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Sunday, May 31, 2020

Sunday

Here I sit for the second weekend day in a row flying solo writing my blog, Peanut is no where near to be found and I'm out here with the TV on and playing who knows what. I think I keep it on for a little background noise more than anything.

I am now getting a message from Blogger that the back end that I did not care for is going to be their default back end by the end of June. I've been using this current back end interface for 16 years and am comfortable with it, why they feel the need to change it and not give me the option of choosing the controls I want is beyond me. I don't really care for the new back end and I've stated it here previously.

On to other things, yesterday was a nice and relaxing day. We didn't get into anything and stayed around the house and watched the NASA Launch and played on the internet most of the day. I was keeping up with all the protests that have been going on around the country and had a feeling last night was going to be the last night of it. We Americans have short attention spans and it's about time everyone picks the next thing to concentrate on. The events of the past week have been horrific in this country and now maybe it's time to heal. I would be surprised if events didn't pretty much subside by this evening, but I've been wrong before.

Today we'll be doing our shopping and meal planning for the week. We took Kiwi (our bird) outside yesterday and allowed her to enjoy the day with her cage in the fresh air, today is probably for the most part going to be a repeat of yesterday around here once our morning chores and shopping are completed. Peanut is loving this outside weather.

Make it special and memorable.

Saturday, May 30, 2020

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit yet once again on a quiet Saturday Morning, I'm up watching I have no idea what and my co-author is once again slacking this morning and is no where to be found.

It looks to be a nice weather kind of a Saturday. I never got my materials from RTI and they wont be here until Tuesday so there is really nothing on my agenda for the day. Michelle is also off after having a busy week and a busy week coming up for her with some training on some new Software that they purchased.

It might just be a day of relaxation and watching movies and maybe catch up on what has been happening in this country this week with the aftermath of the George Floyd Murder, the Minneapolis Man who kept telling an officer he could not breath and the Officer would not remove his knee from his neck. The Officer has been charged with third degree murder but judging by the mass rioting that has been going on the last three nights, people are not happy with what is happening with that case. Can't say I have seen this country in so much turmoil over one domestic incident in some time. It's sad what is happening.

On a happy note, Peanut needs to get her lazy butt up, it's sunny out at 6:40 AM and she is missing chasing butterflys. Speaking of I wish I had a camera on her yesterday, she jumped about 3 foot straight up to try to grab a butterfly and Michelle and I were both watching her and busted out laughing. Oh the things we are easily entertained by these days. 

Make it a good memorable one today and have a great day.

Friday, May 29, 2020

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....or something like that

Today I get some segment materials for RTI, I will be going out a couple of days next week to list segments. Field interviewing still has not been approved as of yet, but we in West Virginia can start listing as of Monday. My materials should be here today and I'll start organizing them over the weekend. 

Michelle has traveled to Canonsburg the last couple of days to work, she woke up yesterday and saw the weather forecast where it called for rain so she went to that office. She'll be in Clarksburg a couple of days next week and maybe a day in Canonsburg as they are preparing to open up another portion of their business and start dealing with Professional Services. They are still in the planning stages, but they have a name and Michelle ordered a bunch of swag for the new business. They have came a long way since she first started working for them and they have just used their model and taken off to a great deal of success. 

My excitement for the day will be taking the Laundry to Millers Laundromat and drying it. I've got my weeks planned as of late where Mondays has been all my job searching and resume day. I figure once a week is all I really need to put resumes in as I've already got a number in and am only playing attention to the newer listings as of late. So what does that mean? Friday is Laundromat Day for me!!!

Have yourselves a great day, Hi ho hi ho a Drying I will go.  

Thursday, May 28, 2020

Photo Flashback Thursday



Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out, time to look at some of the 30,000+ images that I have either captured with a Camera, Scanned or just simply stolen off the internet. Little lost moments in time that I post up and relive tight here for everyone while I try to recall the moments around that image. Sometimes it's pretty easy to find that image and sometimes it's a challenge, although one thing it always is is a whole lot of fun for me.

This is basically where it all began for me, even though it would go into hiatus for about a decade, but Dad and Jean bought us a Computer one Christmas, I'm thinking it was Christmas 1982. That little white thing with the keyboard, that was the computer. I think it came with 2 kilobytes of memory and there was an expansion pack of another 15 kilobytes (not Megabytes, kilobytes). So we had about 17,000 bytes to play with on that thing. As a point of reference, the above picture is 262,144 bytes, or basically 15 1/2 times the capacity of that little Tandy Computer. I'm thinking it was a Tandy TDP-100 or a TRS-80, it was one of their low end computers.

There was no where to store any coding you did and everything was written in BASIC and get this, you actually had to program every single keystroke. I used to buy books that had the programs already written, you just had to input everything into the computer to get it to run. Some real complex programs that is actually pretty comical and very archaic to even look at today. Sad thing was, once you turned the computer off, the program was wiped from the memory. If you wanted to run it again, you were reprogramming it.

We had it hooked up to a little 13" TV Gary and I had in the bedroom and it might have even been black and white.

>We would type in our games we wanted to play (simple ones at that) and execute them. I actually hears a friend of mines parents ask their son why he only programs games and not other things. He handed the book to his Dad who was pretty electronically savvy and told him to program any game he wanted. He quickly learned that one bad keystroke and the entire program would either crash or not run. You quickly taught yourself BASIC and how to construct a program.

We have came along way since those days. There I was however, looking at the both the worlds and my own future.


I leave you with a little bit of a tidbit of information, hopefully this will enlighten your day a little. The following picture is a historical picture, it was sent in an e-mail in 1992. What is the significance of it? It was the first picture ever transmitted over the internet.

Now take that little tidbit of enlightening information and have yourselves a great day. Make a difference in this world, like I just did by enlightening you.

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Wednesday

Alright you working stiffs, you have made it to the point of the week when you can start thinking about the weekend. All downhill from here as you are in the home stretch already so to speak.

Michelle is heading north to Canonsburg today, meeting up with the rest of the people from her company and having their weekly in person get together. They have been meeting three times a day on the internet, but now they are starting to work their ways back into the office life. They still don't have the Clarksburg office up and running as of yet, it's a big remodel job.

I spent yesterday putting in a few resumes around the net. As new jobs in my field open up I like to have a resume out there quickly, that way when the Corona virus thing is over with hopefully I can pick and choose what job I want to accept.

I will start doing some listing work next week with RTI. West Virginia has gotten the approval to start listing June 1st and there are a couple segments that she wants me to get listed for this coming January. No biggie, that's an easy one where I am just riding around in the car writing down addressed or descriptions of locations. That way when we get to the field interviewing portion of the job in possibly July, the field interviewers can have have the materials that they need.

I talked to Mom this past weekend and she bought herself a new computer and has asked if I could set it up for her. I figure with Michelle in Canonsburg, it'll be a good day for me to head up there.

Have a great day today, go make a difference in this world we live in.

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Tuesday's Tidbits

* The three day Memorial Day weekend is over with, my grass did get cut yesterday and I can't think of a better reason to do a tidbits.

* It has been 20,628 days since I first entered this world as we know it. I've love every day of being here and I hope I have made a few of you happy with knowing me.

* It has been 5,854 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography, specifically GIS.

* 4,455 days ago Michelle and I had our first date together, 10,000 BC a horrible movie, but we're still together.

* 3,679 days ago I proposed to Michelle, 4:00 in the morning in the back yard.

* It was 4,121 days ago in front of our closest friends and family, Michelle and I tied the knot with the help of a co-worker of hers.

* I have now lived 842 days longer than my Dad did and I'm still going.

* I have 4,221 days to go until I retire, give or take a few hundred days here or there.

* The next Backyard Brawl where we beat Pitt's ass in Football is only 828 days away.

* 252 more days until Phil steps to center stage again for Groundhogs Day. He must be back from his vacation as I have seen him in the back yard this weekend.

* 237 more days to go until my Goodbye 2020 Blog is posted, this should be an interesting one.

* There are 212 more shopping days left until Christmas 2020.

* My next Anniversary of my 21st Birthday will be in 187 more days.

* There are 110 days to go until Michelle and I set sail once again to the Caribbean. Hopefully this can still happen as it is already paid for.

* There are 63 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Ninth Wedding Anniversary together.

* There are 51 days until Michelle and I head to Pittsburgh to see Reba in concert.

* There are only 26 days until the start Summer 2020!!!!!

* I have written 6,032 blogs in the now 15 1/2 years since I started blogging.

* No drone flights this weekend, but that has pretty much been my recurring theme this year with that. I do have a plan to fly Hayley's wedding venue sometime this spring for her.

* Michelle is working from home still, it may be a while as things are progressing slowly.

* I see Val went to Dad and Jean's Grave-site and put some flowers down in the planters. We pulled the Christmas Trees out this past weekend but didn't have anything to replace them.

* Michelle has been wanting a Hummingbird Feeder, I swear she is the bird whisperer, so I went to Lowe's yesterday and picked one up for her.

* Michelle is going to the Southpoint Office again tomorrow. They are going to all be in that facility once a week.

* Corona Virus, you can still  track it here.

* They STILL have not found Mountie Python, the 15' snake that escaped in Sabraton this summer.. He even has his own twitter account. Although my guess is that snake is deceased.

* I'm STILL converting some old VHS tapes to Digital Format for Trish. I really need to get back on this as I am such a procrastinator.

* Have yourselves a great day.

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday, May 25, 2020

Memorial Day

OK you working stiffs that have nice benefits and Holidays, it's Monday but you don't have to go to work today as it is a Holiday.

Memorial Day is the unofficial start to Summer, celebrated with BBQ's and family get togethers, spending time with friends and just enjoying the start of a nice warm spell.

One thing that everyone really needs to take a little time to remember, is the reason we have this day. It is a day that we take to honor those of us who were not only in the Military, but fought and paid the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms that we enjoy today. It's a time to honor the fallen. On every Memorial Day weekend I visit my Grandfathers and Father, all of which who served in the Military and both Grandfathers fought in wars, but we were fortunate that when the war was over they got a chance to return home to their families. I go to the graveyards and put American flags on all of their graves, but that is usually done by the American Legion or the VFW.

Have a great day.

Sunday, May 24, 2020

Sunday

Here I sit once again on a quiet Sunday Morning, Peanut the Chipmonk chaser is no where to be found so I am once again flying solo this morning. The TV is one, but like usual it's just for noise and I have no idea what is playing.

Every Memorial Day weekend I take a road trip to visit the Graveyards of my Grandfathers and Father to place flags upon their graves. All three men served and my Grandfathers served in four different conflicts. Grandpa Hall in WWI or the Great War as it was known at the time and Grandpa Newbraugh in WWII, Korea and Vietnam according to his grave marker. It's something that I have done for a number of years, this year was no exception to that and we did it yesterday to get it over with.

Today we are firing up the smoker for the first time in 2020, we have a nice rack of ribs that we are going to place a nice rub on and then throw it in our smoker for about 6 hours or so. It's our favorite way to cook, although we don't do it nearly enough. It adds a flavor to nice woodsy flavor and everything is always just so tender. We'll throw that on after we get back from doing our grocery shopping this morning.

Have yourselves a great day, make it special.


Saturday, May 23, 2020

Saturday Morning Rambling

Here I sit once again on a quiet Saturday Morning, my co-author is somewhere sleeping and I am once again flying solo this morning. Not sure what is on the boob tube, but something is playing in the background.

I'm hoping the weather plays nice today and we can fire up the mower and mow grass. With all of this rain we have gotten in the past week or so it has grown pretty quickly and needs attacked and chopped down once again. We are up to the task of the weather cooperates and it drys up a little bit.

Make sure that you wish George McClain a Happy Birthday today. His and Pam's are so close they usually celebrate together, but I'm not sure they are going to go out and do anything for a while with the Corona Virus still hanging around.

Speaking of the Virus, things are starting to open up around here after two months of being closed, but I have a feeling many are still going to be hesitant after being quarantined for two months. The good news is my face masks that I ordered in March, should be arriving by Wednesday, two months after I ordered them.

Have a great day, enjoy your Holiday weekend.

Friday, May 22, 2020

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....or something like that.

And just like that it is Memorial Day Weekend, the unofficial start to the Summer Season. A time of the year when it is usually pretty warm and dry and everyone is having picnics or cookouts.

It's traditionally a big sporting weekend and one where families gather to celebrate. This year because of the Corona Virus, everything is different.

I know Michelle and I are planning on breaking out the smoker one day this weekend, I got a nice rack of ribs yesterday that we are going to smoke. Other than that that is probably going to be the highlight of our holiday weekend.

Have a great day and make it a memorable weekend.

Thursday, May 21, 2020

Happy Birthday's Pam and George McClain

I would like to take this opportunity to wish my Sister Pam and an early Birthday to my Brother in Law George and wish them both a very Happy Birthday today.

Pam is a sister than any brother would be very proud to have. She is the most genuine of the genuine and it is an honor to call her my Baby Sister. She would do anything for anyone and is one of the most innocent souls anyone would ever want to meet.

George is the Brother in Law who was always there to help when I needed help, especially when it came to the piece of junk cars I used to drive...lol

I'm not sure what Pam and  George have planned for their Birthday's  but rest assured it will be celebrated at home due to the Corona Virus.

If you happen to see or talk to Pam today or George Thursday, take a little bit of time out of your busy day and wish this special lady or this fine young gentleman a very Happy Birthday today.

Happy Birthday Pam and George a little early.

Photo Flashback Thursday



Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out, time to look at some of the 30,000+ images that I have either captured with a Camera, Scanned or just simply stolen off the internet. Little lost moments in time that I post up and relive tight here for everyone while I try to recall the moments around that image. Sometimes it's pretty easy to find that image and sometimes it's a challenge, although one thing it always is is a whole lot of fun for me.

This weeks pic was a pretty east one for me, since I am contractually obligated to either give my weekend co-author a little bit of love, or she is going to want to renegotiate her compensation and want more Catnip flavored Cat Treats. She is very picky about what kind of treats she gets and her contract is very specific.

Michelle grabbed this pic a couple of days ago and put it up on Facebook in 3D and I just had to make it my flashback picture for the day.

Have yourselves a great day, make someone around you smile.


Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Wednesday

Here we are in the middle of that thing we refer to as the work week, or at least for all of you who go out and are working on a daily basis. I'm here still sticking in Resumes and hoping for something to break in the very near future, just for my own peace of mind.

Michelle will be traveling to Southpoint in Canonsburg today to work in that office, they are all getting together in office for a day to go over a few things. It'll be her first full day in an office since March 31 when they closed the Fairmont office down and the Corona Virus pretty much shut everything down.

Me I'm probably going to run a few errands today as Michelle is away, not much other than that other than watching the job market and hoping something opens up pretty soon as I need a good challenge. Something to work my brain and make it feel productive in some way or another. I'm feeling rather blah and a lot of that is from me lacking any kind of challenge where I am actually in control of the outcome in one way or another. The job search is one, but all I can do is put as many resumes and feelers out there as I can and hope I have the right resume, at the right time in the right hands. The inspiration is there, the perspiration is there, now I just need an intersection with opportunity. When you feel like you are at your wits end, you just have to keep plugging away.

Something tells me all the rain we had yesterday has a lot to do with how I am feeling as I am writing this. I'm always smiling when there is sunshine and it's warm.

Have a great day, go out and change the world.


Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is done, how about a Tuesday's tidbits!!!

* It has been 20,621 days since I was born, all those years ago. Ironically there are a few jobs that I am looking at at my place of birth.

* It has been 5,847 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography.

* 4,448 days ago Michelle and I had our first date together. She was nervous as it was her first date since her Husband Rich had passed away.

* 3,672 days ago I proposed to Michelle, 4:00 in the morning in the back yard.

* It was 4,114 days ago in front of our closest friends and family, Michelle and I tied the knot with the help of a co-worker of hers.

* I have now lived 835 days longer than my Dad did and I'm still going.

* I have 4,228 days to go until I retire, give or take a few hundred days here or there.

* The next Backyard Brawl where we beat Pitt's ass in Football is only 835 days away.

* 259 more days until Phil steps to center stage again for Groundhogs Day. I still haven't seen my furry little buddy in a couple of weeks, he must be on vacation.

* 244 more days to go until my Goodbye 2020 Blog is posted, recapping my year.

* There are 219 more shopping days left until Christmas 2020.

* My next Anniversary of my 21st Birthday will be in 194 more days.

* There are 117 days to go until Michelle and I set sail once again to the Caribbean. Hopefully the events of the past week don't rain on this parade.

* There are 70 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Ninth Wedding Anniversary together.

* There are 58 days until Michelle and I head to Pittsburgh to see Reba in concert.

* There are only 33 days until the start Summer 2020!!!!!

* I have written 6,026 blogs in the now 15 1/2 years since I started blogging.

* No drone flights this weekend, but that has pretty much been my recurring theme this year with that. I do have a plan to fly Hayley's wedding venue sometime this spring for her.

* Michelle is working from home still, it may be a while as things are progressing slowly.

* I think I either talked to or called pretty much everyone in my family over the weekend with the exception of a couple Nephews.

* Things should start to reopen slowly today in West Virginia, restaurants are now allowed to have out door dining and some other businesses are starting to re-open.

* Corona Virus, you can still  track it here.

* They STILL have not found Mountie Python, the 15' snake that escaped in Sabraton this summer.. He even has his own twitter account. Although my guess is that snake is deceased.

* I'm STILL converting some old VHS tapes to Digital Format for Trish. I really need to get back on this as I am such a procrastinator.

* Have yourselves a great day.

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday, May 18, 2020

Monday

Alright you working people, it is time to take your collective noses and stick them back onto that Grindstone for another fun filled week of doing what you do for a living. Me, I'll be spending my day adding to the stack of resumes that I have already submitted, it's kind of my Monday thing to do as of late.

Plans for the week, I know Michelle is going to work out of their Southpoint office one day this week. She'll travel up to Canonsburg as a few others will be in that office that day as well. They currently have 4 offices, Charleston, Clarksburg which is under construction, they have space here in Morgantown to use as needed and the Canonsburg office. I know she's looking forward to getting out of the house for a day and interacting with her co-workers face to face rather on some Zoom Meeting call that they do multiple times a day.

I need to get my drone out some time in the near future. I'm wanting to fly the venue where Hayley is getting married next year with some aerial footage of the facility. I'm going to need to work on my drone pilot skills considering how long it has been since I've even flown a drone.

Have yourselves one heck of a nice day, make it memorable.

Sunday, May 17, 2020

Sunday Morning Rambling

Here I sit on a quiet Sunday Morning, my co-author is no where to be found and I'm here collecting my thoughts for the day. The TV is on in the background as it always seems to be and it's playing the Hot Chick with Rob Schneider.

I have some sort of Softball news this morning. Michelle and did a little running around yesterday morning. First to Rural King and then to Lowes. At Lowes we ran into a former Softball team mate in Paul Gunter and his wife Laura. We talked to them a few minutes then ran into the store and shopped and then ran into a current Softball team mate in Scott Bartlett and his wife Misty who was also shopping.

Also on the softball front I learned some bad news over night, our former sponsor from Judies Lounge years ago, Judie Gillespie (Konchesky) had passed away. She was 75 years old and was arguably the best Softball sponsor that we ever had. Rest in peace Judie.

Our agenda for the day will be our grocery shopping, then probably home for the rest of the day. I did start watching another past season of Survivor last night (season 25) and was kind of shocked to learn that that season had two former celebrities that no one recognized. Lisa Whelchel who played Blair on the Facts of Life and Former National League MVP and multiple time All-Star Jeff Kent. Reading a review of the season, Whelchel was one of the finalists at the final tribal council but was a runner up and not the winner. Interesting season to say the least.

Have yourselves a great day.

Saturday, May 16, 2020

Saturday Morning Rambling

Here Peanut and I sit on a quiet Saturday Morning, both of us are just getting up and almost ready to start our day. The TV is on, but I couldn't tell you what was on it.

Today is May 16th and is significant to me for a couple of reasons, one happy and one sad.

The sad one came on this day in 1977, 43 years ago today Grandpa Hall had passed away. It was the first time in my life I could recall losing someone, much less the man whose home I had grown up in and lived to that point.

On the Happy note, on this day in 2004 I Graduated from West Virginia University. The Commencement was at the Coliseum and the University's featured speaker that day was Morgantown native and actor David Selby.

So what is on our agenda for this particular Saturday? A trip to Rural King so we can get some more wild bird food to put out for the birds. I swear I have seen more species of birds here over the last couple of years than I have ever seen anywhere. No Penguins yet though..lol

Have yourselves a great day.

Friday, May 15, 2020

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....or something like that.

Another Corona Virus week of staying at home has come and gone, but for those of you essential workers who are still working, it's the end of yet another week of working and time to kick back and relax, you deserve it.

So what is going on with me? I think things are starting to open up a little on the job market, usually when a GIS Developer Job opens up, I'm not a Developer, I get all kinds of Head hunters contacting me. It gets to the point where it can almost be a little bit annoying. I was contacted about a 6 month job in San Francisco by 7 different head hunters on Tuesday alone believe it or not. Not that I would move to San Fran for 6 months or that I'm even a developer, but it's good to see the market in my profession is starting to open up. Maybe things will be getting back to normal in the near future. How is it going in my search, it's going OK. I would say this has been my best week since this all started. We'll just have to wait and see if everything pans out, but I am much more encouraged after this week however.

Plans for the weekend? Nothing too major, I did my Sam's Club shopping for the week yesterday, so I just need to run to the Laundromat this morning to dry some clothes, other than that it's a pretty open day. My productive days are usually Monday and Tuesday, Monday's I spend submitting Resumes and researching, Tuesday's is when I have been doing financials and yard work, and the rest of the week has been pretty open.

Have yourselves one heck of a day, make it memorable for you and those around you. 

Thursday, May 14, 2020

Photo Flashback Thursday



Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out, time to look at some of the 30,000+ images that I have either captured with a Camera, Scanned or just simply stolen off the internet. Little lost moments in time that I post up and relive tight here for everyone while I try to recall the moments around that image. Sometimes it's pretty easy to find that image and sometimes it's a challenge, although one thing it always is is a whole lot of fun for me.

This weeks pic is almost as old as this blog, almost I do have to say. I had posted my first blog post years ago, 8 days before I took this picture if that is any indication how long ago this picture was taken.

As I seem to recall many of us went to Pam and Georges house to help celebrate Calvin's birthday. Gary and Moke went into their kitchen, which is not located where their living room is and the old living room is now the new kitchen. Gary was and probably still is a masterful guitar player, someone who music just came natural to and you could just tell he was born to be a musician.

Great days gone by.

Make this one a great day and make yourselves a memorable one.

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

The WTH Wednesday Blog

Bonus Points to anyone who can identify what is in image. 
Yesterday I wrote the tidbits blog as I usually do on every Tuesday. I wrote it Monday night just before I went to bed so I didn't forget about it in the morning. Typical day so to speak, par for the course as of late.

Well to my surprise the entire back side interface had changed and it was changed to something that I really didn't care for.

Normal Interface
I've been writing this blog going on 16 years now, most of that being done on a daily basis and that's a long streak of consecutive days where I've put content out and not missed. 16 years of seeing the exact same back end interface without fail and all of a sudden everything changed with no notice.

Zoom ahead a day to today's blog and I was prepared to once again see the interface that I had to use when I wrote my tidbits blog.

New Backend interface
Surprise, everything appears to be back to normal for now. It looks just the same as it has for years. Needless to say I was quite happy, until I tried to grab a screen shot of what the this interface looks like to show everyone and the new one popped up. As I'm writing this one, I opened the back end in a different tab and the interface I don't like was there staring me in the face.

Make up my mind Blogger, I prefer to traditional interface that I am used to, the one I have used for 16 years as opposed to this newer one. Now if I were new to blogging and was just setting one up and never seen any back ends before, I might like it because the new one is a little more user friendly.

The classic back end is a little trickier, but for people like me who understand HTML code, it gave me very helpful options that I could use to correctly format posts.

Oh well. Going to the first picture in this blog, it's a sterogram. A picture hidden within a picture. Can anyone see the Helicopter?

Have a great day.


Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is done, how about a Tuesday's tidbits!!!

* It has been 20,614 days since I first set forth on this earth and made my presence known to all.

* It has been 5,840 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography.

* 4,441 days ago Michelle and I went out to see a movie and have some pizza. It was the start of a long relationship that continues to this day.

* 3,665 days ago I proposed to Michelle, 4:00 in the morning in the back yard.

* It was 4,107 days ago in front of our closest friends and family, Michelle and I tied the knot with the help of a co-worker of hers.

* I have now lived 828 days longer than my Dad did and I'm still going.

* I have 4,235 days to go until I retire, give or take a few hundred days here or there.

* The next Backyard Brawl where we beat Pitt's ass in Football is only 842 days away.

* 266 more days until Phil steps to center stage again for Groundhogs Day. I haven't seen my furry little buddy in a couple of weeks.

* 251 more days to go until my Goodbye 2020 Blog is posted, recapping my year.

* There are 226 more shopping days left until Christmas 2020.

* My next Anniversary of my 21st Birthday will be in 201 more days.

* There are 124 days to go until Michelle and I set sail once again to the Caribbean. Hopefully the events of the past week don't rain on this parade.

* There are 77 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Ninth Wedding Anniversary together.

* There are 65 days until Michelle and I head to Pittsburgh to see Reba in concert.

* There are only 40 days until the start Summer 2020!!!!!

* I have written 6,019 blogs in the now 15 1/2 years since I started blogging.

* No drone flights this weekend, but that has pretty much been my recurring theme this year with that. I do have a plan to fly Hayley's wedding venue sometime this spring for her.

* Michelle is working from home still, it may be a while as things are progressing slowly.

* Michelle watched a movie I watched a a couple of nights ago last night, Mine 9 and I think it was the hardest movie she has ever seen. I think if my Dad was still a coal miner I would have had a lot of trouble watching it and it is based in West Virginia.

* Things should start to reopen slowly today in West Virginia, restaurants are now allowed to have out door dining.

* Corona Virus, you can still  track it here.

* Blogger just introduced a new back end to edit your blog posts. This is the first I have seen it and it is going to take some getting used to. I'm set in my old ways and prefer the the old way of doing things. I guess I'll have to play with this one. 

* They STILL have not found Mountie Python, the 15' snake that escaped in Sabraton this summer.. He even has his own twitter account. Although my guess is that snake is deceased.

* I'm STILL converting some old VHS tapes to Digital Format for Trish. I really need to get back on this as I am such a procrastinator.

* Have yourselves a great day.

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday, May 11, 2020

Rather Rinse Repeat

Here we go once again, the start of another round of doing what it is that we do for a living, me I'll be throwing more and more resumes out there to see if I can garner any attention the same as I have done every Monday for the past few weeks.

Other than that, nothing else is really new. I called Mom and spoke to her for a little while yesterday morning, she seems to be doing alright and said that Gerald is making progress. She said he is up and and starting to get around a little bit, which is always a really good sign.

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day and a memorable one. Stay safe this week and the following weeks as WVU students are still trying to move out of their dorms and apartments. Stay home, Binge watch and taker naps, tell them Dr George told you so.

Have yourselves a great start of the week and an awesome day.


Sunday, May 10, 2020

Happy Mothers Day

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of the Mothers in this world a very Happy Mothers Day. Mothers Day is a world wide Holiday that has it's origins here in North Central West Virginia. Anna Jarvis created the Holiday in nearby Taylor County and in the city of Grafton.

I would like to wish all of the ladies in my life who are Mothers a very special Mother's Day including my own Mother Sandra Bell and my lovely wife Michelle. Mom has three Children and Michelle has two. My sisters and Nieces and everyone else who have taken on that role as a Mother.

Also not forgotten are those who are no longer with us. Grandma Hall was an integral part in my life and I am very thankful to have gotten the chance to have learned from her the things that I did. Jean Hall was my Step Mother who also played a big role in my life.

Happy Mothers Day to all, take a bow you deserve it.

Saturday, May 09, 2020

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit in a quiet household, my co-author is once again sleeping in and in snug as a bug in a rug with Michelle as I'm here flying solo once again.

I'm not sure what is up with this Polar Vortex crap, but I was done with the snow and cold long ago. It's May, we've already cut grass three times this year and now we're getting this cold stuff? Couldn't it just wait until say like mid July when people would actually appreciate it. Peanut hates it as it limits her Meowtside time.

Not much else going on, did my running around yesterday doing some chores, Sams Club and we went to Lowes to buy a new Microwave. The old one still worked and we're probably going to give it to one of the kids, but the base of the rotating tray reservoir was starting to show signs of wear and Michelle wanted a new one, so I obliged. 

I saw where WVU is furloughing over 800 people later this month, it's just going to be temporary for a couple of months, but not for all. The Athletic Department said some staff will not be called back after the furloughs and WVU's coaches all agreed to a 10% paycut for next Fiscal year. It's not just WVU, every school and University is going to be facing this in the next fiscal year because of the Corona Virus.

Have yourselves a superfantastic Saturday, I miss my Saturday Morning Cartoons.

Friday, May 08, 2020

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....or something like that.

I'm losing count on how many weeks or days we have been basically quarantined at home, not going completely stir crazy yet, but give it a little bit of time and I may end up there before it is all over with.

Not too much is new this past week, I did get a chance to talk to my Brother Gary this past week. We played Phone tag a couple of times and we had a nice conversation Tuesday evening. He seems to be doing good, he's just working a lot and staying out of trouble. I think I said some things that hit home with him, but in a positive way. He has dreams that he is working towards and has his head down and just keeps moving forward.

We have been Chad and Ace-less (his dog) this week. His ex gf Laiah's dad gave her a car, so she flew to Washington State to pick it up and is driving it back to WV. Chad's been staying at her place and dog sitting her dog (which is Ac's Dad) as she travels across the Continental United States. I still have hopes that those two will get back together.

Hoping it warms up today or tomorrow for another round of the grass cutting. That riding mower we bought makes everything so much easier to manage. Michelle rides and I push mow what it may miss.

Have a great day and the start of a great weekend.

Thursday, May 07, 2020

Photo Flashback Thursday



Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out, time to look at some of the 30,000+ images that I have either captured with a Camera, Scanned or just simply stolen off the internet. Little lost moments in time that I post up and relive tight here for everyone while I try to recall the moments around that image. Sometimes it's pretty easy to find that image and sometimes it's a challenge, although one thing it always is is a whole lot of fun for me.

I was talking to my niece Val earlier this week and she had mentioned about possibly having her daughter Erica's sweet 16 party this year. She made the statement if that makes me feel old.

Not as much as when Val had her sweet 16 Birthday Party some years ago. This picture was taken of the happy 16 year old with her mom and grandmother (sister and mother to me).

It does seem like only yesterday, but that was 20 years ago. Time goes by way too quick.

Have a great day. 

Tuesday, May 05, 2020

Tuesday's Tidbits

* How about a Cinco De Mayo version of Tuesday's tidbits!!!

* It has been 20,607 days since I first set forth on this earth and made my presence known to all.

* It has been 5,833 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography.

* 4,434 days ago Michelle and I went out to see a movie and have some pizza. It was the start of a long relationship that continues to this day.

* 3,658 days ago I proposed to Michelle, 4:00 in the morning in the back yard.

* It was 4,100 days ago in front of our closest friends and family, Michelle and I tied the knot with the help of a co-worker of hers.

* I have now lived 821 days longer than my Dad did and I'm still going.

* I have 4,242 days to go until I retire, give or take a few hundred days here or there.

* The next Backyard Brawl where we beat Pitt's ass in Football is only 849 days away.

* 273 more days until Phil steps to center stage again for Groundhogs Day. I haven't seen my furry little buddy in a couple of weeks.

* 258 more days to go until my Goodbye 2020 Blog is posted, recapping my year.

* There are 233 more shopping days left until Christmas 2020.

* My next Anniversary of my 21st Birthday will be in 208 more days.

* There are 131 days to go until Michelle and I set sail once again to the Caribbean. Hopefully the events of the past week don't rain on this parade.

* There are 84 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Ninth Wedding Anniversary together.

* There are 72 days until Michelle and I head to Pittsburgh to see Reba in concert.

* There are only 47 days until the start Summer 2020!!!!!

* I have written 6,012 blogs in the now 15 1/2 years since I started blogging.

* No drone flights this weekend, but that has pretty much been my recurring theme this year with that. I do have a plan to fly Hayley's wedding venue sometime this spring for her.

* Michelle is working from home still, it may be a while as things are progressing slowly.

* Michelle watched a movie I watched a a couple of nights ago last night, Mine 9 and I think it was the hardest movie she has ever seen. I think if my Dad was still a coal miner I would have had a lot of trouble watching it and it is based in West Virginia.

* Things should start to reopen slowly today in West Virginia, restaurants are now allowed to have out door dining.

* Corona Virus, you can still  track it here.

* They STILL have not found Mountie Python, the 15' snake that escaped in Sabraton this summer.. He even has his own twitter account. Although my guess is that snake is deceased.

* I'm STILL converting some old VHS tapes to Digital Format for Trish. I really need to get back on this as I am such a procrastinator.

* Have yourselves a great day.

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday, May 04, 2020

Here We Go Again

The start of another week of doing what it is we do for a living, providing you are working at this time. It's Monday morning and that means it's time to start another work week.

Looking back before I look ahead, it was a pretty nice weekend overall for Michelle and I. Yesterday was a day of relaxing due to all the rain we got, it was Netflix and Hulu kind of a chilling day.

Looking at the week ahead, I've got a few things to do this week, I have to contact the unemployment office about my claim last week and put in a few more resumes. The timing of all of this is horrible, but it is what it is and all we can do is keep moving forward to better position ourselves once again on the train of stability.

Have yourselves a great day today.

Sunday, May 03, 2020

Sunday

Here I sit on a quiet Sunday Morning, I'm the first one up and my co-author is once again slacking on her duties as Peanut is no where to be found, or should I say she is comfortably in bed sleeping. I'm up watching something on the TV, but it is more on for noise than anything else.

Had a pretty busy day yesterday believe it or not. Michelle and I took a trip to Rural King to pick up some wild bird food.She has a couple feeders in the back yard that she likes to keep filled up for our little visiting aviary friends. We do get a pretty wide variety of species believe it or not, some you just don't see in this area.

We took a trip to Harry's to grab some bulk meat for the freezer. When we buy burger from anywhere else it turns brown in a couple of days, at Harry's he was literally cutting it off the cow and grinding it as we were there. I can't say enough about this local butcher shop, if you have not tried it I say give it a try just once, you'll be back.

Yesterday evening Kim hosted a Zoom Call for all who wanted to attend. Kim, Terri, Myself, Robert, Nick, Mom, Brittany, Val, and Amy (I hope I didn't forget anyone) were all on the call. It was nice to see and hear everyone, even though Mom had a lot of technical issues.

Normal day today, grocery shopping and then our chores for the week.

Have a great day.

Saturday, May 02, 2020

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit once again in a quiet household, my co-author is no where to be found this morning. I'm up a little early to write down my thoughts before I go back to bed for a few hours.

Todays highlight is going to be a Zoom Call this evening with my family. Kim has an account and we are all going to log in and spend a little bit of time together with everyone. I really haven't seen anyone in a while, so this will be kind of nice to be able to see peoples faces.

Other than that nothing going on here. You'll notice a some traffic around town, a lot of students are going to be returning to Morgantown in the next two weeks to get their belongings from their dorms and apartments, so I would use a little extra caution this weekend and next just to keep yourself safe.

Have a great day, see many of you this evening.

Friday, May 01, 2020

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....or something like that.

Well that has been a fast month, it's been a month since Michelle started working from home and since I had to start looking for work once again. A month of quarantining at home and being bored half to death.

I've probably put in 30 or so resumes over the past month, watched 6 or 7 full seasons of survivor, pretty much talked to most of my siblings, Gary never answers his phone and stayed in and done about what relates to nothing for the past month. Not complaining, but for someone who lives a busy lifestyle, this is pretty much driving me a little bit bonkers to say the least.

I hope everyone is doing fine, have a great day.