Friday, March 30, 2007
It IS a great day to be a Mountaineer.
A couple months ago the best High School Running back in probably 20 years gave a verbal commitment to WVU and I posted it in my BLOG. He was confused and changed his mind a couple of days later and never signed with anyone. So, that left the nations top player unsigned......until today when he actually signed a letter of intent to play at WVU.
I would say hold on, because WVU athletics in both Football and basketball are about ready to move to the next level and actually win a National Championship. Noel Devine is a freak of nature with ungodly balance.
TGIF!!! How about a tidbits
* I finally received my GPS unit I ordered this week, it's going to be fun playing with it and getting a good hands on understanding of it. I have played with it a few minutes, but nothing extensively as of yet.
* Many of the members of the WVU basketball team will be returning to Morgantown at 3:00 today. being that they are on spring break, some of the members will be leaving from New York city and going home. Coach John Beilein is heading to Atlanta for the NCAA Final Four. Rumor has it Michigan wants to interview him for their head coaching job and a lot of people on our message boards appear a little nervous, however Michigan's message boards are saying he has too big a price tag with the $2.5 Million buyout on his contract. I think he'll be here next year, but we'll have to wait and see I guess.
* Amy had her fourth interview with Cintas yesterday, she may know something by Monday. I think she is looking forward to the Monday through Thursday workweek that they use.
* Yesterday I was up at the mall and ate lunch with a couple guys I play softball with. I ate a couple Mountaineer Chiili Dogs and an order of fries, I was wondering where my sugar would go eating so many carbs, but it was fine.
* I decided to pay for unlimited internet usage on my phone. It's just an extra $15.00 a month and thought I would give it a try. It's not the greatest tool for surfing the internet, but you can surf the internet with it so there could be some convenience to it.
* We are going to have our first softball practice of the week next year. I called Michael Toth yesterday to see if he is putting his team back together. I told he we need someone to beat up on for a scrimmage.
* I was at Wal-Mart last night and ran into Renee. She is excited that she is getting near the end of her Surgical Technician class and should be graduating in the next couple of months.
* Have a good day, It's time for lunch.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
NIT CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!!!
West Virginia wins the 2007 NIT Tournament for the first time since 1942. West Virginia Beat Clemson 78-73 to finish the season with a win. We are going to be only one of two teams in the Nation that will end their season with a win.
Congrats to Seniors Frank Young and Rob Summers.
Taking the day off
Went to see the Doctor yesterday and on the advice of my dietitian they are doubling my dosage of Metformin and are also going to start me on Lisinopril. Lisinopril is a blood pressure medicine, but my blood pressure is fine it's because my liver is putting out some protein and this will prevent any damage to the liver. It's just one pill a day in a very small dosage of 10mg.
Tonight at 7:00 make sure you watch the Mountaineer Basketball team, this will be the final game of the season win or lose. It will be for the NIT Championship and we are going to be whipping Clemson's butt.
Not too sure what I will get into today as of yet, but I am sure a trip to rails to trails in in the agenda sometime for today.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
What's this I see
Winter is officially over with and spring is upon us. The grass is getting greener and the days are getting longer.
Next week we are actually going to start softball practice for the year and tonight we will be drafting our fantasy baseball league. I love this time of the year, it is my favorite because it is the very dawn of summer.
Later today I have my second DR's appointment with Dr. Feathers, and I am feeling very well. The sugar levels are up and down a little, but they are still within the range goals of 90-130 before a meal and under 160 2 hours after a meal. I will soon start to lower my number of readings a day to three and the frequency I read to once every three days.
For a few years I have felt like a man getting old, recently since my Sugar, BP and Cholesterol (don't know numbers yet, but am addressing this anyways) under control I feel like an athlete again. My heart lungs and diaphragm feel strong and I am starting to feel like an athlete in a fat mans shell that he is ready to shed.
Hope you have a good day too.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
WVU Advances to NIT Championship
WVU has previously won the tournament, but that was in 1942. We advanced to the Final Four in 1981 and this year.
212 Degrees, we're bringing this one home!!
Monday, March 26, 2007
It's been a Geography Day III
It's been a geography day part II
Well, I guess I have finally done it. I signed up at the Geo-Caching site and have finally ordered my very first GPS unit. I did a little bit of research this afternoon and combined it with previous research and many discussions with people who have a GPS unit and have decided to purchase the eTrex Legend Cx GPS Navigator. I had really liked it by doing my internet research. Then this afternoon I went walking with Kelly, she is the one who told me about geocaching, and told her about the one I found. Ironically she had the exact same one and we took it on our walk this afternoon and it exceeds my expectations on what I wanted in a hand held GPS unit. She was going to let me borrow it, but no need I just ordered one when I got home.
It's been a Geography kind of day
However I received an e-mail last week that I didn't respond to and a phone call today from the same company. I'm not applying or looking for any jobs, but here is another one that is coming to try and find me. Someone from Prithvi Solutions tried calling me today, however I didn't hear my cell phone ring, but I responded to her e-mail and gave her all the information she requested. They are looking for a GIS Analyst somewhere in Ohio, I think she misspelled the name of the city. I'm not really looking, but they seem to have a way of finding me. It's only a 6 Month Job and I have a permanent job, so I laid out some terms and a dollar amount, I'll wait and see what they have to say.
A friend of mine has introduced me into something I may be interested in. Geocaching is for people with mobile GPS devices (I should buy one just because of my profession) where people will place a box with an object in it and others try to find it and replace the item. It's going on all over the world and there are a few things in Morgantown, maybe I may just start getting into this. It sounds kind of fun.
Note to anyone who is interested in playing. My old softball sponsor Prime Thyme has came on some financial times and will not be sponsoring us this season. HOWEVER, being we are a high profile team that everyone knows about (four team mates are part of WVAQ in the morning as either regulars or hosts.) and we have a new sponsor this year in MVP Paintball who is also a team mate.
On May 20th, he is running a special for anyone who wants to play paint ball for anyone associated with the team (friends and family are fine, come one come all), $25.00 play all day, free air, free equipment and 500 paint balls. He'll run another one like this this September.
EDIT: Prithvi Solutions just called me again and sound really interested. I even jacked the price up well beyond what I initially told them and they said that would be fine, however it is only a six month job expendable to a year and I would have to relocate. Like I said, I went well beyond what I quoted them and that is even a significant jump from what my salary is going to next week. Even higher than the offer from Sterling. Never thought I would see the day when I turned down not one but two $50,000 a year plus jobs a few weeks a part. The offer is still up there if I am interested I have been told.
I hope your day has been as good as mine.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
It's a great day to be a Mountaineer
It was a great day, and one that can quickly make you forget about the white stuff that we probably won't see again for quite a few months. I did get a little bit of a suntan.
Spoke to Amy last night at Wal-Mart. She said she has been called for her third interview with Cintas up here on Scott Avenue. She thinks she may have the job, and being it is a third interview I think she may be right.
I hope everyone had a good weekend.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
A nice healthy walk
As you can tell, I had decided to take my camera with me today, and even though the foliage hasn't presented itself yet it was still a nice day to take a walk.
On this portion of the trail I usually park at Aldi's and walk towards Fairmont. It has a lot of photogenic scenes and I decided that maybe today I would bring my camera. It has been sitting idle for sometime and has needed to be used a little bit. It has had to have felt abandoned and in the need to take a few photos, so today I obliged and took about 50-60 pictures and little movies.
I have always had a fascination with natural running water. It provides a very nice relaxing aesthetic to the stroll, the pure sounds are great stress relievers. Along the trail there are many places where you can witness some nice steady water runoffs, the best one is about a half an hour's walk from Aldi's.
When you get out there far enough, and it is very close to the waterfall is another nice scenic look of the Interstate 79 Bridge as it Crosses the Mon river right before the Interstate 68 junction.
It was a good day and I had a nice refreshing walk.
Friday, March 23, 2007
TGIF
Went to my diabetes education class yesterday and learned a few more interesting things. Most of the discussion was based around Cholesterol and HDL's and LDL's. My numbers are getting to within the target they we are shooting for and the consistency level we are striving for. I will still be doing daily readings until my next Doctors appointment this coming Wed to build a longer history for Dr Feathers to refer to, however after that I can cut my readings back to every third day since I am not on insulin or anything that would cause me to be hypoglycemic. There have been a few readings that have concerned me, but they are very minor and could be expected. The dietitian is recommending I up my dosage of my medication, but that is just to help regulate it a little better.
Since it's a friday and I am feeling a little nostalgic tonight, how about a picture from yesteryear. I have noticed that this house no longer is standing, but the memories live on.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Winter Countdown
Hey Phil, come on out an play. I hear the weather will be nice later this week. You know right around the corner was longer than the six weeks that would have happend if you did see your shadow.
Hopefully I can get back to my normal routine on rails to trails today or tomorrow. This past week's weather has been less than favorable to me. Have I ever mentioned I hate snow?
Monday, March 19, 2007
Happy Birthday Amy
I haven't heard what her and Ralphie have planned for today, but I would venture to say it is going to be something special.
Happy Birthday Amy.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Special Thank Yous
A few thank you's in no particular order.
Jean Thank You for all the education and all the questions you have answered. Also for pestering me for the last couple years to finally get the ball rolling and getting this under control.
Pam Thanks for identifying that this was out of control and it needed to be addressed. I knew my numbers were high, but I didn't realize they were that out of control.
MomThank you for all the diabetic information and literature that you have given me. I also owe you a debt of gratitude for my now backup glucometer. I bought a new one, but it is always good to have a quality backup.
Kim Thank you for not listening to me and actually going and scheduling me a Doctors appointment against what at the time I thought was my better (should I say stubborn) judgment.
I battled diabetes once before a few years ago and beat it, I think I learned the hard way that it is in fact a battle that I will be fighting for the rest of my life. Developing diabetes is probably one of the bes things that has ever happened to me. I'm now having to pay attention to my diet and what I eat.
My doctor told me that the big three things to pay attention to are Sugar, Blood Pressure and Cholesterol. I had High Blood Pressure when I was in my 20's, but managed to beat that. I checked it a few days ago and it was 119/78. I haven't really addressed the Cholesterol yet, but my new diet is pretty low in Cholesterol and my numbers really weren't discussed. I honestly have no education on this at the present time, but now that the Sugar and BP are withing normal range I'll start educating myself on Cholesterol. If it's up and I honestly don't known if it is I already have a plan of action for that. Soy beans are infamous for lowering LDL levels and raising HDL levels of Cholesterol.
Is it softball yet?
Friday, March 16, 2007
PHIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It is Friday, but for the second day in a row the weather kind of sucks. It's the weekend, but you can't have good weather. Is that not like the ultimate tease, especially with the nice weather we had earlier this week.
Next week should be pretty busy, I'm going to Frostburg for the last time on Monday and may stay over until Tuesday. If I do I'll just stay up there for the night and return Tuesday, but I may come back Monday night if I don't need to be there Tuesday.
Wed I have meet with my Doctor again and then Thursday I will probably go in for a fasting blood test and my diabetes education class is Thursday also. My Numbers are consistantly going lower and I am now in the normal range with my blood sugar. Now if Phil would have cooperated I could be on rails to trails this evening...damn rat.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
What a start to the day
Today however has had a little bit of an embarrasing story. After eating breakfast I took a brisk 15 minute walk up the road just to get the blood flowing for the day and when I returned I stopped by the local newspaper vending machine to buy todays paper. When I go for walks I take my iPod with me and listen to some music while I'm walking, it's something I do when I talk a walk of solitude. As I reached down to buy a paper and closed the door, the earpieces were jerked out of my ears. It seems that I had let the cord get caught around the latch itself trapping it in the machine. I tried to pull it out but realized it was actually wrapped around the latch. I had to go get another 50 cents from my apartment and insert it into the machien to safely retrieve my headphones.
At 9:00 tonight WVU hosts the second round game of the NIT when it hosts UMass. Umass has a 7'0" center named Luke Bonner who used to play for us, but decided to transfer closer to home to play. He played 2 years ago on the elite 8 team. He was a fan favorite two years ago, let's see how the students welcome him tonight.
Something I found out yesterday is that there is a MySpace page that I am going to add to the sidebar. Terri has signed up for a MySpace account, but has not developed it as of yet.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
The weather was great yesterday
I should have taken my camera yesterday, but I had a better picture of the portion of the trails that I have recently started walking. It's the portion below my apartment and is no longer the paved segment of the trail.
My Diabetes sugar numbers are starting to come a little better under control. I have paid very close attention to my diet, and the refreshing and and energy reviving walks in the early evenings are really starting to make a difference. I am starting to feel very good and am full of energy. I actually drove by the softball fields after I was done walking yesterday and noticed that all three men's fields had teams already practicing. I guess that means that we will probably be hitting the field as a team for the first time in the upcoming weeks. WVU is still playing basketball, so many of my team mates are still busy working with that, however I would say it is going to be pretty soon that we start to practice.
I am going to have to make my last trip(s) to my office in Frostburg next Monday and Tuesday. I'll be starting a new project as I just wrapped two other multi-year projects up in the last few days. I am considering staying up there on Monday night rather than driving up and back and up and back. It could be a nice little break to be out of Morgantown, I haven;t made up my mind how I will approach it yet.
Hope today is as good as yesterday, it should be because I'm pretty much caught up on my work until basically next week.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Another TV pitch for Morgantown
What is news is that there is show that has been pitched to TNT that will be based in Morgantown. The entire show is based off a Bruce Springsteen song with same name of the series. This Hard Land. The show from what I understand is supposed to be based on working class families working towards the American Dream.
It has been resubmitted to TNT to see if they like the idea. Considering this is a second submission, there must be some sort of interest in the show.
I would definately be a viewer.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
RIP Brad Delp
Brad and Tom were both very health conscious vegetarians and probably a couple of the most educated people in Rock and Roll. Tom is actually an MIT grad.
Brad was going to be married to his long time girlfriend during their 2007 summer tour.
And of course, my all time favorite Boston Song
Friday, March 09, 2007
It's Friday
I went to the diabetes education class yesterday and had quite a few misconceptions cleared up. Needledss to say I was prepared with some very good questions and received some very good answers. I was placed on a diet by a dietician, and started to think to myself just great. However, once I started doing the math and started realizing how I ma eating, not too much is changing other than moving breakfast back a few hours spreading it out a little from lunch.
My plan includes:
60 Grams of Carbs for Breakfast at 6:00.
15 Grams of Carbs at 9:00 for a snack
60 Grams of Carbs at 12:00 for lunch
15 Grams of Carbs at 2:30 for a snack
60 Grams of Carbs at 5:00 For Dinner
15 Grams of Carbs at 7:30 for an evening snack.
It's broken down by choices, 15 grams of carbs is equal to one choice. That's 4 choices for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and One choice 3 times for snacks.
This was set up by the dietician, and it doesn't seem that hard to follow. There is nothing I can not eat, as long as it is in proportion and within my plan.
Surprisingly my blood pressure was much lower than it was when I was at ther doctors last time. 122/82 was my reading and I was quite surprised and happy with that. I cut down drastically on my sodium intake, and I think it is starting to show.
FYI, you need 2,400 MG of Sodium a day. Many of the things you eat already have plenty of sodium in them.
Oh well, back to work so the weekend can start.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Diabetes Education Class
My numbers went down but have recently went back up for some reason, but they are starting to return to normal.
It's a little discouraging, but I also understand that it will take time for the medications to level everything out.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Kind of ironic
I schedule the vacation and I end up working and everyone else has the day off. Thanks Phil. Anyone have a good recipe for Ground Hog Stew?
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Test number 2
~♥~Valarie~♥~'s Blurbs
About me:
well i'm 23 and married to bobby we have been together for 7 yrs and married for 4, we have 2 beautiful babies together, erica who is almost 3 and josh who is 7 months old, we also have 2 dogs. princess and bing,. i love to have a good time when i get the chance having to kids it's kinda hard to go out alot. i'm an easy person to get along with as long as you don't make me mad, i can hold a grudge and i usually don't give people second chances, but i have. if u wanna know anything else send me a message
girls layout @ HOTFreeLayouts.com MyHotComments
Free Cursors
New toy for me
Thank Kim
This is a test
This was the time in my life when I
stopped dreaming about going to
college and actually did it. For
years we all played the scenario
through our heads of what we
would do if we ever hit the
lottery. My answer always seemed
to be the same and that was to
go to college. I got tired of
waiting on the lottery and
decided to enter the next phase
of my life. A non-traditional
college student at thirty-five
years of age.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
More snow
We're in March now, Spring starts this month, can we have a a little hint of it?
I think you and Mother Nature got hooked on Heroine or something, because you two have managed to get your seasons mixed up. I know I sent you the case of beer for you to get drunk on last month, and I think I should accept full responsibility for my actions. Phil, I think it is time for you and mother nature to put down the crack pipe and check into the Betty Ford clinic, heck maybe you can even check into the drug rehab clinic that Brittany Spears is at. Please seek help Phil and you and mother Nature need to put down the crack pipe and let spring begin.
Did I ever mention I hate snow?
Friday, March 02, 2007
I would call it a good day.
Gary had called me a couple of days ago trying to get three tickets to West Virginia's final regular season basketball game tomorrow. He wanted to surprise Joey and take him, but tickets seemed to be next to impossible to get. He said Stub Hub wanted $125 for 2 tickets. I had even posted on Blue and Gold news and asked the ticket manager's brother if he could find some tickets, all to no avail.
Until today. I'm listening to Morgantown AM as I usually do every work day in the mornings and they were giving away tickets on the show. Thinking, I called both Jean and Gary telling them that they were going to give away tickets. With three of us trying to win tickets we had a good chance of winning a set of tickets. Gary thinking WAJR is WCLG turns his radio dial to them idiots out of Tampa.
WAJR announces that they will give four sets of two to the first four people who e-mail them. Well, I already had my e-mail client open and nailed a set of tickets through e-mail. I was excited and called Gary hoping he was listening, he had turned it to the other radio station and didn't hear it. I had won him two tickets and told him to turn on WAJR and maybe he could win some with the call in. Between me calling him and getting back to work, they gave sets away for callers. Surprise, Jean wins another set of tickets giving us two sets of two.
Tomorrow Gary and Renee will take Joey to his first Mountaineer Basketball game. Gary has only told him he is taking him somewhere, he doesn't know what or where. He didn't want to make a promise that he couldn't keep for lack of being able to find a ticket. $125.00 for two tickets is horse pucky, four for free beats that price.
Other than that I am preparing to change my diet around a little in an attempt to get my sugar down. I actually bought a really nice stainless steel steamer tonight. It's one of those multi chamber cook a full meal type steamers.
I talked to Kim this afternoon, she was asking about a possible teachers strike this coming Tuesday. Mon County teachers are going to do an unorganized Blue Flu.
I have just taken my last reading
for the day. I was pretty happy with the number. I'm sitting down enjoying a fresh air popped bowl of popcorn and getting ready to watch a movie I purchased tonight. I saw the DVD for Driving Miss Daisy tonight and felt like watching it.
Have a good evening.
Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.--Carl Jung
Thursday, March 01, 2007
An Important Note on DST
Change in daylight savings times:
March 11, 2007: Set Clocks +1 Hr (Spring Forward)
November 4, 2007: Set Clocks -1 Hr (Fall Back)