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Friday, September 30, 2016

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.

Looking for a little bit of High School Football action? Well the Morgantown Mohigans off their loss last week to Martinsburg will be at home again this week as they take on Musselman. University High who is also licking their wounds from a loss last week will be hosting Greenbriar East and Clay Battelle will be hosting Tygarts Valley. All three High Schools play at home this week, so there is a lot to choose from.

It may be Friday, but I'll be working all weekend on my other job for RTI. I'll be busy for a while as we start a new quarter tomorrow and will have until the end of the year to complete it. We're a little behind in West Virginia to achieve our year end goal, so this quarters cased load is a little heavy and weighted down in an attempt to get our numbers up. Challenge accepted.

If anyone is bored tomorrow, Chad is moving from his apartment in Westover to his new Apartment by the Stadium and can use any assistance anyone would like to offer. No help will be refused and all would be appreciated.

Have yourselves a great day today.

Hi ho hi ho

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Photo Flashback Thursday



Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out to reflect upon the 30,000+ pictures that I have either taken with my camera, scanned or just simply stolen from the internet. Little lost moments in time that I like to post up and recollect with everyone. I think it's very healthy to remember who we are and where we have come from. Sometimes this is a task to find that one special picture and sometimes it's pretty easy. I't always my most enjoyable post of the week and as much fun as a barrel of Monkeys.

This weeks pic goes back to 2010, Michelle and I had just went and seen Jimmy Buffet in concert the day before and we decided to go to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Amish Country for a couple of days, after the concert. We made it a long weekend and was probably the last weekend that we really didn't go on vacation anywhere.

On our way we stopped where Michelle is from and we surprised her Dad at his Pro Shop as we headed West. This is his old shop as he rents out this space now and is actually located at the East Liverpool Country Club now.

Have yourselves a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

We're Doing it Again

We have our 2017 cruise booked as of Monday night. Carnival had a deal with $50 Deposits so we jumped on that to secure our room for next year.

I know big surprise right? We usually wait until February to book our cruise, but last year we booked this years cruise while on the ship. This year we waited a week after we got off to book the next one...lol

We will be leaving September 10th and will once again be doing the same Ports of Call as we really like Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay. Funny thing is we have never been able to book the same room two years in a row until this year, the room we are standing in in this picture will be our room next September when we depart for our 6th cruise.

Many of the same people take this cruise every year and we have made a few cruising friends along the way that we will once again be visiting next year.

Woo Hoo

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well that return to work Monday after a month off of them is now behind me, I can start concentrating on a Tuesday and do the first tidbits that I have done in a few weeks.

* I know you guys have missed this count, it has been 19,294 wonderful days since my birth. Depending on if you use the traditional 365 day or the new and improved 905 day calendar to determine my age, let me just help everyone by stating that I am still 21.

* It has been 4,517 days since I Graduated from West Virginia University.

* 3,118 days ago I took this recently widowed woman out for a date, she hasn't managed to dump me yet so I must have done something right.

* It was 2,342 days ago that I proposed to Michelle. 4:00 AM and she was up and ready for it as she knew it was coming, and she thinks she is the lucky one.

* It was 1,879 days ago that Michelle and I had our wedding in front of our closest friends and family at the Marilla Center here in Morgantown.

* I have around 5,553 days to go or so until I enter that wonderful age of retirement, give or take a few hundred here or there of course as you never know what may happen.

* There are 2,181 days to go until WVU and Pitt once again face each other on the gridiron in football.

* There are 313 days left until mine and Michelle's Fifth Wedding Anniversary together. These are the best years of my life without question.

* There are 270 more days to go until Calvin and Jeanetta's Wedding next June.

* My favorite season of the year returns in 174 more days as we welcome Spring 2017.

* Phil the famous Groundhog will have his day in 128 more days as we celebrate Ground Hogs Day, the day we all turn to a rodent to be our meteorologist.

* My Goodbye 2016 blog where I recount the previous year based on what was written here will be published in 97 more days.

* There are only 89 more days to go until Christmas, Michelle and I have seen a lot of the local stores are starting to put up Christmas Decorations.

* Have I ever mentioned that I Hate Snow. An inch or so Christmas Eve just to cover the ground is nice, but that is all I want to see of it.

* There are 65 more days to go until the next anniversary of my 21st Birthday.

* We are going to try to go to the Springs Festival in 11 more days, but that all depends on my secondary job with RTI and how busy I will be.

* This is my 4,611th Blog in the now 12+ years that I have been blogging.

* We are planning on doing a Pumpkin Carving on October 8th, details to come if you want to participate just let us know.

* I still have not taken any of the pictures or videos off of any of my Cameras from vacation. I am definitely slacking this year in that department.

* We have ordered our iPhones, but we are still waiting for them to come. My Sister Kim's should be arriving today. I'm jealous.

* Chad will be moving this weekend from his Apartment in Westover to one closer to the Hospital and his work.

* Hayley's boyfriend Josh starts a new job today, don't have too much on the details of it all other than it's back in the oil and gas industry.

* I did get a chance to speak with Tonya this weekend, her and Gary are doing well and they have a new place that Gary is working on in Wheeling. He's working multiple jobs and staying busy, the start of rebuilding everything.

* Have yourselves a great day today and make the very most of it.

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday, September 26, 2016

Just Another Manic Monday

Well I knew that this day would come, I've managed to avoid working the past three Mondays due to the Holiday and our Vacation time. Now I have to get back at it and finally have to acknowledge that another work filled Monday has fallen upon me once again. I had a good run...lol

Well I guess this is a start of a long stretch of time where I will be working both my jobs for a while, my regular career it's just business as usual but for RTI we are gearing up again for another quarter and like I have said before this will be a very busy time for me.

I guess my Sister Kim has ordered a few iPhones, the jet black ones that they are pushing the delivery date back to December for and hers are on their way. Michelle and I ordered a couple but not the black ones, they are not scheduled to ship for another month though. I anticipate getting them much sooner though, they always leave themselves a large window to exceed expectations when they are shipped.

I guess Soda Stream is going back to their original formula and flavors, last year they changed the formula, but the servings per container in half and even raised the price no longer making it anywhere near feasible to use their product. Sorry guys, you guys are a few dollars short and way too late on doing this. My guess is the majority of the market they once enjoyed is now gone as most retailers aren't stocking their product like they once did. I enjoyed them while I used them, but mine sits under the shelf now as it got pretty expensive.

Have yourselves a great day today as I start this long stretch.

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Sunday Morning Rambling Part 2

Here I sit yet once again on a quiet Sunday Morning part 2. Would you believe that I had actually written my blog and published it and then like an absolute brain fart, I deleted it right after I posted it for some reason. Talk about an absolute brain fart. The sad thing is I published the winning numbers for this weeks Powerball drawing that is coming up and I have forgotten them now. Oh the Humanity!!!!!

Well WVU managed to hold on to beat BYU yesterday afternoon 35-32 in DC. It wasn't exactly our best game of the year as special teams were losing the battle of field position all day long, the defense could not stop their offense but did manage to get turn overs at the most opportune time and the offense was brilliant, until they needed to be and then they left you scratching your head and wondering what are they thinking or trying to do. But alas, we walked out with a 35-32 win and we have moved to 3-0 on the season. Bring on the Big XII.

Today for Michelle and I is just going to be a routine day, Grocery shopping and then stopping at Phoenix Bakery to pick up some artisan treats and returning home. Michelle is a little bit under the weather with a sore throat so we won't get into too much today.

This is going to be my last day off for a while as the next quarter for RTI begins this Saturday and I will have the heaviest case load that I have had yet and will be doing the most traveling that I have done for a quarter, so I am going to be very busy between now and the time I go to St Louis in January for re-certification.

Have yourselves a relaxing day and make the most of it.

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit in a semi -quiet household, oh who am I fooling Michelle has been up way before me and I have slept in this morning. I must still be in cruise mode and still think I am on vacation...lol

Are you ready for some Football today? WVU has traveled to DC today and will be playing the BYU Cougars in the first ever meeting between the two schools. Game is at 3:30 this afternoon, be sure to tune in watch, this could be a very good and a very competitive game between the two schools.

Well Michelle and I have ordered our new iPhones, we are both getting the 7 Plus's with the 256 GB HD's. Believe it or nit AT&T is giving me $650 in credits for one of my old ones (one per customer) when our new ones ship in late October. It does kind of suck having to wait so long, but we are getting what we want and since we both are getting the larger phones will have to wait. We did both buy a pair of Beats Solo2's that work through bluetooth just the same as ear pods for our new phones. Michelle got the Rose Gold to match her new iPhone and her iWatch and I got the Gold one to match my new iPhone. These things are amazing and have been designed to work with the iPhone.

October 8th I think we are going to have a little family get together, we're going to get some Pumpkins and get together and carve them up and decorate them. Michelle can get everyone a great price as BFS just bought $10,000 worth of them. If you want in just let us know so we can make arrangements.

Have yourselves a great day today.

Happy Birthday Kaiden Dalton

I would like to take this opportunity to wish my Great-Nephew Kaiden Dalton a very Happy Birthday today. He is a growing boy and is starting to catch up to me in age, give it another 14 years and he'll pass me up in age.

Kaiden is a very good and well behaved young man and it is actually an honor to be around him.


Not sure what Kaiden is up to today, other than working towards his Doctorate in Nuclear Physics (yeah I know it's early), but if you happen to see Kaiden today, make sure you wish him the Happiest of Birthdays.

Happy Birthday Kaiden.

Friday, September 23, 2016

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.

Are you ready for a little bit of High School Football action? Well tonight is the night. Martinsburg comes to Morgantown to take on the Mohigans, this is going to be a battle of two undefeated teams and should be a good indicator who may be playing in Wheeling this December. University High travels to Fairmont to play Fairmont Sr and Clay Battelle travels to Valley Wetzel this evening. Good luck to all Monongailia County teams this evening.

No plans for Michelle and I this weekend, Hayley and Josh are running to Ohio this weekend so we will probably not get into too much other than dog sitting for a couple of days. Josh is starting a new job in a couple of days and wants to return to Ohio to visit his Grandfather before he starts his new job.

This is probably going to be my last weekend off in some time, the quarter starts for RTI next weekend and I have twice as large of a case load this time as I did the previous quarter, plus I will do significantly more traveling to each segment this coming quarter. I'm not in Morgantown or Monongalia County this time around. I should be busy up until I go to St Louis in January with Michelle.

Have yourselves a great day today.

Hi ho hi ho

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Photo Flashback Thursday




Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out, time to reflect on days gone by that I have captured in pictures. Little lost moments in time that we are allowed to relive once again because someone had a camera handy and captured the moment. I like to select one of those lost moments in time and write a little something about it, briefly reliving a time and maybe stirring a few memories of some of my readers of yesteryear. Sometimes these are really easy pictures to find, it just jumps out at you saying pick me pick me. Sometimes it seems like you have looked at all the pictures over and over and it's hard to make a decision. One thing that always stands true though is that I always enjoy myself looking through the pictures.

This weeks picture goes all the way back to 2011, right after mine and Michelle's wedding. We went on a honeymoon to Ocean City, Maryland for a few days to celebrate. That was a time period of run, run, run, run, run the entire time that we were there.

This picture was taken the morning right before we were getting ready to leave and come back home. One thing that has always fascinated me was sunrises, especially sunrises over the ocean. It's something I wake up every morning to on our cruises just so I can witness it, and I drug Michelle a couple blocks out of the bed to let her witness it with me at Ocean City. I do have to say that I enjoy it much more from our balcony on the ship.

Have yourselves a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Midweek

We finally made it back to work yesterday, I swear going back to the office after a nice vacation is good and bad. It's good because you have been given the chance to relax and it's bad because vacation is over with. What a bummer on that part of it..lol

I still have a few pictures and videos to take off of the cameras from vacation, but nothing like years past as we primarily used our iPhones to take the vast majority of the pictures so that we could immediately upload them to Facebook.

Michelle and I made it over to the new Hobby Lobby Monday afternoon, I am so glad that we now have one in Morgantown. We like the one in Robinson Township but we don't get up there that often and I think ours is bigger than the one in Washington Pa. I think it it were up to Michelle she would have planted her feet into the floor and taken root as she loves that store.

With all the choas and travel this past week, I forgot to wish my nephew Calvin a very Happy 21st Birthday on my blog, but I expressed my sentiments on Facebook.

Have yourselves a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

No Tuesday's Tidbits today

I'm not going to do a tidbits today, it's the most time consuming blog of the week that I do, and after being out of the country for the last week and so many things being needed done I really didn't have time to write it.

First off the cruise, eventful to say the least. When we arrived at the terminal the Internet went down, meaning that they could not process credit cards to park, good thing we had cash on us or we would probably still be sitting and waiting.

We had to miss a port Freeport, due to Hurricane Julia but that is our least favorite port so no big deal.

Coming back into Baltimore there was an active shooter on the by the terminal so it was shut down and we were delayed getting off of the ship.

That is the short and sweet of it all, now I'm back to work.

Hi ho hi ho

Monday, September 19, 2016

One More Day

Every year we take our cruise, we always extend it one more day so that we can get organized from the week of vacation and get everything ready for the rest of the week. So we extend that vacation just one more day to recover from all the relaxation.

It's time to put the cruise behind me and stick it into our bank of memories.

Tomorrow it will be time to return to work, I've been off a total of 10 days now and it's just time to get ready to head back to the office to see what it is that I have missed. It has been a nice little break, now it's time to start planning fall festivities.

Have yourselves a great day.

Sunday, September 18, 2016

Back in Baltimore and Debarkation

As Michelle and I embark upon our fifth Cruise and enjoy our vacation, I will also be taking a little break as a blogger and writing some pre-written canned blogs. You can check more of what we are into on mine or Michelle's Facebook Page.

You can follow us on either the Front Web Cam, the Aft Webcam or just simply be tracking our location.

Well today is the day that we say goodbye to the big red fin that we have come to love so much. It's a day for us to debark off the ship and get in Pearl and jump on the interstate and head back to the Mountains of West Virginia. This concludes mine and Michelle's fifth cruise giving us 35 days sailed at sea so far.

By the time this posts we will be back in the Bay and I will have cell phone reception for the first time since last Sunday evening. Hopefully you have enjoyed the pictures that we have shared on Facebook with everyone and enjoyed our vacation with us.

Take Me Home Country Roads.

Saturday, September 17, 2016

A Return Home Day at Sea

As Michelle and I embark upon our fifth Cruise and enjoy our vacation, I will also be taking a little break as a blogger and writing some pre-written canned blogs. You can check more of what we are into on mine or Michelle's Facebook Page.

You can follow us on either the Front Web Cam, the Aft Webcam or just simply be tracking our location.

Well today is what I usually call the most boring day of the trip. This is after you have already hit your three Ports of Call and are on your way back to Baltimore. We'll be coming at the Atlantic Coast hugging the shelf on this return trip. Today is a day of sales on the ship. It's almost comical to watch these ladies fight for these trinkets. Today is also the Groove for St, Jude day, were they will be selling these T-shirts and all the proceeds will go to St Judes Hospital.

We will be listening to our cruise director all day telling us about tomorrows debarkation and we will get one final song and dance from our dinner waitstaff. I can't say enough about these people, they are what makes the cruise so much fun.

This is our last full day on the boat, I'll be sunning, relaxing and getting ready for tomorrow.

Friday, September 16, 2016

Freeport

As Michelle and I embark upon our fifth Cruise and enjoy our vacation, I will also be taking a little break as a blogger and writing some pre-written canned blogs. You can check more of what we are into on mine or Michelle's Facebook Page.

You can follow us on either the Front Web Cam, the Aft Webcam or just simply be tracking our location.

Today Michelle and I will be visiting our third and final port of call, Freeport the Bahamas. This year we will definately stop by the shops right outside of the port. We always go there and buy a new hand made Christmas ornament every year to add to our Christmas Tree. This wonderful woman here with my wife is the woman we buy our ornament from every year.

We are going to switch it up a little in Freeport this year. In years passed we have traveled to Port Lucia, spent time around the local shops shopping and this year we are are going to do a little catamaran snorkeling in Freeport for the first time. This will be the first excursion that we will have went on other than the Faster to the Fun we purchase every year for priority boarding and tendering.

Hope it'll be a great day, I'm excited about exploring new waters to snorkel for the first time.



Thursday, September 15, 2016

Half Moon Cay

As Michelle and I embark upon our fifth Cruise and enjoy our vacation, I will also be taking a little break as a blogger and writing some pre-written canned blogs. You can check more of what we are into on mine or Michelle's Facebook Page.

You can follow us on either the Front Web Cam, the Aft Webcam or just simply be tracking our location.

Today we will once again be snorkeling, but today it will be at our second port of call Half Moon Cay, which is Carnival's private island that they own. We'll have to tender on and off of the island, as the waters are too shallow to stick a pier, but I'm hearing that may be in the future plans. I have to say of anyplace on this earth that I have ever been, that Half Moon Cay is my favorite. Michelle and I both love it here. We will be treated to a nice luncheon on the island prepared by our wonderful culinary staff and I'm sure there will be a photo op or two today.

I'll be snorkeling in the Caribbean today at my favorite spot, today is not going to suck...lol

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Grand Turk


As Michelle and I embark upon our fifth Cruise and enjoy our vacation, I will also be taking a little break as a blogger and writing some pre-written canned blogs. You can check more of what we are into on mine or Michelle's Facebook Page.

You can follow us on either the Front Web Cam, the Aft Webcam or just simply be tracking our location.

Today Michelle and I land in our first port of call, Grand Turk. This is a place where there is a Margaritaville on the Island, but Michelle and I will go and visit Topher today and maybe even get our pictures taken with him once again.

One thing Michelle and I love to do is Snorkel and this year is going to be no different than before when we stopped here. The water is absolutely crystal clear and beautiful, snorkeling in these waters is almost surreal.

That'll be our day.

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Second Day at Sea

As Michelle and I embark upon our fifth Cruise and enjoy our vacation, I will also be taking a little break as a blogger and writing some pre-written canned blogs. You can check more of what we are into on mine or Michelle's Facebook Page.

You can follow us on either the Front Web Cam, the Aft Webcam or just simply be tracking our location.

The image you see was from last years cruise, but this is what I will be waking up to every morning this week, hopefully it will be a little bit less cloudy.

We are once again at seas in transit to our destination. Today will be a fun day on the ship as they will probably do the Hasbro Game Show or the Couples Test on the stage today. There will be no shortness of any activities as we start to prepare for tomorrow and our first port of call.

Enjoy yourselves today, I will be.

Monday, September 12, 2016

First Day at Sea

As Michelle and I embark upon our fifth Cruise and enjoy our vacation, I will also be taking a little break as a blogger and writing some pre-written canned blogs. You can check more of what we are into on mine or Michelle's Facebook Page.

You can follow us on either the Front Web Cam, the Aft Webcam or just simply be tracking our location.

Well we are well underway on our way to Grand Turk, but it will take us a couple of days to get there. We'll be entering the deepest part of the ocean today for our trip today and tomorrow as we leave the continental shelf. We'll be in waters that range from 20,000 ft to 25,000 feet as make our way to Grand Turk.

Tonight will be the first Formal Night of the cruise, this is when we get all dressed up to eat lobster and take pictures. The picture that you see here is me and my lovely wife last year on the first formal night.

Time to go soak up the sun.



Sunday, September 11, 2016

12 Years

Today marks a very significant day for me, it was 12 years ago today that I first typed my first post into this blog. It was a day that I just wanted to try something, I saw this new thing called blogger and thought that I would give it the old college try and see how that worked out for me.

12 years later, I'm still here, well actually I'm about to get on a cruise ship and enjoy myself, but this blog is still here.

I guess you could say that I will be on vacation from blogging this week.

Thank you all for reading my thoughts, ramblings, redundancy and my idiocricy through the years and allowing me to share 12 years of my life with you.

Embarkation Day

As Michelle and I embark upon our fifth Cruise and enjoy our vacation, I will also be taking a little break as a blogger and writing some pre-written canned blogs. You can check more of what we are into on mine or Michelle's Facebook Page.

Well today is Embarkation Day, this is when all of the people who are on my ship right now get off and we get to get on the ship. This is the day we go through customs and sit and wait. We'll get on the ship around 1:30 and about 4:00 we'll have the required safety briefing that you have to sit through before you go out in the Ocean. It's just the standard requirement you do before every cruise.

It's going to be a day of waiting, but this is where the fun begins.

Tonight we will have our first dinner on the ship and we will get to meet the other couple with whom we will be dining throughout the cruise. We have been blessed to have dined with some great couples on each cruise, each of which we have remained in contact with.

Bon Voyage


Saturday, September 10, 2016

Travel Day and Start of Vacation

As Michelle and I embark upon our fifth Cruise and enjoy our vacation, I will also be taking a little break as a blogger and writing some pre-written canned blogs. You can check more of what we are into on mine or Michelle's Facebook Page.

Today Michelle and I will jump on the interstate and spend this evening in Baltimore Maryland. We will be staying at the same hotel we stayed at the first year, as the one we have had booked the last three is completely booked up and unavailable.

We are probably not going to run down to the Inner Harbor this year, we've seen it enough times that the excitement is gone. Guy Fieri has a Kitchen and Bar that we have reservations at Saturday Night. Caesars has a casino next door to our hotel, when we stayed there a few years ago it was an empty lot.

Wish us Luck.

Friday, September 09, 2016

Big Ole Hairy Start if Vacation 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 and the start of this Bloggers yearly vacation.

The next ten days worth of blogs that you will read were all pre-written a few weeks ago and each will be generic but will coordinate with our trip to the Caribbean. I may write a live blog tomorrow or Sunday Morning, depending on how I feel and that will be it until we return.

A lot of events going on around Morgantown this evening. In High School Football all three area teams are at home this weekend. Morgantown hosts Parkersburg South, University hosts Brooke and Clay Battelle hosts Valley Wetzel.

If you are a music fan, the brown lot near the law school is the place to be this evening. Brad Paisley is in town to give a free concert this evening and send Michelle and I off on our vacation.

Have yourselves a great day, I'm ready to get this party started.

Hi ho hi ho

Thursday, September 08, 2016

Photo Flashback Thursday




I'm going to change my photo flashback Thursday a little bit this week. Every year we go on a cruise people ask to see a tour of the boat so they know what we are experiencing.

Last year I did a tour of the Pride when we were in Freeport, enjoy the ship we are going to be on next week.

Short blog, have a great day.

Wednesday, September 07, 2016

Hump Day

I'm ready for the weekend already like no other week during this year, we just need to get up and over this noon time hump and start working towards my vacation.

I'm loving this time of the year, mainly because not only are Michelle and I going on vacation, I also take my yearly break as a blogger. With all of next weeks blogs already written and a special Photo Flashback coming up tomorrow that has already been written, I'll have one more blog that I need to write before we leave and that will be the Big Ole Hairy Friday Blog.

Tomorrows blog will be a 50 minute tour of the Carnival Pride that I did last year while we were in Freeport. The ship was pretty much empty so I took the opportunity to do a first hand tour of the Pride deck by deck for everyone to see. No background music as I will be narrating the video telling you what you see and even telling you how Carnival got to be known as the "Fun Ship". Be sure to tune in tomorrow.

Have yourselves a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday, September 06, 2016

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well our three day Memorial Day Holiday Weekend is done, now it's time to head back to the office for a few days.

* It has been 19,273 days since I first set foot on this planet, now using my math and my new and improved 905 days calendar, which I should trademark™, that makes me just 21 years old.

* 4,496 day ago I fulfilled a lifetime dream and graduated from West Virginia University, my hometown University and Alma Mater. Now we are starting to get close to the best part of having the students here, Football Season.

* 3,097 days ago I was fortunate enough to take a very special lady out for a night on the town, we did Pizza and a movie that was horrible and that was the start of the rest of my life.

* 2,321 days ago I proposed marriage to Michelle, I had made her wait until a certain number of days, but she knew it was coming and said yes.

* 1,858 days ago in front of our closest friends and family at the Marilla Center, Michelle and I exchanged our marital vows and became husband and wife. It was the most special day of my life and the one that I hold dearest to my heart.

* I have around 5,564 days to go until I retire, give or take a few hundred here or there depending on how I feel.

* We are 2,202 days away from the Backyard Brawl being renewed when WVU and Pitt will once again take the field and the Mountaineers will once again whip that pathetic ACC rear end into the ground. Panther meat for sale the next day.

* There are 334 days to go until Michelle and my sixth Wedding Anniversary.

* My nephew Calvin and his GF Jeanetta will be getting married in 291 days from now. They have their wedding website up and running and are doing all kinds of planning.

* My favorite season of the year is Spring, which were are just a mere 195 days away from =)

* Phil the Groundhog takes center stage in 149 more days where he will predict our next 6 weeks worth of weather. Phil is my buddy and once again will not disappoint me, I have faith.,

* My Goodbye 2016 blog where I relive everything that was posted in my blog over the last year will appear here in just 117 more days.

* I still haven't seen WalMart put up Christmas stuff just yet, but it's getting closer as there are only 110 more days to go until Christmas. I say give it until next weekend and we'll start seeing it.

* The next anniversary of my 21st Birthday will be in just another 86 more days.

* We tried to make it to the Springs Festival last year but the weather was not cooperative, we'll try it again in 32 more days. It's a great place to go and see if you have never been there.

* Our fifth Sea Cruise will take place in 5 more days when we set sail out of Baltimore once again. Everything is already booked, paid for including out hotel room and we're just counting the days down until we head east. Here is the AFT Deck cam of what is going on right now.

* This is my 4,588th blog that I have written for George's Journal. I'm going on 12 years as a blogger while I am on my cruise. What a way to celebrate anniversaries of blogging.

* The Hall Family Tree is still up and running with 370 members in the database and that will continue to grow this fall. I've added the DNA .GED file, so we'll see if that generates any information which it hasn't yet.

* There will be another free concert this week,  Brad Paisley in the brown lot by the Law School on September 9th.

* I still think down the road I would like to assemble a few people for a team to take on the Morgantown Escape Room. The cost is $25 per person and to have an intuitive mind that can help with the solution. I'm starting to ask around and getting a pretty good response for that. I'm thinking sometime after our cruise.

* We have actually started organizing for packing for our cruise, I'm starting to anticipate it now.

* I have all of my blogs for vacation written and ready to go, it's time for a blogger vacation as well as my normal vacation.

* Our kickball game for this weekend was rescheduled, there just was not enough response for the game so we are going to try to reschedule it at a later date.

* Yesterday for the first time, I became officially bald as I shaved the remaining hairs from my head. Smooth as a baby's butt.

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday, September 05, 2016

Labor Day

Well last Monday I declared when I take over the world there will be no more Mondays. World domination complete, everyone can take the day off today and most of you can even get paid for it. We shall call in Labor Day.

Happy Labor Day everyone, go ahead and stretch that weekend out one more day, you have earned it. Even though it is the unofficial end of Summer, we still have almost three weeks left, it's a time that indicates the end of the summer. The kids are back in school and College Football season has began.

No plans for us today, then again we really didn't get into a whole lot yesterday as we did a little bit of running around preparing for the end of this week when we head off to Baltimore to catch the Carnival Pride once again and head the the Caribbean. So this time next week I will be out in the Atlantic Ocean looking at some beautiful blue water.

Have yourselves a great day today and enjoy it to the absolute fullest, you have earned this day off. Signed the guy who just took over the world bwa ha ha ha ha.

Enjoy it while it lasts.

Sunday, September 04, 2016

Sunday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit yet once again on a quiet Sunday Morning, I'm the first to recover from getting knocked out by that dreaded Sandman last night and I am up watching Not Another Teen Movie on HBO and trying to wake up.

The WVU Mountaineers opened there 2016 season in positive fashion, beating the Missouri Tigers 26-11 in front of 60,125 fans yesterday at Milan Puskar Stadium at Mountaineer Field. I was hearing a lot of hype from SEC Commentators about Missouri pulling the upset and WVU just being a bottom feeder, but the score was closer than the game as Missouri's touchdown came late in the game. The Mountaineers are at home again next week against Youngstown State.

Well due to a lack of responses our family kickball game that was scheduled for this afternoon has been postponed. We'll try again at a later date, I know I have been battling the flu this past week and with our cruise coming up this weekend I want to be as healthy as possible.

Typical Sunday planned for us, nothing new or exciting. We will once again get to use the new Bill Stewart Exit after grocery shopping this morning to do the rest of our errands. We drove on it Friday evening just to do it as we have watched this whole exit develop over the last couple of years.

Have yourselves a great day and enjoy your Sunday knowing that tomorrow is a Holiday.

Saturday, September 03, 2016

It's Gameday

Here I sit yet one again in a quiet household, this is the quiet before the start of the storm that is known as college football. I'm up collecting my thoughts for the day and have no idea what is on the TV behind me.

Today is the start of the College Football Season here in Morgantown. The West Virginia Mountaineers kick off their season today against the Missouri Tigers here at Milan Puskar Stadium.

The Sea of RV's is already here and I'm sure that there will be people walking around soon with the "I Need Tickets" signs trying to buy up all the extra tickets to resell them later this morning. The Pride of West Virginia is probably starting to assemble at the stadium for their pre-game rehearsal before coming back in their uniforms. Tailgates and traffic will be main thing we see this morning, all coming into town and preparing for today's noon time game.

I am ready for the start of college football.

Go Mountaineers.

Thursday, September 01, 2016

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 and a THREE DAY HOLIDAY WEEKEND!!!!!!

I have to say that it is the end of an era here in Morgantown. Every Friday I post a Big Ole Hairy Friday Blog, I borrowed the phrase from the Eric and Kevin show here in Morgantown years ago and have just adopted it as my own. Wednesday evening I and other WVAQ listeners got some bad news. The Kevin Connolly Show has been canceled abruptly and will not return. Morgantown lost of piece of itself, Kevin has been the voice of many of our mornings for 18 years and now the show is gone like a puff of smoke. To Kevin I have to say thank you, you have given this city so many memories and were a part of our routine in the morning for so long. Good Luck in stealing second base and finishing law school, this town will always remember what you have accomplished first with Eric and later with Sarah and Adam. If you have extra time you have a spot on the old farts softball league team.

WVAQ will have a new morning show in a few weeks, hosted by Jack Logar, but they will never replace the remnants of EMRN.

With that being said there is High School Football on tap for tonight. Clay Battelle hosts Beallsville Ohio, Morgantown travels to Brooke and University High travels to Parkersburg South this evening.

It's a three day holiday weekend here, get out and enjoy yourselves.

Hi ho hi ho


Photo Flashback Thursday




Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out, time to reflect on days gone by that I have captured in pictures. Little lost moments in time that we are allowed to relive once again because someone had a camera handy and captured the moment. I like to select one of those lost moments in time and write a little something about it, briefly reliving a time and maybe stirring a few memories of some of my readers of yesteryear. Sometimes these are really easy pictures to find, it just jumps out at you saying pick me pick me. Sometimes it seems like you have looked at all the pictures over and over and it's hard to make a decision. One thing that always stands true though is that I always enjoy myself looking through the pictures and in this case a video.

No specific picture this week, but I did come across this video that I did at the beginning of the year reliving 2015 through mine and Michelle's eyes or how it was seen with our video camera. It was nice for me to look back at our year last year, everything from Niagara Falls to Christmas. I had a lot of fun doing this video last year and will probably do another one just like it for 2016 at the end of the year.

Enjoy our 2015.

Hi ho hi ho