I’m hemorrhaging money these days.

First off, I plunked down a little over $700 for a new set of tires yesterday. Nice Goodyears. It’s been a year since the last set, which seems too soon, but I have put about 30,000 miles on the car since then, so I guess it makes sense.

Also, I was driving up from Florence yesterday morning and listening to an Austin radio station, KLBJ, when they talked about Roger Waters appearing in concert in Dallas and Houston in about a week and a half. I couldn’t friggin’ believe my ears! A year ago this month, I sat here, green with envy, reading about Mushy and his buds going to Atlanta to see Waters and his band do all of the old Pink Floyd tunes, plus a full rendition of Dark Side of the Moon on it’s 30th anniversary.

I looked at the web sites back then and saw that Waters wasn’t coming anywhere near Texas and actually looked into driving to Georgia. Figured it’d be a cool way to get to meet Mushy and see a great show. I asked soldiers in my class “Who’s from Georgia?” and “How long of a drive is that?” I wanted to see it so badly but it looked like it wasn’t to be. I couldn’t afford it all and was tryin’ to be sensible.

When I later saw the pictures Mushy posted of the event and read his description of it I realized how much I’d screwed up, thinking about trying to be good and not spending too much money. I can’t tell you how much fun I’ve missed in my life, buyin’ into someone else’s idea of bein’ good. What a stupid fuckin’ waste of time! Anyway, a year went by and I’d basically forgotten about it. No, not really. Missing that concert was still eating at me. Then this Austin radio DJ dropped the bomb.

When I got to work I used the computer to look it up and check the details. I didn’t really believe it was real. I figured now that he’d finally come to Texas the concert would probably be on a Wednesday when I have class. Something would go wrong. Rush just played a gig in Austin on this last Wednesday and I couldn’t go. Pissed me off!

I figured SOMETHING would screw it all up. But no, the concert in Dallas is scheduled to be on a Friday night and the Houston show is on a Sunday night. I looked into tickets for both shows and it turned out the ticket site for the Houston show allowed for a better view of where your seat would actually be. I scrolled through the ticket prices and seat locations and, filled with excitement, I made the decision that I wouldn’t settle for the cheap lawn seats at the back of the venue. I’ve done that a few times and the view is not really worth the price of the ticket.

Before I knew what I was doing I was taking out my credit card and plunking down $558 for two tickets ($236 a piece, plus tax) in about the 16th row, center section, under the awning. I told a student who was sitting up front in class, what I’d just done and she was amazed. I told her this is why we grow up and get a good job… So we can blow ridiculous sums of money on rock concerts and guns and stuff. She agreed.

Denise, on the other hand, shit a brick when she took me to lunch and told her about it. Oh, she’s glad to be goin’, but she knows a little about how much money I owe to this card and that one, so she was looking at things a bit more sensibly. I need that in my life, but not right at this moment. This is a once in a lifetime thing. 30 years from now the cost won’t matter. Hell, I’ll just make more money. Teach another class. Everything will be cool.

After getting the tires and eatin’ lunch with Denise I went home briefly and then made a short trip to Salado. I knew my cousin Peggy, my barber, was gonna be heading up to see her son and grandkids today and I had something to give her. Something for her to hand over to her husband so he could hand it down to his son, and on and on. It was really something of theirs that dad had made them to give to me years ago. I felt bad about that back when it happened and wanted to make things right. I’ll tell you more about all that in my next post. Meanwhile, here’s a teaser shot, to peak your interest.

Denise and I are drivin’ up to Dallas again today. We're gonna take Mom out to eat at BJs in Temple and then we’ve got two nights reserved at the Hyatt. We'll be ccomin’ back Sunday afternoon. My buddy Russell from Grad school days, is flyin’ in to DFW airport from Tennessee Saturday afternoon and we’re gonna be there to pick him up. This is the guy that lives in Britain now, having moved to England in about 2000 with his wife Gay when she got a great job over there.

I went over there to visit them in about 2003 and had a wonderful time. Little did I know then that all wasn’t cool in the Walker household. They eventually split up and she came back to the States to go back to Grad School but he stayed over there and got a job as a Speech Pathologist for the NHS. He eventually moved from Yorkshire to Wales, where he lives now, with his current squeeze.

We’ll pick him up Saturday and get together with some other old friends and have a wonderful time. We’ll probably eat and drink WAY too much and in the end, Denise and I will steal another two glasses from the Hyatt when we check out. Their little glasses are so stylin’! We’ve got a growing collection. I figure with the price I pay for the room they can throw it in with the bill.

Anyway, have a great weekend and we’ll talk about other stuff on the other end. Cheers.