Hated that guy
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Term
R&R
R&R means 'remove and replace.' It's what mechanics say when they take out a part from a car and put a new one in.
Part
transmission
The transmission is a part of the car that helps it move by transferring power from the engine to the wheels. It helps the car change speeds smoothly.
Part
4L60E
The 4L60E is a type of automatic transmission that helps your car change gears smoothly. It's used in many GM trucks and SUVs, and it's known for being strong and reliable.
Car
Trans Am
The Trans Am is a sporty car made by Pontiac that is known for being fast and stylish. It was popular in the 70s and 80s and is often associated with muscle cars.
Part
350 Turbo
The 350 Turbo is an older type of automatic transmission that helps cars shift gears. It's simpler than newer models and is known for being reliable.
Part
bell housing
The bell housing is a part that holds the transmission in place and connects it to the engine. It keeps everything aligned and protected.
Part
Torx Plus bolts
Torx Plus bolts are special screws that have a star shape on the top. This shape helps tools grip them better, making it easier to tighten or loosen them without damaging the screw.
Part
reverse drums
Reverse drums are parts in a car's transmission that help it go in reverse. If they are not made strong enough, they can break easily.
Part
hardened steel
Hardened steel is a strong type of metal that lasts longer and can handle more stress without breaking. It's used in parts of cars that need to be very tough.
Part
shift kit
A shift kit helps your car's automatic transmission change gears faster and smoother. It's like giving your car a little upgrade to make it feel sportier when you drive.
Part
differential
The differential is a part of the car that helps the wheels turn at different speeds, which is important when going around corners. It makes sure the car handles smoothly and safely.
Car
GMC Yukon
The Yukon XL is a large SUV made by GMC. It's great for carrying lots of people or cargo and is often used for towing.
Part
windshield
The windshield is the big glass window at the front of a car. It keeps you safe from wind and rain while driving, and it needs to be installed correctly to work well.
Concept
wrecking yard
A wrecking yard is a place where old cars are taken when they can't be used anymore. You can find parts from these cars to fix your own car.
Car
Chevrolet Avalanche
The Chevrolet Avalanche is a type of vehicle that works like both a truck and an SUV. It has a special feature that lets you make the back part bigger for carrying stuff, which is really handy. People like to talk about it because it can do a lot of different things, making it great for families and work.
Part
5.3 engine
The 5.3 engine is a type of V8 engine that is 5.3 liters in size. It's often found in trucks and SUVs and is known for being powerful while still being somewhat efficient on gas.
Term
horsepower
Horsepower is a way to measure how powerful an engine is. The higher the horsepower, the faster and stronger the car can be, which is important for performance.
Part
Edelbrock rolling thunder cam
A camshaft is a part of the engine that helps control how the engine breathes. The Edelbrock Rolling Thunder cam is a specific type that helps the engine produce more power, especially in modified cars.
Part
valve springs
Valve springs are parts in an engine that help keep the valves closed tightly. Upgraded ones are stronger and help the engine run better, especially when going really fast.
Company
Holley
Holley is a brand that makes parts to help cars run better, especially with fuel. The Holley Sniper is a type of fuel injection system that helps older cars use fuel more efficiently.
Part
throttle body
The throttle body is a part that controls how much air goes into the engine. A bigger throttle body can help the engine get more air, which can make it more powerful.
Term
drivetrain
The drivetrain is the system that helps move the car by transferring power from the engine to the wheels. It includes parts like the transmission and driveshaft.
Part
torque converter
A torque converter helps your car's engine work better with the transmission. It allows the engine to keep running even when the car is stopped and helps the car speed up more smoothly.
Car
Volkswagen Beetle
The Volkswagen Beetle, often called the 'Bug', is a famous small car with a unique round shape. It was very popular and is known for being easy to work on and maintain.
Car
Hyundai Accent
The Hyundai Accent is a small car that doesn't cost a lot of money and is good on gas. It's a popular choice for people who need a reliable car without spending too much. Many people talk about it because it's easy to drive and takes care of basic transportation needs.
Car
Ford Country
The Ford Country Squire is a big family car that looks like a wagon. It was made a long time ago and is known for being roomy and comfortable, which is why many people have fond memories of it. People talk about it because it's a classic car that reminds them of the past.
Part
oil pan
The oil pan is a part of the engine that holds oil. The oil helps keep the engine running smoothly and prevents damage.
Part
rod bearings
Rod bearings are parts inside the engine that help the rods move easily. They help the engine run better and last longer.
Car
Cadillac Lyric
The Cadillac Lyriq is a fancy electric SUV that is new to the market. It's important because it shows how car companies are starting to make more electric cars that are also luxurious. People are excited about it because it combines style with being good for the environment.
LIVE
Are you really digging for peace, or is that just a light tale to help us sleep?
Sure that you really want real behind all the stories that go.
Still remembers fire, grass remembers rain.
Welcome to the Wrecking Yard. I'm Jerry Wayne, along with y'all, presumably still y'all.
All welcome here in the Church of Internal Combustion. We just asked that you show up with an open heart.
I got a sweater, it's a little chilly. I've been for like three or four days. I had like 76 degree days.
Kinda nice, felt like spring is in the air.
It's a little summery. It's nice to sit on the back porch, do a little right and a little working.
It's different. Whatever reason it's cold and sucky again. It's not cold to some of y'all. It's only 60 degrees here in the garage.
I've said before, I don't like the chilly weather.
Woke up very chilly this morning.
Woke up this morning had to rewrite part of Diwali Bottoms Texas because it's a hum danger of an episode and we're closing in.
Closing in, at least on this series of Diwali Bottoms Texas.
I sat with it overnight and I just wasn't happy with it and I said, boy, I gotta take another look at that.
I gotta get back into the hood of that and see what else I can figure out.
Speaking of, well, we'll talk about that next.
It's been a good week. I hope you guys are having a good week. It's Sunday morning for me.
It's not morning. It's 11.30 in the AM. It's because I want to rewrite.
So I'm going to be pushing the envelope here a little bit, get this thing edited and uploaded.
But that's all right. We'll get it done. We'll get it done. I ain't worried about it.
Let me turn this light. I sure do like my face very well.
I hope you guys have had a good week.
I hope you've, excuse me.
Well, cold or hot. Sinus is going to get me.
I just found out just recently I'm being featured on the cover of a magazine called the Blue Mountain Review.
It's a literary magazine and it's run by this fellow named Cliff Brooks, who's a very accomplished author in his own right.
I ain't a publisher. I don't know. He's not publisher, but he's doing an all manner thing.
He also had a NPR radio show for a long time. He's very successful and he decided to pull away from NPR and keep the radio show.
And the radio show has retained its success. In fact, grown since his leaving NPR.
And it's called Dante's New South podcast, Dante's New South radio show.
And I interviewed with him this past week for a radio show and honest God, I really, I just hit it off of the guy.
I really liked him. I think I'm gonna have him here on the wrecking yard if we can figure out a way to work that out.
It was one of the better interviews I've ever given in my life.
I wanted to find out that due to technical difficulties, we lost half the interview. We got to re-record it, which, which, you know, creates the burning question.
Do you try to recreate that interview that was so good and so fiery and so on point?
Or do you just start over and go fresh? Right? Cause like that was a good ass interview.
The questions, everything, it just rolled really well. I did this beautiful rant about marketing that I'm so sad is lost to the sands of time because I'm not sure I could recreate that rant about marketing and the Don Dishwashing liquid ducks.
I'm not sure I could ever get back there to the headspace I was in when I gave that interview.
So do me and, do me and Cliff, do we try to recreate the interview? Do we try to recreate the magic with some notes and a scratching in the mind to get back there?
Or do we sit down and just go anew? I think the key is to sit down and go anew. Of course, I'm going to talk to Cliff about it, but I'll be curious to hear your thoughts about it in comments or in the chat.
Wherever you happen be yapping at me.
Yeah, I feel good. I feel really good.
The not drinking as much has been helpful. I had no idea that was making me feel, I wasn't feeling run down or bad, but I just, I just feel good right now.
I didn't have much left. I just had one little drink last night before we ate some food, ate some good chickens last night.
But I think probably part of it. I've been back in the gym for two and a half weeks now and that is making me feel good.
Now I am walking like Robocop today because yesterday I overdone it. I did leg day yesterday and I was on the phone with my brother when I first got in the gym.
I don't get to talk to Joey very often. I was kind of wrapped up in the conversation.
I went a little hard in the paint on my quads and I didn't think about it on that quad machine.
And now my thighs are as stiff as a red bud tree and I'm walking like like damn Robocop today, walking like I've been on a horse for 60 miles.
Tuesday night this week, last week, I went and saw Stephen Wilson Jr. in concert and I bought them tickets a little over a year ago.
Well I guess a little less than a year ago, go see March or April at the Heights Theater in Houston which is an excellent venue.
It's a real small venue. It's kind of intimate as hell.
I saw Paul Cawthon there and it was one of the best live shows I've ever seen in my life because the acoustics in that place are absolutely amazing.
Let me tell you some things that peeved me a little bit.
So when I bought that ticket for Stephen Wilson Jr., it was a seating ticket. It was a general mission seating ticket for seating.
So they rescheduled the show a year later. Well in the course of that year, Stephen Wilson Jr. has blown the F up, right?
Like he's one of the biggest names in probably country and alternative music right now.
He's huge and you know, I know a lot of people like Flex.
Who? You know, they think that's a Flex. I don't think ignorance is a Flex.
But if you're into music, you know who the guy is.
I would be real surprised if you hadn't heard of him or seen some of his music on the internet or something.
But the guy's been, he's been in Rolling Stone.
You know, he's won some awards. He's played Grand Ole. He's everywhere right now.
The guy has blown the hell up.
So that little $60 ticket I bought a year ago, I was going to try and buy another one for Rachel.
They're like $500 fricking dollars.
And it'll piss you off when you print the ticket out because the ticket has a $24 value.
Damn, scalping shit. I'd like to just string all the scalpers up myself.
That's not nice.
But wouldn't mind beating on them with a cane rod or something, you know?
So they stopped doing it.
That shit's ridiculous, man. I ain't paying $500. See, nobody. You'd be the king of England.
Is there a king? Is Charles the king? I don't even keep up with that shit.
I ain't paying $500. See, no damn body. No damn body.
And if anybody tries to, no matter whatever happens in my career,
if anybody ever tries to sell you a ticket for that kind of money, see me.
By God, send me an email.
It ain't worth it. It ain't worth money to do that to people.
Now, I know that ain't his fault. He's getting paid on that $24.
I guarantee that's how his contract was written or whatever it is.
But it's a little disgusting.
Show, however.
His opener was okay. She was a Shelby Stone out of Fort Worth.
Not really a little...
She's got a hell of a voice, but the lyrics don't do it.
The songwriting ain't there for me yet.
It didn't catch my attention, but art's subjective.
I'm not saying it's bad. I'm just saying it's not my thing.
So I didn't really get into her music very heavily, but she put on a good show.
She's a good opener.
I went there prepared.
I chewed up some mushrooms for a wint and took me a little weed gummy,
just to even everything out.
I wasn't planning on drinking.
I just wanted to have a nice evening and enjoy the music.
I was meeting my buddy, Brian Carrion, up there.
And he brought a friend of his named Chris, a restaurateur.
Good dude.
They were cool guys.
Also like a situation where I go and we're not glued to each other.
You know what I mean?
Because I like to wander around. That's just who I am.
I like to find me a little spot, kind of listen to music,
and then wander around and have my own experience.
I don't necessarily need to be right up in somebody else's shit.
Brian's not that way. Chris wasn't that way.
They were kind of off doing their own thing.
But while we were waiting, you had to get a long line to get in.
They moved the concert to the White Oak Music Hall when they rescheduled it.
And I had never been there before, even though it had been used like four miles from my house.
I'd never been to the White Oak Music Hall.
If I had, it's been so long I can't remember.
It, uh...
But there was no seating.
It was all standing room only on a concrete floor.
And let me tell you, my feet and concrete floors don't get along no more.
I was glad I had taken some...
I also took some time off with me because I'm old.
I'm glad I took that time off because my back was killing me.
Very shortly after standing on that floor for a little bit,
I went and found me a spot to lean up against something, you know?
Watch the opener.
Stephen Wilson Jr. comes out. He just destroys the place.
The man has so much confidence, such a stage presence.
It's just... I have gone to concerts and heard people whose music I loved live
and never listened to them again.
It's either one way or the other for me.
Either I go to that concert and it becomes my new favorite
and I listen to it all the time now, or I go to that concert and I don't ever listen to it again.
There's a lot of acts that don't cut the cheese live.
They don't... They ain't got the thing live.
They ain't got the stage presence.
They ain't got... That fella got it all in spades.
That boy put on hell of a show.
Hell of a damn show. He's a hell of an entertainer.
And that voice and that damn...
That guitar with them classical strings and he's got all the overdrive loaded up on it
like a gritty punk band and I just...
Oh, it tickles. It tickles my brain.
I enjoyed it.
When I was waiting in the line to get in, the long ass line to get in,
one of the doormen recognized me.
Hey, man.
Yeah, we talked a little bit.
Thank you for watching videos, stuff like that.
Tell them how it's funny. I appreciate that always, you know.
It's a nice little interaction, dude, that I went and got in line.
Well, then the people in line who are clearly already drunk,
they've been pre-gaming, they start...
Well, who are you? Who are you?
Look, man.
Like, if you know who I am, you see me in public.
You won't come and say, I love that shit, man.
Right?
But if you don't know who I am, don't worry about it.
Who gives a shit?
I could be Ed, your neighbor. Who gives a shit?
If you don't know who I am, don't ask me.
I'm not gonna sit here and give you my resume while I'm in line
waiting to see somebody else perform.
I don't need... I don't need that.
And you don't either. If you don't know who I am,
it gives a shit.
Right?
That's such a weird... That's a...
Life's getting strange these days with interactions like that.
Told you all about it happening at the...
at the tamale place, and then it happened like that.
It was just... It's just a odd interaction.
Like, no, I don't want to tell you my resume
while I'm standing in line to watch somebody else sing.
If you don't know who I am, who gives a shit?
I don't.
That boy put on hell of a show.
Hell of a show.
And I timed everything right.
My... My gummy kicked in right about the time he hit the stage.
And I wandered around.
I'll tell you the acoustics there aren't near as good as Hyde's Theater.
That was my only disappointment.
I can't imagine how good his show would have been at the Hyde's Theater
because the acoustics there are amazing.
Why don't Music Hall left a little something to be desired?
Now, if you got kind of closer to the pit, well, not the pit,
but, you know, the main area, the sound didn't get better.
And I did go upstairs for a little while, and the sound was a little better up there, but...
Also, it seemed like there was a lot of people at that concert
that didn't really know his music.
You know what I mean?
There was a lot of people that knew, like, one song he did,
and that's what they were there for.
They were waiting for him to sing,
I'm a song. That's it.
Or they were waiting for him to sing, stand by his cover, stand by me.
That was it. They didn't...
You could tell the people were really fans because they were just belted off.
Well, you could tell the men that were really fans
because he clearly attracts a lot of men that are sad about their fathers.
Me included.
He has a couple songs about his dad dying.
He was very close to his dad,
but you can see all the men my age,
48 to 50 years old,
every time he started talking about his daddy,
he'd say one of the songs about daddy,
well, just equivalent, and their wives would be doing that little thing
where they kind of grabbed the back of their arm
and pat the back of their arm,
because their wives have heard all the stories about their fathers.
They know why big bands worked up, you know?
Told you, I'm a human tape recorder.
I watch everybody.
I love people watching, but it was funny.
Every time he started talking about his daddy, boy, all of them...
Their wives would be right there just to pat them.
It's okay, baby. It's okay.
I know you miss your dad.
Listen to this song. Go home.
Hell of a damn showman.
Hell of a showman.
Enjoyed the piss out of that.
I hope to see him again some day
where I have a seat and I can sit down and listen to it and enjoy it a little more.
He's the kind of guy you want to see in the listening room.
Any place from new songs I was into immediately.
I mean, I heard them immediately like...
And Friday,
they finally got a transmission, but they pulled the trans...
So what happened with the...
I bought the Avalanche from David
and we took it over...
David still builds for like three or four shops.
And the shop he used to own over on Shepherd A-plus transmission
is owned by his buddy Rob now.
Rob's a fan. Rob comes out to shows and stuff.
He's a good dude, right?
I get along with Rob real well.
So Rob offered to do the R&R on my transmission for $500.
And I'm telling you, if y'all it costs us $500
for me not to have to lay out there in a driveway
and pull the transmission out of that truck
and also put it back in,
that's when I'm taking that deal every day,
all day, every damn day.
Truth be known, I probably paid him more than that.
But he offered $500 and I thought that was
relatively inexpensive considering the amount of
damage it was going to do to my body to do that to myself.
So they pulled the unit, it's a little 4L60E.
I have only ever,
y'all have heard the story,
I've only ever tried to rebuild one transmission.
I tried to rebuild a 350 turbo
with my uncle Larry's help one time.
And he told me what all to do
and we put that 350 turbo back together
and that car never had reverse again until that car,
until that Trans Am got the transmission rebuilt again.
Still to this day, can't tell you what I did
that caused that transmission not to have reverse.
I don't know enough about them to diagnose the problem.
But whatever I did, reverse didn't work
when we put it back together.
So I've never tackled anything this complicated
like this 4L60E, you know, this is fully electronic.
It's a much more complicated transmission
than a 350 turbo.
And
David's just talking me through this.
Just teaching me how to do this.
Y'all saw the video I shared Friday on my page.
Go watch it if you didn't.
If you want to see me get hit in the nuts.
Two minutes in, we're filming all this.
We're filming me dissembling it
and we're going to film me building it
and everything and
I don't know what I'm just going to make some content out of that.
Maybe I'll just put the whole long form thing on
YouTube for anybody that's interested in that sort of thing.
I don't know who would be.
Sounds really boring to me.
But I'll do some editing
and see if I can't make something watchable out of it.
But one minute
he showed me that you got to take a drift
and you got to beat the shit out of them.
So the bell housing
bolts
4L60E transmission
are
Torx Plus bolts.
Big heavy duty Torx screws.
And he's like the real
they're notorious for stripping.
So he takes a drift
and he beats the piss out of each one of those
shake them loose a little bit.
Before you get that big old
Torx Plus bit in there
and you hammer that bit off in there real good
so it don't strip. Take it out with the impact.
He showed me how he
whops on these things. I'm watching to see where he's hitting them.
We got gloves on
all the transmission fluid.
Snap on
ball feed hammer slips out of his hand
hits me right in the nuts.
Right in the nuts. Two minutes in the record.
I spent the next 30 minutes
working on that transmission feel like I was about to lose my lunch.
It was one of them slow burns too.
the old time.
But a Torx that
took about two hours for me. I'm slow.
I
trained the tiktok guys
break them down in 30 minutes.
I ain't the tiktok guy.
I'm a guy trying to learn how to do this.
But I disassembled the entire
transmission.
Checked out all the clutches.
It wasn't as bad a shape as we worried it might
been. Got 190,000 miles
on it.
But the truck sat
for about five years in the field
and there's rust on some of the drums
inside the transmission
from moisture getting
in the vent.
And just some light
oxidation on some of the drums.
We're going to change out. The reverse
drums and those things have a real high
failure rate because they weren't hardened steel.
We're going to replace that
with a hardened steel piece
after market piece. It's a little stouter.
We're putting a shift kit in it.
It'll make it shift a little
snappier, a little cleaner.
But it's
an extra two or three hours worth of work
when you go back together with it.
Ordered all the parts. We're going to start working
on it Tuesday and
try to get it built out this week
so the guys can get it put back in the truck.
We also found out that the differential
was trashed
in the truck once they
took the transmission out.
Luckily, I told you it comes with a
parts truck. It's an old Yukon XL.
Yukon XL has the exact same
differential gear ratio in it
and its differential is in good shape.
We're going to take the differential
off the Yukon XL and swap it on
to the Avalanche and swap
the Avalanche differential back on
the Yukon just so I can move
it around once I get it over here.
There's a lot of parts I want to strip off
at Yukon XL.
The Avalanche is in pretty good
shape
as far as like interior and exterior.
But
there's just somebody did a windshield
replacement on it and the guy did
a really shitty job and
he lost all the little parts that go around
the rear view mirror, all those little
hard to find plastic parts that are
nightmare defined in a wrecking yard and they're all
in the Yukon XL so I can take
them off. I might get that
windshield resealed. In the meantime
I'm just going to seal it so it doesn't leak
until I have a little extra money
and I can redo that.
That ain't a big priority
right now.
But
Yukon
has all real brand new
suspension parts on it.
They all fit the Avalanche
so I'm going to swap out all those suspension parts
so the Avalanche basically has
new suspension. I'll have to buy some stuff
but not much.
But I think this Avalanche is probably going to be
my forever truck.
Or at least truck I'm going to have
for a long time so
I'm just taking all the money I made off the
Mazda with the Mazda cell and everything
and I'm putting all that into the Avalanche
and I'll have myself a good running
little machine. The engine that
in the Avalanche is a pretty low miles
5.3. I think it's got like
40-50,000 miles on it.
But
the engine
that's in the Yukon XL is also only
about a 70,000 mile 5.3
and
it's a good little engine.
My buddy James next door
y'all know James, you heard me talk about him a lot
James is a hell of an engine built
and I've been
picking James's brain
about
I'd like to have
when I get done
with the Avalanche I'd like to have me about
a 400, 450 horsepower 5.3
to put in.
I'm not trying to be the fastest guy
on the block. I just want a little extra
just extra little
you know, but still the reliability
being a daily driver.
So we've
kind of figured out that build and it's pretty easy
to get that kind of power of a 5.3
it's a pretty great little engine to begin
with. We're going to
put, we already made this
parts list for building this other 5.3
put a little
Edelbrock rolling thunder cam in it
and
some
upgraded valve springs
and
balancer bolt. Y'all I kind of
Edelbrock like a 92 millimeter intake
with a Holley Sniper
92 millimeter throttle body on it
and that's
you ain't got to do much 5.3 gets power out
of it. Good torque out of it.
It was a
it's just a solid
little engine.
It's like trying to make it
327 hot. It don't take much
work. It don't take much work.
It was a good little engine.
I think they had 320 horsepower from the
factory anyway. So it's pretty solid
little drivetrain.
So we're building transmission so it can handle
that.
Putting better torque converter in that kind of thing.
Not because I want to be ripping around
and roaring up, but I
just like to have a little extra
little extra. You know what I mean?
pick up a little more drivable, a little more
enjoyable.
Just want that passing gear
to work real good. You know what I mean?
I like that passing gear to
go, get it
and go. Not that it's an
anemic vehicle to begin with. Like
said, pretty well powered.
So I'm excited about that.
You know, I hadn't had a
I haven't had a car thing to work on in a while
that's made me excited.
You know, Mazda wasn't exciting to work on.
Cadillac's not exciting to work on.
The Volkswagen bug
is going to be just
a long, arduous process.
So it's nice to have just a little fun
something to jack with.
And the avalanche has got little
fun things I get to do to it. You know,
I'm on a place to
we got a stereo that's going to go in it
and the original stereo took
a shit on it and it's got a short
in it. But it has
the real nice both sound system speakers
and everything with the extra amp and the
console. So it's going to sound good.
Some of the leather on the driver's seat
needs to be redone, but I got this
I got this old boy up Montgomery County named Junior
that is hell on interior.
And Junior fix
that seat got for less than a hundred bucks. I'm
sure of it.
It just needs a couple of little covers
swapped out.
So it's fun to have something like that
to just dig into sink your teeth into
and just have some fun with. You know what I mean?
And it's going to be my daily
it's going to be my tour machine everything. We're going to
take this truck to Colorado this year
stretch them go to Colorado
twice this year. So that's why I don't
mind that everything's taking a little longer
right now to get everything up and going
because I might have a better little pickup as
a result of my brand new rebuilt
transmission with warranty
and good differential
in it and then you know
the engine may not happen this summer
but we'll be working on the engine
that'll give me something fun to do
tear off into that 5.3
and learn some shit from my neighbor James
about lake model engines that I don't know about
I'm excited.
I enjoyed taking that transmission part
when I tell you that's some 50 got 250
moving parts I ain't bullshitting you
I'm so glad I got
David to walk me through this because I had done
forgot how half of it worked I guarantee
that he
so we're going to
it's going to be cool man and like I said it's a fun
learning experience
put me
in mind
of another little pickup
I owned it one time and probably the last
thing I did any
real engine work on
it
and that's been years ago
because you know all the years being Rachel
got it well I did some engine work on her
Mazda and you know timing belt
shit like that and I did
the engine for the
the 92 F 250
you know I bought that long block
and swapped everything
but I hadn't like broke off into an engine
in a long time it's probably been a good 20 years
it was this little it was this little toyota
pickup I bought it was a little 92 toyota
pickup
and I've told you guys a little bit
about it the past but I kind of
I was thinking about the whole story about where I
was in life when I ended up in this pickup
how I got it and
it all starts
around 2006
maybe
2005 I was already doing comedy
I was fully immersed
in the stand-up scene
I'd given up
I decided you were never going to catch me
with an x-ray camera in my hand again
that I was
going to make people laugh for the rest of my life
but I wasn't making no money
you know I was just doing one nighters
living in a Hyundai
accent
at the beginning
I had a little apartment
over off Hillcroft
no no over off Fountainview and Beverly Hill
and the Beverly Hills
I told y'all stories
my buddy Wayne Black Cowboy
saved me one night
I was getting my ass whooped by a homeless dude
I was living rough man
I was
I'd started hanging out
there's this other comic that started comedy about the same time as me
and
my other buddy Ryan
Dauburn there's another guy his name is Nickaludo
Nickaludo is one of them dudes
he's kind of Italian heritage dude
and he leaned on that pretty heavy
he's from New Jersey
he's one of them dudes
that rubbed everybody the wrong way
just about everybody stayed mad at his helpers dude
but he had good cocaine connections
and I think that's how he kept himself
in the conversation
he was alright as a comic
but he wasn't
he wasn't just killing it every time he got on stage
he was figuring it out
he wanted to be an alternative comic
and he wanted to be edgy
so he would try to write a lot of
controversial jokes
they didn't always go well for him
he didn't have the wisdom, the knowledge
or the stage presence
to pull him off yet
but we were friends
me and Nick were friends we got along
Nick's one got me start doing the shows
over at Fitzgeralds
which is a punk rock
that's not been
there in town
it was after one of those shows one night
I had messed with
I had messed with
cocaine years since I worked in the oil field
years before
and Tory and all that shit
I had messed with it you know I'd stayed away from
after a particularly good show at Fitzgeralds
one night I came off in the bathroom
and Nick was doing a little key bump
he said man you want one
stupid me
I was like well I'm living this artist's
lifestyle now as well
who cares if I get up a little late tomorrow
I let that powder back in my nose
it was a mistake
so I forgot how much I liked it
and it was like that first rush
all over again I was like
and
turned into a cycle quick
doing a little
but I was smarter about it this time
that's where it got dangerous
now it was functional
now I just get a little bit every night
do a little bit every night
next day go do what I had to do
getting that cycle like that
things get real dangerous
Nick
so Nick's dad
owned this little bar on
highway 6
I don't remember what it was called
good times bar or something
but the whole story was
his dad got in trouble with some gambling folks
up in New Jersey and kind of
shagged ass down in Houston
to get away from him
and his dad was constantly getting
himself in some shit it didn't seem
like he was real great with money
or real great with Doc Gamble
and he had his hand in a lot of pies
we would do shows out there at that bar
and it might take us a week or two to get paid
eventually come through it
Nick would bug him enough to get some money
Nick's uncle owned
his name was Frank Ludo he owned the BFE
rock club here in Houston which is
also kind of a historic music venue
not kind of
historical music venue but
some of the best rock bands come out of Houston
and cut their teeth at BFE rock club
and if you live in Houston you've heard it
advertised for 20 years now
it's one of the few clubs that's like
stayed open through all the bullshit
still a great club
me and Frank get along just fine
fine he would be the total opposite
of his brother
not that I
even think Nick senior is a bad dude
Nick senior you know what he gave me a car one time
not a bad dude
he was a broke down car but he gave me a car one time
right after I got done
with this little Toyota Pickup
he gave me a car a little Ford Country
I've heard stories about that
it was Nick's car
they thought it had a ride dock
they gave it to me for free turns out it was
electrical harness problem
Nick introduced me to a lot of people
I'm still friends with today
he introduced me to Ed Reyes from
Bato's Locos which is one of the big punk
bands here in Houston they've been around forever
and Ed brilliant guitarist
and I spent
many nights hanging out with Ed's
who I sold the Hyundai
Accent for Shelly to
good dude
we did a bunch of
drugs together but he's a good dude
he also introduced me to this guy named
Mike Bell
and Mike Bell I think I probably talked about him before
he was kind of jokingly calling him the Donald Trump
of Montrose he was
Mike Bell had been an
artist
and in the course of a year had gone
from living in a
U-Haul storage unit
and being
homeless and broke
to figuring out how to buy
one bar and then a pizza joint
and then he bought a gas station
then he bought a car wash
everything all in this little area
me and Mike got to be kind of
buddies
Mike said you know I know you're doing kind of
you need to make a little money
I got this little pizza place I needed a bartender
and it wasn't so
all they served was beer I think we had
a little bit of liquor but mostly all I did
was pour beer for people
take pizza orders
it's called a late night pie
and it was like right on the corner of
where Westheimer turns into Elgin
and
not Montrose whatever the next street is
deeper into town
little center block building
had half of a BW bus sticking out
the front of it it was a cool little dive
this place was full
of derelicts
Mike only hired derelicts
Mike was ex derelict he hired derelicts
and
the
the main chef
was on Heron
I told y'all the story about the Comptroller
coming in I'm not going to rehash all that
but
at the time I'm dating
this little gal named Jessica
and Jessica
is a cute little thing
she's got a
she's a vegan which is weird
but we're having a good time together
but nothing too serious
and then at the late night pie
it worked with me it was this dude and I can't remember his name
I'm just going to call him Tim
and his girlfriend Becca they both worked there
and
there was this hippie girl with
Dreadlocks named Trinity
she was actually
a beautiful girl
beautiful girl
I mean
just gorgeous
but she always smelled like shit
so I couldn't already stand be around her
she wasn't big in the bathing
she stunk
and that was a
I don't like stinking
that was a
we all took turns running
different shifts I usually ran the late night shifts
they run some of the late night
shifts we'd swap in and out
what a bad little gig man
you make a hundred bucks
on shift
just tips
a little extra money
good love deal
people often tip you in drugs there
that wasn't a bad deal either
that's the kind of thing he was looking for
I don't even know if Mike
had come in there and installed cameras all over the place
because he thought somebody was stealing from him
Mike was doing some drugs too
he was getting paranoid
he thought one of us was stealing from him
so he installed cameras
all throughout this place and I didn't know it
I came in to work doing the normal thing
every once in a while I pulled my little baggy out
I'd go off behind the counter
do me a little bump
go back to work
sure enough I get a call from Mike
about 11 o'clock at night
calls me on my cell phone which is unusual
answer cell phone he goes hey man
I put cameras all through the
thing on fire so I immediately
think he's seen me over there doing
I was like oh shit
he's like yeah
yeah we got a problem we got to work out
I was like okay
what's the problem
yeah thinking he's about to fire me
cause he caught me doing drugs behind the bar
I was like look man I just need a
long long night I just need a little
pick me up man but I get it
you got to let me go
no no no I don't give a shit about that
he said what I do give a shit about is
I've called the bar phone three times
and you didn't answer cause you were looking at your phone
I pay you to answer my phone
not your phone I don't give a shit what drugs you do
I ain't drug testing you
answer my damn phone long my
and hung up
he's more pissed off I didn't
answer his phone today
that's kind of place I was working
right
it's not a place for the up and up
oh Tim drives this little
a little white
I think it was his grandad's or something
a little 92 Toyota extra cab
a little bone stock
you know
a little pickup had a little camper shell on it
for him him and Becker get their
tax return right
and they were getting ready to get kicked out of their apartment
or something they always had some
you know those people just always got some drama
and some bullshit going on
and I just lost
my apartment and I had
to move in with my parents for a little bit
and
through the form my mother was charging me
rent cause that's how she operated
and I was staying with them
at the time and I was driving from Richmond
down into downtown Houston
working late night
pie
going doing comedy gigs
here and there but
man I didn't
know which direction was up
I was putting that damn
powder up my nose
screwing up opportunities
pissing people off
I was selling insurance during the day too
and I was screwing up all that
I was about to get fired from that damn place
wasn't a good time
I wasn't in a good spot
I sure wouldn't
you know I was trying to tell
oh I'm living this artist lifestyle yeah I wasn't living
I wasn't putting nothing into my art
I was just partying
being wild
I never went to college I guess I was having
my college experience
and
Tim Beckett
get their tax return I'm like oh cool you guys
get you another apartment
and Tim's like hell no I got somebody
bringing me an eight ball right now
we decided to double down and just rock till we can
cause that sounds like
kind of decision him and his girlfriend would make
they left
I took over the shift
they went to go do their eight ball
their big old chunk of drugs they bought
they were psyched about it
maybe the half ounce
I don't know what they did
they had taken their tax return
and spent it on drugs
of course then they don't show up to work for a couple of days
I get all the extra shifts and then
I come up there one night and that little
Toyota truck sitting there in the parking lot
except windshields
they've been kicked in in one part
the little
camper shell and it's just beat the shit
like somebody went after it with a baseball bat
and there's dents all up and down the truck
big ass dent in the
driver door
go in Tim's in there
you can tell when somebody's been on a
bendy you know
the eyes are all drawn out
skin looks too tight
nose is red
and irritated
a little dissociative
you know I've talked to that
that's one of those things that does that to you
what's up Tim
I mean
Becker broke up lost our apartment
we had no shit
who didn't see that coming
now I find dog I always land on my feet
dog I always land I'm like a cat
dog I always land on my feet
all right Tim
he's kind of a wiry dude
tall dude
long skater here
yeah it's going to be fine man
Becker thinks she's the last chick
I bruh bruh I pull him man
you know that kind of shit
a lot of ba-ba-da
guess he was there talking to Mike
about getting his job back
you know you're going to show up a couple nights in a row
you just see me quit or you're fired
so
man why haven't you little pickup out there
man fuck that truck
so what do you mean he's like
ah I trust
something's wrong with it
something's wrong with it wouldn't hurt a start
no one would run
looks like it was in a wreck
man you know what it is dude
I got high beat the shit out of that truck
I was like I don't know how that is
I don't know
how that is
I beat the shit out of a couple vehicles
but I wasn't high when I done it I was just mad
I never just done it
because it was something to do
at a party
he's like
yeah I'm just going to sell that thing
I said man what you want for yourself
I want 500 bucks he had the price ready for me
that's 500 bucks
man
so you got a title on it yeah man I got a title
I figure
I had a 92
Toyota truck for 500 bucks
it don't really matter what's broke on it
you coming out smelling like a rose
even in 2006 right
you're not going to lose money on that pickup
only a fool would
luckily
there was a fool around
had a little money in his pocket
from working extra shifts
I made the mistake
I said well I tell you what
I said man I'll buy the truck from you
I said but I need the title
I said I'll give you 250 bucks right now
I'll take the truck
I'll get the truck towed out to my parents house
because I was getting ready to sell that accident
you can take
you can go get the title and bring the title
up here one night I'll give you the other 250 bucks
for it
for sure for sure for sure
for the sale
a little bullshit scribbled out
bill of sale
I'll get the truck towed out
and my parents
my dad's throwing a fit already
I don't want that piece of shit in my driveway
the thing looks awful
I'll fix it up
I'm about to move out anyways
can you give me a minute
I'll fix it
get that damn windshield
I don't have that thing sitting here with a busted windshield
It's right away first thing next thing I did was
Pay somebody come put a windshield in that little truck 200 bucks something like that safe flight one of you guys
And then
But Steve had a pickup at the time of Stephen come over we took that camper shell off that little Toyota
We hauled it off and trashed it somewhere local junkyards up there in Richmond
Charge battery on little Toyota
And it'll start it starts just fine, but it's definitely it sounds like it's got a rod not a little 22 re just a
Sound just like a rod not
Damn
And I see you can't lose money on a truck, but I know I like to
Dig off in the engine that usually last thing got worried about on Toyota's drivetrain
Especially 22 re ain't much to worry about there
In the meantime Tim has not showed up back at work Tim has disappeared off the map I
Start asking around about him his girlfriend Becca starts working back at the late-night pie. It's good. Oh, we're broke up
I don't see me more. She finally a couple nights later. I'm already working on the truck
I'm fixing a little other bullshit on the truck and he had torn up the interior real bad
And I'm trying to fix shit in there and get stuff out junk yards to fix it up
There's a little piddly shit, you know, you broke the shifter shit like that
So I can't get a tie I need to title for this truck the can you find him for me care? Can you ask around?
I know you got some mutual friends of people y'all partying with somebody there
Fight comes all out. He's going to prison. He's done been caught felony
Possession he's he's headed off to the pen
He can't afford no lawyer Tim's going up
Now in the meantime, I done tore the whole I pulled the Toyota and my dad's garage pulled the oil pan off of it
And change rod bearings in it. Now, I didn't do everything. Yeah, I didn't do crank bearings or any of that
I just pulled the oil pan off did rod bearings on it
Because that was the immediate problem. I could figure out maybe do something about it and sure never quieted a little inch down
You know little engines are easy to work on
Quite a danger down and I made damn sure
Clean up all my dad's tools put all his stuff because old man's pristine about that shit
And he was already kind of raging at me about shit. He didn't like the way I was living my life
I
The time my dad's got this little grand prix is his project car. He's driving work every day
It's nice little Pontiac grand prix. He's spent a bunch of time fixing everything wrong with it bought it for one
My little cousins or something
I pull up the house one night I parked the Toyota in the street
Pulled the house one night and he's out in the driveway. He's just raging because there's oil spilt in the driveway
He's just dead sure it come out of that Toyota pickup. I leaked the oil in his driveway
I need to get my ass out there and clean that damn oil up
Raging eat me the whole time and we're back and forth. We're not
My mom's calming us down, but then my mom's give me like what's going on?
How come you don't wake up when your arm goes off? What are you on that's making you sleep through your arm shit like that?
I'm not living right, bro. I'm
I'm embarrassed of who I was at this point wildly embarrassed now
Treat my parents house like it's fucking sorry like it's freaking hotel room
Just place to sleep once I pay them a little rent
And I at first I think it is me that spilled the oil in the driveway
So I'm just trying to clean it up, but I'm getting yelled at and pitched at and cussed at the whole time
So I'm a damn sure after that I can't tell if the toy was leaking not I don't think it is
But I start putting a piece of cardboard under it every night just to make sure you know
Cuz I ain't trying to catch all that again. Well another oil spot shows up in driveway who cusses me again
I
Still in the meantime, I still can't get the title
So dad decides in his mind that the truck is stolen and he wants it off his property
I don't give a shit what you do it. Just get that son of a bitch off my property
I got the truck stolen. I just know it's stolen sleek and all over my driveway. I want that damn thing off my property
I've already sold the accent so
Now I'm stuck. I got this little truck with no title. I don't know how to get a title for it
You know now I know there's things I could have done but the time I didn't know what I was doing
And have a pot piss in a window to throw it out of
All right dad, I'll give her the truck
My good buddy Mike Coler y'all heard me talk nurse Mike. I talked about his book. He wrote good dude
He had him a little hunting camp out in Lulan, Texas Mike lived out there and
It's called Waller
Kind of west northwest of Houston a little bit Waller texts
Got a nice place out there, but he's got this hunting camp. He's a man. I'll buy that truck for you
So I'll give you I don't remember what you got. I think you gave me seven hundred fifty dollars for it
It was good running a little truck at that point or at least it felt like it was to me
Give me he's probably trying to help me out a little bit Mike had a decent job
He kind of saw me struggling drowning a little bit
I think he was trying to throw me a lifeline
He's man. I'll give you seven hundred fifty dollars for truck. I'll take truck out my hunt list
Just use his hunt list pick up
I ain't gonna need no title for that
Mike comes over my house checks truck out gives me money
Right even bill itself to pick up
Mike's like but I ain't driving that thing on the street. So you're gonna have to drive it to my place out Waller
He follows me
And it's really little literally the only time I really got to drive that truck at all was to drive it to his place
I can sell it to
About 15 20 miles out in the country
And boy, it's a good running good running a little sun fit
Drive to Mike's place
Good run a little something no ride doctors know what a little 22 are you just hum like a sewing machine on the way out there?
Transmission pulled good everything pull. I was mad boy. Damn. It's been a good little pick up for me. I
Don't know what became that truck. I asked Mike what happened to it if I can say that as your friend
I'll end the story any way you want it to he said doesn't matter you just tell the story
How you need to at all ended I'll back you up on it. I was a damn Mike. I don't tell me nothing
So here's how I like to think the story ends on that truck
I like to think that Mike put it out there on his hunt release and as his son's age they
Grew up with him out there on the hunt lease. They they harvested many deer
They had a lot of good times
Maybe maybe his boy had his first drink in that little toilet pick up. Well, they run around the hunting camp
As his boy became men
boys became men
Learned to hunt that little truck. That's the story. I hope it ended
But who knows? Yeah
That thing might be sitting in a tar pit in Lulan, Texas for all I know he might have sold it somebody else
Or my rodbearance might not have been right and the same thing might have seized up the engine
He hauled it off for scrap. I don't know. He wouldn't tell me
Real story is this was just
It was just a low point for me
Bartending in a shitty drug-infested pizza joint
Hanging around with dopers not pursuing my art like I should be fighting with my pops regardless who's wrong
No good comes to that
Living with my parents again
It's so hard to imagine
Like now 40 years old 48 years old
Two kids wife been married 16 17 years. We have pretty decent life
We're not rich, but we have a nice life. I've worked hard to make that so
It's hard to imagine that guy got it together to be this guy I
Think you some of you guys tell me stories about going into some of the younger guys
Tell me stories about what's going on in their life
And they just they sound so freakin hopeless and I'm like you're bro. I'm telling you
I'm telling you we live in a world of opportunity. Yeah, you're not at the end yet
You can stop it
That guy if that guy got it together you can get it together. I promise you this
I mean took that guy figuring out
They didn't love himself he didn't like himself and he needed to make some changes
But if that guy can turn it around I guarantee you you can I guarantee you
I ain't saying it's gonna be easy
But it can't be done
Let's wrap that up right there. Let's
You don't know what time it is
Tell me what time it is. Well, I'm excited about this episode getting getting close and goes
Why don't we return to the Wally Bottoms, Texas?
Danny slid the wood putty across the counter before looking up at the teenager at the register
There's maybe 16 and then that awkward period of adolescence where your body revolts against you with acne and gross spurts
Arms too long in the sleeves of his shirt
Young man wouldn't meet Danny's eyes and sort of pushed his words out like he was a little bit frightened
That'd be a buck-fitting. Mr. Ware
Danny fished in his pocket for a few bills. He wasn't mad at the kid
Hell half the town had treated him like that for a while now anyways, and they'd sure be huddled up talking about him now
Kid gave him his change and tossed the putty on a small in a small paper sack printed with Arnie's hardware
And red lettering on it
Danny stuck the sack in the pocket of his denim jacket before turning towards the door
He couldn't help but notice Arnie and another customer staring at him from the paint samples
He grinned and waved on his way out the door or inwardly enjoying their attempts to look at anything else
Be scared. Maybe you might ought to be he thought to himself with a chuckle as he stepped out in the gravel parking lot
Walking to his pickup lost in his own thoughts. He almost bumped into Tom Levins
Excuse me. Tom was off my own world didn't see you
Tom visibly recalled before seeming to catch himself
He tossed the cigarette he was smoking behind as he looked around the parking lot for any hope of composure
No worries Danny
I ain't seen you since the funeral. We're all pretty broke up about tongue
The last sentence rolled off his tongue without the slightest hint of sincerity
Danny opened the door to his pickup got him before looking back out the open window and muttering. I just bet y'all are
Tom's face went blank as he tried to think of something to say
Danny fired the forward up and backed out of the lot while he stood there looking lost
Tom walked into Arnie's even though he couldn't quite remember why he was there. He was shaking from his confusion when Arnie approached him
Did you hear about Danny kept them two boys out of his place a few nights back
Tom's face couldn't hide his shock
No
No, I didn't I didn't hear about
Before he turned back towards the door
Don't you need nothing Tom Arnie queried
Tom stuttered a second. I just remembered something. I'll be back
There's a little bell above the door rang while he made his retreat to the parking lot
Within a few seconds Arnie heard Tom's bet accelerate now the parking lot
He watched from the window as the silver low-slung car disappeared down the highway before turning to his employee
Well, Danny got the whole town shook up today, Jimmy
A big sycamore leaf danced across the hood of the Dodge cartwheeling like a deformed star pursuing its destiny to return to the earth
The brisk October wind out of the north was doing its damnedest to wrestle the remaining leaves loose from the sycamores along the rail track
Carl jr. Watched the leaves and their death dance occasionally glanced down at the trip of that copy of the incident report from Danny's place
He couldn't help but think of those two brothers who had completed their own dance right into mr. Warehouse house
He stared at the report
Something itching scratching at the back of his mind
It's there in the last line of the report
No prior known affiliation
Why in the hell did them boys pick Danny where of all people to rob?
It just didn't make any sense. He hadn't seen that shotgun since him and Tony were kids
The county hadn't picked up charges left it itself defense, but he couldn't shake the feeling the mr. Ware was waiting on them
He looked up at the digital bank sign as it flashed the date October 22nd
Hard to believe he'd been wearing a badge for six years today
He gave his notice the day after the shooting at Danny's
He'd broke down the churris that night. He don't want to see any more bodies. It was taxing him in ways. He couldn't repair
The sheriff pulled some strings for him with the oil field in a free fall. There wasn't much hiring going on
They were going to let Carl transfer to the road maintenance department
Just a few days he'd be carrying a toolbox instead of a gun and that suited him just fine
Engines don't lie and keep you awake at night dirty carburetors don't require a car now
Just
Then a mockingbird lit on the hood of the cruiser something dark twitching in its beak
It hopped once steady in itself
Then slammed the woodroach against the metal housing the sound was sharp in the cool air
Again
then again
Until the bug quit moving
The bird tilted its head swallowed what it could and flew off like nothing happened
Carl stared for a moment no known prior affiliations
He tossed the report in his seat and pulled out of the lot headed towards Danny's
The sycamore leaves in his wake as scattered as his own thoughts about the old man
The tip of the needle nose pliers clicked against the buckshot pellet deep in the frame of the cabinet door
Danny worked them in a small circle until he could grab the small sphere and pull it out of the wood
It clicked against the others as he dropped it into the brightly colored Pyrex bowl
He thumbed some putty in the hole before using the dampened wash rag to feather the edges
It wasn't perfect. You could see a slight indentation a
Grouping of the pellets that had passed through Timmy black before extinguishing his short miserable life
The wood on the cabinet doors refused to participate in Danny's theatrics would keep no secrets
He rinsed his rag with hot water in the sink pausing to turn off the faucet when he saw the Dodge diplomat cruiser turn into his drive
He slowly dried his hands on a dish towel
As red pulled to a stop behind his pickup
Danny stepped down into the carport meeting the young deputy he'd known since he was in diapers headed for his door
Hey, mr. Ware
Little surprise see you read especially in uniform your old man told me you's gonna go turn wrenches
Danny leaned against the carport post searching Carl's eyes for a reaction
Carl shifted his weight on one foot leaned back against the Ford pickup. His grin was sincere Danny was damn near family
Well, mr. Ware equipment's easier to figure out than people
Old man laughed you ain't shitting there, sonny
Danny rubbed his face with the remaining fingers on his right hand
This is social car or business red. I throw on some coffee
Carl jr. Straightened up and turned towards the car
They released your firearms, I thought I'd drop them off on the way home that's all
He walked to the rear of the car and opened the trunk before retreating the 20 gauge shotgun and Ruger pistol and plastic bags from the trunk
Danny didn't speak just walked to the cruiser and picked up the two bags
They set them on his workbench near the porch steps carefully removing each weapon from the bag before laying it down
He crumpled the bags up and tossed them in a steel waist cam by the door
Carl jr. Resumed his position leaning against Danny's truck
Danny broke over the barrel on the shotgun peering down the two empty portals before snapping it shut
That's the gun you taught me and Tony on and the creek ain't it
Carl's voice sounded unsure even to himself
Danny looked out in the yard at the old Calico stray that hung around
He was creeping towards the azaleas where a few cardinals chittered excitedly
Unaware of the apex predator inching his way towards a meal
Red you didn't drive all the way out here. Just bring me my guns
Carl jr. Stiffened
No, sir
He rubbed his hands together. I
just I
Can't figure out why them boys decided to rob you of all people
Danny just laughed
Red offered money for info on Tony. I
Suspect the temptation was just too much for them knuckleheads
Carl's mouth hung open a second a little stunned at the words, but why Danny was often known for his disdain for subtlety
Danny held his arms out you gonna cuff me red
Y'all weren't trying to figure out who killed Tony so I started my own investigation
The accusation hung in the era Carl jr. His mind was still reeling
Did that did they kill Tony or did that did they know who did he spat out?
Danny smiled disappeared as quickly as it showed up now
They had no shit
Tried to tell me bandidos was involved Tony stepped at him brother of both patched
They'd know if the bandidos had anything to do with it
Carl let a slow exhale his breath visible in the chilly air
Why are you telling me this you've waited on them that
That ain't justice
Danny rose to his full height his face red. Don't you lecture me about justice boy
I kept you and your family fed while your daddy was in NAMM
If you and the rest of some bitching clowns over at Gregg County had done your damn job
I wouldn't had to do nothing
Where the hell's justice for Tony, huh? Tell me why it's been months and nothing
If I got a ventilate every derelict in this county to find out who killed Tony by God, I will son
He twisted the old shotgun in his hands before slamming it against the carport breaking it into
To his credit Carl jr. Didn't flinch
But readied himself to his two feet is the stock of the busted guns slid across the gravel his palms open
He took a step forward. I know you're pissed miss
Danny closed the gap between them pissed is what you get when the papers late read. I'm furious
Either take me in or get the fuck off my property
The two men's eyes never wavered
Danny's face softened before he stepped back
I'm sorry read
I'm sorry, but you think I can just let this go you you're sadly mistaken that boys all I had left
Yeah, I hear you
Carl jr. Turned to his cruiser the blood and adrenaline pounding in his ears
The old man stood motionless as he backed the cruiser out onto Mill Road
Tiffany finished cutting the crust off the PB and J sandwich. She was making for amber
Her hands working quickly her eyes on her work
Baby come get your lunch
She said to the little girl
Excitedly chattering at a clearly distracted Tom in the living room
He turned to the precocious five-year-old. I'm gonna race you to it
Amber squealed and made a beeline to the kitchen table where Tiffany had set the paper plate and sandwich
She poured some milk in a toughware cup before handing it to amber be careful of this baby
Tom waited for his granddaughter to climb into the chair before pushing her up to the table
Tiffany stepped out onto the wood frame back porch through the screen door and lit a cigarette
Tom followed her out before pulling one from his own pack to light it
Tiffany took a deep drag and excelled
She looked out towards the horse barn and picked at the mill dude pine splinters on the rail
Tom managed to get his smoke lit as he thumbed his lighter back into his pocket. He couldn't help the poke at her
You can't mope around about that loser forever. You got a kid Tiff
She took another drag but refused to look at her father
I'm well aware. I've been raising her for the last five years and Tony Tony ain't none of your business daddy
He puffed furiously none of my business. That's a hell of a thing to say. I told you he wasn't worth the damn and I was right
I'm your father. You think I don't know what's good for you
She slowly ground her smoke out on the rail and tossed the button to a folder scan for a sand on the porch
She turned to open the door before staring into Tom's eyes. I don't think you know anything about me
She stepped in the house letting the screen door slam behind her
He nearly yanked the screen door off the hinges falling his daughter back in the house ready to escalate
Before he can the phone rings out Tiffany picks it up quickly. Hello
She pauses
He's right here
Before handing the receiver to her red-faced father
Tom glares at her this fight ain't over
He places the receiver to his ear
Hello Tom
The recognition of the voice turns his blood cold immediately
Hey, hey, give me just a second. He starts fumbling with the screen door to step back onto the porch
Just listen Tom
Danny where has been spread money around making noise and asking questions Tom
As he stepped on the porch he quickly replied Danny's old man. No one ain't no one ever listened to him
The voice wasn't hurried it was sure
Tom
Danny where is a problem?
Before the line clicked and a dial tone begin laughing in Tom's ear
He opened the door and set the receiver back on the hook with a shaky hand
Opening and closing his fist and staring at it before sitting down beside his enthusiastic granddaughter
With jelly smeared across her grin
Tune in next week for more the Wiley bottoms text
Episode eight in the can
I
Shit's getting sketchy
We got something building here
Boy, I'm enjoying writing that thank you guys for listening to it
I've taken to Wiley bottoms, Texas and putting in a separate playlist on YouTube
You can find it in my playlist list
And I'm releasing those separately from the podcast on Mondays in the evening
You guys that enjoy it y'all that enjoy it
Man if you just tell your friends about it
Anything you do to help me spread the message gets more eyes and ears on that thing. I'd really it'd be a great benefit to me
I don't want to try to spend money marketing it and
You know
Pushing it like that. I'd like people to find it that are just looking for that kind of thing
It's a different kind of thing than a lot of people are doing nowadays
But but if you enjoy it if it's something that you're enjoying a lot
Maybe it maybe you got a friend might enjoy it too, maybe you know somebody work might enjoy that sort of thing
maybe know somebody tend to
Literature might enjoy it
But if you if you wouldn't mind I'd appreciate if y'all watch them, you know like them share them
And if you don't want to that's okay too
you ain't got to but
It would be of
Positive benefit to me and I'd appreciate it a great deal
All right, let's do some testimonials
Get the hell out of here. Let y'all enjoy the rest of your Sunday
Oh
Who go?
At camp cat
6089 I don't want to repeat mistakes. I was shown
When I got upset around my kids, I'd say do I got a yell and freak out kind of my way of counting the 10
In the process of trying not to pass on mistakes. I'm sure I created new but hopefully tamer habits
And I think that's
You know what?
Give them a sporting chance. We do that
My dad there. He just exploded
I've been trying to do something similar lately when I feel myself getting heated with Noah and
I feel like he's getting heated. I just say hey bud. Let's take a step and
He's starting to recognize that that's okay
We need to de-escalate. Hey bud. Let's take a step
Take a you know pause your game
Pause pause your movie or whatever
Let's take a minute because we're both getting heated and I don't I don't want to go that way
It's hard work, man, sorry you can't say I haven't figured out I'm not telling y'all I'm doing it, right?
I'm just trying to do the best I know how to do and and trying not to make a mess of these kids
And that sounds accusatory
Maybe it is but I feel like somebody made a mess out of me as a young person I
Spent good portion of my life walk around eggshells terrified of that man
and
It's not what I want for them in their life
I think you're doing a fine job camp cat
That jake of all trades master fun
Don't let some worthless self-righteous editor remove the you from your book your accent
Word choice, etc. Is what makes you uniquely you if the editor was worth the fuck they'd understand that well
Be clear it's not the editor the editor is amazing
Adam is a fantastic human being Adam understands my voice better than
Most people do honestly me and Adam have a great rapport and I
Plan on doing many more projects without them
Publisher is the person the guy that owns the publisher companies guy that's who I was speaking about last week that was
Interjecting his own opinions and the stuff
Well
Which he's the money before it so he gets to much as I might not like that he's the money behind it he gets to
Don't mean I got to take it don't mean I got a
Advise myself off of it. I don't plan on
Not let anybody take my boys out. It's my damn book
At
Platypus fan 43 you should release the full opening song good as always love you J. Dev. Hey, man. I love you right back
Thank you for that. So that I know I've talked about it before but I still get questions about so the opening song
It the lyric I wrote all those lyrics and then I created that song with a AI music program. I had a
Couple friends or songwriters that we kept talking about doing this together and then just it would never come to fruition
Our schedules weren't lining up. What are they?
You know as it's one of those things everybody thinks is a good idea to you got to sit down and do the work and then
You know people get busy and they got the shit. They're trying to do to make money the shit
I'm trying to do make money gets in the way of all that. I
Would ideally I haven't finished there's so the very it's up to the last bridge
But I haven't finished the song and I don't know how to finish it. I'm stuck
And ideally I'd like to sit down with with a songwriter somebody great musical talent
And worked that song out and record it myself
For the podcast
Or maybe record it with them because I think there's some meat there. I think there's something good there
Thank you for the compliment. I appreciate it, but
Yeah, the song's not complete. That's the problem. I
Can't figure out in the damn thing. I
Need somebody with a little more vision than me to help me figure that out or somebody I can bounce ideas off of
Who knows
Maybe one of these days I'll get around to it
In the middle of everything else I'm trying to do
It's always I appreciate you guys sharing your Sunday with me
Please do me a favor, please please like and share
Podcasts tell your friends about it
You know even the Wally bottoms in your thing, you know, don't share that but if it is your thing share that somebody
That's that's the best way that's the best way I grow is the best way I get my message out to most people is
It's not through algorithms or anything
It's because of you guys because you guys sharing the videos you guys telling your friends about you guys getting people and
That's the real growth because those are real listening years
Those aren't bots. Those are real people showing up to listen and understand and that's where I feel like I can do make the most impact
I
Mean these stories I told you tonight. I ain't proud of that period of my existence
It's easy to bullshit yourself in the moment when you're going through that kind of chaotic whirlwind of a life
This is what being an artist looks like it's everyone else's fault I ain't where I want to be I could have wrote you a war and peace size
tone of excuses
For why I was trying so damned hard to escape my life
Why none of it was my damn fault
The problem is ain't no truth in that
You can't find the truth in art or anything else if you spend every waking minute lying to yourself
The hardest thing I have ever had to do
Is learn to love myself because I hated that fucking guy I
Didn't know it or I wasn't being honest with myself you pick
I'm not saying you got to like what you see in the mirror. Hell. That's a that's a whole other journey. I
Don't think wanting to change things whether they be physical or mental is necessarily a bad thing
I'm not happy of my body. So I resolved to change it no matter how long that takes not because I think that
It'll make me happy, but because I love myself enough to want to be here a little longer if I can help it. I
Promise you I promise you there's no real peace or happiness on your horizon until you learn to love the person in the mirror
and you should I
Love the person you see in the mirror, and I bet I ain't the only one but none of that will matter till you do
Just try just try this next time you stand in front of a mirror and you got a little long time tell yourself
Tell yourself in the mirror
I love you ten times and if you can't do it seriously without your throat tightening up
It ain't true yet, and you got to fix that first and foremost. It ain't easy
I'm telling you it's one of the hardest things I ever done you ain't got to like you you ain't got to respect you
But you damn sure got to learn to love yourself
You're worth it
The sooner you realize it and believe it the better your world is going to be
This is all there is to it
You can fight me on it if you want, but you're gonna find out one day it's true
You're worth it. I'm rooting for you. I promise you I am
Room at the table for everybody. It's ain't a zero-sum game
I'm JW I love you
I
Man alive
Hope you guys have
Enjoyable Sunday fresh Sunday. I hope it's been a good one. Hope you've been moving past obstacles like Teflon, baby
You guys take care of yourself I'll be safe
That's not a friend of mine used to always say be safety
Somebody had mis-set it in the safety meeting that after that it was all be safety y'all be safety
Be safety as old Joe boy, he's funny old cat
Like that dude I tell stories about him one day
Old Joel Joel Joel's good hand man. John Josh. They're good hands. They're good hands work with
Think about them kids all the time they're good hands
Gotta learn to love yourself people sound stupid
But it is it's the first key in the figure and everything else out
They say you ain't gonna like yourself. I don't I don't like everything. I see in there
Except for this hair. I got beautiful hair
There are 50 years old look at this whoo, but
You gotta love yourself
It's a hard damn thing to teach yourself
That that dude run around with that toy to pick up that guy doing under the drug stuff. He loved himself
He didn't even know it then but he hated himself
He was looking for a quick way out
You know what no plan B. I think I think a lot of the pain that comes in the life
especially in your 40s and 50s for men is
Most of us didn't think we was gonna be here for this
Most of us was living hard running running hard
We didn't make no plans for 40s and 50s
Didn't think we was gonna have to do it
That's the damnedest thing about surviving all this shit
Hey, you gotta figure out how to fix all the damage you done
Yeah getting there with them need on those pliers pull pellets out of the wood put a little wood putty on
Got fix that damage
All right, you gotta be safety. I'll see you next week
About this episode
Jerry Wayne shares his experiences from a recent concert by Stephen Wilson Jr., discussing the challenges of ticket scalping and the excitement of live music. He reflects on a lost interview with Cliff Brooks, contemplating whether to recreate the magic or start anew. The episode touches on personal growth, including fitness and reducing alcohol consumption, while also addressing the oddities of public interactions and the nuances of concert acoustics. Jerry's candid storytelling and humor make for an engaging listen.
Original notes
JW revisits a brief fling with a ’92 Toyota pickup and the chaos that surrounded it in the early 2000’s. Late nights and a hard look in the mirror at a version of himself he didn’t much like.
This week in Duwali Bottoms, TX:
After two boys end up dead and a case gets filed away, Red can’t shake the feeling something doesn’t add up. Danny refuses to sit still, Tom learns the noise is spreading, and the line between justice and vengeance starts to blur. In Duwali Bottoms, nobody waits forever.
The Reckon Yard Podcast
Jerry Wayne Longmire
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86:52