A Mighty Heart

Last night we watched a very good movie called A Mighty Heart, it is a movie that I have wanted to see for some time and I finally got around to seeing it.

It's the story of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was brutally beheaded on camera in 2002 and his story.

Fast paced but very informative movie about the events, I can't imagine what his wife went through, but obviously she was a very strong woman.

If anyone would like to see it, it is also available online.

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit early on a Saturday Morning with a fire going in the fireplace and everyone else on the household suffering the effects of a losing battle with the sandman there is peace and serenity and just the echo of a crackling fireplace in the background.

I did notice that my Nephew Moke has had a safe trip back to Iraq (if that is considered a safe trip) and is back on duty protecting our countries interest in a foreign land.

Not too sure what Michelle and I will be getting into on this day, Couple of basketball games in Morgantown, maybe we will try to take one in if possible.

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes it is once again that time of the week that we all look foreword to, when we can take time to cease the labors for the week and take a little bit of needed time out to enjoy the fruits of those labors. It is once again the dawn of another weekend and a Big Ole Hairy Friday.

OK, in my picture Joe Friday had shaved, but use your imagination a little bit.

You looking for a little bit of sports action this weekend? The WVU Men's team will take on Louisville at the Coliseum at noon tomorrow. The women play at 7:00 PM.

I'm not really sure what Michelle and I will be getting into as of yet. Maybe just building a fire and staying home, but we'll have to see how that goes. I know we have to got to Wal-Mart tonight after work.

Hmmmm

Did you ever just have one of those days when you really just had nothing to say? The days when the less than creative juices really are not flowing and you just have a big ole brain fart about what to write about? Well, this is one of those days for me.

let's see, Moke got off at 6:00 AM yesterday morning and Amy was looking into Frontier to try to get some kind of internet service where she lives. I could talk about Phil, but I've had enough of that rat and his day is next week.

I could also talk about my mothers addiction to midget porn, we've tried to get her help, but she loves her midgets.

I could talk about what a great girlfriend that I have, come to think of it I am a very lucky guy. Which I am.

And finally for you people who like to Christmas shop early, there are only 331 days until Christmas. Better get with it.

Moke returning to Iraq

The two week pass must have felt like a brief moment in time. It was time to come home and see family, bury a family member and to get engaged. Now it has all come to pass and Moke's two week leave is over with. He will redeploy back to Iraq today for the next four months.

It was good to see him however brief it was, I know he needed to get rid of about six months worth of testosterone in about two weeks and prepare for another few months worth of buildup.

Have a safe trip Moke and we'll see you in a few months.

Hump Day

Well Hayley is starting to feel a little bit better, Chad on the other hand is still a little bit under the weather in the household.

Hey we have made it, it's officially over the hump day and we are on our way to another fun filled weekend here in our household.

Michelle may be assisting Trish tonight as it is her turn to run the concession stand and she is having trouble finding assistance. She text'd me yesterday and ask if Michelle could assist yesterday evening, however Trish had her days messed up and that's tonight.

Is it softball yet?

HEY PHIL!!!!!

Hey my little Punxatawny Rodent buddy, what is up with all this white stuff all over the ground?

I know, Mother Nature is at it again, but we know you have some influence on the old hag.

Hey I have Possible (hint hint) menu item for next Tuesdays dinner, tell me what you think.



FRIED GROUNDHOG


1 Groundhog (preferably one named Phil from Punxatawny)
1 tbsp salt
1 cup flour
2 tbsp fat

Clean Phil; remove glands, painfully as possible; cut into 6 or 7 pieces while cussing the snow. Parboil in salted water for 1 hour hopefully this will remind him about what kind of weather I prefer. Remove from broth; roll in flour and fry in hot fat (deep fat may be used) until brown. Serves 6 and goes well with Margaritas and Jimmy Buffet music.

HappyTuesday!!!!

yeah I know, so what it's Tuesday. Look at the bright side it's no longer Monday and we are a day closer to yet another weekend.

Moke will be redeploying tomorrow, I hope that he made the most out of his two week leave. Soon it will be back to Iraq to finish the last four months of his tour of duty.

Hayley has been under the weather the whole weekend, hopefully she will be feeling better today. Chad has also been sick and Michelle even had a slight touch of it, I guess that I have been the lucky one. Must be the Fish oil and Centrum that I take every day!!!!

To my Buddy Phil, thank you for the nice weather this week, it has been nice and I have enjoyed it. Next Tuesday is your day, the day where you step center stage and will either be a hero or be on my menu for dinner. Make the right decision, I don't like Groundhog.

Monday

Yeah the weekend is over, the basketball was played and we beat Ohio State and the women lost to Notre Dame. The Super Bowl Teams have been set and the weekend as we know it is now behind us.

I can't complain however, it was a fairly good weekend, Erica jean is feeling better and was getting around yesterday afternoon without Oxygen, she was doing so well that they let her go home late last night.

It's back to work today for me, once I get into work I think I have a meeting scheduled for today but am not 100% sure on that. I guess I will know when I walk in the door and turn on one of my computers and read my e-mail. I could log in through Citrix and check it, but I'll know as soon as I get there.

Weather was rainy all weekend but I guess that is better than the alternative of having much lower temperatures and snow up to your butt crack.

Hope everyone survives their Monday.

Sunday Morning

Yesterday most of the family met at the Golden Coral to have dinner and to spend a little bit of time with Moke before he has to deploy once again to Iraq for another four months on this tour.

It was supposed to be a surprise, but Moke and Ang were the first ones there and basically beat everyone there. They were sitting in their car as we pulled in and Jeanie pulled in right behind us.

Dinner wasn't too bad, but I would venture to say that since we had a private room and most people were having to get there own drink refills and stacking the used empty plates on an table that the guys tip wasn't that good.

My sister Pam who loves to have her picture taken and even commented on it begged me to put this picture of her up on my BLOG.

It was a good day, but we left a little early as we had to take a trip to Walmart. My old water purifier was starting to leak and we just couldn't have that. So I replaced my 3 stage with a 3 stage with flavor options. Since the flavors are hard to find sometimes, I bought the entire stock out of the store and stacked up on rasberry and lemon flavors. Pure, clean, cold and lemon flavored drinking water coming out of my faucet. Everyone here loves it, I would recommend one to everyone, as a matter of fact Michelle recommended one to a lady at Sam's and her recommendation was enough for her to purchase one.

Afterwards we came home and settled down and watch the movie The Color Purple before I retired for the evening.

On a side note, I did see my brother in law Robert yesterday, he told me that they had released his father and he was home resting. They have cut off his BP medicine and are monitoring him closely for the next 30 days.

Tidbits

* Been a while, maybe it is time for a Saturday Morning tidbits.

* Erica Jean is still in the hospital, she was scheduled to go home yesterday, but her fever went back up yesterday morning and they retained her another day.

* Mark SanJulian, Roberts father has also been in the hospital this week. I got a chance to talk briefly with Kim and she said that his blood pressure had dropped and they transferred him from Preston Memorial to Ruby. No updates after that.

* My Mom is going to have Cataract Surgery before me. I think she said she is going in in early February for hers.

* I scheduled mine yesterday, it is going to be on March 17th. I have to go through a pre-op with the anesthesiologist on Feb 15th and meet with my Dr on March 1.

* Our carpets smell April Fresh, Michelle rented a Rug Doctor last night and we are well on the way to steam cleaning all of the carpets.

* Today at 3:00 there will be a family dinner for Moke. We are planning on going to the Golden Coral to make it easy. He and And were recently engaged and I think he wants to make a formal announcement.

* All kinds of good basketball in Morgantown today, many of the top High School teams were at Morgantown High last night and this morning, WVU v Ohio State this afternoon and then High School All-Americans and top 10 national teams galore tonight at the Coliseum. Needless to say the Coliseum will have quite a few future big name NBA stars in it today.

* Terri got a chance to meet a WVU basketball legend last night. They are going to retire "Hot" Rod Hundley's number today and he was at Gene's last night when Terri was there. She texted me, it would have been an honor for me.

* I hope everyone has a great day.

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes it is once again that time of the week that we all look foreword to, when we can take time to cease the labors for the week and take a little bit of needed time out to enjoy the fruits of those labors. It is once again the dawn of another weekend and a Big Ole Hairy Friday.

Well I do have to say it has been a short week with Monday having been a nice holiday. I'll boot scoot out an hour early from work today to meet and talk about my upcoming surgery that I'll have this spring.

Stopped by last night to take Val a spare lap top while she sits in the hospital with Erica. I'm sure it was enough to keep her entertained for the evening.

The majority of the family will be meeting at Golden Coral tomorrow. Moke has been in and it will give everyone a chance to sit and talk to him before he has to go back. Rich's untimely passing sort of took away from his first part of his trip, I'm looking forward to sitting down and talking to him before he redeploys.

A night of HS basketball

It was a night of basketball last night. Michelle and I went to the new University High School to watch Arron play basketball for the Hawks against my alma mater. Arron had 8 points in the games first six minutes and that was pretty much the highlight of his night. The Hawks jumped out to a big lead so UHS pulled their starters, only to have the strategy come back and bite them.

Momentum changed at the end of the 3rd quarter with a Mohigan hitting a half court 3 point buzzer beater to pull the Mohigans to withing 4 points. I think they were down 18 points at one point in the 2nd quarter. However the 4th Quarter was all Morgantown as they managed to pull off a referee assisted victory.

Layla, Trish, Pat (Trish's Mom), Frankie (Trish's Brother), Jackie, Jenn, Michelle and myself were all there to support Arron. Layla was walking around knuckle bumping everyone and just having a good old time.

It was another great evening with some great friends.

25 THINGS ABOUT TO BECOME EXTINCT IN AMERICA

Note, this is not mine, I just found it and liked it.


25. U.S. Post Office
They are pricing themselves out of existence. With e-mail, and and on-line services they are a relic of the past. (refer to #9) Packages are also sentfaster and cheaper with UPS.

24. Yellow Pages This year will be pivotal for the global Yellow Pages industry.
Much like newspapers, print Yellow Pages will continue to bleed dollars to their various digital counterparts, from Internet Yellow Pages (IYPs), to local search engines and combination search/listing services like Reach Local and Yodel Factors like20an acceleration of the print 'fade rate' and the looming recession will contribute to the onslaught. One research firm predicts the falloff in usage of newspapers and print Yellow Pages could even reach 10% this year -- much higher than the 2%-3% fade rate seen in past years.

23. Classified Ads
The Internet has made so many things obsolete that newspaper classified ads might sound like just another trivial item on a long list. But this is one of those harbingers of the future that could signal the end of civilization as we know it. The argument is that if newspaper classifies are replaced by free on-line listings at sites like Craigslist.org and Google Base, then newspapers are not far behind them..

22. Movie Rental Stores
While Netflix is looking up at the moment, Blockbuster keeps closing store locations by the hundreds. It still has about 6,000 left across the world, but those keep dwindling and the stock is down considerably in 2008, especially since the company gave up a quest of Circuit City . Movie Gallery, which owned the Hollywood Video brand, closed up shop earlier this year. Countless small video chains and mom-and-pop stores have given up the ghost already.

21. Dial-up Internet Access
Dial-up connections have fallen from 40% in 2001 to 10% in 2008.
The combination of an infrastructure to accommodate affordable high speed Internet connections and the disappearing home phone have all but pounded the final nail in the coffin of dial-up Internet access.

20. Phone Land Lines
According to a survey from the National Center for Health Statistics, at the end of 2007, nearly one in six homes was cell-only and, of those homes that had land lines, one in eight only received calls on their cells.

19. Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs
Maryland 's icon, the blue crab, has been fading away in Chesapeake Bay . Last year Maryland saw the lowest harvest (22 million pounds) since 1945. Just four decades ago the bay produced 96 million pounds. The population is down 70% since 1990, when they first did a formal count. There are only about 120 million crabs in the bay and they think they need 200 million for a sustainable population.
Over-fishing, pollution, invasive species and global warming get the blame.

18. VCRs
For the better part of three decades, the VCR was a best-seller and staple in every American household until being completely decimated by the DVD, and now the Digital Video Recorder (DVR). In fact, the only remnants of the VHS age at your local Wal-Mart or Radio Shack are blank VHS tapes these days. Pre-recorded VHS tapes are largely gone and VHS decks are practically nowhere to be found. They served us so well..

17. Ash Trees
In the late 1990's, a pretty, iridescent green species of beetle, now known as the emerald ash borer, hitched a ride to North America with ash wood products imported from eastern Asia . In less than a decade, its larvae have killed millions of trees in the Midwest , and continue to spread. They've killed more than 30 million ash trees in southeastern Michigan alone, with tens of millions more lost in Ohio and Indiana . More than 7.5 billion ash trees are currently at risk.

16. Ham Radio
Amateur radio operators enjoy personal (and often worldwide) wireless communications with each other and are able to support their communities with emergency and disaster communications if necessary, while increasing their personal knowledge of electronics and radio theory.. However, proliferation of the Internet and its popularity among youth has caused the decline of amateur radio. In the past five years alone, the number of people holding active ham radio licenses has dropped by 50,000, even though Morse Code is no longer a requirement.

15. The Swimming Hole
Thanks to our litigious society, swimming holes are becoming a thing of the past. '20/20' reports that swimming hole owners, like Robert Every in High Falls, NY, are shutting them down out of worry that if someone gets hurt they'll sue. And that's exactly what happened in Seattle . The city of Bellingham was sued by Katie Hofstetter who was paralyzed in a fall at a popular swimming hole in Whatcom Falls Park . As injuries occur and lawsuits follow, expect more swimming holes to post 'Keep out!' signs.

14. Answering Machines
The increasing disappearance of answering machines is directly tied to No 20 our list -- the decline of landlines. According to USA Today, the number of homes that only use cell phones jumped
159% between 2004 and 2007. It has been particularly bad in New York ; since 2000, landline usage has dropped 55%. It's logical that as cell phones rise, many of them replacing traditional landlines, that there will be fewer answering machines.

13. Cameras That Use Film
It doesn't require a statistician to prove the rapid disappearance of the film camera in America . Just look to companies like Nikon, the professional's choice for quality camera equipment. In 2006, it announced that it would stop making film cameras, pointing to the shrinking market -- only 3% of its sales in 2005, compared to
75% of sales from digital cameras and equipment.

12. Incandescent Bulbs
Before a few years ago, the standard 60-watt (or, yikes, 100-watt) bulb was the mainstay of every U.S. home. With the green movement and all-things-sustainable-energy crowd, the Compact Fluorescent Lightbulb (CFL) is largely replacing the older, Edison-era incandescent bulb. The EPA reports that 2007 sales for Energy Star CFLs nearly doubled from 2006, and these sales accounted for approximately 20 percent of the U.S. light bulb market. And according to USA Today, a new energy bill plans to phase out incandescent bulbs in the next four to 12 years.

11. Stand-Alone Bowling Alleys Bowling Balls..
US claims there are still 60 million Americans who bowl at least once a year, but many are not bowling in stand-alone bowling alleys. Today most new bowling alleys are part of facilities for all types or recreation including laser tag, go-karts, bumper cars, video game arcades, climbing walls and glow miniature golf. Bowling lanes also have been added to many non-traditional venues such as adult communities, hotels and resorts, and gambling casinos.

10. The Milkman
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 1950, over half of the milk delivered was to the home in quart bottles, by
1963, it was about a third and by 2001, it represented only 0.4% percent. Nowadays most milk is sold through supermarkets in gallon jugs.. The steady decline in home-delivered milk is blamed, of course, on the rise of the supermarket, better home refrigeration and longer-lasting milk. Although some milkmen still make the rounds in pockets of the U.S. , they are certainly a dying breed.

9. Hand-Written Letters
In 2006, the Radicati Group estimated that, worldwide, 183 billion e-mails were sent each day. Two million each second. By November of 2007, an estimated 3.3 billion Earthlings owned cell phones, and 80% of the world's population had access to cell phone coverage. In 2004, half-a-trillion text messages were sent, and the number has no doubt increased exponentially since then. So where amongst this gorge of gabble is there room for the elegant, polite hand-written letter?

8. Wild Horses
It is estimated that 100 years ago, as many as two million horses were roaming free within the United States . In 2001, National Geographic News estimated that the wild horse population has decreased to about 50,000 head. Currently, the National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory board states that there are 32,000 free roaming horses in ten Western states, with half of them residing in Nevada . The Bureau of Land Management is seeking to reduce the total number of free range horses to 27,000, possibly by selective euthanasia.

7. Personal Checks
According to an American Bankers Assoc. report, a net 23% of consumers plan to decrease their use of checks over the next two years, while a net 14% plan to increase their use of PIN debit.
Bill payment remains the last stronghold of paper-based payments -- for the time being. Checks continue to be the most commonly used bill payment method, with 71% of consumers paying at least one recurring bill per month by writing a check. However, a bill-by-bill basis, checks account for only 49% of consumers' recurring bill payments (down from 72% in 2001 and 60% in 2003).

6. Drive-in Theaters
During the peak in 1958, there were more than 4,000 drive-in theaters in this country, but in 2007 only 405 drive-ins were still operating. Exactly zero new drive-ins have been built since
2005. Only one reopened in 2005 and five reopened in 2006, so there isn't much of a movement toward reviving the closed ones.

5. Mumps & Measles
Despite what's been in the news lately, the measles and mumps actually, truly are disappearing from the United States . In 1964, 212,000 cases of mumps were reported in the U.S. By 1983, this figure had dropped to 3,000, thanks to a vigorous vaccination program. Prior to the introduction of the measles vaccine, approximately half a million cases of measles were reported in the U.S. annually, resulting in 450 deaths. In 2005, only 66 cases were recorded.

4. Honey Bees
Perhaps nothing on our list of disappearing America is so dire; plummeting so enormously; and so necessary to the survival of our food supply as the honey bee. Very scary.. 'Colony Collapse Disorder,' or CCD, has spread throughout the U.S.. and Europe over the past few years, wiping out 50% to 90% of the colonies of many beekeepers -- and along with it, their livelihood.

3. News Magazines and TV News
While the TV evening newscasts haven't gone anywhere over the last several decades, their audiences have. In 1984, in a story about the diminishing returns of the evening news, the New York Times reported that all three network evening-news programs combined had only 40.9 million viewers. Fast forward to 2008, and what they have today is half that.

2. Analog TV
According to the Consumer Electronics Association, 85% of homes in the U.S. get their television programming through cable or satellite providers. For the remaining 15% -- or 13 million individuals -- who are using rabbit ears or a large outdoor antenna to get their local stations, change is in the air.. If you are one of these people you'll need to get a new TV or a converter box in order to get the new stations which will only be broadcast in = 0 A digital.

1. The Family Farm
Since the 1930's, the number of family farms has been declining rapidly. According to the USDA, 5.3 million farms dotted the nation in 1950, but this number had declined to 2.1 million by the
2003 farm census (data from the 2007 census hasn't yet been published).. Ninety-one percent of the U.S. FARMS are small Family Farms.

Hump Day

Well it is over the hump day, we are well on our way to the weekend, it's all downhill from here.

Michelle is going to have two separate Dr's appointments today, one at 10:30 and one at 1:00 this afternoon. She mentioned stopping up and saying hello to Jean in between the two appointments.

Hey basketball fans, tonight is the Capital Classic in Charleston when the WVU Men's and Women's teams will pound the Huntington Community College, better known as Moo Tech, I mean Marshall University. We should be able to win them both and come out with a couple of wins.

Also I have to extend birthday wishes to Michelle's sister Danni and her son's girlfriend Laiah tomorrow. If you see either one of them, make sure you wish them a very Happy Birthday.

Happy Birthday Nick Rehmani

If you happen to see my brother in law Nick today, make sure that you tale a little bit of time out to wish him a very Happy Birthday.

A man with many friends, I'm quite sure he will hear those magical words tickle his eardrums with well wishes.

Happy Birthday Nick

Dinner at Hibachi

It was dinner at Hibachi's last with a group of friends last night for Michelle and myself. A friend of ours was having a surprise birthday party for his wife and 13 of their closest friends.

It was a great evening, spent it with a few guys from the softball team and their wives and girlfriends helping celebrate Courtney's birthday.

I think the most fun was listening to Alex's version of Pant's on the Ground that seems to be stuck in everyone's head now.

Thank you to Chewy and Courtney for allowing both Michelle and I to share this magical evening with some and and very dear friends.

Happy Birthday Layla Marie Rosiak

Wow, has it been a whole two years since squiggle butt blessed us all with her presence? Unfortunately Aunt Michelle and myself could not be there for her and Arron's party yesterday, so I want to thank her Aunt Jackie for sharing the pictures with all of us.

Layla has been an absolute bundle of joy to watch grow up over these last two years. She is developing into a beautiful and charismatic young lady.

Happy Birthday Layla from Uncle Ed and Aunt Michelle.

Sunday Morning Rambling

Here it is early on the morning on Sunday and I would say not a creature is stirring but we have a cat who is in heat so the echo Meow Meow Meow is disrupting the harmonic silence of my morning.

I'm wondering if maybe I should start a little fire this morning, it's a bit on the chilli side but it is not cold as it is a whopping 38 degrees outside (Thanks Phil).

Speaking of my old buddy Punxatawny Phil, you still haven't gotten back to me as of yet what you need to not see your shadow. How about a nice flat screen, slightly damaged from a Wii remote, but it still works? Maybe a Wii game or two so you can stay occupied. You might need to expand the stump that you call home, and run electricity to it but that is no problem. Think about it and get back to me old rodent friend.

Yesterday and today

yesterday started out with me taking Michelle to Breakfast for her birthday. I was going to cook for her, but my mastery of the frying pan, Microwave and Toaster have seemed to have diminished over the past year, I thought it might be better to take her someplace edible.

We attended Rich's first viewing yesterday afternoon, it was a nice first night where a few of his childhood friends stopped by to express their condolences to Jean and Nanna.

Afterward it was off to Colosante's for Michelle's birthday dinner. We went there a year ago for her birthday, and this is just where we seemed to end up. No pre-planning but I think both of us knew we were going there (we're kindered) before it was ever brought up.

Two viewings today, one from 2-4:00 PM and one from 6-8:00 PM.

While we were at dinner last night, Chris O called me. He expressed his condolences and asked if we were going to be at the game tomorrow. He was planning on putting "Happy Birthday Michelle" up on the big screen and playing Poker Face for her. I thought that was one heck of a nice gesture, however wee had to explain to him we will be at the funeral home tomorrow. Thank You Chris.

I have to say, I am one lucky guy. On her birthday Michelle was a trooper, maybe it's because she is a widow herself and knows first hand what it is like. The feeling of emptiness that many of us have never experienced and she was right by Jean and Nanna on her day. I am one lucky man, to say the very least.

Happy Birthday to the Love of my life

Birthdays are special days. When they are your own they are treasured, but I think when someone you love so dearly is the one having the birthday, to me it just means just a little bit more to me.

I don't think I can put into words how much she means to me and just what she has done for me. Maybe there are days when I don't show her how much I appreciate everything she does for me each and every day. I promise you, I am the luckiest guy on this planet and I know this.

Michelle, you are the absolute love of my life. I love you with all of my heart, and I want to wish you the happiest of birthdays today.

So today when and if you happen to see the love of my life, regardless of where it may be, wish her a very happy birthday. She is someone who deserves a great birthday.

I love you and Happy Birthday...on a Big Ole Hairy Friday =)

Remembering Rich

Gone, but never forgotten.

I'll update everyone on funeral arrangements when I get them.

RIP Rich Snider

Life is very short, sometimes we are reminded just how short the precious little thing that we take for granted can be.

At Noon today the fateful decision came to fruition when the family decided to put fate into God's hands rather than through machines. Rich Snider was someone who I met nearly 30 years ago and had really gotten to know him since my Dad died. He has taken great care of Jean the last ten years and brought her back to full life.

Rich was a die hard Steelers fan, it was his Terrible Towel that I borrowed when we won Steelers Trivia.

He was "Poppy" to the great grandchildren, he would spoil them and stay up all night with Erica watching television.

My heart goes out to Jean, Gary, and Nanna at the household. To Rick and Mark, Rich's kids and their families and children. To Erica who will surely miss her Poppy. To the pets Bunky and Gussy the African Grey who basically copied everything Rich said and repeats it.

We created some great memories with the man, ones that I am sure will last everyone forever as he touched many of our lives. He may be gone, but will not be forgotten, Gussy will make sure of that.

Like I said yesterday, sometimes you just have to take a little time out and enjoy the simple things, the ones that go unnoticed until they are not there any more.

RIP Rich, you will be missed.

Hump Day

I originally had the idea of posting a picture of Moke and Ang for Hump Day, considering he is a US serviceman that just returned home from Iraq for his two week leave, but Michelle didn't like the idea so I didn't do it. I doubt they are going to take time out to read this blog post.

That is the bright spot for today, that Moke is home and he has been with the girl of his dreams the last couple of days.

There will be some news today one way or the other about Rich. I'll touch on this in another blog and discuss it later.

I hope everyone will have a good day today, look at the little things in life that make us happy. The little things you may not notice, but make life what it is. Whether it be a snuggle, or a stolen blanket or a bird singing at the same time every day. Just take the day and appreciate all that is dear to you, for you never know about tomorrow. Create memories and affect someone elses life in a positive way. I think if we could do this every day it would make the short period of time that we are on this rock more meaningful.

Peace out.

Tuesday's Tidbits

* It's Tuesday, can you think of a better time to do a tidbits?

* Talked to Mom last night, I managed to get er away from her favorite past time of watching midget porn on the internet and had a nice conversation with her on her birthday.

* Michelle repeatedly reminded me that her birthday is this coming Friday.

* A very happy birthday wish to my Cousin Deb Koon, her birthday is today.

* Moke was dues to arrive in Morgantown as of 10:50 last night, so by the time you are reading this he is probably here. We should be able to see him sometime soon.

* Day 669 of the Ed and Michelle count, my mom asked for this update.

* Rich isn't doing that well, they did a brain scan yesterday and there was no brain activity. However they tickled his foot and there was a slight response, so they will test once again for activity.

* An office mate finally closed on his house yesterday. They have been running him around in circles to get all the paperwork completed, but as of 4:00 yesterday afternoon it was all completed. Congrats Scott and Amy.

* Everyone in the household was a little bit under the weather yesterday with the exception of yours truly. Michelle was starting to feel a little better last night.

* Hi Ho Hi Ho....

Happy Birthday Sandra Bell

Sandra Bell, aka my Mother, is celebrating her birthday today. I would like to take this opportunity to wish my Mother a very Happy Birthday.

Thank you for all that you have done for me, especially the giving birth part, that was a pretty important part of my life.

I hope you have a very Happy Birthday Mom.

Sunday Morning Thoughts

I'm sitting here early on a Sunday morning, everyone is asleep except me and I have a nice fire going in the fireplace. In the background the movie Sweeney Todd is playing and Johnny Depp is singing as I hear the crackling of the locust trees burning in the fireplace.

There is a possibility there may be some very bad news in the family in the near future. I'll wait for a few days if need be to see what the current verdict is before I say anything.

Michelle and I anticipated non travel friendly roads this morning so we went out yesterday afternoon and did the weeks grocery shopping. That coupled with the Steelers season being done and the Mountaineers playing last night will make this a relaxing day with little to do.

I do need to read my paperwork for my upcoming surgery however today so that I cna get the ball rolling on that.

Dear Phil

Hey my little groundhog buddy from Punxatawny, I'm going to start on you early this year because I have already seen more snow than I car to this season and it is still early January.

What will it take for you when you come out February 2nd to not see your shadow? I have tried liquor and other threats in the past as well as threats of making you into a nice stew.

Tell me oh wise one, what will it take this year for you to not see your shadow and give us an early spring?

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes it is once again that time of the week that we all look foreword to, when we can take time to cease the labors for the week and take a little bit of needed time out to enjoy the fruits of those labors. It is once again the dawn of another weekend and a Big Ole Hairy Friday.

It is the first working Friday of 2010 and the first regular weekend of the year. Wow what a week this has been weather wise, we are still currently in a weather advisory until tomorrow morning so traveling could be a little bit tricky. If you are doing any traveling make sure that you are very careful.

I ordered Michelle a new laptop and it has finally came in, I think she is having a lot of fun playing with her purple laptop. Much more powerful than her old one which I am going to wipe out and use when I travel, a 64 bit and running a much more stable Windows 7. No complaints with it so far.

Remember that Michelle's brother in law and sister will be having theri auction tomorrow, weather permitting I'm sure we will make a trip up there to see what all is on the auction block.

Auction

P&P Auctions (Michelle's Brother in law Jim) will be holding an auction this Saturday at a new location:

Blue Horizon Flea Market
Rt. 19 N behind Vances Service Station
Morgantown, WV

This will be a location that he will auction from once every month, see some of the auction stuff here:

LINK

Happy Birthday Arron Hill Rosiak

I would like to take this opportunity to wish Arron Hill Rosiak a very Happy Birthday.

If you are at University High School today and you see some 6'4" Freshman walking the halls named Arron, make sure that you take a little time out and wish him a very Happy Birthday.


Oh, and Arron....




SCRATCHED.

Hump Day

Well we have made it through the first couple of days in the week and we are now going over the hump and heading on the downside of the week.

The week has been eventful for me with me finding out Monday what I already knew about having a cataract. I am about 99% sure that I will elect to have the surgery and have it corrected this spring.

The WVU Men's Basketball team will try to get back on the winning track tonight as they host Rutgers at 7:00 at the WVU Coliseum. Just like every other game from this point on out, this game will be televised and you will be able to watch it on ESPN. A friend of mine will be directing the game for ESPN.

Things have been a little slow this week at work after the new year, it should pick up significantly here in the very near future when I will once again be one busy puppy.

Val and Amy's lives just got significantly busier, they are both working for H&R Block now and it's after the first of the year, so W-2's will be issued to everyone by the end of the month. Something tells me they are going to get very busy here in the next few weeks and it will last for a few months as tax season is once again upon us.

Oh well, Hi ho hi ho....

Cataract Surgery

Well I went to my eye exam yesterday afternoon and had confirmed what I had initially thought. I have a thick cataract in my right eye, enough so that I could barely make out shapes and had wourse than 20/400 vision in that eye.

The Doctor said there was good news and bad news, what did I want first? Well my suspicions were confirmed and I do have a cataract in my right eye. Both eyes are starting to show normal aging, same as it would with anyone else, but by right eye has a "Jaundice Cornflake" but it could be corrected with surgery.

They gave me a series of paperrwork to look at and sign, and I will probably have surgery this March on my eye.

Back to Back extended weekends are over

I can't say that I don't love extended three day weekends from work, I have just come off of my second one in a row, and I love them to death. However, they are now over with and as we get into the 2010 work schedule and move forward.

After work today I will be going to the WVU Eye Institute for my diabetic dilated eye exam. This one will not be as smooth as the one two years ago, my right eye (and my dominant one) is getting weak and there is a possibility that I may need glasses and possibly surgery. It's got very blurry a few months ago and has not cleared up as of yet. I'll know more today. Michelle will be going with me, as to drive me. Two years ago when I had my last one I lived across town and drove myself.

Oh well, weekend was fun, but it is time to get back to work. Hi Ho Hi Ho....

WVU Women's Gymnastics

Over the past couple of years, Michelle has said that she likes gymnastics and indicated to me that she has never been to an event.

Me, the crafty old veteran of about four matches noticed that they were having the Blue/Gold scrimmage last night and I wanted to offer Michelle a chance to see first hand what she had never seen before.

I have to admit that I have not been to a match since college, but have enjoyed going through the years when I did go, had to take Michelle.

It was just a scrimmage, but I think Michelle really liked it.

Happy Birthday Susie Andrews

I would like to take this opportunity to wish Michelle's mother Susie a very Happy Birthday.

She of course lives in Pa near Pittsburgh, so the odds of us seeing her today are going to be a little bit limited, but I would like to take this opportunity and wish her a very happy birthday today.

OK, that stunk

Yesterday was supposed to be a great day in WVU sports, but unfortunately Bobby Bowden went out on top and Purdue took us to the woodshed and it wasn't a great day to be a Mountaineer, it is always a good one, just not always a great one.

Our Christmas Tree is now officially a memory of the past. Chad is moving back in and we needed the space, plus that tree was dead, so we officially ended the 2009 holiday season and broke down the Christmas Tree yesterday morning. It was a great tree, but it was time to go and there were numerous needles that needed to be cleaned up.

Michelle made our traditional (two year in a row now) Pork and Sauerkraut yesterday. I think it brought us a very prosperous 2009, maybe it can do it again in 2010.

Big Ole Hairy Friday New Years Day

Happy New Years!!!! I hope everyone had a very safe and Happy New Years Eve.

It's a Big Ole Hairy Friday, the first one of the year but I am off today and not working because of the Holiday.

At 1:00 today the 16th Rated WVU Men's Football team will play in the Gator Bowl against Florida State. This will be the final game in the career of former WVU Head Coach Bobby Bowden. Has it really been 35 years since I was a young child running along the sidelines of Mountaineer Field watching the game and pretending to be selling Hot Dogs? Wow where have the years gone. Bobby, we loved you but I hope we can take you out today on your last game. Clarlsburg Native Jimbo Fischer, who was talked about as a candidate when Rich Rodriguez left will be the new Head Coach for the Seminoles after today.

At 2:30, the 6th Ranked and undefeated WVU Men's Basketball Team will take on the 4th ranked and undefeated Purdue Boilermakers in a battke between two top undefeated and top six programs in the country.

Let's hope this is a memorable day for the Mountaineers all the way around.

Happy New Years 2010

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll take a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne

We twa hae run aboot the braes
And pou'd the gowans fine;
we've wander'd mony a weary foot
Sin' auld lang syne

We two hae paidled i' the burn,
Frae mornin' sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar'd
Sin' auld lang syne

And here's a hand, my trusty friend,
And gie's a hand o' thine;
We'll take a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll take a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne