the sands of time

june 21, 2004 is a day citizens of amarillo will not soon forget. if you're like me, you don't remember that exact date (i had to look it up) but if you lived in amarillo that day, you'll recall an event most will take to their grave. it was on that june evening that amarillo was struck by a thunderstorm bearing hail stones the size of tennis balls, baseballs, softballs and some stones as large as grapefruit. the storm hammered the city. the west side, which BTW is where we live, was hardest hit. we have two, 2 ft. by 4 ft. skylights in the lviing room. i'm here to tell you that having ball sized hail crashing through the skylights into your living room will perk your adrenaline level right on up there. fast forward, our insurance company replaced the roof, the skylights and the windows in the master bedroom. soon after that storm, i promised myself we would get hail guards to cover those new skylights. no more hail crashing inside the house for me thank you. as i'm likely the worlds worst procrastinator, i spent 3 or 5 summers sweating out whether each coming storm would be a repeat of the one in 2004. luckily, we haven't had a repeat of that storm. finally, i did order the hail guards and they are steadfastly standing guard over the skylights. still, i don't care to see the storm that carries hail stones that large ever again, even with the skylight protection in place. that brings me to where i was going with this piece when i started it. i've mentioned the winds we have here in the spring. i was sitting in the living room the other day, the winds were howling outside. the sound of the wind whistling through the hail guards took me back to the spring days of my youth. it reminded me of riding out similar days cooped up in the cracker box of a house i grew up in. day after day, the spring wind raced and the whipping sand did it's best to blast whatever was in it's path. many days were so windy and sandy it just wasn't worth trying to venture out. even on a good day the tv's rabbit ears antenna were doing good to pick up the two available channels on our small black and white. of necessity, on bad days, kids were forced to find their amusement elsewhere; sand stormy days left a kid with no other choice. isn't it odd that something as simple as the sound of wind can trigger a memory. i recall an easter Sunday so sandy out the easter egg hunt had to be moved indoors. not the prettiest of memories, i grant you. although it's a fond one, it's still not one i'd wish for you on this coming easter sunday. have a very happy, safe and beautful easter weekend, ya'll. and i'm out

i'm too old for this...

i spent a miserable night last night. up and down all night long trying to get some relief, some way, from the pain in my throat. tylenol, ibuprofen, alleve, numbing throat spray, throat lozenges-- i tried them all without relief. the nurses in this house have postulated that the pustules on my tonsils might be strep throat. I don't recall ever having strep throat. sinusitis, pharyngitis yes. tonsillitis as a child probably, but not to the point some doc thought i'd be better off without them. the pain is bad, i'm tellin' ya'. bad enough that i even took a tylenol #3 that i have left over from my nose surgery in '07; medicine held in reserve in case i ever get one of my headaches from h***. still without relief, it'spain such that i'm going to the doctor this afternoon. i like to think i have a pretty high pain tolerance what with the tension headaches that plaque me from 1-4 days a week. but this pain is different. it's like my throat is on fire. it's hard to swallow. how am i supposed to drink my daily pot of coffee? tell me that will ya'? enough on the pain in my throat. but isn't it nice to hear me whine about something other than my truck? i hope you all have a pain free day! and i'm out.

marriage...

what is marriage? ask a million people, get a million different answers, i would guess. i have yet to understand why she chose me. but i do realize the enormity of the project that has been, and is me-- a work in progress still. i scratch my head in wonder that someone from polite society would choose to take me on as her life partner. i've heard it said that marriage is a process that over time takes the rough edges off a man. it's hard for me to believe there's enough emery on planet earth to take the edges off the likes of me. i had the basics of yes ma'am and no ma'am, let me get that door for you ma'am, down i guess. any old country boy knows those things. which fork to use first was never a problem for me growing up. our table was set with one of each. no decision was needed. emily post? i had never heard of her. the mean years of my younger life were devoid of the finer things. one does not miss what one has never had. ignorance is bliss, if you will. coming up as i did is the wellspring for who i am today. there were a few times when meals were skimpy but for the most part there was enough. i learned that hard work won't kill you and that there is satisfaction in seeing what a days labor has wrought. in the middle 70's i was still very much a naive farm boy. though i had spent time in the army i knew little of the world at large. about then, a whirlwind named bonnie came blowing into my life. being swept up in the moment led me to all i enjoy today. she gave me family, wondermous sons and a precious daughter. along the way, the gentle emery that is she has taken the worst of the rough edges off me. life with her has been good. we've watched our children grow into adulthood. our son's exposed us to the pleasures of the theater, our daughter to the grace of ballet and later the symphony. i bought a leisure suit, it was 1976 after all, to be married in. now i own two tuxedos and find occasion to wear one from time to time. any refinement i may have acquired through the years comes from the infinite patience, the giving heart and the love showered on me by my bonnie. with her i've come to have an appreciation of good food and good wine. she has shown me there are foods, even good foods that --gasp-- are not chicken fried. she has taught me life's finer points. she has made me a better man. with her there for support and guidance anything is possible for me. lord knows where or what i might be had she not been my wife. i'm glad she is.

the rocks

monday, 3/29/2010-- and the saga continues. i guess i'm supposed to be grateful to be provided with any kind of wheels at all while my truck is idling it's time away in a mcgavock service bay. i called ann this morning to tell her i wouldn't be bringing the 2010 frontier back today. she--okay??? me-- they called and got it back on saturday. they stuck me in an '03 dodge intrepid. she-- so you want me to put you in another vehicle? i don't think i can do that if that's what they gave you on saturday. you should call the body shop and ask them to put you in a rental. me-- i find it hard to believe that a nissan service department would not know that the heads on that engine can't be polished. she-- it didn't say that in our service manual. it should have, but it didn't. me-- so when do you think my truck will be ready. she-- it could be today. i think the heads came in on saturday. let me check. no, they didn't so it might be ready tomorrow. me- i thought the heads weren't supposed to be there until tuesday. she-- that's right, but he already has your truck apart so it could be ready tomorrow, or it could be wednesday morning. (i thought to myself--or next week, if things go the way they've been going.) like a ship lost in the dark and on the farthest sea, i cling to the beacon that is hope. hope that in my lifetime that beacon will see my truck and me reunited. please, keep us all in your thoughts-- me, my truck and the folks at mcgavock . we need all the good vibes you can muster on our behalf. a better day is coming. i have to believe that. and i'm out.

panhandle weather

this will be your panhandle weather update for sunday, march 28-- could it be that spring has sprung. if the predictions bear out, it just might be true.

sunday's high is expected to be in the 60's with the temp edging toward the upper 70's on monday. but hold your hats, the week's weather only gets better. tuesday, wednesday and thursday should be in the upper 80's. friday brings a cool down into the 70's again with 60 for a high on saturday. you can''t beat those temps with a weather stick. of course along with the warmer temps will come winds at 15-20 mph. folks around these parts don't take notice of the wind until it gets up into the 30-35 mph range with a few higher gusts thrown in just for thrills. i grew up on the south plains, down south of lubbock. springtime on the south plains can be a gritty experience. it's something to see to see the earth moving along at a horizontal and at 35-40-45-50 miles and hour. there is dirt in the air when the winds get up in the panhandle but it's dust more than sand. i tell my patients that i've been gone from that area for 30+ years and i still don't have all the sand out of my craw. and on days when the wind is really gettin' with it and the panhandle horizon is brown with dust, i've been know to posit, "this is a great day not to be in lubbock". in the coming week, i wish you fair skys, little wind and the sun to warm your back, and where ever you are, i hope you have a great week. this has been your panhandle weather update. and i'm out.

the cartoon sums it up for me. i'm feeling blue, sad, down, sorry for myself and in general wretched! i figure you are all tired of me whining on ad nauseum about the situation with my truck. hopefully for you and for me it will be resolved soon and i can stop perseverating on the subject. still, i feel a bit of stress and a certain degree of anxiety re: it all which may be putting a drain on my resistance. as a rule, i'm a guy who seldom gets sick. there is a line of thought that says running/jogging boosts one's immune system. over the years, i think that has proved to be fairly accurate, at least in my case. but, over these last weeks, my usual paltry mileage has taken a hit. i've not been running even my usual three days a week. that and the emotional drain of it all has me feeling like i may be coming down with something. it might just be allergies, the panhandle winds are doing what they do, stirring things into the air but when i woke on saturday morning i felt like my left sinus had been draining down the back of my throat. as the day wore on my whole throat became quite sore, i've started sneezing my head off, and it's progressed to my just feeling yuck. it all sucks. but what will suck even more is if i really am getting sick. i've just started my four days off. so if i am sick i'll likely be better by the time thursday rolls around. boo! piss and moan! i'm loading up on echinacea, vitamin-c, b-12 an benadryl and going to bed. afterthought-- oh--shoot, i could have had a hot toddy!

hope springs eternal

okay, the picture has little to do with this post. the picture speaks of eternal hope, that bulbs planted in the fall will do their nature thing come spring. that the first little green leaves will peek out of the ground as though to be sure it is safe for the tulips to follow. plants, given the right conditions-- moisture, good soil and the heat of the sun will go about the business of growing, doing their planty best to strut their beautiful stuff. the picture has nothing to do with how i'm feeling about my truck situation. i only wish nissan mechanics were as dependable. ann called to let me know they had at last figured out why the truck would not start after the engine head was polished and returned to the motor. it seems they finally gave up looking for the cause of the problem and decided to ask an expert. that is, they called up the nissan food chain, explained what the problem was, a blown head gasket and what they had done, replaced the gasket and polished the head(s?) and when the engine wouldn't start, replaced the original computer-- all with no solution to the problem. nissan's response-- well, there's your problem. the heads on this motor can't be polished, they have to be replaced. the computer wouldn't let the engine start because the heads have been polished. the tolerances aren't the same with a polished head and the engine would have been harmed even further so the computer would not allow the engine to start. Okay? for me, not so much. that raises several questions for me. 1.) is this mechanic a nissan mechanic working at a nissan dealer ship? supposedly yes. then, why did they not know this little tidbit about the heads requiring replacement and polishing is not an acceptable fix for this problem with this engine to begin with? 2.) why did the diagnostic machine indicate a computer needed to be replaced, not once but with the second, new computer as well, if indeed the problem was with the head-- and not the computer at all? 3.) if ever i do get my truck back and it is running, how much confidence/faith can i have in these "repairs". i guess i can hope that all will be well. but doubt, and lots of it, keep springing into my train of thought. ugh! hope is is faint and fading fast. and i'm out.