Free Spirit

Hello and thanks for rolling by my blog today. If you’ve been here before you’re already aware of the stuff I peddle on this site: my personal stories of camping, recaps of a dates occasionally, photos of my pups, TV commercial research, but much like a retriever at the Westminster Dog Show, today’s post fits into the sporting category. More specifically, riding bicycles.

Napoleon Dynamite Kip GIF by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment - Find & Share on GIPHY

Two gently-used bikes came into my life recently and it’s a crazy coincidence that they’re almost exactly like this bike I bought at an estate sale in Nashville. They’re all a Sears brand (or at least, a brand commonly found at Sears in the 1970s) called “Free Spirit.” I LOVE my Free Spirit bicycle. I’ve ridden it all around Nashville (before I moved to Florida) and also around campgrounds at state parks in Florida.

Just like mine, the his and her Free Spirit bicycles need new tubes and tires (and just a little tlc) to be road ready. Well, I’ve got the time and after buying the equipment, all that’s left is to swap these things out. Here’s a list of the equipment purchased on Amazon and at Walmart:

Sunlite Road Tires (Amazon)

Kenda Rubber Rim Strips (Amazon)

Goodyear Tubes (size 26 x 1-3/8) (Walmart in-store or online)

These bikes have such character and I wish I knew the stories they’ve been a part of. Check back tomorrow for the “after” pictures and I’ll spoil it a little bit: They look so good!

Do you have any stories of a previously loved bicycle? Feel free to spoke speak up. Thanks for taking a ‘brake’ to check out my blog today.

-Out of the Wilderness

I’m *this* old

The other morning I woke up thinking how good I slept all night. Gosh, it’s going to be a good day, but why is it dark outside? This is weird. Isn’t it, like, 8am, I’d been sleeping for hours. What gives?

*checks the clock*

It was 1130pm and I had gone to bed around 930pm. Am I the only one who wakes up so early that it’s still the same day I went to sleep? I don’t know exactly when I turned from a young person to an old person, but waking up at 1130pm ready for a new day is a sure sign that it’s happened. If that’s not, then going to bed at 930 definitely is.

*wondering if there are other signs*

Kids I don’t know often annoy me.

I complained about the Super Bowl halftime show.

I’m hungry for dinner at 530pm.

I get excited about floor plans.

iPhones sometimes confuse me.

I literally had to go up hill both ways to high school… in the snow.

I used to think everyone else is wrong. No I know everyone else is wrong.

I recently got very excited about sleeping with a pillow between my knees.

Just met with a banker about my 401k and what I should do with it before I turn 60.

Talking about being 60 didn’t frighten me.

I don’t understand, nor do I care to, anything about NFTs.

I can’t figure out why anyone cares about Instagram.

I swear music was so much better when I was young.

I’ll go ahead and stop the list there because the more I think about it, I’m realizing I could be sitting here at my computer for a long time working on this list! Is there anything mentioned that applies to the young’ns? When did you realize you weren’t a spring chicken anymore? Oh gosh, might as well add that one to the list, too.

I call young people “spring chickens”

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness

What happened to The Bachelor franchise?

Today’s post is coming from a long time fan of The Bachelor and all it’s spinoffs. I’ve watched for years and it’s taken me a long time to admit the show is trash. Some would say it was always trash but I truly believe in the beginning they actually cared about people finding love. Now, though, and for quite a few seasons, it’s just been about creating drama and what I assume is the producers caring mostly about ratings. There’s probably still a shred of honesty left in the show’s creators, like maybe a part of them truly wants the bachelor/ette to find “their person.” But mostly it’s about ratings, and therefore, money.

The best way to describe why I despise The Bachelor franchise (aka one reason I don’t watch anymore) is like this: Do you remember the kids game/activity called “Telephone”? It’s where there are a group of people and the first person tells the second a phrase or sentence. The second tries to repeat it to the third, as best as they can remember. The third tells the fourth, all the way down the line. By the time the last person says the sentence aloud it’s pretty far off from the original sentence. That’s what The Bachelor and The Bachelorette are now.

I’d actually love to watch season one just to see how seemingly innocent it was back then and now, decades later, it’s turned into an intentional train wreck. “Here for the right reasons” is a misleading phrase because none of them are there for the right reasons! My last thought is that I can no longer justify spending two hours each week watching something so clearly orchestrated but trying to sell me that it’s not.

So until it gets back to the original recipe, I’ll be dining elsewhere.

Thanks for dropping by (for the right reasons)…

-Out of the Wilderness

Would you go back?

Hello there and thanks for taking a chance on reading a post here at Out of the Wilderness. Today’s post is a bit reflective, but I also write about lighthearted things like camping, dating, God and faith, and my dogs. Check those out when you have a chance. Ok, on to today’s thoughts…

Is there a period in your life you’d go back to, given the opportunity? It’s often the plot in movies, books, and TV shows and I think about it sometimes, especially with how things are in the world right now. I know I wouldn’t go back to childhood, middle, or high school. Those were fun times, don’t get me wrong. I *might* go back to college years. After that age, I wouldn’t go back to being in my 20s or 30s. Again, many great experiences but I love where I am now, in my 40s. I wouldn’t want to go through the hard things again, the awkward experiences, the loss of loved ones, embarrassing moments with peers, etc. Of course, I have regrets and there are things I would do differently, but I almost firmly believe I’m on the track I should be on.

One of my favorite Kenny Chesney songs is “A Lot of Things Different.” It was a single of his in the early 2000s (years before I worked in country music and then got laid off from that job). The song reflects on how people say they wouldn’t change their past at all, but he goes against the grain by saying he would change things. In fact, he would do a lot of things different. While I wouldn’t go back, there are things I would’ve, and probably should’ve, done differently. But that’s life, right? Remembering those *hesitates to call them mistakes* ought to help me make better decisions in the present and future. Otherwise, did I learn anything from the past? A few thoughts are now coming to mind…

  1. From the handful of regrets I have, most are not things I did. They’re things I didn’t do. So my advice to the younger me would be to try things. Live carefully of course, but most of the things you’ll regret will be what you didn’t do, not what you did.
  2. A Bible verse shared in church recently sort of fits this blog post. It’s from Romans… what fruit came from the things you’re now ashamed of? This is referring to sin more than the overall course of a person’s life, but I still find it applicable.
  3. We all should’ve put a few dollars into Bitcoin back in 2010/11. Sigh.

Cryptocurrency aside, I hope this post helps you reflect on your life, even for a moment. If you’re willing to share, leave a comment with a few thoughts about why you love where you are or why you don’t.

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness

Things I did or didn’t do, what results came from them? What should I do different now so the fruit is sweet and not bitter?

-Out of the Wilderness

Liberty Bad Actor Commercial – Liberty Bibberty and more funny stuff

When any Liberty Mutual commercial comes on TV, am I the only one who almost always involuntarily says “Liberty bibberty”? As the classic quote from the 90s goes, I LEARNED IT BY WATCHING YOU! That is, I learned it by watching this ad from Liberty (and be sure to scroll down for the hilarious extended version)…

The Actor. The “bad actor” in this commercial is actually a professional actor named Tanner Novlan. You might recognize him the way my mom and sister did… from daytime soap opera The Bold & The Beautiful where he plays the part of doctor John Finnegan. Also, if you watch the clip below (from 2020), you’ll soon learn his mom (just like my mom) is a fan of this show going way back, so much so that she named her dog Thorne, after the character on the show, Thorne Forrester. I would’ve went with Ridge, but that’s just me.

Tanner’s been in quite a few ads, a few as a hockey player. Hey, he IS from Canada, so the hockey thing kind of makes sense. He’s married to actress Kayla Ewell who’s been cast on B&B before, and well-known for her role in The Vampire Diaries.

Back to the commercial, you MUST check out the extended ad here. It’s even more funny.

Thanks for dribbity dropping by…

-Out of the Wilderness