A Look Back... Steve-Style...

Greetings from the travelling maniac...
I'm putting a boat-load of miles on my car and this is a time of year where my broadcast schedule has picked up considerably. But sometimes it can come at a cost. Other times it can lead to the unusual. I've had both of those occur with me... But it's going to turn out good. I hope.
Last week, I was broadcasting a football game and after I finished, I walked towards my car and I looked at a bar just down the road a bit. It was a bar I had gone to back in the day (many years ago) not so much to drink, but to see different bands play. I remember that there was a large group of people that would hang out there every weekend. A couple of them were my friends from high school and they were really into the music scene. So just for the heck of it, I stopped by to see if anyone still went to the place and sure enough, I ran into my best friend from high school, Steve. Steve's band was playing that night and I have known Steve and his brother Mike since 1981. When Steve saw me (mind you, I've only seen him twice in the last 15 years), he about flipped out. "WHOLLY ****... LOOK WHO'S HERE?" and proceeded to run over and give me a hug. His younger brother Mike saw me and almost screamed. He was so incredibly happy to see me and I him. I hadn't talked with them together since the 90's... So we stood there like the goofballs we are and talked and caught up on stuff. Steve married a very beautiful young lady. The emphasis is on the word 'young'. As in Steve and I are in our mid-40's and she was celebrating her 25th birthday. I thought of my gal pal and smiled. She's a bit younger than me but not nearly half my age. I met Steve's wife and she seems like a nice girl. We all swapped phone numbers and emails. He wanted to by me a drink but I told him that I don't anymore. He was a little surprised but after about five minutes, we were laughing and making plans to get together for dinner and maybe take in the odd game or two. We were like 15 year olds again just discovering our enjoyment of our first rock concert. I think I went to one of my first rock concerts in my home town with Steve. We went and saw Nazareth I think. Man, does that make me feel old... Okay pop quiz time for you... leave me an answer (regardless of musical taste... If it entertains you... that's all that matters.) What was the first concert or show you ever went to?

It's All In How You Look At It...

I gotta say, some days can be a whole world of misery. Some days aren't the best. Each of us go through such times. Whether it's poor health, loss of a job or a disagreement with a co-worker, or worse... family, life can hand you a big crapola burger sometimes. It's never easy when things get tough. But if there's one thing I've learned over the course of my life, the word for it would be "perspective". No doubt about it. I can't ever complain about things because when I use perspective, I realize that I don't have it so bad... at all. I look in the mirror and think "geez, I need to lose weight". But I think about my sisters. Lou is a bilateral amputee. She is also on dialysis, but she lives life to the fullest. Terri has cancer in various parts of her body. She continues to fight valiantly. I don't think she worries about if she's gained a pound or two. I think about my true love, my gal pal. She inspires me every single day just by being who she is. She doesn't look at her wheelchair as a hindrance. We both just see it as a piece necessary furniture. She defines it, it doesn't define her. I whine about getting up in the morning and driving to work. I think about her and realize that she'd love to be able to do what I do,and then I realize that I'm blessed because I can get up and walk to my car and just basically be a bum anywhere I want. But she doesn't ever complain about it. She feels like she's being used by God for a specific purpose. Keeping me from becoming a total door knob, goofball, is only part of it. I don't complain anymore when things don't go my way. It's all a matter of perspective.
My days can be outright insane sometimes because of my day job and then the broadcast stuff I do in the evening. But I can't complain. Others would love to be in my situation but are unemployed. And then there's my nephew, the marine. He just came back home from deployment and his work days made me look like a completely lazy bum. Again, it's all a matter of perspective. He was just matter of fact about his time away from home. There's no way I could ever do what he did. Not even close. But he looks up to me and while that's neat for the ego, the truth is that I look up to God, my gal pal, my sisters, and him... They are awesome to me. They inspire me each and every day. I might be the brother who's on tv and radio...blah, blah, blah... But they are the real stars in my family. It's all a matter of perspective.

And So It Begins... Hut One... Hut Two... HIKE!

Ah yes, the smell of pigskin is in the air. That can only mean one thing.... FOOTBALL!!!

My schedule now official kicks into warp drive as I start again with broadcasting high school football and next week (dare I say it) hockey starts up for me... I love this time of year. I love to watch sports and these are my two favorites. Of course, my gal pal is not much for sports except college basketball (loves her UK Wildcats), but she loves me and puts up with me and my sports nuttiness. Now the grueling part of the job (yet I still love it), is the travel. The hockey takes me throughout all of the midwestern part of the country. Again, I'm an old road dog who has rode team busses for years so it's all old hat to me. I look forward to it. However, one sign that I'm getting old, is that there are halloween displays already up in some places. Wholly smokes... at this rate, can Christmas be far behind?? Yikes, I don't even want to think about it yet... With that in mind, Have a nice Labor Day everybody...