Wednesday

Well once again that is two days down, now and all we have to do is get up and over this noon time hump and it will be all downhill as we work towards another fun filled weekend.

Sammy found himself a friend this morning, I saw him sitting and talking to our traveling Steelers gnome, the gnome was probably telling him about snorkeling in the Caribbean and how he was on the beach this year but was stuck in his bag and didn't get into the water.

Oh what is new what is new. Pretty much nothing, it's the middle of an uneventful workweek and we're just chugging along day by day. Sammy is the only one in the household that is having fun, well other than Peanut, May and Gracie, but they always seem to have fun. Animals are all pretty easily amused, well 75% of the ones that live with us, Sophie is just an old cranky cat who is very particular how she likes things. I guess we all get like that when we get up there in age.

Have yourselves a great day today, live it to the fullest and fill it with memories for others.

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesdays Tidbits

* This is where I would say we have that dreaded Monday past us, but my days just seem to be running together right now but I will acknowledge that it is Tuesday and I'm going to do another fact filled and educational tidbits.

* I know you guys have missed this count, it has been 19,357 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.

* There have been 4,580 days that have gone by since I Graduated from WVU, that in itself seems like yesterday and it has been 12 years in itself. Best career decision that I ever made.

* It was 3,181 days ago that Michelle and I went out on our very first date together, both of our lives have changed significantly for the better since that fateful night despite the movie being really bad. I do not recommend 10,000 BC as a must see movie...lol

* It has been 2,405 days since I proposed marriage to my wonderful wife, I enjoy each and every day that I get to spend with her, even if it is for only a few minutes.

* We are in day 1,942 of Marital bliss and still going strong, I am a very fortunate man to have such a wonderful woman in my life.

* I have about 5,480 or so days to go until my retirement, give or take a few hundred here or there and depending on how I feel.

* There are only 2,118 days to go until the Backyard Brawl in football takes the field once again. WVU and Pitt have a few Basketball games scheduled in the future, but it is Football where we want to kick their asses. =) Bring it on boys.

* There are but a mere 367 more days to go until I celebrate yet another anniversary of my 21st Birthday. I've lost count as to how many anniversaries this will have been. Heck I even forget how old I really am....lol

* There are 312 more days to go until we once again attend the Springs Festival.

* Our next cruise is 285 days away. We both really like the cruise we take and the ports of call that we visit, hence why we keep repeating this same cruise. When you find something you like, why change it.

* There are only 250 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Sixth Wedding Anniversary together. I am the luckiest man in the world.

* There are 207 more days to go until Calvin and Jeanetta's Wedding next June, she has put together this very informative website for everyone to use.

* My favorite season of the year is a mere 111 days away when Spring 2017 finally arrives. I know a lot of people like watching the leaves change, I'm a rebirth of the foliage kind of guy as I Hate Snow

* My buddy Phil the Groundhog takes center stage in 65 more days when he forecasts the weather on Ground Hogs Day. Hey Phil, what would it take for a favorable forecast this year?

* I have 32 more days to go until my Goodbye 2016 blog is written, where I relive the previous year based on what has been written right here. Hopefully I'll have some nice things to say.

* If you are planning your shopping, you have 26 more days to go until Christmas, it's time to start planning and shopping. Black Friday is just a few days away.

* This is my 4,676th blog that I have written for George's Journal in the now 12 1/4 years that I have been writing it. That is a lot of thoughts as well as a lot of words that I have typed in for everyone to read.

* No work yest this fall on the Hall Family Tree, as soon as things slow down a little bit I'm going to start working on that again. It's time as the days are shorter, the weather is colder and we've about closed out this quarter for RTI.

* Nothing new on the brother search, the DNA tests returned a few second cousins and beyond, but nothing close to a brother.....yet. I still have faith that something, sometime and someday will turn up.

* The WVU Women's Soccer Team is still ranked #1 in the country. They have won their first 4 NCAA Tournament games and are on their way to the Final 4!!!!!!!! Bring it Home!!!

* The WVU Football team is now ranked 13th in the Coaches Poll and 14th in the AP after this weekends win over Iowa State. Baylor and a 10 win season is up next.

* The Mountaineer Nation lost one of it's greatest fans this past week, Roger "Big Cat" Soccorsi has passed away and will be greatly missed.

* I got called for Grand Jury duty in early January, I submitted my paperwork to attempt to get out of it due to the conflict with my business travel those same days. The clerk doesn't think it will be a problem, and I should hear something in the next few days. RTI is working it from their end as well.

* Michelle has bought me something that I have wanted for Christmas, it will allow me to do some very unique things at family gatherings and events. It's a new early technology that I may be one of if not the first in Morgantown to have. I have not seen it sold in any local stores yet and it is photography related. 360° images and HD videos. It will allow me to do something very special.

* I got my jacket back that I losat in Terra Alta =)

* Have I ever mentioned before that I Hate Snow!!!!!....A Lot.

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

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday

Well all good things must unfortunately come to an end and that includes those wonderful things that refer to as extended Holiday weekends. Now it is time for us to all put our collective noses back on the grindstone for anther fun filled week of working while Sammy and Yoda Claus keep a watchful on on our home.

Today and tomorrow's big agenda, is to try to be removed from my Summons for the Grand Jury in January. The dates conflict with my 2017 certification for RTI and mine and Michelle's trip to St. Louis on the same dates. One of the ways to get out of it is if you have a pre-scheduled vacation which I do and have both Mine and Michelle's plane ticket to show for it. RTI is also working on  it on their end and hopefully we will have a resolution for this in a few days. I have no problem serving on the Grand Jury, and if the local one is anything like the Federal one which I was called for a few years ago, it's a year long assignment. I would love to serve (this is the third time I have been called for Jury Duty and the second for a Grand Jury), but it's the dates that conflict with my schedule.

Other than that it is a normal schedule of working this week after the Thanksgiving break. I'm pretty much done with RTI for the quarter and this quarter was bigger than my second and third quarter combined, plus all kinds of travel with this quarter, so I am quite happy with what I have accomplished. Next quarters load will not be as heavy and will be local to me from my understanding. I'm glad that there will not be a lot of travel during the most adverse weather days of the year.

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

Hi ho hi ho

Sammy, the Return

Here I sit once again on a quiet Sunday Morning when I notice that we have a house guest returning. Making his 2017 coincidentally on the exact same day as Michelle decorated our Christmas Tree is Sammy the Elf on a Shelf.

You may remember Sammy from my blog last year, he showed up and seemed to be moving around the room and hiding every where. he made his blog debut a little over a year ago and wreaked havoc all through the house last year. Now he is back yet once again upon the household. I'm sure this will not be his last appearance before he takes off and hides again until next year.

As I was out working yesterday my wonderful wife pulled all of our Christmas decorations out and decorated the house for Christmas, hence why Sammy came back, I think he only comes out when the house is decorated. She did a wonderful job this year and I think that we have our best tree ever. Everything on it is personalized and has a story.

Peanut gave her approval as well, I swear she did not leave from under the tree for hours after it was put up. She laid quite comfortably, peacefully and if she had found her special place in this world under our Christmas Tree.

I'm not a big person on winter, snow or the cold climate weather that comes with it, but I absolutely love how the house looks and smells during this time of the year.

Oh and Congratulations to the #1 ranked Women's Soccer team, the West Virginia Mountaineers for punching their ticket for the College Cup (The Final 4) yesterday. We are very proud of you ladies.

The WVU Football team traveled to Ames Iowa and defeated Iowa State 49-19 yesterday afternoon. This moves us to 9-2 on the year with one more regular season game to go. Senior Day will be this coming Saturday and a chance to get 10 regular season wins for the first time since joining the Big XII.

Have yourselves a great day.

Happy Birthday Valarie Nicholson

I would like to take this opportunity to wish my niece Val a very Happy Birthday today.

I can remember the day that she was born like it was only yesterday, although it has been 21+ years since that fateful night. I was at a Morgantown High School Football playoff game and didn't get to see her until the next morning.

Not sure what Val has planned for today, I know Bobby or someone will have something planned for her either last night or this evening.

If you happen to see val today, make sure to wish her a very Happy Birthday today.

Happy Birthday Val.

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit on a quiet Saturday morning, I'm up early watching some old Clint Eastwood movie on the boob tube and collecting my thoughts for the day.

Well yesterday was a very busy but very productive day for Michelle and I. We went and picked up our 2016 Christmas tree and have it in the base and ready to decorate today. It is a much thicker tree than anything we have purchased before, it's actually quite heavy and we had to buy a new stand for it. It's ready to be decorated today.

Last night we met at my Mom's at a time many of us agreed upon. I actually moved my schedule around to accommodate everyone else, but it was only Kim, Brittany, Michelle and I that were the only ones who were there last night. We got her tree up and decorated, they are all set for the 2016 Christmas Season. That tree is really starting to see more and more life since we started this a few years ago.

Today I have to head out into the field for RTI to try to finish up the quarter. This may be my last time out this quarter, so hopefully I can get a few of the pending interviews before they get dropped. I did find out some discouraging news yesterday, I have been summonsed to appear for Grand Jury Duty at the same time I will be in St Louis. I've already bought Michelle's plane ticket and this is my 2017 Certification to work for RTI, so unless I can work something out early next week (I have already purchased plane tickets), St Louis may be a no go this year. We'll have to wait and see, there are numerous people working on trying to fix this roadblock. I would love to serve on the Grand Jury, but I would rather go to St Louis more and actually have a financial investment in that with Michelle's ticket. Hopefully this all works out but I can't do anything till Monday.

Michelle is going to decorate our Christmas Tree this afternoon as I'm out  in the field. Hayley has to take her friend Dusty to Petersburg where she is from for her Baby Shower. Hopefully I shouldn't be out too long today.

Have yourselves a great day today.

Big Ole Hairy NO WAY!!!!

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 middle of an extended weekend for some of us.

Well it is Black Friday and it's the day after everyone is peaceful and loving on each other and now it's the day where you trample on your neighbor to save $5.00 on some piece of junk electronic that you won't care about in two months. Stomp on them good, I'll be safe and sound at home as the madness commences.

Other than that, you can probably go out about 7:00 AM and find the same deals at the same stores, but they will be pretty much empty except for the people working.

Our plans for today include going out this morning and getting our tree to set up. We do a live tree every year so we will get it today, cut it and let the branches expand before we decorate it tomorrow. This evening at 6:00 we are going to do the second part of our bulb decorating/Mom's Christmas tree as we set up Mom's Christmas Tree. It all started last weekend with the decorating of the bulbs and finishes this evening.

I hope everyone had a great turkey day and a great day today as well. Remember that this is the season about love and giving thanks, not trampling your neighbor for the cheap Japanese electronic.

Have a great day

A Thanksgiving Flashback

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out, time to look through my 30,000+ lost moments in time that I have either captured with a lens, scanned or just stolen from some place on the internet. I like to post up one picture and relive it briefly for everyone. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task like today's and sometimes it is a struggle to find that special picture, one this it always is is a whole lot of fun for this writer.

This week I thought I would back it up just one year as this is in fact Thanksgiving. This picture is of the ever illusive Chad who always manages to hide his face before I can manage to get a picture. Last year however I covered the red eye on the camera and and snapped this as he was working in the kitchen at the fire hall.

Today is Thanksgiving and I will see if I can duplicate this somehow again this year. I know Chad will be on the lookout, but I think I can pull this off.

Gobble till you Wobble today and enjoy your Thanksgiving.

Big Ole Hairy Wednesday

Yes it is that time of the year when a very special Thanksgiving week means that it's time to take our noses off of that dreaded Grindstone and go and spend a little bit of time with friends and family. Today is Wednesday and the end of my work week as I will be on Holiday tomorrow and taking a days vacation on Friday.

Tonight after work Michelle and I will be heading over to the Cassville Firehall and help out the family in prepping for tomorrows feast at the Firehall. Tonight will comprise of making home made noodles from scratch, peeling potatoes, baking pies and a number of other tasks. I'll probably be out setting up tables and chairs for tomorrows festivities.

Jim and Chris are asking everyone to bring a covered dish, a 2 liter bottle of your favorite soda and an auction item so that we can once again have an auction after dinner tomorrow. This auction pays for the firehall for the next year so that thanksgiving is not a big financial burden on anyone. We always seem to raise enough money to cover the expenses of the firehall and much of the cost of the raw goods (Turkeys, Potatoes, Eggs, etc)

Have yourselves a great day today and make the most out of this extended holiday weekend.

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* This is where I would say we have that dreaded Monday past us, but my days just seem to be running together right now but I will acknowledge that it is Tuesday and I'm going to do another fact filled and educational tidbits.

* I know you guys have missed this count, it has been 19,350 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.

* There have been 4,573 days that have gone by since I Graduated from WVU, that in itself seems like yesterday and it has been 12 years in itself. Best career decision that I ever made.

* It was 3,174 days ago that Michelle and I went out on our very first date together, both of our lives have changed significantly for the better since that fateful night despite the movie being really bad. I do not recommend 10,000 BC as a must see movie...lol

* It has been 2,398 days since I proposed marriage to my wonderful wife, I enjoy each and every day that I get to spend with her, even if it is for only a few minutes.

* We are in day 1,935 of Marital bliss and still going strong, I am a very fortunate man to have such a wonderful woman in my life.

* I have about 5,487 or so days to go until my retirement, give or take a few hundred here or there and depending on how I feel.

* There are only 2,125 days to go until the Backyard Brawl in football takes the field once again. WVU and Pitt have a few Basketball games scheduled in the future, but it is Football where we want to kick their asses. =) Bring it on boys.

* There are 319 more days to go until we once again attend the Springs Festival.

* Our next cruise is 292 days away. We both really like the cruise we take and the ports of call that we visit, hence why we keep repeating this same cruise. When you find something you like, why change it.

* There are only 257 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Sixth Wedding Anniversary together. I am the luckiest man in the world.

* There are 214 more days to go until Calvin and Jeanetta's Wedding next June, she has put together this very informative website for everyone to use.

* My favorite season of the year is a mere 118 days away when Spring 2017 finally arrives. I know a lot of people like watching the leaves change, I'm a rebirth of the foliage kind of guy as I Hate Snow

* My buddy Phil the Groundhog takes center stage in 72 more days when he forecasts the weather on Ground Hogs Day. Hey Phil, what would it take for a favorable forecast this year?

* I have 39 more days to go until my Goodbye 2016 blog is written, where I relive the previous year based on what has been written right here. Hopefully I'll have some nice things to say.

* If you are planning your shopping, you have 33 more days to go until Christmas, it's time to start planning and shopping. Black Friday is just a few days away.

* There are but a mere 9 more days to go until I celebrate yet another anniversary of my 21st Birthday. I've lost count as to how many anniversaries this will have been. Heck I even forget how old I really am....lol

* This is my 4,668th blog that I have written for George's Journal in the now 12 1/4 years that I have been writing it. That is a lot of thoughts as well as a lot of words that I have typed in for everyone to read.

* No work yest this fall on the Hall Family Tree, as soon as things slow down a little bit I'm going to start working on that again. It's time as the days are shorter, the weather is colder and we've about closed out this quarter for RTI.

* Nothing new on the brother search, the DNA tests returned a few second cousins and beyond, but nothing close to a brother.....yet. I still have faith that something, sometime and someday will turn up.

* The WVU Women's Soccer Team is still ranked #1 in the country. Way to go Girls, I feel an NCAA Title in our future. They won their opening round NCAA Tournament game this past weekend, they won their second round game against Ohio State in Overtime and they beat UCLA in a shootout Sunday. Next up, Duke for a shot at the Final 4.

* The WVU Football team is now ranked 17th in the Coaches Poll and 18th in the AP after this weekends loss to the Oklahoma Sooners. Next up Iowa State.

* We are going to put up my Mom's Christmas tree this Friday evening at 6:00. We decorated the bulbs this past Saturday night.

* I am going to try to go to the 2017 ESRI Federal Users Conference in Februay if we have funding for me to attend. I went last year and would love to re-attend once again this year.

* Thursday is Gobble till you Wobble day. Triptophan overdoses will be a plenty.

* I never got my jacket back last weekend, I'll make one more attempt before I write that jacket off.

* Have I ever mentioned before that I Hate Snow!!!!!....A Lot.

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

* Hi ho hi ho

Back to Work Kind of Monday

I really enjoyed my day of yesterday, it was long overdue in having one. Now it is time to put my nose back on the grindstone and get back to doing what I do. It's going to be a short work week, but it is a work week.

In West Virginia, today is the first day of gun hunting season for bucks, it is probably the most missed day of work or school of the year. Many hunters will be taking to the woods around this time in search of the venison prize that is roaming our hillsides. I would like to wish all of our hunters much luck today and also have a safe hunt, we don't need any news of any fatalities any non-deer wearing blaze orange.

Looking at the week ahead Thanksgiving is coming up this week. Once again we will be heading over to the Cassville Firehall to as we have every year since Michelle and I have been together. You have to love the national goggle till you wobble day.

Have yourselves a great day today and let's all hope that all of our hunters return home this evening.

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday Morning Ramblings

Well here I sit, still up from watching us get totally shellacked by Oklahoma 56-28 in front of a Prime Time ABC National TV audience. Talk about the worst time to completely fall apart, we found it. Justin Crawford did rush for 331 yards, so there are some positives to it all.

The highlight of the day happened in the afternoon and early evening as we all got together and decorated custom Christmas bulbs and decorations to put on my Mother's tree. The kids had a great time and I would like to offer a heart felt thank you to Kim, Robert and Brittany for hosting the evenings festivities and making it a very special day.

There is some good news, after working 20 straight days after a 26 day streak, I'm taking today off. This quarter is winding down and I just need a little bit of time to just relax, stay home and spend with my lovely wife. A nap may be on the agenda for today, but I still haven't went to bed yet either.

We did get our first snow of the year yesterday, and as far as I know it may still be snowing. The temps have dropped significantly since friday and brought us some large snow flakes. I'm not too particularly keen on it, but Michelle loves snow. Have I ever mentioned that I hate snow?

Have a great day today.

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit once again in a quiet household, I'm up early watching just friends on Netflix and collecting my thoughts for the day and surfing the net as I wake up.

Well if you are looking to watch a little football today, the biggest game of the day will be played right here in Morgantown this evening. 8:00 Prime Time on ABC the Oklahoma Sooners will invade Morgantown for the first battle of two top 10 teams here in Morgantown in 23 years. Oklahoma is the only Big XII team that we have not beaten since joining the Big XII Conference. We are going to have our hands full and a very tough task at hand.

This morning  I will be heading out to work for RTI and doing a my field work. I got my flight itinerary for traveling to St Louis in January, I'll leave the 3rd and come back on the 6th. I fly there with a direct flight and come back on the 6th during the day rather than leaving in the afternoon of the 5th and getting back into Pittsburgh at the wee hours of the morning. Michelle will be coming with me to enjoy the arch city and I managed to get her booked and paid for on all the same flights that I will be taking. My flights are part of a Federal contract and are billed to RTI, Michelles on the other hand we had to pay for. We'll have a couple evenings to ourselves in St Louis, one even after everyone else leaves and we'll just be a couple blocks from the arch.

This evening we will be going to my sisters to decorate Christmas bulbs for Mom's tree. We stopped by Hobby Lobby last night to get a few supplies, but Kim has about anything and everything else anyone could need.

It's going to be a long day, but lets hope it will be a good one. Make the most of yours and live it to the fullest.

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 High School Football action? Well this should have been the MoHawk Bowl Part II but University High lost last week ending their season, so the Mighty Mohigans will play host to Hurricane this evening. The Mohigans are 9-2 on the year and will host a pretty good Hurricane team. Good luck to my Alma Mater as they take the field tonight.

Michelle and her office will be having a big Thanksgiving feast today. She brine'd the Turkey yesterday and will be going into the office this morning and putting it in the roaster so that they have have an office feast. Michelle had Jean do it one year and Michelle has taken over the duties of cooking their office turkey since Jean was no longer able to do it.

We'll be decorating Christmas bulbs tomorrow at my Sister Kim's. These will be the bulbs that will be placed on my Mother's Tree this year, now I just have to find the time to put her tree up and place the new bulbs on it.

Have yourselves a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out, time to look through my 30,000+ lost moments in time that I have either captured with a lens, scanned or just stolen from some place on the internet. I like to post up one picture and relive it briefly for everyone. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task like today's and sometimes it is a struggle to find that special picture, one this it always is is a whole lot of fun for this writer.

This weeks picture goes back almost seven years, Moke was stationed for a tour of Duty in Iraq and was allowed to come home on leave for a week or so before being re-deployed back to Iraq. Unfortunately this was also a time that Jean's long time live in companion Rich had passed away and it was the time period of the funeral.

Moke and Ang spent a lot of time getting re-acquainted while he was back, they were to tie their marital vow about nine months later in October after Moke had come home for good.

This picture however was taken at the Golden Coral when we all got together to have dinner with Moke so we could all spend a little time with him before he had to go back.

Have yourselves a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Hump Day

Well we are two days into this week, now all we have to do is get up and over this dreaded noon time hump and we are heading downhill towards another fun filled weekend.

I swear when you start putting in so many days in a row and you write documents ahead of time you can and do tend to lose track of what day of the week it is. This is day 17 in a row for me and 43 out of the last 45 days that I have worked one job or another. With Thanksgiving coming up in the very near future, that streak will once again end and it looks like I may have a little bit of time to relax before we gear up for the next year and next quarter for RTI.

We are a little over a week away from Thanksgiving, Michelle and I will once again be heading over to the Cassville Firehall to celebrate Thanksgiving. We do this every year and there is always plenty of food to go around. Jim and Chris organize it and get most of the credit for taking care of everything and they do a wonderful job. It's a special time of the year for all.

Big Football game in Morgantown this weekend, the Mountaineers will play host to Oklahoma in a battle of two AP Top 10 teams. We are going to have our hands full that is for sure, but you can never count the Mountaineers out. Oklahoma is the only Big XII school we have not beaten since joining the league and I'm hoping that streak stops this year.

Have yourselves a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* This is where I would say we have that dreaded Monday past us, but my days just seem to be running together right now but I will acknowledge that it is Tuesday and I'm going to do another fact filled and educational tidbits.

* I know you guys have missed this count, it has been 19,343 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.

* There have been 4,566 days that have gone by since I Graduated from WVU, that in itself seems like yesterday and it has been 12 years in itself. Best career decision that I ever made.

* It was 3,167 days ago that Michelle and I went out on our very first date together, both of our lives have changed significantly for the better since that fateful night despite the movie being really bad. I do not recommend 10,000 BC as a must see movie...lol

* It has been 2,390 days since I proposed marriage to my wonderful wife, I enjoy each and every day that I get to spend with her, even if it is for only a few minutes.

* We are in day 1,928 of Marital bliss and still going strong, other than the occasional beating she give me, but I probably deserved them.

* I have about 5,494 or so days to go until my retirement, give or take a few hundred here or there and depending on how I feel.

* There are only 2,132 days to go until the Backyard Brawl in football takes the field once again. WVU and Pitt have a few Basketball games scheduled in the future, but it is Football where we want to kick their asses. =) Bring it on boys.

* There are 326 more days to go until we once again attend the Springs Festival.

* Our next cruise is 299 days away. We both really like the cruise we take and the ports of call that we visit, hence why we keep repeating this same cruise. When you find something you like, why change it.

* There are only 264 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Sixth Wedding Anniversary together. I am the luckiest man in the world.

* There are 221 more days to go until Calvin and Jeanetta's Wedding next June, she has put together this very informative website for everyone to use. I

* My favorite season of the year is a mere 125 days away when Spring 2017 finally arrives. I know a lot of people like watching the leaves change, I'm a rebirth of the foliage kind of guy.

* My buddy Phil the Groundhog takes center stage in 79 more days when he forecasts the weather on Ground Hogs Day.

* I have 46 more days to go until my Goodbye 2016 blog is written, where I relive the previous year based on what has been written right here. I have a few months more content to write, hopefully it will be an interesting read.

* If you are planning your shopping, you have 40 more days to go until Christmas, Walmart and other stores have their Christmas stuff out and have for a while, we actually walked out in the lawn and garden section Sunday and it was like Santa Claus threw up.

* There are but a mere 16 more days to go until I celebrate yet another anniversary of my 21st Birthday.

* This is my 4,661st blog that I have written for George's Journal in the now 12+ years that I have been writing it. That is a lot of thoughts as well as a lot of words that I have typed in for everyone to read.

* No work yest this fall on the Hall Family Tree, as soon as things slow down a little bit I'm going to start working on that again.

* Nothing new on the brother search, the DNA tests returned a few second cousins and beyond, but nothing close to a brother.....yet. I still have faith that something, sometime and someday will turn up.

* The WVU Women's Soccer Team is still ranked #1 in the country. Way to go Girls, I feel an NCAA Title in our future. They won their opening round NCAA Tournament game this past weekend.

* The WVU Football team is now ranked 9th in the Coaches Poll and 10th in the AP. This weekends game will be shown at 8:00 on ABC and will be the first match up between two AP Top 10 teams here in Morgantown since November 20, 1993 when we beat Miami 17-14.

* We are going to be decorating Christmas Ornaments this Saturday for Mom's Tree.

* It's hard to believe that we are just a little over a week away from Thanksgiving.

* I left my jacket in Terra Alta this past weekend, I'm hoping I can get it back if not it looks like I may be buying another one.

* Have I ever mentioned before that I Hate Snow!!!!!

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

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday

All good things must come to an end and that does include those fun filled things that we call weekends. Me however I am on day 15 in a row from working one job or the other or a combination of both so this is really nothing new.

We did have a pretty good weekend, Michelle managed to get a lot of baby clothes and get them washed for Hayley's friend Dusty, who had her baby two months ahead of schedule. Michelle has done a wonderful job in assembling many baby things for someone who delivered a month before the baby shower and wasn't prepared yet. My wife is a wonderful woman and I don't tell her that enough.

No plans for us this week, I will have a seventh anniversary working for Sextant. This has been by far the best company I have ever worked for and I think when I finally retire someday that my sentiment will still be the same. I have been very fortunate these past seven years.

Have yourselves a great day today and live it to its fullest.

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday Morning Ramblings

Dale Sparks Photography

Here I sit on a quiet Sunday Morning, I'm the first to recover from that losing battle to that dreaded Sandman last night and I am once again up watching iRobot on the boob tube and collecting my thoughts for the day.

Well there were a lot of upsets in college football yesterday, and we were not one of them. The Mountaineers beat Texas 24-20 in  Austin yesterday and kept their Big XII Title hopes alive and well. We were not at our best but it was good enough to beat Texas at Texas and we'll take a win any day. There were a number of upsets this weekend including Pitt beating Clemson, Iowa beating Michigan and USC beating Washington. That was 3 of the 4 projected playoff teams going into this weekend that lost.

The #1 ranked Women's Soccer team opened the NCAA tournament yesterday with a 3-0 win over Northern Kentucky. The Mountaineers are having a very memorable season and could very well win it all this year.

My plans for the day is to head out on the road once again and do a little field work for RTI. This quarter is starting to wind down, now it's just trying to finalize everything so we can relax for the holidays before I head to St Louis and start another quarter.

Have yourselves a great day.

Saturday Morning Rambling

Here I sit yet once again in a quiet household, I'm the first one to recover from a losing battle with the Sandman last night and I'm up collecting my thoughts for the day and watching something on HBO.

I did get a little bit of sad news yesterday morning, we received word that Gussy the African Gray that Jean had had for years, had passed away on Thursday morning. Gussy was a bird with a large vocabulary and perfect timing with some of the things that she said. There were only a few people who could handle her, I was not among that group. I think Gussy has left us all we a few memories of her. RIP Gussy.

Michelle and I attended the WVU vs Mt St Mary's basketball game last night. The Mountaineers managed a 87-59 victory in the season debut. I do have to see this was my first look at the upgrades to the Coliseum and I have to say that I am very impressed with what I have seen. They have completely transformed the look and feel of the WVU Coliseums outer concourse. It will be a pleasant surprise for anyone who sees it and it's only half done.

I'll be heading out this morning to work for RTI, I'll also be out in the field again tomorrow so I'll be following my 26 day stretch up with a weekend off followed by at least another 19 day stretch and today is day 13. It's all about to slow down for the quarter however which I have to say does not bother me. I will welcome the much needed break.

The WVU Football team is in Texas to take on the Longhorns this afternoon, I'll probably miss most of the game but would like to see at least some of it.

Have yourselves a great day today.

Big Ole Veterans Day 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 Veterans Day Friday.

Today is Veterans Day. If you know a Veteran make sure you take a little bit of time out and thank each and every one of them for their service. If it were not for them we would all be speaking Canadian by now. There are a number of places that are offering free things to Veterans today with some deals. Thank you to all of our active duty, reserves and our Veterans for keeping us safe.

I am off today from my regular job at NETL but will be out in the field working for RTI this morning and early afternoon. Michelle and I have tickets for tonight's season opening WVU basketball game tonight against Mt St Mary's at 7:00 at the WVU Coliseum. This will be the first game I have went to in a while and am actually looking forward to it. Thank you BFS Companies for the complimentary tickets.

Have yourselves a great day today.

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out, time to look through my 30,000+ lost moments in time that I have either captured with a lens, scanned or just stolen from some place on the internet. I like to post up one picture and relive it briefly for everyone. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task like today's and sometimes it is a struggle to find that special picture, one this it always is is a whole lot of fun for this writer.

This weeks picture goes back to 2010, this is our Christmas Tree from that year, although it is a little blurry to see. In this picture I also see two beloved pets that are no longer with us. Our dog Sadie is laying in her normal spot under the counter, this is where she liked to lay during the day and then came into our room at night and slept at the foot of the bed.

Also in this picture is one of our cats Chloe who decided she did not want to look at us as we snapped this picture. This was the one that I took the hardest and I even find myself tearing up as I write about her, she was my buddy and was always by my side.

As you can see the Christmas Tree was full of presents as it was a time when the kids wanted things other than cash for Christmas. The Christmas season is slowly creeping up upon us.

Have a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Hump Day

Well that is two days down, now all we have to do is get up and over this noon time hump we will be going downhill towards another fun filled weekend although Friday is a Federal Holiday and I plan on working through the weekend for RTI.

Well at the time I am writing this blog, the polls are still open so I won't comment on who won any of the elections yesterday, but I will say I am so glad this election is over with. It has been the worst election cycle I have ever seen and I'm tired of my Facebook feed getting littered with inaccurate propaganda. Hopefully all can go back to normal now that our next Commander in Chief has been chosen.

I don't know if anyone has noticed, but the weather has gotten colder the last couple of days. I have actually had to warm my car up before leaving for work. I blame this all on my wife, she has been doing her snow dance and trying to bring that wintewry crap to the area and she is doing a pretty good job of it although no snow has fallen yet. Come on Spring.

Have yourselves a great day today and relax knowing this election is over and all the political signs littering our beautiful landscape will soon be gone.

Hi ho hi ho

Election Day Tuesday's Tidbits

* OK, Monday is behind us, but this is also election day, so I'll do an election day tidbits as I am feeling Patriotic today.

* We have been a Country for 87,785 days, yes it has been that long and no it is NOT going to end anytime soon.

* It was 86,755 days ago that our Nations First President took office, George Washington was sworn into office on April 30th 1879.

* 131,032,799 people voted in the 2008 Presidential Election that saw President Obama win the presidency, this is the largest voter turnout in US Election History.

* To win the Presidential Election, a Candidate need to obtain 270 of the 538 Electoral College Votes. Hence the significance of the 270 number that you always see with Presidential Elections. Each States Electoral Votes are based on the number of Senators plus how many members of the House Represent the State. WV has 3 Congressmen and 2 Senators, hence why we have 5 Electoral College Votes for Winning the State Election.

* It has been 55,360 days since President Lincoln was shot and killed.

* There have been 19,345 days that have gone by since President Kennedy was shot and Killed.

* There have been 13,034 days since Ronald Reagan was shot, President Reagan survived the assassination attempt.

* There have been 49,437 days since President James A. Garfield was shot, he did  manage to live for another two months before he died on September 19, 1881.

* There have been 42,072 days that have gone by since President William McKinley was shot and killed.

* There have been four Presidents who were assassinated while in Office: President Lincoln, President McKinley, President Garfield and President Kennedy.

* Whoever wins today's Presidential Election will be the 45th US President, but the 44th person to hold that office. Grover Cleveland won two non back to back Presidential Elections.

* We will also be electing Representatives to the 115th Congress as the 114th Congress is about to have their terms come up.

* If you are registered to vote and do not know where you will vote, use this link to see where your polling place is. I know mine changed locations for the Primary but is back to it's original location tomorrow.

* There have been 5,537 days that have gone by since the biggest terrorist attack that has ever taken place on our soil.

* There have been 2,017 days since Osama Bin Laden was found and killed for his actions involving the 9-11-01 Terrorist Attacks.

* Osama Bin Laden lived at least 3,520 days more than he should have.

* The only President who ever won 4 terms for the Office of the President was Franklin D Roosevelt.

* Presidents are limited to two terms in office now due to the XXII Amendment of the United States Constitution.

* Speaking of the House of Representatives, each states number of representatives is determined after each Census (every 10 years). Based on the Census Congressional District Lines are redrawn to reflect the most recent Census. Remember, it is your Constitutional Obligation to fill out your Census Questionaire when asked to do so.

* Which ever Presidential Candidate wins todays election, they will be sworn in as our 45th President on January 20, 2017.

* So far there have been 18 Republican Presidents, 14 Democrat Presidents, 4 Whig Presidents, 4 Democratic-Republicans (that was a party) and only 1 President that was not associated with any Party (George Washington).

* This Election will pretty much determine control of the United States Supreme Court. Merrick Garland was Nominated by President Obama 237 days ago, and in an unprecedented moves the Senate has refused to have a confirmation hearing. No Presidential nominee in the history of the Republic has ever had to wait for so long for at minimum a confirmation hearing.

* My home state of West Virginia has had one major party Presidential nominee from within our borders, John W Davis was the Democratic party nominee in 1924 but he lost to Calvin Collidge.

* Get your butts out and vote, this is your voice so don't silence it.

* Have a Great day

Monday

All good things must come to an end and that does include those fun filled things we refer to as weekends. Now it is time to stop all the weekend fun and take our butts into our places of work and get back to doing what it is we do for a living although I did work through the weekend.

One thing I will be very happy to see, and that is tomorrow is election day and that will be when this election cycle comes to an end and we know who our next President is going to be as well as many other offices. At this point I know I am pretty locked in to which way I am voting, it's just now a matter of casting my ballot and counting up all the votes. Hopefully anyone who makes any political posts on Facebook after Tuesday, Wednesday at the latest, are people that need to realize it's over and to quit annoying the rest of the population. I'm tired of seeing all the negativity, propaganda and absolute ignorance directed at both of our Political Candidates. The world will not end, the country will not end, no one will be coming for your guns, neither one of them are the anti-christ or kick puppies.

Other than that it should be a short week for me at work, Friday is Veterans Day and a Federal Holiday, which means I have a day off from the office, but I will probably be heading out to the field to do some field work. Other than that, that is about all the excitement of the next coming week as far as work in concerned.

Let's get this party started.

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday Morning Rambling

Here I sit once again on a quiet Sunday Morning, I'm the first one to awaken on this first day of non daylight savings time. You should have set your clocks back last night, if not you are going to be a little early where ever you are going today.

Well the Mountaineers cruised to an easy victory last night with a 48-21 shellacking of the University of Kansas right here in Morgantown. Dale Sparks got a great picture of Skyler Howard being upended just short of the end zone, it's not too often you see a QB in this position, but Skyler bounded right back up. The game was 31-0 at halftime so it was never in any doubt. The Mountaineers travel to Austin Texas next week to take on the University of Texas in front of 100,000+ people.

Had a decent day out on in the field yesterday, it was nice seeing some different sights and actually letting my GPS take me there in a way that I have never traveled. I'll be back out this afternoon as I try to run through the rest of the roster and close this quarter out.

Have yourselves a great day.

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit once again in a quiet household, the first one to get knocked out by the Sandman last night is the first one to recover this morning. I'm up watching something on Comedy Central and collecting my thoughts for the day.

The Mountaineers are at home this evening to take on the University of Kansas at 7:00. The Mountaineers will be trying to bounce back against last weeks first loss of the season to Oklahoma State and will try to take their frustrations out on the Jayhawks. Something tells me today will be  day of tailgating all around Morgantown.

I'll be heading West here in a few hours to start to do a little cleanup work for RTI. It's going to be a little refreshing to start going to some new places and not repeatedly trying to find someone home at the same household repeatedly. There is actually a little bit of new work which breaks the redundancy and gives you something different to look at. I plan on being home this evening in time to watch this evenings game.

Something important you might want to remember when you go to bed tonight, Daylight Savings Time ends tomorrow morning. We'll be turning the clocks back tomorrow morning, so plan on an extra hour of sleep.

Have yourselves a great day today and Let's Go Mountaineers!!!

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 the only High School Football this evening is Clay Battelle's game against Madonna, but they are no playing that game in Blacksville so there is no High School action being played this weekend in Monongalia County. The playoffs start next week, as this is the final week of the regular season.

I'll be heading out to work for RTI tomorrow, I've pretty much had some time off with the exception of a couple final trips to the Fairmont area to try to wrap things up down there. Now I will be heading West and working my way in that area and trying to finish up what was started there by a transient FI who spent two weeks in the area. I've needed the break now it's time to bring this quarter home and finalize it with this clean up work.

Have yourselves a great day today.

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out, time to look through my 30,000+ lost moments in time that I have either captured with a lens, scanned or just stolen from some place on the internet. I like to post up one picture and relive it briefly for everyone. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task like todays and sometimes it is a struggle to find that special picture, one this it always is is a whole lot of fun for this writer.

This weeks picture goes back to 2009, Michelle and I were on our way to a couple of friends of ours wedding. Justin and Samantha Knapp were getting married that day and we were invited to the wedding and the reception.

Ironically this day is the day that I found out about a Western Pennsylvania Tradition (they did not have one) of a cookie table. Justin and Samantha were from Charleston and did not have one at their wedding, buy we sat we two couples from Western PA and they asked where the cookie table was. I asked what a cookie table was and once I found out I knew I had to have one at our wedding which we did.

Michelle's niece Amanda is getting married this spring, and Michelle is going to do some of the baking for what they are going to do and they are picking it up a notch and having a cookie room!!!!!!


Oh have yourselves a great day today.

Hi ho hi ho

Hump Day

Well that is two days down, a couple more ahead of us (more for some of us) so that means it;s all downhill once we go up and over this noon time hump today.

Well today is the day that I see if my blog still posts to Facebook. The tool that I was using is no longer in existence and hopefully I have found a working alternative to solve this problem. Facebook used to go out and get my RSS feed from my blog, but they stopped doing that a long time ago. They do coordinate with Twitter which I do use, but I needed a tool to have twitter go out and get my feed from my blog so that Facebook would pick it up. I think I have been successful, but we shall see this morning if this has been a smooth transition.

We did not make out to Trick or Treat on Monday evening. We had a main water line break right across the street Monday Afternoon. Water was gushing up out of the ground and they had to dig it up and repair the line leaving the household with any running water for a few hours. I see my nieces Amy and Val and the kids all had a good time repeating what they did last year with the kids. Last years theme was Wizard of Oz, this years theme was Superheroes, except for Kynlea who was a hot dog of all things. To each their own I guess..lol

Have yourselves a great day today, learn something new.

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* This is where I would say we have that dreaded Monday past us, but my days just seem to be running together right now but I will acknowledge that it is Tuesday and I'm going to do another fact filled and educational tidbits.

* I know you guys have missed this count, it has been 19,329 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.

* There have been 4,552 days that have gone by since I Graduated from WVU, that in itself seems like yesterday and it has been 12 years in itself. Best career decision that I ever made.

* It was 3,153 days ago that Michelle and I went out on our very first date together, both of our lives have changed significantly for the better since that fateful night despite the movie being really bad. I do not recommend 10,000 BC as a must see movie...lol

* It has been 2,377 days since I proposed marriage to my wonderful wife, I enjoy each and every day that I get to spend with her, even if it is for only a few minutes.

* We are in day 1,914 of Marital bliss and still going strong, other than the occasional beating she give me, but I probably deserved them.

* I have about 5,508 or so days to go until my retirement, give or take a few hundred here or there and depending on how I feel.

* There are only 2,146 days to go until the Backyard Brawl in football takes the field once again. WVU and Pitt have a few Basketball games scheduled in the future, but it is Football where we want to kick their asses. =) Bring it on boys.

* There are 340 more days to go until we once again attend the Springs Festival.

* Our next cruise is 313 days away. We both really like the cruise we take and the ports of call that we visit, hence why we keep repeating this same cruise. When you find something you like, why change it.

* There are only 278 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Sixth Wedding Anniversary together. I am the luckiest man in the world.

* There are 235 more days to go until Calvin and Jeanetta's Wedding next June, she has put together this very informative website for everyone to use. I

* My favorite season of the year is a mere 139 days away when Spring 2017 finally arrives. I know a lot of people like watching the leaves change, I'm a rebirth of the foliage kind of guy.

* My buddy Phil the Groundhog takes center stage in 93 more days when he forecasts the weather on Ground Hogs Day.

* I have 60 more days to go until my Goodbye 2016 blog is written, where I relive the previous year based on what has been written right here. I have a few months more content to write, hopefully it will be an interesting read.

* If you are planning your shopping, you have 54 more days to go until Christmas, Walmart and other stores have their Christmas stuff out and have for a while, we actually walked out in the lawn and garden section Sunday and it was like Santa Claus threw up.

* There are but a mere 30 more days to go until I celebrate yet another anniversary of my 21st Birthday.

* This is my 4,647th blog that I have written for George's Journal in the now 12+ years that I have been writing it. That is a lot of thoughts as well as a lot of words that I have typed in for everyone to read.

* No work yest this fall on the Hall Family Tree, as soon as things slow down a little bit I'm going to start working on that again.

* Nothing new on the brother search, the DNA tests returned a few second cousins and beyond, but nothing close to a brother.....yet. I still have faith that something, sometime and someday will turn up.

* The WVU Women's Soccer Team is still ranked #1 in the country. Way to go Girls, I feel an NCAA Title in our future.

* I did get a chance to speak with my Brother Gary on Saturday, he is doing well and has a couple of months worth of work lined up for him.

* I ask once again is anyone up for Bowling on Thanksgiving Eve if the Bowling Alley's are open? I know I asked this question last week, but I think this would be a great opportunity for everyone to get together for the evening.

* Amish Country was a lot of fun this past weekend, it was a much needed break.

* I will be so glad when this election cycle is over with. Facebook has been absolutely littered with it and I really don't appreciate it being flooded onto my wall. When I start seeing close to 50 posts about the same thing from the same person in one way, it's time to block that person from seeing any of my content. You're entitled to your opinion, but don't litter it all over my feed.

* Amy has been working for the Board of Education, she finally got her job and is thankful for the additional revenue source.

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

* Hi ho hi ho