Hung out at the Lawco Freedom Fest in Rotary Park last night with Steph, Dillan, Lexi and their friends. It was a mighty fine time with live music, vendors and good vibes. Click Lexi's face art to see the photos for the evening, while I put together a composite video of all the footage I shot.

If the video fails to load, click Here.

Well, that was interesting! I just got back from the Loretto Farmers Market, which was down the road about 11 miles, and opened at 1600. I mean really at 4pm, on the dot. There was a huge line of people lined up at the first stand (ok, about 10 people I reckon) and I asked the lady in the front of the line why they were standing there and she said waiting till 4:00.

Ok, that was 5 minutes away and I got it that nobody was selling nothing until that time. The big ol boy at the first stand said in a real thick southern drawl "when the church bell goes off". Sure enough, the bell sounded and the crowds descended on the market.

I've been to a lot of markets in my time but this little thing was unique. I bought some eggs laid this morning, a couple of breads, two squash for a quarter a piece (with two radishes tossed in for free) and some homemade ice cream that I ate before i got back to the truck. Click the photo below to see a few shots...

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I've installed a new video editor called Filmora9. It looks great so far and here's a short little snippet I just whipped up for the hell of it.

If the video fails to load, click Here.

The Parkinson's tremors get worse by the day and they're slowly depleting the Dopa in my Mine. What happens when you run out of Dopa? That's a depressing thought...

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Every so often you need to upgrade your tools and my latest new shooting rig is a Sony A6500 with a 16mm Sigma lens mounted to a hand grip and a really solid mini-tripod.

A man must be needed to feel worth, otherwise doubt and decay invade his soul and his internal flame begans smoldering like a campfire in the rain.

Oh well, at least I don't have to buy my fruit in California.

...even if they do have excellent healthcare.

I just got back from a little jaunt over to Myrtle Beach, SC for a fresh fish sandwich. It was OK, came with extra hush puppies, a homemade chocolate chip cookie and a hug. I really wanted to get down to the water, put my toes in and take a picture, but I didn't make it. I tried approaching the Atlantic Ocean from south of town but the private home owners had taken over all the sand and by the time I found a public beach all thirty or so parking spots were taken along with ominous signs about not parking illegally. I said screw it and drove to Atlanta, GA.

I pulled into Atlanta just as the sun was going down, about 8:30pm. It's a big damned town with tall skyscrapers towering over the freeway that runs through it. There were also thousands of cars on the road, I assume a Braves game must have just ended, and there was a torrential thunderstorm with lightning and hail going on. Oh well, I wanted adventure, as long as I could survive it and write about it the next day...

All told it was a fun little trip. I made it through States I've never been to before and the vibes were good. I travel with the window down, no A/C, and the one thing that distinguished one State from another was it's smell. This is a very hard property to quantify, but it was real for me.

I didn't take any photos but I did grab the camera to shoot a video clip of the countryside coming into southern Tennessee this morning:

If the video fails to load, click Here.

My truck has had an issue lately where it vibrates up front when I downshift at a stop. Riley suggested "motor mounts" and after some internet research, I concurred. I ordered two engine mounts and a tranny mount from the local parts store yesterday and picked them up this afternoon. Now I needed someone to do the work.

I checked with the Mazda dealer in Huntsville, AL and they wanted $318 for the labor. Nope, nice benchmark though, and then I checked with Tim who did my clutch and he wanted $260. I was hugely disappointed in this quote, hell he charged me $300 for the full clutch job! That left me to call around the local repair places to see what I could find.

Finally, one place told me what I wanted to hear: they couldn't get to it but they knew this guy who has a shop. His name was Johnny, I called him up and he said sure, $100, can you bring it out here now?

The guy turned out to be great, I've made a new friend and I've found a new mechanic. When he said yep, one of these front mounts is broken hell, I should of been wearing my white pants! I took a picture of his main tool box that he made out of a hospital food cart and drove off with no vibration, and a happy man.

Had a fun time yesterday afternoon hanging with Steph's family up at Natchez Trace Campground. Michael did his famous seafood boil and it was as good as advertised. As to the title of this post, well, you'll just have to click on the photo below to see the rest...

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I went into beautiful downtown Lawrenceburg (he says facetiously) today and set the f-stop high for some raw depth of field shots, and I came away with 55 (click the photo below to see them). This poor town is sorely in need of a makeover...

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The campers in the campground across the creek have to drive here to enjoy this while I just have to walk.

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How about a peaceful lake?

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Piper getting her afternoon rough up and brush.

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Just playing around with some stuff...

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My kitty Piper, chillin on the bed.

I've been living without wi-fi for more than a week now, and everything is fine. I have to manually turn my lights on, and flip a switch to get coffee, but what the hell else am I going to do with my time other than to be a slave to my devices.

I take very good care of my little truck. Over the years since I bought it off Riley at 86K I've pumped a lot of money into her and she's paid me back with the security of knowing she will always get me home.

Riley did the clutch, along with a timing belt, before he turned it over but now she's over 200k. I had another timing belt and water pump installed in Driggs last year and the new clutch I've been hauling around in a box for a couple of years finally got installed today.

Tim is my new favorite mechanic now! He's the main guy in the used car shop I drive for and he picked the truck up last night and dropped it back off this evening, job done. And, he brought the cost in at well under half of what I would have paid a regular shop, who think they're really worth the bullshit amount of money they charge per hour.

My neighbor the groundhog has a mate!

If the video fails to load, click Here.

Fifty bucks. That's what I make running a vehicle down from the Nashville Manheim vehicle auction and todays ride was a 2006 Toyota 4-Runner with 256k. I don't know about these jobs until the night before, when Tim's raspy voice fills my phone and says 7:00, you ready to roll?, and I've yet to say no.

I enjoy the runs, the toughest part is just figuring out where the trunk and gas cover switches are for each vehicle. As for the money, I've made more than that an hour several times in my life, but I ain't proud, I'm retired.

I finally got around to getting Tennessee plates on my truck today. This pretty much wraps up my legal status around here, as I've now got:

  • A birth certificate that matches my name.
  • An unrestricted Passport.
  • A Tennessee Commercial Drivers License.
  • A perfect driving record.
  • A current DOT physical.
  • Current and valid vehicle insurance.
  • A fishing license.
  • A lifetime pass to our National Parks.
  • I can pass an FBI fingerprint background test.
  • I can pass a drug test.

Now I just need to get my ass out there and do something with my life!

Piper's getting pretty relaxed outside these days, I just hope nobody steps on her...

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