Monday

All good things must come to an end—but if you’ve got to wrap up the weekend, today’s a pretty exciting way to do it. Now it’s time to take our collective noses and press them firmly back onto the grindstone of life. Back to work, back to the hustle, back to doing our part to make this spinning rock a better place. 

I don't really expect to hear much on the job front this week, especially with the 4th of July Holiday coming up. It's just a week when America actually shuts down like industrial places. I know we used to shut down annually this week at Sterling so that we could do our inventory. Places like Sterling were taxed on their existing Inventories at the end of the Fiscal Year (June 30), so we would shut down and get a solid count. Dad's mine used to shut down for two weeks during this period (he was a boss, so he worked), and Val said Aaron's mine is talking about a two-week hiatus. 

Looking at my week ahead, it looks like it is going to be wet, so grass cutting is something I will need to find a window of opportunity for. Kiwi and Peanut are always willing to help.

Have yourselves a great day. 

Sunday

Here I sit in a quiet household, Kiwi and Peanut are a little tired from assisting me doing the weed eating yesterday as Mommy went and did all of the grocery shopping. They really helped and assisted in getting some places that it was hard for me to reach, like under the trampoline and on the hillside. They did an amazing job, so I'm going to give them the day off and allow them to rest. 

For me, just a few morning chores that I do every week left to do. Things like sorting my pills, gathering garbage, cleaning the two pets places where they go to the restroom, no I haven't trained either one of them yet to go to the bathroom and flush it. Peanut has a littler Box and Kiwi is a bird and poops whereever he feels the need. 

I may try to cut the grass this afternoon, it's not really high enough, and that all depends on the weather. 

Val said a couple of days ago that Gary was supposed to come in last night; he was making a trip to Morgantown to check out her fuse panel. Seems like she has no power on anything from one side of the some and all of those circuits are on the left side of the fuse box. He was going to try to come in and look at that for her. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit in a quiet and cool household this morning. This house was a little warm this week with some problems, but Kiwi and Peanut went to Best Buy, bought a new air conditioner, and stuck it in the window for Michelle and me to enjoy this heatwave in coolness. They are such great pets. 

I also owe a lot of thanks to a couple of my brothers-in-law. George came over last weekend and put in a new circuit breaker into the fuse panel, thinking that could be the problem, but it still kept kicking. Even when I moved the AC to another circuit, it kicked that double-poled circuit, so I called my brother-in-law Nick to pick his brain since he is a certified electrician and a certified HVAC guy. Told him the problem and he quickly diagnosed that it was my Aior Conditioner and it would be better just to replace it than to have the old one fixed. So I had a nice credit on my Best Buy account from when I bought Michelle's reMarkable that was going to expire next month, so I just applied that to the air conditioner and got it at a nice discount. Brought it home, and George helped Kiwi and Peanut do all the lifting to put the new one in the window. It is so much cooler in here now, not so much like Satan's asshole. Thank you ti George, Pam, Nick, Penaut, and Kiwi for helping assist and alleviate the problem. 

So what is on today's agenda? Michelle will be doing the grocery shopping, and I may be cutting grass if it is dry and tall enough that it needs to be cut. Hopefully, I can do it without hitting that branch that I hit again last week, which gave me a concussion last fall. 

Did talk to a few people about some more contracts for my GIS services this week. Met with Hope Gas at the old Mylan facility about working for them, then I had a recruiter call me about doing for First Energy what I did for Duquense Light and I would be getting in early on that project. I'm still working for Parsons as well, but nothing at the moment, coverage-wise, but that can always change. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes, it is once again that time of the week that we all look forward 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 again the dawn of another weekend and a Big Ole Hairy Friday!!!

Are you looking for a little bit of cheap, and by cheap I do mean free entertainment? Head on down to the Hazel Ruby McQuain Amphitheater tonight to see Los Lonely Boys tonight at 8:00. They will go on at 8:00 and Aristotle Jones will start the evening's festivities off at 7:00. 

Kiwi and Peanut will not be in attendance this evening; they have decided to play a big game of lawn darts. Don't know where they found them or why they decided to start throwing darts at each other, but here we are. Hopefully we don't end up in the cat or bird emergency room tonight to remove a dart. 

Have yourselves a great day, and being they are tossing darts at each other hopefully not too memorable. 

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+ photos that I have stored on my computer. Little lost moments in time that I either captured with a lens, scanned or just stole from somewhere on the internet. I like to find just one and post it up and recall or relive the picture to the best of my ability. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task, and sometimes it's not that easy, one thing it has always been a lot of fun.

This week's pic I think, comes from about 1978 or so. Grandma and I had went to Sea World in Aurora Ohio with either Dad or Glenna Mae (I had been there with both of them). I had recently purchased a Kodak camera that used 126 film (as opposed to the old 110 or Poloroid Instamatic) where you had to take your pictures and drop them off for processing and then picked them up a few days later. 

We were attending the Killer Whale show it was named Shamu, but not the original Shamu who was in San Diego. Before the killer whale show, there was entertainment, including a dolphin show where this one was taken. 

The holding tanks were on the back side of this and you could see and feed the animals (my first time feeding a dolphin) and I will never forget Grandma seeing Shamu and because this big killer whale was laying motionless in the holding pool, that she said it was fake or nor real. About that time Shamu spit water out of her top hole quickly changing Grandma's perception. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Wednesday

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is once again completed, you know what that means. Time for a Tidbits

* It has been 22,461 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, new, and improved 1,069-day Calendar. 

* It has been 7,714 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. I love what I do and am thankful to still be working in my field. 

* 6,308 days ago Michelle and I had our first date together. Life has been much better since then. 

* 5,512  days ago I proposed to Michelle in the backyard at 4:00 in the morning. I've been the luckiest guy since that fateful day. 

* It was 5,550 days ago in front of our closest friends and family, for the most part, Michelle and I became husband and wife at the Marilla Center, it was a great day with friends and family. 

* I have now lived 2,687 days longer than my Dad did and I'm still going strong, slowing down but still going. 

* Michelle has been living a clean and productive life and beat that alcohol demon 1,341 days ago today. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,273 days, I've now outlived him by 1,204 days making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* I have 2,415 days to go until I retire, give or take a few hundred days here or there, but I love doing what I do. Who knows, though, doing what I do I may never retire.

* 223 more days until Phil steps to center stage once again for Groundhog Day.    

* 197 more days to go until my Goodbye 2025 Blog is posted. Hopefully, I can put some better content together this year.

* There are 183 more shopping days left until Christmas 2025.

* There are 162 days until I hit the age of 62. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* Pitt comes back to Morgantown in 85 more days. I can't wait. Revenge time for Rich Rod!!!!

* In 67 Days, Rich Rod leads the Mountaineers back onto the field to finish some unfinished business. 

* There are 43 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Fourteenth Wedding Anniversary together. 

* It has been ∞ (infinity symbol) days that I have hated both Pitt and Penn State.

* I have written 7,980 blogs in what is now 20 3/4 years since I started blogging. Two decades ago.   

* Older Drone still needs to be sent out for repairs, not a big priority at this time. My little drone is awesome and I really like it....when I take time out to fly it.   

* Life is much better when you eat Girl Scout Cookies, just saying, Ryleigh would appreciate it. They are really doing well and it benefits their troop. 

* Still playing Monopoly Go. I'm still in 3rd place among friends and family, still going strong. 

* This is my favorite Tiktok for this week. NSFW but hilarious as hell. 

* Progress on my Selfie in Space, right here

* Pearl is running great after being in the shop, but brakes all around it and the funny thing is, the front brakes were still factory brakes from when we bought it 14 years ago. 

* Have yourselves a great day

Monday

All good things must come to an end—but if you’ve got to wrap up the weekend, today’s a pretty exciting way to do it. Now it’s time to take our collective noses and press them firmly back onto the grindstone of life. Back to work, back to the hustle, back to doing our part to make this spinning rock a better place. 

Kiwi and Peanut are ready to tackle the week. They have Animal Planet on the TV, and they got a late-night, early morning pizza delivery. Peanut wanted Pepperoni and Kiwi said he wanted seeds. I think they gave him the wrong part of the green pepper, as there are no seeds. He is upset, to say the least. 

So week ahead, I have an interview scheduled on Wednesday for an office job here in Morgantown. I still work for Parsons, and work is a little slow at this time, so I have to find something to fill in the gaps when I don't have any funded tasks. Doesn't pay what I usually make but keeps me in practice and expands my resume just a little bit more. It's through a temp agency, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Sunday

Here I sit yet once again in a quiet household, Kiwi and Peanut are making plans to go out and lay out in the sun today with the expected temperatures supposed to be topping 90° F today and pretty much all week. They both said they want to get their summer tans on, I don't know how to tell Kiwi he has feathers and won't be able to tan. They have a big blanket they want to lay down outside, but it may be us hoomans as they call us that end up doing that. 

Got some yard work done yesterday, it was a nice day and when Michelle went grocery shopping I jumped on the tractor and started cutting grass. It was a wet week to say the least, so I just want to stay well ahead of the lawn and prevent it from getting too high. We cut up the old apple tree that fell last week and that think was just full of termites. We were going to bring the wood down to burn it until we saw them, so up in the woods the logs went. 

So what is on our agenda for the day? Other than the chores we do every Sunday, not too much. Peanut wants her watering bowl filled up with some ice cubes and change her filter. Clean her litter box and of course clean Kiwi's bedding. In other words, we'll be cleaning up their literal shit as they go out and lay in the sun. Life of a spoiled pet. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit in a quiet household once again, or should I say as quiet as a household can be with a rambunctious bird and cat running around demanding so much attention. Michelle mentioned that she wanted a chicken coop in the back yard and Kiwi and Peanut went to Lowes and got the wood and are building her a Chicken Coop. She said she wants fluffy butts running around in the back yard, me not so much. 

We had a tree fall from last weeks storms that we finally got cut up. I bought a battery-powered chainsaw from Lowe's last yearand I attached my 4 ah battery rather than one of the 2 aH batteries that I have, and it did a great job with plenty of power. I highly recommend this is you have a small job, you can throw a larger battery on for more power and battery life. I've got a number of Lowe's V20 Battery Powered tools, so it makes sit nice that they all have interchangeable battery packs. We did get that Sumac Tree cut out that was invading the back flower bed. 

So what is on today's agenda? Probably grocery shopping and possibly cutting grass, weather permitting. Maybe I can talk Kiwi and Peanut into running the lawnmower, but my guess after building Mom's fluffy butt hut in the back yard that they are going to take it east and watch animal planet. 

Have yourselves a great and memorable day. 

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Kiwi and Peanut

Yes, it is once again that time of the week that we all look forward 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 again the dawn of another weekend and a Big Ole Hairy Friday!!!

Are you looking for a little bit of cheap entertainment this evening, and by cheap I mean free? Well head on down to the Hazel Ruby McQuain Ampitheatre this evening and see a free show by Chase Matthew with none other than Morgantown's own Huey Mack  and another Huey Mack. He's a big talent who is local and writes from the heart and from here. I know Val mentioned that she wanted to go see Chase Matthew, Peanut and Kiwi already have their seats as they are big Huey Mack fans. 

What is going on other than that? Not too much really, Michelle is going to be doing the grocery shopping for the week tomorrow and I'll be doing the Sam's Club shopping today. I may even take Kiwi and Peanut with me, they like to get out of the house and do things, of course that is where they get these wild ideas as well. I guess that is the gamble you take when you have two innovative pets. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Happy Birthday Erica Nicholson

I would like to take this opportunity to wish my great niece Erica a very Happy Birthday today. If my math serves me correctly, she should be turning 21 years old today.

 
Seems like it was just yesterday when we were all at the Hospital awaiting her arrival and here we are 20 years later with her already grown up, working and building her own life.

 
Not sure what if any plans there are for her today, and I don't even know what she has planned, but if you happen to see this young lady, wish her the Happiest of Birthdays.

 
Happy Birthday, Erica.

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+ photos that I have stored on my computer. Little lost moments in time that I either captured with a lens, scanned or just stole from somewhere on the internet. I like to find just one and post it up and recall or relive the picture to the best of my ability. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task and sometimes it's not that easy, one thing it has always been a lot of fun.

This weeks pic is one that took about 42 years to complete. The top one is the first time a picture was taken of the five of us (minus Jonathan who we didn't even know of at the time). I'm thinking it was the summer of 1978 at Grandma Hall's. 

The bottom picture was when we tried to replicate the above photo, although we were all dressed differently, now the good news was we all got a chance to speak to Jonathan (Gary's only conversation with him) just before this picture was taken. 

I have always loved these types of pictures where we are all together at the same time and same place. The older I get, the more precious these moments are. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Wednesday

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is once again completed, you know what that means. Time for a Tidbits

* It has been 22,454 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, and improved 1,045-day Calendar. 

* It has been 7,707 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. I love what I do and am thankful to still be working on my field. 

* 6,301 days ago Michelle and I had our first date together. Life has been much better since then. 

* 5,505  days ago I proposed to Michelle in the backyard at 4:00 in the morning. I've been the luckiest guy since that fateful day. 

* It was 5,543 days ago in front of our closest friends and family, for the most part, Michelle and I became husband and wife at the Marilla Center, it was a great day with friends and family. 

* I have now lived 2,680 days longer than my Dad did and I'm still going strong, slowing down but still going. 

* Michelle has been living a clean and productive life and beat that alcohol demon 1,334 days ago today. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,273 days, I've now outlived him by 1,197 days making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* I have 2,422 days to go until I retire, give or take a few hundred days here or there, but I love doing what I do. Who knows, though, doing what I do I may never retire.

* 230 more days until Phil steps to center stage once again for Groundhog Day.    

* 204 more days to go until my Goodbye 2025 Blog is posted. Hopefully, I can put some better content together this year.

* There are 190 more shopping days left until Christmas 2025.

* There are 169 days until I hit the age of 62. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* Pitt comes back to Morgantown in 99 more days. I can't wait. Revenge time for Rich Rod!!!!

* There are 50 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Fourteenth Wedding Anniversary together. 

* There are 3 days to go until summer. 

* It has been ∞ (infinity symbol) days that I have hated both Pitt and Penn State.

* I have written 7,973 blogs in what is now 20 3/4 years since I started blogging. Two decades ago.   

* Older Drone still needs to be sent out for repairs, not a big priority at this time. My little drone is awesome and I really like it....when I take time out to fly it.   

* Life is much better when you eat Girl Scout Cookies, just saying, Ryleigh would appreciate it. They arer really doing well and it benefits their troop. 

* Still playing Monopoly Go. I'm still in 3rd place among friends and family, still going strong. 

* This is my favorite Tiktok for this week. Phil and Yeti getting into it. 

* Progress on my Selfie in Space, right here

* Putting Pearl in the shop today, having a stablizer bar mounts replaced, new front brakes and finding an oil leak, just routine maintenance. Hartsells is where I go!!

* Have yourselves a great day

Monday

All good things must come to an end—but if you’ve got to wrap up the weekend, today’s a pretty exciting way to do it. Now it’s time to take our collective noses and press them firmly back onto the grindstone of life. Back to work, back to the hustle, back to doing our part to make this spinning rock a better place. That's something I would say if I were working, I have an interview here next week. 

Kiwi and Peanut are both worn out, they spent the whole weekend riding their water slide that they built, not they are both just plumb tuckered out and ready to sleep until their next exciting adventure. Kiwi mentioned that he thinks he can win a surfing competition now that he has all this experience. I'm not so sure though...lol

Sticking Pearl in the garage tomorrow over at Hartsells. Neither car is due for inspection this year, but we are going to have some things done to her. I may ask Kiwi to drive it over, you know he is an expert on everything. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Sunday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit in a quiet household, Peanut and Kiwi have been having an all night party on the water slide they built yesterday. I'm not sure where it came from, but there is a Giraffe out there with them and they are all just carrying on and having a good time. Michelle is Happy that we have a wild Giraffe show up in the back yard and I'm trying to figure out where the hell he or she had been hiding. They fired up the grill and cooked Hot Dogs and Brats and have made quite a few pitchers of Kool-Aid in all sorts of flavors. Kiwi said they plan on partying into the night once again after last night. Good to see they are getting along.

So, what is on the agenda for today? Other than walking around the yard with a large shovel looking for Giraffe poop, not too much. Michelle did all the grocery shopping yesterday, so today is going to be a relaxing day. Maybe take in a movie or something, relaxing for Michelle as she is just resting for the upcoming week. 

I did manage to write Daniel yesterday, it had been over a month since the last time I had written him and the ball was in my court for a return letter. I just had never gotten around to it. I told him the story of my dropping the rubber band down into my engine this week and having it towed and pulled out. Hopefully he got a kick out of that. 

Make this a special day, spend it with some special people and make some memories. 

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit in a semi-quiet household, Kiwi and Peanut are brainstorming a concept of how they can build and plumb a sliding board / water slide in the back yard. I think this is more of a Kiwi thing as Peanut doesn't like to get wet and Kiwi likes to get in his jacuzzi and splash around. Peanut just wants to keep the peace and is looking for something to do, so she is helping. 

It was an eventful week this week, one morning I topped off the oil in Pearl before Michelle went to work, I had bought a new funnel the day before and it had a rubber band wrapped around a hole at the top of it (it was attached to a 5 quart thing of oil) and I decided to use it. I topped Michelle's car off and I'll be damned if that rubber band did not come undone, get into the funnel and before I could grab it went right into the engine. I could see it, just didn't have a tool to retrieve it. Long story short I had it towed to Hartsell's Auto Shop, and Brian reached in with a pick tool and pulled it out for me. He charged me nothing to do that, but I'm also sticking the car in the shop on Tuesday so he can fix a few things on it. I do have towing on my insurance, so I was re-imbursed for the towing. 

You may notice that there are a number of commercial tractor-trailers around town this weekend. The High Point Nationals are this weekend. Traffic may be a little heavier than what we are used to for the weekend with some many people visiting the area. 

No other plans for us outside of what we normally do on weekends. 

Haver yourselves a great day, make some special memories. 

Big Ole Hairy Friday the 13th

Yes, it is once again that time of the week that we all look forward 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 again the dawn of another weekend and a Big Ole Hairy Friday the 13th!!!!

My work buddies are both accompanying me to Sam's Club today to help me do some of the shopping that we normally do. They wanted to get out of the house and Sam's Club was the best option. 

If you are looking for a little bit of cheap and by cheap I mean free entertainment head on down to the Hazel Ruby McQuain Amphitheater as Hinder will be giving a free Concert starting at 6:30. A band called Gene the Werewolf will start the evening's festivities off at 6:30. A couple of good bands for free entertainment on Friday the 13th. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

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+ photos that I have stored on my computer. Little lost moments in time that I either captured with a lens, scanned or just stole from somewhere on the internet. I like to find just one and post it up and recall or relive the picture to the best of my ability. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task and sometimes it's not that easy, one thing it has always been a lot of fun.

This is one from Christmas 1998, the famous one where we all decided that we were going to have a Christmas get together whether Dad liked it or not. Gary and I were both living up there and everyone pitched in  and got the house cleaned and ready. 

At the last minute, Dad decided to go all in. He decided he was taking the night off and it turned out to be a very special night and his last Christmas before passing. I'm so thankful that he surrendered his stubborn ways and allowed the family to enjoy one last Christmas Eve together.

Have yourselves a great day. 

Wednesday Encore for Phat Gus

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is once again completed, you know what that means. Time for a tidbits. 

* It has been 22,447 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, and improved 1,045-day Calendar. 

* It has been 7,700 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. I love what I do and am thankful to still be working on my field. 

* 6,287 days ago Michelle and I had our first date together. Life has been much better since then. 

* 5,498  days ago I proposed to Michelle in the backyard at 4:00 in the morning. I've been the luckiest guy since that fateful day. 

* It was 5,536 days ago in front of our closest friends and family, for the most part, Michelle and I became husband and wife at the Marilla Center, it was a great day with friends and family. 

* I have now lived 2,673 days longer than my Dad did and I'm still going strong, slowing down but still going. 

* Michelle has been living a clean and productive life and beat that alcohol demon 1,327 days ago today. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,273 days, I've now outlived him by 1,190 days making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* I have 2,429 days to go until I retire, give or take a few hundred days here or there, but I love doing what I do. Who knows, though, doing what I do I may never retire.

* 237 more days until Phil steps to center stage once again for Groundhog Day.    

* 211 more days to go until my Goodbye 2025 Blog is posted. Hopefully, I can put some better content together this year.

* There are 197 more shopping days left until Christmas 2025.

* There are 176 days until I hit the age of 62. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* Pitt comes back to Morgantown in 106 more days. I can't wait. Revenge time for Rich Rod!!!!

* There are 57 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Fourteenth Wedding Anniversary together. 

* There are 18 days to go until summer. 

* It has been ∞ (infinity symbol) days that I have hated both Pitt and Penn State.

* I have written 7,964 blogs in what is now 20 3/4 years since I started blogging. Two decades ago.   

* Older Drone still needs to be sent out for repairs, not a big priority at this time. My little drone is awesome and I really like it....when I take time out to fly it.   

* Life is much better when you eat Girl Scout Cookies, just saying, Ryleigh would appreciate it. They arer really doing well and it benefits their troop. 

* Still playing Monopoly Go. I'm still in 3rd place among friends and family. A former co-worker of Michelle's went on vacation and I passed her. 

* This is my favorite Tiktok for this week. Brittany sent me this one last week.  

* Progress on my Selfie in Space, right here

* Have yourselves a great day

Monday

All good things must come to an end—but if you’ve got to wrap up the weekend, today’s a pretty exciting way to do it. Now it’s time to take our collective noses and press them firmly back onto the grindstone of life. Back to work, back to the hustle, back to doing our part to make this spinning rock a better place. That's something I would say if I were working, I'm on the hunt now however. 

My project with Parsons ended last week, now I either have to wait until the next project is approved or find some other sort of employment to carry me over until that point. I sometimes get 70-80 calls, emails or texts a day from headhunters, so it's just a waiting game until the next opportunity that fits comes along. 

So what are my plans this week? You mean other than look for more work? Not too much on my agenda, not sure what Michelle has planned. I think her and her sisters are going to visit their mom on Thursday. They go once a week together and they bring her dinner, I think this week has Apple Annies on their agenda. Micelle has a number of options available to her up in the plaza, so there are lots of places to choose from. 

Michelle did stop by at Mal's this past week, they are starting to get stuff from Grantsville, Maryland occasionally and they had Fry Pies last week. I've always gotten my Fry Pies from Hershbergers  in Amish Country in Ohio, so I was a little excited. 

Have yourselves a great day, make it a good one. 

Sunday

Here I sit in a semi-quiet household, Kiwi and Peanut are getting along, they have made some popcorn and control the TV remote, and are trying to find themselves a movie about a bird and a cat and how they got together and won a Nobel Peace Prize. I think I have the Big Bang Theory playing a little too much on the TV.  Kiwi thinks he is Sheldon, and Peanut thinks she is Amy. I swear these two can be entertaining as hell. 

It's a good thing that I got grass cut late last week, especially with the rain we had Friday and yesterday, it would have been way too wet and would have grown out of control this week before I got a chance to cut it. 

Hayley and Tyler made it to Florida safely, Hayley told Michelle Gracie is now a beach dog as she is loving it in Florida. They are dropping Luke off to spend some time this Summer with Mark and Alice (Tyler's Parents) while he is on break from school. I'm sure he will enjoy himself all Summer, he's earned it. 

Have yourselves a great day, make some memories. 

Happy Birthday Hayley and Tyler Ash

I would like to take this opportunity to wish my favorite daughter and favorite son-in-law a very Happy Birthday. Hayley's is today and I think Tyler's is actually tomorrow. Same hospital and the same time period and now they are married. 

I am very proud of Hayley and Tyler, two amazingly goal-driven kids who are doing a wonderful job raising Luke. 

Tyler is the perfect son-in-law and a perfect match for Hayley. 

Not sure what they have planned for their birthday days, I know they are either en route or in Florida at the moment visiting Tyler's Parents.  

Make sure that you take a little bit of time out and wish these two a very Happy Birthday today (Hayley) and tomorrow (Tyler). 

Hi ho hi ho

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit on a quiet Saturday Morning, Kiwi and Peanut are still outside with a table set up, they decided to have an all-night Monopoly Tournament. I can't really tell who is winning, they are both trash talking each other and both claiming to be winning and plan on winning this game. 

No worries about cutting the grass today, I knocked it out on Thursday when I saw the weather report for yesterday and the weekend. It's all done thanks to the help of my two helpers. 

Well my work for Parsons has run out of funding for the time being. That is the thing about being a contractor, it is all feast or famine and now we are entering the famine stage of it all. I'm still working for Parsons or should I say I'm still a Parsons employee. I just have no coverage at the moment and it doesn't appear that that will change during June. I always have something in the hopper to carry me through, we'll just have to wait and see who needs my services.  I've worked pretty solidly for Parsons since November, with the exception of a week or so, so we'll have to wait and see what transpires. The good news is my yard has been mowed. 

Agenda for the day, grocery shopping for the week, just like every Saturday morning. Michelle handles all of that, I slow her down too much and I thinik she enjoys it. 

Update, my Selfie from Space from Wednesday's blog, has been approved. Keep an eye here for updates. 

Have yourselves a great day, make it memorable and take a picture or two. 

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes, it is once again that time of the week that we all look forward 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 again the dawn of another weekend and a Big Ole Hairy Friday!!!

I think Kiwi is starting to look more like a Parrot than a Green Cheek Conure, I had to switch AI programs. The one I was using ChatGPT is just getting bogged down with so many requests that it is pretty much useless for image creation. I started using VeniceAI to generate my images, it's much quicker. With more and more people using AI, the more popular ones resources have been inundated with requests, making it harder to get a return. 

If you are looking for something to do tonight, the Summer Concert Series at Ruby Amphitheater opens the season with Thunderstruck, an AC/DC tribute band. 

Do what is on the agenda for the weekend? Not really sure, I'll have to play it by ear and see what comes along. Lawn care may just be on my agenda for the weekend. Concerts will be running from tonight and almost every Friday Night up until WVU Football season. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Hi ho hi ho

Happy Birthday Gary Hall

I would like to take this chance to wish my youngest sibling a very Happy Birthday today. 

I've always loved this picture of Gary, Grandpa Hall used to refer to him as Jobo. No idea where he came up with that nickname, but that was what he called Gary. I used to call Gary BASH, which stood for Bozo, Arnetta (his made up Dad used to use for his Girlfriend), Suck-a-thumb, Hall. Don't worry though, Gary would always give it back to me so it went both ways. 

I know Gary has quit his job back up home and is planning on moving back to Morgantown sometime in the near future. Not sure as to when or where that will happen, but it's his plans. 

If you happen to see or talk to Gary today, wish him a very Happy Birthday. Is this 54? 

Hi ho hi ho

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+ photos that I have stored on my computer. Little lost moments in time that I either captured with a lens, scanned or just stole from somewhere on the internet. I like to find just one and post it up and recall or relive the picture to the best of my ability. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task and sometimes it's not that easy, one thing it has always been a lot of fun.

This one was an easy one, just go back four years to when Hayley and Tyler were married and use one of the wedding pictures are my photo Flashback. It was 4 years ago today that Hayley and Tyler were married on the beach at Chincoteague. The horses were there that day and it was almost fairytale like as they lined up for the wedding and actually waited until the wedding was over to greet the wedding party. That is reality, you could not have planned such an event and if someone did it was her Fatehr Richard from beyond. It was a magical day for her and everyone involved. 

Have yourselves a great day, Happy Anniversary to Hayley and Tyler and make it special. 

Hi ho hi ho

Wednesday

https://space.crunchlabs.com/

This is not some instant or overnight thing, you can upload a selfie and you should get it by mid summer. I submitted one for Michelle and I, this will be the link when the selfie is taken. 

https://space.crunchlabs.com/selfie/sPDHRxE

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is once again completed, you know what that means. Time for a tidbits. 

* It has been 22,440 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, and improved 1,045-day Calendar. 

* It has been 7,693 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. I love what I do and am thankful to still be working on my field. 

* 6,280 days ago Michelle and I had our first date together. 10,000 BC and Pizza Hut. 

* 5,491  days ago I proposed to Michelle in the backyard at 4:00 in the morning. I've been the luckiest guy since that fateful day. 

* It was 5,529 days ago in front of our closest friends and family, for the most part, Michelle and I became husband and wife at the Marilla Center, it was a great day with friends and family. 

* I have now lived 2,666 days longer than my Dad did and I'm still going strong, slowing down but still going. 

* Michelle has been living a clean and productive life and beat that alcohol demon 1,320 days ago today. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,273 days, I've now outlived him by 1,183 days making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* I have 2,436 days to go until I retire, give or take a few hundred days here or there, but I love doing what I do. Who knows, though, doing what I do I may never retire.

* 244 more days until Phil steps to center stage once again for Groundhog Day.    

* 211 more days to go until my Goodbye 2025 Blog is posted. Hopefully, I can put some better content together this year.

* There are 211 more shopping days left until Christmas 2025.

* There are 183 days until I hit the age of 62. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* Pitt comes back to Morgantown in 113 more days. I can't wait. Revenge time for Rich Rod!!!!

* There are 64 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Fourteenth Wedding Anniversary together. 

* There are 25 days to go until summer. 

* It has been ∞ (infinity symbol) days that I have hated both Pitt and Penn State.

* I have written 7,958 blogs in what is now 20 3/4 years since I started blogging. Two decades ago.   

* Older Drone still needs to be sent out for repairs, not a big priority at this time. My little drone is awesome and I really like it....when I take time out to fly it.   

* Life is much better when you eat Girl Scout Cookies, just saying, Ryleigh would appreciate it. Michelle just bought six boxes on thin mints for her Mom, who loves thin mints. 

* Still playing Monopoly Go. I'm still in 4th place among friends and family. I've stayed pretty steady there for a while. 

* This is my favorite Tiktok for this week. I love her content. 

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday

All good things must come to an end—but if you’ve got to wrap up the weekend, today’s a pretty exciting way to do it. Now it’s time to take our collective noses and press them firmly back onto the grindstone of life. Back to work, back to the hustle, back to doing our part to make this spinning rock a better place.

Peanut and Kiwi are up and at ’em this morning—well, kind of. They're a little too caught up in Monopoly Go on their phones to focus on anything productive. Kiwi is completely obsessed with the new Star Wars theme, while Peanut just enjoys batting at the screen like it’s a touchscreen toy made for cats (which, let's be honest, it might as well be). Every few minutes, I hear “Take that, Daddy!” or “Mom’s going to be mad!”—and when I check in, sure enough, one of them has knocked down one of my buildings. Or Michelle’s. Hard to say. Either way, we may have accidentally created two tiny digital tyrants.

Pretty sure summer break has officially kicked off. Judging by the flood of “last day of school” and graduation photos I saw last week, I think it’s safe to assume the kids are out. Amy might still be working a few more days (just a guess), but for the most part, the school year is in the rearview mirror.

Here we go again—let’s make it a good one.

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday

Here I sit in a quiet household, Kiwi and Peanut are both in the recliner, still sleeping. They spent all night watching Animal Planet and infomercials and I think they are both just tuckered out. I think they have a big day planned of napping and doing regular animal things. 

I have a few chores around the house, and with any luck, I can get the grass cut. It has been a while (actually about two weeks), and I just need a break in the weather to be able to do it. It looks like it might clear up a little bit today, so there is that hope. 

A little update, I did speak to the person who oversees Mount Union Cemetery. I am trying to locate my Great-Grandfather's actual burial site, Unfortunately, she said all of her records are indicative of who purchased the plot as opposed to who is buried there. She is going to have her people mow next see if there is a headstone somewhere. Grandpa Hall, Grandma Hall, Lincoln Hall, and our next door neighbor at the time's infant daughter are all together, I'm hoping it is within that area, just as an unmarked grave. Fingers are crossed, I'll keep you updated with any developments. 

Other than that, nothing new. 

Have yourselves a great day.