Hi. Uh, my name's Bill.
I'm fifty years old, and I live in Mammoth Lakes, California.
And right now it's snowing.
And, when I look outside and see where I live I, have a tendency to, uh, think about where I've come from.
And, at one point of my life I was in the corporate world.
And I lived in New York City.
And, uh, if you haven't been there, it's an interesting place.
Uh, you might want to go some time.
But be careful uh, when I was living there, which was uh, back in the early eighties, I um, asked a beautiful woman out.
Her name was Alison.
And it was my first and last date with Alison.
And uh, you might be asking why.
Well, we ha_ went out to dinner.
And then after dinner we decided to go to the Upper East Side, and uh, go out and go dancing, have a few drinks, and get to know each other.
And then we got in a cab, and we were at the intersection of like Second, and Lexington.
And we got hit from behind by another car.
It knocked us both out of the back seat.
And I immediately, uh, got out of the cab.
And, when I stood up and looked back at the car that hit us, a man walked up, uh, put a gun to my temple, I will never forget this.
He had a pink washcloth over the gun.
And he said, "if you move, I'll blow your head off."
so I said, "okay. What do you want me to do."
And he got_ he put me back in the cab, and they grabbed the cab driver, put him in their car, and they kidnapped us.
And uh, two people got in the front.
And they, uh, they said, "give us your money."
And, uh, we gave them everything we had, except I had a hidden pocket where I had a few extra bucks and I didn't give them that.
And they took us up, Manhattan, and then back down, [throat clear] pardon me, FDR Drive.
And basically, left us off, where they kidnapped us.
But, in the process of going up Manhattan, uptown to the East Side, they ran every light.
And there was no way I could grab Alison, and bail out of the car.
So, after they left us off.
We, uh, all got together, Alison, myself, and the cab driver, and went to the police station.
And, uh, made positive i-ds.
And then we went to an Irish bar, and got drunk 'til seven AM and, uh, you know, a few days had passed, and I say, "Hey Alison, you want to go out again."
And she said, "no way McBride. Uh, you didn't save me."
And so I, you know, we kind of laugh about that, but uh, um, it was a scary time, and, um, and that's the thing about Manhattan is you have to be careful.
So in any event, I um, i_ I'm living in Mammoth Lakes now, where I was in the corporate world before, I now have my own little uh, business.
And where I had short hair before, and was a bit pudgy, I now have long hair, and my friends tease me that I look like Yanni [popular musician].
And I'm in good shape, because I like to ski and climb and run.
And uh, and that's one thing about living in the, Mammoth Lakes area.
Is that you can do, uh, physical activities year-round.
You know, sometimes you have to deal with the environment, but, uh, if you're willing to, you know, go out there and try, you're gonna have a good time.
Uh, the things I like to do, uh, include trail running, uh, nordic skiing, which is skate-skiing, and then the classic style.
I also like back country.
And I have a bunch of friends, and particularly during the spring, when the weather is nice, we'll go into the back country, and pick a line, and, um, traverse back and forth up a mountain, and ski down a gully, or a face.
And it's a lot of fun.
And, uh, we've never had any problems with avalanches.
And, um, it's, uh, it's always a pleasure to go up there, and take a look at how beautiful the area is, and be grateful for where we live.
Uh, this morning for example, with the snow coming down.
I took my dog into the back country.
And it was just us.
And we were able to ski through the trees with two feet of powder, and, uh, we just had a blast.
It's kind of fun watching him play, because he really enjoys the snow.
So, uh, as I'm moving forward in my life.
I, uh, I'm very grateful to be where I am.
And, um, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.