Mirror Mirror on the Wall (and Other Stories from the Road) . . .

There are so many stories from the past week on the road.  Some of them are interesting . . . some are amazing . . . others are just funny.  I usually try to tell them in chronological order – but this time they’ll be random.  I’ll just tell the best one first – since I heard it over and over and over and over on Saturday . . .

Two minutes after the Clearwater show opened Saturday, I was straightening some packages on a shelf at the corner of our booth.  And a customer walked up and asked me to step aside so she could get to the booths in the next room.  Next room?

This is what she saw . . . it’s a mirror.  And I heard similar comments over a hundred times during the day.  The best was a nice lady who was leading her daughter and granddaughter around the room and said “Let’s go over into this room.”  As she started that way, her granddaughter’s very soft voice said “Grandma, it’s just a mirror.”  But Grandma didn’t believe her until she got all the way to the wall.

Eventually, I piled several empty boxes in the way.  But they didn’t help much . . .

It’s amazing that we actually made it to Clearwater at all.  That puddle in the left picture shows coolant leaking from the truck’s engine – it blew a fuel pump in Valdosta, Georgia.  This was one of those “God is in control” moments – I was just doo-bopping down the road and decided to stop for snacks at a WalMart right next to I-75.  When I got out of the truck, I saw coolant pouring out of the engine.  I never made it into WalMart – instead, I got out my cell phone and put “International Truck Valdosta” into the browser.  And when I saw that the nearest one was five miles away, I jumped into the truck and headed that way as fast as I could.  The warning lights and beeps were going strong when I pulled into the lot.  Those good folks stayed an hour past closing time to get me back on the road, and I am grateful – especially since I was carrying four other booths in the truck.  If I hadn’t stopped for snacks in Valdosta, that breakdown would have happened miles down the road, I would have been stuck there for hours waiting for a tow truck, and who knows when (or if) I would have made it to Clearwater.

Did you enjoy your Super Bowl party last Sunday?  This was my view of the game – in the terminal at the Atlanta airport.  I stored the truck after the Lawrenceville show and flew home, then flew back on Thursday to pick up the truck and head to Florida.  Saved a lot of wear and tear on me – not to mention over $400 (the difference between parking the truck and flying and the cost of diesel fuel home and back).  In the terminal, the game was on about a 20 second delay – but in the restaurants, it was in real time.  So we would hear cheers and then get to wait 20 seconds to see what had happened.

Here’s a face you haven’t seen for a while – but may soon.  No, not Picasso – put wild multicolored hair on the nice lady, and remember Amy’s Magic?  Yep – that’s Amy!  She stopped by the Lawrenceville show for a visit (she lives in the area now) and told us that she’s about ready to bring her famous gold leaf (and everything else she is known for) back on the show circuit.

This is what the TSA scanner saw when my suitcase went through on Thursday – I packed for two shows and left my clothes in the truck, then took an empty suitcase back to Dayton.  I was sure that there would be product that just had to get to Clearwater . . .

Want to make a northern boy very happy on a Friday in February?  Start with a warm and mostly sunny Florida morning, wipe away the wispy clouds by lunchtime . . .

And add shorts . . .

After setup on Friday, I made it out to Clearwater Beach for about an hour.  The picture on the right was all I could get between bursts of laughter – six or eight teenagers were out frolicking in the water, and all of a sudden they came tearing out of the water and screaming (I started to wonder if they had seen a shark).  Then I saw it – about a hundred seagulls had discovered where the kids left their towels, clothes, and snacks and were having a feast!