You Better Believe It!

Another crazy weekend plus 2 for this Mann.

Saturday:

Woke up at the Days Inn, brewed up the free coffee, took a shower, met a Northern Irishman and his son (his business website) who are traveling all around the country in there three-wheel Honda Motorcycle and pull-behind luggage trailer (which he buys the kits, puts them together, and sells them back home in Ireland) and then... the car didn't start, unsurprisingly enough (remember, the alternator is bad.) I got a jump from the guy working the front desk. This got me about three blocks downtown, since the Saint Patricks Day Parade (which I missed playing in for the first time in 4 years) was just beginning and traffic was crazy. So, I called the Good Samaritan and the best car mechanic friend I know, Tim McMeeken. He arrived within 25 minutes with 20-some foot jumper cables that never lacked the length needed for a convenient jump. So we jumped the Bimmer not once, not twice (in the left turn lane onto the freeway - we looked like two uninsured Mexicans trying to get away before the cops arrive) but three times (on 77-Southbound, this is where we swapped batteries) to get it back to his house where he could replace the alternator. Seeing that the job would take more time then the time allotted before my first gig at 4:45, I called up none other than Johnny Blazed (aka my Manager... for the night.)

He came and picked me up from Tim's in his "I think I can" Mercedes and we were on our way to the first gig, a private party. It went well, they want me back next year, but the best part, the best part of the gig was at the end of it all, when I was going to John's Mercedes where he was waiting to pick me up. As I approached the vehicle two little girls were riding on their bicycles. One of them said to the other, "Don't go over there! There's a stranger over there!" I looked "over there" and there was John, sitting there in his 1983 Mercedes loaded with body putty and worn off grey paint, and I couldn't help but to laugh. I reassured the little girls that John is surely not a stranger, but I don't know if they ever believed me. So on to the next gig...

It went in this order:

Dinner
Picasso's Pizza & Sports Bar on East Blvd.
Big Ben's English Pub on Providence Rd.
Union Station Restaurant & Bar in Gastonia
Hef's Lounge and the Wine Bar next to it on Woodlawn (under Jason's Deli)
Ri Ra Uptown
5th & Tryon

It all ended uptown at 5th & Tryon Street around 3am playing for loads of people for tips on the street corner.

Sunday:

Woke up late... of course. My brother Dustin and his wife Crystal were in town at my brother Peter's for a short visit. They came and picked me up at David Johnson's in Matthews, where I'm staying for now, and took me to Peter's where we all hung out, ate pizza, and watched some basketball. Check the pic (who's taller? Look at their feet!) After Dustin & Crystal left back up to Virginia where Dustin was going to check out a law school I took Peter's car and, with some help from Tim again, picked up my freshly fixed car that he had fixed for me. Goodnight.

Monday:

Finally got a hit in with John. Today's the day I'm supposed to check out the "New" van that I held the seller up from selling for almost a month now. Some things fell through in trying to get it all together before dark, so it had to wait until Tuesday, aka today.

Tuesday:

I woke up at a decent hour today - finally back on schedule. I made some phone calls, booked a piping gig for a Memorial Service this Friday and for April 7th, then waited up for Dirk Allman, my Historian / Junk Dealer friend who is quite an interesting fellow ('fella' for Southerners.) Yet he was unable to come over to pick me up as his mother got sick and needed to be taken to the hospital. I pray all is okay with your Mother, Dirk! So I drove over to look at the van on my own.

I test drove it. It ran very solidly, but had some little things wrong with it (only one headlight working, and other small issues like that) as it hadn't been driven in quite some time, at least not anywhere far. I spoke for a while on the phone with Tommy Lucas, the owner, who is now in Hawaii, about all the details of the vehicle, and believe me there are a lot. Anyway, to make a long story short, I just purchased my first home today (see pic - that's the Title and the keys I'm holding.) Time to re-vamp the campaign!

Directly afterward I got my first hit in with Tim Wilkison himself, did some of his recommended drills on the ball machine, and called it a day.

I'm in Charlotte and I'm still loving every minute of it.

Signing off...

~ Nate

10 Days in... 10 Pounds up

It's been 10 days since I arrived in Prescott, Arizona for training and I have gained about a pound a day. I came in at 160 and this morning I weighed in at 170. The goal is to sustain 175.

Being here is not like being anywhere else. The dry climate, the rocky, highly elevated mountainous atmosphere, the people, the animals! Tuesday night about a dozen javelinas (pronounced 'havolina') showed up looking for a nighttime snack and some water just right in front of my brother's house. "What is a javelina?" you might ask. It's a wild pig. Google it, then you'll say wow. I went outside, just 15 feet away from the whole family. Luke says they come around often. He showed me some pics of one eating Sierra's (my neice) prize winning pumpkin. Just about 5 minutes ago I got to see a raccoon come right up to eat the rest of Coco's (the 3 pound dog) food. Again, this wasn't anything out of the norm. The coolest thing is that Luke's house has a full row of huge windows in the kitchen that give full view of all the action going on outside in the front 'yard.' Let me tell you, a yard here is more like a slew of rock formations. Grass is very uncommon.

Alright, signing off for now... 18 days til the Journey begins!

Nate