Drifter Radio

Here’s a rather recent and impressive blues man: Gary Clark Jr.

Nice videography too. Here’s “Gary Clark Jr. Live at the Paleo Festival” (2015). Switzerland.

Flavor had a culinary arts background. Now the big clock jewelry makes sense.

He’s timing his hot dishes before the cellphone.

I recommend Harvest Fest.

Second day of School. Today’s sustainability studies:

Vegas Please (part 3):  2nd Ride

 The Navy veteran orientates us by driving out of his way to the northwest part of Phoenix to the highway that will take us to Las Vegas.

“There you go.  That highway should get you there.”  

He waves and honks as he drives off.  

Adrian and I start walking into the desert with our thumbs out.  It is still early in the day.  The highway is small and the traffic fast.  We stick close to the shoulder as we walk down the highway.

Part of the problem in this highway situation is that traffic is moving too fast to pull over.  We continue walking.

Thankfully we are in the early spring, so the desert is more cool than hot.

In the early afternoon, we see that there is a railroad track running parallel to the highway.  Adrian has always wanted to jump a train, so we discuss the possibility of hopping a train.  Maybe it will take us to Vegas?

We continue to walk and the afternoon winds down.  In the distance, we hear a train headed our way.  

“Let’s try to go for it.”

The rail road tracks are about 100-yards off of the highway.  We sprint to the tracks.

When we run up to to the tracks both of us quickly realize that if we try to grab ahold of this train there is a good chance someone gets left behind, dismembered, and/or killed.  

We stand in the sand and watch the train pass. 

“I need to smoke some weed,” I tell Adrian as we sit defeated and watching the highway.  

I set my pack down and pull out the last of my herb from the road trip down to Phoenix.  Not only don’t we have a ride to Vegas, but I am down to my last ganja. 

However, I need a shift in consciousness in the situation.  Sometimes it helps.

I smoke a small joint by myself.  We head back to the late afternoon traffic in the desert.

We walk for about 2-minutes down the highway.  

Like magic, a dual cab pickup truck pulls over for us on the busy highway.  

Adrian runs up to the truck like we are the luckiest and most thankful hitchhikers on the planet.  I walk up to the truck with caution and weed-paranoia.  We might want to pick our rides.  I don’t want to be buried in the desert.

Where main stream media first shocked the 20th Century Karens:

March 25, 2002

With the pickup truck in the shop, Adrian and I accept our fate to thumb it from Phoenix to Las Vegas.  We pack and create a trail mix for our newbie hitchhiking adventure.

A sign is painted with “Vegas Please,” so potential rides know where we want to go. 

The sign also markets our manners.  

This will be the longest hitchhiking trip that I have attempted.  I’ve caught a ride around town in Wisconsin from strangers growing up.  I hitch a ride into town from the Anchorage airport.  

However, I have not went on a multi-state adventure before.  I am interested to see what this drift to Las Vegas brings.

We get an early start the next day.  

You don’t want to get stuck out in the desert at night. We have no idea how long it will take us to get to Las Vegas. Will we make it in time for Adrian to make his flight at least?

After a hardy breakfast buffet, Adrian and I get dropped off at an interstate on-ramp near a truck stop in southeast Phoenix.  We figure this hitching location might bring us some “long-haul luck” to Vegas.

Some people honk and wave (presumably because of our sign). After an hour, a pickup truck pulls on to the shoulder of the on-ramp.

“I’m not going to Vegas, but I can get you to the right part of town.  You need to get to the northwest part of Phoenix.”    

Our driver is a Navy Veteran.  He chuckles on how far off course we have started.      

We jump in the back of his pickup truck. We speed off to the highway that will take us to Vegas.

As I continue my journey as a writer and publisher, I will share the development of “Drifter Radio: The Book” (working title) on this web-blog. My goal is to develop the book by writing short passages on the drifterRadio.com website.

The short stories I write on the website and in the book will be the same, but the book will be more refined with perhaps more information.

The first story I would like to share is my first long-distance hitchhiking drift to Las Vegas.

In the early spring of 2002, Adrian (DJ from 95.7 The Rock), Dr. Love, and myself headed to Phoenix, Arizona. Dr. Love and I are searching for a new start in the desert. Our plan is to establish ourselves n Arizona and become truck drivers.

Adrian is on a mission to get a radio job in Las Vegas at 97.1 The Comp.

I am also on mission to attend the Hall of Fame Classic foosball tournament in Las Vegas. Dr. Love said we could borrow his Ford F150 to drive from Phoenix to Vegas. At the end of our Vegas adventure, Adrian would then fly back to Wisconsin and I would then drive back to Phoenix.

The plan to drive the Ford to Las Vegas would change in Phoenix. On the drive to Phoenix, the transmission of Dr. Love’s Ford started acting funny. In Phoenix, we decide to go to a Ford dealership to get the vehicle inspected.

While waiting to make a left turn into the Ford dealership parking lot, the transmission dies!

Adrian and I hop out and push the vehicle out of the street. Fortunately we broke down here.

Fortunately, the truck still has a drive-train warranty. The tranny can be replaced at no cost.

Unfortunately, it will be a week before the truck is fixed. In the next few days, Adrian needs to get to the radio station and then catch his flight out of Vegas.

While Dr. Love heatedly talks to the dealership and the need for it to get fixed quicker, Adrian and I sit in the show room wondering what we are going do do.

“I think we are going to have to hitchhike tomorrow,” I tell Adrian.

There is lot to like about Simpson, his band, and these two songs.

Aside from going to college, joining the infantry, and starting businesses, I wouldn’t really call myself a “gambler.” If I go to a casino, it is usually just to sit at the bar, meet people, and take in the scene.

While searching for my next career destination this fall, I found I had extra time on my hands. I decided to put more time into fantasy football.

I have played fantasy football in the past few years as a hobby, but I have not put much time into it. Since I had the time, I started watching fantasy football statisticians on YouTube to see if I could learn something and get an advantage on the betting-field.

I did not win much even though the teams I picked were consistently in the top 90%. My career choice is not looking promising.

*Before you start posting the number to gamblers anonymous on the message board, I just want you to know I capped my wagers at $7 to $40 per week. Basically, I spent recreation money for an education and the potential to see if I was any good at picking the right players for the weekend.

I was decent at picking the right players this fall based on the advice and stats of the YouTube channels that I would watch daily, but my teams were constantly plagued by injuries and misfortune enough to keep me out of the top 0.1% to win big money.

Here are a few take-aways from my current career as a fantasy football bettor:

1. Don’t wager more than you can afford to lose.
2. Stats are one thing. Actual people in front of large crowds is another thing.
3. The physical trainers of the NFL and the stat people don’t understand aggravated injury.
4. You can get close to the statistically-right lineup, but you will need luck.
5. It is fun to interact with the fantasy football online community.

Considering all of the daily fantasy football content I have absorbed in the past 4-months, I most likely know more than the average player. We will see if I can still profit by the end of this season.

Let’s go playoffs!

Here’s some playoff music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hx4gdlfamo