Last week with Infotech

This is my last official week working for Infotech , I've been working for them for three years now, basically the last two from home as a remote employee. There is a little sadness in leaving, but there is a little more excitement in being able to move on and get back into an office on a day to day basis.

It's been nice working from home, but as the work log deteriorated I had less and less to do. It almost got to the point where there was no challenge and no excitement anymore. I think the best time I had in the past couple years was when I was needed in Sterling and had to go down there. Don't get me wrong, working from home exclusively was nice, but with no workload or no challenge it was like heading down a dead end.

As for the job search, I have two interviews this week after having one phone interview last week. I have a phone interview tomorrow and a personal interview with the company that I had a phone interview with last week. Nothing is official yet, but once I get the "i's" dotted and the "t's" crossed I will let everyone know one way or another. I'll be more specific later this week.

I have put out numerous Resumes over the past seven days, so I have been busy to say the least. My top choice is the company I am interviewing with Wed, as it is a company I wanted to work for a few years ago. I'm also working on some setting up some supplemental work in my field.

It's going to be an interesting week.

Gridiron Bash cancelled

The much ballyhooed Gridiron Bash , which was to have included West Virginia University with Dwight Yoakam appearing in Morgantown has been canceled. Not just at WVU, but all participating schools everywhere.

There was a conflict between NCAA Athletes and them being allowed to participate in a for profit venture.

Alabama was leading the voting in the $1 Million donation to their scholarship fund, but this will now no longer be.

Jack Flemming Tribute

Eventful week to say the least

I have to say this past week has been one event filled week in my life. It started the first thing Monday Morning when I got an e-mail from the COO from Infotech telling me I was going to be laid off April 4, to me putting out quite a few resumes and getting a few contacts.

I think I have found my next company I am going to work for, but nothing is official yet so I'll wait till the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed before I make any kind of announcement on that situation. If things go as hoped, I'll go from one place of employment to another and that was my initial plan as of me finding out my situation Monday. Right Place, right time to say the least.

The WVU men's basketball team fell to Xavier 75-79 in Overtime to Xavier ending the 2007-8 Basketball season.

We have started to get organized for the 2008 softball season, we're finalizing our initial roster, secured the sponsor and should be hitting the field here in a few weeks or so now that both WVU Men's and Women's Basketball are done for the season. A few of our team mates are associated with the Athletic Department, so it has been a busy week for them to say the least. We will once again be Mountain Valley Paintball once again. Sean and Danny will sponsor us once again.

Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises.--Demosthenes

Sadness last night

The WVU Men's basketball season came to a sad end last night with a 75-79 Overtime loss to Xavier. WVU fell behind 0-8 and 10-28 early in the game, but bravely fought back to eventually take the lead just past the halfway point in the second half.

The game was nip and tuck from that point on and ended up in a 64-64 tie at the end of regulation. Overtime saw the Mountaineers jump out to a six point lead, but saw it falter as Xavier started nailing deep, unguarded three point shots and that was the final difference in the game.

The Mountaineers finish the season 26-11 in Bob Huggin's first season in Morgantown. It was sad to see Darris Nichols and Jamie Smalligan end their WVU careers, it was a game I think we should have won. However this is March Madness and you have to bring your "A" game all night long.

2008-9 Season looks like it could be a very good one with the players we have coming back plus the players we have coming in.

Take a bow guys, great season.

Sweet 16

Tonight the WVU Men's Basketball team will be playing in the Sweet 16 against Xavier University for a shot at going to the Elite 8 on Saturday.

Michelle and I will be watching the Xavier game together since we won the Duke game watching it together tonight at Nick and Terri's and maybe the good karma will stay and we will advance to the Elite 8. IF and that is a big IF, we win tonight we will most likely be playing UCLA in the Elite 8, a team who we have beaten the last two years in a row.

Let's Gooooooooooooooooo Mountianeers

WVU Basketball team

At lunch yesterday I went over to the WVU Coliseum to see the WVU basketball team of on their trip. I did get a little video footage of Johnnie West (Jerry's sone) shooting baskets before they got on the bus.

New Job Search is under way

Well, I can't say I haven't been busy the past 24 hours. Since learning of my upcoming layoff on April 4, I have been quite busy both yesterday and early this morning sending out e-mails, applying for jobs and forwarding my resume to about anyone and everyone I know with any GIS connections. I would say I have made 15-18 solid contacts, now I have to be patient and hope someone calls in the near future. I don't want there to be any lapse in time between this job and the next, so I have been quite busy to say the least. I have filled out one application that was not GIS based, only because this company has stuck in my head since my recourse days.

Have a good day.

I just got some very bad news.

Over the past few months, the workload at work has been very slow, to the point where I was worrying about it and starting to wonder if I would have a job. Infotech has been growing at an exponential rate, but it has been getting away from GIS type work and leaning more towards the photogrammatry type of work. My area of expertise is in the GIS aspect of it all, not the photogrammetric.

This morning the news I did not want to hear came through. April 4, 2008 will be my last day with Infotech, I am being laid off. I even asked if my presence in Sterling would make a difference, but our backlog of work even for that office has diminished to the point that the only thing we are doing on shore is project management, and we have plenty of project managers. I even inquired about a reduction of pay, but it was not a performance issue, I was told I was probably the most diligent employee they have had and they would assist me in finding other employment.

What does this mean to me? Well first of all goodbye to working from home. I was given a unique opportunity and it may be next to impossible to find this situation again. So obviously I am going to have to start looking for work outside of my home. It could also very well mean a goodbye to Morgantown and a goodbye to West Virginia. I hate to imagine this, but this could be my reality in a very short period of time. This is a place that I have grown up in and loved, and the thought of me leaving is horrible, but life just tossed me a curveball and I have to accept it.

To say I am a little worried and not confident right now is an understatement.

Great Day to be a Mountaineer

Tony Caridi has never said any truer words. Yesterday was definitely a great day to be a Mountaineer no matter where you may be. Me and Michelle watched the game together yesterday at BW3 here in Morgantown as the Mountaineers won one of their biggest games in years with a 73-67 beating of 23 seed Duke. I have to say it was a game that I was a little worried about at the start, I said before the game we would win, but after the first five minutes or so I had my doubts. Duke was starting to blow us out early and took a 10 point lead 6:00 into the game and again at 8:00 into the game. However WVU played a great game and just took it to the Blue Devils and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the third time in four years. the men moved their record to 26-10 on the year.

Next up for the Mountaineers is the Xavier Mountaineers (same name) who are a #3 seed. They have a little bit better record than us, but we have played a much tougher schedule this year than they have. If they can get past Xavier and into the Elite 8, there is a good chance we will play UCLA, who we have beaten the last two years. This season may be very memorable before it's over with.

The WVU Women's team opened it's NCAA tournament up last night against New Mexico on their home floor. This was a tough draw for the #5 seed Mountaineers, even though New Mexico was a #12 seed, they were at home and were 40-0 over the last two years when they scored 60 or more points. Well, that 40 game streak came to an end last night on their home court as the WVU Women won 61-60 last night. the women ran their record to 25-7 on the year and I think they play Vanderbilt tomorrow in the second round to try to advance to the Women's sweet 16.

It is a true testament to this University's Athletic Department when you consider the current combined record of the WVU Football, Men's and Women's Basketball and Baseball teams are currently a combined 78-23 on the school year. Not to mention both the Men's and Women's soccer teams both advanced to the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 this year also.

It is a great year to be a Mountaineer.

Happy Easter

I would just like to take this time and wish everyone reading this a very Happy and Safe Easter. I hope the Easter Bunny treated everyone very well, I wonder if he has any no carb Peanut Butter Eggs?

Have a great day

Free Cinemax Weekend

Here in Morgantown, Comcast is giving everyone a free preview of skinemax this weekend, all you need is a digital cable box and you are set to go. Remember Cinemax on Demand is on channel 907.

Mountaineers in action today.

Both the WVU Mens and the WVU Women's basketball team will be in action today in their NCAA Tournaments. The WVU Women travel to Albuquerque to take on New Mexico tonight at 8:30 Eastern Time. It is a little strange that the 5th seeded Mountaineers have to travel to play on 12th Seeded New Mexico's home court, but this is the draw that we have, and I think the game will be on ESPN 2 this evening.

When it comes to the Men, they play Duke this afternoon at 2:10 on CBS in a second round game. Duke almost lost to some school I never heard of a couple nights ago, I'm hoping Huggs has these guys ready and brings home what could be a very memorable win in the schools history. This could be monumental if we beat Duke.

So sports fans, there you go a chance to see both the WVU men's and WVU women's teams in action today.

At 1:00 this afternoon, WVU will be looking to make it a three game sweep over Pitt in Baseball at Hawley Field if anyone is interested.

It's a Big Ole Good Friday

Yes, for most of us we have reached that time of the week when the work for the week ceases and we sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labor, unless you have Good Friday off then it started yesterday, it is once again the weekend.

Where to start on what happened yesterday. Last night Me, Kim, Terri and Brittany started out the evening with a trip to and dinner at the Olive Garden for dinner. To tell you the truth, that was the first time I have ever eaten at the Olive Garden, it won't be the last. After dinner we headed on on over the Riverside Church to watch the play that they were putting on, Messiah and I have to say I was a bit surprised. I walked in and it was a large elaborate set with many actors and very realistic costumes. It was very well done and quite entertaining. A guy I used to work with at the NRAC for one summer, Chad Rowan, played the part of Jesus. He's also a GIS Analyst guy so he can't be all that bad!

The pictures from last night from my camera have been uploaded to my picture site, Kim and Terri both also took pictures last night, Kim is going to put hers up and I'll try to grab the pics off of Terri's camera and put them up sometime soon.


How Bout The EERS!!! They are off to the suffering Succotash 32 (so named by Eric Maguire) to play Duke after beating Arizona 75-65 last night in DC. The Mountaineers were lead by Alex Ruoff's 21 points and 5 of 7 from three point land. Duke, Saturday's opponent, almost made history last night in what would have been the biggest upset in NCAA Tournament history by barely beating Belmont 71-70 in the earlier game. People are asking themselves this morning, who the heck is Belmont?

I got a little love on WVAQ this morning. They are running a NCAA Tournament Bracket Pick Em for two 2009 WVU Season Basketball tickets next year and there are I think 612 of us competing. I am tied for first place (after one half of the first round) after last night, but there is still a lot of basketball to be played. I think WVU will beat Duke Saturday, or at least I hope they do, because I have WVU going pretty far in both my brackets. Actually I have all Big East Final Four in both brackets that I have picked (another one on Yahoo). Come on Huggs, win it all!!

Everyone have a good, safe and happy Holiday Weekend.




The family is one of nature's masterpieces.--George Santayana

Amy's B-Day Party

Yesterday evening a few of us stopped up at Amy and Ralphie's place for a little birthday celebration with Amy. I have to say the place looks great, they have put in hardwood floors in the living room and the baby's bedroom. They still have their room to do and then Ralphie said he is going to start on the outside.

I promised Amy I would get her whatever music she wants to put on her new Mp3 player, but I forgot the list last night when we left, but Amy was still filling it out.

I took my camera last night and took a few pictures from last night. I have started and added them to an album on my picture site called general Pics of 2008.

This evening Me, Kim, Brittney, and Terri are going to watch Mom in her Easter play at Riverside Apostolic Church
. The play runs from last night until Saturday.

Happy Birthday Amy

I would like to take this chance to wish my niece Amy a very Happy 21st (you'll figure it out later) Birthday today. I tried calling her earlier, but I think she is at work today and has her cell Phone turned off.

Happy Birthday Amy

Eight Lucky Ladies

The women of the Mon County tax collection office made their trip to Charleston Yesterday to claim their winnings. Each woman was given a $1 Million check initially (waiting to collect all money from all states) to start off. They selected the cash option and each of these eight lucky ladies will end up with $12 Million each AFTER taxes.

I'm glad that not only was another big jackpot won in West Virginia, but won in Mon County. The only bad thing about this scenerio, it wasn't my ticket (I think Phil is trying to get back at me).

They killed our Karma.

I know, we all have big dreams of winning the lottery, this past weekend the $276 Million Powerball jackpot was not only won by someone from WV, but 8 women who work in Morgantown at the Mon County Sheriffs Department Tax Office will be taking the trip to the Charleston Lottery headquarters today to officially turn in the ticket and claim their winnings.

It's nice to have local people hit it, but it kills my karma of me ever winning because they are from the same city.

On top of that, a Blacksville woman ALSO won $150,000. It was a good day to be from Mon County, I just didn't have the right numbers. I wonder if I can get a refund and get the right numbers. =)

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Today is Monday, but it is also a time when you can walk into any local pub and find green beer and people decked out in the color green. It is St.Patrick's Day around the world. A time when the leprechauns are a plentiful and everyone is a little bit Irish for a day.

The big question you need to be asking yourself is if you are wearing green today? My iPod is green, so I guess that counts for me considering I'm the only one here. I'm not sure what anyones plans are for today, I'm sure Nick and Terri will have something going on at the bar in honor of the day.


St. Patrick's Day is an enchanted time - a day to begin transforming winter's dreams into summer's magic.--William Maginn

What a great weekend to be a Mountaineer.

Talk about a good weekend for being a Mountaineer. It started on a down note Friday Night when the Basketball team lost to Georgetown in the Semi-Finals of the Big East Tournament.

This afternoon the NCAA Tournament Field was announced. West Virginia is a 7 Seed and will play against Arizona in Washington DC. When they beat Arizona, it will be two coaching legends going against each other when Bob Huggins of WVU will most likely match up against Mike Krzyzewski of Duke in the second round for a Sweet 16 spot. The biggest match up I want to see is USC vs Kansas State. USC is lead by WV native Freshman OJ Mayo who was the nations top recruit last year. Everyone thought he was going to go to Kansas State and Bob Huggins, but chose to go to USC. Kansas State has a Freshman who like Mayo is one of the two players up for player of the year in Michael Beasley. Also on Kansas State was one of the top recruits from two years ago and another native West Virginian Bill Walker. This game will feature three of the Nations top recruits over the last two years, and all three with very close ties to Bob Huggins.

Now as if the basketball news wasn't good enough, how about the 2009 Football recruiting class beginning with a verbal from the biggest name Wide Receiver in the 2009 class and him also bringing his highly ranked QB with him. Logan Heastie gave WVU a verbal commitment for 2009 and his QB team mate Tajh Boyd has also verballed to WVU. Talk about a recruiting class starting out with a bang, WOW.

What a great weekend to be a Mountaineer.

Last Night

Last night I had another date, I'm starting to rack up a number of those for 2009 so far, only this time it was with a girl named Michelle. She was someone I invited to the Christmas Eve party this past year, but she never made it. We ran across each other again on the net in the past week and started talking.

Actually she told me that I showed up on her sisters Match.com account last year as a possible match, which I thought was kind of funny. I think I owe my entire social life to either match.com, Wal-Mart or a combination of the two.

It was a dinner and a movie type of date, started out at Pizza Hut (like you would have to twist my arm to go there) and ended up watching the movie 10,000 BC. It was a movie that looked pretty good in the previews, so we went to see it.

Ouch

West Virginia played Georgetown last night int he Semi-Finals of the Big East Tournament. The Mountaineers playing their third game in three days just ran out of gas against the top seeded Hoyas 55-72 and ended their Big East Title hopes.

Tomorrow the NCAA Tournament bids come out and we should be sitting pretty and get one of the 65 bids, last year we were left out of the NCAA Tournament and won the 2007 NIT Tournament. This shouldn't be the case this year with 24 wins and a semifinal finish in the powerhouse Big East Tournament.

Stay tuned and we'll see who we play next, in the NCAA Tournament.

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes it is once again that time of the week that we all look forward to, when the work for the week ceases and we sit back and start to enjoy the fruits of our labors for a few days.

It's been a pretty busy week at work for me, thats a first in a while, so I welcome the challenge again. Not having much to do can make a week go slow, so like it is a welcome change.

Did you watch the Mountaineers yesterday? I guess UCONN didn't have an answer for Joe Alexander. He lit them up for 32 points the first time we played and we lost, yesterday Joe torched them for a new career high of 34 points in a 78-72 win in the Big East Quarterfinals. We now advance to the Semi-Finals tonight against Georgetown at 7:00 this evening. Georgetown beat us on a controversial ending earlier this year, so I'm sure the team will be ready.

The weather has been nice and getting nicer, I need to get my rear end out on the rails to trails and start getting ready for Softball season. It's been too long since all the guys have been together again and it's long overdue.

I may go back to Uniontown again this Sunday, Arron's team has advanced to the Championship game and I may go up and watch him play. They won last Saturday and Sunday to advance to the AAU Championship game.

Have a great weekend.

On to round 2 today

Yesterday the WVU men's basketball team played their first round game in the Big East Tournament and beat Providence 58-53 in an ugly game where we were just not playing our best basketball, however they did manage to grab a win with Joe Alexander putting in yet another in his streak of stellar performances.

No time to sit back and relax as we take on UCONN today at 2:30 in the second round of the tournament. Last time we played UCONN got the better of us and Joe Alexander had a career high 32 points, but I would look for UCONN to try a little harder to shut Joe down today meaning others are going to have to step up and have a big game if we want to beat UCONN.

Put on your Blue and Gold and tune in to ESPN at 2:30 to cheer on the Mountaineers.

How about a midweeks tidbits

* Kim called me last night and told me about this new site that I should set up to do the Hall Family site like I did for Christmas. It's actually a script I installed on my host and honestly spent minimal time developing it. Ironically I had already set up a site at the site she was telling me about last night, I did it last year. HERE is that site. It also has a series of badges that we can use. Note to Kim, you used your gmail account to sign up.


View my page on Hall Family Network

If you want to sign up, go HERE

* For those of you interested, WVU plays basketball today at 2:00 in the first round of the Big East Tournament when we take on Providence. WVU is currently 22-9 on the season and should be able to advance in the tournament today.

* I watched American Idol last night, my favorite in the competition put on a horrible performance. David Archuleta put on his worst performance of the season. However if I have to guess who is going home, I would guess Kristy Lee Cook, although votefortheworst.com is recommending everyone vote for Amanda Overmeyer.



* Mom is going to be in a play next week at Riverside Apostolic Church . I guess it is supposed to run for four days next week. Kim asked if I was going to go and I told her I would go. She suggested anyone who is planning on going, going on the same night.

* I ran into one of my softball team mates yesterday at Wal-Mart, Steve Dodrill says he is ready to go.

Have a great day.

Over the Hill Quiz

1. What builds strong bodies 12 ways?
A. Flintstones vitamins
B. The buttmaster
C. Spaghetti
D. Wonder Bread
E. Orange Juice
F. Milk
G. Cod Liver Oil


2. Before he was Muhammed Ali, he was...
A. Sugar Ray Robinson
B. Roy Orbison
C. Gene Autry
D. Rudolph Valentino
E. Fabian
F. Mickey Mantle
G. Cassius Clay


3. Pogo, the comic strip character said, 'We have met the enemy and...
A. It's you
B. He is us
C. It's the Grinch
D. He wasn't home
E. He's really mean
F. We quit
G. He surrendered



4. Good night, David.
A. Good night, Chet
B. Sleep well
C. Good Night, Irene
D. Good Night, Gracie
E. See you later, alligator
F. Until tomorrow
G. Good night, Steve


5. You'll wonder where the yellow went,
A. When you use Tide
B. When you lose your crayons
C. When you clean your tub
D. If you paint the room blue
E. If you buy a soft water tank
F. When you use Lady Clairol
G. When you brush your teeth with Pepsodent



6. Before he was the Skipper's Little Buddy, Bob Denver was Dobie's friend,
A. Stuart Whitman
B. Randolph Scott
C. Steve Reeves
D. Maynard G. Krebbs
E. Corky B. Dork
F. Dave the Whale
G. Zippy Zoo


7. Liar, liar...
A. You're a liar
B. Your nose is growing
C. Pants on fire
D. Join the choir
E. Jump up higher
F. On the wire
G. I'm telling Mom



8. Meanwhile, back in Metropolis, Superman fights a never ending battle for truth, justice and...
A. Wheaties
B. Lois Lane
C. TV ratin gs
D. World peace
E. Red tights
F. The American way
G. News headlines



9 . Hey, kids, what time is it?
A. It's time for Yogi Bear
B. It's time to do your homework
C. It's Howdy Doody Time
D. It's Time for Romper Room
E. It's bedtime
F. The Mighty Mouse Hour
G. Scoopy Doo Time


10. Lions and tigers and bears...
A. Yikes
B. Oh no
C. Gee whiz
D. I'm scared
E. Oh My
F. Help Help
H. Let's run


11. Bob Dylan advised us never to trust anyone
A. Over 40
B. Wearing a uniform
C. Carrying a briefcase
D. Over 30
E. You don't know
F. Who says, 'Trust me'
G. Who eats tofu


12. NFL quarterback who appeared in a television commercial
wearing women's stockings.
A. Troy Aikman
B. Kenny Stabler
C. Joe Namath
D. Roger Stauback
E. Joe Montana
F. Steve Young
G. John Elway


13. Brylcream...
A. Smear it on
B. You'll smell great
C. Tame that cowlick
D. Greaseball heaven
E. It's a dream
F. We're your team
G. A little dab'll do ya


14. I found my thrill...
A. In Blueberry muffins
B. With my man, Bill
C. Down at the mill
D. Over the windowsill
E. With thyme and dill
F. Too late to enjoy
G. On Blueberry Hill


15. Before Robin Williams, Peter Pan was played by
A. Clark Gable
B. Mary Martin
C. Doris Day
D. Errol Flynn
E. Sally Fields
F. Jim Carey
G. Jay Leno


16. Name the Beatles
A. John, Steve, George , Ringo
B. John, Paul, George , Roscoe
C. John, Paul, Stacey, Ringo
D. Jay, Paul, George , Ringo
E. Lewis, Peter, George , Ringo
F. Jason, Betty, Skipper, Hazel
G. John, Paul, George , Ringo


17. I wonder, wonder, wonder, who
A. Who ate the leftovers?
B. Who did the laundry?
C. Was it you?
D. Who wrote the book of love?
E. Who I am?
F. Passed the test?
G. Knocked on the door?


18. I'm strong to the finish
A. Cause I eats my broccoli
B. Cause I eats me spinach
C. Cause I lift weights
D. Cause I'm the hero
E. And don't you forget it
f. Cause Olive Oyl loves me
g. To outlast Bruto


19. When it's least expected, you're elected, you're the star today...
a. Smile, you're on Candid Camera
b. Smile, you're on Star Search
c. Smile, you won the lottery
d. Smile, we're watching you
e. Smil e, the world sees you
f. Smile, you're a hit
g. Smile, you're on TV


20. What do M & M's do?
a. Make your tummy happy
b. Melt in your mouth, not in your pocket
c. Make you fat
d. Melt your heart
e. Make you popular
f. Melt in your mouth, not in your hand
g. Come in colors




Okay, now scroll down for the answers!












Here are the right answers.
1 d - Wonder Bread
2 g - Cassius Clay
3 b - He Is Us
4 a - Good night, Chet
5 g - When you brush your teeth with Pepsodent
6 d - Maynard G. Krebbs
7 c - Pants On Fire
8 f - The American Way
9 c - It's Howdy Doody Time
10 e - Oh My
11 d - Over 30
12 c - Joe Namath
13 g - A little dab'll do ya
14 g - On Blueberry Hill
15 b - Mary Martin
16 g - John, Paul, George , Ringo
17 d - Who wrote the book of Love
18 b - Cause I eats me spinach
19 a - Smile, you're on Candid Camera
20 f - Melt In Your Mouth Not In Your Hand



It might help if you are over 60; this is no 'pushover'.

A coupon that NEVER expires

Read the fine print.

A good review

Both Gary and jean have converted to Comcast's new phone service and eliminated their traditional land lines for phones. Val has hers scheduled to be switched over as well.

It is saving them all money on their bills by eliminating a phone bill and picking up a more robust, and cheaper plan with the cable company. This is a VOIP service, so all the extras are free plus they have unlimited calls and unlimited calls anywhere in the US.

After to talking to both Gary and Jean, they have said there is no static in their lines now like there was previously and so far are impressed with the new service. Both were able to port out their land line numbers and retain their old phone numbers, so nothing changes.

Once again, the workweek starts.

Yes it once again that time to go back to work, especially after we just had a shorter weekend due to setting the clocks forward on Sunday Morning.

I went to Gary's yesterday and helped him with some computer work. His laptop is so on the frits that I don't have a clue as to what is going on. It has to be some kind of a hardware problem because I even gave him a live CD and that couldn't even completely boot up. This might require a little more research.

I did introduce him to the world of torrents. I think he was quite surprised with the amount of speed he was downloading what he was looking for. There are a few smaller tricks to this, but I think he's got the hang of it now.

Back to work.

Phil is everywhere

Yesterday Diane and I planned and went on a day trip to Pittsburgh. I had a hunch that that pesky Phil just wanted to try to disrupt my plans and arrange to drop some snow on us for the trip. Gary and Renee canceled their plans because of the weather, but Diane needed a day of rest and relaxation and I wasn't going to stop until I accomplished my mission.

I think the little rat was spying on us, I managed to get a picture of him hiding in the train exhibit as you can plainly see. Come on Phil, it's March already and you don't to encourage Mother Nature to go the whole six weeks do you? Let it go and let the warmer weather begin, let the winter go Phil.

It was a great day. We went and seen "The Body" exhibit which was quite fascinating, everything that you saw during the exhibit was an actual human or human remains that were preserved. There was no photography allowed in the exhibit which kind of stunk. The one thing that stood out to me was they had three cases side by side by side. The first case was occupied by the lungs of a smoker. The lungs were darkish and black and not very pleasant to look at. The next case was the lungs of a non smoker. They looked normal, but were a big difference from the first case. The third case was a big glass case that was about half way full with a slot on the top to drop your cigarettes if you chose, like I said this big case was half way full. This exhibit will be there until May and then it is gone, it is well worth the plan and the trip to going and seeing.

After a fun filled day, I introduced Diane to the world of Primanti Brothers. Add one more person to the list of people who I have introduced to them that was impressed. I should work on commission for them, or at least they should put one in Morgantown.

My promise to Diane was to give her a relaxing day off after such a long work filled stretch and to return her home in one piece. Mission accomplished.

Layla Rosiak

Last night I took Trish and Aaron to Uniontown for his game, he's playing with the 7th grade All-Stars and they are playing an AAU tournament in Uniontown at the YMCA.

I did get a good chance to see "Wee One" as I call her, Trish calls her Layla and get my first photograph of her before we headed out yesterday afternoon. She seemed to be full of life and a happy and smiling baby and full of joy.

Today is the big day however, Diane and I are going to Pittsburgh. Funny story though and there was no pre-planning on this at all on ether side. My brother Gary and Renee are also planning on going. I mentioned to Gary about possibly getting together and going to Primanti Brothers today.

Scratch that, Gary just called and said they aren't going.

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes, it is once again that time of the week work the work stops and we once again take time to enjoy the fruits of our labors. It is once again the start of the weekend!!!!

Diane and I are planning on going out of town tomorrow and heading north to the Carnegie Science Center for a day of fun and relaxation. We are planning on taking on the bodies exhibition and probably one movie at the imax. I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

I did run across a nice website this morning dedicated to West Virginia Weather that may be worth a bookmark if you have any interest in the weather in West Virginia.

Spring is getting closer, according to todays Dominion Post, the Summer Softball packets are now available for pick up at the BOPARC office. It's getting closer!!! Winter is now starting to look like it is in our rear view mirror and warmer days are n the horizon.

Just a reminder, clocks spring forward Sunday Morning and it won't start getting dark until about 7:30 next week. I have actually put on a pair of shorts twice this week so far and managed to make it to rails to trails for a brisk stroll.

Have a Great Weekend.



The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.--Albert Einstein

WVAQ is kaput

I woke up this morning and as usual I turned my Radio Dial to 101.9 here in Good Ole Morgantown, West Virginia to listen to my morning fix of the Eric and Kevin show. I could find the station on my radio, so I went to my car to see if I could pick up the signal there. Once again, no success in being able to pick up the station.

So, I went to the net and streamed the show to my computer. When I did this they were broadcasting on WQZK out of the Cumberland/Keyser area. Come to find out, that when they got into the studio this morning there was a note saying that WVAQ was blown up (ie broken).

The AM affiliate WAJR is working, the problem just seems to be the FM station. So if you are in the Morgantown listening area and can't get WVAQ, they know there is a problem.

I think it was the Canadians who snuck in and did it. You know, they did bomb the Baldwins (if you don't get it, forget it)

Over the Hump Day

OK the week started off with a bang and warm weather. Nice enough that I could actually get out to rails to trails to get a good walk in. This morning however is a different story. The weather is not as cooperative as it was a few days ago, I guess Phil must have forgotten about me. Either that or the lazy rat just wanted to crawl back into his hole and sleep a little longer.

Kim called me yesterday and asked me if I was still alive, the funny thing is I already knew what she was talking about as I read my name in the obituaries on Sunday Morning, only this was a George A Hall. I hope that's not me, let me check....It's not me and pinching yourself can hurt.

For those of you following Girls High School Basketball in West Virginia, the State Tournament starts today in Charleston.

There was one major announcement in the sporting world yesterday. Brett Favre decided to call it a career yesterday as the future NFL Hall of Fame QB announced his retirement.

Weather permitting Diane and I are thinking about getting out of Morgantown Saturday for a day trip. There are a few options on the table so I guess it is going to depend on the weather and how we feel that day as to what interstate we jump on and what direction we start to head.



Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.--John Lennon

A Blowout in Morgantown

Quoting the great Tony Caridi "It's a Great Night to be a Mountaineer". Last night the despised evil twin from the north came into Morgantown and tried to sweep the season series. They cheated and cost us a chance at a National Championship in football on my birthday, then they used a last second three pointer to beat us in basketball in Pittsburgh.

Last night, led by former WVU basketball player and future hall of fame coach Bob Huggins, WVU extracted it's revenge on the evil twin of the north in front of 13,960 Pitt Hating Mountaineer fans. WVU dominated Pitt to secure a 76-62 win in the basketball version of the Backyard Brawl.

I watched the game on TV, and the Coliseum seemed to be rocking with a sea of gold in another Gold Rush. Joe Alexander was absolutely on fire and matched a career high in points with 32. This is back to back games he has cashed in 32 points for the Mountaineers.

This was the final regular season home game ever for two seniors in Darris Nichols and Jamie Smalligan and they were bid a very happy farewell. Also playing his last game as a Mountaineer was redshirt Jr and fan favorite Ted Talkington who has been admitted to Med School this fall and it would be just too much to attend Med School and try to play a sport, much less do anything other than have your nose in a book. Something I did find out last night, Ted is Football Coach Bill Stewart's Nephew.

It was a great night to be a Mountaineer.

New sidebar item added

I have added an RSS feed to Slashdot, a site that is very good for geeky news for geeky people.

Thanks to Mark for the Heads up

Windows Vista, a program I am not very fond of and is supposed to have all this security behind, has finally been hacked. Not that I would advise anyone in using this horrible fumble of an operating system by Microsoft, the one that was supposed to have increased security to protect you (from itself), but the software has been hacked.

For the record I run XP and Linux Ubuntu as a dual boot home system and persuade any new computer buyers to MacIntosh.

I just find it kind of funny that the "unhackable" was just hacked.

Monday Tidbits

I think we should declare this day officially the "Kiss a Groundhog Day" in honor of my buddy Phil and the talk he must have had with Mother Nature. It's going to be a great day to get outside today as the temperature is predicted to peak at 69 degrees. It looks like my front door may actually be opened up this afternoon and I'll even feed Phil's cousins, the squirrels. Thank You Phil.

* For any of you thinking about going to the Van Halen Reunion tour with David Lee Roth or if you have already purchased your tickets, you might want to be calling for a refund. They have canceled the tour. You see why I think Sammy is the better front man for the band? He actually likes to play rather than pretending like he does.

* With the nice and warm weather I may be making my first (really second) trip to rails to trails for the season. Needless to say I've added a few pounds and softball is just around the corner, so I need to get out there to start getting ready.

* Seems like everyone has been under the weather in some sort lately. I have managed to avoid getting sick this time around, so for all of you not feeling so well. Kiss my butt, better you than me and I'm going outside in shorts today to enjoy the nice weather.

* Big basketball game tonight when WVU plays that horrible team from up north when Pitt invades Morgantown. This is a must win situation tonight for WVU for them to make it to the NCAA Tournament, We would be a lock for the NIT to defend our title, but I think I would much rather see this team take their shot in the NCAA Tournament.

* Woo Hoo, just heard on the radio that temps are going up to 71 degrees today.

* Remember this coming weekend you will lose one hours sleep as it be the start of Daylight Saving Time begins on March 8. at 1:59 AM Sunday, the next minute will spring forward to 3:00 AM.

* Josh Judy has reported to the Cleveland Indians Spring Training Camp this past week. This will be his first full season playing professionally, I was talking to Steve a couple weeks ago and told him I hoped he pitched for the Youngstown minor league team to start out. Youngstown is only a couple hours away and I used to love it there, although I am hearing my old stomping grounds have now established a very bad element.

* I have started drinking a lot of Diet Lipton Green Tea lately and I can say I am feeling much better than I did when I was drinking all the Diet Coke again.

* Have a great day, I plan to.


Now, here is one for Diane since she relaxes by working in her flower garden:

In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.--Margaret Atwood

Stew's Pregame Fiesta Bowl Speech

March coming in like a Lion

Ok as far as the old saying goes about March, it is coming in like a lion, so hopefully this means it will go out like a lamb. I looked outside this morning and saw an abundance of the white stuff falling from the sky. Once again it is snowing outside, and starting to cover the ground. So, since it is coming in like a lion, the month of March will leave like a lamb. I'll have my fingers crossed.

I stopped down at the bar yesterday and sat and BS'd for a while. Nick and Terri are serving Prime Rib on Friday nights now for a fair price if you are looking for dinner ideas. Tonight the Tom Bachelor Band is playing. They are a reggae band with former members of Rasta Rafiki.

Trae from the Hillbilly Gypsies was there last night. We were talking about a few local shows that they would be playing. Terri mentioned Mayhem on the Mountain that they will be playing May 23rd and 24th in Pentress (Couple miles past my sister Kim's House), so it may be worth a stop. A few of the bands including Lindsey and the Clear Mountain Boys who along with the Gypsies and a few other talented Musicians are regulars down at Nick and Terri's.

Nick and Terri's internet is now back up and running.