My selfishness notwithstanding, I am, in fact, heartened by the knowledge that a guy like Petty,  a classy, admirable man, is getting his payback in a timely fashion. 

The 48-year-old has borne more than his share of hardship and disappointment. And, to his undying credit, he has risen above it all, making proverbial chicken salad out of chicken crap. Perhaps the finest example of that is his Victory Junction Gang Camp, a facility he opened in 2004 to honor the memory of his son, Adam, who died in a crash at New Hampshire four years before (the camp is for kids facing life-threatening illness).

Honestly, though I'm left to wonder who, exactly, I seem to have annoyed in the grand scheme of things, I'm happy for Petty and I find that I never tire of reading about good things that happen to him and Victory Junction. To that end, its especially nice, in these disastrous economic times, to read this Kansas City Star story announcing that KBS Constructors will build a $1.5 million state-of-the-art medical facility at the camp that will open in 2011.

Meanwhile, I'm still waiting ...