February 14, 2008
My friend Neida found out that Edwin McCain was playing a Concert at the Coca-Cola Roxy on Peachtree Street in Buckhead on Valentines Day, 2/14. It was the first stop on his tour. Neida knows (see Nov 25th 2007 Blog) I’ve been trying for years to see Edwin live. Neida bought tickets and She, Jim and I went. I didn’t realize that this was going to be one of the last concerts at the Roxy before closing for remodeling. I had never been to the Roxy before. I had seen several concerts advertised for there and driven past there countless times, but I had never gotten tickets.
A local singer named Gary Pfaff opened for Edwin. In between one of Gary’s songs, he told the story of how he met Edwin. Back in the 90’s, Gary was singing in a bar across from the Roxy where Edwin was singing. Edwin walked over to the bar after his concert and heard Gary playing. Gary was a fan and immediately knew who he was. Since then, Edwin has somewhat mentored Gary.
We were blown away with Gary’s songs. After his set, I walked back to the lobby and purchased Gary’s 2 CD’s and had him autograph them.
Videos (not mine) from that Concert:
Gary Pfaff – Never Looking Back
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oquzAgyWo5s
Gary Pfaff – I’m Gone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r0NQaRfzrs
Gary has an incredible song that any acoustic/blues fan would enjoy:
Gary Pfaff – Mississippi Street
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCIRyfcTHfE
Edwin’s show was phenomenal. I always expected one of his shows to be good, and this one proved it. He played several of his old songs. I have to admit that I haven’t played Edwin’s CD’s lately and I forgot about a lot of the great songs he has.
Posted by Tom under Edwin McCain,Gary Pfaff,Main Blog,The Roxy | Comments (0)
February 2, 2008
I just made my last payment on the S…She’s mine!
5 years ago this week a young(er) man with a lead foot and a love for sportscars, set out on a quest to buy his dream car.
I was living in NJ, having moved there for work (not my 1st choice). I had leased and then purchased my ‘95 Accord and had not had a car payment for a few years. While it was great that I owned the Accord, I wished I had something cooler. I had spent all those years making payments on the Accord, and was left with just an Accord. What if I had made payments on something cool? I had considered buying something classic. My neighbors, as I was growing up, had (67-68) Mustangs or (56-57) T-birds, so I thought about something like that. But once I started looking into it, I wondered how much additional it would cost just to maintain a classic car. I did know that I wanted a convertible. That would insure the fun factor. Rather than getting a maintenance nightmare, I decided to get something that was new, had a warranty and would most likely be reliable. Something that might be a classic car in the future and definitely cooler than the Accord. I considered and looked at the S2000, the Boxster, the 350Z, the TT, the SLK and even the T-bird (no judgments, I was just looking folks). Part of my consideration was what would be reliable. The Accord I owned was an incredibly reliable car. I still own it today as my 2nd car. And I had previously owned an ’84 Accord that had 210K miles on it before I donated it to charity. So I kept coming back to the S2000. The dealership I passed on the way home each day had 3 Silverstone S’s and it was the middle of winter (and in NJ). I figured they’d be willing to make a deal. I emailed the dealership to schedule a test drive. The Saturday I went to the dealership, it had snowed the day before. The car had to be dug out of the snow before driving. The salesman I had spoken with was already helping someone when I got there, but took the time to let me test drive the car. As soon as we got back to the dealership, I said, “I’ll take it!” (He really didn’t have to try and sell it to me) He quickly completed my sale and went back to helping the other customer. A day or so later, my salesman picked me up, drove me back to the dealership, and I got to drive her home. It was snowing as I drove her carefully home. Here’s a picture of her the week that I brought her home.
Because of the snow, I had to park her. I think the day after I bought her; I bought a car cover that arrived a week later.
At times I had wondered if it was a wise decision to purchase the S. I got paid pretty well and thought that I could afford it, but living in NJ and later in CT wasn’t cheap. I additionally thought about selling the S when I was out of work for 6 months and had moved back to GA. All thoughts of regret quickly disappear once I realize the great group of friends that I’ve gained from owning the S and all the thrills this little car has given me.
So 5 years later and 60 payments, she’s mine! Yeah!!
*No, I am not now going to by a BMW now.
Posted by Tom under Main Blog,S2000 | Comments (0)