Hump Day

Two work days down, two more to go after today, we're about to go up and over that work week hump and head towards another weekend. I have to say this week has just been flying by so far.

It's been rainy the past few days, so I guess April Showers bring May flowers is the old saying, so since this is the last day of April does that mean we get flowers tomorrow? LOL I better get used to it, the Farmers Almanac is calling for a wet May. Oh well, at least it is not snowing.

This is one of those "blah" blogs. You know, when you really can't come up with anything too creative to say. It must be all this rain that is dampening my wits. My ability to come up with something to write about every day. Rain must be the kryptonite that paralyzes my creative juices and dulls my senses.

I guess that is an indication that we don't get out and talk to family as much as we should.

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Goodbye Monday and Hello Tuesday. Time for  tidbits.

* 2,236 days ago Michelle and I went out on our first date together. Even though she had stood me up about four months earlier, we still managed to go out to dinner and a movie.

* 1,460 days ago (or 4 years ago tomorrow), at 4:00 in the morning I got down on one knee out in the back yard and proposed marriage.

* This will be our 997th day of marital bliss since we partied down and chowed down with our closest friends and family at the Marilla Center.

* I have about 6,425 days (Give or take a few) until I enter the world of retirement.

* 246 days left in 2014. That is when I will script my Goodbye 2014 blog.

* If you are counting down until Christmas, you have 240 more shopping days to go.

* 131 days until we set sail to the Caribbean once again. I'm already ready to snorkel. We have our own equipment this year, better than the stuff the rent you including our water-less snorkels.

* 99 days until our third Wedding Anniversary.

* 85 days to go until the rest of the Parrot Heads unite in Pittsburgh. I think this will be my 8th, Michelle's, 7th, Jean's 3rd and Gary and Jerry's 2nd that we have attended. If anyone else would like to go, lawn tickets are still available and it is a lot of fun.

* 68 days to go until the Family Pic Nic. Michelle has assisted in ending all family feuds, our seeds are planted now we'll just have to wait. All family feuds really do need to come to an end.....now.

* 53 days left of Spring and until Summertime!!!!!!

* This is my 3,624th blog post that I have written.  I'm getting closer and closer to that 10 year anniversary.

* I'm thinking about heading to Moundsville in the very near future to tour the Moundsville Prison. It'll be closed this weekend, so possibly the following weekend as I tape Steelers Trivia again the following weekend in Pittsburgh.

* The Pudgy Polamalu's will be returning to Steelers Trivia Show in 2014. We won it in 2008 and finished 3rd last year, but no one studied.

* Hi ho hi ho

Back to Work

All good things must come to an end and that includes those fun fill things that go by too fast called weekends. Now it's time to stick our noses back on the grindstone for a few days and work our way towards another weekend.

I did have a pretty productive weekend, we hooked Hayley's scanner and started scanning pictures. I scanned 105 for Michelle on Saturday and 214 old pictures of mine including some documents of my Grandfathers. I have a shoe box full of pictures and that one is scanned now it's time to start working on the big box that I have. I would imagine that I have most of my significant pictures scanned, but there is still a good bit of scanning to do before I am done. So that is 319 pictures that I got scanned this weekend. I like to document and archive all family pictures.

In asked my wife if there was anything I could write in my blog for content. She told me that I could tell everyone what an awesome wife that I have. It will be four years ago on Wednesday that I proposed to her. Yes I was lucky enough for her to tell me yes.

Hi ho hi ho

Early Sunday Morning

Here I sit once again on a quiet Sunday Morning, everyone is still suffering from that losing battle last night with the dreaded Sandman. I'm up early watching the Courtroom scene from a Few Good Men ( I love that movie).

Well we got out and around yesterday, taking a chance that it would not rain and it paid off for us and held off raining until we actually got home.

We stopped by Rich's Farms  yesterday morning. Getting some ideas for the garden this year. Last year we purchased our starter plants from a few different places and our squash turned out to be cantaloupes. Don't get me wrong, I love cantaloupe, but that is not what we were expecting. One of the things my boss is talking about doing this year is air pruning, which seems to be a unique way of growing. He had 10 or 12 buckets of tomato plants last year there gave him a great yield. He used 5 gallon kitty litter buckets.

We hooked up Hayley's old printer/scanner to my computer yesterday and scanned a little over 100 of Michelle's pictures. Permanently preserving these images for her. I have a couple of shoe boxes and containers of pictures that I would love scanned that have not been scanned. I actually found my Grandfathers birth certificate and his drivers license in one of the boxes. Look for some new old pictures in the near future.

Have a great day.

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit once again in a quiet household. Michelle is still sound asleep after that losing battle with the Sandman last night, while I have have already recovered. I'm up watching something or another on HBO, but have no idea what I am watching. That should tell you my level of attentiveness to my surroundings at this moment.

I would love to say that we have plans for today, but it looks as though it is going to be raining all day starting in  a few hours, so I guess you could say that has put a little bit of a damper on any plans that we may have had for the day.

With all the rain, maybe it is a prime day to just power lounge and take a good nap this afternoon, but then again I'm a bit of a cabin fever kind of guy and like to get out and around a little bit since we don't really do it during the week.

It should be quiet in Morgantown today as dead week is over and this is the start of Finals Week. That was one of the two weeks of the year that my brain turned to mush from spending too many hours in the library studying. Good luck to all the students that are getting ready to take finals. Chad's finals week at Fairmont State are next week and he'll be done for the year.

Have 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 if you are looking for something to do this weekend, the WVU Baseball team is playing a weekend series at home against Kansas State. This weekend and next weekend against Texas are your last two chances to see the Mountaineers play in Morgantown this season. These are probably the last two series that will ever be played at Hawley Field with the new Monongalia County Ballpark next season.

Morgantown should be quiet this weekend. Today is the end of Dead Week meaning that Final Exams are all next week. Students will probably be studying (at least the good ones) this weekend in preparation for Finals. After next week it should be quiet as WVU tidy's up the campus for the next weekends Commencement.

Not sure of our plans yet for this weekend, I would imagine we'll be firing up the BBQ grill at least once. It would a good chance to clear out some room in the freezer.  I would like to get a chance to get out and around a little, maybe a little bit of Geocaching is in store, but we'll have to see how the weather holds up.

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out and look through all of the pictures that I have either taken, scanned or stolen from the internet through the years. Little lost moments of time that I like to post up and relive briefly in my blog. Sometimes it's a pretty easy task finding one and sometimes it's not so easy, it is however always a whole lot of fun.

This weeks pic goes back a few years, but it is more important the place in this one rather than the timing. This is a place that I have been going to for around 25 years now, Ohiopyle State Park with both friends and family. It is a place we have swam, pic nic'd or just spent a day hiking around.

This particular location is the natural water slide that everyone seems to flock towards. The current is strong enough for you to sit down and take a ride down the creek bed for an relaxing, and cool bit of excitement.

I didn't make it up to Ohio pyle last season due to the late start to spring and all the cold weather, but this year I'm hoping to make it up there once or twice for a cookout or two.

Hi ho hi ho

Hump Day

It's Hump Day. We're smoothly working our way towards another fun filled weekend and we're almost half way, halfway or past halfway there depending on when you are reading this. Come on weekend and que the Camel.

Strange night Monday night was, but I'll get into that a little later. 

Gary, my brother, stopped by for a surprise visit and we started to do a little bit of talking about the Pic Nic this summer. On the agenda was the pic nic and the Menu. Gary said he wants fish on the menu, so we can oblige him with that request. We were thinking the traditional Hot Dogs and Hamburgers for the obvious. Nothing too elaborate, but you know how that goes. Anyone else have any suggestions for menu items that day? Jean mentioned everyone bringing a covered dish or something to that affect, I was planning on grilling burgers and dogs and maybe some brats. 

I haven't indicated it yet, but now I will. I would like to see an end to any and all family feuds on this day and I do mean all of them. I would like to see everyone there and enjoy the day. You don't get too many days like this, and as I grow older you learn to appreciate them more and more I realize that it is just a waste of time. Make memories, don't lose them. 

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well that sunshine filled Monday that I had to spend in the office while the blue footed booby and the sloth partied it up at home are now a thing of the past. I still can;t think of a better reason to do a tidbits.

* 2,229 days since Michelle and I went out on our first date. It was the day my life changed forever.

* 1,453 days ago I got down on one knee and proposed marriage to this wonderful woman.

* 990 days ago we exchanged our wedding vows in front of our closest friends and family.

* I have about 6,433 days to go until I retire, give or take a few hundred here or there.

* There are 253 days left in 2014 until I write my Goodbye 2014 Blog.

* If you are slow to Christmas Shop, you still have 247 more days worth of procrastination ahead of you. Take your time, you still have plenty of it.

* 138 days to go until my lovely wife and I set sail out on the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean once again. My favorite week of the year to say the least.

* 106 days to go until our third Wedding Anniversary.

* 92 days to go until we party hearty with the rest of the Parrot Heads in Pittsburgh when Jimmy Buffett comes to town once again. There are still plenty of tickets available if you don't have your ticket yet. It would be the time of your life.

* 75 days until the Family Pic Nic at Krepps Park. If you are planning on attending and have not notified us through Facebook make sure that you let us know that you are attending.

* There are only 60 more beautiful days to go until Summer!!!

* This is my 3,617th blog that I have written for George's Journal. If you think about it, by the time that I hit my 10th year Anniversary of being a Blogger, I will have between 3,700-3,800 posts. That is averaging more than one a day for a decade. That'll be a pretty big accomplishment in this bloggers eyes.

* Can this really be dead week at WVU? The last week of classes before Finals week? You know, like Dorms closing in about 12 days? Students gone and road repair and construction returns? Woo Hoo I love this time of the year.

* I'm still tweaking my MyCloud at home, I've hard wired my computer with Cat-6 cables, we'll see if that speeds up the transfer rate. I was thinking the traditional device to device connection via USB. This is a Linux Computer running Apache in the background, I need to hard wire everything into the router and see how much of a difference that makes.

* My niece Val was in a bad mood yesterday so I decided to try to add to it. I went to the PrankDial  website and tried using my Google Voice Number (she would not recognize that one) and tricking her. I guess she had the last laugh, she didn't pick up.

* Planning ahead? Want to save money at a great Family Fun Park? Idlewild  has tickets available for $25.00 per person (Normally $39.99). Plan ahead and look for a hot day to enjoy.

* Hi ho hi ho

Weekend is Over

I hope everyone had an Easter weekend that included time with family and a feast. I hope everyone had safe travels and everyone had an opportunity to spend some time with special people. Now it's all over and the workweek has been reset to start over. Time to stick our noses back on the grindstone for another week of work.

So far we are still backing information up to our Personal Cloud, I did manage to get all of our music and pictures transferred over to it, all my documents copied over to it and Michelle cleared out her iPhone with pictures and all of those over on the drive. We still have a ways to go to get everything we want to keep over there. So far I'm happy with it, but it is not as fast as a hard wired drive and there are really no options to do this.

In case everyone overlooked their Facebook Invite to the pic nic on July 6th HERE is the page to follow everything as it starts to take place. Still plenty of time to plan and get things ready, but I really am starting to get excited for this.

Now I need to set my sites on our next Mini trip whether it just be a day thing to Amish Country or whatever else we plan on doing.

It's getting closer and closer to getting quiet in Morgantown. The last day for classes at WVU is this coming Friday, which means the following week is Finals week. Looks like it will be pretty quiet around town this coming weekend as the students start ton prepare for finals. Just think, 12 days from now the last final will be taken for the Spring Semester. We'll be able to drive around in this town!!!WOO HOOO

Hi ho hi ho

Easter Morning

Here I sit on a quiet Easter Morning in a peaceful household watching The Hobbit on HBO. I'm up early doing a few things on the computer and collecting my thoughts for the day. I'm writing this blog and then going back to bed.

The past few weeks I have been researching expanding my external Hard Drive where I store everything. It's a 1 Terrabyte Drive that was just getting filled up and needed to be expanded or some other option. I had been reading the past few weeks about a Personal Cloud and I really liked the concept. Reviews have been very mixed and I was a little skeptical, but I did buy a 4 Terrabyte system yesterday and am in the process of organizing and copying nearly a Terrabyte worth of Data to that drive. Everything is wireless rather than hard wired, so it tends to bog down the network here while copying material over. I just got all my pictures transferred over and now I am starting on the Music. I would have preferred a Raid-1 system with redundancy, but the single drive Raid-0 was all that they had in stock.

Well we got everything we wanted to get done yesterday done early. We did actually drive out the the Beverly Hills Cemetery and find Uncle Ralph's final resting place in the Mausoleum. He's inside with locked doors, but we were able to find his final resting place through the glass.

Today is going to be a relaxing day, all of our shopping is done and there is no running around to do. I'll let Michelle sleep in until she wakes up. We're doing a small dinner here for the two of us and may do a little visiting later today if we choose to run around a little bit.

Have a Great Easter.

Saturday Morning Rambling

Here I sit once again on a quiet household on peaceful Saturday Morning. Hayley is in Monaca and Michelle is sound asleep after the losing battle with that dreaded Sandman last night. I'm up early collecting my tired thoughts and watching something or another on HBO.

Since tomorrow is Easter Sunday and most of the stores will be closed. we're planning ahead and going to do all of our shopping today. We plan our menu for the week out every weekend and shop accordingly. MY lovely wife and I have this weeks menu planned out already and will get it all done this morning.

We're also due to have our rings inspected at the Mall. I bought the lifetime warranty on all of them and one of the things that we have to do is have them inspected twice a year (every six months), that way is there is a problem or any adjustments need to be made they are all covered including re sizing or any other problem including lost or loose stones.

I have been looking the past few weeks at installing a personal cloud here at the house. Western Digital makes one that sounds great on the surface, and I almost bought it a few weeks ago, however I keep seeing negative review after negative on this unit so I hesitated. I was once again researching it yesterday and it seems that half of the people were not happy with it. I have a 1 Terrabyte external drive that is starting to get filled up, I need to either get a larger drive or another alternative. I'll keep researching.

Have a Great Day, if you are traveling this weekend stay safe.

Big Ole Hairy Good 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 Good Friday.

It's the Holiest of Holidays for the Christian Religion this weekend, this is Good Friday and Sunday is Easter.

I know Chad and Laiah are going up north for a get together with my in-laws and I think Hayley is going to tag along, Michelle and I will be doing an Easter Dinner at home.

Other than that, we'll probably just be spending much of this weekend here and probably doing a few things around the house, but I'm not quite sure the weather is where I want it to be yet. Might wait a little while to set up the outside for the Summer of 2014. Maybe it's time to start planning Garden 2014 =)

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to go through all the photos that I have either taken, scanned or stolen from the internet and post just one lost moment in time to briefly relive with everyone. Sometimes finding that one special image is pretty easy, and sometimes not so much, but it is always a whole lot of fun.

This weeks pic is from mine and Michelle's wedding day on August 6, 2011. These were all the trays that we bought to place all the pans of food in. If you were at the wedding you'll remember there was an awful lot of food, thanks to Jean and her crew for doing all of the cooking on this day.

This was the calm before the storm, before the food arrived and everyone was outside getting ready to be introduced to the new Mrs. Hall. We were married just behind where the picture was taken from, just out on the balcony.

It was a special day for both me and my wife, and the opportunity to enjoy a feast with so many loved ones.

I'm so ready for July 6 this year!!!

Hi ho hi ho

Hump Day

Well now we have two days completed for this week, just a few more to go. If you poke your head up over the noon time hump, off in the distance you can see the dawn of yet another fun filled weekend off in the distance.

Do you believe that it actually snowed here yesterday?  I just want to point out that it has been 10 1/2 weeks since Phil saw his shadow. Dear Mother Nature, "KNOCK IT OFF". Springtime please, we're ready for it. I'm not sure if I have ever told you this Mother Nature, I Hate Snow. Now can we get back to Spring?

Well tax day has come and gone, if you haven't filed your taxes yet, you better have filed an extension or you're going to be in a little bit of trouble.

We have donated the old Taurus to the Veterans Administration. Someone who wanted to put a little time into the car and possibly had the resources, it would make a good car. I really don't have the time or desire to put into that car anymore. We got 5 good years out of it and really didn't do anything to it. Now we get a tax deduction for donating it.

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well that dreaded return to work after a long weekend Monday now behind us, now it's time to start concentrating on a Tuesday. I can't think of a better reason than that to do a tidbits.

* It's day 2,222 since Michelle and I went out on our first date together. Can anyone remember what movie we saw?

* 1,446 days ago in the wee early hours of the morning, I got down on one knee and proposed marriage to this wonderful woman.

* 983 days ago at the Marilla Center we exchanged our vows and ate a feast.

* I have 6,439 days until I retire, give or take a few.

* We have 260 more days left until New Years Eve and my goodbye 2014 blog.

* There are 254 more shopping days left until Christmas.

* 145 more days and shrinking until we set out on our 2014 cruise to the Caribbean.

* 113 days to go until mine and Michelle's third wedding Anniversary.

* 99 days to go until we once again see Jimmy Buffett in concert in Pittsburgh.

* 82 days to go until the big family pic nic at Krepps Park. We want to try to get everyone together at least once this summer. Date and location are set, now it's time to start organizing.

* 67 days to go until SUMMERTIME!!!!!!

* This is blog post number 3,610 for me as a blogger.

* Would you believe that they are calling for snow in today's forecast. Seriously? Have I ever mentioned that I Hate Snow? Be gone snow and cold weather.

* We started watching the fifth and final Season of Breaking Bad on Netflix. Talk about a captivating show. Arguably one of the best TV series ever made.

* Note that today is April 15th. If you haven't filed your taxes yet, I suggest you better get busy and do it quickly.

* University High Grad, WVU Grad and Morgantown Native Jedd Gyorko  just signed a 6 year $35 Million contract with the Sand Diego Padres.

* Josh Judy got his first save of the season for the Dodgers AAA affiliate the Albuquerque Isotopes. Go Isotopes!!!

*  Hi ho hi ho

Back to Work....ARGGHHHH

All good things must come to an end, that includes awesome extended weekends that has had to have been my favorite weekend in some time. It's time to stick our noses back on that dreaded grindstone for yet another week of doing what it is we do during the work week.

Weather has been absolutely beautiful the entire time we have been off, both in DC and here it has been in the upper 70's and lower 80's all weekend. We managed to give our grill a couple of good workouts this weekend since this wonderful weather was among us.

Spring has to be my favorite season. It's a time when the beauty of the foliage starts to return and those wonderful smells emanate through your nostrils bringing them to a state of euphoria. It's a time when the weather is warm, and I am in my favorite weekend attire of shorts and sandals. I'm driving LP around town with the windows down and the sunroof open. This is definitively my favorite time of the year without question.

Nothing really on the agenda for the week ahead, although next Sunday is Easter Sunday. Michelle's niece is going to do an Easter Dinner up north in Monaca PA, but we have decided that we're going to do our own dinner here. I know Chad and Laiah are heading up north and I think they are taking Hayley with them, so it will just be the two of us.

We did stop by the site of our Pic Nic at Krepps Park in July. I think this is going to work out well there. We have an over-sized charcoal grill, nine nice sized pic nic tables, four outlets, running water, lights a swimming pool with rest room facilities right beside it and a playground. Now it's time to start getting together with everyone else and start planning.

Have a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

What a Weekend

Here I sit once again on a quiet Sunday Morning. I'm the first one up as everyone else is in lala land. I'm up watching the WVU Spring Game that was played yesterday.

I played around with the new camera as you can see, this is a color picker feature that I wanted to try. The image is supposed to look like this, and I thought this was a real good opportunity to test this out.

The weather has been perfect the last few days, when we were in DC for the Cherry Blossom Festival  and yesterday afternoon when we fired up the BBQ grill once again. Speaking of the BBQ grill, we're firing it up once again this evening as we enjoy this beautiful Spring weather. I Love Spring.

Have a great day and enjoy the great Spring Day.

Returning Home

Here I sit in a quiet hotel room, Michelle is still sleeping right behind me and I'm up collecting my thoughts in the early wee hours of the morning. The Sandman kicked both of our butts pretty hard last night.

I managed to grab a lot of pictures yesterday when we were in DC. We brought Michelle's Surface Computer down so I'll have to wait until we get home to take all the images off of my camera and share them with everyone. I turned on the GPS feature, so everything was geotagged. Maybe we'll see if I can do a KMZ so everyone can see what we saw and where we saw it.

We had a wonderful day yesterday, starting off with catching the Cherry Blossoms in peak at the Tidal Basin, to seeing the Declaration of Independence to spending quite a few hours in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum to the Botanical Gardens and the Capital Building, we had a very busy day and we did it all on foot once again.

Today we'll be getting up and eating breakfast and heading back home.

It was a great trip.

It's a DC Kind of Day

Hello everyone, we're here in Gaithersburg Maryland getting ready to start our day. We'll go and eat breakfast soon and then it will be off to the DC Metro's Shady Grove location and heading into the hear of our nations capital to see the cherry blossoms.

We have our alternative plan worked out in case of bad weather, but we will be in the heart of DC today.

This is the second year we have tried to do this, last year it wasn't that successful but this year we have nailed it. I know we're both super excited to spend the day there.

There are a number of Geocaches we may try to get this year that we didn't last year. Most of our time will be spent at the National Mall as that is where everything that we want to see is located.

Have a great day.

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out and look through my pictures. the lost moments in time that I have either taken, scanned or stolen off of the internet through the years and select just one picture. One picture to write a little blog about and reflect upon. Sometimes this is pretty easy (like today) and sometimes it's not that easy, it is however, always a whole lot of fun.

Today's picture was actually a pretty easy one for me to choose. Yes that is the White House behind me and that is where we will leave for this afternoon as we head towards DC once again. We'll be staying tonight in Gaithersburg and taking the Red Line of the Metro into the heart of DC tomorrow morning bright and early to see the Cherry Blossoms.

This picture was from last year, and it was me and my travel gnome in making our way around our Nations Capital. I'll have my camera in tow with me tomorrow, and hopefully get some nice shots. It is going to be a photographers dream, I can just see the color and smell they Cherry Blossoms now. Until I leave at lunch today..

Hi ho hi ho

Hump Day

Well that is two down for me, and I'm over half way there as we are leaving tomorrow afternoon. My lovely wife Michelle, this is her Friday as she will be off the next two days. As far as everyone else is concerned, just poke your head up over that noon time hump, just on the other side of a photo flashback and when I will be in DC, ans you can see the dawn of another weekend off in the distance.

Like I said, this is Michelle's last day this week as she will be taking the next two days off as we plan on heading east for a couple of days.

Yesterday was the end of life date for Windows XP Computers. Microsoft is no longer going to patch them or give any support for this product. If you are still running XP, as more and more time goes by your system will become more and more vulnerable. If you have not upgraded to Vista, 7 or 8 (or Mac) your system might start to become vulnerable to attacks. It was Microsoft's best and longest lasting Operating System, one that we still have computers at work running, but now they are all going to have to be put on a subnet and denied access to anything. I have three systems at my desk, one is an XP but we are going to upgrade that to 7 once the keys come in.

We have a solid set in stone date and location for this years Pic Nic. We have the large Krepp's Pavilion on July 6, 2014. Mom called me yesterday morning and basically said what days work and time is running out. So a few phone calls to see what was available and a chance to see what weekends people could not do, and this is what we come up with. The shelter is ours that day, there is a big playground right beside it and a swimming pool as well. We'll be in the shade or under cover, so it won't get too hot or we won't get rained on. Date and location is set, now it's time to start planning.

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Here we are once again, Monday is in our rear view mirrors and we are staring straight down the barrel of a Tuesday. Other than the blue footed booby mating with a Camen Alligator and living to tell about it, I can't think of a better reason to do a tidbits.

*  2,215 days ago I had the unique pleasure of going out on my first date with a wonderful woman.

* 1,439 days ago I got down on one knee and asked for her hand in marr

* 976 days ago at the Marilla Center we got hitched, and we fed quite a few people on that day.

* I have 6,446 days give or take a few hundred one way or the other until I retire.

* There are 267 more days of blogging I have to write before I can write my Goodbye 2014 end of the year blog.

* There are 261 more shopping days left until Christmas, no need to procrastinate, Walmart probably still has Christmas stuff on clearance from last year.

* In 152 more days we'll be once again setting sail  out on the Atlantic Ocean and headed way down South for Grand Turk.

* I have 120 days until my third Wedding Anniversary.

* 106 days until the Parrot Heads once again unite in Pittsburgh as Jimmy Buffett is coming to town for his yearly visit.

* 74 more days to go until SUMMERTIME!!!!!!

* This is my 3,603rd Blog. It may not be much to read from day to day, but it is a very nice documentation of my life over the last close to 10 years that I started doing this. I've written about everything from my opinion, to softball, to geocaching, to people I have met, places I have gone and things I have done.

* It's looking like we might see some rain in DC later this week when we visit. I'm actually OK with that, too many things to see and do to worry about a little precipitation.

* Anyone getting any ideas for a date on a pic nic? It's time to pick a date and grab a pavilion before they are all reserved.

* Michelle and I are continuing to watch Breaking Bad on Netflix, we're about half way through season 4 and it gets better and better with each passing episode.

* We really need to start doing more family outings, time is going by, we are all getting older and it's just needed.

* This is actually Hump Day for Michelle as she is off Thursday and Friday.

* Hi ho hi ho

Back to Work

All good things must come to an end, and unfortunately for me that includes those fun filled things that we tend to enjoy so much called weekends. Now it's time to stick our noses back on the grindstone for another fun filled week of work so we have the resources to enjoy the times we are not at work.

It's actually going to be a short workweek for me, we are going to be leaving for Washington DC on Thursday afternoon for the Cherry Blossom Festival. Checking out the live Web Cam we might just be getting lucky and hitting this at Peak Period. I'm starting to get super excited, I know we tried this last year and just seemed to miss them, but looks like we might be hitting it this year at it's peak!!!!

It'll be nice to get out of town this weekend, Hayley is living with us so she'll be taking care of the animals for a couple of days while we are away.

Looking at a couple of week time period, I know Michelle has a total of six Birthdays on her side of the family during this time period and obviously as you have read by a previous blog my Sister's birthday is today as well.

Earlier this year I singed up for a five week course as a refresher at Coursera for Maps and the Geospatial Revolution taught by Penn State. I figure it would be a nice little refresher course for me. If anyone is interested in taking free college level classes, check our Coursera's Course Catalog.

Hi ho hi ho

Happy Birthday Terri Beth Rehmani

 I would like to take this opportunity to wish by beautiful Sister Terri the happiest of Birthdays today.

Terri is one of the best sisters a man could ever ask for, she is loved by everyone who ever meets her and she always makes people feel more than welcomed.

I'm not sure what Nick has planned today, you know since it is her 21st birthday again, but if you happen to see Terri, make sure that you take a little bit of time out and wish this very special lady a Happy Birthday today.

Thank You for all you have done for me Terri, Love Ya and have a Happy Birthday today.

Early Sunday Morning

Here I sit once again in the early AM, I'm the first one to recover from getting my butt kicked by that dreaded Sandman last night and am up watching Man of Steel on HBO. The Household is quiet as Michelle and all the animals are in dream land.

Well we had a pretty good day yesterday to say the least. We started off with doing a little bit of Geocaching, including doing a little bit of maintenance to our own Cache. We have another one set up to go, a larger one that we have had ready for a few years, we just have never put it out yet. We also have a couple of travel bugs that we need to set up and put out as well.

We both agreed we need to do a little bit more geocaching this year, we did a grand total of six last year and we already have three this year. It's time to get those numbers up a little ...LOL

Yesterday afternoon we finally broke in our Kettle Grill. We put a couple really thick and juicy New York Strip Steaks on the grill and I have to say they turned out amazing. I used to like my steaks well done, but that was overcooked. Then I liked Medium well, cooked all the way through but still juicy. Now I'm at a point where I am liking medium, still has pink in the middle but oh the taste. The older I get the less cooked I want it. This was the first time cooking with the Kettle Grill, the large Gas one is still under the tarp from the winter, and I have to say I really have gotten a whole new appreciation for charcoal cooking. We absolutely love this grill.

Have a great day

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit once again in the early AM, the first to recover from the butt kicking I took from that dreaded Sandman last night and am up already watching Top Gun on HBO and collecting my thoughts on the day.

Weather permitting today I would like to get out and around for a little while. I think the best way to do that is maybe start Geocaching for the year. It's a hobby that we do love, but really don't do enough of and it is great exercise. There have been a large number of Caches added to the Morgantown area over the past year, maybe this will give us something to do today, weather permitting.

I think we are ready to finally break in our Webber Grill sometime today. It was our Valentines day gift to each other, but have yet to give it its first workout, much less the first grilling of 2014. A much welcomed event after the long drawn out winter that we have had. You can see that our daffodils have already sprung and have said screw this winter crap, our turn!

I do have to say that I love this time of the year, it's when everything wakes up and is renewed after a cold and freezing period. It's a time of shorts and sandals and outdoor activities. It's a time when you don't have to warm your car up in the morning before you go to work or have to remove any snow from any vehicles.

The weather is supposed to be beautiful in DC this coming week, hopefully we hit the Cherry Blossoms at their peak and get some great pictures. I'm looking forward to it.

Have a great day and enjoy your Saturday!!!

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 can't say that I am not welcoming this Friday, this has been one heck of a week so far to say the least.

We're traveling next weekend, so we're probably going to come up with an itinerary for Friday so we can see what we want to see when we are in DC. It's back to the Smithsonian for sure and hopefully the Cherry Blossoms will be in bloom, other than that it's going to be pot luck to see what we want to see.

This weekend will probably depend on what the weather is going to be like. I would like to break out the grill and do a little bit of BBQing, but that all depends on how the weather holds up.

Out to dinner and Sam's club is what is on our agenda for this evening, no idea where we'll go yet, I always tend to wait until the last minute. Hopefully we can get out and maybe do a little geocaching for the first time in 2014.

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out and look through all of my pictures. Little lost moments in time that I have either taken, scanned or stolen from the internet that has some kind of a significance in my life or those around me. Sometimes it's pretty easy to find that one special picture for the week and sometimes it's not that easy. One thing that it always is however is a whole lot of fun.

This weeks picture is from where we will be heading this time next week. To Washington DC. The picture that you see here is the World War I Memorial. It's a small memorial south of the reflecting pond that seems to go unnoticed by many of the visitors.

My Grandfather who raised me was a veteran of WWI, as well as I believe his brother was as well, but I could be wrong about that.

AS Michelle and I was walking around the south end of the reflecting pool, towards the much more prevalent WW II Memorial and the Washington Monument, we stopped by this memorial briefly.

There are so many war memorials at the National Mall that some very significant ones tend to get overlooked by later more elaborate Memorials. None really any more important than the other, but all very significant in our nations history.

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits on a Wednesday

* Well since yesterday was my April Fools edition of my blog, I had to move my tidbits that usually runs on Tuesdays till today. The blue footed booby is still partying, so I still can't think of a better reason to do a tidbits.

* It has been 2,207 days since Michelle and I went out on our first date together a few years ago. We have done a lot together since then.

* 1,433 days ago I got down on one knee and proposed marriage to this wonderful woman.

* 960 days ago in front of our closest friends and family, we exchanged our martial vows.

* I've got about 6,452 more days to go until I retire, give or take a few hundred.

* 273 days to go until my Goodbye 2014 Blog is written. I need to start getting some more content.

* 267 more shopping days left until Christmas, if you like to get an early start, you have plenty of time to go.

* In 158 days we once again set sail out on the Atlantic Ocean towards the Caribbean once again. This will be our third cruise together and the last on this version of the Carnival Pride before it goers into dry dock this winter and gets a complete overhaul.

* 126 days to go until our third Wedding Anniversary.

* 112 days to go until we party down with Jimmy Buffett and the rest of the Pittsburgh area Parrotheads.

* Only 80 days to go until SUMMER!!!!!!!!!

* This is my 3,596th blog post. I'll be celebrating my tenth year as a blogger this year. I will be celebrating it on Grand Turk.


* We'll be traveling next week, we are heading back to Washington DC for the Cherry Blossom Festival . We are hoping to catch them in their peak, but you never know. We went down last year and they had not peaked yet. Hopefully we'll have some more luck this year.

* We'll be spending much of the day again at the Smithsonian again, much we have not seen and would love to see.

*  We have made it down to the trails a couple of times this week already, Monday we took Sadie and Gracie and that just wasn't a good trip. Sadie is getting very old and may be nearing a time that we would all regret. Blind, no teeth, deaf and losing her way even around the house.

* I am still thinking we need to do a pic nic this summer. Everyone has been very receptive towards it, now we just need to find a day or a date that does not conflict with anyones schedules. To my siblings who will be attending, what days do or do not work for you. What days do not conflict with previous plans or parties?

* We have our grill assembled, now all we need is nice weather and a big bag of meat to throw on it. We've still got the big gas one that we are going to use, but I'm ready to break out the charcoal one.

* Does anyone else have any ideas for family get togethers this summer?

* Hi ho hi ho

Hump Day

Well that is two days down, now if you look up over that noon time hump, you know just on the other side of a Photo Flashback, you'll be able to see the dawn of yet another weekend off in the distance.

I'm telling you that this week is just flying by, we'll be at another weekend in no time at this pace.

I did learn that I am going to have to have surgery in the very near future. It seems that I have a bad Eponychium and that it is going to have to be removed. I've let this thing go and go and have just ignored all of them for years, but now I have one that is going bad because I didn't take care of it and we are going to need to schedule surgery in the very near future.

I am a little nervous about this operation and procedure to say the very least, Dihydrogen Monoxide in excessive doses heated to a non natural state may be the surgical procedure that we choose, but that will only be after I consult my Topographologist and a Cartographicologist to see what the best plan of action could be.

Oh no Oh no...better check your date =)