Star date 01092016
Too cliche to go with Uncle Willie? Nope. Charlie wishes he had some of what Willie is consuming. I’ll bet that would cure what ails me.
See what I did here? I made the best use of all things Willie…well…except Willie’s willy.
Gotta love the Bitmoji or Avatar or whatever the kids are callin it. Back in the day…which I believe was a Tuesday…we referred to them as cartoons.
Let’s start with I’ve been awake since 0313. That would be Mountain Time, so not real to my body. For me, it is 0513. Alas, even this should not matter, as I did not have my crack in the sack until midnight, Mountain Time. Why? Janice Hanice, that’s why. Janice is my sister by way of marriage. One of only a couple redheads (of the female persuasion) I’ve ever known, who is not batshit crazy. Pause. I am curious as to what that phrase even means. Why isn’t it just bat crazy? I’ve watched bats fly, and there appear to be no patterns. I think that alone qualifies them as crazy. Or is it in fact, their shit that causes them to fly without pattern. I could be on to something. If I am, only Charlie gets the credit…that definitely came from his part of our brain. Anyway, back on point. Janice is a thinker. Janice is a philosiphiser. Yes…not a word, and Karen, I did try it with a ‘z’ at the end but it looked more like the medical brand and not the thinking person.
Sidebar – I purchased a bottle of Zin last night. Wheezy and Janice have a nice back patio, and I suspected I could lure them on to it with said bottle of grape juice. This is no ordinary nectar. This is Zin that got to live in bourbon barrels for 3 months. How cool is that?
So bottle of red (not bottle of white – Billy Joel), on the patio, just me and sis. I know what happens next. two sips in and Janice is lit and waxing poetic. In all the best ways. We covered family and friends and the book of Revelation. I expect nothing less in the few moments I get to share with her. As most may suspect, I enter in long enough to stir the pot, then my pea brain cannot take it for very long before I have to insert some sort of fart joke.
I do not need to be awake, currently. I just am. I’ve tried to go back to sleep, but I am already in thinking and picturing mode. I am quickly moved to my Shaak family and extended Shaak family…Steve. I am awed by how quickly certain things…in this case, friendships, can occur. I am further perplexed by timing of such things. How people come in to your life and how they exit. Some stay, some go. Some go and come back. Some you wish would go…For the record, I have none of those. As I type this, I can at least tie this back to last night’s conversation with my sister. Not my sister the sister, who is not a sister of the cloth; however is a sister that is a sister, who has the faith of said other sister (initials – Kim Burrell). Whew. The conversation with Janice, as expected, went to journey. For whatever reason, I likened our individual journeys to that of being like rivers. Too much, asks Norm? Bear with me. I am immediately given to thought of a Harley dealership in Glenwood Springs, CO. …and down the rabbit hole…Why? suckers…Because, as others can tell you, I collect Harley shirts. Not just to collect, but I actually have a Harley. No matter. Not the point. The point is there is a Harley dealer in Glenwood. I used to have a shirt from there, and I recall…yes, even with Charlie at the helm, I recall that I liked their logo…and their location. Their location is above the river on one of the prettiest drives in these Untied (yep) States. Where is this location? The drive is I-70 from Denver to Glenwood Springs. A good majority of it, you are between mountains, with the river running to your left or right…pending driving direction…duh…and train tracks…of course…running adjacent to the river and paralleling the highway. Aspen and such line the way. How’s your aspen? mine’s fine. Teehee. There is no better drive. ….okay…except any drive in Hawaii. So…Charlie must’ve been tying the trip today in to last night’s convo, and thusly my comment about our journey being like a river. In my head, I see Norm raising his hand. Yes, Norm. “How the F is your journey like a river?” Great question, Norm. I am really glad you asked…well, except for your constant interruptions. My river…and I’ve been waiting to use this next word…ANALogy…literally laughing out loud now. Join in Hawks. This is good shit…anal…shit…see what we did there? I say, I say, boy…(reference to Foghorn Leghorn…another Mel Blanc great). Rivers flow, no differently than lives. Individual…running toward something, but always running toward. At points rivers widen and accept other tributaries, which can turn in to rivers of their own, or cut off …no differently than how we have only a season or two with a friend before they go away. The river widens as life happens. At times, there are …as Janice so aptly pointed out…level 5 rapids. At points, our river is calm…no rapids. But still moving. So, Janice being Janice asks, “How would you (me) classify your current river status?” I should have seen this question coming, but Charlie got in the way. I would say…in this moment and that, calm. Peaceful. Tie it together? Sure. My next thoughts upon being so rudely awaken by my self were of all of you. I am calm because I am not alone on this yellow brick road of mayhem and destruction. My river is wider. Not my mouth, Steve. Nor the other side, Steve. Good lord, there are children out there. Why Charlie is just…oh wait…Charlie is suspected to be an early twenty something. Dr. Yu suspects he has taken decades to …well I was going to say, mature…but …it is me, so …not so much. Back on task. I was given to thoughts of Sunday dinner with the Shaaks. I am given to thoughts of the Dandy Gancer…Gay Dancer…Gandy Dancer. My own bartender. The conversations. The laughter. All good stuff. I am given to happenstance. I do not believe in coincidence, nor chance. I believe in purpose…though not always able to be seen on the front end…wait for it…it always gets you in the rear. WHOA! Yes. Didn’t see that comin, did you? How could you…no eyes that direction. I realize my current thoughts are of those influencing my mind and daily life, currently. Too many currentlys, Karen. Never. I’ll tie this to a brief look at the past. Again, bear with me. I lived in CO for about 10 years. I met a close brother of mine, Jay. Jay hired me to work with and for his bro-in-law. Jay and I became close friends. Business ended and Jay and I went out on our own. That business ended and Jay was hired by Firestone. I moved back to CA. Jay got me an interview with FS for a job in CA. I had to travel to Indianapolis, IN to FS headquarters for training. Jess worked at FS. We met…thanks entirely to me. She double-dog-dared me to move to Indy. I did. Whilst working in my new capacity, I met several of the outside sales groups for FS. In my travels to their regions….no, Steve…not nether….a particular sales group fancied and took a liken to me…no, Steve…not in that way. After a short spell, I was given a boss that sucked…sucks…all things ass. The aforementioned sales group suggests they have a job opening…but it is in Pittsburgh. I tell Jess about it and she…blows me away, and says, “let’s go.” So we pack up the truck and we move to Beverly…Hills that is…swimmin pools and movie stars…music, maestro. We move in May of 2015. Well, I did. Jess joined in July. I am canned by the same sales group, three days before Thanksgiving. My employ to end December 31th. January 1th, I am picked up by the top FS sales organization in the nation. Norm, Don, Michael and I start doing some business. Friendships form, and so on. Amidst all this, Jess becomes friends with Karen and now it is all tied together in a pretty little package. Two points here. Nay, three. A, I said little package. Two, all of these tributaries tied in to my river at given moments in time. C, though all Jess’s and my decisions for these examples, if none of this happens…if none of these experiences happen…we don’t find Charlie. Sub-point to C, letter 1, We don’t find Charlie, I don’t share this wealth of shite with all of you. Weeeeeeeeee.
Fast forward to our spotlight friend of the day. BTW, it will be difficult to have a Charlie v. ATOI, but I will be looking for the opportunity. I only insert this here, in the case it does not happen. So…today’s spotlight is on Scott Renfro, and guilty by 25 years of association and even longer as friends, Sandi Renfro. BTW, Scott and Sandi will be celebrating their 25st anniversary in December. I have seldom seen a stronger marriage and family bond than they have with each other and their awesome kids. Shout out. As you may recall…though likely do not want to, Scott was the third of us in the young runaways. Scott grew up across the street (for a time), from us. We were besties. Worst day in my young life is when they and then we moved away. Fear not…we still saw each other at church every Sunday. Fear now, Scott’s family would leave the church around my fourth grade year (tributary that breaks off for awhile, but runs parallel to my river…see what I did there? Follow along). Fear not. Scott reappears at church my freshman year…his sophomore. Meanwhile, back at the Hall of Justice, Sandi has been attending the same church for a couple years…laying in wait for Scott’s return…unbeknownst to her, him, or anyone else. Fear again, Scott goes off to college. Fear some more, Scott and Sandi are married…don’t fear that part…and move to Oklahoma? What in the ass? (Deadpool). Fear not, Scott and Sandi move to San Jose, some years later. All is well.
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