All, Russ has made contact via PM. He has been busy with life and didn't see my message till recently. I am going to work with him to get the MNSubaru data and anything I can to help archive the site. I will keep you posted.
So, it was 1998, I was living in San Diego, on base in the barracks. At the time, I was dirt poor, as you tend to be in the enlisted ranks of the military. So, I would do all my clothes shopping at the Goodwill and various other thrift shops. Usually for t-shirts to wear. One shirt in particular was a teen soccer jersey. On the back, the #10. On the front "Enterprise Readymix Concrete." was the sponsor of this particular team. Black t-shirt. I was a bit of a dirtbag and still kindof am. And I would wear t-shirts long past their "expiration date." Usually for days at a time. On this particular Saturday, we were going to head out to Mission Beach for the day. Naturally, I was hungover from the previous evening, and went out to the patio area for a smoke or 10. I was laid out on one of the lounge chairs on the patio of the barracks, smoking cigarettes and trying to choke back some nausea and nurse my headache. My buddies were looking for me, and found me on the patio. One of them, FCSN Albert, walked up to where I was sprawled out, my eyes were closed, so I didn't see him standing there. He barks out, "Hey, readymix, you ready to head to the beach or what?" I sat up, pulled off my sunglasses and sorta glared at him trying to process what he said. He was looking at my shirt, so I looked down and saw that it was the concrete soccer jersey, and sorta groaned because I knew that me grimacing about the shirt and this nickname I just got were going to follow me for a lot longer than I wanted it to. As the months passed, I just got used to him calling me readymix, and it stuck. And when it came time to play Counter Strike on the shipboard computers, readymix became my screen name, along with AOL instant messenger and later, the budding forum landscape that the internet turned into in the early 2000's.
I have "Suburbs" in old english font tattooed across my back, shoulder to shoulder, (like the Sublime tattoo from their self-titled album cover). This is because when I was in boot-camp, I dep'd in Indianapolis, so I went up with a bunch of guys from south chicago and gary, indiana. Guy named Gerduno (last name, can't remember his first name now) had "Chi-Town" tattoo on his leg, in old english, that he did himself. Towards the end of my boot-camp time, he pulls me aside and says "bro, you should get a tat for your hometown too, I'd draw it for you." and I told him I was from Columbus, Ohio, but I hated it there, and referred to that place as "ComeBlowUs, Ohio." So, he suggests "Suburbs, because that's where you white guys are from." I thought that was funny ****, he drew it up for me, and within a few weeks of graduating boot camp, he comes to my barracks on the Great Lakes, IL base and says "it's time bro." So we run down to the local tat shop, next to the RonRic Motel (fun story about that, maybe later), and I proceed to get the outline done. I was so spooked at the concept of a tattoo, that when the dude started, I was worried it was going to hurt. Asked the artist, "hey, I hope this doesn't hurt, never done this before, a little worried about it." Dude replies, "I already started, I'm done with the first 'S' and am halfway through the 'U' now." That sent me reeling into shock, mainly because I was all hyped up for dealing with pain, and it turns out, it doesn't hurt at all. So he pauses, gives me a glass of water, and I proceed to take a nap while he finishes it up. Returned again a month later and got it filled in, while napping again. So yeah, I have SUBURBS in old english font tattooed across the top of my back, to represent "where I'm from"
What, of my tattoo? Yeah, I'm not some instagram model, I'm not going to show my 43 year old dad-body on MNSubaru.
Friend of mine named Randy goes by the nickname Farmboy. I have no knowledge of the origin, just that everybody has called him that since I've known him (10-15 years ish). Long story short, he's a borderline ginger, hillbilly type guy approaching 40 with a gut and everything else that comes with it. Has FARMBOY tattooed on his belly in the same style as 2Pac's Thug Life... Haha.
