Slice of Good Ol Boy Life

Adventure awaits and preparation begins. We leave next week for the American West. There are still a few Ts to cross and Is to dot. Gonna need gloves, jackets, sweathers and such to brave the elements.

The desert, I’m told, gets quite chilly at night.

A cell phone is also on my wish list, thanks to an unfortunate incident with the washing machine.

Today, the Doc gave me the go-ahead. Test results were vastly improved compared to when I returned from New York. There was no doubt, I had pushed myself too hard in the City and it showed — on paper and in person.

Months of rest and rehab along the World’s Most Beautiful Beaches restored my strength and I am ready to ride again.

“Dallas is a great city,” the Doc said. “You’re going to love it.”

The Doc’s office is undergoing some renovations. They are replacing the tile flooring with linoleum.

“It will be easier to clean,” the nurse said as she took my blood pressure.

The Doc has a son in college who wants to be a journalist. And like all young writers, he has dreams of New York.

The Doc is going back to school too, studying business online through the University of Massachusetts.

“Education is the key,” Goede told me during our brunch this week. “You don’t need a job, John, you need a career.”

Goede urged me to take the necessary steps to return to college before leaving on my Westward journey.

“Don’t put this off,” he said.

So I called one of the counselors at the community college and left a message on her voice mail about scheduling an appointment.

The Doc advised computers as a career path.

“Data,” he termed it.

Computers have evolved a lot since those days of playing “Oregon Trail” on the Apple back in high school. Now there are things like “apps” and “widgets” and “html” to learn.

Before leaving the newspaper I was just getting a handle on the I-Mac, specifically video-making. Journalists these days must be well-rounded. You write a story, take pictures and shoot video, or else you don’t get hired.

Yesterday I visited the AT&T store to look at the new I-phones. Very impressive equipment. A device that can pretty much do it all — phone calls, text messaging, photography, video, internet, even Facebook — this I-phone appears to be a revolutionary product.

If I am blessed to carry an I-phone on this trip my education will begin in earnest. Tomorrow night, I will meet Mr. Smith for a few cocktails downtown. We’ll go over the itinerary one final time before departure.

I can’t wait to see little Miss Dillan.