Good Riddance, 2009

Let's just say I'm not sad to see 2009 end. It's not been a very good year, and here's hoping that 2010 is better for all of us.

Scary thought of the day: The 20th Century was 10 years ago. Yeah, it was 10 years ago tonight that all that crazy Y2K stuff was going on. I was singing in Glendora on New Year's Eve 1999, and don't tell anyone, but I had a gun in the bus with me that night. I wasn't taking any chances just in case some of the crazy predictions came true. Turns out I didn't need the gun, but I was tempted to shoot the bus when the linkage that controlled the reverse gear broke.

It'll be kind of a quiet night around here. We're going to go to dinner, rent a couple of movies, and hang out at home. I'll watch the movie and listen to the OC Fire Departments as they handle all the problems caused by the dummies out there.

Since I began in gospel music in 1974 I've done concerts 16 times on New Year's Eve, but nothing tonight. I used to enjoy those concert nights a lot despite having to drive home when the crazies were out. I was driving the bus back from Desert Hot Springs early on New Year's Day 2002 and was going a little too fast. A CHP cruiser sped up alongside me, flashed his spotlight at me and handsignaled "6" "5" to me to remind me what the speed limit was. I slowed down and he sped off with better things to do than give me a ticket. Thanks, guys!

In 1983 I did an event at Rose Drive Friends Church in Yorba Linda. They had the right idea for that one. Rather than keep everybody up until midnight and send us all back out on the roads with the drunks they decided to celebrate the New Year at the same time New York did - 9pm Pacific Time. We were all out of there by 10 and on our way home. I remember that night because I lived in Santa Ana at the time, I got home just as a high speed pursuit came sliding around the corner where my house was located. That was interesting.

And of course, later that night, probably from 11:45 pm to 12:15 am, it sounded like a firefight in Vietnam with all the weapons going off. I think I lay on the floor the whole time trying to make myself as small a target as possible. That part I don't miss.

Maybe I'll promote a concert one of my own next year. But we'll end early.