Looking back at the Big Wheel!

So today I was in my boss's office and somehow we got talking about bikes and I mentioned how in my hometown at the first house I grew up in, we used to ride our bikes down the hill and jump the culvert from the neighbor's driveway into our ditch and up it to the front deck.

Looking back that was so much fun.  First off it was cool to seem like we got that much air when we jumped it.  I think sometimes we may have got a little bit.  If you have been reading this or follow me on facebook or twitter, I miss my small town growing up. I loved it.  I hate the big city and that my kids won't experience in Des Moines what I had in Garwin.  All of us who grew up there were lucky.

But after we got done talking about bikes, I mentioned that I had a big wheel too.  Not just any big wheel, a Dukes of Hazzard Big Wheel.  (somewhat like the one pictured, but more orange) I got it from my grandparents for Christmas one year.  I used to watch the Dukes every Friday night with my grandma, and even skip my brothers football and basketball games to do so.  It was my thing with my grandma.  So it was an awesome gift.  I remember going to their basement to ride it that night since I couldn't outdoors.  That spring/summer I tore that thing up!

As you can see the whole thing is mostly plastic and on the right side there was a lever that was your brake.  You could get that thing going fast enough down hill and then hit the break and turn the wheel and get some nice black tire marks on the side walk.  All I need was a bow and I was a real Duke!  What was even cooler is that our neighbor had a custom horn that had the Dukes General Lee horn!  We'd get that played for us when we drove by.  We also had the town cop living at the top of the hill.  You'd get him to sit out there with his cop car, or even just see it parked and it was like running from Roscoe P Coltrane, add in the horn and it was one heck of a ride for a 5-7 year old.

I rode that thing everywhere, all over the neighbor hood, sidewalks, driveway and even rode it to church one Sunday.  The pastor at children's time even made note to mention about the Big Wheel parked out front.

Got to say it was a great conversation with my boss and made me smile a lot and brought back a lot of great memories from my past.

Now all I need now is my real General Lee!

Who’s in your 5? TV Shows

So I can either go with current, past, or combined. And I think I will go with the later. Right now there are a few shows that I consider shows I follow and watch, and I think a few will fall into my top 5. So here we go.



5. Big Bang Theory – Nerds! How can you not laugh with Sheldon being Sheldon. And to bring in HALO night to a tv show is awesome!

4. Big Brother – It’s not the most popular reality show out there, but it is my favorite of them. I don’t think there is a better reality player (maybe boston rob on survivor) than Dr. Will. He was great in season 2 and in all-stars. The interactions with Mike Boogie in both seasons was great.

3. Fresh Prince of Bel-Air – sure it was about promoting Will Smith, but if you watch it and follow it, its about 1 thing too. Family. The Dukes of Hazzard was one of the last pure good family shows, but with what was shown on Fresh Prince if look deeper is a family bond and what it should be.



2. How I Met Your Mother – it’s Legen…wait for it, wait for it…DARY! I love all 5 characters. It’s perfect, it’s the new Friends. I don’t know if it will ever top Friends popularity, but for me its a lot better! And if you don’t think so, I challenge you to a slap bet!

1. Dukes of Hazzard – I love that car! Learned how to drive watching it! Remember Friday’s watching it at Grandma’s house in here little cubby hole area. We’d sit and watch, and then when the re-runs came back on, we’d watch those too. One day my goal is to own a 1969 Dodge Charger painted up in orange with an “01” on the side.