That's what Davey Crockett is reported to have said to a crowd of voters in Tennessee after he found out that he had lost his bid to be re-elected to congress in 1835.
I wonder how long he had to wait for the results of THAT election?
My fiancée Guy and I fell in love with Texas as a vacation spot in 2015. On a sunburst September weekend in Dallas, we took in a Sunday night Cowboy game at AT&T Field and a Texas Ranger’s baseball game the very next day.
And of course, I rented some steel for the weekend! Based on the smile, at the time that this picture was taken I was feeling pretty great about my choice of wheels (and travel companion)!
But that feeling didn't last long.
Pulling into the Ferrari, Porsche, Rolls and Lambo-filled parking lot of Pappas Brothers Steakhouse in Dallas, it became instantly clear that there were nicer places to rent a car in Dallas than Enterprise at the airport!
They were all compensating for something, I quickly convinced myself as I pulled up to the valet. He opened the door for Guy and she got out. Coming around to my side of the car, he tipped me $5 and pointed to a spot in a lot across the street!
I don't blame him! I didn't want to drive it anymore either!
Our nights in Dallas were for football, baseball and steaks. Days as is usual for us,were spent visiting museums and memorials to former presidents of the United States. At the George “W” Bush presidential library they let special guests take a picture at the (replica) Resolute desk in an (obviously) replica Oval Office. They defined "special" as any guest willing to pay the $20!
Of course, no presidential geek’s trip to Dallas would be complete without a visit to the hallowed ground: The Texas Schoolbook Depository, Dealy Plaza and THE Grassy Knoll.
THE Buck
Parents like think of their kids as "one in a million." But in THE Buck’s case, it’s more like one in 10,000.
And that’s because one in 10,000 is the ratio of people born with congenital anosmia: the permanent inability to smell! While it’s true that Buck can’t smell, her apartment in Austin, Texas can!
There are two prescripts we all use which determine when it’s time to throw out the garage: when the can is full and when it smells!
Buck only uses one of those rules. And the can wasn't full!
After the good laugh and a few minutes spent opening windows, we got to work on a list of things she knew she needed done. Unable to find an independent hardware store anywhere near her apartment, we took a trip to Home Depot.
We started in the cleaning aisle!
Then onto fasteners and anchors; there were pictures, mirrors and other decorative items to be hung. As a parent, you never get tired of being needed, even if it’s just for fixing small things around an apartment. After everything which needed hanging was hung, I set my sites on a toilet paper holder which refused to stay level. I can be a bit "OCD" myself about little details like that and so before I left I made sure it wasn't off by so much as a degree!
I can't be responsible for things after I leave though!
Of-course, other than my daughter there are paint dealers in Austin!
One of them, Greg Shifflett of Roosters Paint, is a reader who reached out when he read that I was in Austin.
I met Greg on Friday at one of his four stores. "Everything is bigger in Texas” is an axiom which applies to paint stores too! At 7500 square feet, the store we met in was nearly triple the size of both my New York City stores.
Combined!
We spent our time together talking paint, e-commerce and the best place to smoke a cigar in Austin. Some of my favorite topics! Greg's too it seems because as I said my goodbyes Greg, an Allpro member since 2005, told me that he was going to be the fifth “Minuteman” of my revolution!
Actually, it’s four Minutemen and a Minutewoman!
I’ve got lots more to catch you up on but I'm out of words for today! You’ll have to wait till Thursday.
