As I begin to really have to deal with this dispersal, my mind is rolling with thoughts, memories, emotions and joy.  Could I keep it going?  Yes.  Do I have the help?  NO!  Do I/WE want to?  NO.  It is time.  Maybe even past time.  But no matter.  We will be offering some good stuff over the next couple of months.  Why are we stretching it out?  1–Time.  2–I’ve got a couple of decades into this deal, I can wait a couple of weeks or months.

I am aware that some of you readers are waiting on a royal Kelln melt-down.  It may happen but let’s be real.  I haven’t had any fear before, so why would not owning some goats change that.  I have and will always defy the crooked bastards in any industry.  I didn’t like your new president and he is making me look like I was right.  I don’t want to be right.  But, I am.

I wish we were doing a dispersal in Washington D.C.  But the only bidder would be China putting in a max bid and some online sale hosts would be doing all of the bidding to max out the bids.

Why the dispersal?

Simple.  It isn’t fun.  Tammy nor I am in a good mood while dealing with goats.  We loved the kids that showed goats.  I like the bucks.  We love the babies.  WE HATE THE FEMALE DOE GOAT!  It’s that simple.

After washing, clipping and picturing this last set of bucks, it is apparent how big an asset Duke was to the operation.  He helped break them to show.  He understands all aspects of the game.  Setting up, washing, clipping, behind the camera and setting them up.  Plus, a huge plus, he was coachable.  He could work with Helms, Gallagher, Braden Schovanec, Milligan, Bryan Kennedy and his dad.

I’ve always had great help on picture day.  All of you online buyers should come and watch the behind the scene work and efforts.  It is a LOT of work with a lot of moving pieces.  That is why I get so pissy when I get a text from some random # wanting more pics, video, can you take another pic from this angle?  RUFSM?  I hate this part of the current industry.  Call me.  I’ll be brutally honest.

I might oblige if they included their name with the text.  But, no.  It is always some low-rent tire-kicking bastard that will bid at 8 am and then is out.  If you text me, include your name.  Otherwise, go waste somebody else’s time.  Ass clowns!

Delivery.  There is NOBODY in the industry that deals with delivery of livestock better than I.  I will go the extra mile to get an animal on a trailer.  I prefer Rodney Washmon and Bob May.  Why?  One is damn good and a good friend.  The other is a friend and invented the livestock hauling industry.  But, I will gladly deal with anybody.  If an animal is going to the SouthEast, I will meet Andrew Israel or whomever.  Lippert, gladly.  Just remember, hauling is the BUYER’s responsibility.  But, I truly feel that when a breeder signs up for an online sale, they must be prepared to accommodate the hauler and the buyer within reason.

I would like to teach a goat history class.  Too many don’t know the history and don’t respect the previous efforts.  They use lines, 900 bred, 191 grandson or just the names of the breeder’s.

Time to stop.

I’ve taken my share of showers in sub-par motels.  I’ve taken splash-baths in truck stop sinks.  Splash your face, neck, behind the ears and arm pits and let’s keep on keeping on.

My brothers have always given me crap as I am not opposed to a bath.  Now don’t get me wrong, I love a good shower but there are times that a steaming hot bath is hard to beat.  You know, the water is sooo hot that it hurts to get in the water.  Yet, once submerged, it is hard to not think about “Calgon–take me away!”  Although I have never used any Calgon.  I do, however, dump some epsom salts into the water.

When I first enter a hotel room, I check out the crapper and the bathing facilities before I worry about the bed or tv.  A wicked awesome tub/shower can make or break a stay.

A decade or two ago, some friends and I made our way to Vegas.  Mikey Thompson’s wife was in charge of this trip.  And she booked the room.  OOOOOHHHHH!!  It was at the Venetian.  The room was awesome BUT the bathroom was off-the-hook.  The tub was so deep that I could sit, slightly reclined, completely comfortable yet the water was chin deep.  There was a water-proof remote for the tv.  I could sit, soak and watch Seinfeld.  Who cares about the strip when it’s this good.  The soaps and shampoos were good.

Even farther back, Duke was about 4 or 5.  We were on our way to south Louisiana.  We stopped at Shreveport for a bit of horse racing.  Binion’s had a nice room.  Duke took a look at the tub and said, “I need my goggles and swimming trunks.  That’s not a tub.  That’s a swimming pool.”  And swim he did.

I like a Hampton Inn or a Holiday Inn Select.  The tubs and showers are normally very good.  Not always but normally good.

I do not recommend the tubs/shower in a tub at the Hotel Turkey in Turkey, Tx.  They will suffice but not a 5 star event.

I want to throat punch somebody when I get in one of those hotels that uses the funky water controls.  What dang engineer designed pulling down a piece of the water spout in order to get the shower to work?  What?!  I’ve lost hours of my life trying to figure some of those things out.  I also get a bit nervous when I walk into a hotel room and there is an air purifying fan.  And if there is a turd hammer next to the toilet.  Those two tools combine to tell me that the toilet has backed up, recently, real bad.

And then there is the motel in Eldorado, TX.  I’ve stayed there several times.  But a certain trip back in 2006, is the most memorable.  I was with Jack Staats.  He needed a killer doe kid, so I hooked him up with the sisters.  We left work on a Friday evening and headed south.  Several hours down the road, the governor realized that he had forgotten his clothes bag which also contained his toiletry kit.  No worries, we’ll stop.  That didn’t happen.

We rolled into Eldorado about 2 something AM.  The front desk lady just tossed me a key. “End room.   Come in the morning and settle up.”  She then shuffled off to the back.

I unlocked and opened the door, flipped the light switch and then turned on the wall heater.  I walked into the bathroom and pulled the chain above the sink mirror.  The 40 watt bulb illuminated all that I needed to see.  I yelled out to Staats, “Dude, you’re in luck!   There is a tooth brush already here.  Slightly used.  Oh wait, there is a razor as well.”   Now, mind you, it was an old-school razor blade rusted to the sink.

I then opened the shower curtain.  “Oh snap!  You are in luck.  There are some underwear hanging from the shower head.  Look to be your size.”   Jack surveyed all of this and decided that he could go without using any of the amenities supplied by the lack of house-keeping in this place.  We did come home with a bad-ass doe kid.  Grand at Woodward District and reserve grand at OYE.

Speaking of showers, we recently had a new pump installed in our well.  Great pressure!  It will knock the buck funk right off of you.  Well, not really.   No shower can have that much power without peeling skin.

I’ve been doing my homework trying to plan dispersal sales and how to get rid of all of the semen inventory.  This is going to take a sale or three, four, more.

Have a good one!

Without a doubt, there is an easy class winner in this group of quick stop bathrooms.  One only needs to visit any of the 94 Buc-ee’s locations to understand the value of a clean restroom.  There are plenty of options to stand and relieve one’s-self in combination with a plethora of bricked chambers to sit and destroy some porcelain.  These fortresses of solitude have traffic control measures to ensure a private, yet intimate setting.  Yet, one will almost never have to wait in a line to wash up afterwards as there are numerous rows of automated sinks.  I have yet to see an employee cleaning in these pristine environments, so I’m not sure if they are human, robotic or celestial, however & whomever, they do an admirable job.

Coming in second, and it truly is a closer second than one might originally think, is the restroom at Gore’s Truck Stop north of Seiling, OK.  It is a logical second only because they have one location, not 94.  And there is no doubt that the cleaners are human as they are almost always waiting for a user to exit as they start mopping and wiping surfaces.  Excellent locale for evacuations.  I highly recommend this for a number of reasons–mainly # 1 or #2.

Falling into the third slot would be a Love’s truck stop–not a quick stop restroom.  The Love’s smaller locations can be a bit sketchy and are normally designed as an afterthought when compared to the rest of the building.  However, I do grant that there is normally some outstanding poetry written on the walls.  Yet, the truck stops have ample stations to do one’s business.  In a dire situation, I highly recommend the one on the west side of Albuquerque.    Although clean and functional, they still offer the stalls that somebody might walk in at an inopportune time.  Nobody likes to be caught with their pants down, looking like a puppy on a leash, out for it’s daily dump walk.  And there are certainly times, that a person could care less if they had a stall or just hunker down in the bar ditch.  That’s when you will love a Love’s.

And without a doubt, we will wrap this class up with the 8 point cut bottom–Allsup’s.  Hundreds of locations, yet remarkably consistent.  Upon entry, one notices the turd hammer with the broken handle.  That combined with a non-locking door knob gives you pause.  As you slide the not-in-line bolt lock that was probably found at a dollar general,  you wish that you would have just gone to the alley and hid behind the grease dumpster.  They all look and smell like somebody ate an Allsup’s burrito, chimichanga and taco sauce then rushed to destroy some porcelain or a urinal as the toilet was already plugged.  One has to prepare to wipe with the brown paper towels from the hand dispenser.  John Wayne paper, I think not. Not even John Wayne was that rough.  Actually, a user probably needs an extra pair of socks.

Kind of like that class of critters that get drug to numerous judging contests in a 3 week span, we’ve seen this class before.  Yet, it is still fun.

Been working on organizing buck, semen and doe dispersal sales.  Needed something to put me in a good mood.  Isn’t it ironic that the best AND worst restrooms are in Texas.  I’m not sure what this means.  But……

Stay tuned for hotel showers.

In the effort of trying to do this goat herd dispersal while being in a very busy time of year at my job, I told the super clipper Blaine Rue to get his donkey to the greater Fargo area.  I needed to get the Feb/March bucks clipped & photoed.  But, I also wanted to get the April & June bucks ready.  And I really needed to get all of the ag kids projects clipped and ready for the upcoming county show.

Friday night was fun.  Blaine started clipping at the ag farm.  I went home to put out hay, fill feeders, feed cows, doctor calves, fix electric fence AND deliver baby goats.   Wait.  What?  They aren’t due until Feb. 3.  Triplets but all alive.

Saturday morning was when the marathon really started.    I had the Spillman twins and Clayton Washmon lined up and ready to work.  And work they did.  The Spillman’s washed and dried.  I guarantee that these bucks have the cleanest, shiniest nut sacks.  These boys will work.  Clayton helped wash, dry and move bucks.  Blaine clipped.  I was all over the place.  Clayton and I set bucks up.  Blaine ran the camera.  One set done just after 1 pm.  Let’s do the next set.  We got them done before we lost light.  This crew worked well.  But, I will be honest.  I like having Duke around when clipping bucks.  He can wash, clip, setup, run the camera–all of it.  I’m pretty sure that he didn’t miss being here.  I’m also real sure that he is getting paid more where he is at.

Then we headed to Woodward to clip more projects.  Sunday morning found us clipping more projects.

12 yearling bucks washed, clipped and photoed in one day and 17 show projects thrown in on either end.  We used the Henry Ford assembly line technique and kept them rolling.  Unload, wash, dry, clip and on to the next one.  I can tell you that this pace of work is actually cheaper as it kept Blaine out of the beer.  And he was ready for bed when we were done.

We are all still laughing about one of the twins talking about getting brake cleaner on his wiener and how bad it burnt!

It was a marathon weekend and I am sore but I had fun. (not as sore as brake cleaner on a wiener!)  On Saturday night, I really enjoyed watching a group of 10 or 11 year old boys, from 3 different schools, sitting at a table while learning to play cards.  Banners are important but the social network that is developed from stock shows is priceless.  One of these boys was there with his great-granddad.  We’ve been friends with this stock show family for a long time.  But, seriously, how cool is great-grandad and kid starting a new goat project?  WAY cool!

See, I’m not always a negative soul.  I can see the good as well as the bad.  And obviously the good still outweighs the bad.

On another note, there are a couple of chicks in TX that need to quit wasting their time reading this stuff.  You both have good husbands that need attention.  Yes, Megan and Kelsey, I’m talking to you!  And yes, I am wearing my hat while typing this.

I’m done.  I will hopefully have buck pics up by the end of the week.  Have a good one and a better tomorrow.

and selling some stuff.

I sell stuff year round.  Goats take up more time than they should.  But when the selling is good…..it is way good.  The laws of supply and demand happen everyday.  Legally or illegally.  I’ve never sold illegal stuff but I can see why some take the risks.

I’ve written about selling lawn-mowers.  I can tell you that good livestock is easy to sell.  The last time that I interviewed for a job was in the mid 90’s and I was very successful at selling my abilities.  I was the dark horse candidate for the job at Waynoka.  I got that job and it was a good fit.

Jan. 28th is the Shattuck Ag Booster auction.  We have some good stuff to sell.  Yet, this year is different.  WAY different!  We will sell some unicorn items.  What you ask?  Well, in these days a butcher date is hard to come by.  We have two–One in March and one in June.  Okay.  What else you got?  How about the unicorn that craps rainbow turds.  We got it.  Actually, we got two of them.  Two ammo tins full of .223 ammo–500 rounds per tin.  Talk about supply & demand.  We’ve got the supply.  I learned years ago that it is hard to sell from an empty wagon.  Well, we are having to borrow an extra wagon for all this stuff.  Lots of good stuff–live auction, silent auction, games and a raffle type deal with 4 cool prizes.  Fun!

Speaking of fun.  I got home late.  Put out hay and then the Dragon Lady had a turkey pot pie ready for me.  It was wicked way good.  But it wasn’t that great big pot pie from My Mother’s in Phoenix.  I miss my annual Phoenix trip.  If KC Ferguson was to call and say, “Old Man we are meeting Isbell and heading to Phoenix for the weekend…you in?”

me–“pffft….well heck yeah!  That turkey pot pie weighs a metric eff ton.”  To confess, I just recently learned about the metric eff ton.  I had heard of a ton, a short ton, a metric ton and the term that one will step down on the scales hard.  But a metric eff ton……I think it weighs two $h!t tons which is not quite as much as an ass ton.  Which if my math serves me right, an ass load will hold a crap load.  Pretty sure this is a Waynoka measurement and must be weighed on elevator scales.  Give or take 20 pounds.

In the spirit of Chill Wills in McLintock–“People, People, People…”   That dude has to be one of the best supporting actors of all time.

The stock show world needs to pay attention to what recently happened.  Nobody,–I mean nobody, was voted into the major league baseball hall of fame this year.  Curt Schilling should have been BUT the people voting think that he was an outspoken prick.  Good thing I’m not involved in a vote.

But, BUT, what about that mlb vote?  Some of the “greatest” of all time were still eligible.  But…. BUT, they were known cheaters.  That shows that the over-hyped industry of athletics has an over-supply of cheaters and the demand is low for those that are skirting the rules.  In a similar, hyper-competitive world, all I know is that my kids NEVER tested positive at any state or national show…EVER!!  EVER!!  AND I will constantly supply that fact AND you can’t say that about others.

I’m resigned to the fact that 20 years from now, I will say the same thing.

I think that the supply of my correct opinions and your demand to read something interesting is not always healthy.

People, people, people……have a good one and a better tomorrow.

I/we have been in the business since the very first goat sold online.  I’ve seen the best and the worst of online sales.  Now, I truly think that we are somewhat back to the basics.   Do NOT bid nor buy without picking up the phone and talking to the seller.

It used to be that nobody would buy unless they saw them in person.  And then, if somebody they trusted saw them.  Then it was all about the pictures.  Then the write ups mattered.  Then nothing mattered.  Then only if a given lot fit their budget.  Then, delivery mattered most.  Now, it is a combination of all of the above.

I’ve always tried to be honest with the write-ups.  I’ve even stated before that “this one took a $10K picture and he isn’t that good.”  Ironically, the very next year, I had a damn good buck that took a $5K kind of picture.  That buck got bought sight un-seen by Troy Goretska and he named him TruthBeTold.  That one has only sired a couple of state fair winning goats….the rest of the story….those two bucks were full brothers.

My point, Troy called and I told him, this one looks like he is going to be a bargain.  Pick up the phone and ask questions.

If you are buying semen online, don’t look at the pics.  Call and ask what they work best on.  There has yet to be a perfect goat.  Call and ask what to use them on.  I’ve always tried to be honest with whatever we were selling.  I still will.  I have nothing to lose.  But if you don’t ask, I can’t answer.

Pretend it’s a prom date.  Ask.  If you don’t, well, you are going home alone and….well, there is a lot that I could write but I shan’t.

In response to the tv theme song post.  Welcome back Cotter….NO.   The All in the Family song is only cool when Archie Bunker sings it.  The song itself sucks.  Yes, I do agree that the Beverly Hillbillies was a classic. I should have given it a nice ribbon.  Also yes, now that I have heard the lyrics to MASH, I’m a little bit disconcerted.

I write stuff that I know that I will get calls from lawyers…no big deal.  Write a deal about TV theme songs and….here we go!  Calls, texts, comments at shows…… Let’s be real honest.  If you were to pick up a phone and ask me about this, I would tell you that I love it.  It’s random and it’s real.

Looking back, the theme song for MASH should have been the greatest song of all-time…..no, not happy birthday.  Yes, AMAZING GRACE!  You wanna fight me on that?     You can sing it in church–appropriate.  Sing it in an upbeat fashion, like at a wedding…appropriate.  Sing it slow & soulful, like at a funeral—appropriate.  Have the Dropkick Murphy’s play it with the bagpipes combined with the big guitars and well, I’m ready to fight, eff or shoot dice and well, I don’t have any dice.

Completely un-related to anything.  Tonight, as I got home from a show, I was sitting on my couch eating some dang good tater soup.  I top-dressed it with some cracked black pepper, some cheese and some blue & gold bacon bits.  Oh so good.  While eating, I noticed some motion in the kitchen.  Tammy’s queer little dog was in there.  Bouncing like a pogo stick.  This little canine weighs 8 lbs.  He was bouncing up and down.  His head was above the counter top…boucning trying to reach something.  Oh Snap!  It was the bacon that he was after.  I do not blame him.  I would jump for bacon.  I would also pick up the phone and call somebody to bring me bacon.  I’m stupid and I know it.

Have a good one.

I’m often asked what makes me decide to write a blog about a given deal.  Well, it’s random.  Wicked random.

Tonight, I was replying to several texts on either coast about possible judges.  I really wanted to go west to judge but cannot make the schedule work.  I love to judge a show or 3 but when there is schedule conflicts, you have to make decisions.  Is my ego of judging a show bigger than me staying at home to take care of student’s projects and goals?  I couldn’t make it work this year.  At some point, I am going to have to clear space for me to do these or I won’t get asked again.  Which would seem appropriate.

I am probably more in-tune with all 5 species–goats, cattle, hogs, sheep and chickens–than any of you reading this.  AND…..and….I have ZERO -spelled with an F– political affiliations.  Mentally, I am in a real good place.

However, one of the dudes that I recommended to judge, had recently sent a text clip that involved a wicked cool tv tune.  That got my wheels to spinning.

What is the greatest tv theme song?  Before I start this list, I will quickly declare that the shows from the 60’s,  70’s & 80’s were WAY better than the current crap.

Let’s get a few timeless deals out of the way.  First off–check out Henry Mancini’s list of cool tunes.  The Hatari movie theme–cool deal!

Hawaii Five-O, Peter Gunn & Mission Impossible–timeless instrumentals.  Rawhide is another classic.

Gilligan’s Island & the Beverly Hillbillies are timeless, well to those of us who grew up watching those shows or grew up watching the re-runs.  The current generations are oblivious to them.

Speaking of timeless, the theme song to Jeopardy will always fit a countdown. I won’t argue if you say that this is the #1.

What about the original Batman tv show?

The Addams Family theme?

How about the Flintstones?

The Brady Bunch?  Here’s a story….yeah, you old people know it.  (You probably just sang it with the words that I typed.    Haaaa!! Now, you did it just to see if it worked.)  Now, I’m scared–you can actually sing anything to that tune.

Yeah, I know.  You need some time as you reminiscine each of those.

Breather.

Now, it’s time to get serious.

WKRP is one that puts me in a good mood when I hear it.

Friends–okay–cool song that fit the show.  Not good enough to win this class.

Late at night/really early mornings, when I am flipping channels and I hear that 70’s bass line….dooonh, duh, duh, doonh…..and I know that sound means,  an episode of Barney Miller is getting ready to start.

Laverne & Shirley–“Doing it our way” yet it’s hard to forget the countdown before the song…

Time to get serious.  We’ve sifted a tough class, sorted the top end and now it is time to send 5 to the scales.

5th–They are moving on up– The Jefferson’s.  Groundbreaking show that had a song to match up.

4th–I love this one.  Of course, I am a fan of Dodge Chargers and Waylon Jennings.  The Dukes of Hazzard song helped make the show and has held up to the test of time.

Now, the trinity of TV theme songs.

3rd–it is an all-time great tv show with all time great music.  MASH.  I grew up listening to this tune and watching the show.  The final episode is one of the most watched shows of all-time.  Listen to the original lyrics of this song–it’s depressing.

2nd–This ones hurts me.  I love this song.  I loved the show.  The theme song to Cheers brings so much to this class.  Great instrumentals, excellent lyrics and it ties so well to the show, the characters, all of it….it just worked.  Tammy and I have visited the Cheers location(s) in Boston.  Great, great show with great characters….even better song.  The lyrics still fit today.  “Your husband wants to be a girl.”  Yet, it is 2nd in this class of power.

1st—Maybe not the best tv show, but so, so funny.  Yet, this song is so defining.  The tune from Sanford & Sons.  ICONIC!!  showgoats.com needs to play this song for background music for my sales.  Cool, yet low rent.  You can hear it now!

Wait….wait….I’m not the best judging coach but I have always told kids that if you’re notes are over-loaded to one or the other–re-check your placing.

We have to have a top pair switch.  Cheers beats Sanford and Son on paper, as well as the eye test.  Yes, I grant that the Sanford & Sons ditty is wicked cool, but Cheers just invokes so many more emotions.

There ain’t nothing wrong with that last second realization that I needed to make a top-pair switch and pick up that 2 point cut.  Every point counts.

I have always considered myself more of a do-it-now-kind-of-person than a ….well…. a thinker.  But, lately (since the 2016 presidential election), I have changed to a thinker.  Along with that, I have reverted back to my days of reading more.  I think that this is a positive as I find myself not wanting to immediately force-choke people. (if only this was an actual thing)

I hated clinton’s regime.  I liked GW Bush’s patriotism.  I CANNOT say a good thing about your president obama’s time in office.  (Time will prove me right on that counterfeit sack of monkey dung).  I have remained skeptical of Trump but I have liked his policies and the fact that he acted like the leader of THE United States of America.  I do, however, wish that he would stay off of twitter.

But, as I look back, then look to now, what exactly is taking place?

None of us trust the media, yet a bunch of you listen to it.

None of us trust our politicians, yet a bunch of you voted for them.  NOT ME!  I voted for losers.

I use this blog and an occasional book face post.  I don’t use any other social media.  You?  twitter, instagram, snap chat……..fear the power.

Really?  Did the capitol really get over-run?  Is there really danger for this inauguration?  I know some crazy SOBs and not one of them has mentioned a need for a problem on this deal?  Is there a threat?  Or is this more media crap?

I don’t know.  Is our current political system beyond repair?  IDK for sure. But I think that it will take a major over-haul in order to fix it.

Are stock shows beyond repair?  Hard to say. I do know that we need to get out our toolboxes and find a way to fix it.  There is too much good to come from a good stock show.  We can’t just let the jocks, dollars, politics and wrong-doings to become common-place.  We need to remember why we do what we do.

Clear the slate.  Reset.

There are plenty of you in power that read this crap.  Some even act like it is a new topic.  Podcasts dealing with “the most taboo issue in the stock show industry–politics”  BS!  You un-original bastards!  If you are going to address it–name names–get after it.  Grow some balls.  You’ve got the platform.. use it.

And the most taboo issue in the stock show industry would be the cheating that involves altering–drugs, airing, injections–u pick it.

Let’s be real!  The general public is not aware of any livestock show and they really don’t give a hairy kangaroo nut sack can/bottle opener ( I have one) about the politics of a given show.  BUT……just have a single incidence of tainting meat, altering an animal, inhumane treatment of an animal in doubt…..OH SNAP!  We will quickly feel the effects of the general public on the stock show industry.  Stock show politics are ONLY taboo amongst stock show people.

As much as we want to say that the Stock Show is a way of life, in terms of dollars and % of population involved, we are a niche market–at best.  When compared to fishing, hunting, hiking, biking, etc. ——stock show dollars don’t even register.  And the general public identifies rodeo with stock shows.  Not the same.  Well, some of the time but not most of the time.

I am looking forward to Wednesday, January 20, 2021.  Why?  Because I have the chance to do right by kids, the general public and hopefully, somebody learns something–them, me, both.  ALL!  I hope.

You don’t have to like me.  You don’t have to agree with anything that I have to say.  I just hope you think.  And then think, I want to fix it.  Come on!!

GOD bless.  And here’s to hoping that tomorrow is better than today.

I’ve done and seen some cool stuff in my time.  Caught a sailfish off the coast of Costa Rica.  Sat in the endzone seats as Barry Sanders caught the 1988 season opening kickoff and subsequently returned it over a 100 yards for a touchdown.  I was on the 12th row, on the floor, for a 1991 AC/DC concert.  Been in the John Deere factory and drove new equipment off the delivery trucks.

Friday evening we went to Luckenbach, TX.  I’ve been there before.  It has such a cool atmosphere.  The ladies bought some t-shirts.  I talked to people about my new hat.  We then meandered over to the concert hall.  It was unlocked.  We walked in, looked around and discussed the heritage of the building.  They had the stage and doorways to backstage roped off.  I was just standing there in my new hat when the backdoor opened.  A lady was carrying some musical gear.  I asked if she needed help.

She said, “I’ll gladly take any help carrying all of this stuff.

I asked, “Is it fine for me to come past this rope.”

“Come on!”    She did not have to repeat herself.

I grabbed a bag full of mics & cables with one hand and an amp with the other.  And on stage I went.  I made a couple of quick trips.  Then, hollered at the Dragon Lady to take a pic of me on stage in Luckenbach, Tx.  Standing there reminded me of Churchill Downs and Fenway Park.  You can feel the history.

I exited the other side of the stage, into the room known as Hondo’s Hilton.  This was cool.  There was a wall decorated with lots of pics of Waylon Jennings from all phases of his career.

The group was called Shannie.  There were 2 guitar players and a lady that did a lot of the singing.  They were mostly a vocal group.  Very talented.  It is amazing how many people are extremely talented but, for whatever the reason, just can’t hit the big time.

Kind of like show animals.  There are a lot of good ones but only a couple truly become great.  Nonetheless, we stayed and listened to the show.  I wore my new hat.  This was a really cool evening with good music and cool friends.

My question though, does this make me a roadie?

I needed to get away.  Tammy and I have not done anything except take care of kids, animals and our jobs for over a year.  Phoenix is normally my vacation.  Not this year.  We did something cool.  We loaded up with some friends on Thursday morning and made our way to the Hill Country of Texas.  Tom and Nancy Lamle along with the Dragon Lady and myself–no livestock, no students, no FFA stuff.  A destination in mind, yet no time table.  It was wicked fun!  And as a bonus, Kade & Jessica Lamle met up with us.

Yes, we made it to Llano for some Cooper’s BBQ.  It did not disappoint but it was not the best food that we ate.  The reuben sandwich at the Auslander in Fredericksburg ranks up there with the best.  Some smoked turkey & brisket from San Marcos BBQ was really tender and juicy.  But the andouille sausage, grilled shrimp with red beans & rice at Pappadeaux’s in San Antonio was euphoric.

Thursday evening, we watched a chick play the ukulele (try spelling that).  She was good, funny and some of her songs were a bit uncouth.  The beverages were really cold.

We went to see a Guinness world record holder.  The world’s largest convenience store–Buc-ee’s in New Braunfels.  This was a well-timed stop as I needed to unload after all of the cajun cuisine.  Without a doubt, the cleanest restrooms for a chain company is Buc-ee’s.  Cubicles built out of brick, multiple rolls of paper, spotless clean and they even have signs/lights that tell you if the stall is occupied or not.  No more looking under the door or accidentally walking in on a fellow human as they are hunkered down on the porcelain.  These toilets are built to tear that toilet up and not have to worry about the person in the next stall snickering.  And guess what?  This New Braunfels Buc-ee’s holds the title for cleanest bathroom in America.  Look it up!  And I used it.

Speaking of Buc-ee’s.  I have been to several of them before but I had never sampled one of their cookies.  On the way home today, I tried an oatmeal raisin cookie.  Oh snap!!  They are even better than the Subway oatmeal raisin cookie.

As always, Fredericksburg was a phenomenal place to just chill and have fun.  I didn’t do much goat related but I did buy a couple of items tied to a billy goat.  I also bought a really bad-ass hat!  I mean a top-shelf kind of hat.  Epic.

I did have some fun with the sales lady in a store in Fredericksburg.  I asked her if she like the spicy pickled quail eggs that they sold.

The nice lady said, “Yes, I do.  I really do…but….well…..I mean…..they just, well, kind of bloat me.”

I looked her square in the eye and said, “The farts from those things are absolutely horrible aren’t they?”

She laughed and said, “I was trying to be polite!  But yes, they are so good and yet they will smell SOOOOO bad!”   Yeah, I bought a jar.  Tammy & Nancy banned me from opening them until I was home.

And then, we got back to 3 miles south of Fargo.  And the welfare recipient beasts that we call doe goats went to bellowing as soon as they saw me.  At this point, I wanted to find an ice pick and stab myself in the crotch.  I cannot wait to be rid of doe goats.

The only down side was that Texas is all about the mask mandates.  Yet, we drove through San Antonio, Austin, Waco, Ft. Worth and in numerous other zip codes, yet, not one Biden sign.  But LOTS of Trump stuff.  Strange!?

I hope you had as good a weekend as what I did.