you are saying," But Andy you will need it for your AC during the summer." No I won't, you see my AC went out YEARS ago and I never got a new one. I just went to Walmart and bought a cheap window unit that I use when I sleep. CHEAP I KNOW!



 Talk to you next month and "if you want to kiss the sky, you better learn how to kneel, ON YOUR KNEES BOY!"

THE GUIDE TO BEING.....

A MAN!

 Some, well most, think I am a SIMPLE MAN and if I can still do it myself, DANG NABBIT, I will! This is a guide for my nephews so they are not like the 'punks' I work with that don't even know how to wipe their own @SS if there mom or dad were not there to do it for them..... PLUS girls, not 'burn your bras' ones, love a guy that knows how to actually do stuff.1 NOW I am not talking about building a freakin' house or anything, just simple stuff that will make your life easier. 

CARS:

• KNOW how to do required maintenance on one. It will save you $ and you will know it was done RIGHT. PLUS it will run for a VERY long time.
• Oil change 
• AIR FILTER change 

• 1. HECK! That is 1/2 of a freakin' tune up, Does anyone even know what that is anymore?
• Change the transmission fluid
• Rotate tires 
• change a tire 2.
• Plug a tire. 3.
• If you have questions on doing anything. Just you tube it or look it up in the actual owner's manual, usually in the glove compartment.
• AND LABEL the filters with something so you know the date and mileage it was changed at.
• LEARN and embrace a manual transmission. Not many people these days know how to drive one AND you need to know in case you have to drive one if it's your only option in a sticky situation. HECK, I was fortunate to learn how to drive one (on other people's cars) at the fine car wash establishment of S.T.P (here is a link to an blog entry detailing all the 'fun' I and my friends had at this place. 

Mike C., Joe W. and I in 1992

• ALWAYS have an emergency kit (part I and part II) in the trunk of your car BECAUSE trust me, you will need to use it one day! 

MUSIC:

• KNOW the difference between Sinatra and other crooners. 

TOOLS:

          

• Know the distance between wood studs. So you know where to hang stuff WITHOUT it falling on someone. As the great 'Tommy Boy' said "That will leave a mark".

OUTDOOR:

• Now your parents might not appreciate this 4 BUT I know that you will be at a keg/field party or two in your teen years and if you want to impress the ladies instantly,

                 1. Know how to build a fire. FYI- GIRLS LOOOOOOVE to be warm.......

 

                 2. Know how to pour a beer from a keg WITHOUT a ton of foam. 5 
                 3. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, FIRST you need to know how to tap one.

  

 These are just a few thing I can think of 'right off the bat'. If you have anymore questions, just ask. 85% of the time I, your 45 year old uncle who has so far lived a good life, will know the answer. Take care and I will talk to you next month and remember that you just can't fix 'stupid'.

1.Let's just admit that 95% of the stuff guys do is to get some 'action'. This may not be P.C but it's TRUE!

2. 3. If you do these things for a lady, she will THINK you are a GOD!

4.  Do NOT get mad at me for this because I can guarantee they would simple 'google' How do you tap a keg?

5. Thanks to Todd and Dave for teaching me this at one of Dave's parties in 87. Oh and FYI- YOUR DAD partied right along side of me!