Billy Finch’s Weblog

Dang it’s hot in Homestead!

Just got home from a great vacation in Richmond Va. where we went up to see my folks, also my sister and her family. I was very sad to leave to come back and can’t wait to get back up there again. The folks are getting older and the big ol’ house and yard is getting a bit much for them so I had a plenty of chores to keep me busy while we were there, but we did manage to get some fun time in.

Here are some highlights in no particular order. I’m not as organized as some of the other bloggers in my blogisphere (I never thought I’d have a “blogisphere”, what a trip!) so I kind of needed to wait till I got home to put my thoughts together. My top takeaways from the trip are:

1. I miss my folks and hate to leave them. I’m not sure what I’ll find the next trip, seems like things stood still and the same for a lot of years but now they’re changing daily. I don’t like that.

2. I don’t dislike doing chores when we’re up there like I used to, it keeps us busy and the family appreciates it.

3. Had a seriously excellent crabcake sandwich at a place called “Wheezy’s” in downtown Richmond on Cary street. My sister Diane works down there at a little boutique shop. Good stuff!

4. Also on Cary street is a guitar shop called The Guitar Works that used to have luthier’s build custom guitars and you could watch them. They now have them made but it’s still a pretty cool place to visit. I took my nephews Cameron and Chase in there and they really had a ball. Chase honed in on the banjo’s for some reason and I think he’ll end up with one for Christmas.

5. I’m astonished at the growth that’s still going on. The market problems haven’t really hit Richmond as bad as the rest of the country and they are just building away. When a I was a kid we lived on the far outskirts of Richmond in the West end of Henrico county. Now it’s just blown past that area and really congested.

6. Gas was between $3.93 and $3.99 per gallon no matter where you went pretty much. There were a few places that didn’t get the memo, but it was kind of wierd.

7. The roller coasters at Busch Gardens Williamsburg are just simply of the hook incredible. Went with my sis and my nephew Cam and a had blowout great time. Were worn out after.

8. My daughter Ashley rode her first BIG roller coaster at Busch Gardens, “Apollo’s Chariot” and was hooked. She rode all 5 coasters that day and rode ”The Griffon” 3 times. Cam and I would look over at her after it was over and she’d have this glazed look on her face, then burst into this huge smile and was like “YEAH that was cool! YOU ROCK SPARKLES!!

9. I missed being at church this past Sunday, can’t wait to get back to Life Pointe Church at the Flagship Cinemas movie theater on Campbell Road across from the new Homestead Pavillion mall right next to the Florida Turnpike near the new Baptist Health / Homestead Hospital.  

10. Sucks I got to go back to work Monday, BLECHHHHHH!!! (more on that saga later…)

Billy

We’ve been here in Richmond for a few days and having a ball, hadn’t had much time to blog but will get better about it.

These words of wisdom were passed on to my wife from a friend of hers and thought they could helps dispell some misconceptions women have about men:

1. Men are NOT mind readers.

1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You’re a big girl. If it’s up , put it down. We need it up , you need it down. You don’t hear us complaining about you leaving it down.

1. Sunday sports. It’s like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be.

1. Shopping is NOT a sport. And no , we are never going to think of it that way.

1. Crying is blackmail.

1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one :
Subtle hints do not work !
Strong hints do not work !
Obvious hints do not work !
Just say it!

1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That’s what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.

1. A headache that lasts for 17 months is a Problem. SEE A Doctor!

1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact , all comments become null and void after 7 Days.

1. If you won ‘t dress like the Victoria ’s Secret girls , don’t Expect us to act like soap opera guys.

1. If you think you’re fat, you probably are but so what. Don’t ask us

1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of them makes you sad or angry , then we meant the other one.

1. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done. Not both.
If you already know best how to do it , just do it yourself.

1. Whenever possible , Please say whatever you have to say during commercials.

1. Christopher Columbus did NOT need directions and neither do we.

1. ALL men see in only 16 colors , like Windows default settings. Peach , for example , is a fruit , not A color. Pumpkin is also a fruit.

We have no idea what mauve is.

1. If it itches , it will be scratched. We do that.

1. If we ask what is wrong and you say ‘nothing”, We will act like nothing’s wrong. We know you are lying , but it is just not worth the hassle , besides we know you will bring it up again later.

1. If you ask a question you don’t want an answer to, Expect an answer you don’t want to hear.

1. When we have to go somewhere , absolutely anything you wear is fine… Really

1. Don’t ask us what we’re thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as FOOTBALL , BOXING , CRICKET, FORMULA 1
or GOLF.

1. You have enough clothes.

1. You have too many shoes.

1. I am in shape. Round IS a shape!

1. Thank you for reading this.
Yes , I know , I have to sleep on the couch tonight; But did you know men really don’t mind that? It’s like camping.

Billy

Today was my Mom’s birthday and we ate entirely too much food.

Happy birthday Meme!!

I’m finding myself very homesick for the first time in years, it’s awsome to be here. When time allows I’ll write more about our way cool adventures.

More to come…

Billy

We flew into Richmnd Va. yesterday after a really good flight. Props to Jet Blue, they have a pretty good operation going in the face of all the stuff you here in the news and all. 

I’MMMM HOOOOOME!!!

Couldn’t wait to get here. Mom’s got the list of stuff for me to do already.

Billy

“If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.”
– Albert Einstein

Had to run to Key Largo this afternoon after church, we had to take our dog Trixie von Bassett Hounder down to Aunt Cheryl’s summer camp. I expect she’ll come back to us calm and very well heeled, Aunt Cheryl will have her whipped into shape in short order for sure.

I’ve been looking forward to this post all week, for some reason there has been a real sense of expectancy about today. This morning at Life Pointe Church at the Flagship Cinemas Movie Theater on Campbell Road right next to the Turnpike across from the new Homestead Pavillion mall the feeling was electric! This was due in small part to a bodacious thunder storm that rocked us for several hours, but also because it seemed others were there with that same sense of expectancy. Pastor Travis was certainly as usual ripping and ready to go with a message about “Temptation” from the Got Funk series. We all face it to the day we die, so learn to pray hard. Abstaining from temptation is an act of worship… that’s a pretty cool perspective. He was sporting a new more up to date hair-do and appeared to have even taken a shower and shaved.

The band played well today and the song selection was excellent, we played Those who trust, Holy is the Lord, Mighty to Save, and a new one called Devotion which Alex, Jesse’s brother did a ratha smashing job leading. The Phill-istine wasn’t there today so I got to play bass, and with the songs being fairly easy I did some experimenting. Missed a few notes trying to be cute but I think God was pleased with us. Becky is a total blitzkrieg on the keyboard also, she’s been a lot of fun jamming with this summer.

I also saw one of my old buddy’s Elizabeth Mora there this morning. “Leechy” we call her was really the reason we ended up at Life Pointe. We used to work at Mariners Hospital in the Keys together and remember she “IM’d” me about the church they were going to at the Movie Theater. IM’d back asking if they take soda and popcorn for communion. Seemed pretty funny at the time, but good to see ya Leechy hope it will be a habitual occurance. 

Last week Kelly Johnson asked in her blog to help her name the Sunday wrap-up, and settled on The Sunday Chick-kabob. That’s pretty cool. I chose the “Sunday Muddle” as an homage to one of my Grandma’s. I had  one that lived to the age of 95 Ethel Love Parrish (yep!) we called her “Gram”. She was a most excellent Grandma, and I miss her.

The other lived to the age of 93 was ”Annie-Ruth” Holder-Finch-Morris-Corryel or “Ma” and a blazing smoking hot chica that had more energy than anybody I ever knew. She was only about 4 foot 8 inches but I swear she could leap tall buildings with a single bound.You guessed it married 3 times, out lived the first 2 hubby’s, and passed away before the 3rd. She told me once she married Clint because they were best friends and wanted to travel across the U.S and wanted to stay in the same hotel room. No really! Clint lived to about age 96 or so, and they say he died of a broken heart. I remember her for many things, but one especially endearing is her chicken muddle, and when we’d go to visit her there was a good chance there’d be a pot of it on the stove. If you never heard of “muddle” it’s like stew with lot’s of stuff in it. Mmmm mmmm… slapp yo pappy, can have another scoop please!

She is also remembered for the fact that every time the car door opened somewhere she’d come running, she liked to go. Didn’t really matter where anybody was going, she just really liked to go! The biggest thing I remember is that she was a born again, knee skinned up, total Jesus Freak that prayed for my sister and me every day. There is no doubt I’m alive today with all the mess I’ve been involved in because she threatened the angels there’d be hell to pay when she got up there if they didn’t keep us safe.

Annie-Ruth rocked!

Billy

You know it really is difficult to get a good haircut around Homestead, but not impossible. Below is my old haircut, shown here with my ol’ buddy James.

Goot gawud!

And the new me after Ketty at the Cuttin Loose Hair Salon on Krome got done with me…  with half my brain tied behind my back.

Billy

It would appear another 4th of July has come and gone this year we had a real blast (sorry… pun intended). The day started by heading down to Key Largo for the big 4th of July parade which stretches from Anthony’s clothing at about mile marker 98 to mile marker 100 where the old Shopper food store used to be. For those who’ve not visted the Keys “mile markers” are how you tell people to get somewhere, and the landmarks tell you where in the mile marker to be. This is also important because I’ve never, that I can recall anyway, written about a “mile marker”.

So anyway… the parade was good but I seem to remember as a kid parades were always much bigger and grander, with more glitz, glamour, and spectacle. It’s all about perception I suppose. The neat part was we got to see a lot of friends we hadn’t seen for a while. We were able to sit with our old friends Rick and Sandy Swentek, Rick is my band mate from The Messengers and I never get to see him as much as I used to and miss the fellowship. Sandy is was a lot of fun also, I’ve always liked her dry sense of humor.

After the big Key Largo suaret(sp?) we dead headed back to Homestead to get ready for the big fireworks show at the Homestead Sports Complex  (check this link it tells the story of the HSC) later that evening. Some friends came by and picked up my daughter to go swimming and that gave her mom and I some time to relax a little before heading over. Friday nights is our night for Life Group so we all decided to hook up with the Life Pointe Church at the Flagship Cinemas movie theater on Campbell Drive right next to the Turnpike across from the new Homestead Pavillion mall bunch and have a tailgate party. I took the truck over and everybody hung out, had pizza and we did an abreviated version of the Life Group there in the parking lot. That was kind of cool really.

Proof you can have a Life Group anywhere 

I’m a little saddened when we go over the Sports complex that they can’t really find a good use for it, and couldn’t help but notice it’s starting to show it’s age. The Homestead Sports Complex by the way will be the intended site for the massive Easter egg hunt melee sponsored by Life Pointe Church next year. You won’t want to miss this, we’ll probably need a full police presence, complete with RIOT and SWAT team. Maybe The Major can pull some strings and get the Air Force to do a fly over with the F-150 fighter planes (that’s what we call a redneck fighter plane by the way) or Blackhawk helicopters, or the stealth bomber, or something… be sure and bug him about it (a lot).

So in the synopsis of yesterday I realized that there is a lot about this area that is appealing, but what I really realized is it’s not the places or events we go to. Really it’s about the relationships we have with other folks that make the place where you live a desirable place.

Happy 4th, and remember to pray for our troops!

Billy

Supposedly we have a “Do Not Call” list, and if you sign up to be on it telemarketers aren’t supposed to call you. T’yeah, like it matters. My wife laughs at me sometimes because I’ll actually sit and talk to the people then try to sell them insurance or something else like some another phone service.     True story.

Here are some fool proof ways of ridding yourself of those pesky telemarketers:

1. Try acting like a religious zealot and busily set yourself to trying to convert the telemarketer your new religious cult. Make sure your cult somehow involves wearing Earth shoes and a sherpa guides hat. That should definitely send them scurrying.
2.  Pretending to be hard of hearing can often send the phone solicitor on their way. Try screaming “Ehhhhhh?” at the top of your lungs every time they ask you a question. If the deaf angle seems too obvious try pretending to have amnesia. First agree to buy whatever product they are selling. Then when they ask for your credit card number, ask them why they want it as if you have absolutely no clue what they are talking about. Do this repeatedly.
3. Another suggestion is to pretend to listen intently to their sale pitch, whatever it may be. Go through the process of signing up for anything and everything possible. When the telemarketer finally tells you what you owe and asks you for your credit card number, explain that you’re a little hard up for cash. Then try to borrow money from the telemarketer. Promise over and over that you’re good for the money. This will surely put you on their ‘do not call’ list.

Billy

This is really kind of sad but I couldn’t help wonder after reading this what it must have looked like to the police when they first showed up…

Billy

PHOENIX — Officers dispatched to what they thought was a domestic disturbance Monday night discovered a lone Mesa man fighting with himself, authorities said.

Though the original call reported a verbal argument between a man and a woman, police said they found the 21-year-old man arguing with himself, changing the pitch of his voice as he acted out each part.

The man was also destroying the inside of the apartment, officers said. He broke the front window as officers tried to calm him down and coax him out of the home, according to authorities.

A crisis team decided the man was a danger to himself and obtained a mental health pick up order, police said. The Mesa SWAT team responded and took the subject into custody.