Sunday Morning Ramlings

Here I sit once again in the early AM, I'm the first one to recover from a losing battle with that dreaded Sandman last night and I'm up checking out some scores from yesterday and collecting my thoughts for the for the day. The TV isn't even on yet.

Well we didn't win last night on Steelers Trivia, but our score was high enough to advance us into the Championships next weekend. This is the third time we have been in the tournament and this will be the third time that we have advanced to the Championship round. In 8 shows show far we have won six of them, came in third in last years Championship earning us a trip to Steelers Training Camp and came in second last night. We were the highest scoring team in round 1 of the tournament and then had the highest scoring for a runner up last night giving us the wildcard nod. Will we be the first group of guys to ever win the Tournament a second time? Tune in next week and find out how we do.

I did not go to East Liverpool with Michelle yesterday and opted to stay home and watch the WVU game. My Brother in Law Nick called me and invited me down so I went to their place to watch the game and cheer on the Mountaineers. We did lose 33-23, that is to a very good Alabama team and I think we are vastly improved from last season. I think we are going to have a much better team than people, including myself, anticipated.

Normal schedule for us today, grocery shopping and laundry, typical Sunday for this week. Next week will be a whole different story as we will be embarking onto our boat for our cruise. However that is next week and this is this week.

Michelle took a number of pictures yesterday and we have posted them on Facebook.

Have a great day.

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit on a quiet Saturday Morning, I'm the first to recover from getting knocked out by the Sandman yesterday and I'm up collecting my thoughts and surfing the internet. I'm up watching The Heat on HBO and surfing the net.

Michelle is going to head home to East Liverpool today for her Grandmother's Birthday Party. I was going to go, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to stay here and get a few things done around the house while she goes home and visits.

The Mountaineers play their first game of the season this afternoon when they take on the Crimson Tide at 3:30, my primary reason for staying home since I probably wont be able to see them play until we get back after our cruise. We'll be traveling next weekend and miss it and will be returning from the Caribbean and out in the Ocean the next week.

Make sure you tune in to watch the KDKA McDonalds Pittsburgh Steelers Trivia Challenge tonight. We'll be competing in the Semi-Finals for a chance to play in next weeks Championship round. Will the Pudgy's advance, or will they be sent home. You'll have to tune in to see how we do.

Have a Great Day, cheer on the Mountaineers and be sure to watch us tonight.

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 THREE DAY weekend, and a Big Ole Hairy Friday!!!

Looking for a little football? We won't disappoint this weekend. High School action starts tonight. The Morgantown Mohigans start their season off at home against Anacostia, D.C. tonight at Pony Lewis Field. University High will be traveling to to Moundsville to take on John Marshall High School, Clay-Battelle will be playing host to Paden City. Should be a good weekend to catch a game.

Looking for College Football? Well we have that as well as the West Virginia University Mountaineers will be traveling to Atlanta to take on the Nick Saban lead Alabama Crimson Tide tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 in the Nationally Televised Kickoff Classic on ABC. Hopefully Nick Saban who is from Monongah will take it easy on us.

Michelle and I will be heading to East Liverpool tomorrow morning for her Grandmother's 92nd Birthday.

It is the unofficial end of Summer and a Three day weekend for everyone, for Michelle and I it's the weekend before we go on vacation.

Have a great day, stay safe, watch some football and enjoy your extended weekend.

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take some time out and look through all of the pictures that I have either taken, scanned or stolen off the internet. Little lost moments of time that I like to relive and share with everyone. Sometimes this is a pretty east task and sometimes it's not so easy. One thing that it always is however is a whole lot of fun.

This weeks picture takes us way back, back to the late 80's when Dad walked my sister Pam down the isle so that she could marry my brother in law George. I know it was the month of February, and I'm thinking it was possibly 1987, but I could be wrong on that.

The wedding took place in the old Drummond Chapel Church, that is now called Suncrest United Methodist Church.

It was a small ceremony mostly attended by family and that may have been the final time anyone in my family has been wed there that I can think of. Ironically all of our families weddings were always held in the main chapel for as long as I can remember, or at least up until Pam and George were married.

Have a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Hump Day

Well that is two days down and two more ahead of us. Now if we can just get over that dreaded noon time hump we are on the downhill slope towards another fun filled weekend and a three day one at that.

No Wisdom Wednesday today, I'm not going to make it a weekly blog until I get a few more ideas. I know the one line quotes went over pretty well, a couple of times, but there are other areas I would like to take that area of my blog. For this week you get me blogging as I normally would.

I guess this week coming up is going to be a busy one for me and Michelle, we'll need to start getting packed and organized for our cruise the following week. Believe it or not there is a lot of planning that goes into packing for a week long cruise out in the middle of the Atlantic, unfortunately we tend to OVERPACK and we're going to try to cut down on that a little. Same number of suitcases, just probably not going to be bringing some unnecessary things like 5 different pairs of shoes each...lol. A Formal pair, a pair of sandals and the ones I wear into the ocean are all I'm taking this year.

The WVU Football team has finally released their Fall Depth Chart for this upcoming season. I think we are going to be a better team than we were last year, we're going to have a lot more depth, but I'm not sure if our record will indicate it due to such a tough schedule which starts with a team many believe are capable of winning the National Championship this year in Alabama. I think we're in for a long road as Mountaineer fans, but I think our fortunes are going to start getting better. Last year was an utter embarrassment.

Have a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well the last Monday that I am going to work is behind us, now we can start concentrating on Tuesdays for a while. Still can't think of a better reason to do a tidbits.

* 18,531 days ago yours truly was born.

* 3,754 days ago I accomplished a lifelong dream as I earned my degree from West Virginia University, a decision that I have never regretted.

* 2,355 days ago on a cold spring evening, Michelle and I went out on our first dater together. Yes even after all of these years now, the movie still stunk it up to high heaven.

* 1,579 days ago, I got down on one knee and proposed marriage to a remarkable woman.

* It's been 1,116 days now that we have been married. I'm lucky enough to be married to not only someone I love very much, but my best friend and soul mate.

* I have about 6,306 or so days, give or take a few hundred here or there, until I enter into the world of retirement.

* I have 345 days to go until my 4th Wedding Anniversary.

* My Goodbye 2014 Blog, my favorite blog of the year, will be presented in 127 more days. I still have a lot of time to add content.

* If you're getting ready to start Christmas Shopping, you have 121 more days to go. For those of you possibly on a tight budget, Walmart starts their Christmas Lay Away program for 2014 in September. They have signs up now promoting it.

* We are only 12 days away from heading out on our third cruise. Yes two weeks from now I will be out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean where the Ocean Floor is about 16,000 ft below us.

* Only 4 more days until the 2014 West Virginia University Mountaineer Football team takes the field for the first time as they take on the Alabama Crimson Tide in Atlanta. I guess that means this weekend it's officially FOOTBALL!!!!!!

* I had a little unpleasant surprise yesterday morning, I had to stop at Krogers before work and when I went out to the car my Battery was deader than a doorknob. I called Michelle and she helped me jump start it. I drove straight to Advance Auto and purchased a new battery, the battery was dead once again as I tried to restart my car at Advance. Fortunately the Alternator tested out fine and I was able to make it in to work and out out a few unexpected fires.

* The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has raised $79.2 Million as of the time of me writing this blog. That is a pretty remarkable grass roots fund raiser.

* It was announced this past week that the former Jamestown Jammers will be the professional Baseball team that will be playing in the new Ballpark being built in Morgantown and they will begin play here for the 2015 season.

* I'm down 66 lbs so far since May, and 81 since Christmas (and my surprise 50th Birthday Party) last year. Still got a ways to go, but I walked the trails yesterday at work and did the big hill with little to no problem. We're talking about a hill with a 15% grade and me going up that. It's much easier than it was last time I tackled that hill due to all the weight loss.

* The High School Football Week 1 Power Ratings are out. The Morgantown High Mohigans are ranked #5 and the University High Hawks are ranked #9 in the AAA Power ratings.

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday Morning

All good things must unfortunately come to an end, and by good things that also means those fun filled things we refer to as weekends. Now it's time to stick our noses back on the grindstone for another fun filled week of work, so we can do the things we like to do on the weekends.

For me, this is my last Monday for a few weeks as I will be off the next three either due to Holiday or vacation that is extended an extra day as we regroup from our cruise. I guess all I have to do is get this week in and to do that we have to go through a Monday.

Looking at my week ahead, there are no Doctors appoints that I have scheduled this week, that's the first in a while for me. I've done everything that I have needed to do other than two more dietitian meetings to fulfill all the obligations on my end to have the gastric Bypass Surgery. To be honest though, I'm down 65 lbs since May 28th and 80 lbs since Christmas, and I am within 15 lbs of being within the high end of the target weight the Dr had set for me one year AFTER surgery. I may be within a few pounds or have reached that by the time I get to my sixth and final dietitian meeting in early October. The odds of me actually going through with this surgery now are getting slimmer and slimmer, especially when I'm doing so without any medical assistance or surgery. I've not been this low in weight in I can't remember when, maybe the early 90's and I've still got a long way to go. There is no finish line, only goals as this is a lifestyle change and not a diet.

The ALS Ice Bucket challenge is amazing in what it can do, it's raised over $70 Million as everyone and their brother are either doing it or donating to it. I can't say I have ever seen a grass roots campaign ever have this much success or be that successful. It's actually quite amazing what it has accomplished.

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday

Here I sit once again on a quiet Sunday Morning, I'm once again the first to recover from that knockout blow I suffered from that dreaded Sandman yesterday evening and I'm up collecting my thoughts once again. I just got done watching the movie Dodgeball on HBO and am thinking about going back to bed for a while to be honest with you.

We didn't get into a whole lot yesterday, we did go buy a new bathroom scale  yesterday since the one we had was starting to go on the fritz, so I did my research and did one that was a little more accurate and provided a lot more information. This one calculates your BMI, Fat Weight, Water Weight and Bone Mass. It's a nice little indicator of how much farther we can go in our weight loss.

Speaking of weight loss, we stopped by JC Penney's yesterday to try on some new clothes and see how we are doing with our weight loss. I used to wear a 54" jacket and a 46" was almost comfortable yesterday. Jeans which I did buy a new pair were a size I haven't fit into since the 1980's or at least early 1990's. I've went as high as a 46" waist and an now down to a 38" waist as I have now passed another 10 pound increment in my weight loss.

Today's plans are pretty simple, we're heading to the grocery store this morning and doing our normal Sunday Grocery shopping for the week although I did go to Krogers yesterday morning and get all of the vegetables for the week. Laundry is the other thing we have to do today before we return to work tomorrow. The good thing is tomorrow will be my last Monday until September 22nd as the following Monday is Labor Day and the next two Mondays we'll be on and finishing up our vacation which includes our cruise.

A bit of good news, as of yesterday the ALS Foundation due to the Ice Bucket Challenge has raised $62.5 Million  compared to the $2.4 Million during the same time period as last year. I took the challenge earlier this week and Michelle took it yesterday  after being challenged by her Sister Chris.

I hope everyone has a great Sunday.

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit once again in a quiet household, I'm the first to recover from a losing battle with the Sandman last night. I'm up watching I think the movie Brave on the TV as I am up collecting my thoughts and surfing the net.

The weather report shows that it's not going to be too cooperative today, so that may mean a day around the house.

This will be our last non-traveling Saturday for a while as we are planning on going to Ohio next weekend and to Baltimore the following Saturday. The Saturday after that we'll be traveling, but it will be by boat and out in the Atlantic Ocean.

Gracie has been with us for a couple of days, Michelle wanted her to come and visit as she had missed her. To me she is an overly energetic pain in the butt who terrifies all the cats..LOL

This is also the last of what I would call a "Non-Football Weekend" for a while. Sure the NFL pre-season is going on, but who really pays attention to that as it doesn't count and players are trying to make the team. It's kind of like practice to get you ready for the real season.

Have a great day and enjoy yourself.

Happy Birthday George "Moke" McClain

 

I would like to take this opportunity to wish my nephew George "Moke" McClain a very Happy Birthday today.

Moke has been a very inspirational person, he has done it all from traveling around the world with the Military to a tour of Duty in Iraq, to going to college to Marrying the love of his life and just recently purchasing a new Motorcycle.

He is one that has always seemed to have his head together and has striven to grow as a person by taking risks and be willing to learn anything and everything.

It has been my honor to watch him grow up from a newborn to the absolute mountain of a man that he is today.

I'm not sure what he has planned for today, other than when I called him out for the ALS Challenge and he said he would do it today, but I am quite sure his lovely wife and him will be doing something memorable together.

If you happen to see Moke today, make sure that you wish him a very Happy Birthday today and thank him for his service.

Happy Birthday Moke, may your day be filled with pleasure, memories and great times.

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 this is kind of a quiet weekend all around. BOPARC's Summer movie series is over with until next Summer and High School Football don't start up until NEXT weekend as does College Football.

There are really no plans for Michelle and I think weekend, but this will be the last one for a while where we can say that. We're traveling to Ohio next weekend for Michelle's Grandmothers Birthday. Then the following weekend we'll be heading to Baltimore for our cruise that will take place that week. Which leaves us with this weekend to maybe do some last minute planning and grabbing things that we will need for our vacation.

I'll probably be taking it easy this weekend, my gout is starting to attack again. I think that 4.75 hike we did last Saturday plus with what I do on the fitness trail at work during the week is starting to aggravate it a little bit. Michelle and I are looking into getting a treadmill or something along those lines.

I case anyone missed it, I was called out for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge earlier this week. I accepted the challenge and did it and called out my five people as well as making a donation to the ALS Foundation.

Have a great day and enjoy your weekend.

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

I love this time of the week, because we are getting closer to the weekend. However today is Thursday and that means it's the day of the week that I take a little bit of time out and look through all the pictures that I have stored on my computer. Little lost moments in time that I have either taken, scanned or stolen off the internet through the years. Sometimes this is really easy and sometimes I rack my brains coming up with something to write about. One thing that it always is, is a whole lot of fun.

This weeks pic goes back a couple of years, back to the next to the last year before I retired from playing softball. Back to the days of the "Summer of Phil" which is the bald guy in the front. Phile was WVU's assistant SID and chose to make a big career change to being a High School Teacher. This was the guys from my softball team after a game. We were MiHaley's that year, and stopped over to MiHaley's when Michael was still running it day to day for a few beers and dinner.

It might have even been a Steelers game on TV since Michelle, Chewy and Courtney are all dressed in Steelers gear and Phil is showing his Redskins hat. MiHaley's did have the best Hot Sausage Hoagies in town, but Michael went back to the mines and they leased the bar out to someone else who had no where the success Michael did with it. It has since closed.

Great Times though.

Hi ho hi ho

Happy Birthday Gloria Jean Hall

I would like to take this opportunity to wish someone very special a very Happy Birthday today. Jean Hall, a woman who has been my step mother for over 90% of my life is celebrating a birthday today.

Anmaw as many refer to her as, is one of those inspirational people who you just have to absolutely admire. She has been a very big inspiration to me in my life as well as many others who have ever met or known her.

This is a woman who has overcome health adversity like no one I have ever known and does it with a smile on their face. A funny story I used to tell about her when I was in college, and this is true. Her cousin Joyce used to ask how she was doing after she had her debilitating stroke in 1999. I used to tell her that Jean's vision was coming back slowly, she now saw five of everything. That never stopped Jean though, she would get in her car and close one eye so she only saw three objects and then aim for the middle one. Sad and hilarious, but a true story none the less.

If you happen to see or talk to Jean today, make sure that you wish her the happiest of birthdays today.

Happy Birthday Jean.

Wednesday Wisdom

Since last weeks debut of Wednesday Wisdom seemed to be so popular, I thought I would give it a second go around this week. Last week was wisdom quotes, but I'm not going to say that that will always be the format as wisdom comes in so many forms, but I'll repeat last weeks format this week.


* A good film is when the price of the dinner, the theatre admission and the babysitter were worth it.--Alfred Hitchcock

* Change is inevitable… except from vending machines.--Bumper sticker


* Confucius say… he who thinks by the inch and talks by the yard deserves to be kicked by the foot.--Confucius


* The poor wish to be rich, the rich wish to be happy, the happy wish to be married, the married wish to be dead.--Ann Landers

* My kid wanted a BB gun for Christmas, I got him the BB gun and he gave me a sweater with a bull’s eye on it.--Rodney Dangerfield

* How long a minute is depends on what side of the bathroom door you're on.--Anonymous

* The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.--Will Rogers

* If you want it done quickly, it won't be done correctly.--Murphy's Seventh Law of the Office

* All other things being equal, a bald man cannot be elected President of the United States.--Noble's Law of Political Imagery

And I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes. I honestly have said this thousands of times to myself as I have had to be on a job site in some other city (Fairmont or Frostburg) in the very early hours of the morning, or in other words before the Army gets up.

*  Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. --Benjamin Franklin


Have a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well the students are back at WVU, FallFest is now over and we have all started a new work week. Unless yesterday is a complete do-over I can't think of a better reason to do a tidbits.

* 18,524 days ago my Mother and Father were blessed with a very special baby boy. One who would eventually grow up and write a blog, like the one you are reading now.

* 3,747 days ago I accomplished something that I had always wanted to accomplish, I graduated with a Degree from West Virginia University. I am fortunate to say, that I have stayed within my discipline post graduation, something I'm sure many can't say.

* 2,348 days ago I arranged for a date with Michelle. We went out for dinner and saw the movie 10,000 BC which has to go down as the dumbest movie I have ever seen. That didn't defray the evening or the events about to take place in my life though.

* 1,572 days ago, at around 4:00 in the morning in the back yard, I got down on one knee and proposed marriage to a woman that I want to spend the rest of my life with.

* 1,109 days ago in front of our closest friends and family, we partied down and got hitched.

* I have about 6,312 give or take a few hundred here or there days to go until I retire.

* Michelle and I will celebrate our Fourth Wedding Anniversary in 352 more days.

* There are 134 more days for me to write blogs for content before I do my Goodbye 204 Blog at the end of the year.  

* Looking to do a little Christmas shopping? You still have 128 more days of shopping before it gets here. Now is the time to maybe start planning and preparing.

* 19 more days and we will be setting sail to the Eastern Caribbean once again aboard the Carnival Pride.

* Only 11 more days until the West Virginia University Football team starts their 2014 season against Alabama coached by Monongah native Nick Saban.

* This is my 3,751st blog post that I have written for George's Journal. I will be celebrating ten years of being a blogger here in the very near future.

* Speaking of our cruise, I have pre-written all of the blogs that will be posted when we are out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Each BLOG will be a video blog corresponding to what we did on last years cruise on the same corresponding day of the cruise (although different dates). This will allow everyone to share what we will be doing each day with what we did the previous year.

* Yesterday was my next to last Dr's appointment (I had a stress test) before we go on our cruise. I still have two more dietitian classes left and one will be right before the cruise and the last one will be in October. It'll be after that one that they either schedule surgery or I'll re-evaluate how I have done and opt to not have any surgery.

* All the Mon County kids, including WVU, started school yesterday. Where did the Summer go to?

* It's looking like we're going to be getting rained on all week, maybe when we get back from vacation it'll be time to invest in a treadmill.

* I did finally talk to someone about Christmas, Terri said she would still like to do her little get together and she was going to talk to Pam in the near future who is also probably wanting to do one. I've suggested doing something before Christmas like renting a fire hall and getting everyone together to do a Christmas Cookie bake, but that is still up in the air as cost could be the big inhibitor on that project.

* I'll throw this out once again, Michelle and I and probably Smitty and Steph will probably be going to the Springs Festival  on October 4th if anyone is interested. You have to get up there early in the AM before it gets crowded and sells out of everything.

* Have a great Tuesday

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday Monday

All good things must come to an end, and unfortunately that includes those formerly peaceful things we called weekends. Now it's time for those of us in the working world to put our noses back on the grindstone and do what it is we do for a living. The rest of Morgantown on the other hand is starting their first day of classes today as WVU starts their 2014-5 Academic School year. This is also the first day of school for Mon County Schools as well as Fairmont State University where Chad attends.

Good luck to all the students from Kindergarten to Grad school on their academic endeavors for the now starting school year. I guess I have to say welcome back to all the WVU students. (Traffic GRRRR).

I'm doing a stress test this afternoon at the Heart Institute. Nothing to worry about, I chose to do it since I'm losing weight and am starting to do some serious activity, just a checkup to make sure everything is OK with the ticker. I'll also have to have a Colonoscopy  when we get back from the cruise, but that has nothing to do with planning for weight loss surgery and everything to do with turning 50. Oh the things we get to look forward to when we reach that first half century mark in our lives.

Speaking of weight loss, I'm doing great and am down 59.2 lbs since May 29th and down 74 lbs since Christmas. I still have a couple more meeting scheduled before I can be approved and scheduled for surgery, if I make it that far. My BMI started out at 43.51 in May and is currently 35.25. You have to have a BMI over 35 and at least two contributing factors (diabetes, sleep apnea, bad heart, etc.) or a BMI over 40 to be approved for the surgery. I would say by the time we get back from our cruise, that mine will be well bellow 35. I'm doing this on my own. To all who ask, no I did not join some commercial weight loss program, didn't eat a Subway Sub every day but if you want to pay me to replace Jared I'm willing to say I did and no drugs. It has simply been eating smarter (not really less) and moderate exercise. That's it, no pills, shots, points, membership dues, or any magical product other than doing a little research into how we eat and altering it a little to healthier options (and I only eat salads once a week on Monday).

Looks like rain all week, my guess is FallFest is going to be a big wet T-Shirt contest tonight...LOL

Have a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday Morning Grumblings

Here I sit once again in a quiet household, I'm the first one to recover from that butt kicking from the Sandman last night and I'm up once again watching TV and collecting my thoughts. On the TV is the Internship.

Boy was traffic around town yesterday has picked up significantly. The dorms opened up Friday but there was a huge line coming out of Campus
 Evolution Villages that went half way up Van Voorhis Road. The line at the door of people waiting to get their keys was over 100 yards long. It's kind of easy to now notice, the students are back. So much for what we know as a peaceful Summer in Morgantown. (sigh)

Our plans for the day are to get up early and get our shopping done. We want to beat all the madness that I am quite sure that we are going to encounter today as students go and buy about everything off the shelves. I did notice yesterday that Krogers was price gouging. My soda stream concentrates are $4.99 everywhere you go, Walmart, Krogers, Bed Bath Beyond, it's all pretty Universal on price. They were all of a sudden $6.99 each yesterday at Krogers. I understand that local businesses are taking advantage of the sudden increase in population, but it's the locals who shop here year round who are being gouged.

We had a nice walk yesterday, started in Van Voorhis and walked clear to Hoard and back. According to Google Earth that distance is 4.75 round trip. Arguably one of the longest walks that we have taken together on the trails. Took about an hour and a half and about an hour and 15 minutes into it I was starting to feel it. It was a great day for a walk and we took advantage of it.

I stopped by and visited my Sister Terri and then my Mom yesterday afternoon to let them see a little extra hardware that I have sitting around and getting a few pictures. Michelle had a large batch of Green Beans and cooked them down on the stove as well as making Zucchini Lasagna that was very good.

It's calling for rain all day, so it's going to be a day of shopping, laundry and probably taking a nap. Don't want to over do it as I have a stress test tomorrow afternoon at the Heart Institute. No problems, but with all the weight loss I chose to have one as a precaution as I really start to increase physical activity.

Have a great day.

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit once again in a quiet household, I'm the first one to recover from a losing bout with that dreaded Sandman last night and I'm up early watching Despicable Me 2 on Amazon on demand and collecting my thoughts for the day.

It's amazing some of the things that you remember, earlier this week Robin Williams passed away, but today is the 37th Anniversary of Elvis Presley's death. I have no idea why August 16th is embedded into my head like no other date, including my own birthday, but it always has since that afternoon in 1977.

On today's agenda, we're going to hit the trails this morning. Michelle is itching to get back out on them, but I have been hitting them at lunch time at work every day. It'll be good for me to get back on the rails to trails, it'll be the first time I was on the flat trails since my battle with gout a few weeks ago. The rest of the days plans are still pretty much up in the air, I would like to take the Steelers trivia trophies and get some pictures with them.

The students started to move back into town yesterday as the dorms opened up. I do have to say that traffic wasn't as bad as I initially thought it would be, it was actually much worse the night before, however there is a dramatic increase in the number of cars on our side of town.

The weather is supposed to be nice today, as opposed to the rain that we are supposed to get all day tomorrow. So take that as a bit of advice to get out and enjoy the day.

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 I have to say this is probably my least favorite day of the year to live in Morgantown. This is the day that the dorms open up for students and we get bombarded with an extra 30,000 people in population (plus many of their parents today) and it's an absolute nightmare. Arguably the worst non-football day of traffic of the year.

West Virginia University will once again start up the 2014-5 school year this Monday welcoming 6,000 new students to Morgantown creating total mass confusion with an influx of a lot of people who do not understand our messed up roads system. Commencement Day 2016 can't get here soon enough.

Speaking of Commencement Day 2016, my niece Brittany is on schedule to complete her undergraduate degree this coming spring. She spent the spring semester working an internship at Disney World and this summer at the American Red Cross. She could have graduated in December of this year, but since she was doing an internship and online remote classes this past Spring that limited the number of hours that she could do, it will be this Spring. She has remained committed and persevered and will receive her Degree from my favorite school and my Alma Mater.

Weather is supposed to be nice this weekend, or at least as far as Saturday goes. This may call for a nice morning walk with my wife and hopefully we can get into something in the afternoon. No plans as of yet, but that could quickly change.

Have a great day and have patience with all the morons who can't drive all over our roadways.

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week, and it is always on Thursdays, I like to take a little bit of time and look through all of my images that I have stored. Little lost moments in time that I have either photographed, scanned or stolen off the internet from someone else. A brief glimpse at a time gone by and captured with a camera. Sometimes I have no trouble finding that one perfect picture and I'll be honest sometimes I do struggle, however it is in fact always a whole lot of fun for me to do this, hence why I do it every week.

There used to be a time when the entire family would be together for Christmas Eve, something that really has not happened in a number of years and needs to happen again more often. We've all grown into our own little family units and they have all grown and expanded causing everyone to go own ways with those who we spend all of our time with. They are memories from yesterday sad to say, but always magical to reflect back upon.

This weeks picture however goes back to Christmas Eve 2005. Jean hosted the Christmas Eve Party and we had an outstanding turnout, so much so that one of my favorite Christmas Video's that I do was from this night. I do take a number of pictures and not all of the pictures that I take make the final cut for my video that I do. This was one of them, probably because of Gary's finger jester, but it could someday make it as an update to this song.

Anyways this is a picture from that Christmas ever that was not used in the video. My Brother in Law Nick on the left, my Sister Terri on the middle and my Brother Gary on the right. Good times of days gone by.

Hi ho hi ho

Wednesday Wisdom

A few weeks ago I asked my readers what I could do for a theme on a Wednesday, the day of the week I find it most difficult to come up with some content for. It's the middle of the work week and I just did a tidbits, so I needed something else.

My wonderful wife came up with this great idea, so I'm going to do this Wednesday Wisdom on days I have brain farts on actual content and am looking for something to write about because let's be honest, my life is not that exciting where I have new content every day. Not sure where I am going to go with this, or if it will be an every Wednesday thing or just something to fill in when I have creative brain farts.


Why do they call it rush hour when nothing moves?-- Robin Williams

It was so cold… when we milked the cows, we got ice cream.--Anonymous

The trouble is not that players have sex the night before a game, it’s that they stay out all night looking for it.--Casey Stengel

You might be a redneck if… the Halloween pumpkin on your front porch has more teeth than your wife.--Jeff Foxworthy

He made us all one true religion, Edith, which he named after his son, Christian – or Christ, for short.--Archie Bunker

Why should I give my readers bad lines of my own when good ones of other people’s are so plenty?--Benjamin Franklin

'Twas a woman who drove me to drink, and I never had the courtesy to thank her for it.--WC Fields

It's no exaggeration to say that the undecideds could go one way or another.
--George W Bush

Men and women belong to different species, and communication between them is a science still in its infancy.--Bill Cosby

Fun is like life insurance; the older you get, the more it costs.--Frank ‘Kin’ Hubbard

Hi ho Hi ho--George Hall

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well that ever so hated start of the work week Monday is now behind us, we're now looking at a deal-able Tuesday. I can't think of a better reason to do a tidbits.

* It was 18,517 days ago that I entered this world and blessed everyone with my presence. I'm sure some have liked that fact and there are others who may despise that fact, but I'm here and smiling. (I hope no one hates me)

* 3,740 days ago I completed a lifetime goal of graduating from West Virginia University. It was something I always wanted to do, but never got around to starting until my mid 30's.

* 2,341 days ago, I spent an evening with a very special young lady. She had been widowed for a couple of years and was raising two kids on her own, a very remarkable young woman to say the least.

* I decided 1,565 days ago that I really like this special woman, and wanted her to be in my life permanently, so I proposed marriage.

* 1,102 days ago, in front of our closest friends and family at the Marilla Center, Michelle and I became Husband and Wife.

* I have around 6,320 days or so, give or take a few hundred here or there, to go until I retire. It's still a long way away, but countable none the less.

* In 359 more days I will celebrate my 4th Wedding Anniversary with Michelle. We really didn't do much for our third, but we did go to the Pirates game a couple of days later.

* I have 141 more days to go until I have to publish my world renowned Good Bye 2014 Blog. Yes I should win a Pulitzer or some other prize for such a literary masterpiece, but I don't do it for the awards, I do it for you.

* You have 135 more shopping days left to go until Christmas, not to early to start and probably a good time to start planning. I know Michelle and I have started talking about it some.

* The countdown to our Cruise is getting smaller, it's only a mere 26 days away!!!!

* The West Virginia University Mountaineer Football team will play their first game of the season in 18 more days. The opponent the University of Alabama lead by Monongah WV native Nick Saban.

* This is my 3,744th blog that I have written for this Blog since I first started almost ten years ago. I'll be celebrating that ten year anniversary out in the Middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

* I have started to pre-write my Vacation Blogs for the week. Not much text, but I did a video blog each day we were on our cruise last year and will be uploading those videos to Youtube to correspond to the day of our cruise, but one year later. You'll be sharing some of the sites and sounds of our previous years cruise in relation to the day that we are on that cruise. I have some underwater footage to share among other things.

* I got a call from WVU Hospitals yesterday, I have to call to schedule my Colonoscopy when I get back from my cruise. With me preparing for Gastric Bypass Surgery and the cruise, I wanted to wait until after we get back from vacation to have this procedure done. See the things you get to look forward to when you turn 50?

* You may start to notice that Morgantown's population is starting to grow and will get worse throughout the week as the Students return. Move in Day is Friday, so it should be chaos everywhere, so leave a little earlier and use a little more caution. Classes at WVU start next Monday.

* I am going to debut my "Wisdom Wednesday" day tomorrow for the first time. I don't know if this will be a weekly feature, or just something to use when I am at a creative stumbling block. I was actually going to debut it last week, but decided to wait until this week.

* I meet with a Cardiologist this afternoon, we're going to check out and see how healthy my ticker is.

* I have done no work to the Hall Family Tree in a few months, I'm anticipating starting to work on it again this fall.

* I don't think Michelle and I have too much planned between now and when we leave on our cruise, however planning ahead would anyone be interested in a trip to the Springs Festival  with us on October 4th? It's a great time and you can get some really good prices on fresh and home made food items. I think last year by 9:00 AM they had sole 7,000 lbs of Sauerkraut. I bought fresh Apple Butter and we always buy pure Maple Sugar made right there.

* How about a trip and tour to the Moundsville Penitentiary? We were there last year and planned on returning this Spring but that didn't happen. It could be a lot of fun and we do have Family in Moundsville that can probably show everyone around town.

* We lost arguably the funniest man alive yesterday. Robin Williams died in his home at what appears to be an apparent suicide. When speaking of the greatest comedians and funniest man, he was always either first to be discussed or talked about.  I'm sorry to hear of his passing, but I thank him for the magical gift he left all of us.

* I hope everyone has a great day.

* Hi ho hi ho

Weekend is over, back to work

All good things must come to an end, and unfortunately that includes our fun filled weekends that we work so hard all week to be able to enjoy. Now it's time to head back to the office for another fun filled week of work.

Yesterday turned out to just be a normal relaxing day at home, we got a much later than normal start for grocery shopping and there were a number of chores we had to do around the house. We ended up smoking a pork roast on the grill and watching re-runs of Kitchen Nightmares.

Now it is time to turn our attentions to the next five days ahead before we get invaded by College Students when the dorms open on Friday. I have one Dr's appointment this week as does Michelle and one more meeting with our dietitian. Our insurance requires six meetings prior to surgery and this will be our fourth of our six meetings. I think we have one more prior to us going on our cruise and then one in October and we will have met that requirement. I'm doing very good, down 55 lbs since May 28th and 67 since Christmas. I'm not too far from going completely off of insulin. Hopefully by the end of the week it can be a thing of the past.

Have a great day and week

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit once again, up in the early AM after being the first to recover from a losing battle with that dreaded Sandman last night. I should say this morning, because it was after midnight before we actually got home from the Pirates Game yesterday. I'm up too early watching the movie Dodgeball on HBO and trying to stay awake from sleep deprivation and collecting my thoughts for the day.

We had a great time last night at the Pirates vs Padres game at PNC Park. The Pirates lost 2-1 and Morgantown native Jedd Gyroko singled in one of the Padres two runs. After the game we were treated to a nice fireworks display right outside of the stadium before getting back on the Gateway Clipper and heading back to our car. I told Michelle we need to do that more often, and it would be great if others would want to join us as we had a blast.Pictures are posted on Facebook.

Today is going to be a normal day of shopping, laundry and chores for us in the Hall household. They are having a baby shower for Sherri Toth this afternoon that Michelle has been invited to as well as bought a few things for, but that all depends on how the day shapes up. We did get home late last night and it all depends on when she gets up and we get out.

We won our first round game of Steelers trivia last night, now it is on to the semi-finals on August 30th. It's nice to see that we advanced past the first round, I wonder how we will do in the Semi-Finals and if we were good enough to advance to the Championship round. You'll have to tune in on August 30th to find out, but I will give you a small hint. =)

One thing I do need to do is start doing some video editing and put together our video blogs that I am going to publish each day to coincide with our cruise next month.

Have a great day.

It's a Pittsburgh Kind of Day

Here I am up early in the AM, the I have finally recovered from that dreaded loss to the Sandman last night and I'm up early watching Hoosiers on Cinemax.

This is the night that I think we are supposed to be on the Steelers Trivia show, it should be our first round game and it should be on KDKA after the 11:00 news. I've set my DVR up to record it but it's not showing up as the show. I hope I don;t have my dates messed up..lol

Tonight Michelle and I are traveling to Pittsburgh to watch the Pittsburgh Pirates play the San Diego Padres and their Second Baseman and Morgantown native Jedd Gyorko. This will be the first time I will have watched Jedd play professionally and I have watched him play in High School and a number of times in College. There will be fireworks after the game tonight, so it will be a late night for us before we return to Morgantown later tonight or early tomorrow morning.

The weather should be nice today, so 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!!!

First my words of advice. This is the last weekend that we will have this Summer when our population is at at acceptable and one that can easily be handled, next week we have 30,000 students getting ready to move back into town for the start of classes at WVU on August 18th. Next Friday is move in day at the dorms, so that is when all the chaos will officially commence, so take my advice and enjoy this last peaceful weekend because we are about to be invaded once again.

Tomorrow night the Pittsburgh Pirates play the Sand Diego Padres at PNC Park. Michelle and I bought tickets a couple of weeks ago during a promotion for this game. There will be fireworks after the game and I have a feeling PNC will be rocking like it never has before as the Pirates are striving for first place in the division. This will be the first actual Pirates Game Michelle and I have been to together, although we have both attended games prior to when we started dating.

Don't forget that tomorrow night as I am in Pittsburgh watching the Pirates and enjoying the fireworks, that my trivia team the Pudgy Polamalus will be on TV Saturday Night on KDKA. We won the overall tournament in 2008 and retired like Bettis until last year when we re-assembled and finished in third place in the 18 team tournament. If we win this week we will advance to the second Semi-Final Round on August 30th. Watch our quest to be the first and only team to win the Big Trophy not once, but twice.

Have a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

One a week I like to take a little bit of time out and look through all of my pictures that I have stored on my computer. Little lost moments of time that I have either taken, scanned or stolen off the internet through the years. Images that I like to share with everyone and take a little big of time out and talk about. Sometimes this is pretty easy, and sometimes you can look until the cows come home and have trouble finding an image, but it always is whole lot of fun.

This weeks pic goes back about three years. Michelle and I decided to take a day trip one Sunday and we ended up going clear to Charleston to do a little Geocaching and buy some Blackberry Wine from Daniel's Vinyards, it's a wine that you can't get in the northern part of the state yet they come to the Wine and Jazz Festival  every year.

This picture is a picture of my lovely wife Michelle in the background, standing in front of the State Capital Building. We also have one of her at the US Capital, but that's another blog.=)

We spent the day going around Charleston, as it was the first time that Michelle had ever been there, seeing the sites and spending a little time on the waterfront.

Have a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Happy Birthday Randy Lee Hamrick Jr

I would like to take a little bit of time out and wish my wonderful Nephew Randy Lee Hamrick a very Happy Birthday today.

"Bub" as he is so called is a wonderful young man who is loved by everyone he comes across, he has a very nice personna about himself that you just can't help to like.

Randy works with my Brother in law Nick on and off and I haven't seen him since I think Erica and Josh's birthday a couple of months ago. I would hope he has been busy and staying out of trouble as his two loving sisters have talked to him about on one or two occasions.

I'm not sure what Randy's plans are for the day, but hopefully they will be filled with joy and be surrounded by those who love him.

If you happen to see Randy today, make sure that you take a little extra time out and wish him a very Happy Birthday today.

Happy Birthday Randy

Happy Third Anniversary to the Most Wonderful Wife in the World

Three years ago today, at the age of 47 I finally surrendered my lifelong commitment to Bachelorhood and Married someone who had and has touched my life like no one before her.

A very special woman I had first met around 1999 when I was driving a Potato Chip Truck for Mister Bees. I had just acquired the Valley Mart store on Van Voorhis Road, where I had previously worked and stopped in to make an easy sale.

There was this woman there, a very attractive blond that really caught my eye, and caught my eye to the point that I actually stayed at the store for about an hour to an hour and a half of what was normally about a 10 minute stop. There was just something about this woman.

Come to find out that she was married with two kids, so I had no intention of even attempting to be a home wrecker so I did not pursue in any way, other than when I quit Mister Bees to start College that I went back to work for the Valley Mart.

Our lives took different paths as she left for another job and I continued to pursued my academic career that was just getting started.

Flash ahead to around Christmas 2007. I was shopping for food with Jean for the big Family Christmas 2007 at Klaer Lodge. I had seen her for the first the first time in years at Walmart and she looked great. I had found out that her Husband had passed a couple of years earlier and she was raising two kids on her own, so with encouragement from jean I invited her to Christmas Eve.....I got stood up.

A few months later we see each other on MySpace and finally had our first date and first kiss.

On August 6, 2011 I entered into the wonderful world of Holy Matrimony with this very special woman who has changed my life for the better. The time was right, unlike in 1999 when she was married and I was anything but financially secure, everything had just fallen into place as if it were meant to be.

To my Wife Michelle, thank you for the past three years and I look forward to having a long and happy life to spend together with you. We have accomplished things together that both of us would have considered a dream, but the two of us together have accomplished them. I love you with all my heart and want to wish you a VERY Happy Third Anniversary.

Thank you for coming into my life and making it complete. I Love You.

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well that dreaded thing that we refer to as Monday is now behind us and we are looking straight ahead to another Tuesday. Other than if edible arrangements would bring me a bouquet full of Reese Cups I cant't for the life of me think of a better reason than that to do a tidbits.

* It's been 18,510 days that this earth has been blessed with my presence, as this is how many days old I am.

* 3,733 days ago I fulfilled a lifetime dream and Graduated from West Virginia University. Started later in life, but I did finish and that was the important thing.

* 2,334 days ago I had the opportunity to take a very lovely young lady out for a date. It was Pizza and a horrible Movie, but I think it all worked out pretty good for the both of us.

* 1,558 days ago I decided she had waited long enough and I put a ring on that finger and asked her to marry me.

* 1,095 days ago in front of our closest family and friends, she said "I do" and we became Husband and Wife.

* I have one day to go with my Doctor Appointment filled for the both of us Third Wedding Anniversary. To celebrate we are going to a Pirates game this Saturday night as we both are working all week when we are not at the Doctors.

* We are but a mere 25 days away from when the 2014 edition of the West Virginia University College Football season opens up against Alabama. I predict a very long year for us, maybe even worse than our 4-8 last season.

* Only 33 more days to go until we set sail once again to the Caribbean on our third cruise in three years. Once again we shall board the Carnival Pride and head to my favorite places in the world.

* If you are paying attention, there are 142 more shopping days left to go until Christmas.

* I have 148 more days of blogging to go this year until my infamous Goodbye 2014 is published.

* I have around 6,327 more days to go until I retire, give or take a few hundred here or there and depending on how I feel.

* This my 3,736th blog that I have written for George's Journal since I started writing it almost ten years ago. Ten of my life are wrapped up and available for all to see and share in this blog.

* The week ahead looks like it is going to be a nice weather week, hopefully we will have good weather Saturday Night in Pittsburgh at the Pirates game. Fireworks will follow the game and it looks like it is going to be a good night.

* Searching for some new and exciting and healthy recipes, Pintrest is always my friend lol.

* Confucius say… two wrongs not make right, three lefts do.

* Anyone have any input or ideas for Christmas 2014? Who is hosting or ideas for a big get together? Ideas from 2014 Christmas Bulbs for Mom's Tree this year?

* There is a Farmers Market today in Westover from 4:00-7:00 at the old Shop and Save.

* I just found out that they are opening a Hobby Lobby in Washington, PA in October. That's going to be awesome, the closest one is in Robinson Township. Although that is where Michelle is from and we do go up there a good bit, it'll be nice to have one closer.

* In two weeks, classes at WVU will once again start, meaning this is probably your last weekend of peace and serenity in Morgantown before the students start to move back in and create traffic headaches everywhere. Yikes.

* I don't think my vacation can get here quick enough with that last tidbit, can't we do a 4th of July weekend rewind?

* We test drove a New Car yesterday and I left work a little early anticipating buying it, however there is no option for Satellite Radio and even though it is a 6 speed, it just did not have the power that our Forrester has. It did have a bunch of bells and whistles, but the lack of power and no satellite was a deal killer for us. I don't think our radio has been off Satellite since we bought it 3 years ago.

* Hi ho hi ho

It's Monday

All good things must unfortunately come to an end, and that even includes those fun filled things that we work all week towards called weekends. Now it's that dreaded time of the week that we all hate the most, the day that we start another fun filled week of work and stick our noses back on the grindstone once again so that we can continue to do the things we like to do on the weekends.

Looking at my week ahead I have a number of Doctor's appointments this week. None of them are with my regular Doctor but to do an ultrasound and a stress test on Wednesday and I get to meet with a psychologist on Thursday morning, I should just mess with her head...LOL All these hoops to jump through to get approval for a surgery I'm probably going to avoid if I continue to have the success I have been having. Call it a safety net in case I don't get there, so I have to jump through all the hoops.

The workweek itself doesn't look to be too overloaded for me this week, we're starting to gear up for another Award Winning Atlas and are just waiting for the data to arrive to analyze and make our maps for the publication. It's a hurry up and wait type of game..lol

All I do know is that it's getting closer and closer to the time we depart for our cruise, and the count down is starting to wind down to the point where we are really starting to pay attention. We've watched everyone else take their vacations over the summer, now we are ready for ours.

Have a great day.

Sunday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit yet once again in the early AM, I am once again the first to recover from a losing battle with the dreaded Sandman last night and I'm up on surfing the WWW and collecting my thoughts for the day. Kick-Ass 2 is playing on HBO and I'm getting ready to record my weight for the day.

Had a great time yesterday at the Birthday Party. Hayley had to work midnight shift the night before and started to develop a little Pink Eye, so she chose to stay home at the last minute instead of infecting everyone. I think Little Jonny had a great time and he sure got a lot of great presents.

Hats off to Laura for having such a great party and using a Dr. Seuss theme, the yard was dressed in Hooville trees and she did a very crafty thing with some wood and and an old Dr Seuss Book. She cut up an old book and used Mod Podge to get a perfect seal and protect the letters. I was very impressed to say the least.

We stopped by a store that I have never been to yesterday on the way up. Pittsburgh has a Hobby Lobby in Robinson Township. We stopped and both thought to ourselves WOW. This place is like Michaels (in Morgantown) on Steroids with a much larger and broader selection. Something tells me that was our first, but not our last trip to that store. I spent some time at Michael's  this past week  and had a few ideas, but not sure how I wanted to do them. I think I had my questions answered yesterday.

Today is going to be our typical Sunday. Grocery shopping, Laundry, chores around the house etc. Nothing planned out of the ordinary. I hope everyone has had a great weekend so far and it continues through tomorrow. For tomorrow we work.

Have a great day.

Saturday Morning Ramblings Part 3

The creative juices must really be flowing this morning, I have written two blogs for the same low price of free, BUT WAIT, if you read the other two blogs I'll throw in this third blog absolutely free. Yes that is three blogs for the the low low affordable price of nothing.

This Blog is to almost celebrate a Milestone. As I have mentioned to everyone previously I am considering and going through the motions for Gastric Bypass Surgery that may be scheduled for later this year.

Years ago when I had just gotten laid off from Helmick where I was working 60-70 hours a week in a Foundry pouring metal I had a weight that I weighed. Since then my lifestyle had went from totally busy and very physically demanding more of a Sedentary career. Age and lack of activity caused my weight to go up and up and then when I was power lifting a few years ago I was packing on muscle weight before topping the scales at my heaviest weight at 327 pounds.

I had stopped lifting and the muscle went away due to the torn labrums to both arms, first the right and then I kept going and ended up messing up the right shoulder as well. My weight at Christmas this year converted from Muscle to fat and I once again reached that 327 lb mark.

Earlier this spring I had decided to have the Gastric Bypass Surgery and started the long and tedious task of jumping though all of the hoops for the insurance to have this surgery. I had my first of six that I have to have with a dietitian on May 28th. At that meeting I had my first official weigh in of 312 pounds (I'm convinced that switching from regular soda to the soda stream at Christmas has a lot to do with that).

This morning I'm at 261.2, that is a loss of 50.8 pounds in two months and 65.8 pounds lost since Christmas and I am still going.

When I got laid off from Helmick I weighed 260 pounds and came close to flirting with that weight a few years ago when I was eating nothing but salads and walking 5 miles a night after work and brought my weight down to 265 pounds after getting my diabetes under control for the first time.

I was on the maximum oral dosage for Diabetes a couple of years ago and wanted an exit strategy to get off of actos, hence why I spent an hour and a half in the gym, five days a week for a year and a half before injuring myself.

Earlier this year we changed to an injection type of med called Lantus. I started at 10 units a day and was supposed to go up two units if I had two consecutive readings of above 150 in the first reading of the morning. If I had a reading of below 90 at any time in the day I am supposed to drop 2 units. My first dose was on March 13th and my blood sugar at that time was 261. I had my highest reading at 443 on May 4th of this year and rose to a peak of 92 units of Lantus in Early June, that was upping it two units every other day until that point where for the first time it stabilized and my numbers not only dropped below 200 for the first time in who knows when but were below 150 consistently. And when I say below 150 it was the time we started our lifestyle change and my numbers were dropping below 90 on a daily basis meaning I was backing off 2 units of insulin every day.

Today is August 2nd, my reading this morning was 89 meaning I once again drop the amount of insulin I take. I'm now down to 16 units (from 92 2 months ago). My average blood sugars from March was 322.1. it was 335.1 for April and 317.5 for May.

Now the lifestyle change started on May 28th and my average reading for June was 103.9 and 100.5 for July. These are all based on three readings per day (427 total readings as of now) and my average for August (only 4 readings is 94.8).

Now to bring this into perspective your average fasting blood sugars should range between 70-120 for someone who is not diabetic and should go up 30-40 points at it's peak (150-160 range) two hours after eating your largest meal. I do three readings a day, one when I get up in the morning, one before I start to eat dinner and one two hours after dinner which is traditionally my biggest meal.

This has been a lifestyle change, not a diet. I have changed how I eat and not really how much I eat but I do eat in moderation when we go on our weekly Restaurant Visit on Friday night only because I can't control how the food is cooked. I still have a long way to go until I reach my target weight, but that 260 lbs (Helmick weight) is my first major milestone for me. My next one won't be so easy (sub 200 lbs), but I am quite confident I will be abler to reach that milestone by Summer of 2015 either by my own means of lifestyle change or one that is done surgically. I prefer to do so without cutting holes in me, that way I know I will have the own self discipline to maintain it on my own, but it's not a pride thing and I will do so by any means necessary.

I guess I've finally realized at 50 years old, the Pittsburgh Steelers were never going to call on my to anchor their Offensive Line so I might as well lose the weight....LOL

Have a Great Day.

Saturday Morning Ramblings Part 2

I'm still sitting here collecting my thoughts and still watching South Park. This blog was going to go into two totally polar opposite directions so I decided to do a part 1 and a part 2 at no extra cost to you, because that is just how I roll.

This morning Michelle and I will be going over and grabbing Hayley and heading up north for little Jonny's first Birthday Party.

We have to make a small side trip to Toys R Us up there to pick up his present that we ran all over Morgantown looking for last night before calling Toys R Us and actually asking them to pull it and keep it at the service desk for us today.

Should be a great day.

Saturday Morning Ramblings Part 1

Well here I sit once again in a quiet household, I'm the first to recover from that butt kicking I took from the Sandman last night. I'm up watching the South Park Movie and the song Blame Canada is playing, which is really appropriate right now and will be explained later.

The three maps that you see in the two images on my blog are images that are at the Sequestration Center in Dekalb, Illinois. To the average person walking by they are just very large maps that are used for the walls. To me however it's a little bit of a different story as these are all my creations. and from an effort an international Atlas effort three years ago.

This was what I was working on at the time I was getting married a few years ago. It was an International effort with Canada and Mexico for a Sequestration Atlas that has won quite a few honors. The Canadians were pretty particular on many of the details of all the maps, but when it was all said and done it was an enjoyable effort. I did the paper maps and my partner in crime did the online viewer for this effort. They just shut down the nacsap.org website and let the domain expire because there will not be a Second Edition to this publication. That comes as a little bitter sweet for me. 

Have  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!!!

If you are looking for a little bit of cheap, and by cheap I mean free, entertainment tonight head on down to the Hazel Ruby McQuain Amphitheater on the Waterfront for BOPARC's third free movie of the Summer. Nut Job is the movie that is playing on this evening. There will be on more movie this summer and that will be in two weeks.

Our agenda for this weekend is a pretty simple one, Michelle and I are heading up north to Monaca for her little Great Nephew's first birthday party. Jon and Laura are having the party at their home.

It'll be nice to get out of town for the day, as we will be doing again next Saturday night when we go watch the Pittsburgh Pirates play the Sand Diego Padres at PNC Park. Morgantown native Jedd Gyorko is the Padres Second Baseman. So that's a couple of Saturdays planned.

Hope everyone has a great day and a greater weekend.

Hi ho hi ho