I had Friday off so I can’t complain. I pretty much stayed in..and watched TV..kinda…sorta.

Saturday, I went shopping for Mother as I always do. Things are getting worse financially. I’m basically buying her groceries now. I’m a little disgusted because this shit could of been avoided, but she’s stubborn.

Then it was RJ’s birthday party. She hit 30. Wow. It was a great party. Caught up with my great friends. Hit the bars afterwards. Poor Commando had too much to drink. She got tuckered out early.

Sunday was Easter. My Father was running late so I had to put up with my Grandpa, bitching him out. Then dealing with my Mom. Ugh I needed a drink after that.

I didn’t sleep too much last night, so sorry for not much details. I drank a little too much Red Bull last night. Going to relax tonight, and just vegetate.

So I headed back to the gym today. I think the guy working the front desk looked like he saw a ghost. He said, “It’s been awhile” I go, “Yeah”  I thought I heard him telling another person he thought I died, that could of just been my imagination though.

I head to the eclipitcal machine. My goal was 30 minutes. The first 10, I was thinking I’m going to die, and wanted to stop. By the 20 minute mark I was getting into a groove, and the rest of the 30 minutes went by pretty good. When I tried to climb off the machine, my legs were jelly and I felt wobbly, but I recovered quickly, got some water and left.  This week I’m just going to concentrate on making sure my ass gets to the gym, and do 30 minutes on ecliptical. Next week I’m going to add some weights into the mix.

Most important thing though is to make sure my ass gets to the gym tomorrow morning.

Saturday, I went and spent some time with my good friend Jackass, and the German. We went to the Boat, I had a set amount I was going to lose, and I kept to that so I’m proud of myself. Even though I loss, The German bought me some lunch, so that was cool. That night I really didn’t feel like going out, but I promised Commando I would, and I am a man of my word. So I went to Sullivans for a couple, and saw my friends new cover bamd, Throttle. They we’re pretty good. So I am happy I stopped up there.

Sunday – I went to mass with my Grandfather, and I drove him to visit my Grandmother’s grave, after which we had some lunch. It was a good day spending time with my grandpa. He’s nearing 90 and these moments are truly precious because I don’t know how many more I have.

So not a wild weekend, compared to passing out at the Irish Parade, but hey it is what it is.

All I know is I hope this little funk I am in passes soon, I’m sure it will. Going out with my friends always cheers me up. I’ll create some goals, and achieve them, because that is what I do. 

Then when I went to Jim Beam, I was a little taken aback. They built a new gift shop which is huge. Let me back up a bit, last time I was there in 2005 they let us tour the distillers house which is from the 1800′s then after the tour there was a nice girl handing out samples. I was talking to her and being friendly, and she kept feeding me shots, so much so I almost got really drunk. Fast forward to 2013, the distellers house is closed to the public, and they handed me a electronic card which allowed me to go to a machine and get two shot of various brands of whiskey. Though I understand why, I think it’s horseshit.  I don’t think that’s what Bourbon Whiskey is all about.

That night I decided to go get some local flavor. I had dinner at a little place called Mammy’s Kitchen. The food…awesome, but what really knocked me back was the Peach Cobbler. Holy shit I almost had to change my panties it was so good. After that I decided to take the advice of the Cracker Barrel waitress and try out The Old Tavern. It was very nice, and had a lot of charactor. A really good band was playing, called Big Black Cadiilac. They played old time rock, some blues, and some 70′s/80′s stuff too.  I was drinking, and making friends with the bartender who was pretty cute. We did a couple shots together. With all that I was starting to feel pretty good. So the band started playing Stevie Ray Vaughn, Pride and Joy. I thought they know this, they got to know Sweet Home Chicago. So I bought the band a round of shots, and asked them to play it. They did. I went nuts started dancing, and singing along. A group of girls joined me on the dance floor. I had to drink, and bought at least 100 dollars in booze, my tab only was 28 bucks, needless to say I left a big tip. They closed at 1, so I left about 12:30,  and on the way to my car I noticed Mammy’s was still open, so I walked in. They have a little bar there, some acoustic guy was playing. I decided to have one there. I started to talk to the bartender, and after awhile we started getting deep. She told me about her problems, I replied with some of my wisdom. She looked at me, and said, “Wow, I never thought of it that way, thank you”  It feels good that maybe I helped a complete stranger, and that she might remember me long after I’m gone. She then said, “You hungry?” I said, “Does a frog have a water tight ass?”  She laughed, she went in back came back with one of thee best pulled pork sandwiches I ever had, or it could of been I was drunk and hungry. Either way it was good, and it was on the house. After that they closed, I went back to my hotel exhausted after all my adventures.

Next morning, it was time to return from whence I came. Before I started my trip home I had once more task to grab some breakfast, and thank that waitress….alas she was not working. So I returned home and when I got closer to Illinois it started to rain and get colder…I knew I was home.

Not this time, I took a trip back down to Kentucky. I went down there in 2005, and I just love the people down there, especially the pretty southern girls, but I digress and will get back to that later.

Journey Begins -

I started my journey in rainy, and cold weather. As I drove down south it stopped raining and started to warm up a bit. As I was driving down, I past countless…countless farms, until I reached a windmill farm. As far as the eye can see were these behemoth windmills, that were spinning in the wind. It was very surreal, and a little disconcerting driving with these moving blades. It’s up there though as one of the cool things I’ve seen in my life. Other then that the trip was uneventful, I listened to music. XM radio was best investment ever, as I drank Monster Rehab Orange. So no danger of falling asleep at the wheel.  I took a dinner break at an Arbys in Kentucky, and their fish sandwiches were pretty good. Hey it’s Lent I had to be a good Catholic boy. In Arby’s there was some Amish chicks, ugly as sin, but I was still ever so tempted to say something, but I resisted. At the end of my journey, I got a little lost. One thing I noticed is in Kentucky, it’s really dark at night, probably because there is no light pollution. When I got to my hotel, it was an ok room, clean, and the bed was sleepable in. I really didn’t do anything first night I was there except I did go to Walmart to get something to snack on, and drink. I was pretty tuckered out so I went to bed.

The Reason I Went -

So I got up about 8:30am, I shitted, showered, and shaved….crap no deorderant. Well I got to get breakfast too, so might  as well stop at Walmart and get some deorderant. It was 70′s and sunny, a perfect day to travel around and sightsee.  When I came out of Walmart, I saw a Cracker Barrel. SCORE! I love that place. So I went there. I got my table. I hear a lovely southern accented voice, “Can I get you something to drink?”  As I looked up and saw the most prettiest waittress I ever saw, I forgot what I wanted…hell I forgot who I was. Few seconds later I regain my cool. So I ordered, and after I ate I worked up some nerve to ask her what’s a good bar in town. She goes the Old Tavern is pretty happening. I asked if she’s gonna be up there, she replied, “I just might”

So I head to Maker’s Mark Distillery  Not really too much has changed, but when I get there they give me a name badge, and a piece of parchment stating that I was an Ambassador, and that they were happy I was there. I go through the tour, and they allow us to taste their new whiskey. Maker’s 46, thus named because it’s the 46 recipe that they liked, and Maker’s clear which is their uncut whiskey…think moonshine. The Clear almost tasted like Tequila, while the 46 was much smoother. Last time I was down there Maker’s Mark was in a dry county and couldn’t give out taste tests. So this was an awesome treat. Then they gave me bottles from my barrel. Let me explain, back in 2005, I put my name on a barrel. When the whiskey is ready, Maker’s Mark tells you and you can go down to the distillery and get bottles from your barrel. So they gave me my bottles, I had to label it myself and it says made for my name is on the bottle. I then had to dip it in the wax myself. Which was pretty cool. I had to pay for the whiskey, but 35 bucks a bottle about, little less. To have your name put on the bottle worth the 8 years I waited. These bottles are going to wait until a very…very special occasion.

I left Maker’s Mark thinking I hope I can make it down again….but the day isn’t over…but you’re going to have to wait until my next post to listen to the rest of my trip..

Then I thought I’ll never get ahead if I don’t adopt a more go get them attitude. I should stop begging for scraps at the table, like a dog. So I started my own website, www.rivztech.com and got some business cards coming. I’m really going to make an attempt at this. If I fail, at least I attempted to do something. Who knows i might even be a success.

Of course the rest of the interview was cancelled, and I was kind of in a dreamlike state when I went home. The footage, the aftermath, the stories. All had a surreal effect to them, but a very heartwarming side to it. To see Americans banding together for a cause, no matter who you are, or were that didn’t matter at the time. We were Americans.

The sad thing now is that feeling is lost, we are each others throats over this election, everyone has their own agenda. It’s sad that it takes a tragedy of that magnitude to realize we are one nation, under god.

September 11th, Never Forget…who we are, what we are, where we came from, and where we need to be. God Bless America.

 When I heard she went on dates, when we were broken up for a short time, then most recently one of my friends saw her out in public all lovey dovey with a guy. Even though I told my friend I didn’t care, I guess it was the final knock out I needed to realize that if I’m easily replaced then maybe I didn’t mean as much to her, as I did . I mean if you loved someone alot don’t you need a little time to heal, and not jump right back into the saddle.

Maybe it’s just me, perhaps I was just a diluted fool. The japanese say you fall down 7 times, you get up 8 times. It’s one thing us Cavelles are good at it’s surviving, so I’ll pick myself up once more, dust myself up, and live my life.

It started yesterday, there I was  at my favorite bar, with my favorite friends in the whole world, watching my favorite football team, beat up a team I hate, at the end I had pretty girls dancing with me, and I was having tons of fun, and sharing tons of laughs. 

Life is good.