INTRODUCTION TO BRIAN WADE'S WRITING: HOW ...

INTRODUCTION TO BRIAN WADE'S WRITING:                                               HOW ...:                                               HOW MY WIFE GOT HER FISHING LICENSE        This week I am in somewhat an agitated mood, so I ...

                                              HOW MY WIFE GOT HER FISHING LICENSE
       This week I am in somewhat an agitated mood, so I thought I would blog about that. In fact, I am sure I could write another 3 more blogs on this same subject. It was bad enough that my company truck broke down on Monday, blowing a rad hose in the process and overheating. However by Wednesday night, again that black cloud that likes to screw with me was back, creating more trouble for me as I had a flat drive tire. So thinking the worst was over, I was looking forward to a long weekend where I could catch up on my writing and some "Game of Thrones."
        Friday was payday, so that made me a bit more happy as I had my vacation pay released to buy some new tires for my prized truck "Silverbear." Then on Saturday, when I went to take my wife to the airport, another terrible thing happened. She had planned on a wonderful trip to Vancouver to visit her stepdaughter and her new fiancee. She had previously called Westjet, to let them know that although her passport was expired, she still had other appropriate photo ID. A lady at Westjet told her, that was not going to be an issue because she wasn't flying out of Canada. I mean she still had her Alberta Health Care Card, plus she had her birth certificate as well as a Costco card which had her picture on it. So when I went to go drop her off at the airport, to my dismay I discovered the normal route I usually took someone to the airport was blocked due to road construction.So again I found an alternate route and to my utter shock was once more rerouted due to even more stupid road construction.
       At this point, I was getting concerned regarding getting my wife to the airport, as we had to be there an hour before her flight time. Luckily I found a third route, dropped the hemi down and got her to Calgary International Airport just in time, as she was the last one waiting to get on the plane. I thought we made it, just in time as everything seemed to be okay. I said our goodbyes, gave her a quick goodbye kiss, got back into my truck and proceeded to depart the airport when my cellphone rang. It was my wife, completely upset and crying telling me that airport security would not let her get on the plane, because her passport ID was expired, not to mention not accepting the Costco card as proof of her identity.
      Now to make a long story short, we managed to get the flight rebooked for 4'oclock that afternoon, as we were told to go and get her, if you can believe this, a dam fishing license from Cabellas, because it is a government issued form of ID. We also applied to get her new Alberta ID as well, but heres the kicker. All she needed to have, which we were never told by Westjet, was the fishing license and her healthcare card. I mean if she had a driver's license that would be fine too, but she doesn't have one. Then on Saturday night, Calgary experienced a very bad rainstorm, complete with unfortunately golf ball size hail. It was completely dark after the storm passed, so I felt maybe my truck had escaped Mother Nature's wrath, meaning somehow the large hail hadn't damaged my truck.
     After walking out my front door this morning, I was both disappointed and angry that Mother Nature decided to screw around with my beloved 2011 Dodge Ram. I was not impressed to say the least, and now the money I had saved for my new tires, would now be going as an insurance deductible to fix the many dents in my truck. Yes Mother Nature once again, decided to cost me money I had planned elsewhere. So to say my week, was good, okay, normal, would be a huge understatement. I certainly don't know what problems I created for anyone to have to endure this kind of animosity in my life, but bluntly put, this week sucked!
    I would tell you to have a good week, but maybe that might be cursing you, so I will whisper it instead. In the meantime, enjoy the first-page excerpt from my second book "Sidewinder"
PROLOGUE

        Brian Wade is starting his new life in Victoria on Vancouver Island BC. He will go through a variety of sales jobs, relationships with women and various other adventures in trying to find his right niche. Eventually he will find the right woman that puts him in his place and embarks on a long lasting relationship with her.

CHAPTER-1: VICTORIA’S NEWEST SINGLE GUY

         I was now living in the spectacular city of Victoria, “Canada’s Paradise." This was truly the “Flower Capital of Canada”, where the streets are lined with pink cherry trees, housing British-styled homes surrounded by luscious green grass. The air from the Pacific Ocean was a welcome relief from the industrial stench of the mainland of Vancouver.

         After that first week, I landed in Victoria; I went to work at my new place of business, GWE on Burnside Road in Victoria. Initially I was residing there at our Phone-Room Supervisor Ashley’s home, which was a five bedroom, Victorian-Style home. Here he had rented out each bedroom, which consisted mostly of Chinese college students, which unfortunately spoke very little English.

         It was also here, that I met Christina Wine, a young, vivacious blonde-haired young woman I had talked to on the phone, back in Vancouver. Chris was the liaison that arranged for me to work in the Victoria office and was somewhat instrumental in making the necessary arrangements for my relocation. In fact, we got along so well, when we met face to face, we became instant friends. Apparently she was looking for a roommate, so after that crazy first week living in the “Chinese-Zone” I quickly took her up upon her offer. The next weekend, I was quite elated to move out of my tiny room that I had previously rented from that so-called “Chinese Landlord Ashley.”

        My next address would be 254 Gorge Road East, and I would reside here at least for the coming year. Even though my new roommate was somewhat attractive, nothing sexual or anything of that nature would ever occur between us. We had established a mutual respect for one and other, so we both chose to never cross that line.

        About this time, the late comedic actor Robin Williams was starred in a movie called “Good Morning Vietnam." I had a most unusual but very unique approach of making cold calls to prospective customers. In a very loud and probably quite an obnoxious voice, I would respond on the telephone with a familiar saying. As an example I would change the “Good Morning Vietnam” greeting on the phone with the person’s name.

        It might sound like this...”Good! Morning, Mrs Jones”, this is Brian Wade on behalf of The Victoria Firefighter’s Burn Fund”, or whatever charity we were campaigning for at the time. It might seem bizarre, but it was a very effective way of getting the person on the other end of the telephone, quick attention. That was just one of my vices, I would use whatever means necessary to acquire the pledge or sale. I was so confident in my telemarketing prowess that I even flirted with various secretaries on the phone as well. It was in this manner that I could bypass them and talk to the owners, bosses, supervisors, in addition to Vice-Presidents, along with Presidents of big corporations. The bigger donation, the more money in my pockets on payday, so I was quite aggressive in getting the order.

        It was also at this time, I had tried to locate the whereabouts of my daughter, Cassandra. However, in that period, I was also led to believe that my parents did not know where she was either. At least, that was what I was what I was told anyhow. Little did I know at that phase in my life, my ex-wife, Stacie had contacted my parents. In point of fact, I am quite positive, she was blackmailing them into having Cassie be there. I later found out, that if they wanted to continue to have Cassie in their lives, they had to play her game. The conditions were as long as they didn’t tell me where she was living, for fear I would try and contact her. That way, my parent’s would be free to take care of my daughter as they wished. I strongly believe that due to this arrangement, my relationship with my daughter became very distant and strained.
        Cassandra became extremely close to my dad in her visits to their home too. In fact, she would call him “Poppy” which was short for Grandpa. If truth be told, my Mom and Dad had always wanted a daughter they could call their own, now they had one, literally fall into their laps. I like to say here and now, where they made their cardinal mistake, is they made my daughter Cassandra their whole life! By that I mean they made her the center of attention, which created narcissism in her so much. Thus she felt that she was the only thing that mattered. I also think Cassandra at such a young age took advantage of that fact, so she got anything she wanted, well within my Mom and Dad’s budget anyway. That narcissism that I am talking about will become a mechanism for how Cassie really does get anything she wants, in Book 3 “Road History.”

        As for my new roommate Chris and I, well we became extremely close friends renting together. Moreover, it was near to the end of that year, that she met the half-breed Indian named Greg a rather tall and dark complexioned youth. He would definitely be considered half native in origin, although he was a white young male. Surprisingly it didn’t take long for Greg to move in with us either, against my better wishes.

          In fact, I bet you, it wasn’t even six months that Chris and Greg broke up, because he now liked someone better, as well as younger, which worked at GWE. So then Chris got all pissed off at Greg, moved out and now he decided he wanted to be my next roommate. The next week, Greg moved in with me and was now dating Carman who was a telemarketer that worked at nights. Sounds like a stupid episode of “Big Brother” right? But this was what my life had become, at that point.

          Carman was this short, skinny fiery red-headed young girl that was just plum crazy about Greg. I guess you could say there was a great deal of fraternization going on, where I worked as well. The real strange thing about it, was why all this was going on, all around me, I stayed single! In any case, could you blame me, from the strange events that unfolded way back in Vancouver? When I arrived there, the first things on my priority list were to buy a car and drive to work, instead of taking a bus.

          That following summer of 1989 I had finally gotten myself into shape; in addition to that I was eating lots of fruits and vegetables as well. Yup, I was one happening single, eligible bachelor! I mean I had furniture, a “rock- in” bedroom but still no wheels for transportation! The sports I was involved with included swimming and most surprisingly...tennis. This was mainly due in part as we had a tennis court situated outside our balcony door, which was pretty much accessible to play most of the times.

           As usual, I pursued my telemarketing career with such zest and a burning passion like never before. However, the challenge that I had was making a more money which I pretty much reached my limit at this place. I needed to find a job that paid better or at least made some extra cash to save for a car for. It was also at this time, I knew my marriage to Stacie was over for good, there was no going back, this time! The problem, as I previously mentioned was, I was cash strapped to pay for a divorce. Speaking of such an annulment, somehow the “Province of Ontario” took care of that.

INTRODUCTION TO BRIAN WADE'S WRITING: A REAL LIFE...

INTRODUCTION TO BRIAN WADE'S WRITING:                                        A REAL LIFE...:                                        A REAL LIFE FIREFIGHTER RANDOLPH MANTOOTH        I don't normally focus my blogs on one person, ...

                                       A REAL LIFE FIREFIGHTER RANDOLPH MANTOOTH
       I don't normally focus my blogs on one person, but I was so impressed by what I read of Randolph Mantooth (John Gage from Emergency-1972) that I decided to write about him this week.
       Randy Deroy Mantooth was born in Sacremento California in 1945 and was the oldest of 4 children. He is of Seminole,Cherokee,Potawatomi, Scottish and German descent. In fact, his mother was German, and his father was from Oklahoma. Mantooth lived in 24 states due to his father's job in the construction industry, finally settling in Santa Barbara California where he grew up.
       He attended San Marcos High School where he participated in school plays there as well.Randy followed that up by studying at Santa Barbara City College. He chose his stage name as Randolph but kept his last name Mantooth as a symbol of pride of his Indian heritage.
       His performance as "Gar" in the play "Philadelphia Here I Come" earned him the Charles Jehlenger Award for Best Actor. This was also an award he shared with late actor Brad Davis (Midnight Express portrayed real life person Billy Hayes) Mantooth earlier jobs included work as an elevator operator and as a page at NBC Studios.
       Randolph Mantooth became an American Actor who has worked in television, documentaries, theater, and film for over 40 years now. Mantooth was originally discovered in New York by a Universal Studios Talent Agent as a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He slowly built up his resume with work on such dramatic series as Adam-12,Marcus Welby MD, and McCloud. Due to his hard work and early success, he was chosen for the lead role as fireman/paramedic John Gage in the 1970 medical drama "Emergency."This was an important show that aired six seasons (129 episodes) and six-two hour television movie specials.
       He and fellow actor Kevin Tighe as Firefighter/paramedic Roy Desoto were part of an elite paramedic team assigned to Squad51 of the L.A.County Fire Dept. They would respond to accidents or dangerous rescues in an "Emergency Room on Wheels."There they received directions via a biophone from trained medical personnel at the hospital. The paramedic performed Advance Life Saving techniques to stabilize injured, ill and dying patients before transporting them to a medical facility.
       Mantooth and Tighe actually sat in on paramedic classes (no written exams) but rode out on extensive ride-a-longs with the L.A.County FD. Mantooth said the producers wanted them training so they appeared to look what they knew they were doing on camera. The show became an instant ratings hit, reeling in 30 million viewers per week at that time.
       Emergency, had become an important chapter in television history. In 1972 there were only 12 paramedic units in North America when the show broadcasted. By 1982, more than half of all Americans were within 10 minutes of a paramedic rescue or ambulance unit due to the popular influence of the show's episodes. The show had introduced audiences from all over the world to the concept of pre-hospital care, along with the fire prevention concepts, along with CPR.Since his experience, Randy has spoken regularly at Firefighter along with EMS conferences and symposia across the United States, while maintaining an active acting career.
       He is a spokesperson for both the International Association of Firefighters and the International Association of Fire Chiefs. He continues to campaign for fire fighter health and safety and has been honored over the years with numerous awards and recognition.
       Nearly 30 years after Emergency debuted, the Smithsonian Institute accepted their memorabilia into its American History Museum in the public service division but not entertainment on May 16,2000
       Among these items inducted included their uniforms,scripts, helmets, turnouts, biophone and defibrillator. In addition to that Project 51 was created to raise funds for a children's burn fund charity plus show the restored squad around the country. Mantooth along with fellow actors from the show Marco Lopez, Tim Donnelly, Ron Pinkard and Mike Stoker embarked on a 10-city tour with the squad to raise funds for charity on their way to Washington with their final destination being the Smithsonian. Soon thereafter Project 51 folded after the equipment was inducted into the Smithsonian and the funds were distributed to burn centers, fire education projects and local museums in the surrounding area.
       Randolph Mantooth has remained an advocate of firefighters, paramedics, EMT's and other medical providers. He continually makes speeches, and personal appearances each year at events across North America. Among his topics are the inside story of the television series Emergency! and its impact on the EMS system developments. having worked quite closely with the nation's first certified firefighter/paramedics who served as technical advisors on the set of Emergency. His perspective and insight into the early startup and history of pre-hospital treatment in the field is second to none. Randolph Mantooth is one of our strongest reminders of how North America turned the dedicated delivery of basic emergency care into a systematic approach to EMS and Advanced Life Support.
       He is also a strong voice for the health and safety of firefighters and educating them on the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning along with secondary effects of low-level CO poisoning.
       In association with Masimo Corporation,he speaks on carbon monoxide poisoning nationwide. In fact, this corporation funded a video narrated by Mantooth, regarding that same subject to educate firefighters all over the United States and Canada.
       His continued work as an advocate for firefighters and EMT extend to the First Nations Peoples. In May 2102 he filmed an Emergency Preparedness video to be distributed to tribal leaders at the Mille Lacs Ojibwe Reservation in Minnesota.
       In 2015 he revealed on his facebook profile that he had been diagnosed with cancer and had completed treatment, heading towards a recovery.
       Randolph Mantooth dedication to promoting and advocating for the fire service and EMS is shown through his personal reason as well. Mantooth references his own life being saved from carbon monoxide poisoning at his home during the six-year run while filming Emergency. In addition to that, paramedics and a flight nurse saved his sister's life after she was involved in a car accident.
       In conclusion Randolph Mantooth is a guy that took his role as a firefighter/paramedic back in the 1970's to a whole new level for the remainder of his life. He walks the walk, and talks the talk. I am proud to have done a blog on such a fine man.
       Now sit back and read another wonderful excerpt from my first book Temporary Satisfaction.Enjoy and have another great week!
       After that day, I became very adept at running home from school because for reasons I couldn’t understand; only a certain group of kids became my enemies. Quite often they threatened me in class, stating they would kick the crap out of me after I left for home when school got over. I learned to run home real fast and always cut through many homeowner's backyards to get home safely. I recall a classmate I associated with Bo Harkle thought he could beat me up, along with his pal Todd Windermill.Actually,those two had planned to jump me, as I walked home from school one day, but this time I had other ideas regarding that. When I finished running about three quarters of the way home, just a block from my house, I decided I wasn’t going to run anymore, but confront my attackers instead. My brother Chuck, had just walked up behind me and witnessed the whole event, and boy was he surprised. Bo and Todd caught up with me, and said they were now going to lay a beating on me!

       Later that evening, my brother Chuck told my Mom that “Brian just had a rangy on Bo Harkle that day”.

       He explained to her that I was all fists, two legs, and put Bo in the scissors, so I was squeezing the life out him so intensely to the point, He started turning blue but Bo had learned his lesson in messing with me that day.

       There was a real odd and daily occurrence going on as well, while I was participating in Grade five at Hillcrest Public School too. My hormones were now waking up to the “wonderful world of girls.” I remember this skinny sunny blonde haired girl who had a real crush on me. I simply can’t forget Camilla Ramilton and her side kick Rosanne Cobillard.

       Now, the craziest thing about our little romance was Cam, as I called her, would offer me money, to chase her and Rosanne around the schoolyard at recess! We’re not talking ten or 25 cents either; it usually amounted to $5.00 a shot per recess, which was just crazy right? On Fridays it was always ten dollars that would be put in my hands to do the sexy deed.

       I guess it was because I accepted it and chased her along with Rosanne all around the school yard, so Cam Ramilton might be considered another one of my girlfriends. Either that or it was my first time prostituting myself? I mean we did hold hands and she would give me the odd kiss at recess usually when nobody was looking at us, so that meant we were boyfriend and girlfriend.

       Speaking of crushes, I have to mention this now as it will become rather significant in Book#3 “Road History” when I am in my late 30’s. At that time, my Dad would drive us up to Tecumseh, near Windsor, Ontario, mostly on the weekends. We did this on a regular basis as my Dad had become best friends with an employee he worked with at T.R.S. Foods in Woodstock. He had long left King Seagrave and was now in the “Vending and Catering Business”, plus he was very successful at it too.

       Quite often we would ride up there in my Dad’s 1959 Black Ford 2-door Thunderbird. He bought this beautiful rare car when he was just 19 years old, but due to time and lack of money it needed to look like it had just come from the showroom floor. However, my Dad was now working longer hours in his new job and the extra money he made, restored that classic beast, pretty much back into its original condition.

       So there we were riding up to Windsor visiting his best friend Bert and his wife Karen Weleven and their three kids in it. There was Ryan, a real high strung short kid who was a true outdoors type, Katy a slender blonde with coke bottle glasses who had developed extremely large breasts for her young age of ten.  And there was Roselyn, a cute little blonde haired-blue eyed six year old fireball.

       We enjoyed activities with the Welevens too; camping at Wildwood, going to the Sandhills at Turkey Point, The London Fair and outings such as African Lion Safari, near Hamilton, Ontario.The absolute best thing I recall so fondly were all of us canoeing down that dirty “Little River” in Tecumseh. We were extremely close to the Welevens and I stayed in touch with their kids until I left the town of Woodstock when I was 19. Little did I know I left a young girl who had really true aspirations of becoming the future Mrs. Brian Wade? That person will be definitely mentioned in more detail towards my third book “Road History” in this series on my life, moreover such chapters would make for a good reality show!

       Now, do you remember the poster age and black lights? Yup they were in my bedroom at the time as well. I was also a big Elvis Presley Fan when I was a teenager at that time too. I even had a poster of him pinned up from his “Blue Hawaii Tour”, plus a provocative poster like Olivia Newton John dressed up in that tight leather black pantsuit from the movie Grease. I’m sure you remember that and every teenage boy, including myself had Farrah Fawcett sporting the red bathing suit and smiling only at you right?

       How about all those quirky TV Shows we watched in that era as well? There was the Brady Bunch, Leave It to Beaver, The Munsters, and the ever riskay’, Three’s Company starring blonde bombshell Suzanne Summers. Our weekly evening lineup was also, Emergency 51, One Adam 12, The Incredible Hulk, Love Boat and Saturday Night Live. There were no computers in that period and if there were, they cost over a thousand dollars then.

       I remember collecting hockey cards and disappearing down to our basement rec-room. It was there that I would create two teams from these cards placed on the carpet in their different positions. Just like a real hockey game setup, a goalie, two defensemen, right, and left wings along with a center. I used a button as a puck and would shoot this thing back and forth at the goalie hockey cards, which were propped up, with another hockey card behind it. I was very creative with this, and entertained myself for hours with this little pastime of mine.

      When I was 12 yrs old, I started seeing a psychiatrist named Dr. Cudealack.If you ever seen that shrink on the Simpsons that was what my new analyst looked like. Every other Friday, my mom would have a cab pick me up at school around three ‘clock in the afternoon. We played chess pretty much every time I would see him. He always had this little exercise that helped to stimulate my mind and ignite the thinking mode. Following that, I would glance at shapes of cards presented before me and say the first thing that popped into my mind. I also acted on memory games with rectangles, squares and diamonds on playing cards too. From what I understand a good deal of what was going on in my prepubescent head was that of a sexual nature! 

      In addition, I was told I definitely had anger management issues to deal with as well. It was explained to me that I had to learn how to deal with my sudden anger or I would find myself in jail in the future. From that moment on, that was kind of a wakeup call for me, so I started to expand my horizons to get involved with a club or something.

      So it was at this time in my life, I started my earliest radio announcing beginnings, of what would be my first real career. I made a memo of my voice on one of those ancient push button tape recorders I had inherited from my Grandpa Wade after he passed away. Well it wasn’t mine exactly; nobody ever used it, so I kind of claimed it as my own cassette device. There I was in my bedroom playing my record player, and after each song finished I would start the tape recorder and record my voice.

      It went something like this “That was Nazareth on F.U.C.K. and Hair of the Dog! This is Paul Do Love You All” comin at ya, in Woodstock this Evening.




















                                                               

INTRODUCTION TO BRIAN WADE'S WRITING: IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE ...

INTRODUCTION TO BRIAN WADE'S WRITING:                             IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE ...:                             IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE WEATHER WAIT FIVE MINUTES        This week, its time to get serious, yes I needed to ...

                            IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE WEATHER WAIT FIVE MINUTES
       This week, its time to get serious, yes I needed to put on the college, university hat and let you fine people know why the weather is getting to be so extreme nowadays. I can sure tell you, that living in Alberta for the last 6 years, is living proof of that! I mean in just one month alone in our fair city of Calgary, we have experienced rain, golf-ball size hail, flooding, tornados, twisters,intense heat and yes even snow! So why are these extreme weather patterns happening now, not only here, but in other parts of the world. For the answer to that question we need to look at "Global Warming"
       Those 2 words are such a catch phrase these days, "Oh it happened because of Global Warming, right? What exactly is Global Warming then?
      Now to start off with it is a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth's atmosphere. This in turn, is attributed to the "Greenhouse Effect" causing increased levels of carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons along with other pollutants. This would be both land and water as well as temperature.
      When I was growing up, the earth experienced increases in temperature by results of normal causes. Today it is being created by the accumulation of greenhouse gases produced by human activities.
      Global Warming is affecting many places around the world as well. It is accelerating the melting of ice sheets, glaciers and perma frost. This in turn, causes average sea levels rising continually. It is also changing precipitation and weather patterns all over the world. Some areas are now drier, with more intense periods of drought. Now even other places are wetter with stronger storms, increased flooding and hurricanes.
      In 2005 Hurricane expert Kerry Emanuel published a startling analysis. This showed that the power of Atlantic Hurricanes had strongly increased over the past 2 decades. The number of record-breaking hot months around the world is now 5 times as big as it would be in an unchanging climate.
      These anomalies have affected both nature as well as human society. They will continue to have increasingly worse effects if greenhouse emissions continue to grow at their same pace. So then what really causes Global Warming.
      Basically, it is the increasing quantity of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere being produced by humans. The burning of fossil fuels and deforestation are prime examples. These activities are definitely produced by large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. They trap heat in the earth's atmosphere keeping the planet warm enough to sustain life itself. It is a natural process and without these gases the earth would be too cool for humans, plants and other creatures to live.
       The natural greenhouse effect exists due to the balance of the major types of gases. However when abnormally high levels of these gases accumulate in the air, even more heat gets trapped. Human-caused emissions have increased greenhouse levels which increased world wide temperatures driving global warming.
        The majority of man-made carbon dioxide emissions occurs from the burning of fossil fuels. These include coal and oil so that humans can power various mechanical vehicles, machinery, keep warm along with electricity. Other important sources come from land-use changes (deforestation) & industry (cement production)
        Methane is used in livestock farming and rice farming as well. Unfortunately, it also occurs in landfills throughout the world.
         Nitrous Oxide emissions are mainly caused by the use of synthetic fertilizers for agriculture, fossil fuel combustion and livestock manure applications. Fluorinated gases are used mainly in refrigeration, cooling and manufacturing applications as well.
          Deforestation has become a massive undertaking by humans thus transferring forests into farms and industrial sites. For centuries, man has burned and cut down forests to clear land for agriculture. This has a doubling effect, both emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and simultaneously reducing the number of trees.Trees usually remove carbon dioxide from the air as well.
          In conclusion, the effects of Global Warming range from increased melting of snow and ice.Sea levels continue to rise, longer winters occur, hotter summers evolve, stronger hurricanes, cyclones, and tornados are created with even more increased flooding.
          Wow, pretty deep huh, okay on a lighter note is another excerpt from when Carol and I were caught driving through a forest fire in Montana,enjoy and have another great week!

   The next day on our way to Missoula Montana to do a switch with the frozen load of beef, I was hauling; we ran smack dab into a massive forest fire! As I was driving I immediately saw this sign that said “Fire Activity Ahead, No Stopping.”Nonetheless, this huge “big ass blaze” we were driving right through, seemed to go on for miles as I rolled down the interstate. They called it the Sapphire Mountains, along with the fact it was pretty much engulfed in flames as I drove the I-90 West Corridor. The weather here in this area had been unseasonably hot with temperatures well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Everything around us was very tinder dry, so any spark would go up like a match stick, furthermore we could see that it had. As “Beauty” rolled down the highway, you could easily see large portions of land swallowed up by large beads of fire up the mountainside.

        On the other side of the road, we could see even more flames peaking their ways through spark covered trees and brush. Both Carol and I were watching the “Helicopter Water Bombers” fly by us to douse various areas of the fire when she was still filming our whole adventure on the “Jazz Video Camera.”

       “Well now I can say we drove through a forest fire right my Brin,” Carol said to me.

         She was true to her word, as there was so much thick gray smoke that day that it actually blocked the sun as we drove down the interstate that day. When we made it to this “Mom and Pop” truckstop just outside of Missoula, there was a mix-up in loads, so where we were heading never materialized. Things don’t always go as planned, so I ended up going down with a load to Akron Iowa as usual to the Dial yard. The following week we pretty much ended up getting loads from “Calgary” to places in Colorado, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, and North Dakota.

         Although there was something that happened on one of our trips down to Portland Oregon that was definitely worth mentioning. I had just picked up a load of beef destined for a place down in Portland that escapes my mind at the moment. Nevertheless on our way there, we parked overnight at a Walmart that was just in the city limits of Pasco Washington. Carol was doing her usual shopping, but I was going to stay in the truck to watch some DVD movies. I guess she didn’t want to be in there all morning because of that Carol wanted me to help her out with the grocery shopping. Well when we both went into the store, she needed to get a new watch as her’s had pretty much stopped working. So she went over to look at watches and I followed her, but this time she suddenly stopped at the rings on display in a large glass case. I went over to where she was, and she seemed to be looking at this rather inexpensive set of wedding rings! She told me that she really liked this exact set that was silver of course. She asked the sales clerk if she could try it on and so the young lady obliged her request. Carol looked and me with this sly look and I glanced back at her. Somehow we both knew the answer to the question I should have popped would be yes. Next thing she asked me was to try on the silver band with cubic zirconias in it. Again when I tried it on, it just seemed to fit like a glove.We gave each other a kiss on the lips and that was it, we were engaged, October 9, 2007. Maybe some of you reading this might think that I was cheap to spend a mere $200.00 on an engagement set, but you have to understand who my Carol really is. Carol was definitely not the type that wanted me to spend 2 months’ salary on something that she would put on her finger. In fact, if I ever did such a thing her reaction would be more to the fact we could have spent that on new furniture, or saving for the down payment on a house. That’s who Carol was, and probably always would be, as material possessions were not that important to her as the true love, kindness, friendship and caring of a true man is. That small but very important gesture instilled into her my utmost commitment to her so one day she would become Carol Lee Wade. There was no date set, no wedding planned after that morning either, Carol was just at peace knowing that I committed to staying in her life from there on. In fact, nothing more was even said about it, as we just knew we would be with one another until death or my infidelity separated one of us.

INTRODUCTION TO BRIAN WADE'S WRITING: WHERE DO SOME PEOPLE GET THEIR LICENSES FROM...

INTRODUCTION TO BRIAN WADE'S WRITING:       WHERE DO SOME PEOPLE GET THEIR LICENSES FROM...:       WHERE DO SOME PEOPLE GET THEIR LICENSES FROM? A CRACKER JACK BOX!        This week I decided to write about bad drivers and the stupi...