Tour Bus Tour

Well we got on our bus today. It is a little older than we expected… a little worn out… a little out-dated… but it is certainly better than touring in a van. We’ve got wireless internet, satellite tv, a toilet (only number 1 in there), bunks, and even… (drum roll)… a VCR!!! Nice. I put together a little video so you can all see my home for the next 6 weeks.

I hope you enjoyed that. The other guy (besides Lem) in the video is Austen, the drummer. Yes, he’s single. Anyway, I am currently sitting in our green room listening to the thundering low end of Creed’s kick drum. I watched their first two songs, and man was it hot! I mean that literally. They have lots of pyrotechnics. I hear they even set a Guinness World Record for most pyro on a music tour. That should be some incentive for you west-coasters to fly out to a show and see us!

So our first show has come and gone, and it was a rough one. I played like garbage (not the band), and our monitors were… not even there. Because we are the first of the three bands to go on, we get the last sound check… if there’s time. Needless to say, we didn’t get to do a proper sound check, so they were really screwed up. Apparently that wasn’t needless to say, considering I said it. But yes, it was a bumpy set. I suppose it can only get better from here.

The other band that played tonight was Skillet, who I have crossed paths with several times with another band I used to play in. It’s kind of fun seeing them again.

So that’s it. Another blog. That is 2 in 2 days. Watch out.

Air Error

Most of my previous blogs have been about something, but this one is more of an update blog. First I must confess that I made an egregious error this morning: I wore a hooded sweatshirt for my flight. If you read the blog that preceded the previous, you will know what I’m talking about. Don’t worry though. I have my pillow, and once my airline coffee and cran-apple juice goes through me, I can see about relieving some pimple pressure.

As I sit in my airplane seat, I am left with a tough decision: watch a Miley Cyrus movie, or write a blog. The sentences to follow should be a good indicator as to which option I chose. As I sit on this plane for the next 4.5 hours, I am left to my thoughts and some music. Before the approved electronics could be turned on, many thoughts were whirling through my mind. Thoughts like: I haven’t had hot tea in a long time; my eyes feel dry; I wonder if my eyes feel dry because of the airplane air or because I only got about 3.5 hours of sleep last night; I’m going to miss my wife; my wife is amazing; my family is awesome; I wonder if I packed everything; yep, I packed everything; I’m tired; I wonder if people are reading this over my shoulder; etc…

The main thoughts though are about my family (but now I’m thinking about how the words “thoughts” and “though” look next to each other in a sentence). My family was a huge help and blessing to me over the weekend. I was only home for 3 days, but much was accomplished. A shed was built in my back yard making it possible to park both cars in the garage. That kind of thing becomes exciting when you get to be my age. All in nick-o-time too.

For those of you that actually follow my blog—and I use the term “follow” loosely—you are probably already aware that I am about to embark on the largest-scale tour that I’ve ever done; a tour that I had no idea I would be doing a month ago. I was out mowing the lawn at the end of June when I received a text message from one Daley Hake, and he had a proposition for me: to play guitar on a tour coming up in a few weeks. It seemed like a stretch, but everything fell into place and here I am on a plane, on my way to meet up with the band in Virginia. Pretty wild. I feel it is necessary to point something out here: swinging a hammer at a nail while gripping it with your fingers is not the best idea under the sun when you are leaving the next day to play guitar on tour. I managed to only strike my digits a few times and I came out virtually unscathed.

My intent with this blog for this season is to keep you guys updated on the tour happenings as best I can. I even borrowed Jordan’s flip camera to better document said tour. I realized that I did a horrible job documenting all my travels before, so hopefully I will do better this time around. Feel free to call or text me to let me know it’s been too long since the last update, but I think I’ll do okay since our bus will have wireless internet.

The hardest part about this tour will undoubtedly be the time spent away from Amber. Luckily she will come out on the road with us for about a week, but that isn’t enough time for two people that still love each other after all these years. J Feel free to have her over for dinner sometime while I’m gone. I know you all will take good care of her in my absence.

To close this blog down, I would like to give a list of thank yous for our little party yesterday. This part could be pretty boring, so I suggest you either stop reading now or you imagine that I just received an award of some kind and this is my acceptance speech.

Thank you to:

-Dad for all your hours helping me build the shed.

-Mom for helping a bit with the shed, but mostly mowing, edging, weed-eating, and weeding our yard. Also for the potato salad.

-Tim for helping hold the shed door in place while I drilled it in.

-Brad for doing the same as Tim, as well as being the photojournalist for the day.

-Allan for your hours put into the shed as well, and for staying after most everyone else left so you could move stuff from the garage to the shed.

-Dash for pounding a few nails and for carrying a few pieces of wood. Also for giving me a big hug and telling me you love me even with a mouth full of peanut butter cracker.

-Andy for bringing Dash, especially since he helped more than you. Just kidding. Thanks for manning the grill as well.

-Kaeden for head butting me with your football helmet.

-Tiffanie for the watermelon.

-Nick for your wife bringing watermelon.

-Grandma and Grandpa for the beans and anything else you brought.

-Sheri for bringing the drinks and the workers.

-Jordan for stopping by long enough to drink one of my Snapple Peach Iced Teas.

-Josh for giving me the latest on the Blazers.

-Becky for making time in your busy schedule to come to our barbeque/work party.

I think I got everybody. If not, I’m sure I’ll hear about it eventually. For those of you that weren’t there, it sounds like a party you wish you were at, doesn’t it?

Quick recommendation for those of you who like ambient music: get the soundtrack from The Book of Eli.

L.A. Story

Yesterday I was in downtown L.A. having coffee on a little patio in front of a Starbucks with Daley Hake and a photographer friend of his. As we sipped, I noticed a homeless man walking around (at least he seemed to be homeless). He had on a homemade black garbage sack jacket with the hood pulled up over his head; it was 90+ degrees out. He was walking very slowly, and he was coming our way. As he approached us, he stopped and asked in a small, humble voice if we would do him a favor and buy him a coffee if he gave us two bucks. I said sure, asked if he wanted iced or hot coffee, and went inside to get it. He wanted hot coffee, of course. As I waited, I began to wonder, “If he has the money, why doesn’t he come in and get it himself?”

After getting him a grande coffee, I walked back outside to see him standing there with his right hand reaching towards me. He was not, however, reaching for the coffee. In his hand were two one-dollar bills. I in no way could have taken money from a homeless man and felt good about myself, so I told him to keep it. He said in that same small voice, “I appreciate your kindness,” and walked away.

In many cases, I don’t like to give homeless people money. I’m usually pessimistic about what they will use it for. In fact, when Amber and I were in Victoria on our first anniversary, we passed a man sitting on the sidewalk who asked if we had any spare change. I hit my jeans pocket and the change in there jingled around, so I reached inside. As I did so, the man said, “I’m gonna be honest: I’m just gonna buy booze with it.” I took my empty hand out of my pocket, turned around, and walked away. He yelled, “Hey! At least I was honest!” to which I replied, “And I appreciate it.”

The man on the L.A. sidewalk was different though. Maybe it was his voice. Maybe it was his slow movements. Maybe it was his humble demeanor. He wasn’t pushy and didn’t act like he deserved it. He was my kind of homeless man. He was a humble, resourceful, coffee-drinking man who kept his word.

*Side note: since this man was homeless, can his garbage sack jacket really be homemade?

Plane Travel Unravelled Plainly

Airplane travel can often be unpleasant. The security checkpoints, the stale plane air, the crying child that always happens to be a row or two away, and many other things can contribute to the negative flight experience. Because I have been to my fair share of airports and flown many times, I feel I have at least a little bit of wisdom to share with you to make your travel more enjoyable.

The first tidbit of information I want to share with you is about your shoe choice. You will want to choose a loose fitting, preferably laceless pair for two reasons:

-First, the TSA requires you to remove your shoes at the security checkpoint, and this makes removal much quicker and easier.

-Second, as you fly, your feet will swell up causing a normal shoe to be tight and uncomfortable. You may consider even wearing slippers. I’ve done it. I also take my rings off during flight because my fingers also swell.

Another obvious tip is to bring your own headphones and media player. There is always a screaming child nearby, and this will certainly help. Even if you don’t have a media player, bring headphones or even earplugs. Many planes have headphone jacks for you to listen to something.

The next thing was taught to me by my brother Andy, who was taught by his college basketball coach. It may gross you out a bit, but you may find that it is a very convenient truth. An airplane is a perfect place to pop zits. That pressurized cabin really brings them to the surface, so if you have a big one the day of the flight, chances are that it is going to blow during flight. Just go into the bathroom and start squeezing. Be sure to wipe off the mirror when you are done.

This blog is starting to get boring (“Starting?” you are thinking) (Yes, I know your thoughts). I’ll just blow through these last things so you can get on with your internet-ing. Wear something warm, but don’t wear anything with a hood. Hoods come between your neck and the seat, and when you sit in a seat anywhere from 2-12 hours in a row, this will be uncomfortable. If you are too warm, then take a layer off, but plane cabins are often chilly.

Always fly with a pillow. Even if I have two carry-ons, they never tell me that I can’t have my third item. Pillows make the world better, so why would you not think to take it flying? It makes it more comfortable. Have you seen the airplane pillows? They are tiny!

Lastly, always get either Ginger Ale or Cran-Apple Juice. Ok, this isn’t that important; it is just what I always get. It’s kind of a tradition. Maybe you would like to join in my tradition?

Sorry this blog read more like an instructions manual than anything else. Nobody reads those for pleasure. The next one will be better… I promise…

Canals, Cars, Cargo, and Coincidences…

There has been a lot happening in our world lately, but I don’t have time to go into all that just yet. Instead, enjoy a short story from my morning…

Today I drove down to Portland to see an Audiologist. She injected silicon into my ears (weird experience) to make an impression of my canals, which I shipped to JH Audio in Florida. That company will, in turn, create a molded set of in-ear monitors for me. I had to ship the impressions 2^nd Day Air in order for them to get there by Monday.

There is your back-story.

As I was driving down to my appointment, I was on I-5 just coming in to Portland, so it was pretty slow going with all the traffic. It didn’t seem like the time for rush hour, so I postulated that there might be an accident ahead. No big deal; I left with plenty of time to get to my appointment. Contemplating the day before me, I began to consider my options of either FedEx or UPS for my shipping needs. I started imagining scenarios where the carrier’s shipping truck gets in a wreck and all of its cargo is thrown all over the highway, which would undoubtedly delay my package from arriving on Monday. Literally as I was mulling over this scenario and which mail carrier would be more reliable, I heard a loud crash. Looking in my rearview mirror, I was shocked to see a lady in a maroon Volvo involved in an accident with none other than… a FedEx truck. Now, we were in traffic so we were only going about 20-30 mph, so it was merely a fender bender. No injuries, and no strewn packages. I imagine the FedEx packages were delayed at least an hour from that simple automobile navigation error though.

Needless to say, I decided to use UPS. Was it a sign? Maybe. Was it a coincidence? Maybe. Interesting.

Side note: there was an accident that was slowing down the traffic, as I had hypothesized. Oddly enough, one of the vehicles involved was another Volvo. Good thing they are the safest cars on the planet, because it appears that bad drivers drive them.

Other side note: why is it called “Shipping” when the cargo is transported in planes or trucks? The next question that begs to be asked is “Why is it called ‘CARgo?’”