One Wheel..... Four Hands..... Two Hearts...

Long time, No see.  Yeah, I fell off the face of the earth for awhile.  I'm easing back into the blogging thing.  Here's a song that I think is most excellent.  The duo compliment each other perfectly.

Trying To Drive

Aslyn (Featuring Zac Brown)

Aslyn:
He might be right
I'm out of luck when I'm out of feist and out of touch
With this little spot I call my own
Don't feel like home anymore.

Zac brown:
But you make the most of what it's not
Till a little love feels like a lot
And I blame you and you blame me
And this little war evens everything in time.

Chorus:
Aslyn:
But you're not always right.

Zac brown:
And I'm not always wrong.

Aslyn:
It's not like I don't try.

Both:
This is where we belong.
One way, everythings gotta be your way.

Aslyn:
But darlin', I'm on your side.

Both:
Cause it's the one wheel, four hands, two hearts trying to understand
How we're gonna get there?
We're both trying to drive.

Zac Brown:
No one can do what you do,
You know I'm not right if I'm not right with you.
And I'll save you and you save me
And I'll be the one to lay it all out on the line.

Chorus.

Aslyn:
I can feel it under my seat.
You're on the sideline of my life.
Watchin' rain fall to the ground.
To the beat of the same old fight.

Zac Brown:
And every song is brewing this war
And when we find ourselves

Both:
In the mix of it, give a little bit
And we'll fly, we'll fly, we'll fly.

Aslyn:
One way, everythings gotta be your way
But darlin' I'm on your side.

Zac Brown:
Darlin' I'm on your side.

Both:
Cause it's the one wheel, four hands, two hearts trying to understand
How we're gonna get there?
One way, everythings gotta be your way

Aslyn:
But darlin' I'm on your side.

Zac Brown:
Darlin' I'm on your side.

Both:
Cause it's the one wheel, four hands, two hearts trying to understand
How we're gonna get there?
We're both trying to drive. (x5)

Could you write it with no regrets?

This a deep song.  It's based on a true story.  I spent alot of summers in the hills about 40 Miles away from where this occurred.  My Grandpa worked in the coal mines.

The Sago Mine Disaster was a coal mine explosion on January 2nd, 2006.  The Sago Mine is located in Sago, West Virginia (near Buckhannon).  The blast and aftermath trapped 13 miners for 2 days.  There was only one survivor, Randal L. McCloy, Jr.

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY

Trailer Choir

what if the moment came and
you knew your life was down to minutes
lighters flame was all you had to see
and you found a pen and torn up piece of paper
and a note was all you could leave

13 men fell trapped in a mine in West Virginia,
only one made it out alive
but there love lives on in the words
I can not wait to see you on the other side

what would you say(x2)
(CHORUS)
in the lines on a page from the life that you made
could you write it with no regrets
would you know in yourself you gave somebody else
all the love that you had inside
right down to your last prayer

would you tell your momma thank you for the way you love me
daddy don’t cry everything’s gonna be ok
would you tell your little boy that
you’ll be watching him from up in heaven,
you’ll never miss one game

what would you say(x2)
(CHORUS)
in the lines on a page from the life that you made
could you write it with no regrets
would you know in yourself you gave somebody else
all the love that you had inside
right down to your last prayer

what would you say

(CHORUS)
in the lines on a page from the life that you made
could you write it with no regrets
would you know in yourself you gave somebody else
all the love that you had inside
right down to your last prayer

what if the moment came and
you knew your life was down to minutes



Freedom and the gas prices...

I'm a big fan of freedom.  I'm sure you are as well.

I can remember my first steps into freedom.  I was a little guy back then.  Times were different.  It was the seventies.  At six years old, I was able to walk down the main street to my friends house.  His house was a block and a half away.  But, it was a busy street with no sidewalks and I had to walk with traffic.   So, I was the bomb and I knew it.



I ended up with a hand me down Schwinn for my first bike.  While my friends all had BMX bikes, I was sportin' the Schwinn.  Have you ever tried to jump ramps on a Schwinn?  I hated that bike.  I had learned to ride a bike on this bike.  As I was learning, my brother had me play a game of follow the leader.  He was riding his bike ahead and I just had to follow.  Sounds easy enough.  It was a fun game you know.  He started zigging and zagging between trees.  I'm afraid I hadn't yet developed the coordination needed to zig and zag properly at this point.  So, head on into the tree I went. 

In just a couple of years, I would get my BMX.  It was a yellow and black Huffy.  I felt this was the ultimate in freedom.  I was like Peter Fonda in Easy Rider.  Although, not so psychedelic.  Where I grew up, there were a series of canals that connected the lakes.  These canals were my stomping grounds.  If I wasn't fishing in the canal, I'd be playing in the woods beside it.  Just after I got my new bike, I was traveling with some friends beside the canal.  It was a well beaten path.  Well, I was learning some new tricks on the bike.  I could ride wheelies.  I could bunny hop.  I could ride with no hands.  You know, the basic skills.  Well, that day I was practicing a new skill.  I had perfected it in fact.  I could jump off the bike and it would continue down the trail.  I would then run to it and jump back on.  Then, I started to brag.  "Hey guys, you gotta see this!"  Everyone watched with anticipation.  I pedalled faster than I ever had.  I jumped off the back of the bike and watched as it b lined into the canal.  I'm not sure if their applause was good or bad.  Now that I think about it, they may have been mocking me.  I looked like Jack Nicholson in Easy Rider.  I can still picture the yellow rim of the back tire spinning just under the surface of the water.  Of course, I went in for it.  That bike made it a few more seasons.

 

There was a ten speed added in there somewhere.  But, I don't recall any incidents with it.  Well maybe. My best friend back then and I rode our ten speeds to the local metro park.  There was a huge hill that was just paved.  You could gain some serious speed riding down it.  We hit that hill like the Tour De France.  I pulled ahead and turned around in time to see my friend had stopped and was doing some sort of Ritualistic Dance at the side of the road.  I had to investigate.  As it turns out, a bee had flown down his shirt.  I think they renamed his dance the "Soulja Boy". Good times. Oh! and the time I rode across town to visit a girl.  Her Grandpa was none to pleased.  He told her that I looked like a hoodlum.  It must have been the glasses.  It was a short visit.
 

My first taste of real freedom was my first car.  It was a '76 Firebird Formula.  Gas was affordable, even on my part time stockboy pay.  There is thrill like no other to know that you can just pick up and go. There is a new adventure around the next turn or the turn after that.  Let's see, where will the road take me today?

Fast forward to 2011.  Record high gas prices are threating my freedom and yours.  I have to plan outings so that they make sense.  I'll wait to go here until Thursday because I will be out that way already.  I've changed my driving style to maximize my MPG.  How has the gas prices affected your freedom?

Okay... Time To Simplify...

I'm not a packrat.  I'm not a collector.  I don't feel the need to buy items just to buy items. 

As I look around the house, I have accumulated stuff.  Stuff that I don't use.  I am of the belief that If I haven't used it in 6 months, it's a knick-knack.  I have a lot of knick-knacks.  So, I'm going to have some fun.  I am going to downsize said knick-knacks.  But, What sells will go into the "Summer Home" fund.

What's the "Summer Home" fund?  I'm glad you asked.  I have been debating on building a tiny home on a trailer.  Just when I have my mind made up, I reconsider and think that a Class B RV would be better.  Then, I consider remodeling an old Airstream.  So many choices, so little time.  Well, The good news is that I don't need to decide right now.  I can build the funds and decide at a later date.  When I reach the $5,000 mark, I'll have to make the decision.  I'll keep a tally on the funds as I go.

So, Craigslist, Ebay, and Freecycle are my new best friends.  I'll post the first item this week and share my successes and failures with you folks as they happen.

The first items on the chopping block are the outgrown little tikes play equipment in the backyard.  I'm hoping to send them both packing in one sweep.

Everyone has a story to tell...

Everyone has a story...

With the demise of Osama Bin Laden, The question once again arises.  Where were you on that fateful day?  I have a story to tell, A life changing story.  Would you like to hear it?

Just before 9:00 AM, I was in the car listening to the morning show on Q104.  The usually funny morning show had suddenly taken a somber tone.  The host, Danny, announced that a plane had crashed into the North Tower.  I was dropping my daughter off at Pre-school. When I got back in the car, He announced the crash of the second plane into the South Tower.  This was too much of a coincidence.  The pre-school was a block away from my Mom's house.  So, I spun the car around and traveled down the street to my Mom's house.  I tuned in to watch the news network.  It was tragic.

I made the ride home in silence.  My wife and I had just returned home from NYC.  By just, I mean we made it back to Ohio 5 hours earlier.  We left at 8:00 PM on September 10th.  We arrived home at around 4:00 AM on September 11th.  There was alot going on in my life at the time.  I should say in my relationship with said wife at the time.  We had just rolled over that 8 year mark.  Things were not on an even keel.  I had noticed a few things on the trip.  She had made some connections via the world wide web with a New York police officer.  He served as our tour guide on this trip.  I had some suspicions.  But, I had a lot of faith in my wife.  So, I dismissed them.

I made it home and explained what had just happened in New York.  How the towers had collapsed.  When the reporter mentioned the officers and firemen that had rushed in just before, My wife went into hysterics.  The light bulb came on.  There was more to her story than I knew.  I could not get her to calm down.  She was overly concerned about her police officer friend.  This only subsided when he answered his phone.  He was safe.  My marriage unraveled rapidly after this moment.  Five months later, I would be divorced.

9/11 serves as a reminder of the beginning of the end of that relationship. The reality is that it was headed south already.  It could be better phrased as -- 9/11 serves as a reminder of the day I admitted that it was the beginning of the end of that relationship.

Life takes us in all kinds of directions.  Some we plan for and some we don't.  Some we want and some we don't.  Sometimes we just have deal with what life throws at us.  I learned to deal with it.  It was tough.  It was painful.  It changed me. 

Everyone has a story to tell...  Whats yours?

You're only here for a minute.... So come on and live it...

I've been following Nic Cowan for a couple of years now.  He hooked up with the Zac Brown label Southern Ground.  I see good things in his future.

MONEY DON'T MAKE ME HAPPY

NIC COWAN

                                    
WOKE UP THIS MORNIN, ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BED
TWO TEARS IN A BUCKET AND A BRAND NEW PAIR OF SOCKS
HOPPED IN THE SHOWER, A GOOD HALF AN HOUR
THEN I TOASTED UP SOME PEPPRIDGE FARM BREAD
I AINT IN A HURRY, I AINT GONNA WORRY
GONNA TAKE MY ASS OUT BACK AND JUST RELAX                     
CAUSE ITS A SUNNY SUNDAY MORNIN AND IT FEELS LIKE CALIFORNIA
WITH MY FOLD OUT CHAIR AND A SIX PACK SET TO CRACK

I AINT GOT NOONE LOOKIN FOR ME

SURE AS HELL AINT GOT NOWHERE TO BE
IM JUST STRUMMIN ON MY SIX STRING

PLAY A LITTLE TUNE I CALL SUNDAY MELODY

(CHORUS)
MONEY DONT MAKE YOU HAPPY

IM NOT THAT SAAVY, AT LEAST I KNOW THAT
YOURE ONLY HERE FOR A MINUTE

SO COME ON AND LIVE IT, WHILE YOU STILL CAN
   
YOU KNOW TOMORROW AINT PROMISED

I AINT BEING RUDE, JUST HONEST
AND I WOULDNT WANNA DO IT ANY OTHER WAY BUT THIS
IT MAKES THE SUN A LITTLE WARMER

AND THIS BEER A LITTLE COLDER
AND MY GUITAR NEVER DID SOUND SO SWEET AND CRISP

AND THIS BRAND NEW INSPIRATION

IS LIKE CABO ON VACATION
LEAVIN MY LEGS STICKIN TO THESE PLASTIC STRAPS
A SOLO REVELATION THAT SCATTERS MY FRUSTRATION
TWO SHOTS OF THE TRUTH, HEM IM FROM THE SLAP

COME ON LIVE IT, WHILE YOU STILL CAN
ITS A SUNNY SUNDAY MORNIN

AND IT FEELS LIKE CALIFORNIA
WITH MY FOLD OUT CHAIR AND A SIX PACK

SET TO CRRRRAAAAAAACK!!

"Life is what we make of it, and money does not provide happiness, it simply provides comfort. These two things can easily be seperated. We can be rich and unhappy, or poor and happy." -- Carlos Caggiani

Well... I  love my kindle.  I finished another book.

TRACKS AND HORIZONS : 26 COUNTRIES ON A MOTORCYCLE

BY CARLOS CAGGIANI

So, I'm a sucker for these travel narratives.  This book chronicles the journey of a young Carlos Caggiani.  But, it is also a snapshot of what was happening in the world in the mid 1960's.  Caggiani decides, at the age of 24, that he is going to travel around the world on his 1947 Indian Chief motorcycle.  He decides and just does it.  With little to no money, he lived hand to mouth in many a foreign land.  His trip lasted two years.  When he returned to his home town of Montevideo (Uruguay), he realized the trip had changed him.  I left a lot out because I think it's worth the read.  So, if you're so inclned.... Check it out.

One of the stories my Dad shared on our roadtrip involved an Indian motorcycle.  He grew up in a rural community that was growing.  There was a crew that came in to cut in the road in front of their house.  A member of the crew rode an Indian motorcycle.  While the crew worked, he let the kids toy with the motorcycle.  Well, my Dad asked if he could take it for a ride.  He was granted permission and down the dirt road he went.  As he approached the intersection to the main road, he attempted a U-turn on the bike.  He got about 2/3rd's of the way around and the weight was too much.  My dad fell in a ditch with the 1000 lb. bike on top of him.  Well, he yelled loud enough that the crew heard him and eventually freed him from under the bike.  He's not real fond of bikes these days.