To Ride or Not To Ride? That is the question...

The MS 150 Red River Challenge a two day, 150 mile bicycle tour organized by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society to fight MS. The ride begins May 3, in Plano and ends May 4, at Noble Stadium in Ardmore, OK.. Each participant must raise $200.00 for the MS Society.

A friend of mine, Tommy Welch, came to my house and asked me if I would like to ride in the MS 150. I was interested, but when I found out it was 150 miles I nearly passed out. As I hesitated to come up with an answer, my wife quickly jumped in and said "You should have to participate in the ride because of all your pranks at school and the rude comments you have made about my cooking".

"Wha".......I exclaimed in total shock, "I know not of what you speak. You think I should have to ride a bicycle 150 miles for some rumored pranks or comments I supposedly might have made?" As I gently laid down my Bible I said, "I don't know where you may have heard such slanderous accusations, but I do not remember any such thing." She was relentless in her claims and I finally agreed to a compromise. Since each rider has to collect donations of at least $200.00 for the MS Society to participate, we will let the loyal and faithful public decide. Each donation will be considered a validation for Mrs. Fishback. If no money is raised, then I will be a couch potato for those two days and she will have to wait on me hand and foot. Should the $200.00 be raised, I will have to ride in the Red River Challenge. If more than the $200.00 appears then further action will be required. For every $50 above the $200 I will have to wash the dishes for one week.

I feel certain that these rumors will finally be put to rest and I will be able to relax on the couch with a clear conscience. Should you feel the need to donate to this worthy cause, please send a check to the offices of Forsan ISD made out to the Multiple Sclerosis Society. If you would like to mail a donation, send it to Forsan ISD, % Debbie Burton, P.O. Drawer A, Forsan, TX 79733.

This picture of Mr. Fishback was taken as he placed 3rd in the grueling 1.32 mile "Tour de Forsan".

Date	Time	Total	Confessions
3-18-03	3:00 P.M.	$180.00	Yes, I'm getting concerned, but at least the Elbow staff is behind me. They have raised $1.25 proving they support my views.
3-19-03	10:00 A.M.	$246.00 - Must ride	Woe is me. I just found out Elbow is up to $66.35 this morning. Oh well, at least I'm not doing dishes yet.
3-19-03	11:30 A.M.	$290.35 - Must ride plus one week of dishes	Ok. Maybe I remember sneaking into the cafeteria at 7:00 A.M. in the morning and crashing the cymbals behind the cooks as they were working at their stations, but that's all I remember.
3-19-03	12:30 P.M.	$310.35 - Must ride plus two weeks of dishes	Ok. Maybe I remember being in the break room, in the dark, early one morning before school to greet Judy Park. How was I supposed to know it might scare her. She had to chug a whole bottle of Geritol, but that's all I remember.
3-19-03	4:15 P.M.	$373.35 - Must ride plus three weeks of dishes	Ok. Maybe I remember weakening the box that held the computer the Forsan faculty bought for Mr. Yancey at his retirement reception so that the fake computer I put in the box fell out and shattered in front of the entire staff, but that's all I remember.
3-20-03	11:30 A.M.	$428.60 - Must ride plus four weeks of dishes	Ok. Maybe I remember sending Coach Park a letter telling him he had failed the TCAT test for teachers. The funny thing was when he checked his mail he read my letter first even though he had the real letter from the state in his hand saying he had passed, but that's all I remember.
3-21-03	10:30 A.M.	$470.61 - Must ride plus five weeks of dishes	Ok. Maybe I remember taking Mr. Rotan up for an airplane ride and doing a stall, or two, or three, until he turned green, but that's all I remember.
3-25-03	1:30 P.M.	$500.61 - Must ride plus six weeks of dishes	Ok. Maybe I remember taking a computer class at Region 18 with Sheila Abusaab (a Big Spring Teacher) in which I loaded software on her computer that would let me control it from another location. During the class I drove Sheila crazy moving the mouse around while she was trying to work causing some hilarious reactions from her, but that's all I remember.
4-1-03	4:40 P.M.	$574.72 - Must ride plus ~~three~~ ok, seven weeks of dishes. Every Oklahoma relative Jeanine has sent ugly emails about my fuzzy math	OK. Maybe I remember being asked to drive seniors Kristen Newton & Furillo Subia to Elbow to visit with a class of elementary students. Once in the car I told them they should have been notified the day before that plans had changed and they were each giving a five minute speech to the entire faculty and student body. They both went ballistic. Furillo kept saying "NO, NO, I can't do it" while Kristen grabbed a legal pad and started writing like a maniac. 15 minutes later when we arrived at the elementary campus Kristen had an entire speech written and Furillo was hyperventilating. When we got inside and they realized they had been snookered I found out just how fast Kristen can run and scream and yell, but that's all I remember.
4-7-03	8:25 A.M.	$614.72 - Must ride plus eight weeks of dishes. This is getting out of hand!	Ok. Maybe I remember getting to Peggy Evans office early in the morning and taping her coffee cup to her desk and taking her pictures of her daughters and son-in-laws and putting my face on the men in the pictures and you don't even want to know what happened this morning, but that's all I remember.
4-23-03	5:00 P.M.	$650.72 - Must ride plus nine weeks of dishes.	Ok. Maybe I remember doctoring a few pictures over the years, but that's all I remember. Click here to visit Bob World.
4-27-03	2:00 P.M.	$700.00 - Must ride plus 10 weeks of dishes. The only way to clean her pots & pans is with an industrial strength sandblaster.	Ok. Maybe I used to tell my band students that I sold my wife's biscuits to the army and that they used them for cannon balls because they were indestructible and were reusable, but that's all I remember. NOT....

Kristi Couch	$25.00
Jo Ann McElroy (Jeanine's Aunt)	$25.00
Kathy Epley	$20.00
Jim Yancey	$25.00
Debbie Burt	$25.00
Regina Newsom	$50.00
Judy Park	$20.00
Zimmalew Boeker	$25.00
Carole Madry	$20.00
Kim Robertson	$25.00
Dianna Walker	$25.00
Kara Evans	$25.00
Wayne Rotan	$25.00
Dianne McElroy (Jeanine's Cousin)	$25.00
Felt Elementary 3rd-6th Grade, Felt, Oklahoma	$24.57
Jenny Sayles	$40.00
Peggy (I'll Tell You What) Evans (Like a mother to me)	$36.00
Darlynn Suto (Jeanine's Sister)	$25.00

Date	Distance/miles
3-3-03	10
3-4-03	8.5
3-5-03	8.5
3-15-03	24.5
3-16-03	25.5
3-26-03	8.5
4-2-03	9
4-6-03	15.7
4-8-03	14.2
4-16-03	14.2
4-17-03	14.2
4-18-03	5
4-19-03	4
4-20-03	16