words-by-terry

America's Compassionate Army

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 01:16:25 +0100

America's Compassionate Army

I am a firm believer that things come our way, problems arise just to tempt us and either make us stronger or help us to find our weaknesses. The good Lord knows I have many weakness. I can't walk by a candy dish without filling my hands and pockets with sweets. I am the poster child for potato chips, because I can not eat just one. Really I can eat just one as long as it is one whole bag. I drink coffee and softdrinks like they are water. But one of my greatness and biggest weakness is never being able to say no to someone in need. I believe in helping in any way I can, Whether it be charities for children, truckers, or those who have faced disaster or hardships. Now I have had a life of hardships, and financial struggles, but The Lord has always provided what I needed. Like everyone else I have not always had everything I wanted, but I have had what I needed.

I have found that by helping others, I always help myself. I am able to look in the mirror and know that someone somewhere will benefit from the things the Lord has blessed me with, whether it be my talents or my abilities. When I look around at all the things I don't have, it would be very easy to want to become selfish and keep everything for myself. But when I look around at all the things that others don't have or have lost I realize that I am very blessed and very rich in many ways. When we are able to say I went the extra mile to help someone else is when I can truly be happy with myself. Some folks don't believe in karma, and I myself am not sure I know what it is or how it works, but I do know that the more I give the more I recieve.

Recently while attending and working at the Mid America Truck Show, with the great folks in The Trucker Charity Booth, I was approached by an elderly gentlemen in a wheel chair asking for a very strange request. He ask for a Bible, and ask if I could hurry and find one. Now I do keep one with me whenever I go anywhere, but mine happened to be in the room at the motel, and the motel was 7 miles away. Now we are in the Louisville Fair and exposition center, with 80,000 people, who had come to see the truck show, and the truck show exhibits. I was guessing that the odds of finding a bible quickly for this gentlemen might be extremely slim. But I immeadiately took off in search for this gentlemen because he had ask.

The crowds were heavy, and simply walking through was difficult and i had no idea where to start. But the Lord provided. The Bible tells us to seek and ye shall find, and within a matter of minutes my journey took me directly to a group of ministers who not only were able to provide us with the Bible, but they went back with me to pray with and for this gentlemen.

I realize that this blog is not like my others, entertaining and comical, and even though they are truthful, they are meant for enjoyment, hoping that folks can laugh along with me at my own troubles. This one is meant so that we hopefully can realize that each and everyone of us have the ability to do something to make a difference. I sincerely hope you will join us in our efforts to help others and become a member of America's Compassionate Army. You can make a difference, regardless of how large or small it is still a difference.

May God Bless and protect you and yours......

Terry Wooley
www.terrywooley.com

Friday The 13th

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 01:15:00 +0100

Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th is considered by many to be an unlucky day. To me it is just another day but I'm sure it has in the past been considered by some as the day that everything could go wrong. I guess I look at things somewhat different than most folks because in my case I try to find the good and humorous in everything. Now don't get me wrong everything is not funny, everything is not humorous, and most of the time these ramblings are just that. Some truth mixed with playful fabrication in the sole attempt to entertain and enlighten and break up a sometimes otherwise dreary day. Now I'm not saying that all of my writings are untruths, I'm just saying that some are a stretch of my imagination. For instance in one of my previous blogs I stated that with all of the collection and late notices that I have to pack from the mailbox that I possibly could become overexerted and die from the heavy loads of paper I would have to carry. This is a slight stretch. Because that simply would not and could not happen. Before I would allow that to happen I would take all those pieces of paper out of the box and put them in the neighbors box, and they would take them to there house and realize they were not theres and bring them to me, thus eliminating my exertion.

In another post I stated that I needed to replace the wheel on a lawnmower for my wife to be able to mow the yard. That was another stretch. She would not allow me to do that, because she doesn't trust me with power tools so she would do it herself. I also stated that I needed to borrow a ladder from a neighbor so that she can clean the gutters. You got it another stretch simply because our house doesn't have gutters. I was bragging just a bit. And finally in a previous post I wrote of how I was attacked in church by a 5 yr old minister over my sleeping and nodding off during the service. You got it another slight stretch. There was no way that I could have known if I was being attacked or not because during this service I actually was asleep. Some of the best 45 minute naps I have ever taken were during the preachers sermon. And he never really steps on my toes. For one thing I keep moving them, so he can't but I am quite sure he tries.

In all honesty most of these blogs are all done in fun and hopefully bring a little enjoyment to your day. But I would like to invite you to send me your thoughts and ideas so that I might create a little humorous plot to go with them. Simply forward your ideas or your stories from life on the road to us here at the contact page and then watch for your story to make it to our blogs. To all the Drivers out there I would like to say thanks for what you do. To all the Military, Police,Firefighters and First responders I would also like to say thanks. Our goal for the remainder of 2011 is to travel all around and do what we do which is to entertain, but it is also to shake the hands of 2 million of the folks that move and protect this country of ours and say thanks in person. Look for us at a town near you. Have a safe Friday the 13th. As for me I am going to see if I can get the wife to borrow the neighbors water hose and water so she can wash the bus. I guess this would be another stretch since I'm not married. Maybe she'll wash the bus anyway..

Terry Wooley
www.terrywooley.com
www.truckercharity.org

Nap Time

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 01:14:11 +0100

Nap Time

I spent last evening doing exactly what I should have been doing. I went to church. Now occasionally I have been known to nod off in the service, and I really don't know why. The preacher is plenty loud enough, the seats are very uncomfortable, and his fire and brimstone messages usually leave me sweating bullets, and pretty convinced that he spent the entire week following me around taking notes on all the things I had done wrong, and then he prepared his sermon accordingly just so he can step on my toes. Most of the time he doesn't just step on my toes he walks all over the whole foot.

This service was just a little different in that most of the evening was filled with interuptions from the younger generation. I had to laugh when one of the mothers was doing her best to keep a young man quite. She ask him to calm down a couple of times and finally took him by the arm and was leading him out and, I'm simply guessing but to adjust his attitude. As he was being led down the aisle he turned and shouted through his tears "PRAY FOR ME PREACHER". Another young man in front of me kept being pretty loud and after his mom had ask him a couple times to be quite, she looked at him and said, "Do you know why we need to be quite in church?" The little lad looked like he had the answer to the million dollar question. "I SURE DO" He yelled "THERE ARE PEOPLE SLEEPNG, AND WE DONT WANT TO WAKE THEM." For some reason the little fellar turned and looked right at me when he said it. I liked that little guy right up until that point. For the rest of the evening he would turn and point at me and smile and laugh. Now I am not sure but I believe this little guy was going to grow up to be a man of the cloth. He made me sweat in church just like the preacher did.

By the time I got home last night, I was pretty much devastated. My self esteem had been destroyed by a 5 yr old future preacher. All I could do was just sit down on the couch, the one out in the yard by the road, and think about my life. While thinking, I realized there were a lot of things I needed to do that quite possibly could help raise my self esteem. I needed to get a new brush and a can of paint that is close to the same color as my truck and paint over the rust on the hood and fender. It would make the truck look better and I'm sure me fell better. I need to get the lawnmower out from under the porch and find the other wheel that came off, get the wheel back on and find the gas can, so that the wife can go get gas and then mow the yard. I need to go and borrow a ladder so she can clean out the gutters and fix that whole in the roof. She sure is a handy woman. I wish I knew how to do all that stuff, but I guess there is no need in both of us knowing how. She might even feel unloved and unwanted if I chipped in and helped out. I went out and bought her a new bassboat to show her how much I love and I appreciate her. I really didn't know she didn't like to fish before I bought it, but she knows it's the thought that counts.

After a few minutes of making a list and finding out all the things that needed to be done, I decided to take the advice of one of my great ancestors. "Why do today what you can put off until next week". And that seemed like a very good idea after all I was exhausted, I had missed my nap in church.

Terry Wooley
www.terrywooley.com

Political Aspirations

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 01:13:41 +0100

Political Aspirations

I am thinking seriously of going into politics. It really can’t be that hard. First I need to learn how to lie, cheat, steal, and spend my huge salaries while the rest of the civilized world goes hungry or starves. I also need to learn how to spend other people’s money with absolutely no concern of the hardships that it might put on any other human being. I also have to learn two words. NO COMMENT. Almost like when I got married for the first time. I only had to learn two words then, to make life work and those were YES DEAR. As long as I used those words I was always safe, and never got into trouble.

It seems to me that with all the need for political leadership that there should be several job openings for my expertise in this field. Let’s look at my qualifications. I have been a musician and an entertainer most all my life so I should be really good at singing the same old song and dance that most politicians have become so good at doing. Secondly, I have pretty much been in the spotlight all my life, so I have learned to smile in front of cameras regardless of how bad the situation might be. Thirdly I have become a master at what most politicians are good at. And that is if you can’t dazzle with brilliance, then baffle with Bull S*****. Growing up on the farm I am very familiar with the Bull S***. I shoveled it, hauled it, tossed it and spread it, which should have prepared me for the political ring. Which leads me to believe most politicians must have been farmers because they also no how to spread it.

There is no place in the politicians handbook that specifically states that entertainers can’t apply for the job. In my opinion the only qualification thus far that I am lacking is that of an actor. It must take great acting skills to become a great leader, since almost all of ours have been acting like they know what they are doing for years. In light of recent events such as everybody is broke, gas is outrageous, cost of doing business has gone through the roof, the state of unrest through out the whole world is at an all time tense situation, it has become very evident to me, that whomever is driving this rig, has fallen asleep at the wheel. I’m not saying that I could drive it any better, but I did pass Drivers Ed. While in school. I also simply believe that a little common sense might help to guide this wagon back on the right path.

One thing I have learned in my many years of travel, is that you don’t mash on the gas to a runaway train. And you never try to drive a freight drain down a dirt road. Now if I’m elected to office I promise to always have an open door policy. The door will always be open, but I will probably never be there. I also promise to never promise anything. I will always be available for any questions to give NO COMMENT. And I will do everything within my power to do absolutely nothing. I think I’ve got this politician stuff figured out.

At first I was only going to go for local or regional office, but after looking at all of my qualifications at being so good at doing nothing, I think I’ll go for the whole ball of wax. Now I just have to figure out how to get on a major TV show to announce my run for office or in my case my walk for office. I tried running once, but I didn’t get very far. They finally caught me. So now when I run for office and they ask me about my record, I can proudly say Yea I got one. I also have 45’s and LP’s, cassettes and CD’s. And if they ever ask if I am proud of my record, I can proudly say, Why should I be because all of the other politicians shouldn’t be proud of there’s either.

But then again maybe I just ought to stay with what I do. I am not sure I would be that good in the oval office. Seems like everything there just goes round and round and round.

It was a nice thought for a second, to become one of the most powerful people in my neighborhood because I was some big shot politician, but then again maybe I already am one of the most powerful people in my neck of the woods. I am the only one in our area that also has a couch and chair in the house as well as in the front yard. I think I’ll go now and spend my campaign war chest fund at McDonalds. I have just enough for a happy meal. Then why am I not happy.

Then again maybe I am Redneck Happy.

Terry Wooley
www.terrywooley.com

Neighbors

Thu, 12 May 2011 12:59:14 +0100

Neighbors

There are certain days, that I am the most energetic person in the world. The kind of days where I believe that I can do almost anything. Of course you have to remember, I am a musician. That being said you have to realize that I’ve been doing so much with so little for so long, I can dang near do anything with nothing.

Today was one of those days. After a grand total of about 2 hours sleep, considering I was up all night watching the weather, I jumped right out of bed at the crack of noon, and was ready to take on the day head first. That is how I usually take on everything since my head is the hardest thing I have, especially when you get my age, all the other parts become brittle, and sometimes just fall off. The grass needed cutting, and I figured since no one else was jumping up to volunteer to get it done, and the neighbors were starting to complain that they were worried there children would get lost in my yard and never find there way home, I decided to tackle it.

What I didn’t expect was that the mower would quit after only a few rounds, and leave me unable to finish the job. Well at least the kids now have a path through it, so maybe the neighbors will quit whining. Don’t really know why they started all that complaining. It was such a nice neighborhood when I moved here, just a few months ago. It was one of the older neighborhoods in town, all the yards were neatly trimmed, all the children seemed so friendly and everyone seemed to be like one big happy family, and it seems that everyone did things together.

Just a few short weeks after I moved in the local fence contractor must have made a special deal to the neighborhood, and it must have been cheap, because he built everyone around me an 8 ft high fence. Wonder why he never stop by to see me. He must have been just starting out because he put gates in the fences on every side but the one that faces my yard. I guess he just forgot, but now when I want to see what the neighbors are doing, I have to get out my ladder, and climb up to the top of the fence. They must be really busy now though, because since I bought my ladder, they are not in the yard anymore. I’ve also noticed that the economy is really affecting the neighborhood, because most of the folks around me are evidently having to sell there houses. There are for sale signs in almost every yard around my house. It’s amazing things can go that bad that quick for so many folks.

And even though I’m not the smartest of people by any stretch of the imagination, and you will have to understand my imagination is like the band around your underwear, it will stretch a long, long way, I believe there is another reason for all the changes in my little community. I believe that by moving here I have increased the Global Warming. And the reason I believe this is because just the other day I overheard one of those neighbors in there back yard discussing me. He said to his wife, “Ever since that musician moved in next door, we’ve both been a little hot under the collar.” I guess now would be a good time to call that new air conditioning company. Gore’s heating and air.

Terry Wooley
www.terrywooley.com

Bills-Bills-Bills

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 18:25:57 +0100

I have decided to write a letter to postmaster general in Washington D.C., and request another postal carrier to deliver my mail. It is not I dislike the carrier that I have, and it is not that they have done anything physically, emotionally, or personally to me, it is simply that they don’t know how to deliver anything to my mailbox other than BILLS.

Every day when I retrieve my mail, there are handfuls of past due notices, collection notices, disconnect notices, well you get the picture, of all the notices, but never do I receive anything that says anything, other than PAST DUE.

Don’t these people realize that if I had the money to pay them when they were due I would already paid them, and saved myself and them several trips to the post office or the mail box.

Now those people that send those notices have really gone to far, because not only do they send me 100’s of notices, they have started taking several hours of my very important schedule in the day to call me on the telephone to remind me that I owe them money.

I may not be an elephant but I don’t forget everything, and while on the phone just the yesterday, I was ask by an non English speaking person, if I had forgotten to mail in my payment, on the balance of my credit card. And after several minutes of trying to understand this individual and having them trying to understand me, I finally said, “Please do me a favor, and do not send me another statement, or letter, but please take the money you have spent on the postage and apply it to my account, simply because if we do this with as many letters as you send me a day, by the end of the month you will owe ME money.

They really didn’t know how to respond, but I’m guessing that if I understood the foreign language they were speaking, it might have made me blush. I’m not sure what they said, but they said it very loudly, and it didn’t sound very nice.

Now this all comes back around to my first idea of the mail carrier. If they were to not constantly deliver these notices of delinquencies that I daily receive, I would have a much better attitude, I would be a lot more beneficial to society, and I wouldn’t constantly have to make the trips to the mailbox, which could eventually cause me to become over exerted, and die from the exhaustion of carrying these huge piles of paper back inside.

Not only would it possibly save my life by not having to exert myself, it could save the life of many trees that had to be sacrificed to make the paper to print those bills, and all the ink that has to be used to write out the huge numbers on them, not to mention the man hours wasted trying to track me down.

It could be possible they are trying to guilt me into paying them on time by making me think I am single handedly responsible for the national debt from the money spent to collect the small amount I owe.

It is not my fault that I owe money, and it is not my fault that sometimes the bills don’t quite get paid on time, it is not my fault that the only people hired as collection, or customer service folks are non English speaking people, and I know this because the person that calls me to collect is the very same individual that I talk to when I call if I have a problem, and not just the same nationality, but the very same person. So instead of being my fault, I am the solution to the problem. If I paid these bills on time, no one would have a job.

So instead of calling me the next time to scream and holler and try and collect money, you need to call and thank me that you are employed. But since I know that will never happen, I am still requesting a new mail carrier simply because all new carriers take at least a month to learn the route, and for at least a month, maybe we can all get some rest..

Terry Wooley
www.terrywooley.com

Trouble with Traffic

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 16:54:51 +0100

With all the traffic on the highway these days, you would think some folks would actually learn how to drive. There are just to many people who don’t pay attention
when they are behind the wheel.

Just today I was driving down the interstate when out of nowhere a big truck almost ran me over. Now if I hadn’t looked up from my cell phone when I did, I would have been the rear bumper on this 18 wheeler. It caused me to completely loose the text I had started. Now I had been working on this particular message for well over 20 miles, but thanks to this driver moving to the left lane to allow another driver to access the interstate from an on ramp, I would have to completely start this message all over again. I was furious, so I decided to try and chase him down to ask him about it. So I put down my cell phone, and folded up the papers I had been looking at to finish this message and immediately started the chase. He didn’t see me trying to flag him down, because he was to dang busy concentrating on the road and the other drivers to realize that someone was trying to get his attention. Oh now that he knows I’m keeping my eyes on the road he is driving responsibly, using his turn signals, being polite, driving courteous, and only driving around 63 mph in a 65 mph zone. Where was all this correct driving when I was putting my text message together. Someone could have been really hurt. I had just finished combing and fixing my hair in the mirror, and adjusting the volume and tone controls on the radio, and had almost completed the text in response to the phone calls I had just received when he appeared out of nowhere, just as I looked up. It could have been bad, someone could have been hurt…….

In all seriousness, someone could have been hurt, and more than likely the poor trucker would have been blamed, for the carelessness of someone behind the wheel, doing something other than driving, even though the trucker was following all the rules, and he wasn’t really the one to blame. It usually doesn’t matter because 9 out of 10 times it is automatically assumed it is the truckers fault.

In this hustle bustle world of ours, where everything has become so animated and automated, and fabricated, we spend entirely way to much time doing things in places that we shouldn’t be doing in the first place. Texting and driving is one, reading the paper, or a book, which I have actually witnessed people do, applying make-up, all definite short cuts to a bad situation.

I realize that in today’s society time is of the essence. Time is money. Time is something there is always not enough of. Between work, and the kids, and church and school, and the PTA, and other civic organization, and all the school sports, we as a group have spread ourselves way to thin to accommodate all of the things we volunteer ourselves into, and this all culminates and leads us to believe there is not enough time to do all the things we need to do. So we all try to compromise and multi-task all the while taking our own life and the lives of innocent folks in our own hands. The one thing we need to do is to take time to do those things elsewhere that would distract us when we are behind the wheel of any moving vehicle.

Simply put if we do not take the time to do those things, then there is a good possibility that all those distractions could quite possibly cause us and others to run out of time altogether.

Terry Wooley
www.terrywooley.com

It's all in His hands

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 16:11:18 +0100

It was January the 8th of 2008, and I was on my way from my home in Central Ky, to Nashville for a business meeting that I had scheduled regarding several up and coming shows, for myself and the band that I had assembled. The weather was nice, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, all in all it was a beautiful day. Kind of strange for it to be that warm and that nice in January, but I wasn’t about to question it or complain about it. Lord knows I complain about enough. I stopped in briefly at a little store that I had a small interest in to check on things before I left town, and was ask if I could stick a sign up on the roof. This was something I had done a hundred times, and had usually taken about 10 minutes, and being the handy dandy handy man I was, I said sure, I’ll take care of it.

I sat my ladder just like I had done so many times, and climbed the 20 ft to the rooftop. There is a slim possibility that I might have been a fireman in a previous life, because I sure could run up and down a ladder. This particular day, I ran up the ladder just like always, and just as I reached the top and was about to step onto the roof, I was hit with a gust of wind that blew me off the roof, and I fell 20 ft face first into a blacktop parking lot. Now I know you have heard stories about your life flashing before your eyes when you are about to die, not true. The only thing that went through my mind as I was falling, at what I figure to be somewhere close to the speed of light, because it sure didn’t take me long to get to the bottom, was simply “This is going to hurt.” I have never in my life been more correct about anything. It hurt, but at the time the only thing I could think of was I sure hope nobody saw me because I’ll never live this down.

I wore glasses at the time, simply because it was the only way I could see, and unfortunately for me I had them on when I was falling and I could see the blacktop getting closer and closer, and when I hit I am pretty sure that my glasses decided to jump off of the ride before it was finished because I never found them again. But immediately when I hit I did what every normal red and at the time, bloody American would do, I tried to get up. But as I reached up to my face I found out that I was bleeding profusely. I could feel the blood coming from behind my eyeballs. And the only thing I could think of was I have broken my nose. Now here I had just fallen from a rooftop and the only thing I could think of was that I had messed up my pretty face. That I did, along with breaking the bones in my legs, feet, ankles, arms and wrist, ribs, skull and back.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that my hopes of not being seen would soon be shot to heck, because someone was standing across the road and saw me fall and quickly called 911. I could hear the sirens coming almost before I hit the ground. When they pulled up they quickly went to work. Of course being the smart alec that I have occasionally been called, I told them just to move out of the way and I would get up and walk to the wagon. He said “You are not walking anywhere” and at that point I realized just how smart this guy was. He was good, and he was right, not only was I unable to walk, I wasn’t able to crawl.

A few short minutes later and I think what turned out to be about a 2000 dollar taxi ride to hospital I found myself being prepped for surgery. A team of doctors spent hours putting me back together with steel rods, screws, and I’m sure some scotch tape and Elmer’s glue, and then allowed to spend a few days at their fine establishment recuperating from my disastrous brush with the pavement.

After allowing me to mend for a few days, one of the doctors walked in and said I have some good news and some bad news. Now being how I am, I always want to hear the best part of the story first. So I said give me the good news. He said you’ll never walk again. Ok Doc give me the bad news. He said you’ll never play your guitar again.

I know I sometimes kid and carry on and try to entertain with my writing, but this story is true, and it happened exactly that way in January of 2008. I told you this not for sympathy but to remind you that while doctors here on earth practice medicine, there is a great physician that knows what he is doing, and sometimes things happen that leave us wondering why they happened and for what purpose they could serve. If I were to meet you on the street, other than a small scar at the top of my forehead you wouldn’t know that anything had happened. Can I walk, Yes with only the very slightest of a limp that most folks can’t see. Can I play my guitar, Yes, better than I ever played before. Can I walk through an airport without setting off every alarm in the building, No I can’t, nor can I go through scanners at courthouses. But it is fun to go with folks when they are hunting for buried treasure with metal detectors. I can get close to them while they are searching and they believe they have found King Solemens lost mine. Do I still occasionally hurt, yes I sometimes hurt in places that a few years ago I didn’t know I had places, but after the fall, the Lord gave me the words to several songs for a gospel album that I’m quite sure he had in the plans all along.

Sometimes life will take unexpected turns and twist, and detours and even leave you by the side of the road wondering how to get to where your going. But the secret to life is to not to worry about how to get there but to simply trust in the Lord to show you the way, and simply appreciate it, and say thank you Lord when you arrive at that destination.

I still haven’t arrived at the destination that he set out for me, but by the grace of God, I know that I am on the road to get me there…….

Terry Wooley
www.terrywooley.com

The whole truth and nothing but the Cyber-truth

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 15:48:41 +0100

I woke up this morning to the sound of a cell phone beep, alerting me to the fact that I had an e-mail telling me that my on-line farm that I had worked on for so many hours, cultivating, planting, harvesting, decorating all while seated at my desk slaving over my keyboard had been repossessed because I had failed to make my imaginary payment to the off-shore cyberspace banker in charge of controlling all internet properties.

I lost it all. The golden chicken that lays the beautifully colored eggs, the make believe herd of elephants, giraffes, buffalo’s and sheep’s, goats and pigs, that I had so meticulously groomed and cared for, the Christmas decorations that were so generously given to me by all of the caring and loving neighbors of this cyber community. And every single piece of on-line machinery that I owned. They even took the feather collection, I had worked so hard to acquire.

I am quite sure they don’t realize the many hours that I wasted, I mean spent slaving over this vast make believe property that I had. I gave up a lot of things to accumulate all of these possessions and I had just lost them in the blink of an eye. I gave up ballgames with the kids, because I had crops ready to be harvested, I gave up time with friends, because the cows needed to be milked. I gave up family outings because the fruit on the trees needed to be picked. I spent late nights and early mornings trying to capture those extra gifts that all my friends were giving away. I lost the relationship I had with all my friends and family, I missed seeing many things the kids did, that I will never recapture, all for what. And that is my question.

Why would I or anyone else want to waste what very little precious time the Lord has given us here on earth, on a game that really has no meaning, accomplishes no goals, creates no benefit, and in no way helps any of our fellow man. Don’t get me wrong I have had some stupid moments and even briefly attempted the game. But now when I have a stupid moment it usually winds up being a song. And even though I have many great serious songs, I also have a few stupid ones. But those are written in hopes of making someone laugh or smile, and enjoy a few minutes in this rough and rocky world of ours.

To those that play all the games, if it makes you smile or brings a little joy to you and others, then by all means continue to play, but please don’t allow it to be at the expense of your children your family or your friends. Those are things you can never get back, some moments are moments you can never relive.

And if you still feel the urge to cyber farm, or cyber zoo, or have a cyber war, then grab another user name, and start it again. But you can’t have a cyber life with the kids and the cyber wife, or can you…. Well maybe you can so I’m going to take my cyber butt into cyberspace and write another cyber song. And you can decide is it real or not….

Terry Wooley
www.terrywooley.com

I know what my problem is.

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 15:24:07 +0100

I was standing in line at a major retailer, that I won't mention the name, and it suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks why I am like I am. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, cause I definitely have my moments, but the very reason I turned out the way that I turned out is because I didn't have an x-box or a play station when I was growing up. Forget the fact that the bathroom was in a little house in the backyard, that made for an interesting trip in the middle of the night when the snow was on the ground, or that I had to walk to school, because the school bus didn't do door to door pick-ups, or that I knew that if I got out of line somebody would bust my bottom and they didn’t have to worry about child abuse, or that one of our main form of recreation was working on the farm to help out because everybody chipped in.

My shortcomings revolve around the fact that I didn't have a game that could consume all of my time, and teach me the fundamentals of life that I would need to know. Things like how to get a little guy to jump over a bunch of other little things all while trying not to get blown up by a fire breathing cactus. You know the important stuff every kid ought to know. I will admit that I am a slight bit technologically challenged, meaning I’m still not sure sometimes which button to push to turn on the computer, and when I need to program a remote, or anything technical like that I get the 6 year old to take care of it, but I still look back on the things we had and did as a child and I wouldn’t change them for anything.

I was 18 years old before I knew that there were more than 2 channels on the TV, and that the picture actually had more than 2 colors (Black and White), or that you could get a TV with more than a 16” screen. I also look back and remember that Christmas and Easter weren’t about toys and presents but about spending time with the people you love, and giving thanks to the Lord, because of what he gave to us. The funny thing about holidays today is that we put so much emphasis on material things, that we sometimes realize we just bought something for the kids that they already had, but they never opened it or played with it cause they got so much stuff they couldn’t find it. I never had that problem as a child, because, we usually had one toy we shared, when we had time for toys.

My favorite Christmas gift of all times, one that I still have , is a used guitar that my Dad bought at the stockyards for four dollars. It was the one I learned to play on. It hangs on the wall in my house as a reminder of the best times in the world. A time when at meal time we sat down together, gave thanks for what we had, regardless of what it was, and enjoyed it as a family.

Life seemed a whole lot simpler then, not that it really was, but it was our life, The one my parents gave me, and I’m so thankful to them and for them and it kind of shows in one of the songs I wrote called Big Shoes. I’ll never be the parent they were, and I’ll never fill the shoes they left for me to fill, but I think I’m doing something right, cause even the baby knows how to kill the fire breathing cactus on the video games… How’s that for parental guidance….

Terry Wooley
www.terrywooley.com