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Tuesday the 5th \u2013 IT\u2019S DEAD, JIM! \u2013<\/span> My pal Sara came over to trim my cat Spooky\u2019s nails. He was becoming Velcro cat, and was sticking to everything. In the late afternoon I had a quick Zoom call with my new animation agent so we could get acquainted. After that, I went downstairs to hop in the Gran Torino and speed off to run errands, but the battery was totally dead. Not even a flicker. I guess I must\u2019ve left the dome light on or something. When the cutoff switch is off in the Torino, it only drains power from the battery for the dome light or the alarm. And since it was in my garage I didn\u2019t have the alarm on. So I must\u2019ve left the light on somehow. Anyway, I\u2019m not going anywhere today. I put the trickle charger on the battery and I\u2019ll let it charge for a full 24 hours. Nothing was too pressing, so I just gave myself permission to sit around the house all day and do some editing work, and do some more planning for my upcoming trip to South Dakota for the Voices Against Cancer event in Sioux Falls. I spent the rest of the evening writing Wally\u2019s Week.<\/p>\nWednesday the 6th \u2013 A DAY LIKE NO OTHER! \u2013<\/span> After charging all night on the trickle charger, the Gran Torino was ready to roar! I filled it up with gas, and then headed to the new location of my business mailbox. I needed to get paid up for another year, and find out what the new number of my box will be. Because of the reconfiguration of boxes in the new location, we have to choose new numbers. But since I need to change my address anyway, it doesn\u2019t really matter. Just for fun I got box number 2813, because that was the address of my home in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I paid up and made my way to McDonald\u2019s to pick up some lunch before my session at 2. I drove the Torino over to my auxiliary garage and swapped it out with the Mustang. I drove to my gig at Voicecasters in Burbank, did a Voice Over session for about an hour. At the session I was spelling out the company\u2019s website for the bit, and then as a joke I finished it up with m.o.u.s.e. like on the old \u201cMickey Mouse Club.\u201d The director Matt said his older brother had that lunch box, and he had the Hulk lunchbox. We started talking about the Hulk TV show. He said he was a fan as a kid, and I told him I had recently started watching it on Blu Ray and was finding it tough to watch. We laughed about the Hulk throwing the stuffed bear across the lake. Funny how weird things like that come up. When I finished the session I drove over to Alex In Wonderland studios to pick up the Yellow Brick Road base my pal Mike McGee had been working on. The base turned out great, I paid him and made my way down Hollywood Way Boulevard to head over to a company called Celebworx to sign some photos they had sold during the recent \u201cInvader Zim\u201d reunion on-line. But just as I had gotten in front of the Burbank Airport, in a very busy intersection, my iPod stopped playing. Cold dead! The stereo just shut off completely. I started wondering if I had time to swing by Al & Ed\u2019s Auto Sound to have them take a look at it. But as I sat at a red light, my Mustang started acting weird. It seemed like it wanted to die. Sure enough, it did. Great! I put on the hazard lights and tried to push it left onto a side street. But pushing and steering at the same time is very difficult. Thankfully two passers-by helped me get it pulled off on the side street. But the side street said NO PARKING ANYTIME, and people who came around the corner were in danger of hitting it. So I moved it up a little further all by myself. I accidentally got my right foot under one of the tires and the tire rolled over my foot! I panicked and called AAA. But I got an error message that said the Verizon call could not be completed at this time. WHAT?! Just when I need it? My second panicked call was to my buddy Mike at Alex in Wonderland. He\u2019s driven Mustangs all his life and knew them very well. Plus he was just up the road. Soon he drove over with his pal Jimmy and we figured out what to do. He tried to jump it to give it enough juice to get to the Burbank Auto Doctor. It started for a bit, but then would die soon after. At this point it was getting late, and the Burbank Auto Doctor was about ready to close! I called them and told them what the situation was, and he said to get it there and leave it out front. Jimmy called AAA on my behalf, since my phone wasn\u2019t connecting. We got them on the phone and got a tow truck dispatched. But they said it wouldn\u2019t be there until 5:30pm. It was 4:20 currently. Mike and Jimmy had to leave, and I had to go to the bathroom. Luckily Mike, Jimmy and I got the Mustang pulled off the road to a little driveway in back of the Burbank Marriott. That way it would be completely out of the way of traffic and a lot safer. I would just have to sit there for an hour and wait. There was a young guy out back having a smoke, and we asked if it would be OK to park there for a bit. He said he wasn\u2019t really sure, but he didn\u2019t think there would be a problem. I believe his name was Matt. I got a text that said the driver would be there at 4:40. It was now 4:30, so I went into the Daily Grill (a restaurant adjoining the Burbank Marriott) and used the bathroom quick before the tow truck driver came. I called my pal Sara and arranged to have her meet me at the Burbank Auto Doctor so I could get a ride home. I also called Celebworx and told them I wasn\u2019t sure when I\u2019d be there, but my assistant Sara was on her way to get me. Add to this that my 14 year old dog Roxy hadn\u2019t been out since 11:30 that morning, and probably had to potty very badly! The tow truck driver (Mr. Leonard) finally showed up, tested the battery with his testing equipment, tried to jump it, but the same thing happened as had happened before with Mike. It stayed running for a bit, but quit soon thereafter. As I steered Mr. Leonard pushed me back into the street to line it up with the tow truck. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally got it up on the tow truck. As he fastened the Mustang to the tow truck bed, the guy named Matt who we had seen earlier came to offer me a cigarette. I told him I was allergic. He said he had funny cigarettes inside, and he could get me one. I told him I hadn\u2019t done that since 1981. He said, \u201cWhat band are you in?\u201d I told him I wasn\u2019t in a band, I was a Voice Actor. He asked if I did video games, and I said yes. I told him \u201cCall of Duty,\u201d \u201cBatman Arkham\u201d\u2026and at that point he stopped me and said, \u201cWho do you play?\u201d I told him I was The Riddler. He laughed and said, \u201cI knew it!\u201d He had recognized my voice! He asked to get a selfie video with me and I happily agreed. It goes to show that, even though you\u2019re having a rotten day, something nice can come along when you least expect it. That was great! Mr. Leonard was loaded up and we were on our way to the Burbank Auto Doctor. Luckily Ben, the owner of Burbank Auto Doctor, was still on the premises! He came out to assist us and chat. Whew! I gave him the key to the Mustang and he said he\u2019d work on it and let me know when it was finished. While it was in the shop, I figured I\u2019d have him look into my \u201cwub-wub-wub\u201d problem with my right rear tire. He said he would have to take a little longer with it, but since I\u2019d be going out of town on Friday to the Voices Against Cancer event in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and would be staying for several days, I told him there was no rush. I gave Mr. Leonard a $20 tip and he was on his way. I hopped in Sara\u2019s car and headed home to walk Roxy. Amazingly, there was no potty on the floor! I fed both pets and had an idea. What if Sara and I went to dinner in Burbank, and she took me BACK to the auxiliary parking spot, and I got the Gran Torino out again. It would stay safe in my garage all the while I was away, and I\u2019d have wheels for Thursday. With two senior pets, I don\u2019t really like the idea of not having wheels \u2013 in case some emergency comes up. She agreed and we went to Lancer\u2019s to grab dinner, and then she dropped me at the auxiliary parking spot. The Torino fired right up, and went downstairs to bid her farewell, and I headed to the Foster\u2019s Freeze location in Burbank and got a giant ice cream cone. While I was there I got a call from my pal Dan Roebuck who was across the street and had seen me in the Foster\u2019s Drive Thru! Wild! At that point, all I wanted to do was go home and take a long shower. But a guy pulled up beside me at a red light and asked if he could take a picture of my Torino. I said, \u201cSure!\u201d Figuring he would take it from his car I pulled away from the red light slowly. But he wasn\u2019t taking a photo. Odd. So I kept on driving home. I saw him beside me as I got further into Toluca Lake, and I told him to meet me at Bob\u2019s Big Boy and he could take some photos. I pulled over and he got out to take some pictures and said he had a group of friends in 1979 who all had Starsky Torinos and they cruised all over the place. It sounded like a group of guys I could have totally hung with! I drove back home, pulled in the garage, put a few coats of yellow paint on my Yellow Brick Road platform, and went upstairs to shower and relax. SHEESH! Two cars, and both of them had power issues two days apart. What are the chances???!! I got home and took a hot shower and a nice nap in the Puppet Room. Later I got up to do a bunch of auditions, redesigned my business card with the new address, and made some buffalo mac and watched another episode of \u201cThe Incredible Hulk.\u201d I was going to start packing, but after the day I had, I really needed to relax and watch some goofy show and enjoy some food. The episode was better than the first two. Maybe there\u2019s hope.<\/p>\nThursday the 7th \u2013 READY TO FLY! \u2013<\/span> The people in South Dakota sent me all of the detailed flight info for my trip on the private jet to Sioux Falls, South Dakota early Friday morning. The Voices Against Cancer Initiative was going to be amazing! The original private jet they were planning to send seated four people comfortably. The passengers were going to be Frank Welker, Peter Cullen, Emily Swallow, and myself. But apparently there was a technical snafu with the plane so it had to be taken out of service temporarily until it was repaired. So the VAC folks did some fast footwork and arranged for a replacement jet, which ended up being bigger. Since it could hold more people, some more passengers were added to the list. This included Frank and Peter\u2019s agent and his assistant, and Voice Actor Dan Gilvezan. Dan was a last-minute replacement for George Newbern, who came down with an illness a day ago. Dan\u2019s a real champ for subbing in at the last minute. He\u2019s a good guy; I\u2019ve known him for years. This was going to be AMAZING! I worked on the \u201cWizard of Oz\u201d Yellow Brick Road base for my display cabinet. I wired it all up with the armature wire to support the action figures, and screwed in the threaded rods to support the puppets. I installed it in the cabinet and it looks amazing! It\u2019s finally finished! The maids came over to clean up Planet Wallywood, and I finished packing up for my trip. Later in the evening, my house and pet sitter Emily came over with her personal effects to get set up for the next five days. She got all set up in the Puppet Room, and in the morning she\u2019d need to drive me to the airport for the flight. I was so excited I hardly slept! I cut a 30 second radio spot to help advertise the VAC event on Spotify and Pandora, and my pal Troy McQuillen in Aberdeen at McQuillen Creative Group put video to it for our YouTube spots. Check it out!<\/p>\n
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