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Less Hell |S:03E.62
About this episode
Jerry Wayne Longmire reflects on a week filled with personal growth, nostalgia, and connections. He shares stories from his recent trip to Chicago, including a surprise visit to his editor Adam's book launch, and the emotional journey of revisiting his childhood home. The episode dives into themes of sadness, healing, and the importance of relationships, all while maintaining a humorous and relatable tone. Listeners can also enjoy anecdotes about past experiences, including a memorable night out in Chicago and the challenges of navigating life as an adult.
Topics:
personal growth
nostalgia
book launch
emotional journey
childhood memories
relationships
Chicago experiences
healing
humor
life challenges
Back in ’97, I was just a heartbroken Texan shivering my way through Milwaukee, chasing work and bad decisions.
Now it’s 2025, and I’m chasing stories that make the sadness sit lighter.
This one’s about the past, a surprise trip for my friend Adam, and what it means to leave new echoes.
It’s “Less Hell”.
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Welcome to the Wrecking Yard, I'm Jerry Wayne Longmar and y'all are presuming
to be still y'all. All are welcome here in the Church of Internal Combustion. We just ask
that you show up with an open heart. I'm a little tired. I'm always a little tired. Actually,
been a pretty good day. Got up, went to the gym this morning, smashed a workout.
Feels so much better. Had a tuna fish sandwich. That's always a company. It's rare I just sit
down and eat a sandwich anymore. I had a tuna fish sandwich and that was, it's carried me
through most of the day. It made me feel pretty good. I had a little protein bar before I
came out here. To film this, been evaluating a lot of things. First and foremost, welcome
to season three. You guys caught last week's episode. I hope so. I have a small retraction
to make. I didn't know I was telling that story and found out as a result after Rachel
watched the episode that she was the one that planned the Robin Trower trip. That was her
deal. It wasn't pot. Rachel was the one playing the Robin Trower trip because she knew her
dad liked Robin Trower. So I just wanted to clear that up. She also told me some
other stuff that I didn't know. She told me that long before her and I were even
a conceptual thing. I was her dad's favorite local guy. I was the comic he liked watching
the most. I didn't know that. He saw me host for Jimmy Schubert. I think the first time
he saw me, who was honestly one of my favorite acts I ever got to work with. I ended up
working with Schubert a number of times. That made me feel good. She actually showed
me a text message where he said some nice things about me in later years. I was glad to receive
that. Those of you guys that follow me and kind of keep up know that last week I went
to Chicago and did a show. We're going to talk a little bit about that. Also this week
right when I got back I had to hop back in the car. Wednesday. I'm losing track of my
days. It's Saturday here. I spent all day writing this. They got a rope down the day. Wednesday.
I hope my audio sounds good. I got some new mics man. I got these really nice, these
little DJI mini mics. That was a new hookup for my camera. Hoping it gets audio even
cleaner. We can just keep making this thing better for everybody, especially listeners.
As Wednesday I had to get in the car and head up to Kilgore. Well not to Kilgore. I actually
was heading up to Gladewater, Texas. I'm doing some shows in Gladewater. Towards the end
of September I'm doing two shows in Gladewater at Jackson's Theater. I needed to go out to
Rome, Texas to see my buddy William Lee Martin. The artist formerly known as Cowboy Bill.
I was going out to see him. He's got a new podcast called the Red Dirt Comedy Podcast.
He's building a whole new brand out there. I went out there and did his podcast on
Thursday. Wednesday I drove up to Gladewater to do Jackson. The guy owns the theater to do his
podcast and record some promo for those shows coming up there. We can try to sell some
tickets. I don't get these Texas very often and there's a number of conflicting reasons
for that. One is not a lot of venues. Two is it's been hard to go up there. It's hard to go back.
I have a lot of conflicting feelings about it. Something has changed in me because it
wasn't as hard this time and I suspect it's the work we've done here on the podcast and the work
I've done with Adam writing the book has taken some of the sting away maybe. I made it a point
as I do most times when I drive through East Texas to wind my way down Sexton Road and look at
what's left of the Wrecking Yard. I have a cousin now. I don't want to bother him. It's the middle
of the day. I figured he'd probably be at work day. So I'm trying to respect his privacy.
I made a little video and I'm going to put it at the end of this podcast and you can stick
around after the closing and watch that if you'd like. If you've ever been curious,
I know there's a lot of y'all are listeners and if you get the opportunity, hop over to YouTube,
fast forward to the end of this episode and you can watch the video too. It's a little video.
For any of you who've ever wondered what that little road, I just started. I got to the
top of Sexton Road and I was coming into Lover's Chapel and I just held my camera up behind
the dash on my phone and narrated it for Adam so you can see really like that road. I used
to ride my bicycle down where the cattle pond was and a lot of it's gone and a lot of it's
overgrown. The trees are much bigger now. I told him about how when you got to the top
of that road you should be able to look down and you'd see the whole wrecking yard. All the
cars lined up and it was kind of a beautiful thing to me as a kid. I wish I had photos of it.
Poppaul used to like to take me up there in the golf cart on top of that hill and turn
around and just look at it. Look through his binoculars at it. Nobody ever thought to take
no photos of it. Of course photos were a different thing all together back then. When I shot this
little video and coming down I realized I could see Uncle Bobby's old house and the road to
Granny's and then I got to the main road in the wrecking yard which was right beside where
my childhood home was before it was burnt down. You can see Poppaul's shop back there.
I pulled over on the side of Sexton Road and I spent a few minutes there.
I've seen it as an adult. I've been back even last year. I went back drove by looked at it for
a minute. Something was different in me this time. The place just looks so small.
I don't know if I've finally outgrown it. I don't know what that means. It just looked
really small. It was shocking to me. That shop that always looked so huge in my mind.
That piece of land that I played on as a boy. You can't tell but right there by where that house
was there was a pump jack on the hill. I would play in that backyard and the soundtrack was
always that kind of quiet squealing coming from that pump jack. Pump jack's gone. House is gone.
Lot more trees. There's another house there that belongs to my cousin. I kept it out of the photos
because that's his place. It was shocking. It was shocking. I've been kind of processing it.
It's been a week of memories and I spent some time trying to process what that means.
I'm not there yet. I'm not there. I know and mostly it just made me sad
which is a marked change because when I used to get to that place on Sexton Road I had all this
anger. Just furious, furious anger about everything that's gone down and everything
that went wrong out there. Somewhere along the way I fixed the anger. The anger's gone.
What is left that I didn't know was underneath that anger is a great deal of sadness.
And I'm a little surprised. I'm a little surprised at how immensely sad I was driving away.
That's when I wrote the words to the new theme song.
Anyways, that video will be at the end if you guys want to check it out. If not, that's all right too.
But I try to be real with you guys. Sometimes I give advice and I don't want you to think
I don't struggle or still struggle with some of this stuff. I struggle with it all the time
and I am grappling with the difference in my feelings this time and going back on them.
After that I went off into Kilgore. I was either going to go to the Charbroal
and get me a burger. I was going to go to TJ's Cafe if it's even still there or maybe it's
called the Circle Cafe. Places I've been a lot. Charbroal was a family institution.
I've been going there since Charlene worked there from up the road.
So I went on to the Charbroal by myself. Of course there's nobody there that would know me now.
But I had a nice lunch. I sat there. I had my little Charbroal burger. It was just as good
as I remembered it. I would say it's the best burger I've ever had but it's a damn good hamburger.
And I just listened to the conversations.
People watched a little bit.
Thinking about the places I'm from and the cadence of that.
I drove on into Gladewater and did Jackson's Pot. Had a tour of the theater. I'm really excited.
It's a really cool theater. It's a really cool thing he's put together.
Did find out it was a porn theater in the 70s for a brief minute in time. It's where they
showed Debbie does Dallas. And my immediate next question to Jackson was have you cleaned the floors
and he's like oh god yes. But it's a nice theater. I'm really excited about it. He's got an incredible
bar. He's like a legit bar guy. Bourbon guy. Had a sour mash with him called Nichols I think.
And one of the better sour mash's I've ever had. We had a nice time on his podcast. Two and
a half hours. Just beat it up. Talked about everything. I said some disparaging stuff
about Jim Gaffigan but it was all true. Shouldn't have a bourbon in my hand on a podcast.
Now I got done with Jackson. I drove over to Tyler to see my cousin Ricky. Y'all heard me talk
about a lot. I don't get to see him in person very often. I'd never met his wife and so
I drove over and visited with them at their house for a little bit and that was a nice visit.
It was fun seeing Ricky in the flesh because even the way he sits in his chair
reminds me of his dad. He's very reminiscent of my uncle Ronnie who I've not seen in many years.
It was like for a little bit there it was kind of like sitting there with my uncle Ronnie.
I was like oh man you just kind of got that vibe about you even the way you sit in the chair.
Some people just carry some people's mannerisms and you can see it written on them like legacy.
My cousin Ricky has got his dad written on him like legacy and mannerisms and he's a good dude.
I drove out to Rome, Texas which my god I'm not sure I hate anything as much as I hate the city of
Dallas and not the people that live there. I have a number of good friends who live in Dallas.
It's no indictment on the folk, the fine folks of Dallas, but that city in general trying
to drive through it is just it's the flying spaghetti monster created their freeway system.
Eight freeway changes just to drive through that city. Only to find out 35 is once again under
construction and now I got paid $12 in tolls to get on the world's scariest express lane.
Try to get my ass through to get to Fort Worth. Should have just stayed on 20 and just stayed
on 20 until I got over closer to Fort Worth jumped up 287 or something. I won't make that mistake again.
I got to Rome spent the night in my buddy Bill's house. We had a
drink and bullshit catch up on craft stuff like that talk shop and did his podcast the next
morning for a hurried on back to Houston because my kid did have a singing performance last night
and I wanted to be here in time to go do that but still get podcast stuff done all that kind of
good thing. It was good so I'm just outside of grappling with some big things that I'm sure
will pass sometime. It's not like I'm not boo-hooing in the corner type stuff. I broke down in tears
a little bit talking to my wife about it because it was I was trying to get to the root of what
I was feeling but I'm okay for the most part so that's nothing too concerning. Let's do a quick
little sponsor copy here. This season of the wrecking yard is brought to you by absolutely
nobody. Sponsor free just black coffee stupiness and a loud old temporary what do we call it portable
air conditioner but hey if you're a brand a business or a rich uncle with a guilty conscience
there's room at the table slide in sponsor the yard and remember all ships rise.
It's been a whirlwind of a week like I said church but I'm really excited to be here with
you all. I'm excited about this episode because it all just sort of fell together and I'm excited to
talk to you guys about Chicago and my experiences there. I've been on a journey. I've been on a
journey this whole week. This whole week I've been on a journey and I'm just dying to share it.
First I gotta take you back to a 20 year old bee that decided to move to Milwaukee,
Wisconsin in 1997. My day-wanderers know the lore. They've heard the stories but they ain't heard this
one. This one takes place in December of 1997. If you lived in the Midwest, not the Midwest,
the Midwest in 1997 you know it was a good year for snow. It's also my very first year
up in the Midwest and as a young man who still had not become accustomed to driving on snow
it was a little bit of a difficult transition. You might also know I've talked a little bit.
I was dating a gal in Ohio. She lived over in Westlake. This particular story takes place
right after she broke up with me right after.
She the little gal in Ohio broke up with me and I was the saddest boy that ever lived.
As sad as you can be in your 20s you just don't know what sad is yet. You don't know
so I wasn't in love with a girl. She wasn't in love with me. We had chemicals that were
liking each other but either one of us had a clue what love is or what it's supposed to be
or how love mounts out. We didn't know but it felt big at the time. It felt huge at the time
and to top it off she had split with me to get back together with this weasel of a human being
that she dated before me. The kind of dude that's like always riding in his girlfriend's car because
his car is busy not existing. He'd just quit every job he had because they didn't recognize his mad
skills. That guy I don't take no guff off the foreman guy. Just a just
and combined with that made me feel lower than mouse piss. You can let the wrong women do that to
you and I suspect most of us have at some point or if you're a lady maybe it's the wrong dude
or maybe it's wrong it don't matter. I suspect some of us a little romantic partner make us feel
worse than we should have at some point. At the time I would drive from Milwaukee to
southeast Chicago and perform material inspections at a couple foundries. I don't I don't think most
of them exist anymore. I believe the one in this story was called Chicago Castings or something
like that. Chicago Castings CCMD something like that. I don't think it exists anymore. There's
another one named Talcott I used to go to but I don't think it I don't from what I can tell
on the map don't know them seem to be there no more but about once a week that was part of my job
that was my little thing I was doing at the time working for a Longview inspection there in Milwaukee
and I would I'd go to Kyoga Falls Kyoga Falls however you say that in Ohio and there was a
little manufacturing facility there and I would do random mag particle inspections on the finished
parts and don't want to they take it's I think it was about six seven hour drive
Milwaukee get out there go early in the morning go out there and do my inspections get off work
about five or six and then I drive off drive over to Westlake and visit with my gal
stay in a they let me stay in a motel and company card
I'd go to then I'd leave there I'd go to La Porte and there's a facility there I'd go there the
next day and I do inspections and mag particle testing and in the fall and day I'd stop in
Chicago southeast Chicago for two nights and some shitty motel they used to put us up in and over in
South Deering and do inspections at foundries on cast parts before heading back to Brookfield
to turn in my reports and my pay sheets for the week I didn't have any friends in Milwaukee yet
aside from the like the few folks that I knew at work you know we I just didn't
have any buddies yet I hadn't I had spent most of my time there I'd only been there
month or so and I'd spent most of my time there driving back forth to Ohio to see this old gal
whenever I had free time so I hadn't made no roots in Milwaukee yet
I hadn't met uh old Charles and got the floor mopped with me behind the neighborhood bar yet
I was driving that old three-quarter ton Dodge I had that on 1981 or whatever it was
three-quarter ton Dodge two-wheel drive pickup that thing was uh they fixed it for me those
cops and fixed it for me when I got jumped that time and it lasted a long time or
they fixed it they'd put some lock thread or something lock tight on bolts and
but it wasn't long before it rattled that lock tight loose and started dropping that
dag gum starter again that was a problem with that truck until I got rid of the sun 50
these are cold trips man I mean I had big old they give us a I had a big old heavy jacket you
know that somebody give me as a gift before I left for Milwaukee I think my dad
big old heavy jacket hooded parka type thing and had some good gloves and Joey's mom uh
miss roebuck sherry and Sharon roebuck had had made me some wool socks she had knitted me up
some wool socks and these think boy wool socks is the truth in cold weather I wore them every
time I wore holes in them wool socks this particular trip I drove on out there and
done the inspections and Kyoga falls and then I went out to Westlake where she had been acting
kind of weird on the phone about a week so I got out to Westlake I was met with a little
bit of a cold reception and we went over we went hung out in the pickup for a while
that's where she dropped the news on me she was getting back together with her ex
boy I was so mad I couldn't even stand to be in the same state as her I didn't
get a hotel room I just drove straight on to La Porte Indiana that night just drove straight
out there man just the hell with you get me the hell out of Ohio I was driving to La Porte
listening to Delilah on the radio mopping tears out of my eyes in fact that is the very trip
that's actually when I started smoking cigarettes this is how stupid this is she hated smokers
and I thought by God I'll show you I smacked I smoked a whole pack of Dora lights on the way back
taught her lesson by giving myself a 20 year old addiction that affected every facet of my health
showed her who won that one still her
finished up I did the job in La Porte went on to Chicago
checked in my motel over in Deering snowing like sun 50 snow everywhere man I was having so much
hell keeping that truck on the road next day I was over there at the foundry with the QC
at the QC department and there's one of these QC hands in this in one of the in that foundry was
a was a young dude like me restrooms older dudes this one guy was about my age maybe a little
over me I think he was 22 23 at the time he's giving me shit all day man you look sad dog
dog why you look so sad man looks like somebody stole your puppy just jack with me and finally
I hadn't just about enough of it I just told him what happened man I told him and them old men
fully expecting more ball busting and ridicule but that wasn't the case he got real serious like no
dog uh-uh you going out tonight we're gonna fix that shit I'm gonna take you out on Chicago
so all right man he said I'll call you go home get dressed get ready I'll call you I'll
tell you where to meet us well I went I went back that motel took a shower put on my best mode
better button up it was hot pink had like lightning flashes on it cowboy boots tightest jeans my
favorite cowboy hat my big buckle he calls myself tells me how to get where they are and it's
off it's kind of like over on the north side uh I think it's called north near side or some
shit like that it's this weird uh it's it's just like south of Lincoln park area I can't
remember the street it was on but it's a club it's called crowbar not like spelled like
greater crowbar but like c-r-o-b-a-r crowbar if I remember right it was just just a little way
south of Lincoln park I was not dressed for crowbar uh I was not ready for crowbar I found out when
I got to crowbar crowbar was kind of a a dance I don't know what you call it uh it was not
type of place I had been exposed to yet in my young life that's what I call it
I come walking up to the door to meet them in my hat and boots they all they all had like
rave go they all hit the deck bro the doorman was so intrigued by my get up that when he saw
Texas on my driver's license he stopped worrying about my hey I was under age at the time
and he just lost his mind he's like oh shit homie just rode his horse from Texas you know like he was
he was so intrigued he lets me on in through the door of my friends and I was honest I was honestly
thinking about leaving I was embarrassed as hell but damn it if old QC guy his name was Terry
Terry didn't convince me to stay and I think more for bragging rights for dragging the cowboy
to the bar than anything else because we get in there it's like dark and pulsing lights and
there's girls dancing in cages and they didn't bring much to wearing them cages
and I don't know what kind of music you call it like maybe house or techno but it was lots of
big bass and electronic sounds and the DJ would holler something I didn't understand
ever once in a while and everybody would answer him and then they would just
the beat would come back and
and I was indeed the only cowboy hat in the place and my bright pink mobeta lightning shirt wasn't
deterring any attention I felt like a zoo exhibit walking through me staring at them them staring
at me
Terry had a big group of friends he introduced me uh to this kind of this slender blonde headed girl
she had long blonde hair and she had a a jewel nose person
and she was wearing what looked like some Victoria's Secret lingerie with the skirt and combat boots
and she was going to the University of Chicago to be a biochemist or some shit like that
she told me her name was rain I don't know if she's telling me the truth probably not maybe so
I don't know that I was that concerned with whether she was telling me the truth
she was I she was from South Dakota
she liked my cowboy hat she kept telling me that I made her feel like home
and they they brought shots from the bar and they all consumed them with Geely me choking most
of mine down because I wasn't much of a drinker yet and trying to grimace my way through it
because rain took her shot like it was a drink of water
and me and her were chatting a little bit as much as we could with the music going
she pulls a little bag out of her little carry bag and she pulls out these two little pills
little white pills that got tulips on and she gives me one and they bring another set of shots
and we take these pills boy it ain't that long 20 30 minutes of music starts sounding real good
to me I'm thrusting my belt buckle jerking my body in ways that what felt good but completely foreign
to me I got a little queasy though I remember I started getting a little queasy and I had to
work my way through the crowd to the bathroom and by the time I got to the bathroom I was in
kind of rough shape I felt like I was about to lose my guts and I ain't the door of a stall
open to find two fellas enjoying each other's company who weren't fans of the intrusion
and slam that door back and got to the next stall and my mind was still reeling from
what I'd just seen and uh I puked I puked all that neon yellow alcohol I had consumed whatever
it was uh that night I got rid of all that and cleaned myself up as quick as I could
shouted a quick apology to the two-man party I broke up in stall one and made my way back to the table
I'm reeling a little bit now that music sounds real good right that music all of a sudden that's
my favorite music in the world another round of shots come and go and range wearing my cowboy hat and
kissing me and we're having fun I don't know if you'd call what I was doing dancing but I thought
I was dancing somehow a number a number of hours go by and the lights are on and we're all just
piling out of the club in various states of disorientation it's gotta be three o'clock in the morning I
don't know range riding with her friends that I don't remember meeting but I think I did but she
wrote her number on a club napkin she told me to call her when I get back to Chicago I told her I
come to Chicago about once a week and I walk that old dodge in the snow grinning spent a pretty good
night and uh as I'm walking up on that dodge I noticed that old starters hanging out from the
crossmember and uh damn if I hadn't kicked that damn starter loose again and uh my mechanical skills
were a bit impaired at the moment they were off duty and oral was spinning a little bit
and uh I just crawled in that cab and got under my big locked the doors and got under my big
parka and put that hood over me and passed out there in the seat
I woke up early just a little bit of sun like coming through the windshield sun was just rising
the head was pounding like somebody hit me with a hammer
I had a pack of door out lights in my hand that I'd never gotten to smoking
that had her number tucked in the cellophane I couldn't help grin in spite of how shitty I felt
climbed under the truck in the snow and the ice and the water and
put that stupid starter back in got that truck fired up just got back to the motel just time
enough to change and run my ass back over the foundry I don't remember much of that shift
I was having a hard time to maintain that day I just been a couple times I walked up
my old terry telling everybody about cowboy Jerry showing up to the dance club and they
were all getting a kick out of it and he seemed to recall more of my adventures and dancing
than I had I drove on back to Milwaukee at night I didn't notice till I got back to Milwaukee and
I started fumbling around realized I'd lost that number I'd lost that napkin had that girl's
number on it that was a little despondent but not much my head was still uh pounding
from either that pill or the those shots that we'd done and all I really wanted to do was sleep
through the weekend and recover from that and I'd come to the conclusion that maybe girls like rain
was a little faster speed than I was ready for yet
but I did stop worrying about that other gal though I started having fun in Milwaukee after
that night and started making friends and went on to have many an adventure in Milwaukee
didn't make any more friends like rain and I can't help but wonder if she's ever been doing biochemistry
somewhere or whatever the hell she ended up doing and wondered about the free spirited naive Texan
she met one night who never called her back probably not but it makes me laugh to think
about it sometimes you think about all the folks you've met in life that you spent a few hours with
never seen again they all got some brief memory of you mostly there's little there's little echoes of
you from throughout your life all across the world all these people all these people have met you
they have this little echo of you this little brief memory whether you spent a few hours of
somebody train ride whatever they if they glance if they have some brief little something in their
brains some little cataloged PCU it's not 1997 though it is 2025 and I have left a lot of echoes
on my journey since then I got echoes all over the world a few months back Rachel found out
that my editor Adam was having a launch party for his new book more hell it's a collection of
short stories he's written over the years and they were going to launch it they were going to
do a book launch party for him at a local bookstore there in Rockford Illinois where he resides
and she cooked up the idea she said what if what if we fly you up there to surprise him
and support him like he's done for us because he's been nothing but supported since we began
working for him Adam has become my friend and he's just working on this
and I was like that's a cool idea how cool is that we can hide it under the guys if I'm
going to perform for some corporate event but then we decide why not we'll throw I don't get to get
up there very often let's throw a public show the night after his launch party in the area
and we'll we'll cover me not being able to be there for his thing by saying
that Junie has a performance at night on Friday the night of his book launch and
I'm just gonna fly in for Saturday and do this gig but I hope he'll come out in the show we sent
him and his wife some tickets love to meet you guys and Rachel, Rachel conspired with his wife
Lauren who's a wonderful lady to pull this all off because we knew we need some inside help
and luckily for us it's fella named Mike Zimmerman popped up he said I have a venue but it's a it's a
little strange it's a little different but he's a comedy fan and he's a fan of mine and he says man
tells Rachel he goes I've got this indoor sports center and we could set up a show right there
in the basketball court and him and Rachel put this show together and he gets he's
worked in the music industry for years and those all kind of people and he gets lighting out there
and gets chairs out there and by God we put us a show together we start selling tickets to this thing
I started trying to find an opener in Chicago area on short notice and there's just everybody I
watch was just so dirty and I just that's not really the the lane I'm in these days
I like people just be able to come out and enjoy my show and people are either real dirty or real
political and I just I don't want a lot of that on my show I want people to come forget all that
kind of shit just have a good time and I thought you know I didn't get to tour up there at all
when I was do when I was getting ready to film the wrecking yard the first special in 2021
and those people you know you can watch something on video stand up on video is just that I don't
care how good the specials made I don't care how good the specials directed watching somebody's
comedy special does not at all uh encompass the same feelings as watching something live
as seeing the live performance and I come up with the idea that instead of having an opener
I'll just go up and do a condensed version of the wrecking yard the special and then transition
and do my whole tipping point special that I'm working on now for those people
just if they're going to drive out to Crystal Lake see me in a basketball court by God they're
going to get a show they're going to get all the show they paid for and then some
and I've never done anything like that before I usually like to work with an opener or something
like that but I just I just decided the hell we're going to do something different
the Adams Adams much more than my editor he's become my friend I ain't got a lot of
people in my close circle but he has made his way into my close circle
we've made our ways into each other's circle and
working on this book we've been coming through my life he knows some of these stories now that
ain't even in the wrecking yard stories I didn't tell y'all uh some stories that were just too
painful some stories that at the time I forgot about them but you know going through this book
and working on stuff I remembered things I forgot he's good at prodding me to get back down
to the details of stuff and that's just kind of like what working on this book has been like it's
we just go back and forth and we usually meet on Fridays and he asks me questions about things
and sometimes I tell him stories you don't know and I'm also fascinated with him too
but it's kind of it's kind of disarming because he's watched the podcast he knows
a great deal of my life like a lot of you and he'll say stuff that throws me off sometimes
you know he'll say stuff to Rachel but those are also because he knows so much about me and her
from watching the podcast
but I'm also fascinated with him because he's a bit of an adventurer too
and he has some great stories of his own he's about 12 years younger me which is the same age
that I was younger than Uncle Bobby and that feels like
like Kismet or some kind of weird thing we bonded we bonded right off the bat I think
I just really like I really like Adam and I trust him with my story
which if you've ever written anything or created anything it's a very hard thing to do it's a
hard thing to give up some of that trust
and I was really excited to meet him in person
so I get up
Friday morning I get up like a dummy I get up at like my flight's at 5 a.m. so I'm like oh I need
to be there two hours before flight get through security Houston Intercontinental
so I get up 2 30 in the morning I gotta pack my bag and that before grab my bag kiss my wife
goodbye and catch an Uber to the airport my Uber driver is a fellow named Bruce
and an F-150 and Bruce from Tascacita and Bruce by God is going to talk to me about everything we
talked about gambling in Texas and and why it ought to be why it ought to be marijuana's in
Texas and why it ain't hurting nobody and Bruce just a cool dude that Bruce has spent
a good number of years when he's younger welding over there at the Browning Root
and Bruce starts telling me welding stories from the 70s and I tell him some x-ray stories from
the 90s and we start talking about old places in Houston and he brings up the area around
the secret group comedy club because I don't know if you've ever heard of that place
they tell jokes in there which made me laugh out loud in spite of myself I said no I had to check
it out sometime Bruce. Get in there and find out TSA don't come to work till 4 a.m. so I had to
just sit in the airport lobby area where you check in for about an hour waiting for TSA to show
up and I go through there and I don't know what which doctor I made mad at what point in my life
but there's something in my body somewhere in my groin area that sets some damn scanners off every
time every time I have never walked through an airport unmolested I go I get groped every time
every time and that dude was such a rude prick that morning they don't make you take
your shoes off anymore but I went to the scanner my groin beeps he's got to do the search
he was nice about that part he's a little ginger-headed
little kind of weasel he faced a little dude but he's nice up until that point
says I need you to take your shoes off and the lady that's over on the other side says
what line did you come through and I pointed to the line I came through where my stuff was being
x-rayed and then he had me turn around so he could do the search and grope and all that
good stuff and he gets done with it and he goes all right you're good to go and I said but he
turned me around I turned back around my shoes are gone I go hey man where's my shoe but I said
it real nice where's my shoes but I had taken a gummy while I was in the Uber I was I was already
had a softened view on humanity at point I didn't even mind the extra attention you know
say man where's my shoes he goes going through the x-ray that's why she asked
you which lane you were in like just real shitty you know but he couldn't mess with my joy I go oh
well you spun me around so I had no idea what the hell she meant or where my shoes went bro
I thought you was doing magic and he muttered something and walked off and I went over there
waiting for my shoe got through got him a united flight to find out I had a whole road of myself
that rarely happens those are rare that's those are days of rare air especially on a morning flight
united I had the whole road of myself
I settled into I started rereading my Faulkner novels and so I settled into Sartoris and read
that on the flight into Chicago read a good deal of it and
get to Chicago go through about 15 different shuttles and such until I get to my rent a car
location which is a little off base and God tells me he says man you got to pay extra because you're
picking the car up early the car was set for 11 a.m. I spent what how much is it
$27 yeah I just put it on my card so he puts that deposit on my card
and I keep seeing this thing is get you a toll tag the unlimited toll tag and I said man what's the
is this worth getting he's like oh yeah everything around here is toll roads and I remember that for
my young years living there you know I said well hell man what's how much that thing costs like
$56 a day or something I said man I don't know about that he goes look dude
I'm just gonna take it out there and put it in the car make sure after you drive out of the
lot you stick it to the Velcro on the windshield you'll be covered rental car guy it does me a solid
saves me a little money so shit boy Chicago's feeling good already Midwest feeling good
jumping up rented a little Chevy tracks man I just enjoyed the shit out of that little car
a little underpowered but I mean things get up and do triple digits on the highway and drove
like a charm I mean just handled really well had comfortable seats I give the radio a 3 out of 10
the speakers are kind of rattly and kind of going through a phase I've been listening a lot of
older Bubba sparks and older slum American stuff some older yellow wolf stuff and I was wanting
to jam and it was hard to jam in that car
started looking for some food so man I'm gonna find me some good diner style breakfast something like
that and I see this place come up my map in Elgin it's called the skillet breakfast I said boy
it sounds like my speed I pulled off the highway there in Elgin I went got me a skillet breakfast
my god I was not ready for Midwest portions they brought a skillet out chock full of
hash browns and ham and bacon and maybe some sausage and cheese and it was a masterpiece
boy let me tell you something 20 year old me would have jacked it up but boy
48 year old me don't eat like that anymore we didn't get very far into that we uh
we struggled with that a little bit that meal beat me I got about a third of the way through
I said boy I'm done with this I can't do no further the waitress sort of smirked at me when
she picked it up get on into Rockford checking my hotel real quick I've texted Adam's wife
she's telling me he's down at the bookstore down there downtown get ready for the book launch
party and he likes to linger down there so he'd probably be down there a while so I hop in
the car and I map out that it's about 20 minutes from my hotel and I run off to downtown Rockford
to May's books and right before I get there I'm on the phone with my wife we're planning how
I'm gonna surprise Adam because I'm on video so Rachel can see you too and Lauren can see you
and right before I get there Lauren texts me she said oh he's left the book shop so I called
him lied to him told him I was going to come meet him at the at the wired cafe for lunch
so all right she says right down the street from the bookstore I'd already parked the car I said
man I'll go find him so Rachel wished me luck we'll go find her boy
now when I was driving in when I turned into downtown Rockford turned down to the street I
don't remember what street May's books is on but the main drag there when I turn on the main
drag there's an empty parking lot kind of a gravel parking lot over here some trees and stuff
going around the sidewalk and there's a dude
that I just see for a brief second and he's walking by and he's he's kind of got his hands
going like this like some sort of jazz poet Joe Cocker type dude and he's got long black hair
and I think for a minute ago man that kind of looks like Adam I've only seen a picture of the
dude but I've done a zoom call with him I spent it kind of looks like Adam but then he wandered
off behind the building I thought well maybe I mean I don't know what kind of drug problems
Rockford has maybe it's just a random dude communing with nature trying to get through
his day I thought about that wasn't him
so I jump out the car get my camera ready I go down there at the wired cafe and
I start the camera and I got my aviator sunglasses on and
you know I just I've known this for a long time about myself I sort of look like a cop
I've got drug dealers didn't like me coming over because they always thought I looked like a cop
and when I got the aviators on it probably a little worse it looks a little
state trooper yeah aside from the size of me
I turned that camera on me and I yanked the door to that cafe opened and when I yanked
the door to the cafe uh most of folks in the cafe at that time seemed to be uh 20-something
the middle-aged black folks and they all immediately turned and looked at me and I
realized that I look like a cop it immediately shut the door and backed out of the cafe
I was like oh bro I think these folks gonna take I'm the law love Johnny law looking for
somebody or something about that time I glanced down the street back to where the
open parking lot was uh passed and I see the young man with the black hair walking around
again except now he's going the other way I said man that's gotta be him
so I go down there and and I like real sly bro I peek around the side of the building and I see
Adam he turns around and he's walking back now now I know it's him I got a good look at his face
I'm like oh that's definitely him so here's what I do is I back up I know he's coming back
around he's clearly pasting back and forth I turn my camera on and I got kind of hid myself
behind a little tree and waited for him to come walking by me and I was going to have that I was
looking at him in the camera so I could see him well he got close stuff I was going to start
that camera well he come walking up he didn't even notice me he was doing his jazz pull his
his Joe Cocker thing and he was clearly talking to himself and I noticed he didn't notice me and
he walked right on by me like he's going out in the curves I had to start the camera and
turn around give him hey man and I knew he recognized me from my voice before he turned
he turned around and this was the best thing about it he turned around me and Rachel watched
this video a couple times he turns around and immediately his arms burst open to hug me
and he's like god dang man you know and he's just Adam's just as country as a fellow could be
uh the way he speaks and everything he sounds real country to me he just throws his arms open and
and Adam is uh he's half Egyptian and half Illinois farmer and uh he's kind of dark
complexed and he's got a like a big old open smile and uh glasses and he just turns around
throws his arms open and hugs me he's like what like I can tell he's just shaking for a loop
and I was like yeah we thought it'd be fun to sneak up here and surprise you I'm coming to your
book launch tonight and he was just overjoyed and it took him a minute to
think but uh he's like man let's go down to the bookshop I got somebody I want you to meet and he
takes you down to meet Davey Peterson the guy that owns the bookshop who's wildly interesting dude very
well read and that's when I started getting intimidating because I realized all all of Alex's
friends are like literary people they're all very smart they're all very college education
these are people that that traffic and live in books traffic and live in writing
and I started getting a little nervous about that party like well I'm about to be in room for a
whole bunch of people smarter than me and I I did I started getting nervous about it
and then Adam tells me he goes hey one of my authors is going to do a reading
ain't showing up I'd love for you to you know do three or four minutes speak at my book launch party
I was like oh shit that's now I'm real nervous I just want to come support the guy you know
just want to be a part of his big day he's he's a part of a big thing happening for me right now
and it's all because of his involvement
and he takes me back over his house where I get to meet Lauren in person and Lauren's mom
I think it's Cynthia I hope it's Cynthia she's delightful and I get to meet their young daughter
ever and she's a delight too it's been a while my kids never been it's been a while
being around a little baby like that you know and I just I just adore kiddos and
we have a good time getting to know each other and hanging out at their house and
it was funny because Adam often makes a joke that he's ADHD and that both of our wives are
wranglers of ADHD men and Lauren at some point says hey let's do some game planning and she
comes and sits down beside him and it made me laugh because it's the same type of shit Rachel does to
focus my attention to help me go hey we gotta we gotta work on the plan here we gotta do some
planning it just tickled me and I was already I like I need to make my exit they need to get
ready for the book launch party I need to go back to the motel get the hotel get a little
rest get dressed for the party so I start making my way we chat a little bit more and we
I start making my way out the door and
they've got a lovely little house it's not even a little it's bigger my house it's a lovely house
though and it's it's just all real wood inside and like down here we'd call it craftsman home
I don't know what you'd call it up there but it's uh it's just gorgeous her dad's done a
bunch of work on it and it's got these badass little windows he's like laced I call it laced
but they're lattice work window they're just gorgeous it's just gorgeous little home gorgeous home
stop saying little that's just one of my descriptors
I make my way out the car start heading back to hotel low and behold I called Rachel she goes well
read that text when you get back I get back to the hotel and it's Rachel basically tell me hey
you need to get out of their hair and let them get ready for the party you need to go get ready
I was being wrangled too I just didn't know it yet
go back to hotel take a little nap I got I'm real nervous I write a short little thing for Adam
in my head I put something together things I can say I just mostly want to say some nice things about
my friend and I'm excited about his book and kind of want to see what a book launch is like
because I'm going to be having one at some point and uh his was awesome I get I get there and
it is it's without a doubt a a interesting collection of people it's people have known Adam
his whole life and also a number of authors and people who who live in traffic and books in the
written word and I was feeling real intimidated I was just kind of hovering around the back
because I was kind of nervous I don't get anxious or nervous before shows but I got anxious
and nervous before this because I just I get that way sometimes around
people I know got more education than me I'm a little embarrassed of it sometimes
and that's just my insecurity you know
but I feel like I did a good job speaking for him I got up there I made a couple jokes I told
a story about me and him and then I just said some nice things about my friend how happy I was
to be able to be there to support him how happy I was about his book
and I met the other author we all go to a little place in Rockford a prairie prairie brewery or
something like that and I have a drink with him and his friends and but I'm wiped at this
point I've been up since 2 30 a.m I'm I'm wiped so I let him know I got to go back to hotel
go back to hotel talk to Rachel and realize that my other hotel is back in Chicago at O'Hara
real close to O'Hara over in like Des Plaines area so the next day I'm gonna have to drive
all the I might drive back to Chicago and check into my hotel there because you don't
kind of try to check in midnight sometimes they give you room away so I get up the next morning
haul ass out to Chicago checked in they let me check in early they let me check in early
in Rockford let me check in 11 a.m lady was just full of honey and sweet as hell and she
let me check in early and then the fella checking me in at the hotel at my holiday in express
there by the airport he's just as lovely and nice persons can be and we have a little chit chat about
all his dogs and he lets me check in early I'm having a charm trip as far as travel goes
I decided I'm gonna go do uh I was looking up stuff in places and I couldn't find any evidence
that crowbar existed or that which doesn't surprise me nightclubs don't generally have
long lifespans and I sort of assume most of the places I knew in southeast Chicago I looked
on the map I couldn't find any of the foundries I suspect a lot of them are closed down boarded up and
gone so just decided to do tourist stuff I went I went downtown Chicago I went over to the lake
and I went and saw that giant bean thing and the cloud gate we have one like it in Houston
it's called cloud column I think made me a little uneasy I'll be honest with you uh I know art's
supposed to make you feel some kind of way and I tried to go I did eat a gummy before I went over
there and was well being close to that giant reflective bean thing kind of made me a little
uneasy like you could see all the people behind you snapping pictures and taking things and
it was a weird way to look at that crowd of people I was in and Chicago's a little
little different you know than I remembered it but that's that's the way of the world you
know things are constantly changing and but Chicago's always kind of remind me a little
bit of Houston it's got a lot of diverse food and and the traffic's very similar to Houston
you know it's one of those places that's thoughts and prayers and good luck when you get on
a freeway well I'm used to I'm used to battlegrounds I'm good at driving in that that's uh
it's not like going to San Antonio where nobody has any sense of urgency whatsoever it's like
you know Chicago's a fast pace it's a little faster pace than Houston walking around I walked
around downtown and sort of took in some of the sights and talked to a homeless fella for a while
while he fed some pigeons and just sort of did touristy stuff you know took some pictures of
some cool builds some cool old buildings and walked around took in the sights and smells
they walked around a long time because uh when I got there I found out the parking was like
$70 for all day parking I was like you gotta be out of your mind like I ain't never heard
no shit like this in Latin $70 to park somewhere my god well you can get about an hour and a half
for $35 and I guarantee you pop all on my still turning is great about me spending $35 to park
car somewhere but by god there ain't no cheap parking in Chicago let me tell you that I did not
remember that about Chicago if I spend time down there exploring I drive a couple I drive
over to Lincoln Park walk around a little bit and just seen some stuff and slowly fought traffic
back to O'Hara got looking for some food and found this little joint over there by the airport
called charcoal delights this little video mom and pop burger shop chicken and burger shop they
cook everything over charcoal and this boy sounds pretty good I went there
old Greek fellow owns a place and he was he was just a delight I had a good time chatting with him and
talking to him about traveling and such and made me it made me a damn fine charcoal burger
fries weren't bad either it was a nice little meal and
went back over my hotel room rested a little bit made some notes I haven't done that
wrecking yard material in a long time and had different ideas on how to transition some of
it different bits I wanted to do from the special and you know that there's a story
in that that first special that's a it's a story about time my father-in-law gave me an Adderall
and the chaos that ensued and when I told that story in the special it was only the second
time I'd ever told that story on stage and I had so many better ideas later on about how to
rewrap how to wrap up that bit and how to do that bit and so I was kind of got excited about
getting the opportunity to perform that material again to a good chunk of people had you see I
think we were at 80 or 90 tickets sold by that point I couldn't believe all these people was
driving to a basketball court to see me out in the middle of nowhere in Crystal Lake Illinois just
I had to crazy I walk out so my my hotel is surrounded by concrete it's just concrete it's a
concrete jungle there and I walk out to go get my car and this little rabbit peeks his head out
look like a little field rabbit peeks his head out from under the front of my car and he looked
at me more with curiosity than fear not like you see a rabbit here that booger would dart this booger
just looked at me and then he very slowly I can't even call it hopping just moving his front legs
ahead then his back leg you're seeing a rabbit move slow like they don't give a damn this rabbit
moves slow you can't call it walking you can't call it hobbling but maybe cantering maybe the
rabbit cantered over to this little B strip of median where the trash can was there was some grass
there and that rabbit sat beside that trash can and started eating that grass and I and me with
that same curiosity had displayed when he poked his head out underneath the car as if I didn't
matter I was just a curiosity for him to look at for a little while but no worries
I took it as a good sign I figure you know rabbit's foot is supposed to be good luck I mean not for
the rabbit but a rabbit's foot supposed to be good luck man a whole rabbit's got to be some damn good
luck and I got in the car I drove out I called Rachel tell her about that rabbit because it made
me laugh I drove out to Crystal Lake about an hour where my hotel was about 45 minutes really
and I worked out I talked to Rachel almost all the way there which usually on the drive the shows
when I kind of work out the details what I'm going to do I get there in park and walk around and I
find Adam Adam and his family's already there oh Adam Lauren and some friends of theirs that
name escapes me through there Jeff couldn't remember the guy's name is buggy he's a good dude
Jeff and his gal are there and I say Adam man I've we've concocted so after Adam had me perform at
the bookstore see see an Adam at the bookstore I should tell you all about this he did some
readings from his book man and I don't get to see that Adam I the Adam I talked to on the phone
is the guy we're going through editing stuff and and there's a lot of and dumb and and we're
we're figuring out ideas and stuff we're working on something in tandem Adam behind the mic is a
different dude Adam behind the mic is expressive I just thought Joe Cocker jazz poet this guy
is a monster behind the mic and I enjoyed watching him at the book launch party do his
readings and he hosted the whole thing and he's got that he's got the thing man whatever it is
the the the ability to be on stage and hold a crowd as a captive audience he's got it so
register we should ask him bring you on stage at the show because basically the whole show
was playing around him so that sounds excellent so me and Adam we meet up we go off in there we
meet the guys putting the show together Mike he's fantastic people always worried like oh I
don't have much of a green room like I all I need for a green room is a quiet place I just
need a quiet place maybe a chair to sit in some water go through my notes get ready for the show
I have little rituals I do before I prep before I go on stage and he takes us to the ninja
training room it's an indoor sports complex they have this room called the ninja training room
and there's weird green rectangles with holes cut in them hanging from this apparatus and
stuff you got a crawl under on the floor I suspect you got to do ninja shit to get through it
me and Adam put our heads together needed one of us had an answer for how to get through it
but if I bring somebody in my green room they were well it's not very luxurious I don't need
luxurious just need a nice quiet place and they provide me with that there's a little table
there we sit down I've brought Adam into the green room with me it's a it's a I don't I'm real careful
about who I invite in the green room so when I invite somebody in the green room to commune
with me before the show it's somebody I don't worry about taxing my energy I like doing meet
and greets after the show because it takes a lot of energy I don't like to do them before the
show as often because it's taxing and it takes it takes some energy that I want to save for the show
so if I invite somebody into my green room it's somebody I know it's not going to tax me energy
wise somebody that you know it's probably okay to sit in silence a little bit we chitchat a
little bit about Adam's gonna go up for a few minutes talk to the crowd maybe tell him story
about how he met me that kind of thing and then he's gonna bring me up and to get on the
stage we got to walk back around the soccer the indoor soccer area and they've hung a curtain up halfway
well it's like a big vinyl sort of thing behind the basketball goal where the goals come down from
the ceiling there's this big vinyl sort of thing that cuts off half the gym from the other half
and we come in from behind that so I sit there and I work out a few notes about the show and
chitchat with Adam a little bit and then he the other guy comes he says hey I'm ready to start the show
said one thing is only about 70 people have showed up we don't know where the other
30 people are but we've already held the show up 10 15 minutes I can't hold it up much longer
I said well let's just let's just run it and hope they show up
they did at some point because I realized about halfway through my set that the they're all there
or at least a good deal of the people that have bought tickets have shown up and
Adam goes on stage I can't really hear what he's saying I'm back there behind the curtain
waiting to go on stage now I can't hear him very good but there gets this one point where
there's quiet and he says something about me and the crowd doesn't laugh because they maybe don't
know me well enough yet to understand the joke but I gaffalled from behind that curtain it it
listed a gaffall for me a big old loud hearty chuckle and when I laugh they realize I'm back
there behind the curtain and the whole crowd laughs and I was like all right it's perfect
Adam brings me on stage I go up a wonderful applause talk about Adam a little bit and
launch into the wrecking yard
and it felt fun walking through that old material again I got lost a couple of times trying to
skip the beat trying to remember but the crowds into it were having a good time and I get on going
through that I was going to do a 30-minute version of the wrecking hard but look down
it's 45 minutes in and they're they're having time in life I still got to close the wrecking
yard out and switch gears and jump into the tip point I still ain't figured out how I'm
going to do that what what that transition is going to look like well the great thing is is
that bit that I've written about Adam and writing the book it fits perfectly between those two and
I wrap up the wrecking yard and I do that bit and it sort of triggers them into the next thing
and I go into the tipping point and have a ball but I also I did a version of that Adderall
bit that I've never done before talking about my father-in-law and it hits so hard and it
made me so sad that it's not on that special that way because I just I've done it better than
I ever done before a crowd's electric they're alive they're in the know they're there to have a good
time and we rock for two hours I did not mean to keep them people there that long but
god dang it they were just infectious and wonderful and we rocked that thing for about
two hours and 10 minutes and I closed it with a story that I only tell live and if you've
been to a live show you know what I mean when I say the college station story but I don't I don't
ever put that story that story is never going in a special it's never going on vidya there's just
a story that when the crowd is right I'm feeling it I like to tell it and I close that story and
it closes big and I go around around the back get a drink of water go around to the back to
set up my stickers and sell some merchandise got my diamond gem certified stickers with me
and and and just a handful of people I could tell they were on their way out but they were excited
to see me while I was walking up shook my hand but I could tell it kept them up past their bedtime
they were they were folks they was just you know I'd kept them up a little late and I don't
blame them but they were excited to see me and shake my hand and talk to me and and by
God the rest of people in that that basketball court lined up and it was this cool moment I just
like hey man I know we all been here a long time please be patient with me but I want to talk
to everybody and I want to get a picture with everybody and everybody was so cool man it was
so harmonious man folks just started taking pictures for each other and it was just a cool
vibe man and people would walk up and I'd get to talk to them a little bit and I met I met
once again a bunch of fans from the wrecking yard a bunch of fans from this podcast there
a lot of truck astrology guys a guy named Jeff that I talked to on facebook all the time he's come
from michigan I think people have come from wisconsin madison wisconsin a couple come
from madison wisconsin uh people have come from indiana people have come from all over
the place it was a good good area for people to be able to reach
some people have driven up from south elinois and got hotels in the area and it's a great it's
a just a cool vibe man and I was exhausted after that show but those people gave me life and I
enjoyed talking to them and I got to meet uh another dude who's a shop teacher who's been
listening for a long time i can't remember his name right off the bat everybody there was interested
uh a long time fan on facebook named lacy was there uh with her friend they drove down to see me and
met one of y'all one of one of one of you guys have been around for a while day one or I think
named jake uh his handle is like a master of old things something like that I've read
several of his comments before but one of the first interactions I ever had with jake I think was over
on facebook or it may have been on youtube but it was about my mom's Volkswagen bug and while a lot
of people were telling me that car is too far going to do anything with old jake popped in
and he's like here's what you do and he told me how to straighten that car out with a power bar
and how to he's like you get a door and a windshield in it you got a car and he gave me hope for
the car ideas I still plan to use and they were all meticulous well thought out ideas on how to straighten
that car out but then uh the screen name at the time was like smurfette something and I was like oh well
this lady knows her way around a Volkswagen and so uh we had found out the confusion later he was
on his wife's account or something her screen name and I've talked to him several times in
course of the podcast and he brought me a bunch of hot wheels I don't have them out here right now
I got my new packages out here but he brought me a bunch of hot wheels for the Driven Dreams
organization and uh possibly everybody was buying stickers I made some good money on merchandise
selling stickers this week that week and that always helps out with the extra costs and stuff
associated with traveling and signed a bunch of stickers for people uh there's new people from
Ireland there I mean it was just it was just a vibe man but meeting Jake was cool
Jake came up and explained to himself and and his pink-haired uh shorter lady beside his little
shorter than him come up and he said this is smurfette and smurfette's cool as shit too and
I always ask the women if they have a good time at my show because I in the early days
women would come to me after the show and they go I was so worried you're going to talk about
trucks the whole time and I knew their husbands had drug them to this comedy show and I was like
no no no so I always want to make sure that the gals that get drugged at my shows have a
good time and and they all were in fact I do a funny little joke about my tattoo and about
how you should do a thorough audit of all the jobs a body part does before you put a
memorial tattoo on it and this gal comes up the line she goes I know exactly what you mean about
tattoo my father passed when I was a teenager and she had daddy's girl tattooed daddy's
little girl tattooed owner up here owner like the back of her shoulder and she goes it's been a
source of constant uh conversation throughout my dating life and I was like I bet it has
of course Adam and Lauren hang out Adam brings me an autograph copy of his book that I asked for
and my wife has demanded I get before I return home and uh I'm excited about that and I said my
goodbyes that I've had a wonderful time hanging out with my new friend uh enjoyed meeting his
wife and his kid I've met his mom his mom was at the book launch party I just adore his mother
she's wonderful one of these days I'm going to tell me all the stories about his father
because his father uh has a Uncle Bobby-esque vibe and I'm just dying to know more about the man
I'm a live wire after that show I should be exhausted it's midnight in Crystal Lake I got
to drive back to Chicago and uh I'm on the phone with Rachel all the way back like we just
we don't even need comedy clubs like I it never dawned on me that the comedy clubs might need me
more than I need them like I don't need to put up with all the crap I can if I can find a venue I
can book a show anywhere and give people a good quality show and I was a live wire from doing
them two shows back to back with that kind of response and I talked to Rachel all the way
back to Chicago and I went try to find some food late night food in Chicago and damned if
everything I drove to wasn't closed so I just said screw it I went back to the hotel I had to get
up six five four in the morning to get catch my flight back to Houston took the early flights
trying to be economical Adam had brought me a joint called big dog I didn't know weed was legal
in Illinois till I got there and he had brought me his really good joint and
took that opportunity in the parking lot when I got back from Crystal Lake
got there smoked that big old stick out there in the parking lot talked to Rachel and he'd
he'd give me another little smaller one I smoked that one too went down went to bed got up
next morning dropped my rental car off before dark made my way through the old Harris airport
got fondled and groped up again by a much nicer TSA agent this time and much more pleasant about it and
got on my flight back to Houston
made it back home with another adventure on my belt I didn't run across no echoes of
20 year old me but I sure left some new ones let's do some testimonials
and if you will
and I know I got them all right here because I put all this together
today let's see what we got here I don't remember which ones I picked but we'll figure it out
our old buddy Chuck Packwood I love listening to the love these are testimonials from last week's
episode so quite a bit of it was about my father-in-law I love listening to the love and respect you
both have for your father-in-law it was great to hear her speak love on her dad yeah that was
a new thing we done where Rachel recorded something I recorded Rachel speaking about her
dad and I played it during the podcast and I enjoyed doing that and I feel like it touched
a lot of people I mean Amy Iris a good friend Amy Iris if you I don't know if you do prayers or
positive thoughts whatever you do Amy Iris has been having a little having a rough go of it lately
and so if you spare some kindness in your heart towards another day one or the one made my shirt
Amy Iris you spare some kind thoughts towards her I think she could use a little pick me up
from the wrecking yard going through a rough time thank you for sending that Chuck I loved
hearing Rachel speak on her father as well I love it whenever she wants to be involved with this
thing she she does so much behind the scenes like y'all never know the full extent of that
woman's powers but everything that is good in my life is a result of her touch on it somewhere
at David Beckert I know you like great writers like Faulkner and others as do I what reading grade
level will your book be written Zane Gray and most of the writers of today right at a third grade
level I would like to read a book at a higher level love you man onward upward no limits well
David this book's a memoir and I want it to be accessible to a lot of people but if I had to
if I had to guess that I don't know how to do all those scales and stuff but if I had to guess
I'd say it's probably going to be about a ninth 10th grade reading level because I want it to be
accessible to a good deal of people and there may be books that hire reading levels later on
or may not but that's about what this one's run that's a good question
at our old buddy Texas sippian jw I've been here since day one and this is the top three
episode for me my wife doesn't know who her father is and never had a stepfather etc so I
have missed having a father-in-law but more importantly my wife will never have what your
wife had I celebrate what the two of you had with kin also regarding the testimonial where
you were applied a lot of stories ain't about cars this podcast is about cars away filled
of dreams is a baseball movie cars are quite literally the vessel used to tell a better
story I barely know the difference between an alternator and a carburetor but we all have an
Uncle Bobby etc I quote you regularly and may shock you on the quote I use parenting is so hard
because you only get to do it once jw did I say that I probably did that sounds like some
shit I'd say yesterday I had to have a hard conversation with my 15 year old son we both
cried and I most recently shared that quote with him sorry for the lengthy comment never be
sorry for a lengthy comment we love you man I love you too Jeff Texas Scipian where everything is
that's funny that's an interesting quote
sounds like something I'd say though
I'm always surprised at what people take away from what I have to say
funny you say that though I didn't get the chance to I got home till yesterday
to sit down and read Adams book it's called more hell it's a collection of short stories 15 short
stories he's written and it's a my benchmark for a book is if I can forget I'm reading it
if I just pick up a book and I don't put it down till I'm done then that's that's my benchmark for
my favorites and and there's a handful of books throughout the years have been that way for me
rebuilding the Indian was that way I think I read that book in two days I read Adams book in about
probably three or four hours I couldn't I couldn't put it down I thumbed it we
driving to the kids music performance and I finished reading it on the way there right
when we got up to the school and uh it ain't it ain't like some he writes about the Midwest but it
ain't some Norman Rockwell painting and it ain't it's sad but it ain't a sad country song either
these are these are real folks cussing and stumbling holding on by you know duct tape and a prayer
they're so often one of them lights themselves up in some way like a bottle rocket and a cow
pasture and you can't look away it ain't the backdrop of the book it stays with it's the
people the the people he describes in these stories it's just uh souls raising hell just
to prove they're alive and I deeply enjoyed it and I get to the end and I'm reading his
acknowledgements not expecting to find myself in there just he's clever writer I want to see
what he has to say about people and and it's very clever and I get to the end of his acknowledgements
and lo and behold I couldn't be more surprised to see one of my quotes there he says just like
and like my friend Jerry Wayne Longmire says there's nothing more important than you can give
somebody than your time and I looked to the left to notice Rachel was what she knew I was at the end
she was what she'd already read the book she was watching she couldn't wait that she knew about this
already and she's and I'm sure I grinned at her and at my trademark half-split mouth grin you
know like I was so shocked and then later it made me laugh uh in a dark way
it made me laugh in a dark way because that quote is a quote that my father has said to be very many
times in my life that's something my dad has said to me very many times you know the most
important thing you can give people is your time and it made me laugh that somebody got that
quote from me that I got from my father who very rarely gives me his time it just it just kind
of it was just kind of a weird cluster of uh stuff that made me laugh I laugh at dark things
and it tickled me I laughed I was like the guy gave me the quote that doesn't give me his time
actually is who taught me that quote that I believe in and I try to give people my time
I'm very pleased to be sharing some of my time with Adam and I'm thankful that the
universe put the wrecking yard and me and his path I suspect Adam's going to do a great many
great things in the future he's a very talented talented writer and a very very intelligent man
and I'm pleased to call him my friend and we got some unboxing to do I got some packages at the
PO box this week so let's get into that and we'll wrap this thing up we'll get out of here
how's that grab sounds like a plan to me I reckon this is not working very good tonight
it's a little a little warm in the garage
boom look at that another 50 pack of hot wheels I just counted them all up I had a little contest
uh I counted them all up had people guess how many I got but we got uh like 670 hot wheels
close with the ones that uh Jake brought me that that put it up like 690 and then that god
I'm not good at math I'm about this I think this puts us about 740 hot wheels 740 smiles
we're going to put on some kids faces come October and day given for the driven dreams.org
charity and I couldn't be more tickled about this let's see who sent it to me
please let there be a note there's usually a note
love your content carry bringing the ha ha from Wayne Havens oh that's my Wayne Havens dude uh
used to be stand-up comic man we we were in the same scene at the same time together
he's a really cool dude he's a badass old mechanic and uh he's come out in my punch line shows and
supported me and thank you Wayne this is awesome thank you bro I really appreciate it we got one more
here let's see what we got
a knife of freedom here
we the people it's very patriotic and such somebody sent me a box of knives to check out review
and that was the one I kept because I really liked it holy shit
there we go another 50 pack another 50 pack was that 740 we're at 790 we almost 800 smiles baby
almost 800 smiles look at that another big ass 50 pack my god dad gummit god bless i love y'all
this is just the most beautiful thing ever been a part of it I'm just so thankful that y'all have
joined it look at that buddy we almost 800 smiles man let's let's work right there come on be a note
in here from Luke Demmer Demmer and the 182 garage LLC we love the show keep up the good work
from Steven Demmer uh dimer I hope I'm saying that wrong Luke's dad hey you know what thank you
thank y'all for watching and being a part of this thank you so much fan I love y'all that's
we're gonna do a lot of good this October and I couldn't be more tickled about it
y'all y'all really moved me when y'all do stuff like that's just it's just such a
magnanimous cool thing let's wrap this thing up and like I said stick around after I have to close
the show if you won't watch that little video it'll be there
there's something healing and what we've done here me and y'all
I knew it when I got to Kilgore when I got to Sexton Road when I got to the wrecking yard
I've kept my history locked in a box labeled anger for a long time anger was easy for me
you can pick it up swing it shove it back in the box
but the the thing that nobody tells you is when anger finally runs out of strength or you beat
it what's left standing behind it is sadness and sadness sadness don't fit in no box it won't
be locked away you gotta deal with it the root of it the why of it it'll just eat you alive otherwise
anger sometimes you can lock away in a box and I found out what I was sad for once the anger
wasn't there to guard me anymore I had to face the truth in the hard truth is that I've lost
pieces of myself my mother my granny the wrecking yard there's pieces of me that are gone forever now
you've got your own things too things you've hidden under anger
for a long time and maybe one day when anger finally lets go you'll you'll see them better
I ain't I ain't fully at peace with my sadness I'm about 50% like my buddy Sam Miller says you
know 50% it's pretty good the rest I'll grieve as I keep on with the mission that's the hard part
of healing but knowing the anger is gone that makes it lighter somehow easier so if your anger
fades one day I hope these words linger enough to help I'm rooting for you I'll never quit
rooting for you there's room and table for all of us and we can always add leaves in when new folks
show up that's how it works in family that's how it worked in the yard too nothing too far gone
nothing too broke just waiting for a little redemption wrecking yard is the place for phoenixes
it's a place for you it's a place for me
I'm J.W. I love you
there you 800 cars good god of money
boy I feel like I'm opening look like I'm about to open the toaster that's the boy
love y'all
are you
feeling this for you Adam uh I am driving in on the 6th to road that's the
livers chapel water tower from there ahead and right over here to the bright
this was all curly tailors pasture back in the day and I'm on this trail and uh
right about right there there was a little cattle pond it was like
now that was a little cattle pond I used to go fishing in
and this is the big hill I would talk about it used to be back in the day when you look right
through there you can see the whole wrecking yard laid out before these trees weren't that big
that's the little creaking the of my friend Nathan play this used to be the cattle yard
right there off to the left this is where you're tying your randor tree to see him off the
okay so that little house right there that was Uncle Bobby's house that's where Uncle Bobby
that little road right there used to be called Sherri Kay Lane went down the granny's house down
the end there and then this was all wrecking yard
and there's oh shit there's popple shop there's popple shop back there and then this is
the real piece of land where I live what used to be where our house
are you really digging for peace for is that just a lie tell to help you sleep
sure that you really want
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