The Night Shift

[WildcatOne]

Thanks...as an update: Dad ran a over a median after taking off from a stop sign with the State Trooper coming right at him. He hit the left rear quarter panel of the cop car and it took the front-end bodywork off of the Focus. 14 police cars, 2 fire trucks, 16 wreckers and 3 EMT trucks descended on the scene. The details are sketchy about the entire outcome, but Dad only has liability insurance which will cover the cost of repair to the cop car only. He is responsible for having the Focus repaired, and it will be several thousand dollars. He's having it done. He was not given a ticket. I don't understand that. He told me his insurance is either going to drop him because this was his third reported accident in the last "few years", or they will jack up the premiums on him, which he will pay. He told me he's seriously considering not driving anymore, but he doesn't think he's a bad driver, he just gets stuck in these situations and it's fate, not his own ability to drive that is causing these unfortunate incidents. I said I'm not going to ride him and that I know he will think about other people's safety as well as his own and Muriel's and that he'll do the right thing. He got defensive about that and commanded me "Don't WORRY about ME!!!" I said, oh no, Dad. I wasn't worried about you. I get a call that you totalled the car when you hit a cop and I've seen you get lost in a 4-way intersection with 2-way streets right here in my neighborhood. I'm not worried about you, no, don't even think that...get the car fixed, jump right back in it, and drive! He backed down. I told him, I just called to make sure you're OK. I gotta go. He was still yelling at me "Don't worry about me! Don't worry about"...click...WC1

[jim sanders]

.....jeeez WC... i was gonna wait to post on this subject hoping the law or the judge would solve it... I have lately rode in cars with my father and just like your deal i was (am) a nevous wreck riding with him... he has been a car guy since 1955... now he has an overpowered v-6 sedan and a cell phone that his new gal pal rings it every 5 minutes so he is driving too fast, answering the cell phone, cranking up the 5 speaker sound systwem singing outloud along to a cd of his kareokee tunes that he does at the local bar.... all the same stuff that i used to do .. while riding with him i am on total defense !! wathing every move of the cars around us, upcoming intersections, road debris.. etc.. Brutal !! When i finaaly get back home i am shaking and feel like unplugging the phone because i don't want to hear the next bad news......

[wheelzman]

Cat call the Texas DMV. Surely someone there will be able to help you get his license revoked and that will override the local police or court decision. I hope. My grandpa was the same way till dad had his license suspended, permantly. Good luck.

[WildcatOne]

It's been a pretty busy week, I'm supposed to be "off" this week...Tuesday night, I went to League City to make the demo wtih the Whiskey Saints. We did 7 songs, the last 4 came out really good but it seemed the first 3 we were kinda stiff. What I didn't appreciate was all these people showed up..."Hey, we're recording tonight, come on out!" NOT. When you play, it's like being under the microscope already, with the record light on...but now you got people you never met before standing right next to you watching your hands with an intense glare. I was uncomfortable. I made a mistake in one song while this guy was standing next to me doing that, and he busted out laughing uncontrollably at me. It came out on the tape, and we had to do the song over. Once the onlookers left, we nailed the last 2 songs perfectly. Lynn is going to mix it and it will sound fine for demo purposes. The inital playbacks sounded like we were playing live in a club somewhere. I love the guys in the Whiskey Saints. They can play and sing with the best of 'em. But they are all in their 60s and this is the first band they've ever played in, at least since they were kids. They don't know what the drill is. I've told 'em so many things and they still pull stunts like that, invite their wives and their wives' friends and their buddies to come check us out while we record our demo. I can tell you, those people won't be at our gigs. Go figure. They got it all backwards. But they brought me in to teach 'em how to do it and they will learn. Some of the lessons I've taught them are things anybody should know, these guys have high-level degrees and jobs and they don't have a clue about this...I got an email from Lanis..."How about if I do some voice-overs to do my MC thing and add crowd noise..." I said, maybe next time. Let's just get these songs from Lynn and use 'em for a live demo, man...I could go on all day, but you get the picture. I already made a point to them last year about bringing their wives to rehearsals. We ended up dealing with them and their questions and complaints that had no merit whatsoever, and we wasted half our time on them...it's a 75-mile round-trip out there for me...know what I'm saying?

Last night I brought Nick (I mean Chris) to the Citykings' practice. He has developed almost overnight into a prodigious guitar player. He set up in the middle of the band, everybody was talking about how much he's changed. They've all known him since he was a toddler, and now he's a young man, our size, holding my former main guitar. He and Scott and Randolph have been very close all his life...So we warmed up with some jamming, then he played his solo set. The whole band stood there with their mouths hanging open. He has tripled his speed, finesse, and accuracy since the last time I posted about him. He absolutely knocked our socks off. After practice, he was still plugged in, jamming...Scotty said, "Hey, Nick, dig this. This guy is SUPER-fast." He put in a CD of this flamenco guy and the guy went into a speed riff that defied the laws of physics...Scott looked at Nick and said "Ha! How 'bout THAT!" And he turned off the CD player and was walking away when Nick pointed at the CD player and said "Put that back on." Scott put it back on, and Nick played with it note-for-note...we all watched this and just could not believe what we had just seen. Scott was shocked...Nick grinned and shrugged...the consensus is for Nick to get his own band together, like right now...he's become so incredibly good so fast, it's astounding. Cheers, WC1

[WildcatOne]

I called a friend of our family last night in Galveston. She knows the whole inside story on everything about my Dad. He DID get a ticket. A big, fat one. And he has a court date in September. In the meantime, he's getting the Focus fixed (if you pay them, they'll do it) $4,000, so he can drive again. I poured my guts out to our friend and she agreed with everything I said, but she said "You know your father. He's going to do whatever he thinks is right..." I reasoned that he doesn't know what he's doing anymore, and she agreed about that, too. She told me it's time for me to confront him. I dread that, but I have to or I'd never forgive myself when the inevitable occurs. Wish me luck. I feel like Cowardly Lion vs The Wizard of Oz...WC1

[Mike-Casella]

You must do what you know you must do.

[Barb]

John, my late mother-in-law was the same way. Other family members would see her driving .. hummm .. running stop lights/signs, not looking before she pulled out, making illegal u-turns, driving her friends with their great grandkids on their laps. Domenic said enough is enough and took the car away from her. Once he asked her why she ran the light and her reply, "it shouldn't have been there in the first place". Scary!! I guess they feel if you take their car away they lose all their independence.

[WildcatOne]

Thanks, Barb and Mike. I'm going down to Galveston tomorrow and having a sit-down face-to-face with my Dad about this. It has to stop now. If he continues to drive, I will not have it on my conscience (as much) when the tragedy occurs. That might sound selfish, I know. But my Dad sees me as a 5-year-old kid, not as a 57-year-old man who is concerned about him. He will never get over that perspective and I have to look him straight in the eye and tell him what to do or he will tell me to go play with my toys and leave him alone. It's not something I'm looking forward to, because his defense mechanisms can be hurtful and distracting. I'm going to memorize my spiel and rehearse it all the way there (75 miles one way). Then when I get him alone, I will perform it cold and not ad-lib, just like I do a recording session. He's going to get pissed at me and run me off, but I won't have a lot of time to stay, I'm just going there to tell him that. Then I think I'm going to drive up to Baytown and sit in with Lynn and Colorado at the North Main Ice House jam before I come home. Might as well play the Blues. Thanks again, WC1

[draglist]

Good luck, John. I know how hard this is going to be for you. We're all behind you. bp

[pro70z28]

Just know your doing the right thing and you have all of us behind you. Well, I guess if you turn around & LQQK you won't actually see us there but you know what I mean. J/K ''gotta' laugh or you'll cry'' as the saying goes. We'll be praying that you find the right words WC. You are absolutely doing the right thing my friend.