Death of a Salesman |S:03E.68

Welcome to the Reckon Yard, I'm Jerry Wayne Longmer, y'all are presumably still y'all

all welcome here in the Church of Internal Combustion. We just asked that you show up with an open heart.

Let me start with a good timer here so I know what's going on.

Well, it's been a week. I'm tired this Sunday morning. It's actually about 11 o'clock on Sunday.

I'm running real late recording this thing because I got home from Louisville yesterday on the airplane

and I just I was just wiped. I just I have a good time when I'm in Louisville. I didn't get too

crazy but I have a good time and I was just wiped yesterday and I didn't really accomplish a whole

lot of nothing come Saturday. Actually that's not even true. I worked on the book for like two hours

with my editor so or maybe an hour. I may be exaggerating and I did sit down and do some writing

on this and I did help take care of a little kitten since I've been back. So some of y'all

know that story and what's going on with Little Miss Ophelia and it's been a bit of a roller coaster.

We're going to talk more about that at the end of the night. I'm really psyched

tonight. Unfortunately I'm on this part of the livecast. Sadly I'm not going to be around at

the end. I'll be here at the beginning but I'm not going to be at the end. I got tickets.

Just kind of fell through the ethos and I got tickets for me and my lady to go see Paul Cawthon

and he's doing his acoustic set tonight at the Heights Theater in Houston, Texas.

And I've been a fan of his for a while but his most recent album I have just it's

every once in a while I've had this happen throughout my life that every once in a while you

just get something that that pops at right the right time for it to line up with things going on

for you and it's one of those you know it's one of those times where you just take a whole bunch of

meaning from this one album and that that black on black album she's just been hitting me just

right to whom I've talked to y'all about to whom to whom do you belong you know black on black all

that stuff lavender generally it's all it's all fitting my vibe right now and uh I'm real excited

to see that acoustic set. I also get a little night out on the town with my honey and also if

you haven't been following the cat situation you know it's been a kind of stressful week and uh

it'd be nice to you know just be alone with mama for a little bit just be alone with my Rachel

for just a little bit just just a minute for us to just just vibe and connect some good music maybe

a few drinks love dancing I'm standing too close that kind of good thing you know need a little

bit of that every now and then without them kids around you know love them having that kitten at

the house has been like having a newborn again because we're just awake all the time and you've

got to feed little booger's appetite strong does but you hadn't feed her a lot you know

and uh she got broken legs so anyway we'll talk about all that later. Louisville everybody that

our day oneer come out to see me in Louisville uh bought me a beautiful shot of old for the first

first let's just talk about Louisville but I was so excited to meet Mr. Gene Bond and Mr. Cornbread

Fred. I met the actual Cornbread Fred and Cornbread Fred did not disappoint brother if I if somebody

told me lined up a bunch of dudes with a bunch of different hats and belt buckles and such

and they said one of these guys's name is Cornbread Fred if he didn't look like Cornbread Fred I

would have been damn mad that guy was he he just did not disappoint man wonderful human being I

really enjoyed getting to meet him uh Mr. Fleming come out he's a facebook fan uh so many good

wrecking yard people they're my old buddy Greg Roshan come out uh Jim Lavender come out man uh

Jim Lavender drove from northwest indiana with his son his son gave me one of the best testimonials

anybody's ever gave me uh just about how much more him and his father are speaking and communicating

as a result of his dad listening some stuff I have to say and uh that just made me just about

as happy as anything they ever could make me so I flew out to Louisville Thursday horrible flight

going in whoo I wanted off that airplane that bugger got the bouncing and shaking and by god I

wasn't having it I was uh there's a bunch of stuff going on with the air traffic controllers and it's

I crap scary man and you don't know who's telling the truth about nothing none of us

none of us know the truth about nothing all we know is the particular brand of bullshit

we're being fed and what's everyone tastes best to us you know but none of us know if anybody's

telling the truth you know so I don't know who's air traffic the air traffic controllers

yeah I don't know what's going on with that shit but it makes me nervous as an air traveler

makes me nervous as an air traveler I can tell you that whether that nervousness is warranted

or not you can make that decision for yourself but it does make me nervous as an air traveler uh

the the all the all the personnel changes has not been good is not been good because the wrecks

are up and uh anyway so they're warning about all kind of delays with tsa and all that kind of shit

I'll tell you I went to um I went to the airport two hours early Thursday and I was through tsa

and intercontinental in about 15 minutes of course my groin sets off the alarm because my

groin always sets off the alarm I have googled search talked to doctors about this I even asked my

own doctor to give me some kind of scan so we just make sure I ain't accidentally got a piece of

metal and uh Little Jerry you know what I mean because I don't know what every time I go through

that damn tsa you know hands up macarena scanner beep we got something we got something lit up

around your groin there and I read oh you gotta pull your inseam up tight don't sag your pants

don't I've tried everything every time I set that alarm about to go get me one of those clear or

whatever that bullshit is because I'm just I'm just tired of getting my dick touched by strangers

in front of other strangers in airports and it just feels like that's become my occupation

it's like are you going to do comedy no I'm driving over to intercontinental let a stranger

tuck my touch my dick in front of a bunch of other strangers and then I'm gonna fly to Sacramento

and then when I get ready to leave Sacramento I'm gonna drive back to the airport and let another

stranger touch my dick in front of a whole bunch of other strangers and then I'm gonna go home

that's my job now I'm tired of it I'm tired I ain't bitching I'm just I am bitching a little bit

but I got to that tsa 50 means they wanted me up this is the thing and this I will tell you this

this pissed me off this did piss me off so every time they do that to you they make you take your

shoes off and then you got to wait for your shoes to go through the machine get scanner after all

your shit serves and you're just standing there in your socks you know thinking about your recent

your molestation and having to look at all the people in the eye that watch you get molested

in front of everybody while you wait for your shoes to come and so this time I was like well I'm

just gonna save myself trouble take my shoes off I put them in Legos you don't need to do that put

your shoes back on I said I'm gonna get hit by that thing I get hit by it every time and you

are gonna make me take my shoes off rescan it she goes you don't have to take your shoes off put

your shoes back on put my shoes back on what happens free and we gotta rescan your shoes

boy I sure gave her a dirty look but who knows what she's going through that day ladies just

try and do her job so I don't wish her no ill will but just a little bit I was like I hope

oh just a little little piece of me every once while I just I talk all this shit about kindness

but I'm even being tell you I get frustrated people too boy just for I was just looking at her

like well I hope every time you go to shut a door for the rest of your life the door just

almost closes but doesn't close all the way like I ain't wishing illness or nothing on her

just a little frustration

got into Louisville uh Muhammad Ali's one of my favorite airports flying in and out of I always

I love going to Louisville I've told y'all that time and time again y'all know my fascination

with Lee's chicken which did not get this time which sucked but I screwed around and forgot to eat

Friday uh Thursday night I got I was a little shaking up the flight was real turbulent and

I was just kind of rag them up and tired and we had stayed up too late the night before dealing

with this cat situation and and I was just a little run down after this week I had driven

up to Longview Tuesday to pick up my sister and bring her down here her trucks broke down

some of my sister's visiting I just I was a little run down and so it's a Thursday night here's what

I did I ubered me some Evan Williams and some culvers I like culvers too and there's not one

anywhere near where I live now uh and uh so I got me a little culvers burger and I had me about

two glasses whiskey and didn't have any uh didn't have any uh of my other medicine so I just

laid bed talked to Rachel a little bit she was keeping me up to date on the cat situation we were

finding all kind of other stuff out and went to bed woke up about six seven morning got up got

showered went uh took uber downtown Louisville and uh got me got me a cold brew coffee from quills

coffee uh called southern gothic ain't that ain't that but I was like boy this is a this is a town

for a rider man at least for a rider with a stripe such as mine you know and I think that's

what Louisville is one of those few places in the world I go where the vibe fits me where where I feel

like I might have been a cool guy in that city because it's my type of vibe you know what I mean

it's just I like that town and uh it's bourbon city how could you not so I went walk around telling

people about the show our ticket sales weren't stellar we had like 50 presale at that point

and I had already put $200 in ads and I was a little nervous the trip was going we're going to lose

money on the trip uh and we didn't thank thank goodness we didn't lose money on the trip we

didn't make any but we didn't lose none and that's sometimes that's good enough sometimes that's good

enough can't be all the time but every once while it can be good enough and uh I took off through

downtown Louisville just walking around I like walking around that city there's a lot of cool

shit to see a lot of old architecture I love a copper top building a lot of old buildings out

there with them copper points and copper tops on them and I just like I like that look I like

that style of architecture I don't know what it is but I like it so I strolled around looked at

took some pictures from mama met some people at the coffee shop told them about the show

ended up in my afternoon walkabout

as you will sometimes at some kind of distillery and I was on the street and there was just

this list of all these distilleries and they're good there's a lot of good ones you know

and I seen the old forester distillery

and old forester makes me laugh because my pap old clerk liked old forester

another old man I knew liked old forester me and joey used to keep it at the house because it was

back in the day it was cheap bourbon you know the way those trends and bourbons and stuff go and

the market jumps up and down you can never tell what's happening but you never know who's going

to be the big expensive one next but sure enough here come old old forester just a few years ago

start climbing in price climbing in price and I always kind of liked always thought pretty good

bourbon was cheap but I you know I wasn't going to pay no high dollar for it I said man I got to go

check out their distillery and I walked in there and like a lot of them when you go in the bar they

have these little flights and it's a little half ounce of whiskey and there's different flights

to choose from and they had all kind of stuff but they had one that was uh I feel like it was

called rich and decadent but it was the prohibition flavor so it was the 1900 recipe the 1910 recipe

and the 1920 recipe and I said boy that's the one I want right there that's why I'm feeling adventurous

I'm feeling prohibited let me get that prohibition selection because I think I'd have probably been

drinking it during the prohibition boy sure enough they bring my little flight out and

I was by myself and uh uh this couple sitting at another table over here uh maybe a little older

me not much they said hey we know she by yourself you won't come sit with us what I mean that's just

the vibe of Louisville that's the vibe of Louisville these people are from out of town but that's the

vibe in that town it's one of the few towns where you walk around downtown talk to people and they're

from there you walk around downtown Houston talk to people if you meet five people from Houston

boy you can kiss my ass now or I'll kiss yours like I said that wrong or I can even be gonna kiss

my ass that's what I meant I'll kiss your ass you meet five people downtown Houston that are from

freaking Houston

these people by me to the table I sat down there they're uh wonderful people from Butte Montana

no they're from somewhere uh maybe Helen no

Billings they lived in Billings Montana but he was from Butte Montana originally so we had a lot

I had done some pipelines up there and we had some fun conversation we talked a little bourbon

of course conversation comes around what you do and they were retired and I told them I was in

town to do stand-up comedy and of course we talked about that stuff a little bit then a lady from

another table she said hey I don't mean to eavesdrop she goes but I was just listening to over here and

are you the Faulkner guy and I looked at her grin I was like you know for years people been

called me the truck guy that ain't gonna lie I like the Faulkner guy better I like the Faulkner guy

better if I'm gonna be some kind of guy I'd rather be the Faulkner guy than the truck guy I mean I

like doing trucks but that ain't all I do and uh she said yeah she goes I just love that video and

she said my husband is a huge fan of you he's down at a different distillery angels wings distillery

doing their tour and he's coming over here to meet me and so I gave him the link to the show tickets

all that stuff they wanted to get tickets to the show they were all looking for something to do that

night and I went through my little flights that that 1900 was real good the night the 1910 uh to

me had the best flavor best flavor like going down it went down real smooth but lord have mercy

that 1920 115 proof it bit you just a little bit right off the bat just a little get you you know

boy I walked out of that distillery with a little hitch in my giddy up let me tell you son

boy I was just as high stepping it down the whole main street there you know I feel pretty good I

walked around met some more people just walked around downtown Louisville meeting people talking

folks telling them about the show and joined the vibe uh my good buddy up there skinny j jim

cool uh he's the man that single-handedly saved lrs 102 radio basically just bought it and kept it

going and uh it was the premier rock station up there and Louisville's known for the rock

needs Louisville's known for a lot of art a lot of art has come out hunter s Thompson uh and now I

can't think of nobody slent uh more my morning jack there's just been a ton of music and cool stuff

Louisville's got a pretty good burgeoning little comedy scene I always meet some interesting

young comics when I'm up there boy by god they uh he said man I'm gonna go live two to five

you want to come be on the radio with me I said hell yeah man so I took a caught me a uber over

the radio station meet up my old buddy Jim you know skinny jay and we start chopping it up on

there and honestly Friday was one of my favorite times I've had on radio in a long time uh me and

jim just having good natural organic flow we're friends we get along we like each other we like

talking music we like talking art we like talking life he's a little he's a little bit of an elder

gen X he's a little older than me uh he's like the age all my my friends older brothers and stuff

you know and Uncle Bobby you know he's that elder he's on that upper end of the gen X and

hell there ain't many of them left we got to preserve them god bless and uh he's one of the

few that ain't turned into a boomer because a lot of our elder gen X decided they were boomers at

some point started behaving like boomers and I don't know what that's about but that's what they done

I'm sorry we had a good time we chopped up big Joe Murphy another local comic well also

he worked radio with skinny jay for years he shows up to the studio jumps on uh jumps on

air with us we chop it up we had us in time we laugh we cut up and laughed in that studio like

like old friends ain't seen each other in 20 years we had a good time I can't wait to get

recorded of that that because it's uh it's going to be really good I've got to talk about the book

a lot talk about the shows talk about mr g's where he's doing the shows

big Joe Murphy gives me a ride back to my hotel he said man you want me to run you I know you

want your lease chicken you want me to run you buy a lease chicken I said nah I'll Uber it over to

the hotel while I'm getting ready for the show well I get a hotel uh Rachel's meeting the cat

surgeon and that's a thing and turns out he's kind of he's a friend uh it's kind of wild how I know

this guy and she puts me on speaker so I can hear everything he can say about what's going on with

this little ragamuffin cat that we have brought into our lives or the lord somebody has brought

into our lives you're all the amador brought this after our lives buddy uh it was good I got to hear

if they had to say but probably as though we didn't get done it was like right before showtime I had

to get dressed run over Ben you do the show so I never got my lease chicken but I did eat some

chicken wings mr g's and those all right but I forgot to eat all day so I had to uh snarf me down

about five chicken wings uh before show started so that I wasn't all shaky and kind of weird I was

feeling a little rough I do I'm getting bad about that when I travel about forgetting to eat at

normal times because I just get in the vibe of things and when I'm promoting and marketing and

working uh I like that when I'm on the road because it makes the day go by quicker I get to meet

interesting people I'm not alone and it feels like it's quicker that I get to go home and see my babies

but sometimes I lose track of shit when I'm doing that kind of stuff get caught up in the moment and

I don't like to eat with other people I like to eat alone that's uh I mean I like to eat with my

with Rachel but most time I've heard to eat alone I got I got I don't know I'm just weird about that

I think I think it's like some fat kid stuff some insecurity I feel nervous eating around other

people because I don't want them to look at what I'm eating or have something to say about or be

thinking something about well that's why he's fat he ate that piece of chicken you know that it's

fat kid insecurity and I need to get past it but it's something I kind of struggle with

we uh the show just went just about as good as you could have ever hoped for we had I think we

ended up with about 80 85 people we had a full room so many people bought stickers come up took

pictures with me after the show and I just I love the meet and greet after the show because I've

still got all that energy from the stage and now I get to just hang out with all these people I

always assure people become my show you're gonna leave feeling better than when you got there and

that and I really I hope that's true and it seems like it's true from the way people talk to me after

the show I'm not just here to make folks laugh I'm trying to really I'm trying to make people feel

better and I'm trying to make people feel better the best way I know how and that's by laughing

at me and my silly shit and I told the Colorado Ram story again and it worked so good uh wrote a

new version of the wrecking yard joke that I'm really happy with that I'm actually doing on stage

it was just good show it's good show I did 52 minutes and everything them people saw most of it

was new because it's the it's all the other parts of the tipping point I'm working on right now to

wrap up my special and I really think that Colorado Ram story is going in there I also told some

stories about my old neighbor Daniel Butler I told the Huckleberry story and the making him

his yard too much story like we had a good time we had a good time

couldn't been happier with how that show went afterwards had some real good fellowship

my boy I've talked about him

his young automotive builder named Mikey Brown Mikey Brown came out see the show with his wife

Ruth and I got to hang out with him Mikey builds has been building Hot Wheels cars for a little bit

and now he's off to do adventures do some new stuff and uh Mikey and me we brainstormed a little

bit about the Volkswagen we talked a little he's got a documentary he's making and he wants me to

narrate it and I couldn't be more excited to be part of the project we're gonna try to take it to

Sundance and I'm gonna try to help him get it there and

I had a good time having fellowship with Mikey Brown man I was glad to see him good I think he's

one of the most interesting builders out there I think he's one of the most creative people out there

and his builds are the first vehicles in a decade that have tickled that little part of my brain that

loves cars they really are they really are so I had good fellowship him Jim Lavender Gene Bond

Cornbread Fred my old buddy Jeremiah Martin was on the show I love Jeremiah Martin he's one of my

favorite comedians to work with we just have a real good vibe together he's from western Kentucky

he drove out to do the show with me and Jeremiah just beat him up did a hell of a job got me on stage

we had a we we had a great after that show went outside some core wrecking yard people

old school fans Greg Roshan Jim Lavender skinny jade big Joe Murphy we find this little table out

there and boy the the joints start going around the group ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding

fast forward two hours three hours great conversation great fellowship Jeremiah gives me a ride back to the

hotel crash out get up early catch plane back in Houston Texas successful trip good weekend

little rundown but I'm excited about this concert now I'm gonna try to catch me a little nap while

this is uploading what a weekend what a weekend special shout out I don't have a sponsor still

but I'm gonna tell you all about a band there's a man named Dave Mays Dave Mays owns a business out

in California called Hot Rod Innovations they build parts for C-10s all kind of stuff uh

like front end parts all kind of actuators for like hideaway headlights they build some

really cool stuff go look up Hot Rod Innovations dot com look at what Dave Mays has to offer Dave

Mays a good man for a lot of reasons Dave Mays the old sprint car racer grew up racing dwarf cars

now him and his son him and his father were racing team now him and his son race dwarf cars his son

races dwarf cars and the kids fast he's good and uh well that stuff was having that cat the first

initial offer they gave us was $800 just to start working on that cat I ain't had that kind of money

I don't have it and I shared the story and Dave Mays reached out to me and said hey man there's

something inside me telling me uh I want to do this can I pay the vet bill and just without

hesitation he paid that vet bill 800 bucks get them start working on that baby cat just out of

the goodness of heart told me he enjoyed my art that I had helped him laugh on some dark days

and he just wanted to do that and uh just check out Hot Rod Innovations dot com just just check

him and give him a website click even if you ain't gonna buy nothing there's stuff in some magazine

if you happen to be somewhere in the kind of northern california area and you know a fellow

named Dave Mays that owns a business that makes parts for c-t-n's and likes to race dwarf cars

with his son and build dwarf cars for people you know a real one that's Dave Mays Hot Rod Innovations

dot com

I want to talk to I realized something we're working on the book right now

and I realized one of the things that happens sometimes in the podcast is you know I work

with notes here and if I if I miss a note or I forget something sometimes I forget to tell

y'all an important part of the story some or what I think is vital part of the story and I realized

that I never really discussed when Papal Clark died I kind of skipped over that in the El Camino

chapter and I mentioned it later on when I was talking about Papal Longmar about how they both

died on the same day a couple years apart but I did I got to the end of the El Camino thing I was

telling y'all other stuff I didn't get in there and I and and he's such an epic character in the

wrecking yard that he deserves it deserves mention it was it was a I can tell you I was a senior in

high school when it happened

I can't remember if he died I have a lot of people died at the beginning of February and the end of

January but he's one of him and my Papal Longmar died on the exact same day I think I think he

died January 31st 1996 and before all that you know in the time I stopped going up there from

the time I was about 14 until I was about 18 and I started going up there on my own you know y'all

know the stuff my mom found out he wasn't her real father her and granny had this big blow up took

him years to get past any sort of way and it took her and her daddy a long time to get right with one

another in fact in that time period is when me and my mama went and met her daddy and her her

biological father Raymond Harris he was in a uh I guess the sanitarium maybe or he had dementia

real bad he was beyond he didn't have any muscle control any of that stuff he couldn't talk

there's this old man dying in a bed all twisted up from his disease

but I realized in the course of working on this part of the book that I had never done the math

granny got knocked up by this dude when she was 16 years old 16 years old

he was 26 years old married I don't look I know it takes two to tango I know it takes two to tango

and but there ain't no other way to paint that fellow other than as a piece of shit

you know some people just some people just ain't worth the damn

and uh fortunately some of my DNA and genetic lineage comes from fellow it wasn't worth the

damn fella thought it was a good idea to knock up a 16 year old girl and then abandon her

so that he didn't lose his wife grown ass man

have all married grand knew she was pregnant with another man's baby married her anyway

that's what sowed all the seeds of discontent between him and his own father and his mother

and them and granny and that's what led to his mother

utilizing that moment to humiliate my mother till everybody at her birthday party he wasn't her daddy

I'm like seeing all the pieces of the puzzle I'm putting all this together I'm writing it

and I'm having to research and find all the pieces of the puzzle stuff I didn't know

my dad bought Clark may have failed the world and some of his people a lot of different ways

but he was the glue that kept our family together he was the glue he was the glue that kept fighting

to keep our family together a lot of failures you know there's a lot of stuff but

he was the wrecking yard he's where the wrecking yard started

he gave it to me he passed it on to me not the land

but the the place in my head it's because of him

y'all know the story about that about the about the time him and granny

they separated they got mad at each other they was fussing a bunch of shit and and papal went and

got him an RV a what even RV it was the old fifth wheel camper they used to keep out the lake

it was running down a ragged they they gave up their lake lot and they moved that uh that camper

out to Maurice and Maurice had him a little junkyard always having a piece of land Maurice

my papal's best friend and he was living out there in a camper on Maurice's land

which a couple episodes ago I talked about uh Papal Wiley Papal's dad

and how he ended up in that same boat at the end of his life and Papal brought him to the wrecking

yard built him him and my daddy and aunt Janet uncle borrow uncle Barbara Aunt Barbara

my daddy and Aunt Barbara Aunt Janet mom they all worked on that little house and helped build that

house Papal Wiley they all built that shop they were a family that did stuff

it was I thought it was interesting the parallel that it happened in papal towards

the end of his life of course he his heart starts failing him and uh I know man Janet made me laugh

when he was on the phone she goes well you said there ain't no heart problems in the family but

you know you know daddy died a heart failure and I was like well yeah but I don't share no genetic

material with daddy I'm sure me and Papal ate blood you know turns out he passed some kind of

genetics on to me whatever the the junker marker is he put that in me but I suspect that was learned

behavior as opposed to behavior built in by DNA coding and such

well his heart started failing that's when him and mom made amends that's when he come down to

Houston have heart surgery and they replaced one of the valves in his heart with a valve out of a

pig's heart I think make it work Papal was overweight you know he big old belly and the man ate hot

sauce and and drank great poly pop loaded down with sugar with every meal you just only do so much

of that and he smoked camel cigarettes like they was gonna run out they told they said you gotta

quit smoking you gotta quit all this stuff we're gonna fix your heart you want to eat better you

want to do something well Papal has that surgery y'all know the story the El Camino that's when

he finds out granny's trying to sell me the El Camino behind his back he gives me that old black

El Camino we wasn't able to go up there and fix it up just yet we was you know that was the uh

how he only I think he only got to see it running one time because we went up there uh

that Thanksgiving break and uh

tore engine down it had a bad piston we put new pistons in that old 305 it had and

got it running other than that the car was in pretty good shape got it running good

I drove it over Papal when he went back home after his heart surgery him and granny granny

let him move back in the house she was gonna look after him we all should have known that was a bad

idea Papal stay with granny I went up there and

I went over saw him with my dad we went over visit him showed him the El Camino got the El Camino

title squared away and he was happy here at run he was happy I had it

he also told me on that visit he was gonna give me his 38 police special revolver I think is

Smith & Wesson 38 revolver I don't know what happened that gun I never got it

sure would have liked to have it but I don't know what happened to it somebody got it

wasn't me I don't know who got who ended up with that 38

Papals that I was promised but ain't a big deal uh I got his El Camino

I was already making plans I was gonna go back to Kilgore soon as college soon as high school

was over I was headed up to Kilgore I was gonna move back up to Kilgore I was glad to spend time with

Papal I was glad things were kind of trying to come back together in the family you know

Papal my dad and my mom they were trying they were trying

meanwhile it snows that year and uh Granny decided she needs a carport for her car

my parents had given her some nicer I forgot what kind of car it was they'd given they'd

bought her a car given her one of their cars I can't remember which one it but that she had

so many of our cars I can't remember which one it was at the time but my parents had

put her in a nicer car but by god she thought she needed she needed to have a carport for that car

so she harangues Papal

while he's recovering from all his heart surgery he's supposed to be on light duty

he's supposed to be taking it easy and fixing his diet I'm sure she was still feeding him all

the same shit and uh she harangues Papal till he he decides he's gonna go out there and build her

that damn carport and he uh he you know couldn't he he just wasn't strong enough running a post

hold digger no more you know pair of slap diggers he didn't have nobody up there to help him

I don't know where Bobby Jr was but he was not in the mode to be helping out his parents at that time

now I love Bobby Jr I talk about my uncle Bobby all the time but y'all gotta remember he didn't show

up for a lot of people he didn't show up for his daughter as much as he should have by any stretch

and he had a bad habit of running out on people when they needed him

that's the thing I've tried my best not to take away from him

Papal Clark went out there and started building this damn carport

and he poured a concrete and five gallon buckets to set the post in for the carport

and you can tell he just worked his ass off on it and clearly he worked himself to death on it

because he got out there and building that stinking carport for her and overworked himself

he came back in the house that night was laying on the couch watching tv

granny said he sat up on the couch he said something just popped in my chest

and she immediately called the paramedics and he started having a heart attack

well they live out there in the sticks but time paramedics got out there he was already in bad

shape they did cpr they tried to save him broke all his ribs all that good all that stuff that they

do when they're really just trying to keep somebody alive it just wasn't enough he's dead before they

died

I come home from school

and my mama met me at the door she said I got to tell you something and I don't know how but I

already knew this is Papal she said you're Papal Clark it was the same year my meanwhile died

it was my first big death to go through and then Papal Clark right there at the end of the school

year I was fighting like hell to graduate because I screwed my school career up so heavily and

and I was driving his car

and we loaded up our family and we went they didn't they ended up cremating they had no money to

bury him he didn't have no funeral insurance stuff like that immigrant didn't have a pot to piss in

windowed throat out of at that point

I remember it was so deep because my memos funeral used nice casket nice headstone all that good stuff

Papal Clark's funeral at the Raider funeral home was just him laying on a gurney

with a blue sheet over him it wasn't quite as dignified I didn't like looking at him like that

it's probably part of what drove me to go back up there afterwards and go live in the wrecking

yard and go I wanted I wanted to be in the I wanted maybe not to be him but I that's what I thought

my plan was I liked what he had I wanted something like that I wanted a wrecking yard

man left a mark on me I was his oldest grandson and whether he was biological related to be or

not none of that really matters these days all it matters is that he took the time and opportunity

to be a grandfather to me and he took that opportunity every chance he got and he gave

me whatever he could give me and that includes love

and as far as that aspect of his character it's unmatchable it's unmatchable in my mind

my other grandfather did not take that kind of interest in me my own uh my own dad has not

had that kind of relationship with my children and some of that's probably my fault I'm not

probably some is definitely my fault can't rewrite history though

oh man worked himself to death trying to make that woman happy worked himself right to death

trying to make her happy I hope he hollered out one more dammit reba june right before he

kicked the bucket just one more I hope he kicked out one more dammit reba june I hope he kicked

one more out before he before he passed on to the next round that's what I hope

yeah it's funny I had that joke for years years about how I called it the wrecking yard because

I thought that's where papo did all his reckoning and now the the the wrecking yard is me and it's

where I do all my reckoning it's me the wrecking yard's mine now I do the reckoning it's it's the

place where I do all my reckoning that makes me laugh let's wrap that story up there we got more

to talk about here a little bit but we do got a bunch more hot wheel we got some packages to open

and we got some good testimonials go through stick around um and we'll wrap this whole thing up let's

do some let's should we open first or do some let's open first let's open some hot wheels first boom

boom boom let's do that here we go here we go what's our count at 1277 hot wheels

is where we stand for our day of giving now I'm gonna make a a quick little note the day of giving

was yesterday but I was flying and I just couldn't do it on the day that they had planned to do it

so what I've decided to do is I'm gonna do it uh I think we're gonna do it November 11th we're

gonna give it another month because the the post office still showing me I got boxes and boxes of

hot wheels coming and so I want to make sure I can take them all and divvium up uh we've decided

to divvium up between about four organizations or five organizations here in Houston Texas uh to

make sure it gets spread around and uh so we're gonna do it on November 11th so it's about a

month late of what we're supposed to be doing it but we got more packages coming so I just want to

make sure you know we get some stuff I want to get some stuff out the toys for tots and I want to

I want to spread it out and I don't want anybody to miss out on any kindness goodness headed their

way because of a date so that's why I'm doing that let's get into this boom boom diggity boom

please if you are going to send any uh please send them make sure they're going to be here by

November 11th because after that then I'm just going to go take them somewhere else uh look

look at this man one two three four five formula one these are cool formula one Indy cars and um

got a little note here Jerry Wayne and Rachel I kept meaning to pitch in and send a couple

hot wheels for the Driven Driven Dreams Day of Giving something special real about y'all

making that happen for those kids from Adam Al Serganay that's my good friend and editor of the

wrecking yard book that's the guy that discovered that that found the podcast got me my book that's

my guy Adam Al Serganay y'all go see his name a lot because me and that dude we're about to start

writing screenplays well you're gonna see all kind of stuff with our name on it I love writing with

this guy and I don't ever like writing with anybody uh I am a little concerned about my book

because he wrote the senate something special real about y'all making that happen for those kids

and I had to give him some grief about something special real something special real

might be time to call in the copy editor we got problems you

no right so that's five we'll add five to 1277 uh I ain't good at math uh let's see that's uh

1282 all right 1282 I told you I ain't worked a flip at math um let's look here see what we got here

man have y'all seen those little rolling sharpeners that some of you probably don't do TikTok but

somebody come up this little rolling sharpener and it's like just a little magnet block and it

holds your kitchen knife at an angle like that and then you roll this little thingy up and down it

and it's got like a a thousand grit side and maybe a 700 grit side or something like that and it

does it just right I told y'all I can't sharpen knives save my life I bought one of these for

like five bucks off tiktop shop and next time I'll bring it out here and show it to you I've

been sharpening all our old faberware and kitchen knife well I got kitchen knives that can slice

through anything right now they're just fantastic uh man I had to show y'all at sharpener because

I'm somebody can't sharpen a knife and that's something that works for me um I just think about

the freedom knife getting a little dull I think I'm gonna see if I can figure out how to use that

little rolling sharpener on it pretty it up Hot Wheels cars 72 pieces I don't know who it

come from it comes from the customer says Toy World LLC so these are from Toy World LLC I guess

there's no doubt uh see if there's a name here carrier unknown diamond comic distributors

poke lane olive branch Mississippi I don't know who sent these if you sent these please

reach out and let me know I would love to know who are who our benefactors are 72 Hot Wheels baby

72 and I'm gonna tell y'all I'm about to cheat and get the calculator out for that one I ain't gonna

try to count that in front of y'all and feel stupid whoa whoa what is leaking where why is

there water everywhere all right there's an air conditioner leaking we're gonna do something about

that all right 72 pieces 72 pieces I'm gonna wait and do that up at the end and this it'll seem like

such a big number and it'll be more exciting

hi lllc warehouse los angeles california the jw lung mire let's see we got one two three four five

wait one two three four five six

four times six was that's 24 Hot Wheels these are cool ride squads oh there's even an art car

hell yeah there's even there's even art cars in there that's interesting so that is another 24 Hot

Wheels and unfortunately no note we don't know who these come from if you sent me some Hot Wheels

from Los Angeles just holler at your boy let me know it was you I like to give credit where credit

is due so there's another 24 Hot Wheels another 24 smiles where babies ain't got a lot to smile about

and boy that just tickles me to death you are some good hearted folks but I have seen it this weekend

spades I'm about to talk to y'all about some stuff y'all don't even know that y'all saved me this week

y'all saved me and y'all don't even know y'all you'll save me and maybe realize the message we're

pushing here is important god bless you Jerry Wayne from Nathan Huey it's more Nathan Hughes guys

send us all the tracks what is this what is that we'll throw that over there so I can ignore it

later when I should be cleaning up the garage how about that this is a set do not separate

God bless you Nathan Huey

some people have a lot to give and by God when they they take the opportunity to do it it just

makes me smile one two three four five six there's another 24 pack am I doing that right before

pack of Hot Wheels my good buddy Nathan Huey

what am I getting caught up on here it's about to irritate piss out of me

God dang that this box is huge

what do we got here

10 packs of 15 cars 150 cars right here in this box 10 packs of 100 and 10 packs 15

that's 150 cars off of that box right there 150 smiles for babies that we got a note

Amazon fulfilled John Euler maybe John Euler I hope that's who sent them

there is no note in the box all right 150 cars 150 by God

150 cars let's uh try and go through these quick

well you know it'd be smart if I just open all these boxes

holy shit holy shit look at that boom 50 pack right there 250 packs oh there's no freaking note

Amazon fulfillment services in Houston Texas so that might have come from right here hometown

oh I wish there was a note another hundred smiles for babies another hundred smiles for babies right

there I might put these over here oh oh oh oh wait a minute nope that was the old note from Nathan Huey

there's still more there's our last two boxes last

oh zone toys oh there's a note let's see that other ones came

cover this more from Nathan Huey I think Nathan Huey might have sent a bunch of that uh

I can't even tell what's in here

Nathan Huey our good buddy Nathan Huey let's see what we got here

there's all the other ones come from Ozone toys

makes me think maybe all this come from a bunch of this come from Nathan Huey he has been a big

donator to the cause and sure enough what we got here another 24 pack of hot wheels

another 24 pack of smiles baby that's what's up you know Nathan Huey let me write those down so I

don't know what we got here another pack another 20 it's another 24 pack from a good buddy

oh there he is

Nathan Huey Nathan Huey my goodness sir you are sure doling out a lot of kindness for babies

buddy another 24 pack right there from Ozone toys of hot wheels cars and smiles for kids let's do

oh I would not just be enough in my head all full of stuff in my heart all full of pain

life would be some merry things would be a ding a dairy if I only had a brain

I would while away the hours confirmed with the flowers consulting with the brain

all right I have added these all up we are now up to 1600 and two 1600 and two smiles for babies

1600 and two smiles for kids that maybe ain't got a lot to smile about that's what y'all's goodness

that's what we've cultivated here that's kind of that's the kind of energy and goodness we're

going to bring to the Christmas season for some kids that you ain't got I love y'all that's a

60 we're almost I mean we're marching we get dressed and by we might screw around hit 2000

2000 smiles this year god almighty

if whatever I'm doing in the world encourages this then I feel like I'm on the right track

I feel like I'm on the right track

I ain't nothing else I ever done in my life encouraged behavior like this I think maybe

older I get I'm starting to figure out how to how to how to find the best in people

and and I've had that tested lately

let's see let's do some testimonials if you will this from last week's episode it was one about

like that was a lot about pop-all too uh I've been there's some stuff going on I've just I've been

thinking about the old man a lot uh at our buddy at oh too wow life includes death hang in there

yes it does yes it does it's been very prevalent in my life this past week it is a necessary part

often joke that I think it's the silliest thing we do is die but it is a necessary part

we work work work work work work ourselves to the bone trying to get some golden ring

and then one day it's just over and all this bullshit you collected and all these things

you said that they better be good enough to represent you I'm trying to make all the things

I say represent me so that when my time is gone maybe my words can still help people

but you're right you're home sent right that Texas sippy and while you are pickup truck shopping

you may want to add a long bed to your checklist going to need it to haul all the hot wheels

brother you ain't kidding uh I am looking for a long bed I thought I found the perfect I thought

I found uh the perfect deal to do a little swap but uh he's looking for a car for his kid but

the kid can't drive a standard transmission so it's not going to work out so but I do I got a

couple leads people come and look at Mazda and I've been following a couple long bed z71s that

I'm really interested in and uh I'm just I can just about assure y'all within the next week or

two I'm going to be telling y'all about my new ragamuffin truck I bought I'm ready to go back

to a pickup truck I've done this little short drapey car about as long as my hip can handle it

well shout out to dr hill at the joint clinic on uh little york here in houston

dr hill is fixing my hip my god I she has made I'm I'm ready to get back in the gym she's making

me feel better at c jansen I believe you're confusing the GMT half tons transmission they

are standard equipped with 4l 60e I think you know this because all of your reasons perfectly

fit the 4l 60 as the 6l 80 came out in the 2009 GMT 900 platform 4l 65e did come in the 6 liter

GMT 800 half tons and the 4l 80 came in the gas three quarter and one ton trucks you are 100

right I did screw that up I just mixed it up it's all these all these dad gum acronyms it's all

these dad gum acronyms I get them mixed up and they start rattling off at the mouth you're 100

right that is exactly I meant the 4l 60 the 4l 60 is about the cheapest automatic you can get

rebuilt there's parts for them everywhere I don't know much about a 6l 80 uh at all because I've

never owned one uh but you're right that 4l 60e is the transmission I was thinking of and it's a

pretty good unit people complain about them but they forget how many of them were built and used

and how many applications and when you have that many of them out there you're going to have a high

failure rate that's just how manufacturing works you're going to have a high failure rate you also

have a high success rate nobody talks about that I've had a high success rate with 4l 60s you know

ones have taken a crap on me by god they served their time they served their time they did everything

I needed them to do so I want another one of them pickups 1,602 smiles for babies god bless every

dad gum one of you god bless every dad gum one of you when we wrap this thing up we'll get out of

here for the day uh also found so mickey brown comes down to houston a lot and he really wants to

come sit in on the wrecking yard podcast with me I said brother we got to do it we got to do it

I gotta have mickey brown here if y'all meet mickey brown we'll talk Volkswagen

all the time we'll have a good time man so I'm trying next time mickey brown's

close to where I'm at we're gonna get him over here we're gonna bring him out to the wrecking

yard he should be a fixture here anyways the boys got everything about the wrecking yard ought to

be about a person that kid's wrecking yard as they come so I got an episode coming up whenever we

can make it happen we're gonna have mickey brown here out here at the wrecking yard let's go wrap

up for the afternoon here so I can get this edited and uploaded in time for y'all to watch it this

evening

uh oh did I lose that

I began this week in a dark place

I preach a message of kindness I know I hear myself

and I do my damnedest to practice it that don't mean I don't use the phrase you know driving

piece of shit half a dozen times every time I drive somewhere

I ain't just talking to y'all I'm talking to me too I can't tell folks every week to look for kindness

and goodness in the world and how that's real strength if I don't believe that shit and let

my actions reflect it but damn if it ain't hard some days some days it's just hard to do I'm still

trying to learn this stuff myself it can wear thin when you're going through it though Sunday got

dark for me I recorded last Sunday one of my favorite episodes in this podcast I'd ever done

y'all heard me how hopeful I was I was gonna get to go up and see Rishanda before she passed on

y'all y'all knew that was my plan was Tuesday when I went to go get my sister that was the quickest

I could get up there I was gonna go see that baby and tell her goodbye and about 10 minutes after

wrapping up the filming and Janet texted me I learned I'd lost the chance to say goodbye to

someone I love my sweet younger cousin Shani uncle Bobby's daughter had passed

I held that baby on my knee told her around baby satyr

it hurts when it's the younger ones in your family

start drinking after daddy died and she didn't stop until she hurt herself

I feel like a great many people failed to make her realize how special she was including myself

I feel like we failed her it seems like just yesterday she was this grinning exuberant 13

year old in a volleyball uniform jazzed about a game that went well we lost to other cousin

Brittany about the same age the year before man Lori's oldest I kept thinking about the lyrics

from that song the kids aren't all right by offspring how can one little street swallow

so many lives that's my section road song it's own record yard radio really how in the fuck is

it even possible they were babies I held I was feeling dark I wasn't feeling kind

I wasn't feeling like picking myself up I was feeling like wallowing and self pity and being

sad I went to Longview to pick up my sister to come visit us I drove nearly four hours in silence

mulling shit over in my head trying to wrap my head around what the hell just happened

right outside of Longview Texas on the way in Longview get my sister Rachel texts me

our friend Yeraldi she's married to my I married them I was their aficion at their wedding she's

married to my good friend Nathaniel Amador a fellow stand-up comedian that I have a great

deal of respect and admiration and I think friendship with

our friend Yeraldi had a kit and wound her up to her job site she works in a business park

off 290 Mangum she says cats just muddy she's clearly homeless she's caked in mud

she's mewing she's looking for she she needs something but me and my husband are terribly

allergic cats otherwise I would take her home with me but she's a kind soul and she knew about

our kittens that were killed by that dog a while back and how how sad how bad it had been

and Rachel texted me she said should I go get her and I'm just gonna tell y'all I needed to win

I needed to do right by someone something and I said yes

go get that baby

on the way home from Longview Rachel calls me it's been a few hours she's gotten a kitten home she

started trying to clean her up she says baby I don't know what that meant Rachel's real good with

the animals she knows a lot about animals she grew up taking care of animals her dad bred dog

she she knows animals she knows cats she said babe her injuries are terrible they're beyond

my ability to fix them she has she's all cut up she's got maggots on her she's weak floppy

but just the mewing just the mewing I didn't have any ideas I haven't had a lot of pets

I've not I've never done a lot I've never had to deal with a lot of hurt animals that's not

something that's in my wheelhouse I don't know about stuff like that I said I don't know do baby

well I think we need to call around some bets she goes yes want to do she got off on me she

started calling bets on Tuesday afternoon almost five o'clock she talks to all dean animal hospital

they said bring her over here 40 bucks we'll get her checked out and find out what's going on with her

so we decided that we're gonna go check get her checked out the next morning see if they could

help but it's it's grim that baby's hurt bad she's real bad hurt and I'm just like well I needed

to win I needed to win and I need something else to be sad about and we took turns holding her

in a blanket till 3 a.m. three in the morning she'd settle in that blanket I'd sing her low

baritone country songs old Keith Whitley and stuff like that and and Paul calls and my voice I

you know I got this I got a big old rumbly voice and it it rumbles in my chest when I speak low

and at low registers it was just rumbling through my chest racial suspected it felt like I was purring

to the kitten and I sang to that baby and I cried for Shawnee and her

I did I shed tears for them babies that night

Rachel takes you to the vet next day she had a she had a deglobed right front leg and huge

laceration on her throat that's just open you can see her muscles working in there

the skin on her arms pulled away there's maggots in there there's maggots in her throat

both front legs were broken she's anemic as hell she's she's having lost all her blood and iron

from injury plus the maggots are stealing it from her she's missing teeth she's got teeth

knocked out in the right side of her mouth the vet suspected she'd been hit by a car he said the

injuries were at least a week old

I suspect she crawled up in the engine compartment of a car and got walked up by a fan or something

is what it looks like to me and it's a real common thing to happen cats and kittens anyways

they quoted as 800 bucks and it's just it's 800 bucks I ain't got comedies like contracting and a

lot of other things I've told y'all it's feast or famine and summer is always famine I make my money

in the fall and in the winter and the spring but summer is always tough for entertainment

and I didn't know what to do because uh

we could surrender to bark but we have to surrender we can't get her back

and they might fix her but if her injury is too grievous they don't have the resources to do that

they'd probably put her down I didn't know what to do I decided to share her story on my Facebook

page and folks just showed up for that baby Dave Mays offered to pay her vet bill right there on

the stranger started sent we put a go fund me together stranger started sending money to her

go fund me the minute he offered to pay the vet bill Rachel rushed her back to the animal hospital

they did what they were capable of but they're also a poor animal hospital in that they don't

have a lot of resources either and they did what they were capable of but she she ain't out of the

woods yet we know that the prognosis got better it went from 30% to 60% but she also needs thousands

and thousands of dollars worth of surgery but her little spirit is plucking back up we keep holding

her feeding her singing to her this is a little animal it grabbed our hearts and I get a call

Thursday morning from my buddy Barry Lemoneck and Barry goes hey man uh Todd Hayden Todd Hayden

Hayden Todd Hayden Phillip owns Hop Scholar Hill House which is a bar I've done shows at before

and I like the dude unbeknownst to me he's the top pet surgeon in Texas or the world hell I don't know

but he's one of the best he travels all around the country fixing cat he specializes in cats and

kittens this is what this man does is what he has devoted his 10 thousands and thousands of hours to

and Todd Hayden it Barry puts us in touch because Todd Hayden wants to offer his services

he wants to try to fix his baby's legs

I had to fly out the Louisville Rachel takes her to him while I'm gone and I come back home

yesterday to this feisty hungry little kitty that can't tell her legs are broken she's still trying

to climb out of the box do everything and eating like she even pooped this morning which is a great

sign she hadn't done that yet but just eating a little appetite she ate that gum a whole

can of food yesterday we got some special food to help her build up her red blood cells she's

really neat she's too anemic for for surgery right now and folks raised nearly like 3800

bucks for this cat so we can help her with her aftercare and it's money I didn't have I didn't

have that I just couldn't put my hands on that right now there's too much going on I just didn't have

it can be easy

to be led astray by the darkness

to fall prey to doubt when tested but to be taught a lesson in faith and toughness

by this broken ragamuffin stray cat that'll stop you in your tracks

that baby brand new into the world just a few weeks struck down by some piece of machinery she

didn't understand for all we know it took her mama to maybe her siblings broke her legs ripped

her up she didn't fall into a pile of tears she just kept going parasites and bugs taking what

precious blood she had left she just keeps going hoping looking for something don't even know what

she needs but she just keeps going for five days with zero chances of survival she keeps going

she didn't know she was looking for Rachel but lucky her that's what she found another fighter

looking for a win I thought back to all the times in my life that I thought I was down and done

all the times that for whatever reason I just kept going not even knowing what I needed to survive

just hoping we all do it we all do it some of you may be going through it right now

feeling like you lost already but you keep getting up every day you don't even know what

you need but you know you need something I tell you ain't a bad strategy folks worked out pretty

good for a little old failure I don't know what the opposite of failure to thrive is but she's

got it in spades Rachel called it refusal to die and I like that whatever it is I got the

sneaking suspicion you got it too I am rooting for you I'm rooting for you I'm rooting for you

when the world knocks you to the asphalt and tears your skin and breaks your bones when the

chaos of life tears your heart wide open and pours the hurt right down in the cracks of you

I am still rooting for you

because I've seen what survival looks like it ain't clean it sure as hell ain't pretty

it's blood and mud and busted teeth

it's limping down a gravel road with one good leg and a belly full of grit it's still just

daring the world to swing on you again that little anemic bagged written broken cat dragged

herself out of a ditch and into redemption and if that tiny thing can find the strength to crawl

towards the light by God so can you keep going keep going when your faith in yourself is thinner

than a pancake at a truck stop keep going when you can't see one damn thing ahead of you but the

next stubborn step keep going when your heart whispers quit and your soul says no

because somewhere up ahead beyond all that ache and dust and noise

there's a dawn that's been waiting for you and it don't rise without you

so stand up wipe your blood off your chin square your shoulders against the wind take

one breath then another then one more after that you don't have to smile you don't have to fix it

you just have to keep moving keep growing keep crawling if you have to just don't you dare stop

until the light finds you

i'm jw and i love you

oh rag muffin cat make me realize i need to toughen up

boy don't it show up in all packages don't it don't it just

God Almighty don't know y'all give up

and save that cat 1600 and two smiles for babies that need smiles babies that ain't

gonna give up babies gonna keep going

my wife's proud of me if you're a friend take me as i am

you

Death of a Salesman |S:03E.68

About this episode

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Hot Rod Innovations

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dwarf cars

Chevrolet El Camino

Chevrolet 305

long bed

Mazda

Z71

4L60E

6L80

GMT 900

GMT 800

Kia Soul

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