November 4, 2011
Somewhere Chris Turns 57 Today

Oh grandchildren; it is so much fun to teach them while they're young and impressionable.

In town for Halloween, only had a few children to come by, and I had ice cubes ready for all of them. Turn down the lights and they love the noise ice cubes make hitting the bottoms of their little bags, now to clean up that egg splatter. Pygmy and I used to give away ice, hot dogs and old biscuits for Halloween. Man I'd like to have some of those biscuits now.
Then it was off to the big cities around Raleigh. I wasn't able to get a room at the Y; well I was able to get a room, but not the preferred corner room so I saved some cash for Skuttle and crashed with my grandson in Sanford. He is an interesting young man; I enjoy my time with him more and more. And my granddaughter smiled at me. Good times sleeping in Jackson's old bunk beds. I remember my father sleeping below Jackson years ago and Jackson talking his ears off after bedtime. Good memories.
Yeah, I don't know what this is, saw it close to my customer in Rocky Mount and found it intriguing; sorry I will not be able to attend although Las Vegas is betting my eyes will be red Thursday night.

And guess what? No not that. Got a little, no a lot of free publicity for dear old Skuttle this past week in The HVAC News:

http://www.achrnews.com/articles/117907-distributor-serves-customers-in-a-famous-way

Glad I said the right things. Maybe I didn't say the right things but Mike Murphy made it sound like I did. He's a good guy with a great publication, known him for many years now and always been first class; especially considering I'm with a small company which doesn't advertise in his publication.
If the weather allows I'll be cycling today to Durham and then on to HSC Saturday for their showdown with Washington and Lee. Winner takes the conference championship so say it with me: winner winner chicken dinner.
Maryland and Virginia next week and then off to somewhere close to Naples Saturday for an industry meeting. More on that next week, enjoy the ride

October 28, 2011
Man! it's Been A Week

Time warp going on this week in the office; hard to believe and comprehend how much happened in the space of a couple of weeks. We all have another big hole in our hearts.
Got the Pony Express started at church last Sunday; during the breakfast I massaged the Pony Express logo saddlebag and asked if everyone could hear me, I was feeling a little horse...............
At the end of he service I inspired the crew with those famous words given to us by Hedy Lamarr (that's Hedley!) to go do that voodoo that you do so well! The pastor looked at me and asked if I "planned" to use that during the 11:00 worship service; I hadn't.
Might be hard to believe but all of that was true
It was humorous to sit in church during the 11:00 service and hear the Associate Pastor announce that "Terri Riley's husband passed away last Sunday." I felt like Tom Sawyer there for a minute, hey wait a minute, does that mean I don't owe anyone money anymore? Guess not..........but the spontaneous celebration kind of pissed me off. Come on, who brings horns, confetti and party poppers to church anyway? Oh they do? My bad, sorry, I apologize to all of my friends and family in that tribe
After church I needed some head clearing so I took off on my old bike and motored to the Cherry Point ferry. From Arapahoe I went some way, not really sure which way but I ended up in Hobucken. It has been a really long time since I was there, they have replaced the drawbridge with a high rise. It has been so long I was not sure where we used to put the boat in; I found a place that has a landing but I still am not sure that was the place. I remember as a kid those mosquitoes were the absolute worst. Sunday as I pulled up to the ICW and took my helmet off I was swarmed by some flying objects the size of small honey bees. Yep, mosquitoes! Unreal.
Ended up in Oriental, and unbeknown to me at the time had my picture taken, well not my picture, but one of that old bike I ride. I must have been in the head at the coffee shop. Tank has a 175 mile range, my bladder goes for about 150.

It was a good ride although my left carburetor developed a slight leak at idle. There is a quick and easy fix (sometimes) to that problem; a strategically placed whack to the side with a heavy wrench frees the float and stops the leak. It has not leaked since Sunday.
Able to fish Wednesday morning for a few hours; low winds prompted my half-day of vacation. Unfortunately the fish did not cooperate. Went offshore to a couple of reefs with minimal results. It simply has not been a good year for fishing. But there is nothing I can do about the results, I remind myself to enjoy the efforts. It is all about the ride.
And ride I did! Thursday I went to Jacksonville to sign some VW papers (in the shop all month) and decided to keep going. Ended up at the Skylight Inn in Ayden. I don't know if that is the best BBQ I've ever eaten or not; but I can't recall better. Whole hog over coals, not a lot added. The slaw is OK, the cornbread is as close to Grandma's as you can get. If they could just put a little more crust on the edges.....................is your mouth watering? Bet it is!

October 21, 2011
Wow, That Was Fast

Like a lot of other people in Richmond County I was surprised at how quickly my father-in-law passed. But he did, after a tough few nights he slipped away at 1:10 PM Sunday. We had a viewing Monday night, and beautiful funeral Tuesday, and back to work on Wednesday. I was very proud of my niece who gave the eulogy. Jackson also did a mature job tending to his grandfather; he cared for him and stayed in his room all Saturday night and watched Sunday as he took his last breath. Pretty heavy stuff for a 20 year old, he did well.
So we will miss Harold, but like I said.....we go back to work. I passed that "wisdom" on to my brother-in-law a couple of weeks ago. I remember as a child I spent a lot of time in the city library. OK, I know a lot of you just threw the bullshit flag but I did. I used to read the newspapers from WW II and was always surprised to find that during total worldwide war, Belks had a sale. And someone got married. And someone was arrested for public drunkenness. And the bank board of directors met and conducted business.................the world keeps spinning.
At some point in my career with Emerson Electric I needed ankle surgery. My boss told me not to worry about the surgery, take my time with feeling better, and come back when I could. He told me that I had to remember that if I died today Emerson Electric would be open the next day. They might be sad, they might feel sorry for my wife and child, but they would be open for business without missing a beat. The world keeps spinning, 1000 mph on our axis, 66,000 mph around the sun as the entire solar system zips through the universe at 155 miles per second. It is all we can do to hang on.
I'll miss you Harold, you were a good man.

And now for that silliness you tuned in for...............
Took this picture last month in the Phoenix airport. WHAT? Shut the front door! Get the fluff out of here...........................

Pony Express starts Sunday. Oh and just for the record, I had surgery that Friday morning, checked out of the hospital Sunday morning and went to work the next Monday. I thought that if they knew what little I did they might fire me.........................
Sorry about the cursing Harold, I couldn't help myself; but you knew that already

October 14, 2011
Not Going To Be A Good Weekend

I think I will use capital letters and quotation marks to excess this week.
Last weekend was pretty nice. TAR went to Rockingham to visit with her father and the FO came down for some windy fishing. Our plans did not come off as ......................hmmm, redundant? Anyway the wind blew so we adapted. We caught some pretty fish in the inlet, enough for Bobby to take home 10+ pounds of filets, including one legal flounder! Have not seen many of those around in a while.

A good time was had, and then we saw this group in the No Wake Turning Basin going pretty fast. Look closely, these are not the guys you would want to yell "DEATH TO THE INFIDELS" to, or only once if you did. One guy made a "no wake" comment on 16 which brought a few chuckles.

Later we were up in the Haystacks and saw these guys speeding through. I could not help but notice their "I AM GOING TO SHOOT YOU" clothes they were wearing. Thanks guys, the world is a safer place because of you.

After FO left for home I rode 160 miles on the bike. Came through Trenton and saw an old mill pond which was destroyed and is now rebuilt. I remember that place from my teens, always wanted to fish in it and now at 56 still do. Maybe that should be on my bucket list.....let's see, add "fish pond in Trenton", scratch off "astronaut." Got it!

We went tombstone shopping Wednesday, picked out a nice one. On the way home Dink said she had never seen this, now she has. I noticed she took out her bucket list and scratched off "see CSS Neuse" and added "astronaut." That was coincidental.

And my father-in-law's health continues to decline. We will all be in Rockingham this weekend, and we will see what happens next. Ask a prayer for Harold Matthews

October 7, 2011
Had Better Weeks But Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

In Richmond for a doctor's appointment with Jackson this week, went for a late lunch afterwards and ended up near some of our distributors (not the finest of Richmond's old neighborhoods). While heading for Buz and Ned's BBQ joint (http://www.buzandneds.com/) we saw a used car lot. Circled back and found some old classics; cars you just do not seem to find on the streets everyday.
Nice MGA

Datsun S-2000; many people do not remember this economy sports car Datsun produced in the late 60's. Many people reading this do not know who Datsun is...................................

And Jackson sitting in a Lotus Esprit S4; first one of these I have ever seen. The S4 version had increased horsepower and a rear wing. Very Italian looking, not British at all. Hard to get that smile of Jackson's face; did not stop grinning until he sat in his Honda CRV, then reality set back in.

Oh, and the awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww? Yes our grandchildren were in town for the NC Seafood Festival last weekend. Cooper had his throttle wired to the floorboard and Keelyn stared at me a lot, and a good time was had by all. We spent a lot of Saturday downtown at the festival, along with 100,000 others; then the kids went back down at night to see Sister Hazel. I heard the audience singalongs were a little lacking; maybe next time they can use a karaoke screen behind them? Pictured below: Keelyn being very excited to see her Cappy!

She is pretty isn't she? Lucky she looks like her sweet Mama. Notice the earrings?
FO is coming down to fish Saturday, getting closer to the Pony Express kickoff at church in a couple of weeks, busy busy busy.
Taking Dink to Rocky Mount Wednesday to pick out a tombstone. What do you want on your tombstone? Want to meet us there? Should be fun

September 30, 2011
093055: The Little Bastard

Still, wasn't that the best picture of Jackson? Rest easy Jay, here is the one of you that sits atop my dresser.................
Today is the anniversary of the death of James Dean in a Porsche 550 Spyder he named The Little Bastard which was coincidentally a nickname someone gave Dean. Alec Guinness saw the car and thought it was "sinister" and predicted Dean would be dead in it within one week. He hit the nail on the head. I have no idea what I had for breakfast yet I remember this junk.
Reminds me of the time I played poker with a Tarot deck; got a full house and four people died (thank you Steven Wright)
And it looks as though the Red Sox found a new way to lose; somewhere Bill Buckner is rejoicing. 162 games after the season start and it comes down to that.
In Utah this week and saw this beautiful flag flying with the translucent blue field. Never really realized how pretty it is with the sun in the background. The Rockies help a little too. Spielberg captured that image in Saving Private Ryan, great cinema shot; perhaps a little better than me with my point-and-shoot in the Holiday Inn Express parking lot?

I have been to Salt Lake City several times and always seem to catch good weather. I decided to give this Mormon thing a try while I was here, thought the polygamy feature sounded attractive (that way I could disappoint more than one woman at the same time), OK, have not used tobacco in a long time, do not need caffeine that much....................no alcohol? I'm outta here. Thought I would get a free t-shirt, but nooooooooooooo. Pygmy, they have your social security number, Here is a shot I did not take on this trip

Beautiful, huh? I never seem to be able to get into that part of any city I visit. This is the area in which I usually work:

Let me know if you would like for me to pick up any souvenirs, there is usually an abundance of crack and meth dealers in the near vicinity. As Jay told Jackson many years ago "daddy works in bad neighborhoods." Jackson watched as I unloaded the car and said "they must play a lot of baseball in those bad neighborhoods." Able to solve that riddle? Come on, think, not really that hard...........
Worked with some reps for the first time out here, great young guys with a lot of energy. What is up with 5 hour energy drinks? Better than coffee? Really? Better than a morning shot of Bushmill's? Really?
This is a picture I took from the airport, even through the glass I hope you can see the purple mountains' majesty. My first impression of Salt Lake City 30-some years ago, still so beautiful!

I guess metaphorically I just mixed those national songs up, please forgive me. Daddy always liked America the Beautiful over The Star Spangled Banner. He told me once it made him cry. I told him it would have made me cry too if I were a 12 year old girl. (Sorry, OK I actually did tell him that one time a year or so ago, he looked at me and laughed, as well he should! The Greatest Generation? Definitely! As a coach once told me: you couldn't carry their jockstraps.......and he was right) Thought about asking everyone to sing America the Beautiful at his funeral, then thought different. Maybe if he had ever heard Jimi play the national anthem at Woodstock......................................Purple Haze! Bless Be The Tie That Binds worked really well, please sing that at mine along with Softly and Tenderly, Great Is Thy Faithfulness and maybe if you could get Alice Silberhorn to sing In The Garden or Mark Waugh to sing The Lord's Prayer? And then some fireworks, yeah, that would be nice, thanks. And try to get TAR to quit laughing, yeah, thanks.
The Seafood Festival is this weekend and our Sanford based Riley crew will be on their way. We plan to babysit Saturday night as Sister Hazel plays. Guess they are some nuns in that combo?
Except for a day trip to VA I plan to be in town for a change next week. Was this blog OK? Took me 10 minutes in the Denver airport with some editing Thursday night. OK? Funny? Can I make a living doing this? OK, back to the humidifiers.........................Spread this blog please!
And enjoy the ride

September 23, 2011
Since I Am In Indianapolis.......................

We are in Indianapolis so let's talk about cars, OK?
Last weekend we went to visit Jackson at college and had a great although rainy time. Saturday night we went to what is probably our favorite restaurant in the world: Mamma Zu in Richmond. We go there once or twice a year and have enjoyed each meal there. All of our dinners were perfect. After dinner I was ready to watch Lawrence Welk and hit the sack, but Jackson and TAR wanted to go clubbing. After we danced for the next 6 hours we.......................oh come on, do you think we went clubbing? Really? No, we went to see the Rise of the Planet of the Apes. As it was not funny, had no nudity nor was a cartoon I was not thrilled at this decision. I do not care for that genre and do not remember enjoying the original. As usual my preconceived attitude was dead wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and are you ready for this? Sitting down? I did not go to sleep during the movie. I know, earth-shattering. Really good movie if you have the chance. We have seen four movie this summer; by my count that is four more than normal. Now I have to figure out how to get to Raleigh quickly to see Senna while it is still at the Colony.
Oh yes, cars........ saw this classic on the way to Richmond. Not often you see a Bricklin anywhere, this one was a bit odd with the custom paint job but I liked it. I would not want a car painted that way, but it was pretty with the inner panels highlighted. As you can also see the a$$hole was in the left lane so as I passed him I gave him the "salute."

Yes, that bothers me quite a bit. It is really simple, like falling off of a log actually, if you are not passing get out of the passing lane.
While at our hotel in Richmond I saw this car with no nomenclatures. What is it? Help!

It was pretty, I am thinking Maserati but not a logo on the car.
This picture was taken in front of Mamma Zu. Try not to look at the old guy wearing the cheap toupee, it is a missing pet picture with another shot added below by some local wag. Very funny

Yum yum gimme some.
Indy has been good through day one at Comfortech. Heading home Saturday, then to Salt Lake City Monday. Go away Ophelia, your name has been used too recently for my liking