Just punched out and its [sic] paycheck Friday

I’m not much of a concert-goer, but in just over the past year, I’d seen Kix Brooks, the Zac Brown Band, Foreigner, the Oak Ridge Boys and Dierks Bentley. I’ve paid a total of $10 for the whole kit and caboodle.

Now, I’ve added Toby Keith to that list. He closed out the country acts at the fair, and I finagled a free ticket.

Actually, I did come by it honestly. A donor gave us tickets to give the volunteers and I entered on that one. All the teams left on Friday afternoon, and my odds increased drastically because it was really only Luke and me.

He is the 20something (like maybe 20) guy from Kansas who lives in the RV next to me. Very nice guy; he’d volunteered here last year to work at the warehouse and came back this year. He has done two legs: working again at the warehouse and now supervising the volunteers on site. He goes back to school – he’ll be a junior – on August 10.

In fitting in with the whole ecumenical thing, he’s Mennonite. He’s also a farmer and is huge on country music, so Friday morning I caught him heading to breakfast and told him he that we were the two people interested in them and he’d “won” the drawing.

Honestly, even though I had pretty much given everyone related to Hope Village a couple of fair tickets, I felt weird keeping one for myself even though I was pretty much it.

Anyway, Luke and I went together and had fun. I wouldn’t say it was a blast or the best concert I’d ever been to, but it was definitely cool to go.

The seats were SRO, though, and we got a spot in the back of the throng (just in front of the risers with seats) and in the middle. Which seemed like a good idea until all these 6-foot-4 people in cowboy hats started standing in front of us.

Oh well, that’s going to happen. Luckily Luke was the one who got the weirdos stopping to talk to him. He later said he must have had some sign hanging around his neck because several totally drunk off their butts people came and said really bizarre things to him.

It was fun people-watching. I can’t imagine bringing a 4-year-old to a concert starting at 8 p.m., but those weren’t even the youngest.

I tell you, God has a sense of humor. There are some funny-looking people in the world.

Anyway, the concert was pretty good. Not excellent by any stretch. I did enjoy it, but it didn't blow me away. Had I paid more than, maybe $30, for it, I would have been disappointed. It was pretty much a 2-hour Ford commercial with a soundtrack. He also looked extremely tired, and when I mentioned that to Luke later, he said he’d thought the same thing.

Other than the Ford commercials -- I am not kidding about those; so blatant even if you did discount the stupid 3-minute video intro and the “Ford”-emblazoned guitar he used for the first set of songs -- it was cool. He did most of the favorites and two common ones that weren't released but are still popular. (One was “Weed with Willie,” and I was hoping he'd have Scotty Emerick on the video screen for the duet like he did with Willie Nelson on “Beer for My Horses,” but no such luck.)

I kind of knew this, but I like the stuff he's written with Emerick more than the other stuff. I also like the ones he's done with Chuck Cannon, but the newer stuff just isn't the same. I really don't like the new single at all.

But probably a third to a half of it was Emerick's stuff, including “Weed” and “Beer.” I wished he'd have done more of the older, older unreleased stuff, but he only did “I Should've Been a Cowboy.” I guess he's been recording for 15+ years so there's no way to encompass everything in two hours, but I would have liked to have heard stuff
like “Jackie Don Tucker.”

The video screen was fun, although I’d be more inclined to shell out money for a more intimate/acoustic show. As it is, they pretty much have to put those up so people can see anything at all, but it was entertaining. The guys operating the camera were pretty phenomenal; there were so many quick cuts from musician to musician I wondered if it was a pre-recorded video, but I don’t guess it was.

Some of the videos, I think, were the regular videos that are aired on whatever networks air country music videos. But some were clearly cut just for the live shows, and those were cool. The “Beer” one had kind of a comic book theme going on interspersed with the shots of Willie Nelson singing his part. The “Weed” one was pretty psychedelic and the “How Do You Like Me Now?!” had what appeared to be shots of a young Keith, or possibly family members, then it would cut into a live shot.

The “Weed” one would have been better with it as a duet with Emerick (I am partial here, I know.) Before the song, Keith made some banter about how the song hadn’t been released and theorized on why everyone knew it, from Minot to Baghdad. It’s like, well, I can’t speak for the others, but know it because I have a huge crush on the co-writer.

Lots of drinking songs. Guess I never noticed that before. The same guy who had a hit with “Whiskey Girl” slummed last year with “I Like Girls That Drink Beer,” and the whole freaking “Red Solo Cup” phenomenon.

A brief story he told was that right before “How Do You Like Me Now?!” was released (not sure if he meant single or album), the Nashville people called him and said it was going out, get them art now.

And that was when he was in Minot at the fair, whatever 14-15 years ago. So the art on that – something about a RR trestle – is in Minot. That was pretty amusing. I don’t have my CD with me, so I can’t find it to look.

One thing I didn't think could ever be said about a country concert was that one of the absolute highlights was the trombone solo. Yes, you read that right. He had guys playing trumpet, sax and trombone and at two points they moved to the front and incorporated solos. I loved it. The guitarist was also pretty amazing. I don't think the keyboard player had a solo, though.

I tried to get pictures and it didn't work, but that’s OK because the shirt he was wearing was so horrible I never want to see it again.

And, to irritate the editor in me, there were two points during the sing-a-long when the lyrics were on the screen that they had grammatical errors.

Not kidding. I am so tempted to write his publicist. One was supposed to be "c'mon" and it was spelled "common." Really. The other was my pet peeve: "just punched out and its paycheck Friday."

IT IS. *How* hard is that? The word is a contraction.

I grit my teeth on the whole “Girls That Drink Beer,” but I can forgive that more than “it’s/its.” That is worse than fingernails on chalkboard to me.

Moon over Minot

I took the moon photo last night. It was staring me in the face after a late-night run to the plastic outhouse.

The view at night is better than the one during the day, which is still and increasingly wet.

 

I splurged on a new pair of Chacos (current count: 6) and that’s pretty much all I wear, in part because I get wet walking out the dock. (And in part, let’s face it, because I prefer sandals to shoes.)

The rain is just torrential at times. Friday it just poured.

That was the first night of the fair, and I have tickets that were donated to volunteers to hand out. The Friday night’s winner got to see Tim McGraw.

The concert, like the Foreigner one I went to last year, was delayed. It got started around 10, I heard, and shortly after that, I went to take a shower.

Hope Village is across town from the fairgrounds, but I swear on the walk to the shower trailers I heard “Everywhere.” At first I assumed it was Luke’s radio in the RV next to me, but no. Neither was it in any of the other four units, or the dining tent.

Weird, I thought, and went on with my shower. It occurred to me it was the live music, but there was no way, I figured.

Later, as I was trying to get to sleep, I swear I heard “Live Like You Were Dying,” and I thought it was really, really weird. But again, I heard no crowd noises or anything else that might have indicated I was picking up something that was going on a ways away.

Turns out, that had to have been it. When I mentioned it this morning, people said yeah, when the weather and the winds are one way, they heard the race cars and everything else, so it must have been the real thing. I probably should have paid more attention.

I’d really like to get out to a show, but I doubt it. It just doesn’t look right if I win the tickets, even if it is 100 percent legit.

But Toby Keith will play Friday. I wouldn’t pay for it unless I was 100 percent positive Scotty Emerick would play, too, but I’d go if I were gifted a ticket.

And Emerick is not likely to be there. He is playing a show the following night in Ohio somewhere, not, I guess, that he’s a frequent on the tour anyway. I’d rather see that, honestly – stripped down, acoustic with other writers like Paul Overstreet. I’d way prefer that over standing among drunk people at a fair.

On Tuesday, I have another Music Night at the Village, and I’m trying to focus on that. Between now and Aug. 10, I have three community events and I’m going a little cross-eyed here. One I am merely attending but the other two I am instrumental in the marketing.

There is also some exhibition I’ll be at on August 19 or something like that, followed by a quick weekend in Winnipeg only to return to having to get two grant applications in by August 30. (Wait, or is it three?)

At the same time, I still have two big projects hanging over my head. Both of those require wading through my supervisor’s brain, and that is one scary place.

Pile o’ Bones with a soup and sandwich

First, a knee update: exactly what I figured. The doctor on Wednesday kind of gave off a “you’re wasting my time; this is nothing” attitude and I can’t blame him. I knew I should have canceled it on Monday, but oh well.

The knee has no damage. Just take ibuprofen and ice it. Just what I’d been doing for the over two weeks I had been in excruciating pain.

Oh, and speaking of: I was going through my RV and I happened upon a leftover from the previous residents, who had been the village managers when I arrived.

In an unseen corner of one of the storage units I found a bottle of Vicodin. Oh, man. Very good to know.

This is the thundercloud that chased me.

Anyway, there’s no telling what the financial damage is to the knee. The doctor’s office wouldn’t even speculate. They took about 15 X-rays, or whatever it is they do now. They used the term X-ray, but I kept waiting on that radiation apron but they never gave me one. I think they probably shot off about eight of them before I even realized what was going on.

I don’t have “insurance,” just like I don’t have a “job,” per AmeriCorps. Instead, I have “medical coverage” but I don’t understand it. I have lots of paperwork and I have to file it and either pay before or have the doctor’s office bill, which isn’t going to happen.

But, when asked how much the bill is, the doctor’s office has no clue and referred me to “billing.” That where I thought I was; I’d left the paperwork to be filled out with things like “diagnosis code,” “explanation of diagnosis” and “amount” that morning and when I returned I expected it to be filled out.

Silly me. The doctor’s office did put some kind of number in the first blank, but more numbers in the “explanation” spot. Yeah, that’s helpful. But what even worse was, the “amount” was blank.

So this mysterious “billing” will have to do that and honestly, life’s too short to worry about it. I’ll call next month, but it was time to take a break and get out of town. 

Since I’ve been to Bismarck four times already, I wanted to get a little farther away. The nearest “big city” (in this case, about 200k: Minot is about 45k and Bismarck is around 63k) is over the border, in Canada.

So on Friday, I up and skipped town. I figured if I just had a bathtub and “The Godfather 2,” which was next in my lineup, I’d be good even if nothing else came through.

The beauty of low expectations is that usually you meet them. In this case, I didn’t quite hit those two (the DVD didn’t play in my computer, so I settled on “House of Cards” on Netflix streaming) but managed to catch up on a relationship with Tim Horton’s donuts that I had to abandon upon departure from Detroit.

Tim’s is a Canadian thing. Yes, Detroit had a few, but us Yanks never could get the Canadian Maple donut quite right. Wendy’s bought out the US chain, but I think they spun it off awhile back. (I own stock.)

Tim Horton was a Maple Leaf defenseman who was killed in a high speed car crash in 1974. He also founded (or co-founded, or something) an awesome donut place. It’s a huge Canadian chain. I guess they have other fast-food restaurants, but Timmy’s is it as far as I care. 

Randomly taken while driving at 75 mph.

.

There have been so many established and they’re so popular it’s kind of tough for some people to grasp that the chain really was started by a hockey player. They’ve even dropped the apostrophe in “Hortons” to confuse people.

Young hockey players don’t even know. I remember when Larry Murphy broke one of Horton’s records and the other veterans bought him a bunch of Timbits to mark the occasion.

Some of the younger players thought it was a coincidence and could not be convinced otherwise.

But it’s not. Tim Horton’s is not “just” anything. They have awesome donuts, and really, really good soup and sandwiches. (They also have coffee, but I don’t drink that.)

Not a screen saver, but equally cool.

And by the time I was in Canada for 24 hours, I went twice. And I intend to go for lunch on the way back. Might even take some Timbits home to everyone.

So when I say going to Tim’s was a highlight of this trip, it is not an indication that this has been a lousy weekend or anything. It’s been very low key, but perfect for what I needed.

I haven’t even found a magnet yet. I did hit an antique mall and found a cookie cutter – a pig – but I haven’t seen a lot of souvenir opportunity for a city that was once called Pile o’ Bones.

They do have the Royal Canadian Mountain Police museum here, but I decided it wasn’t worth the admission for me, although I might still see if there’s a gift shop on my way out.

Yellow flowers and a dizzying sky.

This weekend here, there is some big country music festival, but tickets were only sold for a three-day package for $180. Considering I could have only gone on Saturday, the day when the Dixie Chicks were the big band, pass.

Most of the acts that played will be at the Minot fair in a couple of weeks, with the exception of Kenny Chesney, who is playing tonight. I am leaving in about an hour, so that wasn’t going to work.

One my way downtown the second time – after the sudden downpour – I got passed by several tour buses from Nashville. When I was walking around the park, trying to find the Tim Horton’s I’d seen earlier, I saw several more buses so I guess the Radisson is the big fancy hotel in Regina. God knows the Comfort Inn wasn’t.

But, when I couldn’t find the downtown Tim’s (I swear it said next to Cronwall Place, and I walked ALL around that building!) I just went back to my own motel and walked to the Tim’s next door.

Limping ahead

The free clinic doctor took a look at my knee and told me I needed insurance, an MRI and a specialist. Joy.

But I’ve made an appointment with the specialist. It’s not until Wednesday, and what do you know, just like a car that runs fine for the mechanic, my knee is feeling much better. I turned in the golf cart this morning.

Still limping, but it’s not too bad. I’m half-debating canceling the specialist appointment but I think it’s a “can’t win” situation. I either go and they say I strained it and to get a brace, ice it and take ibuprofen (all of which I’ve been doing) or I don’t go and somehow screw it up tripping over my shadow.

It’s far more likely that I’ll go than ditch it. I’m not excited about it.

We had no volunteers this past week. Steve took off to Minneapolis on Tuesday, but I’ve hung around here. I wasn’t off but it was a pretty light week. We were officially closed Thursday and Friday, but I did work some on Friday. It’s not like I have anything else to do.

All in all, it’s been a darn boring four-day weekend. I wish I could have left town, but honestly, with the knee like it’s been, I wouldn’t have gone even if Steve had been here. I am not up to limping around a strange city.

As it is, I had planned on heading to Regina (about four and a half hours northwest) this next Friday, but I’m not so sure now. Beyond the fact the hotel rates have crept up, I just don’t know what the doctor’s appointment will bring. I figure I’ll make that call on Wednesday evening. Rates are about $100 a night right now (tax inclusive).

In my brain, I planned a two-day weekend but at this point I am thinking maybe I could just get up Saturday morning around 6 a.m. and head up there, stay one night and come back. I understand there are Tim Horton’s right over the border and I am totally into Timmy Ho’s. Canadian Maple - best donuts ever.

Odds on that are about even now. I really want to, if just to mark off Saskatchewan from my “have traveled” list. I also want to see Winnipeg, and the hotel rates are cheaper there right now, but there are two mandatory stops (the Peace Garden and the geographical center of North America) on the way up, and plus it’s an hour longer drive in the first place. That’s two days for sure. So I’ve penciled that in for August.

That would leave Labrador/Newfoundland and New Brunswick as the only Canadian provinces I haven’t visited. (No territories, though.)

If I can visit those two places, I’d then shoot for Medora, which is in North Dakota but west. It’s not exactly on the way back to Florida, but if I don’t get to it before I leave I will swing by on the way out. However, there is a reason for wanting to go sooner – they have this musical show that’s a big thing. It ends on Sept. 7.

That’s the Badlands of North Dakota – Teddy Roosevelt National Park – and I’d love to see that before departing this state. If I can’t get there before Sept. 7, I guess I will just leave that way on the way out. It’d be longer, but I do want to see it.

And the one advantage to saving it for later is I could again swing by the Badlands in South Dakota and check on Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse and Wall Drug again. But as it would add a couple of days to my trip back to Florida, I’d be fine if I could get to Medora before that.

So it’s one of those things where you make preliminary plans and the just hope it works out.

That happens to me a lot.

Running in the past

So I’m done running. I’m now nine days from the last time I tried and it’s not any better. If anything, it’s worse. I drove today and now operating the clutch hurts. However, it’s still easier to do that than it is to climb into the passenger side of someone else’s car.

Today I did cave and go to the free clinic. I don’t have insurance, so this is an effort. It’s only open two days a week and it’s first come, first served. I was 10^th, so it took almost two hours, but that’s OK. I brought a book.

My first order of business was getting a new lab work order for my TSH levels and that went fine. But the knees, not so much.

Both hurt, but the left is way worse. I’m told it’s swollen but I can’t tell. But it hurts continuously.

The doctor’s verdict is that I need an orthopedic, an MRI and insurance. Great.

I tried going down to another walk-in clinic to see if they happened to have an ortho and the power to do an MRI but no. So tomorrow I’ll be on the phone, I guess.

I’m just tired of limping around. It’s gotten bad. I’ve had people offer to loan me crutches, walkers, wheelchairs and canes. Realistically, the only reasons I’m not using them is the fact I live in an RV. A wheelchair and an RV don’t go well together.

But I have gone all Villages and adopted the resident golf cart to get across campus. When you have to walk 150 yards to pee, eat and shower, it can be very helpful.

So we’ll see what happens tomorrow and the rest of the week.

We’re off the Fourth and my supervisor has a big shindig at his house. I missed it last year because I worked at that air show, but this time I’m not doing that and will head out to his place. I won’t be doing much, but I’m not going to work.

This week, we have no volunteers on campus. Last week, we had a bunch of them, including one group that had been here five times. They’ll be back in October. I need to write a story about them but the pain and all the drama with the knees has distracted me somewhat. Need to get past that.