The Art of It

TIME'S UP IS OUT NOW!

2011-04-16T14:50:00.000-04:00

I know it's been a LONG while in the making. But we finally finished it and it is available. It's been a learning process and one I had no idea would take as long as it did. I hope you all will buy it early and often. Remember Christmas is just right around the corner!! Just click on the LULU button below to get your copy today!! Thanks you and God Bless!! Art

HOW BIG IS A TRILLION?

2011-03-01T00:19:00.000-05:00

I find it absolutely insulting to my intelligence the government pretending that the proposed cut in spending of 62 billion dollars, which has not been approved in the senate, is anywhere near what is needed to stop this car from going over the cliff. The DEFICIT for this year alone is 1.60 trillion dollars give or take a few billion. 62 billion is less than 4% of the deficit! Am I missing something here? A 4% cut in spending is nothing! Why aren’t they proposing cuts of 20 or 30%, which would be like 320 to 480 billion dollars. And if we are really serious, why not balance the budget and cut the ENTIRE deficit of 1.6 TRILLION dollars?

All of which led me to asking how BIG is a trillion anyways. I would venture to say most people have no idea how BIG a number a trillion really is. I know I didn’t until I did the math. In terms of seconds, there are 86,400 seconds in a day. A million seconds ago was about 11.5 days ago. I know no big deal 11 days. A billion seconds ago is 31.7 years. Ok I know that’s not exactly earth shattering as most of us are older than 31 years. So we go from 11 days to 31 years in comparing a million to a billion. Anybody want to guess how long ago is a TRILLION seconds? 300 years, 700 years? Would you believe a TRILLION seconds is 31,688 years ago? Yes you read that right. A billion to a trillion is the same as going from 31 years to 31,000 years. So a ONE-year deficit of 1.6 trillion is about 50,700 years ago in seconds. We are ludicrous to think 62 billion dollars in budget cuts comes anywhere near to solving our problem of government spending.

God Bless,

Art

HARLEY DAISY

2010-12-31T09:31:00.000-05:00

About a month ago a good friend asked if I wanted another dog. Reagan you recall did not make the cut for the "Into the Wild" adventure last year. He did find a great home with plenty of land to run around on. I have to admit that I was pretty hesitant about responding. I mean Reagan pretty much scarred me for life when it comes to 4 legged creatures. I have already raised 3 kids who despite my efforts to the contrary have turned out pretty good. I certainly don't need another one at 53 to screw up. As a matter of fact I waited about a week before even telling Matt about this opportunity. My friend really sealed the deal when she offered for us just to be "foster" parents for a month until she could get her placed. I discussed it over with Matt and WE both agreed, I mean I'm pretty sure WE both agreed, that this would be his dog.

Well the next day, Harley Daisy as she is affectionately known as, showed up at house (also known as The Pound, which is another story). Harley is five years old and is an English Bulldog. I must say she is the exact opposite of Reagan. Her idea of fetch is "I'll do it two times and I'm done." She has a 30 second burst of energy each night and then its lights out for the next 23 1/2 hours. And she is housebroken and doesn't have the energy to eat a thing except food. So the next time you are at the pound, you will see a live statute on the couch! You are required to pet her, just to make sure she is still alive! You all have a Happy New Year! God Bless, Art

DR. KING

2010-12-17T21:31:00.000-05:00

Recently my life has been blessed with Dr. King. Meeting him and spending time with him has been a God thing. Dr. King runs a ministry in York County called Christians to Feed the Hungry. Some things you might like to know about Dr. King is he is 69 and has been feeding the poor for 38 years. His title of Dr. is genuine; it wasn’t a mail order thing or the back of a matchbook from Kumbaya University. This guy has a PHD Ivy League education from Columbia University. He was the original CSI before there was CSI. He was the York County coroner and head of the York County Substance Abuse organization when God told him to feed the poor. He usually works 20-hour days that start at 1.00 AM searching for homeless people in the overpasses of York County. Through his alliance of about 35 churches he serves nearly 6,000 meals a day every day, without one penny from any Federal, State or Local government program. His ministry was recognized this year as the most efficient charity in the state with 100% of donations going to the poor. Yeah that’s right, no overhead, no administration, and no salaries.

I have had the pleasure to spend several days over the past two weeks with Dr. King. I have been blessed to hand out coats, blankets, food and collect toys for the poor. I have seen places in Rock Hill that I didn’t know existed. I have met people who don’t even qualify to be called poor. They don’t exist except in Dr. King’s world. I have been blessed to meet other churches and pastors in this area who define the word giving. I have experienced one man’s incredible faith and belief in the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not, as though they were.

Prior to starting my journey with Dr. King, Manning Kimble owner of WHRI and my conduit to the good Doctor had three pieces of advice for me. 1). After spending a day with Dr. King you will want to sell everything you own and give it to the poor. 2). Do not judge the people you meet and 3). Be prepared to experience miracle after miracle. All of that has turned out to be excellent advice.

Jesus addressed this exact situation in Matthew 25. Below is what he said:

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’

37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. 42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’

44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’

45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’

So the question for us this Christmas Season is which side of the King will we be standing on? The right or the left? I know for certain one man who will be on his right side.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!
God Bless, Art

COST OF DISCIPLESHIP

2010-12-06T12:41:00.000-05:00

I brought my Kindle with me on the Into the Wild adventure this year. I figured I would get some light reading in during our trip. I shopped the Kindle store for something easy or fun to read. I downloaded a couple of dumb novels that wouldn’t challenge me too much intellectually, if you know what I mean. About halfway through the second novel, God asked me why I was putting that trash in my mind and why not read something good.

I went back to the Kindle store and browsed the religion section. My eyes immediately fell on a book titled, “RADICAL, taking back your faith from the American Dream.” It was by a guy named David Platt. I never heard of him, but liked the title, so I downloaded it. It amazes me how just the little thoughts or ideas that God puts in your mind end up transforming your life forever. This book grabbed me from the very first paragraph and has made me challenge everything in my life.

This book makes you think about the American Dream (go to college, get a job, wife, family, 401k plan and health insurance and go to church on Sundays) compared to the cost of following Jesus. When Jesus talked about the “rich” I always knew those passages were referring to Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Donald Trump and Oprah Winfrey. Now those people are rich. Me? I’m just trying to keep my head above water. But WE are all RICH who live in America compared to the rest of world. I don’t care if you are on welfare or food stamps; you are still rich by the standards of the rest of the world. All Americans were born with a silver spoon in their mouth and most of us don’t even realize it, including me. It became crystal clear to me the “rich” man Jesus was referring to was ME.

How many of us today would really follow Jesus if he told us to sell EVERYTHING and give it to the poor? Who would follow Him if He said, “Quit your job, your wife, your family and follow me?” Who would follow him if He said, “you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.” I’ve worked my whole life for this “stuff”! Quit my job in this economy? Lose my life for You? What are you nuts or something? But that’s exactly what the cost of discipleship is all about.

This book made me focus on having a radical relationship with God. I had to ask God to show me all the “things” or “stuff” in my life that I had put in front of Him. The “things” I had put my security in, instead of Him. I wasn’t real thrilled with all the “things” he showed me. After 50 some years I had accumulated a lot of “stuff”. But in the words of Paul, all this stuff is worthless compared to the greatness of knowing Christ Jesus. So if the world calls me crazy or stupid, just know I am just trying to walk out this radical relationship with God. I wish you all a Merry Christmas,

God Bless, Art

THE PRIZE

2010-11-04T10:46:00.000-04:00

As a child I always loved getting a box of crackerjacks. They always came with a small cheap prize in every box. It was like getting two things for the price of one. We would rip open the box and immediately find the prize before ever eating the first popcorn. I remember some of the prizes were actually pretty cool and some, well, were just thrown away.

Then the fledgling fast food industry got in on the act and started offering free items. Buy one get one free or get a free coke on your fifth order, etc. Then the bigger they got the prizes started to increase and if you “won” a game you’d win a vacation or car. And as they got really big the jackpot winner received “security for life” by winning some huge amount of money.

Then governments got in on the action when they saw how “prize” oriented the masses had become. They called it a lottery with the net proceeds (after all good expenses were paid) going to some noble cause, usually education. For a dollar you had a tiny chance to win millions and “security for life”. Some people never played knowing there was no chance to win. Some people fell in love with the idea and played daily. Soon it was costing them everything they earned. And others just played once in awhile when the jackpot was humongous. Then once a month or so the lottery winner would be trotted out bearing a check with millions of dollars written on it, just to keep people motivated to continue playing.

Now can you imagine a prize more valuable than winning a lottery? A prize so awesome your mind cannot comprehend its value? How about a prize that never loses its value? A prize that pays off ALL your debts forever? A prize so wonderful the winner receives “security for eternity”? A prize that removes all doubts, fears and concerns of this world and replaces it with joy, a peace that passes all understanding and unconditional love. Now how cool is this, the odds of winning this prize are not 1 in 245,897,652 but 1 in 1. And do you know the best part of this prize? The cost of this prize has already been paid!

If we truly understood the unbelievable value and richness of this prize, this treasure, this indescribable gift, would we not all want it? Of course we would, I hope. The prize I’m talking about which you all know by now, is simply eternal life in heaven with Jesus Christ our Savior.

As long as I am consciously pressing toward the mark of the PRIZE of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus as called for in Philippians 3:14, “things” in this world have little value. But as soon as my focus is on earthly things, which happens more often than I care to admit, I become consumed with the concerns, fears and worries this world has to offer. So when that happens I have to remind myself that I’m an eternal spirit whose earthly body is here for just a vapor of time. I just need to press on toward the mark of the PRIZE.

God Bless, Art

Chapter 1 (maybe)

2010-09-23T14:23:00.000-04:00

My name is Art Townsend. I was born in Mansfield, Ohio on August 27, 1957. I died June 11, 2009 in Rock Hill, S.C. This is the story of God’s amazing Grace in my life. I am just an ordinary man with some extraordinary experiences. I have always liked the quote from Richard Bach, “Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: If your alive, it isn’t.” So since I’m alive, even though I was dead, my mission is not complete. And if you are reading this, your mission isn’t complete either.

Heart disease has been in my life since I was twelve years old. It was the summer prior to entering “junior high” and I was naturally playing baseball and my father was in about the 4^th year of being our coach. I always enjoyed baseball but not as much as my old man. We ate, drank and slept baseball throughout most of the year. Well it was the first game of the season and I was the starting pitcher. I liked pitching if I had my “control”, which didn’t happen too often. That day control was nowhere to be found. I hit the first 3 batters with fastballs, threw an easy groundball over the first basemen’s head and walked the next two. After which my father proceeded to have the first of many heart attacks over the next several years. The good thing about all of it, was I thankfully got to leave the game and follow my father to the hospital. But I digress; let me start at the beginning.

I am the youngest of three children. My parents were Leo and Anne Townsend. I have two older sisters, Beth and Pat. I grew up in a great midwestern neighborhood where everybody knew everybody else in the neighborhood. There was really no knocking on doors and waiting for someone to answer the door. Usually you just knocked and let yourself in. It was a time of black and white TV with only three channels, telephone party lines and no bicycle helmets. Being the youngest of three children and the only boy, I was only slightly spoiled rotten (okay maybe it should be very spoiled), very argumentative and sometimes a little cocky. I remember my Mom telling me in the second grade she hoped I’d be an attorney. I asked her “why”? She said because I enjoyed arguing so much with others. I immediately replied, “No I don’t!” Thus starting another argument.

I spent most of my time playing whatever sport was in season. In the fall we played football, in the winter basketball and in the spring baseball. As an athlete talent and size were never on my side so I had to rely on discipline and determination. My motivation always started out with a bet. “I bet you can’t do ________.” Fill in the blank and it was on. Our teams were mediocre most of the time and a winning season came around every now and then.

I got in the usual mischief growing up that most times started with my mouth. I would have to say I’ve been pretty much a smart aleck my whole life. As the son of a marine sergeant, discipline was always prevalent in our house. We were Lutherans and for 17 years we went to church every Sunday come rain, snow, sleet or hail. And if you were sick, that didn’t get you a pass either. From my perspective as a kid it was pretty much a dead church, maybe the adults felt differently. It really was a social event for us kids.

Well anyways, one Sunday my mouth got me in a whole lot of trouble. I think I was about 12 or 13, proceeding to the height of my smart aleck ways. My mother was on the far inside of the pew. I was sitting next to her and my two sisters were next to me and my father was on the outside. My mother said something that to this day I can’t remember, but my first thought was, “Oh shut up”. Now that thought turned to action, an action a wiser person would have never followed up on. I proceeded to tell her to “shut up” but I swear I stopped at “shut”. Nevertheless, she heard what I was thinking and it was on. She proceeded to grab a communion card and start writing. I was earnestly wondering what in the world she could be writing. She finished and handed me the card and sternly said “Pass this to your father.” I turned the card over and read, “Leo, YOUR son just told me to shut up. What are you going to do about it?” I passed the card to my sister who read it and began to snicker. She passed it on to my other sister who read it and snickered. She handed it to my father.

I immediately felt this hand around my neck tighter than a vise grip. To this day I believe it was the beginning of the stretch armstrong doll. I felt my body rise out of the pew against my will and I was praying this was a spiritual experience and not something manifesting in the physical world. Unfortunately for me, it was the latter and what should have been the Holy Spirit, was actually the anger of one very upset marine father. As I proceeded to leave the pew, against my own free will I might add, and hauled down the aisle in front of the whole church, my mind raced with thoughts as to what my punishment might be for this slight slip of the tongue. Where are social services at when you really need them?

When we got to the car, I looked at my Dad’s face and saw it turning shades of red that I never knew existed. On the drive home my father gave me a history lesson on my birth and how the woman I just told to shut up, nearly died that day. I tried to correct my Dad (imagine that one) that it was just shut and not shut up. I almost got out of the way of the hand flying my way. As we were finishing our basement into a “rec room”, our garage was filled with an assortment of lumber. My Dad told me when we got home I was to go to the garage and pick out a piece of lumber that would be his new favorite paddle. Unfortunately he added a warning that if the piece of lumber was not large enough, he would pick the next piece out.

Well things weren’t all bad; at least this bought me sometime to come up with plan b. As I picked up 2 x4’s and rejected them all, and scrounged around for something small like a 1 x 2 which I knew my dad would reject, I formulated a foolproof plan. I figured the sooner I started crying, the sooner he would stop hitting me. God, I’m such a genius. So I made up my mind I would just start balling with the first wack. Brilliant idea. I spent the next 30 minutes trying to find the perfect piece of wood. Actually I was praying it would break after the first or second hit.

I think you know how this ends. Plan B failed miserably and my rear end got lit up like a Christmas tree. Needless to say I never thought or said shut up to my mother again.

Back in the late 60’s and early 70’s there was not much technology for heart disease. They pretty much just gave you some morphine for the pain and maybe some nitroglycerin and hoped you made it. Back then the first 48 hours was the most critical. Children were not allowed on the hospital floors and had to wait in the waiting area or hang out in the coffee shop. If you were allowed up on the floor it usually was not a good sign.

Things were grim with my father after a couple of days and each one of us kids were called into his room individually for I guess what was supposed to be our last goodbyes. Being the youngest I was the last one in and I watched each of my sisters come out with tears in their eyes. My father was my hero, he was bigger than life to me, but as I walked into his room he seemed much more human. The only part of the conversation that I remember was he told me, “Art, whatever you do in this life, do it the best you can. Otherwise, it is not worth doing.” That is great advice when you are doing something good, unfortunately I also followed it when I was doing bad things. I left his room with a feeling it wasn’t over yet and it wasn’t his time quite yet.

Over the next several years my father continued to suffer several more heart attacks and strokes. I grew up looking for the car behind every ambulance siren I heard to see if I recognized my mother, grandfather or sisters following my dad to the hospital. My mother was an RN and became the breadwinner of the family as my father eventually ended up on the disability list. I think it was a role that took its toll on my mother and added more stress in her life than she could handle.

We went from an average middle class family to a struggling one-income family. My sisters eventually joined the work force and contributed to the family budget. I never really noticed that things were tight. As long as there was bologna (and ketchup) in the refrigerator and I could play sports my world was fine. I finally started to notice a couple years later when converse “Chuck Taylor’s” became popular along with Levi jeans and I had neither. My parents had a Sears’s credit card and if Sears didn’t carry it, we didn’t get it.

My family’s financial condition became on of the biggest humiliations in my life in the 8^th grade. Every Christmas the student council of our junior high would select a “needy” family in the area and have a food drive for them. One night the captain of our basketball team who was also the student body president and one of my closest friends knocked on our door. I was upstairs and heard my father welcome Steve in and heard several boxes of food being deposited on the kitchen table. Steve told my dad that our family had been selected as the needy family that year. My dad yelled several times for me to come down and say hi to Steve. I was so embarrassed and humiliated I refused to come downstairs. How could we be needy? We lived in a great middle class neighborhood. My mom and sisters all had jobs and there was always bologna in the refrigerator? Surely there was a more needy family in our town. The rest of my family seemed genuinely gracious for the food while I hid in my room from shame and embarrassment.

I’ve always had a problem with authority, whether it came from God, my parents, my sisters, my teachers etc. There was just something about being told what to do that grated on me. If someone said don’t do it, I wanted to do it. If someone told me to do something, I either didn’t do it, or did it unwillingly. Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Well that’s exactly where mine usually led.

One time we were having a picnic at one of those famous roadside parks in Ohio with a grill, picnic tables, trees and gravel parking lot. While dad was grilling the burgers, I decided to start throwing stones into the nearest tree. After a few minutes my mother told me stop throwing stones before I put somebody’s eye out. I looked straight at her and said, “Ok just one more.” Now the tree I was throwing at was directly in front of me and my mother was nowhere near it, the best I recall. I didn’t know at the time that the last stone I would pick up just happened to be the exact same stone that David used to slew Goliath.

I reached down and grabbed that stone and threw it has high and as hard as I could at the tree. I mean I wanted to knock that tree down. To this day I have no earthly explanation how that stone ended up right below my mother’s eye. I stood there in shock and disbelief as the blood shot out of my mother’s face. Upon hearing my mother’s screams and crying, my father looked first, at his wife and then back at me. How a person’s face can show such deep compassion and anger at the same time is beyond me. Somehow all the “I’m sorry’s” did not take away my mother’s pain nor my father’s anger. That pride and haughty spirit will get you every time.

As my dad continued to suffer with heart disease over the years, I mentally prepared myself for his death. I knew with all his heart attacks it was just a matter of time. I can remember staring at his face and just wanting to burn that image in my brain. When he talked I wondered if I would ever forget the sound of his voice. I knew he wasn’t going to be around very much longer and with every ambulance siren I wondered if it was him and his life was over. I’m sure these are not the usual thoughts of a normal young teenager, but it was my reality.

We lived in a 1-½ story cape cod home. There were two bedrooms and a ½ bath upstairs, which my sisters and I shared. I was awakened on March 11, 1974 about six am to my mom screaming in pain. My dad yelled upstairs to us that he was taking our mom to the hospital. I went about my normal morning routine of getting ready for school not worried at all about my mom. Other than an ulcer or two she was healthy as a horse as far as I was concerned.

I drove to school that day in my own little world of sports and peer pressure. Around 11 o’clock I got called down to the principal’s office. I immediately thought back to any pranks I might have been involved with that would warrant such attention. Nothing came to mind so I was clueless when I entered his office. He said the hospital called and I needed to go down there and sign some papers for my mom’s surgery. Now that just didn’t make sense to me because I figured my dad was there and could sign whatever needed to be signed. But realizing this was a ticket out of school I didn’t say a word.

I grabbed my keys and rushed out to the parking lot. The only surgery I could think she would need would be something to do with her stomach. For just a split second I had this far-fetched thought about maybe she is dead, but dismissed it as quickly as it came into my head. I quickly turned my attention to how long hospital visit would take and what my plans would be for that afternoon. Is there anything better than being 16 and driving? I love freedom.

I arrived at the hospital and walked into the emergency waiting room. My grandfather, father and sister were there. Dad talked about what happened between 6 a.m. and 10a.m. My grandfather told stories and I waited patiently to be dismissed. After what seemed like two hours, our family doctor (remember those) came in followed by nurse with a syringe. What he said next changed my world forever. He looked at my father and said, “Leo I did everything I could to save her.” My father shot up out his seat screaming and crying. The nurse, knowing my dad’s heart history, immediately gave him a shot in his arm to sedate him. Everyone in the room bursted into tears, including me. I could not believe what I just heard. Surely this wasn’t happening and there was a mistake somewhere. I was in shock and my world just stopped. There was no way this could be happening. I had never felt so much pain and hurt. My heart felt like it was beating out of my chest. This just couldn’t be. For years I had prepared myself for dad’s death knowing for certain my mom would always be there. How could this happen? I was dazed and stayed that way for a while. What do you do when the world crashes around you? I don’t remember driving home from the hospital. When I got home I do remember slamming some kitchen cabinet doors in anger and my sister yelling at me to stop.

I realized I had never even said goodbye to my mom that morning. I never even said I love you. I just knew I’d see her that night after school. I was in my own world and I took for granted those nearest to me. It was my first life lesson that there are no guarantees in life. Unfortunately it would take a few more reminders to actually “learn” that lesson.

THE BOOK

2010-09-23T11:04:00.000-04:00

Well I figured it was about time to post something. Since returning from the GREAT ADVENTURE alot of people have asked, "What's next" to which I have had no reply. I have had many people encourage me to write an inspirational book about June 11th and others who have graciously complimented my writing, especially about this blog. To all of you I thank you and thus I have started to write.

So far I cannot believe how hard it is to write. I'm not sure how authors crank out book after book and my hat is off to them. I think at my best I might crank out one page a day and on a really good day maybe two. I've been thinking about posting a chapter or two to get some critique and feedback. I mean if it sucks, I don't need to spend a year of my life writing something nobody will buy. Besides, daddy needs a new pair of shoes, if you know what I mean. So let me know your interests in posting a chapter or two on the blog. God Bless, Art

FINISHED

2010-08-23T02:46:00.000-04:00

We arrived in Lexington, SC today to drop off Matt. It's been quite the experience. These things never go as planned or as unplanned as the case may be. And they always go so much faster than you would ever think. I cannot believe two months went by so fast. I also believe it's something everyone should do at least once in life.

This land is so large and so beautiful. I stand in AWE of God's creation of just a small part of this wonderful universe. Anybody who ever thinks this planet is overpopulated has never been to Montana or South Dakota or Wyoming, etc. My advice to you when life gets too complicated, overstressed, overworked, etc is to just travel.

I would like to say I know what is next. But I don't. I'm sure I'll be posting from time to time and letting you know what is going on. For now, I think I have about 20 things to cross off my bucket list. Matt and I appreciate all your prayers, support and words of encouragement over the last several months. The feedback from each of you has meant so much. Just know I love you all and God Bless, Art.

SIOUX FALLS - FALLS PARK

2010-08-19T18:19:00.000-04:00

Every now and then God just throws a little surprise in your life. Yesterday was one of those days for us. We spent the previous night at Sioux Falls, South Dakota and were given a "hint" to go visit the falls. I had low expectations that were happily surpassed. Falls Park is one of the nicest city parks I have come across. It is not just one falls but numerous ones. Alot of history to this city and river.

We are in Missouri today in between Kansas City and St. Louis. This will probably be our last day "WEST" of the Mississippi River. We really are not pushing the miles and pretty much shut it down about dinner time. I imagine we will be back home in 2 or 3 days. It's been a great trip to say the least and I'm sure Tonto is tired of the home cooking. Glad there is a Macaroni Grill next door. God Bless, Art

THE INFAMOUS CORN PALACE

2010-08-18T19:53:00.000-04:00

We couldn't leave South Dakota without a trip to Wall Drug in Wall S.D. and the world famous Corn Palace in Mitchell, S.D. Yes it is designed with corn. We stopped by Falls Park in Sioux Falls today and I'll post those pictures soon. God Bless, Art

SUNSET ON THE MISSOURI RIVER

2010-08-16T23:39:00.000-04:00

Below are pictures of the sunset tonight here in Chamberlain,SD which is on the Missouri River. It was just stunning and I'm glad I was able to experience it. I hope you enjoy, God Bless, Art

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK

2010-08-13T22:32:00.000-04:00

We left Glacier National Park yesterday and are on I-90 heading east. I visited Glacier 33 years ago with my college roommate. At the time it was the most awesome thing I had ever seen. I remember the "Going to the Sun Road" and how stunning the views were. It was forever etched in my mind as one of those "I've got to see that again" experiences. Well I guess I'm jaded now, because after the Grand Canyon, everything else so far pales in comparison, including Glacier. I will give Glacier a second (but not close).

The Going to the Sun Road has fallen into a dismal state of disrepair and is currently in the third year of a TEN-year rebuilding period. And yes it's only costing the taxpayers 3 BILLION dollars. They are working on the section at Logan's Pass, which is the highest point on the road, and it is a goat path right now. The road is 52 miles long and I rode the victory the entire length. It took about 2 hours with all the delays and it just didn't have the allure I remember from 33 years ago. So put Glacier on your list in about 8 years.

There are still about 19 active glaciers I believe. At one point they say there were 150 glaciers, like a million years ago. The computer models indicate all the glaciers will be gone by 2030, which will probably be about when they finish up the road construction on The Sun road. As far as wildlife, we did see a black bear, some mountain goats and a few small critters. I took a boat ride on St. Mary's lake whose watercolor is just perfect due to the minerals flowing into it from the glaciers.

I know there is a God, well I knew it before, but how else do you explain we run into Sturgis, SD on a Friday night of bike week?? Yes Tonto got the victory down and I headed into town. I came, I saw and I left. Maybe next year I'll spend more time checking the scene out. Hope you enjoy the pictures. God Bless, Art

RIGHT TURN HEADIN' HOME

2010-08-06T21:39:00.001-04:00

We came up the coast yesterday, stopped at my favorite world travelers, "Lewis and Clark National Park" and good old Fort Clatsop and then made that right hand turn back east at Aberdeen, Washington. I'd like to say I'm somewhat bittersweet about this direction, but it would be a lie. I'm really kinda of depressed that the end is in sight. I just have to believe Lewis and Clark felt the same way when they left Fort Clatsop and returned east. While I miss everyone back home, when we were headed west it just seemed this adventure would last a long time. Now I'm not looking for sympathy from anyone as I am so grateful for what we have done, seen and experienced. It's just that the end of this dream is in sight and I really don't want it to end. So please nobody wake me up yet.

After 6,000 miles I figured it was about time to change the oil in the Magic Bus and after conferring with my GM guru he confirmed my suspicions. Seeing how we were already parked at wal mart and the only rv repair shop couldn't get us in today, I threw caution to the wind. I promptly this morning walked in wal mart, purchased my $6.50 oil filter, a $2.98 oil filter wrench, a 10 qt super safe EPA used oil container and 2 gallons of good old well new Mobil One($42.00). Oh, did I mention the previously purchased shop towels?

I actually found the drain plug and had the proper 15mm wrench to take it off. I also noticed two filters one blue and one red. Well just in case anyone out there ever has a 8.1 litre gm vortec engine, avoid the red filter as I think it is for the transmission. Everything under the motor went pretty smooth but when it came to filling the motor with the new oil, we had just a slight gulf oil size spill. Remember the aforementioned shop towels? They worked pretty good and I figured what was left(really it wasn't that much) would just be a good seal coat for the parking lot.

So with that out of the way, Tonto and myself made it across the street, to first a great health food store. And right next door was a great organic fresh fruit and veggies farmers market. Well call mama and tell her Aberdeen is not all bad!! We hit the road and headed to Tacoma and our friendly Camping World store for a much needed exterior water inlet valve. Yes I installed it myself and so far there is no leaking, woohoo!

Our next stop before sticking it in the wind is Glacier National Park so I guess this is my last post for awhile. I'm thinking we will be home in the next 7-10 days and by then I'll be cheerio and dreaming about my next dream.

P.S. I put my house on the market this week and if anybody wants to buy it, we are "stacking 'em deep and selling 'em cheap"! Until then, I love you guys and God Bless!! Art

HWY 101 North

2010-08-03T23:53:00.000-04:00

We left Eureka today and headed up north on the great Pacific Coast Highway 101. We didn't make it very far as there was so much to do. I think we might have done a 100 miles today. We stopped at a few beaches with the Redwood National Park thrown in between. Just one of those days where you go "WOW!" We eventually got out of California, but barely into Oregon. I stand in awe of the Redwoods, much like the Sequoia's we saw at Yosemite. Check out the pictures below.

We spotted this sign at the first beach we stopped at. Just wondering what a "sneaker" wave might be? Matt said no problem let's skim.

This does not end well I'm betting.

Yep that's how I'd do it.

M R DUCKS!

WOW WOW WOW is all I can say.

Let's put this in perspective.

Just something else to do.

A tree growing on another tree. I'm thinking freeloader.

Next beach and contemplating more skimming.

Just like riding a bike.

EUREKA!!!

2010-08-02T19:38:00.001-04:00

We left the madness of Yosemite Sunday a week ago to head over to San Jose (well actually Los Gatos but who has ever heard of that?). We spent a few days visiting with friends, really family from a long time ago and had a great time. We spent one day scouting the coast for "The Mavericks". Yep another world class surfing spot when the moon and stars are aligned. If you are ever out this way I'll give you a hint, look for Pillar Point. It is also where Mark Foos (who? go google it for yourself) met his untimely death a few years ago.

On Tuesday we took the magic bus to San Francisco. We parked the bus somewhere near Fisherman's Wharf. I avoided Lombard Street to the best of my knowledge. To this day I'm not sure how we got it there. We had a great car escort is all I know. Yes I left my camera in the bus so no pictures this time. If you put away your politics and sexual orientation for just a minute, San Fran is an awesome city. I would put it in my top 3 favorite big cities in the USA. You'll have to guess who are the other 2. The Wharf is just great with it's street musicians, mimes, magicians and all those other crazies. We took a cable car ride, which was a first for me and saw other parts of the city which were just as awesome. If you have never been here, GET HERE!

Tuesday night we headed out to Stinson Beach for some dry camping and crossed the Golden Gate Bridge for Highway 1. Well at night hwy 1 and 101 all look the same. Just one wrong turn, a right instead of a left and we said goodbye to hwy 1 and Stinson Beach. So we headed towards Redding and spent the night parked next to the highway. Redding is in northern California about 150 miles east of the coast. Temperatures ranged from the 60's to 105. We arrived in Redding on Wednesday and found an inexpensive rv park and rested for a few days. Hence, no updates. Redding is home to Bethel Church and the worship group Jesus Culture. They were in town but their event was sold out and no amount of pleading on my part would free up any tickets. Maybe next time.

So instead I took the victory out and rode Rt 299 that runs between Redding and Eureka. It is now one of my all time favorite motorcycle routes. It has tight twistees (about 10 miles) like tail of the dragon and big sweepers like Cherohala Skyway and beautiful scenery of mountains, valleys, lakes and rivers. The riders in the group will know what I'm talking about, the rest of you fire up your sports cars and check it out.

So today we headed out to Eureka on the same route and it just wasn't as fun as the victory ride, but enjoyable anyways. Eureka was 150 miles away on the coast. Eureka's temperature range is a low of 50 and a high of 59 today. You got to love that Pacific breeze. Plan is to head up the coast maybe to Coos Bay Oregon and start towards Glacier. Sorry about no pictures. I miss you all. God Bless, Art

OKAY JUST A COUPLE FROM TODAY

2010-07-28T16:45:00.000-04:00

Are those no parking signs on the dumpster??

Yosemite Falls (upper)

The whole thing!

Piece of cake!

Hmmmm

Lower Falls

El capitan

YOSEMITE VALLEY AND FALLS

2010-07-25T12:35:00.000-04:00

We finally made it to Yosemite Valley. This year is not the year to come to this park in a RV. The long route via 140 is a two hour canyon ride that restricts vehicles over 45' in length. The south route via 41 is currently under construction for 10 miles with your stimulus money funding this construction. These 10 miles take an eternity to travel in a RV as it is an unpaved gravel road at this point. It is dusty, bumpy and inches from going over the side of a mountain. But once you complete this trek of 40 miles you arrive in Yosemite Valley. Let's just say my attitude upon arrival was less than desirable. It didn't improve much either when we ran into half of California and trying to find a parking space for the Magic Bus. I think this would be a really cool place if the people weren't here, LOL.

We parked the bus in the back of a parking lot next to a maintenance yard that had several no parking signs. "Detour, Oh these bitter things I find, Should have read that detour sign." We immediately hopped on the first bus we see, now that we are old pros at riding park shuttle buses. We jumped off at the visitor center to find only about 10,000 people meandering around with the same lost face that we had. We grabbed a 23 minute movie at the theatre on the Spirit of Yosemite.

From there we were told to go to Yosemite Falls and take any bus pointed that way (park ranger pointing in some direction) and get off stop 6. We were at stop 5 so how hard could this be for a veteran bus rider like myself. Well eagle eyes (that would be me) spots a bus headed in the proper direction. Does it get off at stop 6, no it goes to P1 which would be parking. Only about a 20 minute delay. But we finally got to stop 6 and Yosemite Falls. I'll post pictures separately since I have not figured out this whole blog thing yet.

Yosemite Falls is the highest waterfall in North America but the amount of water actually falling depends on snowfall melt and rain. The lower falls had all these boulders that Tonto thought would be cool to walk up to the falls on as did numerous others. On the way out we did capture sightings of El Capitan.

Our next stop was the San Jose area and San Francisco. I'll write on those adventures soon. God Bless, Art.

YOSEMITE

2010-07-23T00:16:00.000-04:00

We made it to Yosemite late yesterday afternoon. It was about 330 miles from Huntington Beach and took about 6 hours or so to get here. Who thought you'd actually have to make reservations to park/camp inside the park? There is no recession at Yosemite. And there are no RV friendly roads leading to this place. We went up highway 41 for 15 curvy, slow miles to the entrance only to be told everything was full. So we came back down to Oakhurst and "dry camped" at the High Sierra Rv park. And yes I could not find the freaking Directv satellite again.

Today we ventured back up rt 41 to visit the huge Sequoia trees in Mariposa Grove. Now if you are going to be a tree, be a Sequoia. These trees are like the oldest living things on the face of the planet outside of me. They live like 2,500 to 3,000 YEARS. They are so big they are fire proof. Their bark can be up to 3 feet thick which prevents it from burning. They don't die do to old age, but from tumbling over. My point is simply these trees are huge and of course the pictures do no justice to these mammoths.

We started out with lunch at the Wawona Hotel restaurant. Then had to catch a shuttle bus to Mariposa Grove.

Saw this first one as we exited the bus.

This giant fell over 300 years ago and has never decayed.

Just to put it in perspective, that's Matt standing next to this monster.

Same tree, laying down over the road.

Matt showing some love to this giant.

This is "The Bachelor and Three Graces".

Same group of trees.

You just have to get creative some times when trying to park the Magic Bus, especially when all the cars take the RV parking spaces. So whats a little walking? God Bless, Art

THE WEDGE

2010-07-21T01:42:00.000-04:00

We stayed in the Hunting Beach area one more day as someone told Tonto the waves were going to be big at The Wedge today. Well that person was not lying. These waves were easily 15-20ft tall. It sounded like thunder up and down the beach. The pictures really don't show the size but here are several anyway.

These dark spots are either body surfers or boogie board surfers.

This guy was easily over 65 and fearless.

You wouldn't think you'd need a sign.

This is one TALL wall of water!!

Are you nuts?

I'm pretty sure all these guys survived.

Look at the wave action on this one.

A lifeguard boat just in case.

I hope you get the picture of just how big this stuff was today. The dangerous part is these waves break right on shore so there is no room for error. If you are ever on the west coast you need to check this place out. It is on the very south end of Newport at the end of Balboa Street. Check it out you'll be glad you did!! God Bless, Art

Quick Update

2010-07-19T17:22:00.000-04:00

Matt found a RV park in Corona, California which was about 50 miles away and yes it was the desert climate again. But it was also the closest Victory dealership around so it was just meant to be. The RV park was a bit on the older side and actually had trees and some grass which was nice. The dealership was only 5 miles away which meant I only had to drive up I-5 (or as the locals say "the 5", there is no I out here) a couple times in 100 degree weather. The dealership actually masqueraded itself as a pool installer and chopper builder without any sign of Victory since they were dropping that business in a couple of weeks. They did have a great mechanic who was also a motorcycle stunt driver. He stated that he doubted there was anything wrong with the bike as he had seen this bike do 4 foot jumps without any damage. Said it was probably just the throttle positioning sensor which the computer would reset automatically. He took it on a test ride up and down "the five" and said it was ok. Yes I was relieved and over time I hope his words prove true.

Sunday we packed the bus up and headed back to the coast to Huntington Beach(HB) and home to "The Wedge". This place, due to the beach contour ,produces waves like in Hawaii ,otherwise known as sick. With the right wind the waves can be 25-30 feet high and extremely dangerous. I guess people have broken necks or worse died here. Hence the attraction for surfers and skimmers, but only pro's should be in the water.

Well as Tonto was checking out the wedge, I checked out the pacific coast highway on the Victory. I discovered pretty quick that Sunday is not a good time to be on the PCH. I'm not sure why they call it a highway because it resembles more of a parking lot. I eventually got up to Long Beach about 20 miles north and figured that was far enough. I headed back to Huntington Beach, found a parking space close to downtown and gave my clutch hand a rest.

After checking out downtown, Tonto texted me and said I should check out the Wedge, which was about 4 miles south of HB towards Newport. Well I figured 4 miles shouldn't take too long. Wrong. The only place more crowded than HB on a Sunday is Newport. It took over an hour to get to the Wedge, but it was worth it. Their "small" waves are bigger than anything I've seen.

Spent the night at Wally's again and headed back to the beach in the bus this morning. For a Monday this place is pretty crowded, but not as bad as Sunday. Does anybody work in California?

So we survived the cable debacle and are pressing forward on the journey. I was going to blog about the metaphor when the cable breaks in your life but it might have to wait for awhile. Just want to give a shout out and thanks to the Shield in Rock Hill for thinking of us yesterday! I know you all enjoy pictures and as soon as I take some I'll get them posted. In the words of Leonard Knight, "God is Love". God Bless, Art

JUST WHEN THINGS WERE GOING GOOD.......

2010-07-17T01:34:00.000-04:00

I was looking forward to writing about the great day Tonto and I had at Laguna Beach, but then disaster struck again. This was our second day at the beach here and our routine of late has been to camp at a Walmart at night and ride the Victory to the beach during the day. I was going to tell you how much I enjoyed the sights at Laguna (including the ocean) and lunch at Nicks today, but I guess I just did. I digress.

So wonderful day at the beach, magic bus parked at Costco's all day (I'm sure wal mart appreciated that), load the victory on the lift, lift it to the top and bam. The winch cable snaps and 900lbs smashes to the parking lot. I wanted to cry and also cuss out Overbuilt Lifts and Superwinch all in the same breath. I was very thankful that neither one of us was hurt. We could have had an arm, finger, leg or toe sliced off or smashed in less than a second. The Victory was not so lucky. It is really taking a beating this trip. The clutch lever broke and when we rode to Home Depot the engine was not idling right and was making some funky noises. There are also some new scratches in the body now.

So Home Depot for $2.98 had a fix, maybe temporary who knows, in a steel rope clamp. It didn't look like it would work, but we got the bike back on the lift. It's hard to believe a $2.98 part is lifting a $20,000 bike ( well it's probably worth $10,000 now). That hydraulic lift is looking better and better. Actually a tow bar and car is looking like the long term solution. I'm pretty drained right now. I'm so glad neither one of us got hurt, but I'm so frustrated with this lift. It's been a pain since day one. Well the adventure continues. God Bless, Art

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

2010-07-15T00:21:00.000-04:00

We arrived in San Diego yesterday and FINALLY got out of the desert. We traveled I-8 which has a long, long 10-mile incline before you get into San Diego. The magic bus did pretty well, I had her pinned to the floor and was doing 35. I’m beginning to like the word diesel more and more. But once we pulled into Mission Bay RV Park (the world’s most expensive parking lot) got out, and felt the 70-degree weather with a great breeze blowing, that $60 felt wonderful. Then Tonto reminded me about that wal mart overnight free thing. I told him from here on out in California, wal mart it would be, at least until Eureka where I want to check out Shoreline RV Park.

We had a wonderful time last night with some new friends, Kim and Jim. They made us a great homemade meal, took us on a super tour of SD and showed us some great hospitality. After being in the desert for six years with a horse with no name, it felt good to be out of the rain, oops, I mean the night was relaxing and fun.

Tonto awoke this morning with a desire to skim board and went over to Pacific Beach, I think. Since checkout wasn’t until noon, I decided to milk every last minute, every ounce of water and every kilowatt of electricity, of my sixty bucks. So yes I used the washing machine and dryer twice!! After checking out, I parked across the street at Mission Bay Park (I think) and waited for Tonto’s return.

Well upon his arrival he informs me the locals said La Jolla (pronounce La Hoya, not Lajolla like my gps systems says) is the best skim boarding. Well we have no place to be today so we make the decision to check it out, considering it was only 5 miles down the road. I have learned in 24 hours that any road that is not an interstate in California, is NOT RV friendly. I think in 5 miles I ran over 6 curbs and 3 old ladies. And c’mon folks lighten up on the horns; this thing is 36 feet long.

And another thing, I thought only San Francisco had those steep up and down hills? Wrong. I now have to send Tonto out on his bike to scout, which roads we can enter without leaving our bike lift to the Governor. Needless to say, the locals are correct about La Jolla. Tonto was so excited about the beach we are sitting in the wal mart parking lot in La Jolla for another day of skimming. I’m thinking he can ride the Victory down to the beach and I’ll just check out the clientele at the local wally world or try to find a RV friendly gas station in this state. God Bless, Art

LEONARD KNIGHT

2010-07-14T12:40:00.000-04:00

Every now and then you cross paths with someone special. And even though it might just be for a minute or so, and if you are lucky it might last longer, but in the depths of your soul there is a connection. Your spirit leaps and your heart feels the love of God. Matt and I were honored yesterday morning to have such a special time.

On our way out of Slab City we decided to stop at Salvation Mountain one last time. As we approached the “God is Love” mountain we were greeted by a thin, older man with both of his arms raised to the sky booming out, “Welcome, come here let me show you something”. We commenced to spend the next hour and half with the creator of Salvation Mountain, Leonard Knight on a personal tour of his creation. I’m not sure I’ve ever met a more gracious and humble host. At 78 Leonard’s passion for God has not subsided one bit. He was so honored that we stopped to see the Mountain, but we were ones who were so honored to be with him.

Leonard is simply a simple man with a simple message that he has been trying to get out to the world for over 30 years, which is simply “God is Love”. There’s no theology, no religion, no ulterior motives, no preaching, just the simple thought of Love. If you are ever out this way it is well worth a trip to the desert to meet this man of God. Your heart and soul will thank you. God Bless, Art

PICTURES FROM SLAB CITY

2010-07-13T12:06:00.000-04:00

A RANDOM THOUGHT

2010-07-12T22:10:00.000-04:00

As we wander thru this wonder of a country and I see all the homes, it makes me stop and ask. Is the American dream all that it is cracked up to be? I’ve always wondered why the government encouraged and rewarded home ownership through tax deductions, incentives and recently massive loans to people who couldn’t afford them. Is America’s dream the same as God’s dream for us? Is buying a home with a 30 yr mortgage our life goal? I’m beginning to understand the government’s viewpoint of home ownership. I think it boils down to control. If they can convince you to get married, mortgaged and have some kids, your chances of moving or being mobile are reduced tremendously. Focus instead on your career, your job and you have the illusion of “security” unfortunately you also lose a lot of your freedom along the way. Can you imagine, however unlikely, a society that packed up the teepee, or rv or tent or boat and followed the sun or the next job, etc? I mean how could they ever track you down (control) to collect their revenues or fill out their census? I’m not meaning to sound like some tax evasion guy, I’m just thinking out loud as to why we have become such a “fixed” society. I wonder if the Indians enjoyed packing up the community and moving several times a year? I think somewhere along the way we have lost a lot of the “adventure” in life. Anyways, I write all that to say I guess it’s time to sell the house and cut that tie in my life to a “fixed” lifestyle. God Bless, Art.

Movin On

2010-07-12T00:02:00.000-04:00

We took the Vision(motorcycle) downtown(vegas) last night about 9 and it was still 103 here in the desert. It was packed and I have a hard time believing there is a recession in Vegas. We parked for free at the Harley Davidson Cafe. Took Tonto(Matt) to the Bellagio fountain show and of course it was the king singing Viva Las Vegas, how perfect. Did some people watching and strolling around and headed back to Sam's Town RV Park (where we stayed for the unbelievable price of $21 per night).

Today we packed up, took one last trip down the strip and headed to the Hoover Dam again. Tonto took the power plant tour while I was forced out do to some magnetic field created by 17 turbines not being healthy for the old ICD. So I hung at the visitor center until Matt got back. The Hoover Dam is an awesome sight but it's even more stunning when you realize it was built in the '30's when large heavy duty equipment was non existent. Simply amazing.

The new air suspension springs got a work out today as we traveled down Rt. 95 to Blythe, California. The road was pretty good in Nevada, but once we hit California it turned into one of the worse roads I've been on in awhile. I'm thinking a kidney belt should be issued when you enter this state. I think some stimulus dollars would be well spent on that route. We are spending the night at our first KOA on the Colorado River which I plan on sticking a foot in tomorrow morning. The rate is double what we were paying in Vegas, go figure. Kampgrounds of America really means Killing off Art. I miss my Wal Mart free shopping center.

We are headed over to "Slab City" tomorrow to check out Salvation Mountain (created by Leonard Knight). Basically Leonard has built this thing out of trash for about 25 years and it all boils down to "God is Love". I'm hoping we get to meet ol' Leonard. If you watched "Into the Wild" then you know all about this place. It's an old abandoned military base that turned into a free hippie hang out and in the winter alot of snowbirds show up. That's the latest. Thanks for reading and God Bless, Art

Adversity

2010-07-07T22:38:00.000-04:00

Upon leaving the big hole we headed south to Flagstaff for a Monday am appointment to get the air springs installed on the magic bus. After about two hours my good friends at camping "just another grand" world, informed me they had ordered the wrong part. You know that really didn't bother me all that much. I just figured hey we'll just motor on down the road and the next camping world city we come to we'll get them installed there. So Jed packed up the coach and headed back up north to Page, AZ and Lake Powell and the Glen "Campbell" Canyon. We never got a real good feeling about ol' Lake Powell so we pulled the atlas out and said let's go north to Arches National Park and hit about three more National Parks. That one year membership to the National Parks was paying off big time.

To get to Arches you first have to go south and then north. So by lunchtime we are in the middle of the Navajo Nation near Kayenta, AZ. We ate at the Blue something cafe, when I saw Monument Valley was just down the road on RT 163 about 20 miles. I looked at Matt and said hey let's check it out, or maybe it was we're going to see this. He said fine but also wanted to go to Four Corners. I know to the UNC fans that means something completely else. This place is where all four states touch. Do you know which ones? I'm not naming names but initials are like, AZ UT NM and CO, I think.

So with a full tank of gas, we head down RT 163 into monument valley. This place was pretty cool with all these huge individual rocks (monuments). At just about the Utah state line I figured it was time to turn around and head for four corners. I spotted a large gravel lot ahead with a motorhome parked there and eased on off the road ( ok maybe 45 mph is not easing), when the right side wheels hit the gravel we heard a big pop. Being the wise, astute RV driver that I am, I swung that coach around and put her back on the highway headed south. Two miles later we heard a bang so loud I just knew the Navajo's had gotten ahold of drone and were taking out the white man. So now I really eased the magic bus off the road onto the shoulder. Wow a blown rear tire on the inside with alot of damage to the storage compartment, wires ripped out, piece of metal frame pointing at the tire and the entire contents inside the compartment just exploded.

I'm not saying I freaked out or panicked, well ok I did. I literally have a thousand thoughts going through my mind from, let's drive real slow on one tire to town, to my God there is no cell phone service here and we may last 4 days max. You know in the middle of a crisis, when the bullets are flying there is always that one person who just seem oblivious to it all? Well that person is not me, but I swear it is Matt. He was fine just firing up the generator and chilling with the TV until somebody showed up. Me, I'm calling emergency road service 25 times with all the calls that faded out panicked they will never get our location. To make a long story short, a great guy, Harrison, showed up, had to make 4 trips back and forth to town for tools and about 10.30pm our spare tire was in place and we were rolling again. We spent the night at Kayenta, left early this morning to reach Camping World by 8.30 for the privilege of spending a weeks income for one tire.
Adversity- I guess it's one of the lessons I'm supposed to learn on this trip. Considering my failing grade yesterday, I have a distinct impression this lesson is going to come again. Maybe the next time I can get a passing grade. God Bless, Art

MONUMENT VALLEY

PART OF THE WHEEL WELL DAMAGE

THE HELICOPTER RIDE!!!

2010-07-04T18:19:00.000-04:00

You know nothing happens on the great west adventure without an adventure. The first stop we made on the way up to the park on Friday was of course at the Grand Canyon Airport to check on a helicopter ride. After schmoozing the ticket girl the best I could, she took ten bucks off the price of two tickets-woohoo. I almost felt victorious. The last flight out that day was at 4.30 which we booked. She said to show up at 4.00 to go over the procedures? What procedures?? I begged her to let me sit in the front next to the pilot hoping he might let me fly that thing. But then she made Matt and I weigh in. You can guess who they put in back!! Well since it was only about one o'clock we headed up to the park to get our camping space and set up the Magic Bus for three wonderful days in America's busiest park on the busiest weekend of the year. I told you that planning thing was completely overrated.

Well at 3.45 I look at Matt and say it's time to go. He's like why so early, and I'm like they told us to be there at 4.00 to check in. I think you all know where this story is going. We jump on the victory, Matt driving and promptly get lost trying to find the exit out of this freaking place. We were close, like within a couple miles one time when we decided we were going the wrong way and backtracked right to where we started. With each passing minute I see one of my bucket list items disappearing before me. I'm wondering if we miss this flight will they let us reschedule. At about 4.15 we find the exit and at 4.22 we pull into the parking lot of the Grand Canyon Airport. I jump off of the bike before Matt even parks it and beat feet into the lobby. The ticket girl throws something at me to read and says the pilot just called your name a few minutes ago. Anyways we made the flight and below are some of the pictures Matt snapped from 1,500 feet up. Hope you enjoy.

Yeah Yeah Yeah you got the front seat.

Put the fat guy in the back!

P.S. I am scared of heights.

The Colorado River doesn't look so tough from up here!

Yep back on the ground, I didn't get to fly it, but scratch one more off the bucket list!!

I SHOULD HAVE BEEN A COWBOY, (but I don't like horses)

2010-07-01T17:46:00.000-04:00

With Matt gone last night and today, I figured it would be a good time to plan a little "scooter ride" (or motorcycle ride) for today. Now I know somebody told me I had to ride 89 A or maybe 89 S but 89 something. So last night I scoured the map and found an 89 A starting at Ash Fork.

This morning I woke up to a wonderful 50 degrees and after hearing from Matt that he did not become dinner for a mountain lion or black bear last night, I started loading up the Vision (bike). I brought all the essentials like a jacket in case of rain, my black short sleeve victory t shirt just in case it got warmer and a pair of sunglasses. I wore my long sleeve thermal shirt since it had warmed up to only 65 when I took off about 8.30.

I jumped on I-40 west towards Ash Fork a mere 19 miles away. It was a beautiful trip out of the mountains down to Ash Fork, which was about the time I realized I didn't bring my camera. Dang. It felt so good that the sign that said Los Angeles 455 miles was tempting. At Ash Fork I went south on 89A towards Prescott and fell in love-with Arizona that is. I passed through Chino Valley after 30 miles or so and was loving the lack of everything. Traffic, people, wal marts etc. By then it had warmed up to a great 80 and the ride was going perfect. Wide open spaces with beautiful scenery and Jake Hamilton blasting from the Vision's speakers. Mentally I had already moved here and sold everything in Rock Hill. I even imagined I think my soul saying I should have been a cowboy, except for the horse thing.

But everything changes in Arizona as I was about to find out. During the next thirty miles to Prescott the heat changed for one thing. It was now about 10 o'clock or so and was getting close to 90 which wasn't all that bad. I figured I could always pull into Prescott and get something to wear besides a black t-shirt. Besides Prescott had to be famous for something in the past. What I didn't realize among many things, is Prescott is about 15 miles past 89A. I figured what the heck I'm here I ought to go see it. By now it is pushing past 90 and I know I need something white to wear and something to drink. Yeah thats right I took off without a thing to drink. C'mon how hard is it, there's c-stores on every corner, right? I beelined to the first SafeWay I see and purchase two bottles of water and sunscreen (yep forgot that too) 100 spf I might add. I then walk over to Walgreens to get a small cooler for my drinks, because I'm smarter than the average bear and I like my drinks cold. I also pick up a sweet WHITE Arizona T-shirt and hat combo for 50% off (7 bucks).

I immediately down my first bottle of water just to make sure I stay hydrated in this "dry" heat. I put my other bottle in my cooler with no ice. I mean how much ice can you get in a 9 inch cooler anyway and the drink was cold? I lather up with the 100 spf sunscreen including my nose and back out to 89A. Any inspection of Prescott would be another day because I want to get to Sedona. I get back on my scooter after changing into my new Arizona white flag t-shirt and the temperature gauge says it's 96.

I backtrack to 89A and head out to Sedona only 60 some miles away. Now somebody failed to mention to me that alot of those 60 miles is DESERT! I will say that stretch of 89A is awesome as after about 20 miles you start climbing Mingus Mountain. They have a sign which prohibits vehicles longer than 50 feet on that stretch of road, now I know why. I love mountain turns at 15 mph with no guardrail or shoulder and 2,000 feet straight down. At least it was cooler up here at 7,800 ft. After cresting the mountain I passed through a cool mtn village called Jerome, but since heat stroke had not set in yet, I figured I should press on to Sedona. Well by this time it was close to 11, well actually 10.45. By the time I got down the mountain it was now 100 degrees and Cottonwood was 7 miles away. That 7 miles felt like a toaster oven. If it's a dry heat how come my head was sweating like you know what in church on a Sunday morning? I looked for the first non chain restaurant to escape the blazing heat. I found a closed mexican restaurant with a porch that was at least out of the sun.

After 15 minutes of relief and more water and more sunscreen, I ventured out again searching for a lunch spot. I found a hole in the wall cafe with slow service thank God. After lunch and alot more water it was time to leave the air conditioning. Sedona was only 19 miles away. I figured worse case I could do something there until evening to escape the heat. I got on my scooter and the temperature said 111!!!! But after a little air movement it dropped to 106, what a relief. The 19 miles passed pretty quick and the closer to Sedona I got the cooler it became due to the elevation change.

I wanted to see Sedona as we were planning on Rv'ing there next week. Sedona had some cool geography with the Red Rocks and all but I just couldn't get a good feeling about it. One thing, the planning commission or whoever dictates everything must be the same color as the red rocks???? It had cooled down to 100 and I needed more a/c, so I made a gas stop and another water. Being the observant idiot that I am, I had noticed all my fellow bikers were wearing long sleeves in this heat. So I took off my AZ t-shirt and put my long sleeve thermal shirt on. All I can say is what a world of difference that made.

Flagstaff was 35 miles away and feeling ok I went for it. All I can say is 89A from Sedona to Flagstaff is an awesome road for a scooter ride. Even better than that was the drop in temperature down to the mid 80's. Thank you Jesus! The scenery is great and those tall pine (?) trees suck you into feeling very secure. I loved all the mountain curves and even more so avoiding dehydration and heat stroke. 89A merged with I-17 and I-40 in Flagstaff so my adventure ended with a nice 35 mile I-40 ride back to Williams. So the moral of the story I guess is I won't be getting "Always be Prepared" boy scout medal this week. Thanks for reading and God Bless, Art

FINALLY THE BIG HOLE!

2010-06-30T23:01:00.000-04:00

We arrived at the big hole this morning. I wish pictures or words could describe it but they don't and I won't try to either. We are currently spending a couple of nights at the Grand Canyon Railroad RV Park in Williams and then three nights in the park at Trailer Village. The Desert View Drive scenic stops are much better than the South Rim in my humble opinion. All I can say is everyone should experience this wonder.

Matt has gone off into the wild for a couple of days. Got a text he is at Buck Skinner Park in Williams which has trails to Bill Williams Mountain. Keep him in your prayers. I plan on riding the Victory around tomorrow and check out Sedona and see what it is like. Thanks for reading and God Bless, Art

ON TO THE GRAND CANYON!!

2010-06-30T00:49:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow we are moving on to Williams, AZ home of the Grand Canyon Railroad RV Park for two days. So I'm just wondering whether we take the train to the big hole or just ride the bike up there tomorrow. After that we spend 3 days inside the park at Trailer Village which should be a real treat. I know pictures will just not capture the awesome and wow factors so bear with me.

Tonight we are staying the Meteor Crater RV Park for a night away from our trusting wal mart parking lot. It's ok but nothing to write home about. Except that is exactly what I'm doing, please forgive.

We crossed the 2,000 mile mark today and I'm afraid to add up the fuel costs, which for an accountant is like going through withdrawals. I think I will survive though. No matter the cost though, I stand in awe of what God has created. This just may be in the category of "priceless". I hope everyone is doing well! God Bless, Art

PETRIFIED FOREST AND METEOR CRATER

2010-06-30T00:24:00.001-04:00

WE FINALLY MAKE THE STATE HOME TO THE BIG HOLE

BUT BEFORE WE GOT THERE WE FOUND THIS GEM CALLED THE PETRIFIED FOREST NATIONAL PARK. THIS 28 MILE ROAD IS AWESOME AND A MUST VISIT!

MATT PATIENTLY WISHING WE WERE AT THE METEOR CRATER

PICTURES REALLY DO NOT DO JUSTICE. JUST THINK OF ALL THESE AS 1000 TIMES LARGER.

ALRIGHT FINALLY SOME PETRIFIED WOOD

YES YOU CAN LOOK JUST DON'T TAKE ANY OF IT!

A BIG HOLE THIS METEOR CRATER BUT NOT THE BIG HOLE.

Tucumcari, Route 66 and Gallup New Mexico

2010-06-30T00:00:00.001-04:00

ONE OF THE MANY "SMALL BOX" VACANCIES ALONG RT 66

THE WELL KNOWN "FIRST AND LAST TEXAS MOTEL" ON RT 66

THE TYPICAL MOBILE DESKTOP

ONE MORE STATE TO THE BIG HOLE

ONE OF THE THRIVING RT 66 SURVIVORS-TUCUMCARI

THE WORLD FAMOUS BLUE SWALLOW-ANYONE STAYED HERE?

IF YOU LOOK CLOSE ALL THE CONTAINERS ARE DOUBLE STACKED COMING FROM THE WEST COAST

Tucumcari here we come

2010-06-28T22:08:00.000-04:00

PALO DURO CANYON

We left Oklahoma City Sunday mid morning. Our first stop was in Clinton to visit the Route 66 Museum. I didn’t realize there are only about 33 Route 66 museums along the road. I did pick up the Route 66 Traveler’s Guide for a cheap 13.95. I think we have ridden about 10 miles of the old route and let’s just say it’s not an RV friendly road. I’m thinking a bike ride is in the future for the Old Mother Road. The Guide did though pay immediate dividends when it came to park for the night. See below.

We found this really cool canyon yesterday outside of Amarillo thanks to the aforementioned handy dandy Traveler’s Guide. They call it the Grand Canyon of Texas. It is called Palo Duro Canyon. Met a lady and her daughters at the scenic overlook who said this was better than the Grand Canyon. I guess we are going to find out if that is true. Last night there was a little musical at the amphitheater called Texas. I made it to intermission and hiked back home. This is really our first camping edition on this trip and I love it. We have electric and water woohoo. I even busted out the washer/dryer last night to do a load of clothes. Well this place is beautiful and we didn’t even have a reservation. It might be the best-kept secret in Texas. (note to self, there is no cell service when your down 1,000 ft in a 100 mile long canyon.)

Tonight we made it to beautiful Gallup, New Mexico and of course there is a rodeo going on which precluded us from our first KOA experience. Jeez a rodeo in Gallup of all places. We had a bunch of rain today that started after I took the cover off my bike. So here we spend another night in a Wal Mart parking lot. Tomorrow should be Meteor Crater in Arizona!! God Bless, Art.

STILL MORE?

2010-06-27T10:03:00.001-04:00

NIGHTFALL AT THE FARM.

ABBEY AND AUDREY AKEMAN

THAT'S ALL THE BUTTER AFTER ALL THAN CHURNING?

STILL SMILING AFTER 30 MINUTES OF CHURNING.

"HEY ABBY WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME????"

THERE IS JUST WAY TOO MANY COMMENTS FOR THIS PHOTO.

MORE PICS

2010-06-27T09:57:00.000-04:00

MATT IS ENJOYING THIS WAY TOO MUCH.

ABBEY WHERE IS YOUR HEAD?

AUDREY LIKES FRESH MILK, FOR SURE!

More Pics from the farm

2010-06-27T09:49:00.001-04:00

WE JUST CALL HIM "HOSS AKEMAN"!

Oklahoma City and the Farm

2010-06-26T11:23:00.000-04:00

This is the farm we went to last night in Arcadia, Oklahoma ( I think). It is off of Route 66!

This is known as "pops" according to the locals.

This is the famous Round Barn on Rt 66!

The Akeman's and Miss Paula learning how to spin thread.

Okay I'm not quite sure how this works, but I know Kristene has figured it out!

Traveling

2010-06-23T23:25:00.000-04:00

Yesterday after a great time at Graceland we left for Kansas City. Graceland was great, but Memphis c'mon have a little pride, I mean he was the king. I will say Elvis had some nice toys. Well we had our first mishap yesterday when I pulled into the Flying J and ran over the curb to the fuel island. I kinda forgot that the exhaust pipes are in front of the rear tire, not the back of the tires. Let's just say one out of two pipes was smashed shut. Being the ace mechanic I am, it only took me 196 miles to figure it out. I'm thinking (hoping is more like it) that no permanent damage was done.

Today was filled with food accidents. First the maple syrup bottle spilled over and decided to leak all over the cabinet and drip onto the dinette table. Then I took off in the RV with a brand new jar of homemade blueberry jam sitting on the sink. Yep one bounce and it broke all over the entrance step. Despite our massive clean up skills (which I'm sure BP is quite envious) I'm expecting the invasion of the body snatcher ants to begin tomorrow. On a positive note, we took the victory vision out today to explore downtown KC. We visited the Negro League Baseball Museum and the Jazz Museum. Tonight Matt' friends picked us up and took us to Jack Stack for some healthy BBQ (chicken I promise) and then some great time at IHOP.

Tomorrow we head out to Oklahoma and the Akemans and Abernathys. We might also scout out an RV store or hitch shop to get some airbags installed over the rear wheels to help out on the suspension. It's a long story, but at this rate I might be losing some kidneys before we get to the big hole! God Bless, Art

TCB 2

2010-06-23T00:29:00.000-04:00

A FEW MORE PICS.

TCB

2010-06-23T00:20:00.000-04:00

HEY A COUPLE OF PICTURES WOOHOO

2010-06-21T22:55:00.000-04:00

DONT YOU LOVE THE BOBBLE HEADS????

GRACELAND

2010-06-21T22:45:00.000-04:00

What a long day. 600 miles and about 85 gallons of gas. I'm glad Matt drove most of that and it only took me about 8 hours to get over my paranoia that all the bikes would not bounce off their racks. Because we really bounced alot today. We started in SC and went to Georgia,Alabama,Mississippi and Tennessee. So tomorrow is the tour and I learned that TCB was Elvis's trademark. I feel so stupid sometimes. Took some pictures but I'm not sure if they will upload or not, so here goes. Well guess what this site is very difficult to load pictures. Plan B????? God Bless, Art

THE FIRST MOBILE UPDATE

2010-06-21T15:11:00.000-04:00

My first mobile upload while Matt is driving. A little difficult to type and ride, but here goes. Matt slow down, now!! This is not a motocross bike! Excuse me for a second. About an hour from Birmingham and then Memphis. Should get there around eight hopefully. Matt says we are not stopping until he sees the gates! Pictures will follow tonight. Back to my backseat driving. God Bless, Art

AND WE'RE OFF!!

2010-06-20T20:41:00.000-04:00

I hit the road to Lexington, SC about 2 today after church and a wonderful lunch with my lovely daughter, Lauren, who drove all the way from Asheville to be with me before I left. I also got to say bye to Dale (as in keep me out of trouble) and Lisa. I headed down 901 to catch 77 and that is the worst road for an RV. I don't think my suspension will ever be the same. I had to stop at the Flying J just to make sure the bike was still on the back. It was there, but one of the tie down straps had come unhooked and was looking for an early escape.

The ride south on 77 wasn't too eventful other than I worried about the oil pressure staying above 60 but less than 80 so I guess thats ok. I did call my GM guru, Rick who assured me all was good. I'm just a little nervous about that extra 15w 30 gulf oil we, I mean he, put in a couple of days.

Arrived at Matt's and he was all for stopping at Graceland in Memphis. I figured after his trip to the South of the Border this might be a step up on the excitement chart. Hopefully Matt will get all (not that much)his stuff loaded and we will head out early in the AM. The only disagreement so far has been who's going to be driving. I'm thinking of invoking the owner's rule. Have a great evening, God Bless, Art

Ode to REAGAN

2010-06-17T19:49:00.000-04:00

I know this will probably upset all the dog lovers out there, which I knew I was one of. Please do not hold me in complete contempt quite yet. Reagan is quite a dog well actually he is alot of dog. I never knew a yellow lab could be so determined, have unending energy, leap tall buildings in a single bound and chew more wood than the entire population of North American beavers. But Reagan was all that and more. I knew I'd have to make a decision sooner or later about my ability to control the large rascal. In the end it came down to making a decision about what was best for him and me. I took him back to the breeder today to hopefully find him a better home, with plenty of kids to hang out with and a backyard that he cannot escape from anytime soon. I figured that was so much better than leaving him stranded by the side of the road in Arizona or playing fetch with him at the south rim of the Grand Canyon. So I sit here in a bittersweet mood and pray he ends up at a great place.

On a lighter note, the porch light came in and I removed the old one all by myself. I even stripped the white wire without losing any fingers. Now when I went to strip the black wire things kinda went wrong. Seems I stripped it and pulled on it at the same time and whamo it ripped out of the RV. Now who would have thought a black wire would actually be attached to a BLUE wire. Only in America. Yes Dale came over and finished the installation, but I know I could have turned this 10 minute job into an afternoon of work for me.

My GM mechanic showed up tonight to change the oil in the Magic Bus. We only seal coated a small part of the driveway which I'm sure will go away after a few downpours. We,well, he did cap the leak eventually and everything is ok. No really it is, and now I can get my life back. (A little BP humor there for you folks in chester). That's it, keep Reagan in your thoughts and prayers, but away from any wooden decks. God Bless, Art

ALMOST TIME TO LEAVE!

2010-06-16T08:36:00.000-04:00

Well it's getting close and I'm just wondering what I've left off the list. I ordered a bike rack last weekend from Wal Mart and it showed up yesterday. I actually put it together and installed without having to call in any experts. Of course it hasn't actually carried any bikes yet so who knows. I did have a minor catastrophe yesterday morning when I decided to turn on the refrigerator and a/c at the same time on the Magic Bus. I guess 15 amps is just not enough juice to power both. Well when they both turned off a slight panic set in as thoughts of no refrigerator for a few months freaked me out. Being the expert electrician that I am, I immediately searched all the fuse boxes I know about in the RV (I'm sure there are at least two more places that I'm completely clueless about). Everything seemed in shape in the RV so I turned my attention to the power coming from the house. Checking that panel revealed no breakers that were tripped (I think). So I grabbed Lauren's hairdryer and figured I would test the outlet outside. I'm sure the neighbors were wondering why I was blow drying the vinyl siding. Well no juice was coming from the outside receptacle so at least I knew where the problem was.

After exhausting all possible remedies known to this man, I had to call in my master RV mechanic Dale who always drops what he is doing to help the helpless. Dale came over and flipped one switch and wham power was back. Who knew one little GFI button controlled all the outside receptacles??? It was worth buying him breakfast later. I sure am looking forward to calling Dale from New Mexico and asking what little button do I need to flip when there is no hot water in the shower!!

Well tomorrow night my GM guru Rick is coming over to change the oil in the Magic Bus. Yours truly would normally attempt this routine task, but I figure there's enough oil spills happening in the earth right now. But I will take copious notes on which bolt is the drain bolt because I'm sure the engine is held in place with the only other bolt under the Magic Bus. Ok I am off to start another project for somebody else to finish. God Bless, Art

WHAT A YEAR

2010-06-12T08:33:00.000-04:00

I can hardly believe it’s been a year since I died. At times it seemed to drag on, especially when I wasn’t allowed to drive, and other times it flew. It has been the best year of my life. I have learned and experienced so much and have felt “alive” more than anytime in my life. When it comes to God what can I say? He is GOD. Everything that has happened is for his glory. Personally I’m still overwhelmed and humbled by all the miracles and events that happened a year ago. To family and friends, you are the greatest in the world. Your love, kindness, caring, support and prayers are tremendous blessings in my life. When I cry out to encounter God, He tells me to look for Him in all of you! We are His greatest creation.

I’ve gotten the opportunity several times this year to speak about those events and the impact on my life. I’ve also been given the opportunity to speak several times on my new passion of nutrition and health. So ironic given my past experiences, which I’m sure GOD chuckles about all the time.

I never would have thought I would spend a year unemployed, on disability, on a heart transplant list and be leaving in an RV next week to fulfill a lifelong dream. I am so humble and grateful for this experience. And I get to share it with my youngest son. This trip may seem to be about “us” but it is really about GOD and the experiences he wants to share with us. At least I try to tell myself that all the time. I can’t think of anything that makes your heart more alive, than getting an opportunity to live out your dreams! GOD-thank you!

I know this is not a risk free adventure, but what in life is risk free? I do have some fear and have not thrown “caution” to the wind, but if not now, then when? I don’t mean this flippantly but I’d rather die at the south rim of the grand canyon following my dream, than laying in a hospital bed dying waiting for an event that may or may not happen. I think my family understands my heart in this matter.

I hope to update this blog with pictures (help me matt) and keep you all informed about our travel experiences, including all the unexpected miracles along the way!! The only plan, if there is one, is to pick matt up on the 20th and head to the big hole (Grand Canyon) on the 21st. Well it’s time to start packing or at least think about it. Thanks for reading and God Bless, Art

IF IT WERE THE LAST TIME....

2010-05-08T17:36:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I was out exploring the island and the following thought flashed through my mind. It probably borders on the morose but I felt the need to write about it anyway. My thought was “If this was the last time you’d ever see the beach, what would you do? And would you do anything differently?” On the way back to the magic bus my mind expounded on this thought and wondered if we applied that to everything in our life, how much better would this world be?

If it was the last time to see you husband would you really be upset that he left the toilet seat up? If it were the last time to see your wife, would you really be upset that she bought a coat that was on sale? If it were the last time to see your son, would you be upset he didn’t mow the grass yet? If it were the last time to see your daughter would you be upset because she came in late last night? If it were the last day on the job, would you be complaining about the copier or your co-worker? If it were the last time to see your father, would you be upset he took your cell phone away?

If we knew for certain something was going to be the last time ever wouldn’t we act just a little bit different? Maybe we would act just a little better, have a little bit more patience, show a little bit more love and have just a tiny bit more compassion for others? But so many of us (including me) just assume our wife/husband will walk in the door at night or our kids will always be safe or our job will always be there or our parents will live forever. I’m not suggesting this has to be our waking 24 hour thought, but just the next time we get ready to complain, be mad or angry, let’s just stop and put things in perspective. There are no guarantees in life and we may just pass this way once. God Bless you, Art.

INTO THE BEACH-REAGAN

2010-05-05T10:50:00.000-04:00

The rain stopped and I thought I’d head out to the beach with my good buddy Reagan this morning. I packed my chair including his ball of course. I didn’t know I was in for a spiritual lesson. Now the only part of this adventure I don’t look forward to is the actual walk to the beach, as Reagan normally pulls my left shoulder out of socket. Now as long as he hears my voice, obeys my command to heel we get along fine. But as soon as he starts looking around and sniffing every blade of grass, tree or shrub we have issues. Then it becomes a matter of whose will is going to win.

And then it came to me that this is exactly how my walk with God for 52 years has been. As long as I hear his voice and obey his commands we don’t have a problem. His yoke is light in other words. But as soon as I start looking at what the world has to offer and go to smell the grass on the other side of the path and struggle to follow my will, that yoke gets real heavy. And I think we all know whose will is going to prevail. Take it from me, free will without obedience is a recipe for disaster.

I’m afraid to admit however that I’m more like Reagan than I should be. I think with some daily training Reagan would learn the meaning of the word heel and I’d learn the meaning of obedience. I must be the world’s biggest hypocrite! You all have a great day and Reagan will try not to lower the seas today!! God Bless, Art

INTO THE WILD

2010-05-04T09:00:00.000-04:00

Every now and then you make a decision that alters the landscape of you life. Sometimes it changes who you are or defines who you are. Recently I made just one of those types of decisions. After getting my driving privileges back in March, I wanted to ride my motorcycle out west and see the big hole. It's really been a life long dream of mine to spend some serious time out west. Well somebody suggested an RV and just haul the bike. I originally thought that was out of the question due to prices, but then I started researching and low and behold the recession had hit the RV industry too!

Well the next thing you know, Ol' Jed's a millionaire. I'm now the owner of a 2002 Fleetwood Bounder thanks to the persistence of my son and friend. For the techies out there it is 36ft long on a workhorse chasis with an allison transmission and a vortec 8.1L motor and one slideout, with only 21,000 miles. That means it is a "gas" engine as opposed to a "diesel" motor. I like to think she is brand new. Now some people throw caution to the wind and do things without thinking thru the whole plan. I'd like to think I'm not in that crowd but this just might qualify.

After one month of ownership I almost qualify as an expert RV Mechanic advisor. Let's just say I know people who know people that know how to fix things. I've had a brake bulb replaced which just happened to affect the cruise control, replaced blown fuses, repaired a split in a plastic hose, ran a fresh water line to the freezer, hooked up the antenna, digital box converter and dvd player and replaced two hose fittings. Now I'm sure there were some other little things that just escape my mind at the moment. Did I mention satellite tv was installed last week after only one hour on the phone with Direct TV? Now how hard is it?

I am currently on my second (maiden?) voyage at the beach after a great 5 day stay in the mountains at Lake Jocassee. I'm currently at Huntington State Beach Park which is south of Myrtle Beach and north of Litchfield Beach in S.C. We (Reagan and me) arrived about 5 o'clock and I set up the RV while he terrorized his new neighbors. After dinner we found the beach and thankfully only a couple of people were on it as Reagan felt like he had the whole thing to himself. He hasn't figured out the whole wave thing but I swear I've never seen a dog run so much. The only thing that really slowed him down at all was a beached jellyfish.

It's raining today at least in the a.m. which is why I'm writing so early. I think a friend of mine, the only one I have, LOL is stopping by today sometime. I promise (kinda) to update this more frequently now that the great adventure "INTO THE WEST" is beginning. About the only thing lacking on the Magic Bus is the motorcycle lift which should be installed next week. Another degree in engineering was needed to figure that one out.

I love the sound of the ocean waves, or is it the idling of a diesel motorhome I hear?

Nutrition

2010-01-22T14:07:00.000-05:00

NUTRITION

I was asked a few weeks ago to speak on nutrition at church. Now I know what you are thinking, “Here we go again another talk about fruits and vegetables”. Well stick with me here because my take on it is a little different. It gave me the opportunity to organize my thoughts and review my life in regards to what worked and what didn’t when it comes to health.

We have a relationship and addiction to food. Most of us even have had or are currently having an affair with food. I am talking about the emotional connection we create with food. Our affair with food is very similar to a sexual affair. We lie to others and ourselves about what we eat and how much we eat. We hide from our spouse or children food that we want to eat for just our self. We feel guilty when we overindulge. We plan and dream about how good something is going to taste. Food is pleasurable and a reward for a myriad of life situations. Our relationship with food can be summarized as lying, hiding, guilt, pleasure, dreaming and fantasizing. This also doesn’t even address the issues of cost, timing or availability, but you get my point. Generally we have become an obese nation of people living to eat.

What will it take to become a nation of folks who just eat to live? First we have to break the emotional connection we have with food. This is why all diets do not work. They do not address this relationship. Reward yourself with anything besides food. Exercise, sports, hunting, shopping, sex are all better choices for rewards than eating. We must realize that it is a matter of life and death and disease. Eating to live is a choice, a lifestyle. Our health is not the responsibility of the medical community or insurance or some government program. WE are responsible for our HEALTH and until we end our affair with food it will be a fleeting goal.

The Bible says our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and we are to honor God with our body. You’re not going to want to read the next questions. But if it makes you change your lifestyle, so be it. Do we honor God when we go through the drive thru? Do we honor God when we go to the all you can eat buffet? Do we honor God when we go to the local tavern and drink a gallon of alcohol? My point is simply we treat our animals BETTER than this priceless gift God has given us called our BODY.

The first rule of life is that we are GIVEN a body for our journey. Love it, hate it, it’s the only body we will ever get here. Cherie-Carter Scott has a great book about this called, “If life is a game, these are the rules,” which addresses this issue in detail. Check it out, you can read it in a week or less.

In closing, the first step to a healthier, nutritious life is ending your affair with food. It’s a choice and a decision to be healthy. One that I wish I had made 30 years earlier.

God Bless,

Art

Passion

2009-12-16T19:45:00.001-05:00

PASSION

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about passion. It is defined as,” any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, as love or hate.” It is so remarkable and refreshing when you actually meet someone who has passion for what they are doing and who they are. It is so easy to see it in musicians who love what they are doing or preachers who have the integrity to speak the truth. Having been in the business world for most of my life, I’ve got to admit I rarely saw it in the various careers people chose. I would have to say I saw it most in successful sales people.

If you ask most people who they are, the answer you get most of time refers to what they do and not whom they are. This led me to the belief that what you do, is not who you are. Then one day young wise Matt and I were discussing this and he stated, “If you are following your passion, then you are what you are doing.” Which brings me to how many people are not following their passions? How many people are just going through the motions or punching the time clock mired in mediocrity? If you love what you are doing and doing what you love I commend you. But can you just imagine for a moment if we all were following are passions, how much better this world might be? How much more joy, love and peacefulness would we encounter on a daily basis?

So as we enter the holiday season and start a new year, maybe it’s time to check our hearts. Are you following your passion or stuck in a job that is making you miserable? When will you decide to be happy? When will you choose joy, peace and happiness over despair, drudgery and perceived security? Are you fooling yourself playing the game, “I’ll be happy when……”. Well times up, decide today. Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! God Bless, Art

The Last Samurai

2009-11-29T07:33:00.000-05:00

I watched The Last Samurai yesterday for maybe the fifth time in the last six years. And it made me stop and wonder, “What is it about this movie, that is so appealing?” One word repeated itself over and over in my mind and that word was Honor. And then I wondered is the appeal so strong because honor is so lacking in America today? Honor is defined in the dictionary as “honesty, fairness or integrity in one’s belief and actions: a man of honor.” Where do we find honor in America today? The most obvious place today is in the military. Sometimes we find it in churches, businesses and hospitals and rarely in government. I think honor has been on the decline since the end of the greatest generation that ever lived. For those that don’t know which generation that is, think World War II.

We watch a movie like, “The Last Samurai” and go wow where are the men like that today? Where can we find men of honor or for that matter a man of honor? Why is it so rare today? I’ll tell you why. Honor is not taught anymore in home or schools. Sometimes it’s mentioned in church. The only place it is being taught daily is in the military. When was the last time we talked to our kids about honesty, integrity, truth or love? Heck forget teaching them, when was the last time we actually practiced those things daily? Oh but I do these things. Really? We lie on our tax returns. Everything is a business deduction even our French poodle security dogs. We’re not honest with our spouse because we want to control their reactions. We only love our kids when they do something right; however right is defined.

What do we honor in America today? We honor a woman’s choice over the right to life of an unborn child. We honor the rights of a criminal over the suffering of a victim. We honor pleasure today over sacrifice for tomorrow. We honor being political correct over honesty. We honor ego and status over the truth. We honor athletes and entertainers over preachers and teachers. We honor sin over righteousness.

Unfortunately, the greatest generation was succeeded by the worst generation, the baby boomers. We traded honor, truth and integrity for free love, free homes and free lunches. We invented a buy now pay later industry in everything. Our generation has created more debt than the next 3 generations will ever repay. It just makes me wonder if a hundred years from now they will be making a movie about America called, “The Last Man of Honor”?

God Bless, Art

Part Four and we are up to date finally!

2009-11-13T09:05:00.000-05:00

I went home after the operation and had four days of no arythymias and then they came back with a vengeance. On the 23rd I enter a VT storm and have 49 episodes over three days. My ICD has recorded 91 events since it was implanted at the end of June. I’m thinking I deserve a statute at the Biotronik HQ or at least a plaque. So round two of ablation surgery is scheduled which turns out to last about 12 hours. In recovery Dr. Mehta says no more ablation surgeries and they wheel in the flat screen with a DVD player. I proceed to watch a movie on all the great aspects of an LVAD. A Left Ventricle Assist Device, a pump to pump for your heart, which incidentally is open-heart surgery as well. Joy Joy. And it is battery powered with two wires coming out of your side. These batteries have to be changed every couple hours and I’m thinking Oh boy the energizer bunny here I come. I guess that is plan b if the ablation does not work out.

After a couple of days recovery I’m discharged and a free man. That was October 1 of this past month. They schedule a six-week follow up visit for November 9. Yes this past week. Boy time flies when your having fun. I go to my check up on Monday thinking the last six weeks have been great, no shocks, no episodes, no runs no errors. Just some irregular heartbeats and palpitations. I go in thinking there is just a slight chance I’ll get my driving privileges back and truly be a free man. But Dr. Gulati for some unknown reason thought it would be a good idea to get my device interrogated and see what the activity looks like.

Well about an hour later, Todd from Biotronik’s comes in and does his thing. I’m all proud cause I know there is nothing going to show up and I ask,” So Todd how is it looking?” He says Art you have had 91 episodes in the last 41 days. I’m like get out of here! You got the wrong device, I’ve been fine. He says 67 of them have been in the range of 100-150 beats per minute, which require no therapy by the device. 14 of them have been VT’s, which were paced out, and 10 were SVT’s that were paced out as well. Then he says, “Well now you are up to 184 episodes since the end of June.” I’m thinking I should have that plaque any day now. Is somebody calling Guinness on this stuff? So as my driving privileges are headed out the door I start wondering how they might feel about me riding my motorcycle???

So the official answer is I can’t drive for 6 months from the last time my ICD shocked me. If all goes well I’m thinking March is a good time to get behind the wheel. Until then I guess it’s Oprah and Dr. Phil. I can’t wait to increase my wealth of useless information and bore you all with it. Take Care and God Bless, Art

Part Three

2009-11-11T16:04:00.001-05:00

I was discharged the next day with a list of exams, Doctors, Dentists and eye exams to track down for the transplant committee. It amazed me how thorough they check your body out to be a candidate for a transplant. I had to track down my colonoscopy, psa test, eye exam, blood profile, hep b vaccine, neurologist reports and even my dental reports. It felt like every day for two weeks I was going to a different doctor to get something. I know I was giving my taxi drivers a workout collecting all this information.

My dentist turned out to be the only hiccup, as he wanted to do a deep tissue cleaning before signing off. He felt like some of my molars might be susceptible to abscess once my immune system was suppressed. It would be a two-step process with one half of my mouth worked on each visit. The nurse asked me if next Thursday would be good for the first cleaning. Without thinking, I said sure, not realizing that would be my birthday. Yes, I, Lord of the idiots make a dental appointment on my birthday.

Next Thursday, the 27th rolls around and I get a ride to the dentist’s office. I get out of the car, take two steps and get very light headed. I’m thinking “Jeez I’m going to faint real soon if I don’t sit down.” The closer I get to the door reality is starting to slip away. I open the door and sit down at the first chair, thank God nobody was in the waiting room, and immediately pass out (or one might say die). Two shocks later, which I thankfully didn’t feel, I awoke to the TV showing fox news. Coming back to reality is always such a pleasant experience, knowing you didn’t die again and your heart is beating much smoother. I waited about 15 minutes to make sure everything was ok before I checked in. 15 minutes later they called me back and I slowly walked to the chair.

I explained to the assistant I had an episode out in their waiting room and she might want to keep an extra eye on me today. She took my BP, which was normal, gave me oxygen and leaned me back in the chair. As the dentist was numbing my mouth and the shots looked a whole lot more intimidating than they actually were, I asked her to give me some nitrous to settle my anxiety.

At the half way point the dentist stopped for a break. I looked at the assistant and told her I was feeling a little nauseous. She set me up in the chair and I looked at her and said now I’m feeling really nauseous. She handed me the wastebasket and turned off the nitrous, which looking back was all in the right order. As soon as I saw that wastebasket breakfast came up about eight times. I think everything made it into the wastebasket and very little clean up was needed in aisle 8. After a few minutes of pure oxygen I felt better and she leaned the chair back down. The dentist came back in and finished up without any more excitement.

I came home, sat down to relax and kept thinking, “I’m the only idiot on the face of the planet that makes a dental appointment on THEIR birthday and then dies in the waiting room and pukes in the dentist chair.” Note to self-No more dentist appointments on your birthday.

A couple of weeks go by with the usual stuff. On Wednesday September 9th I’m coming back from a breakfast meeting, look over to Scott my designated driver and say,” Scott I think I’m having an arythymias (because by now I pretty good at spotting these things).” As soon as I said it, my ICD delivers a shock and I feel it. Scott looks at me and I look at him and its like ok what do we do now. I told him to just get me home and I’ll call the doctor’s office as I already had a 3 o’clock appointment for there.

I get to the Doctor’s office and they “interrogate” my ICD, which basically means they download the information from it. The guy from Biotronik starts shaking his head as he is reading the printout. I said Mitch what’s up? He looks at me and says since August 18th the last time we interrogated your device you’ve had 24 episodes. I looked at him and asked is that a lot? He just rolled his eyes and took off for the doctor.
Dr. Mehta shortly came in and just shook his head. He said do you know you’ve had 24 episodes since 8/18 and have been shocked three times? I said yea and asked him is that a lot? He rolled his eyes also. He said the next time you get shocked, call us and we are going to do an ablation on you. He said we need to get these arythymias under control. I thought to myself now there’s the understatement of the year. Always the wiseass, but hey if we can’t have fun going through this crap, why go through it.
The next day, September 10th, I have a neurological exam to make sure they are going to put this heart in a body that has some brain control and can pass a field sobriety check. And on the way there I look at my designated driver, Stephen, and say, “I think I’m having an arythymia.” I wait for the shock, but it never comes as the ICD “paces” me out of this episode. I called the doctor’s office thinking ok it didn’t shock me but at this point it just a matter of time. We might as well schedule the ablation and get this thing over with. After a few phone calls they tell me to come to the hospital, do not pass go and a room is waiting for me.

So basically I spend another week in the hospital being observed, scaring nurses and waiting for Dr. Mehta’s schedule to clear up which happens the next Thursday the 17th. Around 10.30 that morning they come to take me down to the “pre-op” area. I call it the holding pattern as we are all either waiting to get in the O.R. or just came out of the O.R. Its also a little cooler down there and they really don’t like the phrase, “I saw the light” nor “just follow the light”. Of course you know who had to say them both, only to be reprimanded. Jeez these people need a little sense of humor down here, I’m thinking.

Around noon its my turn to go to the O.R. As they wheel me out of the holding pattern a nice black female minister asks me if I would like some prayer. I’m thinking do you really have to ask at this point or do you really see the fear of God written all over my face? I grabbed her hand and said Ma’am give it your best shot!! She prayed, I prayed and then off to the operating room.

The operating room is even colder than the holding pattern room. Upon entrance two attractive female ladies introduce themselves and tell me they are part of the anesthesiology team. I’m thinking, “Man God that sure was a fast answer! I must have died even before the operation began!” One lady leans down and asks me if I have my “dream” picked out yet? Jeez if I didn’t have this gown on. I of course tell her yes and it’s a brown-eyed girl on the beach. I am thinking how hard can it be to deliver this dream? Well about that time she puts some device over my face and out go the lights.

Well about seven hours later, I’m waking up at the Y on the racquetball court between Big Show Billy Evans and his son Jay. Where is the beach and the brown eyed girl is the only thing I’m thinking at this point. I’m so disappointed in that anesthesiology team. By the time they get back to the recovery room I’m shaking off the effects of the anesthesia to the disappointment of no brown-eyed girl, only to realize my groin has been hit by a hand grenade. A little bit later Dr. Mehta (an OSU graduate I might add) comes in and explains the whole seven hour ablation surgery in terms I’m sure he thought a seventh grader could understand. Basically he took a catheter up both sides of my groin and fished it into my heart and started ablating (cauterizing) electrical areas that cause arythymias. Naturally to find those areas they have to put your heart into an arythymia, go figure. He said they only had to do this about 7 times so they only had to shock me out of the arythymias 7 times. I’m thinking that’s why the brown-eyed girl never showed up. Who likes a lightning storm? Ok part four in a while. You all take care, and God Bless, Art

Part two

2009-10-01T19:29:00.000-04:00

After a week in the Piedmont Hilton, Dr. Patel urged me to go seek additional help at either the Sanger Clinic, Duke Hospital, Chapel Hill or Baptist. Being the bean counter that I am, this would be a no brainer as the world renowned Sanger Clinic was just down the street in Charlotte. Dr. Patel thought that was an excellence choice as they could do more “electrical” things for my heart. So late Thursday afternoon I was whisked to CMC in charlotte to the Sanger Clinic (actually one in the same).
Upon arrival their electrical team, heart failure team and transplant team visited me all within three hours. Hmmm maybe these guys are good I was thinking. Over the next couple of days they ran a few tests on me, including sticking my jugular vein, which was a new experience.

Monday morning Dr. Gulati and his transplant coordinator Katie came into my room about nine a.m. Dr. Gulati started out by saying, “Art, when we consider a patient for transplant the first thing we look at, is how close to a life and death situation the patient is in. Your arythymias are definitely life and death. As a matter of fact you have already died once and fell and hit the concrete once. We believe the best solution for you is a transplant. We could do an ablation but there are literally so many places electricity flows in your heart, I could not guarantee any kind of success with an ablation.”

I felt like a 50-ton hammer had just hit my head. Transplant???? That sounded so much like defeat. It sounded like so much pain. It sounded so wrong. How could I need a transplant at 52? Three months ago I was in the best shape of my life and now you’re telling me I need a transplant? I thought these guys were the guru’s; the best of the best and this is the best idea they can come up with? Surely they have a few more tricks up their sleeves. Devastated.

Katie they went on to explain the whole transplant process, which pretty much flew right over my head. I listened by I really didn’t hear what she was saying. I was still stuck in the devastation stage. Nothing would be done until Cigna approved something, yada yada yada. At three o’clock that afternoon Katie came in and told me Cigna had approved the pre process testing. Being all chipper, I gave her a high five, all the while not having a clue as to what was going to happen or why I would be happy with that.

Fifteen minutes later, nurses with needles show up and want arterial blood (which is quite different than regular old vein blood) and ten vials of vein blood. Next came a chest x ray and later in the evening an ultrasound from my head to my toes. Finally night came and no more testing for that day. I layed in bed and just tried to comprehend everything that had happened that day and then the tears starting flowing out of me like a tremendous rain storm. I felt like such a loser for not taking care of my heart earlier in life. I felt like I let my kids down for putting them through this and not being healthy for them. I felt way too young to have to have a transplant. I felt terrible I had worked so hard for five years to beat this only to realize I should have started 15 years ago. Why was I so young to be going through all this? I cried until I could cry no more. That’s when God told me, Art, I put somebody directly in front of you when this disease began. You not only chose to ignore him, your scoffed at him, scorned his lifestyle and made fun of him. You owe this man an apology. He was absolutely right because my boss at that time exercised everyday, ate healthy, didn’t smoke and drank very little. I chose to ignore all of that.

If there is a message in this blog tonight to you, it is this, “WHO has God placed directly in front of you for a PURPOSE, that you are choosing to ignore?” Do not make the mistake I made 15 some odd years ago that is now costing me my heart and maybe my life. I love you all and God Bless, Art

What I did this summer (part 1)

2009-09-08T16:48:00.000-04:00

I just want to thank you all for taking the time to read my posts. This blog has turned from a commentary on current economic conditions to the personal events of my life this summer. I’m not sure which one is more interesting. Personally, I find it therapeutic and beneficial to discuss what has happened and is happening in my life and hopefully describe a life lesson or two.

July was actually kind of uneventful. I had several lunch appointments during the month and several follow up Doctor appointments. My CT scan at the beginning of the month showed my two blood clots that were in the brain had dissolved naturally or maybe miraculous depending on your view, praise God. The maker of my ICD, Biotronik, enrolled me in two research studies. They are studying the leads coming from the ICD and also the impact of the ICD on strokes. I told them my fee would be a paltry $100,000 per study. They found very little humor in that and I’d get the standard nothing.

August however was a different month in my life. I think I might even call it a life-changing event month. I think that would make two in three months, what a great summer. I’m thinking I should ace my report, “What did I do this summer?” when I turn it in to my teacher.

On August 4th I decided to walk ole killer, aka Reagan around 6.45pm. It was hot and humid that evening. I figured the “noose” leash would be best because he actually was learning the word heel pretty good. We walked about three houses down when I got very lightheaded and felt like I needed to either sit down or pass out. I opted for sitting down and took probably a 5-minute break. When I stood up the feeling returned. After another 5-minute break I decided I better just head home, lie down and walk killer another day. I stood up again, walked about 20 feet and had to sit down again. At this point I’m having doubts about my ability to actually return home. I can see the house and know I could probably crawl from where I’m at. After two more stand ups and sit downs, I made it home. I unleashed killer and laid down for an hour.

Being the astute medical patient I am, the next day I figured I’d better call the doctor’s office and report this. After a day of phone tag I finally get a live voice on the morning of August 6th. The nurse says she will pull up my ICD records and in the meantime why don’t I try walking Reagan earlier in the day before it gets too hot. It sounded like a marvelous idea to me. This time I figure I’ll try the pinch collar so killer won’t drag me too far or too fast.

I walked to the end of my street, focusing on my heartbeat, rate and dizziness. So far, so good is what I’m thinking. I turned to walk home, took two steps and the dizziness returned. I’m thinking I need to sit down now, looked at the curb to sit down and pass out. A split second before I hit the curb I regain consciousness, but not in time to put my hands up, and think, “God this is going to hurt!” I hit the curb and think, “God that did hurt!” Blood starts pouring out of my head and face and good old Reagan is there to lick it up. I’m thinking, “Great dog why didn’t you break my fall?” and tell him to sit while I assess the damage.

My glasses were shattered, but I could still see up close. I took my shirt off to figure out where I was bleeding. My forehead was bleeding pretty good as well as the bridge of my nose and my lip. My teeth felt fine which made me feel good. I looked around to see if any neighbors were outside, but I guess at noon everyone is pretty much at work. Still being of sound mind, I think, I decided walking home is probably not an option and it might be time to pull out my trusty iPhone and call somebody.
My good friends Chuck and Laurie come to my rescue, take Reagan and me home, and clean me up. I look in the mirror at my face and think, “Dang this is going to need stitches. I hate stitches. As a matter of fact, I hate pain.” So off to the hospital I go. We walk into the emergency room and I’m thinking they probably know who I am, which is not a good thing. The ER doctor comes in and says, “Yep that’s going to need stitches, but first we need to do a CT scan.” That probably makes 7 or 8 ct scans in the past two months and I’m beginning to wonder what is the annual limit on these things. So the results come back with a slight skull fracture, a fractured nose and an air pocket behind one of my eye sockets.

By now the Biotronik guru is they’re hooking up my ICD to a monitor to get a reading and the cardiologist shows up, Dr. Patel. He tells me I had an 8 second arrhythmia, which the ICD “paced” me out of, and that two days earlier I had had 4 arrhythmia's, which it “paced” me out of. They decide that my ICD needs some fine-tuning to prevent me from hitting the curb again. I’m wishing they tuned me up correctly the first time, but I guess that is how it goes with technology. At least I’m still alive. Yes, I will count my blessings, not my sorrows. But I do deserve some sympathy for the pain don’t I?

Well as the ER doctor is about to start the sewing process, another doctor shows up at the end of my bed. Without the benefit of glasses, I take a stab at maybe that’s the ER doctor (DR. Ramos) that saved my life in June. So I ask him if he is Dr. Ramos and he says yes. He says, “You’re Art Townsend, I saw your name on the monitor. What are you doing in here?” Having not lost my sense of humor despite all of the blood, I replied, “ I just wanted to make sure you guys hadn’t forgot about me.” He laughed and said,”Forgot about you? Art you are a legend in this hospital. We talk about you everyday and the fact you actually walked out of this hospital!” I was like really? He then asked me if I had been calling his receptionist. I said yes, I just wanted 15 minutes of your time to thank you for saving my life. He said you don’t need to thank me. I said yes I do and I really appreciate what you did for me and thank you. He looked at me and said, “Art, I’ve been doing this job for 20 years and you are the 4th person who has ever thanked me.” He then recalled the other three people. I was stunned and asked him surely you get thanked everyday or at least once a week. He said Art all I ever hear is complaints or people cussing me out! That is so sad, so readers if you are ever in the ER please THANK your doctors and nurses.

I’ll finish this in my next post because I’m sure some of you probably have more to do than just read. God Bless you all, Art

Times Up

2009-09-02T21:11:00.000-04:00

It’s been awhile since my last entry and a lot has happened in the past two months. I think I promised what all this meant spiritually in my last blog so here goes. First, I want you to know that I’m one of those people who are always skeptical when I hear somebody say well God told me this or that. I guess I expect God to talk to me through a burning bush or some other outwardly magnificent sign that has no earthly explanation. But that did not happen in the hospital as far as I know. Maybe getting shocked 15 times though does qualify.

One night during the second week after I had time to start putting the pieces of my short term memory loss together, I started asking God why me. Why did you save me? What have I ever done to deserve being a recipient of not one, but many miracles? What do you want me to learn from this? God I’m all ears. I’m listening. You’ve got my attention. The next words in my brain came very clear and they were, “Time’s up!” “Art, your time was up, but I saved you. You’ve been putting things off that were supposed to be taken care of months ago. Times up for a lot of people, people who have been living with one foot in the world and one foot in the church. Times up for parents who haven’t told their kids what’s in their hearts. Spouses who go to bed every night and haven’t told their spouse something they should have weeks ago. Things are going to happen in this world that people without belief in Me will struggle to understand and comprehend. Time’s up!” But more importantly than the words was the distinct impression left on me as to the urgency of this message. I know I should have written about this much sooner.

A couple nights after this I had a dream, not a vision, of being in Jesus’ workshop. Yes it was a wood working shop and Jesus did look exactly like you’d expect him to. He was very busy working on a table saw or something and I was looking around the shop. It was lined with shelves from floor to ceiling and they were filled with “stuff” that I couldn’t remember. I asked Jesus whom all this “stuff” was for and he replied, “These are my gifts to Earth.” He then looked at me and without saying a word impressed upon me that he was very busy and it was time for me to go back. I walked out of his shop and woke up. I wish to this day I could tell you exactly what was on all those shelves and how large his shop appeared, but it is gone.

I found it all very interesting that God urgently wants us to live in the now and take care of business today and not tomorrow, or next week or next month. And that Jesus is busy making gifts for earth. Well, I hope he has a heart on one of those shelves with yours truly on it. I’ll explain more in my next entry. God Bless you all! Art

June 11th, it was just another day

2009-07-10T17:10:00.001-04:00

Wow, where do I begin. I just reviewed my last post about Life is Fragile. Everyone needs to reread it. I now have the answer to "Do you know when you are going to die?". It was just another day, June 11th, and I died. My day was just like all the rest (rut) with all the normal things. I had dinner with Lauren and went to the Y to workout. I basically woke up six or seven days later in the intensive care unit and was being called "the miracle man". I was confused because of my memory lapse. Through numerous conversations I was able to piece together a time line of what happened.

I went to the Y and at some point in my workout suffered a sudden cardiac arrest (sca). Miracle number 1, I was at the Y and not at home or by myself. The survival rate of sca is 5% and it is reduced by 10% for every minute the emt's do not get there. Larry Shields (angel) who happens to live one block over from me, performed CPR on me and when he tired out instructed another gentleman to do it. The EMT's showed up shortly, started an IV and shocked me four or five times until they got a heartbeat. I was loaded up and went to the ER of Piedmont Medical Center.

As family and friends arrived at the ER I was worked on by a host of nurses and Dr. Ramos for several more hours. Pastor Larry Soles of The Shield of Faith Church (you have to have a "Larry Team") showed up and immediately began speaking life into me, the medical staff and all of those around us. I believe this to be miracle 2. He returned to the ER numerous times to check on me and my progress. I survived 11 more shocks and 10 intubations. Simply miracle 3. I do not know why Dr. Ramos did not stop after the normal 4 or 5 shocks. What kept him going after 8 or 9 or 10? Obviously it was the grace of God! Somewhere around midnight I was stable enough to be on life support and transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU) where I spent the next day,friday, comatose all day.

The family was told if I hadn't awoke by Monday they were going to remove the tubes from me. My sister from Ohio and her husband (Pat and Randy) arrived late Friday and came to the hospital on Saturday. On the elevator ride up to the third floor, two african-american ladies entered the elevator and one of them began saying to the other, "You know God is a Healer. My God heals. Jesus is the healer." When my sister and brother in law got out of the elevator the lady turned around and looked my sister in the eye and said "You need to expect a miracle today". They went to my room and to their surprise I was sitting up with all the tubes gone and talking. Just fyi, this was my third day in the hospital. Miracle 4.

The next few days passed without much memory on my part. I was told one night I was very upset and Lauren put my iPod on me with the Jesus Culture playing. Evidently I calmed right down and in a few minutes I was singing "We Exalt Thee" at the top of my lungs. I'm sure everyone in the ICU loved that.

A few days later I remembered several doctors and nurses coming in and wanting to shake my hand and calling me the miracle man. One Doctor told me that no one is shocked 11 times and is sitting up in bed talking to him and walking the halls. The neurologist, Dr. Ryder Cook, came in and said he had never seen somebody survive with no damage what I survived. I asked him what he was talking about. He said they believed I had a large clot in my chest and with all the shocks, it exploded the clot into a bunch of small clots which most of them went to my brain. He said I had suffered numerous minor strokes and to his amazement NONE of them had caused any damage to me in terms of speech, motor skills, etc. He said most of them ended up residing in the part of the brain that controls short term memory. I told him that was obviously true. He said he had never seen this before, had no medical explanation and called it a miracle. Miracle 5. He said I still had two small clots in my brain and they were monitoring those and expected them to dissolve on their own.

I was having a hard time making sense of all this as I was just going to the Y. It was just another day. The nurse that intubated me (breathing tube in the throat) came by and wanted to meet me and was glad I was alive. He then said with some frustration (?) that he had intubated me 10 times and that he never intubates anybody that many times. I didn't realize until later how risky that procedure is to do even once.

The next few days passed without anything eventful happening from a medical standpoint. I had alot of visitors, which unfortunately I do not remember hardly any of them. My memory seemed to get better towards the end of my stay. About all I remember is after 10 or 11 days all I wanted was to go home and sleep in my own bed. Thats all I could focus on. The cardiologists wanted to put an implantable cardio defibrillator (ICD) in me to prevent anymore arrhythmia's and SCA. I really just wanted to go home, rest in my own bed, and think clearly about whether or not to put this device in my chest.

They wanted to implant this device on Monday and send me home Tuesday. Sunday night I talked to one the nurses, Yurly (sp) (the largest mexican woman I've ever met, she had to be six feet tall and spoke perfect spanish) for over an hour about the pros and cons of the ICD. I'd decided to put this on hold and just go home for a few days. Yurly came in an hour later and said you know Art, if you go home and have an episode there is good chance you would die or at least become a vegetable before the emt's could get there. I told she was exactly right and I had no logical response to that. I called the Doctor and said ignore my previous voice mail to him from an hour earlier.

That night I had the best sleep since I had been in the hospital. But of course in the middle of night they woke me up to take my blood pressure and temperature. This really upset me because I knew I would not get back to that deep level of sleep. But I rolled over and returned to that great sleep level. Sometime later, it could have been two minutes or two hours I was awakened by Yurly who was squeezing my hand and was eyeball to eyeball with me saying Art, stay with me, don't close your eyes, squeeze my hand. I thought I was still dreaming and was thinking Man this dream is almost real. I awoke again to Yurly's frightened face and squeezing hand imploring me to look at her and squeeze her hand. I noticed all the lights were on in the room and my bed was surrounded by what seemed like 30 nurses, all yelling and shooting stuff in my IV which was now a p.i.c whatever that is. I went out again only to be awoken by Yurly again. This time I realized it wasn't a dream and was actually real. I realized my heart was trying to beat its way out of my chest and I couldn't breath real well.

The nurses were trying to figure out which ICU had room for me and realized I would have to go to the CICU on the first floor. As they readied me for transport downstairs I realized I had a sudden urge to urinate. As we rushed down the hallways and were passing bathrooms I asked them to stop so I could relieve myself. Finally one nurse leaned over and said Art just do it now. I'm thinking not in the bed. But evidently that's exactly what happened. As the ceiling tiles rushed by and my breathing became more difficult, I think I realized this was a life and death situation. I prayed to God that surely we just didn't survive that last two weeks for me to die like this. I prayed this prayer over and over. I also was singing in my mind the Kim Walker song "I need you". I arrived downstairs in what had to be a Piedmont world record time. They were putting more drugs into me to break the arrhythmia. They had also put the pads on me to shock my heart again. After a little bit of time passed, I twitched my left leg and the nurse yelled out "He's out of it!" and my heartbeat had dropped from 219 to a normal 70. I had just survived a vtach arrhythmia. At this point, around 5 am, needless to say I was ready for anything they wanted to put in me. I didn't care if it was an ICD, ADD, PMS, CPA or anything else. Just as long as I didn't have another vtach it was good with me.

The ICD was implanted that day around 2 pm and two days later I came home. There were numerous doctors and nurses who did just miraculous work. There were also thousands of people who prayed for me whom I'll never meet and I am so humbled and thankful for their support. My family did the work of angels and for whom I will be forever indebted. My friends were phenomenal and whose caring and support I will always appreciate the rest of my life.

It's so ironic that my last post was about how fragile life can be. I died on June 11th, it was just another day.

The Miracle Man

Art

Life is Fragile

2009-05-05T10:13:00.000-04:00

Life is Fragile

Those were the words my cardiologist told me on my first visit to his office following a near fatal heart attack at the age of 37. Life is fragile and there are no guarantees. As I hear of people dying each day like Jack Kemp or Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart I am constantly reminded of those Doctor’s words nearly 15 years ago.

As we go about our life and get caught up in “living the dream” it is very easy to lose focus of just how fragile life really is. It usually takes a tragedy or a traumatic event in our life to “wake us up”. For some of us, like me, it might take several events to get our attention. All we have is right now; there are no guarantees to the longevity of your life. I have a good friend who used to say all the time, “Do you know when you are going to die? Well then you better start living.”

Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately depending how you look at it, I have had 3 or 4 situations where I was either dead or should have died. I died during my first heart attack and was brought back with a couple of jolts from the paddles. I have been in a car wreck and caught in two whirlpools while rafting that could have ended my life. I have also faced personal tragedies growing up which is probably another blog one day. And despite these life experiences, I continue at times, to get caught up in the day-to-day struggles, drama and frustrations of “life”. So I know it is very easy to lose focus of what really is important and valuable in this world.

So have your dreams and ambitions, succeed and do your best, develop the habit of going the extra mile and be who you were meant to be. But remember all these worldly “things” can be gone in the blink of an eye. What endures is Love and Relationships. Both are eternal. Remember, Life is Fragile. Cherish it and go live it.

God Bless, Art

Tea Parties

2009-04-16T11:41:00.000-04:00

The Tea Parties

I just wanted to comment on the Tea Parties. I attended two of them yesterday. The first one was in York, SC and the other one in Charlotte, NC. I would say the York crowd was around 200 to 250 people, which surprised me given how small York is and they just started about three weeks ago. The speakers were very good, inspirational and got the crowd fired up. I guess next time I’ll make notes about who spoke. I believe they had one politician, the head of the GOP in York County and an author from Prosperity, SC who was excellent.

The Charlotte gathering was probably around 2,000 to 2,500 people. Again this party had several good speakers and a very similar crowd. I would say the crowds are basically fed up with spending, taxation, the quick slide to socialism and loss of freedom and liberty. I loved all the different signs and messages. I did not see any violence, mean spiritedness or terrorists. I did see a lot of young children with their parents and would say it was a family safe environment.

There was also a lot of support from fairtax.org, which is basically a national retail sales tax at the 23% level. I can’t say I’m on board with this concept yet. I haven’t researched their information entirely, but on the surface I’m not sure a consumption tax is all that fair either. My gut feeling is the fairest tax is a flat rate tax. Everybody pays the same rate, which to me is the fairest tax outside of no income tax at all. Either tax plan is better than the extremely unfair progressive tax system we have now. My other recommendation is we change the election laws from one-person one vote, to one vote for every dollar you pay in taxes. Guess what, those 43% of people who don’t pay taxes, they get one vote. I know its hard to believe, but their was a time in this country (prior to 1913) when we didn’t have an income tax. So how did the government collect revenues prior to 1913? I’ll answer that as soon as I research it. But overall I am very pleased to see people protesting the direction of this country headed and I urge everyone to stay involved.

Now for the local Charlotte readers listen up. I have spent a lot of time reviewing the City of Charlotte budget and have given my concerns to Mr. Dulin who has been very receptive. The single biggest item that you need to be concerned about which is not getting much press locally is “A Streetcar Named Disaster” project. In these tough economic times, the city wants to spend $449,000,000 for a streetcar to run from J.C. Smith to Eastland Mall. I haven’t seen the economic benefit studies, which I am sure exists somewhere, but is this really a priority for Charlotte? Is it affordable? Is it needed? What and how large will the costs overruns be? Surely there are more important areas that need attention in Charlotte besides a Streetcar.

I urge you to get involved at some level. Call, write, email your elected officials and let them know your opinions. God Bless, Art

The end of Capitalism

2009-03-31T10:38:00.000-04:00

The end of Capitalism

It’s been awhile since I’ve written anything and I guess it’s because I’m in shock at what is happening to our great country and the overwhelming silence of the media and the Republicans. What is history going to say about this time period? How we were so selfish and self centered as individuals that we said nothing, did nothing and looked the other way as we let one man destroy our country?? What is it going to take to get you to do something? When was the last time you called or wrote or spoke to a congressman? Are you more concerned about the “security” of a job than the freedom of your kids and grandkids? In the 1930’s we saw one man’s rise to power ending the lives of 20 million people and now we are seeing another man’s rise to power ending the hopes, dreams and freedoms of 330 million people, not to mention the destruction of the greatest country ever.

In less than 90 days one man has spent more money than 330 million people will earn in the next 20 years. However, surprisingly enough, I had the “privilege” of hearing an “educated” colleague from New York tell me last week that he didn’t think this man was spending “enough” money. Needless to say, I was urged to leave the restaurant because of the volume of my voice during my rebuttal. It is time we step out of our comfort zones and stop being so damn quiet. Our country, our liberty, our freedom and the free enterprise system as a whole is under assault. We are at war and we are LOSING!

One man has taken over the financial and auto industries without a single cry from the media or Republicans. I promise you, if Ford can remain free of the Government’s insidious bailouts and produce the cars that “people” want to buy and not the cheap little electric unsafe green hybrid crap the Government thinks we should buy, they will be 10 times more profitable than Government Motors (GM). Actually this will be great to watch; free enterprise versus government interference. Just wait, we will be bailing out GM for years with the promise that profitability is just around corner. GM will be forced to produce a bunch of crap that nobody wants to buy except those under the delusion that global warming is a truth not a myth. The losses will mount as we subsidize overpaid union wages and benefits to retired workers for the next umpteen years. Ford on the other hand, if they remain free, will produce the cars and trucks that will actually sell at record levels resulting in record profits.

Moving forward. I got a letter in the mail yesterday from Lindsey Graham supposedly our “republican” senator here in S.C. It stated that nationalizing the larger banks, i.e. Citi and BofA might be required to recoup taxpayer dollars. His rationalization is the COST of the bailout has exceeded the current VALUE of these enterprises. Hmmm, why doesn’t he just mark to market the government’s investment, as everybody else is required? Yes I intend to and will respond to him…

And finally, last night on the local news they show a bunch of misinformed adults calling for the impeachment of Governor Mark Stanford because he DOESN’T want the federal stimulus money. And if he HAS to accept the money he wants to pay down the state’s debt, which the White House said NO you can’t do that. We have ONE fiscally responsible official in government and a bunch of entitlement minded adults want him impeached!! It’s a sad state of affairs in this country. I’m looking forward to the elections in 2010 and 2012. Until then, God Bless!

Art

2009-03-16T19:28:00.000-04:00

IS THIS REALLY THE WORST ECONOMY IN THE LAST MILLION YEARS?

For the past year all I have heard from all the experts is how this is the worst economy since George Washington. So the research staff here at “The Art of It” did some digging. Back during the President Jimmy Carter's administration of the late seventies, the media came up with the misery index (inflation rate + unemployment rate) to measure just how bad things really were. President Jimmy Carter's numbers from 1977 to 1980 were 13.6%, 13.72%, 17.02% and 20.68% respectively. In contrast, President Ronald Reagan had numbers from 1981 through 1988 of 17.95%, 15.86%, 12.82%, 11.8%10.75%,8.91%, 9.86% and 9.85%respectively. Notice a trend here??

I went all the way back to 1930 to the Great Depression and found the highest misery index occurred in 1934 at 24.8%. So how were the last 8 miserable years of George W. Bush you might ask? Could this really be the so-called worst economy since the great depression? His indexes were as follows: 7.53%, 7.39%, 8.27%, 8.18%, 8.49%, 7.84%, 7.45% and 9.65%, with an average of 8.1% over 8 years. Now for the life of God, can somebody please explain to me how the last 8 years have been the worst economy in the past million years?

In addition we summarized this data by political parties to see which party produced a better economy. The democrats had an average misery index since 1930 of 11.2% and the republicans came in at 9.4%. So the conservatives average almost 20% lower inflation and unemployment under republican leadership. Also as a point of reference, the AVERAGE misery index since 1930 is 10.3%. So George W’s highest misery index of 9.65% in 2008 is BELOW the 80-year average. Again how was this the worst economy in the last million years???? Maybe they are just preparing us for the next four years?

God Bless, Art

Truth

2009-03-05T10:23:00.001-05:00

TRUTH

It seems we are living in an age where style and image have become more popular and important than substance and character. Where what is said is more relevant than what we do. That it doesn’t matter what we do, as long as we look good doing it. That it is ok to “talk the talk” but not “walk the walk”. That we should be judged by our intentions and not our deeds. That mediocrity and just getting by are the norm. That achievers and producers of our economy should be punished and those who sit on the sideline of life and complain should be rewarded. Is this the America you want to leave to your kids and grandkids? Will somebody please have the guts to stand up and state the obvious, which is WELFARE, doesn’t work, hasn’t worked and will never work! The Bible says if you don’t work you don’t eat. Can it be any simpler than that?

Will somebody stand up and tell the President that public spending in excess of receipts is not STIMULUS. Obviously this administration has no desire to actually pay for any of this spending and its intent is to grow government and eliminate our freedoms. Creating class envy and redistribution of wealth has now reached epic proportions. I never thought I would to live to see the government of the United States of America try to control the Finance, Health, Energy, Education and Auto industries.

The Good news out of all this you might ask? We have an election in 2010 and I’m predicting right now you will see a conservative tide sweep this nation. And this time I hope we elect some conservatives who don’t give a crap about the drive-by media and the six o’clock news. This time I hope the elected conservatives will stick to their principles. It’s our job to hold them accountable. The revolution has started and so have the tea parties. Wanna join?
God Bless, Art

Integrity

2009-02-22T16:01:00.000-05:00

INTEGRITY

According to Webster the definition of integrity is:

1: firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values: incorruptibility

As the economy continues to spiral downward and the Washington elite flounders at answers, one word resonates in my mind. INTEGRITY. As I mentioned in my earlier post this whole meltdown was caused by DEBT. So what fueled the debt? Some would say greed but I propose it was a lack of integrity. This lack of integrity was abundant at all stages of the process, from the borrower to the broker to the banker to credit rating agencies to Wall Street and ultimately, to Washington, D.C.

What’s interesting to me is we demand integrity from our spouse or significant other, from our pastor, from our accountant and our doctor. But we do not demand integrity from athletes, entertainers, the media and politicians. Why do they get a free pass? Especially the politicians who are foolishly and arrogantly throwing our money away and racking up debts that will shackle the next three generations? When are we going to hold our Senators, Congressmen and our President to the same standards of integrity that we expect and demand from our spouse and Doctor?

America, it’s time to raise the bar for those we elect, for those who are in leadership positions and most of all, ourselves. It’s time WE demand the same level of integrity in our candidates and leaders that we demand from our Pastors. We must elect those whose actions speak louder than words, and who have faith in something bigger than a government, and who have the integrity to put the interests of the United States in front of their own.

God Bless, Art

The Economy

2009-02-16T19:51:00.000-05:00

THE ECONOMY

I’m not saying I have a boring life or anything, but I spent 3 hours on Sunday watching the bank hearings from this past week on c-span. No, I did not miss the Daytona 500. To begin, some of the questions posed to the bank leaders were pathetic. Like how much did you make in salary and bonuses for 2008? Only to be followed up by what did you make in 2007? The best question I heard came from a congressman from N.C. He asked all the leaders, “What can the government do to fix or speed up the recovery from this recession?” It was the only question that did not reek of class envy.

I wish I were on the panel because I would have jumped all over the answer. First, you can lower the corporate tax rate to 15%. Second, you can eliminate the capital gains tax rate for three years. Third, you can triple the investment tax credit, sir. Fourth you can instruct the SEC to quit reviewing FAS 157 and suspend it immediately. FAS 157 is the infamous “mark to make believe” accounting rule. Fifth, create a substantial tax credit for hiring new employees for the next two years.

We are in our current economic situation because of one word. DEBT. And just between you and me, creating more debt, whether it’s at the corporate level, the individual level or at the government level is NOT going to fix the situation. Spending more that you earn is a recipe for disaster, again at any level. Loaning money to people who can never pay it back is also ludicrous. I will admit there are situations that call for the PRUDENT use of debt, notice the key word there, but we as a nation passed prudent about 30 years ago.

As a Nation and as individuals we can and we must get back to living within our means. We must quit spending more than we earn. It’s ok to tell our kids no we cannot afford something. We must get out of debt as soon as humanly possible. Cash is King. The single greatest wealth-building secret is to pay your self first. Put 5 or 10% (whatever you can afford) in savings or in an IRA, 401K account and leave it there. Learn to live on 90% of your earnings. For some, all you would have to eliminate is Starbucks from your life. Trust me, the two trillion dollars our government has spent in the last two weeks is only going to make matters worse. Be prepared. God Bless, Art

Leadership

2009-02-10T10:35:00.000-05:00

LEADERSHIP
I was going to title this “Where is the leadership in Charlotte today?” But after much thought I figured it was best to just title it Leadership. When I moved to Charlotte in 1979, which makes me a Charlottean just about, this city could count on four or five guys to get things done. I’m thinking of guys like Bill Lee, John Belk, Johnny Harris, Hugh McColl and Ed Crutchfield to name a few. If something “good” needed to be taken care of the in the city these “guys” got it done. Whether it was roads, utilities, developments, recruiting, arts, quality of life or anything else, you could count on these guys putting Charlotte first. These “men” knew if they put what was best for Charlotte first, everything else would fall into place.

I have jokingly said to my friends over the years that Charlotte was “Babylon”. Babylon as you recall was at one time the wealthiest city in the world. One of the best books you can ever read, which I recommend all to read, is “The Richest Man in Babylon”. This book will change your life if you will only follow its simple principles. I will discuss this in another blog soon.

Charlotte over the years has evolved into a banking center, which is not a bad or evil thing, but has created a culture of climbing the corporate ladder and an attitude of what’s best for me or “what’s in it for me” mentality. Where are the leaders of Charlotte today? Or better yet, where are the leaders of America today? Where do you turn today for integrity and truth? Who is willing today to stand up and say this is what needs to be done? Is government the answer to our economic problems or the cause of them? Is Free Enterprise the enemy now? Are the free thinkers and free talkers soon to lose their freedom all for the sake of our presumed economic security? I would love to bring Paul Revere, John Hancock and Benjamin Franklin back and see their reaction to the government today. I’ll bet anybody they would lead another revolution. But more importantly, when are the “men” living today going to get the courage, stand up today and say enough is enough? I say it’s time to quit hiding behind the illusion of security and a salary which could be eliminated tomorrow and probably will and get back to those principles that made America great! Speak up, write, get involved and tell the congress and senate, we don’t need the bailout! We need less government, not more. We need freedom and the pursuit of happiness, not more taxes and regulations! Just turn your TV. off and do something! Do something now!

How Ken Lewis can save B of A and his job

2009-02-06T14:41:00.000-05:00

How Ken Lewis can save Bank of America and his job.

What is it going to take to keep Bank of America from becoming The United States Bank of America? It’s really very simple for Ken Lewis to keep his job and the bank from becoming “nationalized” as if it already hasn’t happened.

Step One. Sell Merrill Lynch immediately. I just don’t believe you can merge stockbrokers with bankers. The cultures are so different and trying to cram down the B of A way to a bunch of commission brokers is not going to sit well. Now Art who is going to buy it? The one potential buyer is Goldman Sachs and maybe Morgan Stanley. Who else is left? But forget the culture meltdown, I still say who knows what is on the huge balance sheet of Merrill’s? Which might explain the stock price of B of A. Sell it for whatever you can get, transfer the government guarantees and payback a portion of the bailout money.

Step Two. Raise 50 billion in capital asap. Get on one of the remaining B of A jets and head to Abu Dhabi or China and make friends with the oil rich now. Pay the U.S. government back the $45 billion bailout and get them out of your business today. It is absolutely insane but predictable for the government to be capping executive pay and telling the bank to stop sport sponsorships. I guess O’bama wants the U.S. seal popping up all over the next super bowl.

Plan B. Bring Hugh McColl out of retirement.

Is Merril Lynch the next Golden West?

2009-02-06T04:00:00.000-05:00

I wrote this back in October of 2008 and just wanted to post it since I just started this blog.

Is Merrill Lynch the next Golden West?
I had a discussion with a friend and banker at Wachovia this week. After asking if we were hiring and then sharing the roller coaster of his career and net worth tied to Wachovia’s stock price over the past 10 days, he made a comment that has stuck with me. In a tone of shock and disbelief he stated, “I can’t believe one decision by one person could bring down the 4th largest bank in the country”.
It made me wonder if we are not going through the exact same thing again, “one man, one decision and the largest bank in the country” with BofA. Is Merrill Lynch the next Golden West? Now understand I have no ill feelings at all with Ken Lewis and how he has performed as CEO of BofA. It just seems like there are a couple of similarities between the two transactions. First, both are huge deals, 24 Billion and 50 Billion. Second, both are quick over the weekend announcements. Third, it appears to be another decision made with the lack of board involvement, at least publicly.
The print and news media has flooded us in the past two weeks about the potential impact to Charlotte of losing Wachovia. So now the powers to be are scrambling to minimize the effect of losing the second largest employer in the city. So I must ask are we again ignoring the impact of one man, one decision at the largest bank in the country? Should we not at least be asking what due diligence has and will be done on the Merrill acquisition? What risk is BofA assuming with this deal? Has Merrill’s Trillion Dollar balance sheet been adequately investigated and analyzed in light of our recent $700 Billion bailout of financial institutions? Because let’s face it Charlotte, if BofA is wrong about the value of Merrill’s Assets, we will all be asked to anti up again to bail out an institution “too big to be allowed to fail”. Can Charlotte handle the loss of TWO financial institutions? I hope two years from now “The tale of two Kens” has a different ending.

Art Townsend
Rock Hill, SC
B of A Stockholder