4 Month Anniversary - Alive!

The trip down to my overnight watering hole (my brother-in-law's home in Dallas) yesterday was pretty darn boring & uneventful. But that's how it is when you travel via the interstate highways. BFT ran great, the sound system sounds great, and all of the toys in her worked great. The seats could use a little more padding and be a little less firm according to my butt, but they're not too bad and they look really good. Gas mileage was almost 21 MPG, which isn't bad for a truck with a 5L V-8 under the hood, but at $3.72 a gallon, that's a dollar bill flying out of the window every 5 1/2 miles. I prefer to look at it as me doing my part to stimulate the economy. I'm doing it for you guys. At least Michael isn't charging me anything to crash at his house. The Hampton Inn in Kerrville where I'll be bedding down the next 4 nights won't be so nice.

After a good steak at Logan's last night, we watched a movie on pay per view (he had a coupon to get a movie for free that was about to expire so we HAD to use it!), "Unstoppable," which provided some decent action, but had parts that stretched the limits of believability a bit too much; then a few rounds of boxing on HBO accompanied by a serving of Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream (that's the heart healthy kind, right?). It's always fun to watch a couple of yo-yo's beat the crap out of each other. I would say it's a guy thing, but there were a good many women I saw in the audience getting in touch with their primitive side. We bid our goodnights around 11:00 PM, went to our respective rooms and dreamed of the good times I expect to have the next few days. Well, I did; I have no idea what he dreamed. 

I'll get back on the road shortly. There's a Starbucks just down the way by the interstate so I'll stop there for a cup of go-juice and maybe a slice of banana nut bread and spend a couple more hours driving south on I-35. Then I get to start having fun! 2-lane roads await me and I'm looking forward to seeing what's around the next bend. I'll let ya know what I find.

You may be wondering about the title of this blog entry. It was 4 months ago today that I had a massive heart attack and died - twice. That sure as hell feel's strange to say. I am so fortunate that both times I flat-lined, several very competent medical personnel were right there with the proper equipment to bring me back among the living. Four different doctors have told me that I'm a friggin miracle - over 90% of people who have as severe of a coronary as I did get to leave the hospital in a box. As I write this, it's 8:00 in the morning, just about the exact same time I suffered what I now refer to as "The Event."  I'm not only still above ground, but I'm probably healthier than I was when it happened. I have a lot to be thankful for and I'm very aware of that.

I'm not going to get all maudlin and Lord knows I'm not going to get preachy, but I've been asked by a number of folks if The Event changed my life. Dumb question, but very understandable. Of course dying changed my life! And what I learned is an old saying I wish everyone would take to heart - be happy while you're living for you're a long time dead.

And with that said, it's time for me to hit the road, crank up Willie Nelson and start singing along with him - On the road again...

(Please click here for the first post in this series.)

Kerrville Road Trip - Day 1 Morning

I always get a bit excited the night before a road trip and last night was no different. I woke up at 4:24, as in very early, as in everyone else in the world is still asleep, as in still dark time. I eased out of bed and with arms waving around in front of me in the total darkness, baby-stepped my way across the room and into the bathroom to get rid of last night's decaf. I repeated the same process back to bed and for once didn't run into a wall that had moved over a few inches during the night or trip over a discarded blouse or step on a shoe or fork or some other landmine the women in my life sometimes leave for my bare feet to discover in the dark. As I lay back down, I almost squished the little black wonder dog who had jumped up on the bed and was trying to claim my warm spot as her own. As I jerked back to keep from laying on her, I somehow managed to bark my shin on the bed frame. After mumbling a few choice words and rubbing my shin to magically make the intense pain subside to just a hurt, I put the dog back on the floor where she belongs, lay down and closed my eyes. The last thing I remembered before drifting off was the dog jumping back on the bed and curling up at my feet.

I awoke again at 7:27; started petting the Mamma-woman and said I love you to the dog. The only one even slightly interested in what I was doing was the dog so I hauled my butt out of bed and into the shower. Once again I was amazed at how good I can sing in there. After drying off and getting into some clean clothes, I noticed a pile of shorts on my side of the bathroom counter. A few seconds of confusion resulted, but all was cleared up when I decided I better check my packed bag and discovered I only thought I had packed shorts. A last minute check of everything, a quick bowl of heart-healthy Malt-O-Meal, a handful of medicine pills chugged down with left over coffee heated in the microwave, and I'm off!

Well, I thought I was off, but first I had to grab a rag and wipe all the kitty paw prints off BFT (Big Ford Truck). I wonder what little girl left the cats locked in the garage all night? And just how do kitty paws always seem to be so dusty they leave little tracks all over a vehicle? I know they wash their feet, I see them do it so how come my truck is covered in dusty kitty paw prints? Devil's spawn is what they are! But now all kitty traces are gone and as Willie starts singing "On the road again...," the cats, the dog, the house and my girls recede in BFT's rear view mirror. I'm outta here headed for the great unknown with a smile upon my face!