I'm currently sitting at Huntsville International Airport (HSV) and waiting for my flight. And, when I say "sitting" I mean I'm on the floor because, apparently eventhough NASA has a facility five minutes down the road, NOBODY here ever needs to plug in their personal electronic device while they're waiting for their flight.
Now, given that this place sees actual ROCKET SCIENTISTS pass through here, you'd think they would put a tad more thought into the needs of their clientele...
My brief time in Alabama was nice. The people I met were wonderful for the most part and, while I'd love to make snarky comments about mullets or inbreeding or crackers or, well, you get the idea, I'm going to refrain.
Instead, I'm going to try and say nice things about people today.
This is not going to be easy at times...
Let's see, where do I start...
How bout Don Hayworth. Great guy, I had a great time on tour with him. We had never met each other, but by the end he kept asking me if I'd stay for one more day, lol. I think he was afraid the young guys might overthrow him...
Chuck Goins came back for more. I don't remember if I sang his praises in August when we spent two weeks running around Illinois together or not. If I didn't, shame on me. In addition to the fact that six or seven more people confused us with each other again this time, he's another great guy. And an outstanding hugger. Better than me. Chuck, I mean it, you and one of your sweeties make it up to Chicago, call me, we're going out!
Denver Bierstedt always makes me laugh. He's a big guy, 240 pounds, and at least 90% of that is heart. He's got more energy than anyone I've ever known. Quick example, yesterday as several of us were walking to a gas station, Denver ran through us all like a slalom skier. All I could do was shake my head and laugh.
Mike Dumas came all the way from the UK. Mike learned about the tour online and decided he wanted to try and bring it over to the United Kingdom. He picked it up pretty quickly and, even more impressively, manage to NOT pick up a Texas accent despite being around four different Texans in his time on tour.
Speaking of Texans, Gary Cochran came on board a few days ago, his fourth year. I didn't get much opportunity to talk with or work with Gary, but he had a lot of fun with us. Dave speaks pretty highly of him, that's good enough for me.
And Texas can't be mentioned without bringing up the favorite daughter of South Texas; Vickkkki Maddox. Vickkkki is still on tour, still running the retail like nobody else can, still the butt of numerous jokes and still a lot of fun to be around. She rode the bus with me quite a bit and I learned more about people I've never known and will never meet than you can imagine. It reminded me of when Ellie would call me to tell me about someone she knew 60 years ago.
Finally, Dave, I love you buddy. You're a large part of why I keep going out on the road, driving around random parts of the country, hugging strange women. Well, the fact the Captain encourages me to hug strange women helps, but, you know. You're attempting a great thing and I'm proud to be a part of it.
Wheels up in 30 minutes, I'm going to try and find lunch...
Pink Heals!
Peace
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