Thursday June 27th, 2013 – Milwaukee, WI
In
a perfect world, I would have spent the entire day hard at work. I would have
gotten up early and hit the ground running. I would have gotten a little bit
done on a lot or projects or maybe put a big dent in just one. I have a lot of
things that need a lot of work. Today was ideal to get to it.
But alas, I totally didn’t. I didn’t lift
one single finger to do anything I intended to, and it made today a total zilch
as far as professional productivity goes. I guess I can’t complain that I am not
getting anything done as it was me who chose to blow it off, so I have to live
with my decision.
What happened was, my friend Rick Wey was in
town from Nashville and he invited me to go to a Milwaukee Brewers game with
his company. It’s a trucking freight company, and they have terminals all over
the country. Rick comes up about once a year to do what he does and that has
usually been in the summer. It’s become a tradition he goes to a ball game, and
has invited me.
The people who work at the Milwaukee
terminal couldn’t be any nicer, and they have taken me in as one of their own.
It doesn’t hurt that I am from there, but they’ve totally treated me like one
of their family. I feel like an employee, without having to do that annoying
thing called ‘work’.
There’s a super nice lady named Joyce
Brainard who puts out a pre game spread of food fit for royalty, and today was
no exception. There were Usinger’s brats, which are the very top as far as
sausages go, along with all the trimmings any tailgate party could want. It was
an amazing meal, and everyone who came to the party was friendly and laid back.
I felt completely at home there.
Rick also brought his dad along from
Nashville. He came up a couple of years ago, and he’s an extremely interesting fellow.
I don’t know how old he is, but Rick is a couple of years older than me and I
ain’t no teeny bopper. His dad is a sharp fun guy, and I can tell he was a
great father by the way Rick is when he’s around him. I can feel the love and
respect, and it’s a beautiful thing.
The Brewers ended up getting stomped by the
Cubs of all teams, but nobody cared. That’s not what this was about. It was
about hanging out with nice people and not only enjoying a baseball game, but
life itself. Yes things are hectic all over, but for one afternoon everything
was perfect.
We had delicious food and plenty of it, and
perfect weather to enjoy a game. There were some of the sweetest people I can
think of to enjoy it with, and we had unbelievable seats right behind third
base that I know cost a lot. They didn’t have to include me, but they did.
That’s why I went.
Did I have work to do? Yes, but missing one
more day wasn’t going to turn my life around. It’s days like today I’ll look at
in the end and smile, so this was the right choice for today. Rick Wey is also
a comedian and a very funny one, but he chose to keep a stable career for his
family and I couldn’t respect him any more. I’ll take solid friends like him
over showbiz B.S. every last time.
Tonight I had an invitation from Marc
Schultz to go to his house and watch the NBA College Draft. We’ve come to make
a tradition of watching sports drafts, and it’s another fun evening to hang
with a good friend. His wife Audrey always makes another great spread of food and
we can hang out and talk sports all night.
Again, was it productive? Probably
not in the big scheme of it all, but it sure was fun for tonight. It was
baseball all day and basketball all night, but it was a lot more than just
that. The real highlights were being able to spend time with some absolutely super
people who were nice enough to invite me to join them. That’s a high honor, and
I appreciate it.
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| Nashville funnyman Rick Wey - a class act onstage and off. |
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