Vince Proves You Can Go Home!

One of the perks of my job is the chance to visit family and friends scattered all over the country. Joan and I have had the opportunity to see sisters, nieces, nephews and friends that had moved away all while being paid to do so. On this trip I loaded into the Rosemont Theater in Rosemont IL, a western suburb of Chicago. Then on Wednesday I got to have dinner with an old friend I haven’t seen in at least ten years.

 I had reconnected with my friend Jesse through Facebook. We met up at the restaurant where I finally got to meet his daughter. She is now ten years old and I had only seen a picture of her when she was born. Jesse and I picked up where we left off those many years ago. We talked about family, friends, and the good times we had. I know it won’t be another ten years before I see him again I will make sure of it.

I then headed back to my little hometown, Dixon IL. I moved to Dixon when I was ten years old from Columbus Oh. At the time it was awful and horrible. My sister Nancy and I thought our lives were over, when really they were just beginning.

Dixon is a small town, population now is 16,000. When we moved there it was around 13,000. I remember going uptown on Saturday, after getting my allowance for mowing the yard and other chores, and going to Fulton’s Drug Store. They had a soda fountain, so my friends and I would get some lunch and head down to the basement of Fulton’s where Dave’s Hobby shop was. Oh it was a great place to be when you were kid. There were model trucks and cars and Dave was a master model railroader. All the local train buffs came in on Saturdays to check out what was new and get tips from Dave. Dave took pictures of trains and knew all about the different lines of the time. I was more interested in the model trucks. Dave would let me open the box up and look at the instructions so I could buy the right colors of paint I would need for my project. He would also order models for me, but I had to put down a $5.00 deposit. Then Saturday night was movie night at the old Dixon theatre. I saw Smokey and the Bandit there at least fifty times. After the movie I would slide down in my seat so no one could see me and wait for the next show, I only had enough money to see it once so I made sure I got my $5.00 worth. I would repeat this process over and over while it was there.

On this particular trip back I had a mission. The local VFW has built a park in memory of the local veterans. When my dad was still alive they had just started to build it and now it is quite the place. It was all done with donations from the members as well as some of the local businesses. It is maintained by the members and they have done a great job. My sisters and I bought a plaque for my dad and I finally got to see it. It is a great way to remember him and all of the others who have served. There is also a 9/11 tribute as well. The local chapter of the VFW should be proud, they have done great job.

 

Now that my trip down memory lane is finished it’s back to The Rosemont Theatre to load out on Sunday and head for Saginaw Mi. I hope to see Jesse again and that next time Joan will be with me.

Does Kalamazoo know it's 2011? by Guest Blogger Jim

I can't believe we are in a city that supports a large University (Western Michigan) and we can't get on the internet using our wireless cards. As most of you know, we use the internet to keep in touch with family and friends, however in Kalamazoo we are pretty much like they are...out of touch.

For those who know me you realize I am about to "go on a rant". 

I have been to third world countries that had better internet access.

We are in Kalamazoo, Michigan...home of Tim Allen's alma mater...Western Michigan University. However, if you need access to the internet and do not have the security codes for a WiFi network, forget it. Neither AT&T or Verizon has a good connection here. It takes a couple of tries and about half an hour just to send an email. Surf the web? Forget it. If you aren't booted off, which is highly probable, it takes longer than my old dial up connection to load. Facebook...nope. Search for trucks? no dice. How's a guy to find a filipina bride with such conditions? And talk about frustrating, how about when you are dominating someone in a game of backgammon or poker and get the old disconnect icon? arrrrrrggg!!!! Oh well, maybe I can call Sarah the operator and she will connect me to Aunt Bee who will tell sheriff Taylor that I need to borrow Barney's bullet. I'm not that old...I saw it in reruns.

OK, enough of my diatribe. Except for the rain, cold, and internet, Kalamazoo is a fairly nice venue. Large theatre thanks to Tim Allen's generosity. City is pretty cookie cutter plain with few restaurants, unless you like Jimmy John's. Next up is the sprawling metropolis of Des Moines, Iowa. for the weekend. Don't worry Joan, I will keep an eye on Vince if we go to Iowa 80 T/S. Hello and thanks to the loyal followers of Joan's blog. See you on the road....Jim

Old Theatres Charming but Challenging

Palace Theatre - Louisville

As a guest blogger I really didn’t know what to write about. Then we arrived at our weekend location and I realized I know old theatres are a pain in the butt to deliver to.

Which brings us to the Palace Theatre in Louisville Ky. Built in 1928 and refurbished in the 1990’s it is a real theatre. The lobby and the theatre are both very colorful and ornate. The vaulted ceiling has little twinkling lights that look like stars when the lights dim. There are sculptures on the velvet covered walls; it is actually a real treat to come to these time capsules.

Alley leading to loading area

2nd Alley leading to loading area

Loading area

That is until we load in. The first task happens a week before the show is scheduled to appear at the theatre. Our lead driver Vic tells the Head Carpenter for the show, we will need a single axle tractor to get the trailers into the unloading area. Single axles are smaller cabs not used for long hauls. Our road tractors are too long to maneuver through the alleys. That’s right I said alleys, plural, more than one. First you have to make a hard right turn into the first alley missing the building on your left and the old time light pole on your right. Then proceed down the alley just barely missing the dumpster and fire escape to make a hard left to the end of the building then another hard right to the open area in the back of the theatre for the unload.

Once here the crew has their own kind of fun. They must push heavy crates, light racks and set carts over broken and cracked asphalt, down a ramp and onto the stage to set up the show.  Then since there is no place to put the empties they have to reload them back onto the trailers until Sunday. Tonight they will unload the empties, this is known as a box call, push everything back inside, load it up push it back up the ramp to reload the trucks.  Throw in some snow, ice or rain and it is a real good time.

This set up was probably pretty good for the trucks of the time, but not so much for us. I really love visiting the old theatres, but I don’t look forward to loading in and out of them.

 Vince Connell   

Go Vince! Score One for Trucking!

Vince's response to the RRder's letter to the editor about trucking not paying their fair share for road repairs was published in today's paper.  The usually laid back and calm Vince will always come out fighting if you attack his livelihood!  So proud!

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/editorials/stories/2011/03/05/trucking-industry-pays-its-share-for-road-upkeep.html?sid=101

When your parent becomes your child!

Although the main focus of the blog is usually on the funny things that happen and great places we get to see along the way.  There is a part of my life that I said would be a part of the blog.  That part is far from fun but is a part of life that many people my age face, it involves caring for my almost 89 year old mother.  The woman who took care of me, taught me to be a good caring person and whom I could never repay for taking care of Elizabeth, so I didn’t have to put her in daycare. These days I find myself being more a parent to her than a daughter and wondering if I am ever doing anything right.

An example of this came to me when I started scheduling Mom’s quarterly medical appointments this week.  She needs to see her eye doctor, dentist and podiatrist this month.  While making the appointments I realized that my brother and I never got away from taking someone to the doctor.  If you have a child or elderly parent you know exactly what I am talking about.  When your child(ren) is/are young you seem to always be going to a doctor.  For me, Elizabeth had an added attraction known as a sub-mucus cleft palate.  The first eleven years of her life she and I went every three months to ENT appointments, these visits usually resulted in a trip to Children’s Hospital at least once a year for tubes.  I can’t tell you how many games of I Spy we played in waiting rooms. On top of that we had the usual pediatrician, dentist and orthodontist appointments.  Throw in the times she was sick during the year and well you get the picture.  I remember thinking as she got into high school how wonderful it would be to no longer have so many appointments. 

But, oh how life loves to play tricks on you, because just as Elizabeth was reaching her senior year of high school it was time for Mom to give up driving.  At 81 her reflexes and perception were off and it was time for her to stop driving.  With her no longer driving, getting her to doctor appointments fell to John, Elaine and me.  I remember early on before I took on scheduling the appointments, there were more than a few times when John and I would be very busy at work. Then out of the blue Mom would call one of us to tell us she had a doctor appointment the next day.  Talk about having a homicidal thought moment, it took us a couple years to break her of that habit, trust me.  She didn’t understand why we couldn’t just take off work with a days notice.

Now instead of going less, I go to more appointments and find myself still sitting in waiting rooms filling out forms, answering questions about how some one is doing and monitoring prescriptions.  However, this time is way tougher than when it was Elizabeth, because now I deal with someone who denies there are problems, lies about what is really going on and tries to get out of going to the appointments, way more than my little one ever did. (With the exception of when Elizabeth had to go for surgeries - she could be a tiger at times. she once jumped out of the cage/cart on the way to surgery. I will always be indebted to that wonderful orderly that caught her.) In the last year I found myself in situations where I could tell the doctor didn’t know who to believe.  It is so frustrating because all I want is for her to get help and she just wants to be left alone or thinks there should just be a magic pill to make everything better.   

While I know it may appear I am looking for sympathy or complaining about my life, that couldn’t be farther from the truth.  I know I am blessed to still have my mother.  But working through these situations is way harder than parenting ever was for me and I know I am not alone in my struggles.  Over the years hearing stories from those in the same situation has helped me greatly. I hope my stories will help others in similar situations, while letting them know they are not alone and that most importantly there are no right answers.