Strange Magic

It’s strange how having a little one makes you be a better person than you would be normally. At least that is the way it works with me. When my little guy is around I always use that (how will this affect Nolan) thought process berfore I say or do anything…at least I try to. Like this morning we were sitting on the front steps of our house waiting for his bus to show up and this guy comes walking down the street (remembering this is 8:30 in the AM) and he is drinking 40 (big can of beer). His pants were down past his ass and he looked like he hadn’t taken a bath in about 3 weeks. He finishes the last swig of beer and causally throws the can of beer down on the street. Now what I would of said and instead I thought was….” you fucking piece of shit….pull your pants up, and get back here and pick up the beer can you just tossed on the street before I stuff down your fucking throat you nasty piece of garbage……but again Nolan was sitting next to me, the strange magic took effect and what happen instead was I said nothing….but Nolan asked me why that man threw the can on the street……I said….he’s lazy Nolan….where does garbage belong….and of course he answered correctly saying …in the garbage….I told him how he smart he was…and what a good boy he was…..just about then the bus pulled up and I got him on it…and he pulled away….after the bus pulled away I went over…and as I bent over to pick up the can I said…that fucking nasty piece of shit…….but when Nolan was there….the Strange Magic was in the air….That’s it for now..another day in the…..Life on J Street…..Happy Friday.

It’s all about reducing…..

When I was running triathlons and road races in the 1980’s I kept track of what I ate, when and how I exercised etc…The ultimate goal at the time  was to reduce or at least minimize fat intake, and  along with  exercise and diet  improve your health and in turn make you better at what you do.  I think the same thing is needed when trying to reduce debt or fix anything for that matter. You need to track what you are doing, and  work on eliminating or cut down the bad things , and  then do the appropriate thing or things to increase your health in that area you are working on.

My two hot points for 2009 are reducing debt  so I will have more extra $$$,  and again like the 1980’s reducing my fat intake, eat better,  and get in better physical shape. Not that I am in terrible shape…it’s just that I am not where I want to be.   These two things are what I need to do not only in 2009, but going forward. Fiscal and physical health is my priority for 2009. My present cold has side tracked my physical activities, but I will not be stopped 2009 will be the year of reduction. On a side note I hope to continue to reduce my golf handicap as well, but that is just something I am always trying to do and I have just added it to the “year of reduction” or code name….YOR

We have done some things to try to turn the tide of debt that might seem counter productive to the other item I am trying to fix. We decided to stop the gym membership  thus eliminating $114.00 a month out of our budget, which we can put toward eliminating debt. To be honest we wern’t going that much anyway and I figured it wasn’t worth it. I went on Craigslist and got a exercise bike for $10 bucks and we have free weights….those things along with an exercise program that I put together will take care of the Physical side of the YOR…and help with the fiscal side as well by quitting the gym.

So all in all although 2009 is going to be lean fiscally for everyone….I decided I am taking the right steps to set up 2010 to be an awesome year…..at least that is the plan…..

Truck tires slashed

Last weekend I came out of my house with my 5 year old and we got in the truck to go to one of our favorite spots Home Depot. After I got Nolan in the truck and straped in I got in…started her up and started to pull away. I heard flop, flop, flop…..I said in my head…..FUCK…my tire is flat. Sure enough I got out and my right rear tire was as flat as a pancake. I brought it to be fixed or replaced and the tire guy showed me where it had been slashed. I was like….slashed. Well 135 bucks later I had a new tire…My question is why, and what piece of shit slashed my tire. My truck is parked in front of our house on Jones St in downtown Raleigh….and in the year and a half that we have been living here this is the first time we have any type of problem. Most times I don’t mind living on Jones St as we enjoy living downtown…but it’s times like this that I want to move back to the burbs….I would love to catch the guy who did that and stick that knife where the sun doesn’t shine….Oh well…that is is for now…Signed out from East J-street.

You down with J St

I had a neighbor ask me the other day if I was down with Jones st ? I think he thought I wouldn’t know what he meant….I told I liked it except for the pieces of shit who do drugs and drink all day, and I said as far as I am concerned they can tear down the 2 or 3 rooming houses…I continued that other than that I love it….. He was a little take back by my response and asked me why I was hating…..I told him I wasn’t hating I was just keeping it real…..He looked at me for a sec….and then said….I can dig that man…and moved on. I mean most of the people on our block…..but I’ll tell you some of the people down here are just scum…..I have little regard for them and no sympathy for them….I am working with some friends on the Raleigh Police Dept to put them where they belong…..behind bars, or taking a dirt nap….either would suit me to be honest. I know this might sound bitter or angry….I’m really not….It’s just now that I live down here I want to get rid of them……..The first one I am hoping will go is the drug store that is in the house upstairs accross the street. This guy is a piece of shit selling drugs out of his house….the problem is that it brings the wrong kind of people in the neighborhood. I said in my previous blog he is always nice to me, but if I can help put that POS in jail then I will be happy.

CRAAAAAAAAASH

I had just walked into the house from my normal Monday night band rehearsal and bent down to kiss my beautiful wife ….and WHAM….the unmistakable sound of two cars hitting each other. If you have ever heard that sound you know it to…..the bamm sound then the sound of glass and metal crunching. I jumped…the dog barked and then I said what the fuck was that ?? And even though I knew what it was my hope was that some drunk didn’t come flying down the road and hit my truck which is parked on the street. Then my thoughts went to the kids two doors down who play on the street all the time at all hours of the night…..I had a pit in the bottom of my stomach….and said please don’t let those sweet little children be part of this….

They weren’t thank goodness, but someone visiting that house had parked their car on the street outside their house and some loser came flying down the street at about 70 miles an hour hit that car….drove it about 30 yards down the street and in to a telephone pole……then he veered off and hit a house….it was a mess, but no one was hurt. I’m just thankful that none of those kids that are usually on the street were out there that night…..that this stupid ass clown didn’t hit my truck….and that I didn’t take the camara and get some pictures….oh welll Another night on J street….

06/02 Jones st

I sit here on my porch drinking a beer and smoking a cigar….after a long day at work and a 3 hour band rehearsal it is very relaxing to taste the cold beer and enjoy the cigar. It is a warm late spring night and even though it is a Monday night there is activity on Jones St. The house 2 doors down with 4 kids is having a party….the kids were out on a school night as late as 10:30 tonight. One of the guys who live there is yelling accorss the street to the party that is going on at the same time in the rooming house that he runs an escort service. There is about 3 or 4 houses that are on this street that are still bad news….unfortunately one of them is the house with the kids in it. Drugs are being consumed  in front of and around those kids.
The rooming house is just that a rooming house….it has it’s share of dirt bags and people down on their luck that live in a rooming house.  Most of the people who live on this block are good people are good people ….but there are a few that are some that the police need to deal with….

Speaking on problems….the red house upstairs traffic continues….he had two visitors tonight that stopped in for a short time…..

We have been here for about a year now….and all and all it has been alright….but it is definitly a different life style then living in North Raleigh.

On a side note I recently given up going to the church that I have been going to for the last 3 or 4 years. The people there are so judgmental and self centered that I have lost my belief that it is the church I should or need to be going to. The church leaders need to grow up spritualy and in general in my opinion. I will shortly be looking for another church to attend for although I don’t thing Vintage 21 is going in the right direction I still have strong belief in God  and my journey to know him.  It  just will no longer be at Vintage 21.  The leaders there are more concerned with trying to be cool and telling people who godly they are. My problem isn’t with God…..it is with the leaders of that church. They all fall into that catagory….some more that others. I won’t be judged by them….For me and V-21 ….it is done.

Well that is it from J St for tonight….Peace…..out

Summer sounds on Jones St

From Motown to Rap…you can hear all of it and more on  Jones street in Raleigh NC when the weather starts to turn warm. As spring turns to summer the peeps of Jones St hang out on their porches and play their tunes. Some nights it is blues, the next night be some 60’s motown and the sound of the supreems, some Rap but that usually comes from an occasional car passing by. Some of the Jones st sound is good…Since I am a musician myself I like to think of myself as flexible when it comes to music appreciation. Tonight you almost taste the warmth in the air, and the sound of reggae flows up and down the street on with the late spring breeze. After I read my 5 year old his bedtime stories and tuck him in….I usually eat something….after that I sit on the front porch myself and listen to the sounds and watch the walkers…(the occasional traffic on foot up and down Jones St) …..so tonight is a Reggae night mon – Peace out…

P.S. The 3 girls who live across the street that I mentioned in my last blog post have moved out. …..I fear what will move in….you just never know down here on J-St….I will remain hopeful.

G

Life on Jones St

Oh Yes I am privy to a long line of traffic going into the neighbor’s house. The red house on Jones St which is a house across the street from where we live in downtown Raleigh has tons of traffic going in and out. No one is that popular….Just recently I saw this girl that looked like a middle linebacker than anything. Not sure what it is he is actually selling but there is no doubt it is known by everybody around here with the exception of the police dept…. I am told that the people downstairs have a store of sorts too….this store is open 24 7 and if someone goes upstairs to buy and there no answer at the door they go down stairs. He even made a delivery today to our next door neighbor who is not feeling well. A young girl that I think unfortunately has just recently started.

Other action going on here on Jones st are the 3 girls that live across the street. A mother Tina and her two daughters live in the yellow house across the street. Both the daughters have two little ones as cute as can be.

More action up in the upstairs drug store……an older woman that looked like a older mother or grand mother just walked up the street and to my surprise took a hard left climbed the stairs and knocked on the door and also went into….but just came out.

Back to the girls accross the street….they seem to be good girls and have boyfriends and don’t cause too much trouble. usually sit outside their house when it is warm enough play some music and hang.

At least once a week there is police activity in this neighborhood but it is usually for domestic violence or someone who gets pulled over. I am not sure why.

So as I sit on my front porch and watch the activity I am going to blog it….hopefully things will get better on this street as time goes by. There has already been some small movement towards that end with 1 or two people moving in who are going to fix the houses up and live there vs renting it out. Until next time….that is all from  Jones  st in  downtown Raleigh.

Don’t be judging me, and don’t F-ing be scoulding me….

We have these young female leaders at our church Vintage 21 who spend most of the time in their clueless little world talking the talk of being a Christians…..what is a Christian anyway….I mean come on where all people….human beings….does calling your self a Christian somehow make you a couple levels above everyone else….it must because that is the way they act….judging this….and judging that….so in reality they are the most judgmental people I know….not a Christian trait that I remember seeing in the bible anywhere…..I mean most of the time they don’t bother me, and they stay in their own clueless little clique, blow smoke up each others ass telling each other what great people they are. But I was asked recently to fill in for something where there was a need…so I said sure….so when the time came around to actually volunteer I was sick….in bed….but I knew if I didn’t go they would have no one. So I show up a couple min’s late….So one of these young female leaders decided to show me how NOT to be a leader…..she decides she is going to scold me for not being their precisely at the time I was suppose to. Not ask me are you ok or check why I might be late…. just right in the scolding part….So I said to myself….Is this little fucking (see there is that fuck word again)  bitch scolding me…..this 20 something done nothing in her life except have mommy and daddy put her through college, and then get married is scolding me…by the time I was her age I had traveled the world…served my country…..killed other humans beings in war..and she is going scold me….I don’t think so…However so we can keep things in perspective this thing I volunteered for was standing in a parking lot as a parking attendant at Vintage 21’s evening service. So when she first started her ignorant scolding I laughed mainly because I have absolutly no respect for her…..So in the end I stepped away from being the Vintage 21 “parking guy” It’s not worth it to me to put up with people like her and the rest of the little in crowd of Vintage 21. I mean hey there are a hell of alot better things I can do than standing in a parking lot and putting up with her shit. I could be hanging out with my wife and son…..practicing my golf swing….playing my drums….the list goes on and on. So I will probably in turn say good bye to Vintage 21 also….what the hell most of the time I went there I felt like I didn’t fit in….or was pissed off about the stupid things people would do like judging or being phony and hiding behind God after doing it…..And just so we are clear….I am not walking away from God….just the idiots at Vintage 21…I will pursue God….just not there….I can’t do it anymore….I have enough stress in my life and like I said….it’s just not worth it to me to put up with it or ignorant little people like her…….There are some really good people at Vintage 21, but  most of the young leaders at Vintage have no fucking clue…..so that is that…If and when anyone from Vintage 21 reads this it might piss them off…..but I don’t give a flying fuck….and I will tell them so….Cause I put up with the fake phony cliquey little world way to long as it is….so that is that…..good night !!

Golfing at the beach bitchs…that’s right I said bitch…bitch

Wow I just got back from a weekend out in Emerald Ilse where me and 7 buddies stayed and golfed all weekend. I missed my family but I didn’t miss work, I didn’t miss church (sorry god… but you already know that cause it was in my heart) . We left Friday and played a  course  half way between  Raleigh and the beach…..Now as bad as I am at golf I used to be worse…..I just this year started breaking 100. You see anyone who knows me knows I enjoy my life the most when I am challenged, and the challenge of golf fits that part of me perfectly. I thought that trying to know God would do that for me but to be honest most of the time that just bores me (sorry again God but again you know that is in my heart)  I have always excelled at ANY sport I have tried……I could always hit a baseball a long way….had a gun for an arm (still do at 53) …..and could always hit an outside shot in hoops….and won numerous championships in Tennis..however with golf I sat and sit in the frustrating position of not doing to well which is tough for me….but challenging. I love sport, I love a challenge, so this is perfect for me. I love that I am where I am cause I have so much room to improve and there lyes the challenge. So a couple years ago I was scoring up around 12o…..frustrated as hell…..I was like come on Greg….this a ball….it’s a ball…..you never fail with a ball….never !! SHANK in to the woods……F*&*^ Son of a Bitch……drop and hitting 3….and so it went….but it is a ball….it is a challenge….it is what I have always loved…..the challenge of sport….so I worked….read…practiced….my sweet wife knows this much about me…..I love to play sports….and she accepts and  supports me in this….everyone has something that they are passionate about….for me it’s sports….not watching……I have never been a guy who can sit and watch sports on TV all weekend…an occisional game when one of my favorite teams is playing sure…..Yankees, (The Red Sox Suck) Green Bay Packers, NC State….but for me life is about the challenge…..not just sports although sports have done the most to fill that beast in me….music has also…(try taking 25 years of drumming and take it back up) talk about a challenge….I am getting off point here…..so I am now after 2 years or so down playing between 95 and 105 usually….you might say…hey Greg you have taken 20 strokes of your score…that is great…..I say no….my goal is to keep improving..the challenge..I would like to someday hit in the 80’s so the challenge is out there….but right now my struggle is to score below 100. So we will playing a different course Friday, Saturday, and Sunday….I was told by the person who organized this weekend of …Golfing, Beaching, and Beer….that Friday’s course is going to be the easiest….so I am thinking to myself …..ok….I am going to shoot in the low 90’s Friday……Wrong….I played worse than I have in a long long time….and ended up shooting 105…..GRRRRRR I was real unhappy, and as we sat on the beach with a campfire going I vowed to turn it around Saturday……the guys  were like ok Greg….have another beer…ha ha ha….Saturday comes and I am feeling the pains of not being with my wife and son….I don’t like being away from my family….anyway I focused and decided I would see them soon enough I have work to do today…the challenge..we go to breakfast and someone says….we are playing Northshore Country Club toda and this will be the toughest course of the weekend….negative thoughts start creeping into my mind and I force them out with a mouth full  of eggs …..Saturday ends with me shooting my lowest score ever a 96…..I am elated and proud of my turn ,and start thinking about how tomorrow I can do better….the challenge….the challenge……No beach tonight…we are staying in a 2 million dollar beach house and the Yankees are playing the F-ing Red Sox tonight….we will smoke cigars, drink beers,  talk, and watch the Yankees beat the Sox  (they ended up taking 2 of 3 from then in the weekend) ….Sunday is a balloon of anticipation waiting to burst like a water balloon on the sidewalk…..what is the course like…what will I score……I lipped out 8 or 9 putts and ended up shooting a 101….not terrible all and all, and just  I consider it another rung in the challenge of golf….and I shot my lowest score ever this weekend….96. It’s all good baby !!! My final week of Golf league which is 9 holes only  is coming up Thursday night and with my last two weeks in the league scoring 47 and 48  I am looking forward to the challenge of it……