Mon Apr 1 = I got up early EARLY this morning (6:30) and went out to the Deer Valley Airport to bore a hole in the sky. I hadn't flown for about four years, but did pretty well, including decent landings with our touch-and-go's. It was fun riding with John Elder, my instructor, who just sat there, helping me understand the Garmin G1000 Integrated Flight Deck system glass cockpita little better (below) and covered me on the radio communications some. By the end of the flight I was getting more comfortable finding the airspeed, altitude etc. on the display (below).
- Shopping list and shopping with Willie under the auspices of
was next on the list.
- This evening I processed my last T-Shirt order and re-allotted and replenished the ones in my little T-Case (little suitcase I take to comedy shows) and got my spare shirts in their final bags for the road trip.
- After being lost in the rear storage tub in my van for over a year, I got the cute little
The little 10" computer I bought to get me by in Tobago after my Dell XPS died. It's tight, with only 2gb RAM and a 32gb SSD hard drive, but the 128gb micro SD card I have in it helps a little.
working.
It took an overnight charge to get the batteries (one in the computer/screen and one in the keyboard) to even respond. This computer is important because it is my emergency back up computer since the similar-sized 10" Aceer Aspire I got from
Stan
Stanley, my older brother who was a retired as a machinist for Eaton Corporation in Hutchinson, KS until he succumbed to a three-week bout with Myasthenia gravis in March, 2018
's
is not very useful, with the old Windows 7 operating system and slow USB ports that do not allow drag-n-drop.
the money for my 2019 project for them: 1) Replenish one of their most popular items: magnetic refrigerator clips. 2) a neat portable 8' retractable backdrop with step and repeat Duet logos for patron photos.
Wed Apr 3 = My full day started with Go To Sleep where I got fitted with a new SonmoMed mouth appliance...
then to Egoscue for posture... then not meeting with Bryan Ricci, as he promised, to go over my last comedy set at The Lounge. No surprise. He always comes up with some sort of an excuse.
- I was a little bit apprehensive about tonight's comedy at Toso's, planning to do the beginning of the routine for my VFW benefit show next week. I'll be kinda down if Toso's doesn't go well. It went pretty well - I even got the audience of comedians laughing some.
Thu Apr 4 = Last night, the first for the my SomnoMed mouth appliance, I did not seem to sleep well - probably because I was not used to it. I seemed to do quite a bit of snorting thick mucus and swallowing it to keep my air passages clear. The device did not advance my lower jaw as much as I expected, which was all right because that was more comfortable. In the morning my teeth did not align, so chewing my breakfast gave a small pain in my right TMJ. My bite did not return to normal alignment until the middle of the day. During last night, I had my Sony ICD-UX560 recorder set on VOR (voice activation). It did not record any snoring :)
- I took my van in to BrakeMasters for a routine transmission service. They said my tranny fluid was too dark for them to service it because the cleaning might cause the clutch packs to quit working. Dave, there, helped me decide to just drive it on my 13k mile trip.
Fri Apr 5 = This morning I plastic wrapped a bunch of my comedy thumb drives. I sell them for $10 each, and that is a real deal. Most comedians, that have them available, sell CDs for $10 and DVDs for $20-$30. My thumb drives have the same amount of video as 11 CDs or almost 2 DVDs.
- I had an unstoppable encounter with a loose stool. I made it to my hall toilet in time... almost. It was not a pretty sight. After Mother Nature had her way, I went into an unscheduled hazardous waste clean up mode that culminated in a bath.
- Under the auspices of
I took Helene to her optometrist office (same office I use), accompanied by Billy, her husband, an X Marine. They are a delightful couple with a good sense of humor. Unfortunately I will not be able to take them in the future because I don't generally have tme to reconfigure my van with the third seat.
- Bryan Ricci stood me up again. He had said he would meet with me to go over my last comedy set at The Lounge. No surprise. Bryan almost never does what he says he is going to do... but he is a good comedian. Since I did not meet with Bryan, I stopped by Discount Tire and got my tires rotated and spin balanced.
- This evening I did laundry (whites) and changed the bag in my carpet vacuum: 3.7 lb of stuff in the old bag. It accumulates slowly because I do not have kids to track in or pets for depositing hairs and dander.
Sat Apr 6 = I did a little research, made a few phone calls and arranged for my landscaper to plant Dwarf Myoporums in the two empty spots in my front yard.
- Getting ready to leave for Fargo included preparing some specialized POA forms that need to be signed by
Cindy
my younger brother George's wife
on my way back home from the Mesa Gateway Airport. Thanks, AZ legislature for making things so complicated.
Sun Apr 7 = Boy, my rear bumper look a lot better now. I repainted it this morning with trunk spray paint - a speckle paint that matches the average of the blotchy gray of the un-painted plastic bumper. It was a big project, by the time I got painters plastic edged with masking tape and masked off everything and drop-clothed the area.
Too bad I didn't think to take a before picture.
Mon Apr 8 = I got up a little before my 3:30 alarm, at 3:20 this morning, finished packing a few things I couldn't pack until this morning, did a few last-morning-before-leaving things to the house and headed to the Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport: my first time there since it was an Air Force base and my first time flying Allegiant Air. Light played interesting tricks during my day, including this picture I took of boarding the plane.
- Chris Carpenter, manager of the W Fargo VFW Post picked me up at the Fargo Airport around noon CDT. Our first stop was the VFW Post where we discussed the two possible comedy show venues etc. and he fed me lunch. Thanks, Chris! He had posters of the show around, including neat stands for the show.
- Then, in the afternoon, Chris gave me a grand tour of the metropolis, which included Fargo, West Fargo and Moorhead (MN). One stop was a rental company for a microphone stand, which just happened to be next door to the:
- KFGO studios and office. I went in, introduced my self to Peggy, the receptionist and ended up, later in the evening, on the air with Chris on Nighttime Live with Bob Harris. Thanks, Bob!
- The afternoon tour with Chris ended up in my hotel room at the DoubleTree Inn - my fanciest room yet. The hotel has a pretty decent gym 10 paces from my ground floor room, which has a couch, an office area, two TVs, a refrigerator, microwave and coffee machine.
Tue Apr 9 = Today was prepping for tonight's big event, my first full show that I did not produce myself and my first time flying in to do a full show. I also worked out in the hotel gym and did my Egoscue exercises.
- Chris picked me up at the hotel and took me to the West Fargo VFW Post for the show. I had the choice of two rooms. I chose the smaller room, which was a little ways from the bar, had a higher and better stage and better lighting. It turned out to be a good call. The only problem, in retrospect, was the bright beer signs on the stage on each side of me. Since Chris zoomed out my camera to include them. The camera adjusted its brightness accordingly so I was too dark.
- It was a fun show, with all the participation by the audience of 29. I got 5.25 Laughs Per Minute (better than I thought and almost reaching my goal of 6 LPM) and laughing 14.66% of the time (about half of my goal of 30%).
- By the time Chris and I made it to the Red Raven Espresso Parlor their open mic had already ended.
Wed Apr 10 = Today, as this time every month, I scheduled the pay off of all my credit cards. I also reviewed last night's show.
- This evening's 9:00 open mic at The Cellar
(Front St Tap Room) in Fargo was a fun five minutes with a Fargo audience of 30. My set got 5.4 LPM & with 17% laughing.
Thu Apr 11 = While waiting, over an hour, for my plane I wrote Thankyou Notes to Chris Carpenter and Bob Harris. I have a knack for making any small project into a major one.
- Our plane taxied out toward the runway on time, but we did not make it to the runway due to a snow storm that was moving in. We sat on the tarmac for almost an hour as the snow storm worsened, waiting for the snow crews to clear the runway and for the plane to be deiced. The snow crews could not keep up with the snow and, the airport authority closed the airport. We went back to a gate, deplaned and went our separate ways. I loaded the Allegiant app on my phone, which then came in very handy.
- Sitting on the grand staircase at the airport, I met Alisha and Marci, also stranded at the Fargo airport and not able to make it to Phoenix today! They decided I was famous, so here's our selfie. There on the stairs also was Charlie an 89 year old retired banker. I had called a Lyft to the hotel and invited Charlie to join me. By the time our Lyft driver arrived, we were in a full-fledged blizzard. Notice all the flags whipping in the wind.
- At the hotel, luckily there was a Mac Donalds next door to the hotel (seen here from the deck of The Red River Hotel).
After we traipsed through the snow to get there we found it was closed due to the weather, as were several other nearby restaurants. We finally found a bar that had pizza where we met Kim. The three of us guys split a pizza. Then Charlie and I trudged back to Red River and our respective rooms for the night.
- An hour-long project for the evening for me was to analyze the laughs for Tuesday's VFW show.
Fri Apr 12 = I finally made it home. The whole Fargo comedy trip only cost me $318.12 our of pocket, including $35 for long-term parking at the Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport. Not bad for a weekend of being treated like royalty! Thanks, Chris Carpenter. On the way home I stopped by to say Hi to
George & Cindy
my younger brother and his wife who live in Mesa, Arizona
.
Sat Apr 13 = In addition to packing things up and organizing for my road tour I sent out 42 emails announcing my show Friday to people in Hutchinson and Wichita, KS.
Sun Apr 14 = Van: Since last Sunday I had to add 10.6 oz of antifreeze to my van's coolant to bring the reservoir back up to the cold mark.
- Tonight's comedy at The
3rd St Theater; Phoenix Center for the Arts on 3rd St.was a fairwell show for TJ, our host,. He is heading back home to New York. It took me 8:33 minutes to produce my video.
Mon Apr 15 = Amidst packing up for my 2019 Road Tour, this afternoon I went to the Go to Sleep Center to pickk up one of their home sleep study kits, which I used tonight to see if I am doing any better since starting my mouth appliance 12 days ago.
Tue Apr 16 = My follow-up appointment with the Go To Sleep Center today found that, from the sleep study last night, my sleep was not much changed from before. I'm still averaging ten apneas per hour. I did not do the study a favor this morning by doing a 2-minute anerobic session on my exercycle. I hope it did not throw the study off.
- Tonight I got EVERYTHING packed in my van ready to leave and got to bed about 11pm, doing a sleep study without the mouth appliance to see if I noticed a difference. I did notice a headache the latter part of the night.
Wed Apr 17 = Up before breakfast early this morning (9:00) to head out on my 2019 Road Tour. I didn't get off until a little later due to deciding it was important to exercycle and Egoscue before leaving... and eating breakfast in Payson. I phoned
Rose Anne
My X wife who lives in Payson by a lake
and arranged for a short visit and breakfast stop by her place.
- Then on as far as Logan, NM for the night, where the low was forecast to be 45° F and the low inside my van was 59° F, sleeping pretty well under my comfortor with some extra things added to my feet.
- One of my projects this year for
was this 8' portable rectractable banner with a step-and-repeat design. Here are some of the office staff haming it up in front of it.
Thu Apr 18 = Today I arrived in Hutchinson, KS, teling people about my comedy show tomorrow night and putting up laminated posters. I spent some time at the Hutchinson Library and drove over to look at
Stan
Stanley, my older brother who was a retired as a machinist for Eaton Corporation in Hutchinson, KS until he succumbed to a three-week bout with Myasthenia gravis in March, 2018
's
former rental duplex. Steve, a friend of the new owner proudly showed me his improvements to west side, including patching some walls, prep for repainting and rewiring the place according to current electrical code. This evening I went to the Hutch Planet Fitness for a light full-body workout. I spent the night on the east side of the Planet Fitness building, under two layers of comfortor. Forecast low was 40° F and the low inside my van was 51° F.
John Murphy was a good host and my portable PA system was more than adequate. The audience of eight included people associated with Shillelagh Vapor, a couple of my Hutchinson friends and a couple that came as the result of one of the posters. It was a fun show with an hour of laughter.
- I got to bed about 1:30am because, after the show, I did a medium full body workout and my Egoscue back exercises at Planet Fitness. I spent the night parked in the yard at
Stan
Stanley, my older brother who was a retired as a machinist for Eaton Corporation in Hutchinson, KS until he succumbed to a three-week bout with Myasthenia gravis in March, 2018
's
former residence on W 8th Ave.
Sat Apr 20 = This afternoon I got my oil changed at Meineke car Care Service here in Hutchinson. They were great. I recommend them.
- Then on to the Hutch Library to send emails to the state headquarters for Montana's VFW and Washington's American Legion posts.
- Then on to Wichita to visit with Anne (my daughter) and her family on McConnell Airforce Base. I am so proud of them all.
- The Sound Oasis BST-80 white sound machine I had delivered to their house arrived. After extensive testing, I have decided to return the little cute unit. It has some neat sounds, including brown sounds, but does not have an auto-off timer, the rechargeable battery does not last long enough to suit me, and when it shuts off due to a low battery it abbruptly stops the sound and then gives a power-off blip.
Sun Apr 21 = After their Easter Sunday Church, I met Anne's for lunch at the Redrock Canyon Grill. I rode home with Robby (Anne's husband). On the way we stopped by the 22nd Air Refueling offices and he told me about their new, efficient, latest, plane, the KC-46. His wing at McConnell AFB is the first to get the plane.
- For the Family Movie Night we watched the first half of The Inspector General until we ran out of time.
Mon Apr 22 = What a neat visit I am having with Anne, Robby, Katie and Brooke. Today I had Anne order a little LectroFan micro Wireless Sleep Sound Machine. It is inexpensive, compact and has ten white noise and other sounds. It will be delivered here Wednesday through Anne's Amazon Prime account.
- Robbie took me to the McConell Airforce Base gym along with the girls. Neat!
- This afternoon Anne, the girls and I helped out in their church gardin because the lady that usually takes care of it is not doing too well. Guess she needs to talk to God about her situation.
Tue Apr 23 = I played with Brooke and her Legos for about an hour. She is really into Legos and saves up her money for the latest.
Wed Apr 24 = I had lunch with Anne while the girls were at school.
- After school, I made videos of Katie singing three songs. One to a recorded instrumental accompiment and two to her mother on the panio. The videos will be used for auditions etc. Listening to Katie gave me goosebumps.
- I spent some time talking to the girls... about investing for retirement and how much mone they would have if they start saving small amounts while young. I was impressed with Katie's thoughtfulness and Brooke's enthusiasm. I plan to give them enough to start an account and then to match what they invest.
Thu Apr 25 = I hit the road today and headed south. I spent the night in Carrollton, TX, near Plno where I will be doing comedy tomorrow night.Tonight my van's house running water system's water pump became intermitant - mostly not running at all.
- I spent a couple hours in my van tonight on my computer updating my website.
Fri Apr 26 = This morning I made a number of phone calls for doing benefit shows in June and July. I spent a lot of this afternoon trying, with little sucess, to trouble shoot my van's house water pump.
- Later, at the Carrollton Public Library, my computer gave me a Bit Locker blue screen and would not boot. After about a half hour it booted normally. I entered about 20 or so email addresses for my comedy fan club.
Sat Apr 27 = It was windy today, so of course I looked for lakes for kiteboarding. On the way to Austin, I found Temple Lake Park Beach at Belton Lake. By the time I drove there, the wind had died down. I did get a little sun, packing up my 12m kiting equipment and board and walking out to the point where I measured the wind at about 17mph, gusting to 21. It is a little awkward, but I left my kite pump, bar and harness in the 12m backpack. Next time, I can just grab and go.
Sun Apr 28 = Comedy tonight was at Mister Tramps, my first there and my first in Austin this year. The way the other comedians were going, I thought sure they'd like my Viagra and Anemometer sets. They didn't laugh much. Probably because 1) I left out some punchlines to get around to it all in a four-minute set 2) the topics were a little out of character for me and I forgot to do some call backs from previous cmedians.
- I spent the night at the Walmart on I35 South
Mon Apr 29 = Little Woodrows was tonight's open mic for me. Host, Clay ran a good show. The audiance of 17 response was good for my four-minute old faithful Old Man routine.
- Getting some sleep was not easy. I, fortunately, checked with the security guard at the first Walmart, who explained that they had a tendency to tow vehicles that were there all night. He told me of a couple other Walmarts that were open 24 hours and parking was permitted. On I went to the second Walmart, getting to bed rather late.
- About 4am I was rousted by a policeman who explained that overnight parking was not allowed, courtesy of the store manager, in spite of the fact that the store is open 24 hours a day. On to the Lowe's just north where I found a shade tree and was albe to get some sleep.
Tue Apr 30 = This morning I ordered a new water pump for my van's running water system.
It is about twice as expensive as the previous two but will be available here in Austin at Grainger on Thursday. So I'll delay my drive down to the Houston area to pick up the pump.
- Comedy tonight was at the
Fallout Theater on Lavaca St.
