A Day To Remember

An early day it was on April the 27th 2005. I awoke about 7am and the Happy Birthday's were given by my lovely wife and son. Only a few minutes later I was greeted on the telephone with the traditional birthday song sung by one Andrew Dagger. What a treat that was. I had agreed to go work with Jason on the day preceding the 27th so I met up with him about 10am and headed to Winston.


After getting to Winston Salem he and CH had been waiting on a package for days that was needed to continue with the recording process they have been working on for weeks. However the shipment was never sent and time was of the essence. After a few phone calls and discussion Jason and I jumped into Jason's van and headed to Raleigh to pick up the program he needed to continue the recording project. And off we went. We stopped and had lunch in K'ville at Bojangles and got back onto the road about 12:45pm.


We had a great time and chatted about family, friends, and work. As we got into Durham we laughed and joked and everything was going great until a "clank, clank, clank, bang, and boom"
No smoke, no fire, just silence. We cruised to the side of the road and jumped out of the van.
Instantly upon opening the hood of the van Jason discovered that the serpintine belt had broke.

Damn. That is about all we could say. The good note about this was we were only about 50 yards away from the Southpoint Mall exit so we decided to take a walk. The funny part about this is Jason had a cell phone that reached only in town in the Greensboro area, and I didn't have one at all. Mistake NUMERO UNO. Well we figured we could just go and find some calling cards and everything would be okay. Nope it wasn't that easy. We actually had to go deep into the Southpoint Mall to find a cell phone dealer due to the lack of phone cards and panic. We found a Cingular dealer and begged for help. Well they were happy to help. At the mere cost of $250 for a prepaid phone with only $25.00 of air time at $.25 cents a minute. Wow. We were fortunate that we had plenty of money due to CH. So with a quick activation and WHO HAH we were back in action. Off we walk to the van and to get some help. By this time we had called wives and Emily was on her way to rescue us.


The time was 3:30 when arrived back at the van. About 4:30pm Emily arrived and rescued us from despair. Well we knew we had a mission to complete. So off to Guitar Center to complete the transaction of purchasing the WaveLab Platinum Bundle Pack for CH. So finally about 5pm we arrived. Mistake NUMERO DOS.


If you thought the story couldn't get any better you haven't read anything yet. We go up to the Pro Audio counter and they said no one called about a Platinum Bundle Pack. Infact they didn't even have one in stock. AH HELL'S BELLS. What is this world coming too. " We had called and we talked to some guy named Jason and he said he had one in stock and he was holding it." "Well sir there is no one by that name here and we do not have that product in stock". Okay now panic and stress set in. Thank God for the salesman who helped us. He found one in Texas and was able to FedEx it out the same afternoon for it to arrive this morning by 10:30am. Well its 11:20am now and FedEx hasn't got here yet. "Blah, blah, blah, not so nice Christian words, aggravation and stressed".


So I finally got home last night about 9:30pm. I had to cancel dinner at Carraba's with my wife and my mom and stepdad. So instead of eating some kick butt italian food I had to settle for Papa John's. Hallelujah, I did get to see my mom, I didn't have to cook, and I finally got a cellphone after saying how unimportant they are.


Today has been so different. Not only did the package not show up yet, the shipping clerk at the Guitar Center in Texas shipped me the wrong package and sent the Platinum Bundle to someone else. There goes $1600 right down the crapper. You know what I have got to do today, hang out with my son Christian. He is the best. We kept him home today due to restless night of sleep. So Beth, Christian, and myself had a picnic lunch, and then it was a game of kickball after lunch. So anything that happened yesterday is nothing but a memory in time. Today has been great. So thank you to all who made it special, and I look forward to seeing you all soon. Take care.

Conversations with Tony

This morning I had to go to a training seminar for Starbucks at Goldengate Shopping Center. It was about a 6 hour training session. I had heard that Tony Wood, a family friend worked their however I didn't know I would actually get to see him.

Tony is a family friend whose house we met at on Friday nights for small group church meetings back in the mid 80's. I grew up with his kids and both my sisters are good friends with his daughters. About 3 years ago he was diagnosed with cancer. All those years he was struggling with the nasty disease I would keep up on his health report via my sister Angela. They both attend the same church. When I started talking to him I didn't want to remind him of the hell he went through for the last two to three years. However as the conversation went on he talked a little about how horrible it was going through radiation treatments. As we talked I was just amazed at how much he embraced what happened to him and had accepted he may get to meet his maker sooner than anticipated. He shared how his kids were just horrified about their father being gone. Last March 2004 he was told by his doctor's he was cancer free. He still goes back for checkups every three months. He said that would continue for the next couple of years.


On the way home the one thing that stuck out to me was the bracelet he had on. You know the yellow LiveStrong bracelet for the cancer foundation Lance Armstrong started. His organization helps fund research to find cures for cancer. I wear one myself that is a yellow bracelet. Not for looks, not because it is the in thing, because it means something more. Last year I lost my grand father to cancer. My wife lost her sister to cancer. My father in law bought the bracelets because he knew it was a great cause. Not only did he loss his daughter years ago, he also lost a good friend not to long after my grand father died. We all have a common bond. Either we lost someone close to us from cancer, or in Tony's case battled with it in his own body. So if you are concerned about cancer, be aware of the risk and get involved. And the next time you see someone with a yellow bracelet, find out what it means to them. Take care.

I Did It

Well I didn't think until I walked out of the DMV this morning that I would ever renew my cdl license. I had until 4-26 next Tuesday to get it renewed. I did it at the last possible time 5 days before it expired. Hallelujah I passed the hazmat exam and am able to drive a commercial vehicle once more. I was very afraid I would fail. I studied for two days and missed only 3 questions on the exam. I almost didn't get the eye chart. I had one more chance to read it the right way. I seriously need to get a new prescription. My ability to see small letters has gotten pretty bad. I left you all with a beautiful picture of my new license CDL Class B w/ hazmat. And that is The World According to Thad.

The Scoop

As most of you know by now I no longer work at Uno's. I had a detailed blog to present to all of you however it got messed up some how in the editing process. Thank you to all who have shown your support over the last couple of weeks. I do have a part time job at Starbuck's that started yesterday. I was truly dreading going in almost to the point of having a crisis. No other reason than I was having to start something new and unknown to me. The longer I sat and chatted with my new store manager she made me feel welcomed and comfortable. I hung out with her for about three hours. I did some register training on the computer in the office until time to go home. I do like the fact I can show off my sexy legs. I am still actively seeking a full time job too. So anyone who has any leads I need your help. I have sent out about 10 resumes all over the area. Relocation is not an option for me at this time. I would like something in the M-F range if at all possible. I do have a lot of work experience. I am not afraid to get my hands dirty. So please let me know if you have ideas or suggestions. Thanks to all for thoughts and prayers. Take care.

Wolly Buggers

As most of you know I have taken up fly tying thanks to my father in law. I finally used the new Dan vise I received as an early b-day gift. Yesterday I had the opportunity to tie some flies and other than the hackle being to big they turned out very well. I take a few minutes each time I tie to try and master the proper way to put the thread on and then the proper whip finish which is not exactly the easiest thing to do. So here are my wolly buggers for all to enjoy.

So long Friend

The world seems small some times. I had heard about the death of Al Lucas Monday morning, I did not realize he was a former Carolina Panther. Division I-AA defensive player of the year his senior year at Troy State. Sail on captain, and let your guiding light lead you to the ocean. My thoughts go out to his family. Peace

The P. Diddy Blues

I find at times my life is very uninteresting and boring compared to those of the likes like P. Diddy Combs. I just read an interesting article about how he owed back payments in child support to an ex-girlfriend lover whatever the heck she is and boy she socked it to him. I have to say it is his own fault for not taking care of his children however he must of not realized that hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn. I mean he must realize by now even if your a pop star that it does not excuse you from parental duties. But man that has to take a bit out of his money expenses. I have no pity for him. If he would have taken care of business like he should then he wouldn't be in the situation now. Take care of your children for goodness sake. They deserve it. Amen