Wild Berry Gummie Life Savers suck

For the record, Wild Berry Gummie Life Savers are bullshit. Way too many of the clear flavor. What the hell is clear? It's like the water flavor. See-through vanilla.

BULLSHIT is what I call them.

As you were.

Birthday, cont.

I spent my birthday with my ladyfriend and 2 good friends seeing Jane's Addiction in Baltimore. I'm always a little leery of seeing reunion-type shows, especially when I've seen the band in their primes. I just hate seeing my favorite bands going through the motions and butchering their old songs, or even worse, playing a bunch of their new crap that's terrible.

Jane's Addiction put those fears to rest by killing it, especially on a few classics like Three Days and Classic Girl. Great show and a great birthday.

When Did This Happen?

Apparently I went and turned 37. Not sure how that came to be, but as in year's past, I'm happy to still be riding a skateboard, planning for zombie invasions and scowling at people who talk too loud on the subway. I should probably blog more and stay off Facebook. More exercise and fewer fried foods would be a good idea as well, but let's be realistic. Fried foods are excellent and exercise is not that much fun.

I bitch about getting older, mainly because bitching comes natural to me. But I'm a pretty lucky guy; I've got an incredible girlfriend who puts up with no shortage of garbage from me and somehow keeps liking me. My family and friends are the most incredible in the world for too many reasons to count.

I miss my dad, though. It's the one thing I hate about almost every major life event now: He's not here, and I wish he was. I miss that phone call where he'd wish me happy birthday and give me shit about being an old man. He'd always say that we're all lucky to be alive. He was right.

End of an Era

In 1949, my grandfather bought a store in Deer Park, Ohio and started Deer Park Auto Parts, an independently-owned NAPA franchise. My dad eventually took over the business and built it into 3 stores total with 30+ employees.

This business was such a huge part of my family and my dad's identity for my entire life. It put me and my siblings through college and provided us with stability and a sense of pride that this was 'ours.' We worked there on and off throughout high school and college, and a number of my friends worked for NAPA at one time or another as well.

Even the ridiculous commercials (NAPA know-how? With a guy singing?) remind me of so many things from my life that are tied to this company, but more than anything else, this business was my dad. Seeing how he got up every day, went to work, and busted his ass to take care of his family and his employees was truly inspirational and one of the cornerstones of my life.

Since my dad died, I knew that the day would come when we would sell the business and move on. I'm so proud of my brother, who stepped up in ways I can't even describe to manage the business (all while going to grad school, raising 2 kids, working full time and maybe taking 2 or 3 minutes a day to relax), and my uncle, who came in as our general manager and kept the business stable these last 2 years. Both of them deserve more thanks than I know how to give, and I can't think of a better way they could honor my dad than by handling this company the way they did.

Deer Park Auto Parts is no longer my family business, and it's hard to see something so linked to my dad go away. I'll always be grateful for everything this business meant to my family, and so glad to see it taken over by people who care about both the company and the employees. My dad worried about his employees and what would happen to them up to the very end of his life, and I know he'd be so proud to see that they're all a part of a growing company, even one with a different name and new owners.

Saying goodbye is always difficult, but sometimes it's the best way to remember how much something has meant to you. I was always proud to work at NAPA alongside my dad, and it'll always be a part of our lives.

Total Badass

Everything I've ever done doesn't even come close to this dude:

He's Not Buyin It

Evan will have none of your shenanigans.

65

I've been struggling with today, Rusty's 65th birthday, for the last few days. I really debated whether to write anything or not. I finally decided on the walk home today to add a few words b/c if nothing else, I'm hoping it'll help me feel a little better. Totally selfish, but whatever...humans are selfish. Rusty would agree and understand.

Today's just a day. It's March 26th. A Monday. Totally insignificant for a million reasons. I woke up this morning and instantly felt kinda sad. It reminded me a little bit of the first few weeks/months after he died, when that was the first thing I thought about every day. As time went on, that happened less, but there are still days that it's my first thought. Today, though, it's been on my mind all day, really from the first minute I woke up.

So I guess I started thinking about what I missed the most about not having Rusty around any more. I have an old voicemail of his that I've saved for days like today, when I'm really struggling, and before I even listened to it, I had my answer...

I miss hearing his voice, and I miss him saying 'Hey' each time he answered the phone. I miss that second or two between when he answered the phone and before he said 'Hey' when I knew it was coming. He always sounded happy to hear from me, and that always made me feel pretty good. Even when we were going through some rough times as a family, he always sounded happy to hear from me, and he always answered the phone the same way.

Miss you, Dad. Every day.