My years goals to date.

First off, it was 1 degree this morning when I woke up. It was in the 60's on Friday. What's up with that? Did I ever mention I hate snow?

I don't make New Years resolutions, they are usually things that are done on a whim and never really realize their fruition. I take the approach a little differently, I try to set up what I would call obtainable goals that I would like to meet throughout the year following year. Resolutions we can easily let go in a day or two, but goals are something you work for year round. These are some of my goals for 2006 and where I am currently at.

Family Situation

Over the last few years we have some family feuds, sometimes resulting in people not talking and this being carried on for a while. In 2005 I ended my feud with my sister Kim and she also took the steps to repair another relationship in the family.

There are still a few hurdles to get over, but they are getting smaller and smaller and could be obtainable. Everyone makes mistakes, I think the question we must ask ourselves is how long those mistakes are being held against anyone else or being held against us. Anyone can hold a grudge, but it takes a person of real integrity and character to say enough is enough.

Unconditional love has no conditions, and we all need to remember this sometimes. I love everyone in my family and would bend over backwards to do what I could to help any of them. I have swallowed my pride, I have accepted accountability on things that I have done rather than make excuses and most importantly, I've tried to put others first. I could be wrong, but the true testament of that statement is that I really don;t see anyone contradicting it. I could be wrong, but that is the only true measure that we have.

This year I would like to see a complete family portrait at Christmas time. There is something incomplete about this picture, I don't want it to happen again.



Career

Wow, this is a big one. I said earlier this year I would re-market myself in 2006 and I have done this. I updated my resume and placed it on a few sites that it could be seen. I have been contacted by at least one head-hunter so far this year about at least one job. Anyone who knows me knows I was pretty excited when I found out the details of who was looking for me and where it is located. Don't know how it's all going to turn out, but the ball is rolling on this one and it looks like there could be prosperous times ahead of me.

Health

I've got my insurance information finally organized, but I still need to name a Primary Physician sometime in the near future. It is all organized for now on my part as far as everything else goes.

I did manage to step on a scale this morning and check my weight, my pants were starting to get a little loose and I just wanted to check, sure enough without trying I have dropped 10% of my body weight since early November. It must be getting close to softball season. I have been much more energetic over the past few months, I guess this confirms why.

Personal life

Steelers won the Super Bowl, WVU is the defending Sugar Bowl Champions and Morgantown High is the two time defending State Football Champions. The WVU basketball team lost to #1 UCONN yesterday, but we'll get them. So sports wise my goals are all my favorite teams to repeat.

Relationships

The one thing that comes and goes in my life. I've put any and all relationships on hold since I decided to go to college way back last century. I haven't allowed myself to get involved with anyone because I had goals that were more important to me at the time and I wanted to complete them.

In 2006 my goal is to find a soulmate. It's early, but I have signed up for at least one (like the specifics) dating site and posted my profile. I've sent a few messages in people that look to be able to keep my interest, we'll see how things turn out. It's been a long time since I was in a relationship. My last real relationship was a real educational experience for me. It taught me that if you don't have trust, you don't have anything. I also learned that trust is earned, and it's just not given. I have always tried to be honest, and I never really asked for anything other than that mutual respect in return.

Hopefully I can find someone like this in 2006.

This is just my update on the year so far. It's now a blistering 10 degrees outside, is it softball yet? I do have another goal this year, and that is bigger trophies.

Nice short day

I had a nice short day at work today, seems like Frostburg Maryland had a main waterline break today and they shut the entire college down. I had already been there when they made the announcement, but I left at about 9:30 this morning and went and visited mom for a littlw while. Tweaked her computer a little and helped her find what she was missing.

I guess I have to go to work again tomorrow, they got the water line fixed and the evening shift came in a few hours late and the facility is back up and running this evening.

I can't let the BLOG go stale

Yep, it's me and I'm still alive. It's been six whole days since my last BLOG and I haven't BLOGGED since. My BLOG is getting very close to what I would consider a stale BLOG. That's when someone when the author writes something and doesn't touch it again for weeks if not months. That makes it really boring and people lose interest. I've always wanted to maintain the readers interest so that they would regularly return.

Readers need things to help keep the BLOG moving, they need pictures that help you tell a story, just like this one that I took from my phone last July at the Jimmy Buffet concert in Pittsburgh. They need something that gives the post a visual image to go along with your story so that they can see what you are talking about or get a sense of being where you were at. They need to be able to live the moments that you have lived through not only your words, but also through your eyes.

If you can manage to do that, I think you have managed to touch your readers heart. It's hard to get peoples attention sometimes, oh sure it's easy to get the attention of those we know and love, but for the reader that you have never met? I've met quite a few people over the last year whop claim to read my blog. Some do it to keep in touch with what's going on in life, some because they have met me or some because they have just viewed it once or twice and liked what they read or saw.

My sister Kim opened my eyes up a little more to the importance of BLOGGING just this past week. What she found is a place that takes your BLOG and turns it into a book. Yep, a hardback paper printed book. Pretty neat idea wouldn't you say? You think about it, I've spent a year and a half writing my ideas and thoughts down on the internet. I've done tidbits, I've been a news source, I've done multi media etc etc.

Kim said she is thinking of having her BLOG printed. It may not mean much to us right now, because we read them every day. However, think about down the road went he site or sites that host your blog dump their memory. Years after the authors have left this world and moved on. When the grandchildren and great grandchildren who have yet to be conceived walk this earth. Wouldn't it be nice if they could have something to help them better understand who they are, or where they came from.

We all depend on hearsay of family stories passed on down through the generations, and we know how hard that information is to confirm sometimes. This person says this, and that person says that. Wouldn't;t it be nice if something that I take five or ten minutes to do today, will be provide hours of education and entertainment for the next generations to come down the road?

Kim really hit on something and it is really making me think. What is it that I can do that can help the next generation understand who we were and what we were about. Who was doing what and when, and were there any pictures to go along with the story. My contribution has been this BLOG and my website. I try to take as many pictures as I can and add them to keep my site and BLOG up to date. Maybe someday when all of us who are reading this the day it was written are dead and gone, someone from the next generation will be able to see and read the same things and thoughts that we have experienced today.

Do A BLOG, Keep it active and give the next generations a very valuable gift.

A football fans tri-fecta

Wow, talk about a football fans tri-fecta. This year my High School Alma Mater completed it's second consecutive 14-0 State Championship Season. My College Alma Mater went 11-1, won it's third consecutive Big East Championship, won the Sugar Bowl and finished the regular season ranked #5. There have already been two AP voters who have indicated they are the Pre-season #1 next season.

Last night was the icing on my cake for the year. The Pittsburg Steelers defeated the Seattle Seahawks 21-10 in Super Bowl XL. I am a lifelong Steelers fan and have patiently waited 26 years for my beloved steelers to return as Super Bowl Champions once again.

Now, if the WVU Basketball team can bring it home, and they very well could, this could be double icing on my sports world cake.


WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Let's start them up again

Well, Jeff Probst is at it again, my favorite television show is premiering the second part of the TV viewing season tonight when sixteen survivors are let loose in Panama.

This time the survivors are going to be broken down into four different tribes, I'm assuming that it will be four tribes of four, so this is going to be something new.

In Survivor All-Stars, they broke them down into three tribes, but this will be the first time for four tribes.

Not going to say much about what did or will happen tonight, I'm just going to pay attention to what is happening rather than attempting to BLOG about it.

Didn't work

6 more weeks of winter. Damn Rat.

Different approach

OK, last year's approach wasn't successful and we managed to have snow after Ground Hogs day. This year I am seriously thinking about sneaking up to Punxsutawney PA and poking the varmits eyes out so that there is no possible way that we are going to get any more sbow.

It started here in October, October!!!! We got nailed with over a foot of heavy snow that knocked out power lines all over North central West Virginia.

I work in Frostburg (that shoudl be a hint) and I've seen enough of the white stuff already this year. I'm ready for warm weather, no snow on the roads, longer days and girls running around in thong bikini's.


If I poke Phil's eyes out there will be no way he can see his shadow.

Deigned a cute little webpage

A lot of time that I spend on the net, I spend posting with what could be called my cyber family over at the Blue and Gold News. Many times there are literally hundreds of us online, and when West Virginia University is playing a game we are online in a thread discussing the game.

I had a little inspiration this past fall when we played South Florida, they had a small site set up for their posters to go in and do an IRC chat. I thought to myself why don't I design one and actually bookmark the parent page.

I forgot all about it until yesterday when I was looking through my bookmarks and rediscovered the Parachat site. I remembered my idea from a month and a half ago and started to design a quick, simple, user-friendly page that my associates from Blue and Gold News and I could all use.

Yesterday I took a couple hours (mostly designing and deciding what links to use at the top) and designed a page. Ironically WVU plays St. Johns today at 2:30, so this will be a great chance for me to do a test run and get some feedback on the page.

Everyone is welcome if you want to come and enjoy some IRC company of some Mountaineer fans during the game by going to the Chat Page and enjoy some company as we cheer on the Mountaineers. Feedback appreciated.

Last Kim Update from Robert

Thanks to Robert for giving us daily information on her condition.

She's home! The doctor pulled out her drain tube and sent us home today. We got on the road around 12:00pm and arrived home by 3:00pm. Unfortunately the ride went as expected and was very very painful for Kim but she toughed it out and we made it home. Kim will have a catheter in for the next 2 weeks while she is recovering and then I will remove it here at home. I will also have to change her bandage where her drain tube was for the next few days until it heals over. Her staples will come out the end of next week and then stent comes out in 6 weeks. We hope to only have to make one more trip to Cleveland (for the stent removal) and then we're home free. We will be monitoring her vitals daily for any changes that might tell us that something is going wrong but for now all looks good. Kim is in good spirits but has a lot of pain. She will be spending the next few weeks resting and walking more and more each day. All things considered the stay in the hospital was a very good one.

Updtae #3 on Kim from Robert

Today was another good/bad day with much more good than bad. First of all we managed to get into a private room this afternoon which makes things much easier on us. The big concern for today were Kim's lungs. They were starting to fill up with fluid from her pain medicine (morphine) and her lack of activity. We were able to reverse this process, however, with a fair amount of walking and some breathing exercises. Her blood oxygen level is now in the upper 90's on it's own. Her temperature has stabilized and has been within normal levels all day. She is still in alot of pain but they removed her from her pain pump and she is back on a regular diet without any intravenous fluids. They left the IV in her arm just in case they need to administer something to her later. She also still has a drain tube in her abdomen to keep any excess fluids from building up in her abdomen and casing her more pain. With any luck she just might be able to go home tomorrow though we both know that the ride home will be excruciatingly painful for her. If all continues to go well the doctor will remove the drain tube tomorrow before we head home and then Kim will have her staples removed in about 3 weeks. The stent will remain in for about 6 weeks to allow her time to heal.

As far as mother nature goes I guess she decided she didn't want a piece of me after all. They were calling for 12 inches of snow with 30-40mph winds this morning but we only got about 2 inches. I guess the weathermen and Ruby doctors have something in common. If you know what I mean.

Talk to you all tomorrow hopefully from home.

Another Kim Update

Another e-mail from Robert


Good and bad news from today but I would say overall more good than bad. First Kim was able to get out of bed and walk a short distance around the hallway this afternoon and then again this evening. She is still in a lot of pain and remains on the pain pump for now. The biggest concern is that Kim is running a low grade fever off and on that I will be monitoring closley. Also her oxygen level in her blood went to new record low according to her nurse of 80%. Normal levels should be 96% or higher. She was put on oxygen and the level came up immediately but will also need to be monitored closely.

On another note mother nature now apparenlty want's a piece of me as they are calling for 8 inches of snow with 20-30mpg winds and snow drifts of 2-3 feet. Bring it!

Just for you Kim

I said i would get it for you, Original Steelers Polka

E-mail from Robert

For all those concerned, Robert is a little more specific.


All,

Kim's surgery went well and last for just over 2 1/2 hours. The doctor did say that the scarring on her ureter was much larger than what he had expected but that didn't really change the outcome of the procedure. He was able to re-implant the ureter into her bladder without any real problems. She has yet another stent for at least the next 3 weeks to give her time to heal and then if all goes well the stent will be removed and the nightmare will be over. For now she is in a semi-private room pending a private room freeing up. We did have some initial issues with getting her pain medicine ordered but all has been resolved and I WILL be taking that up with the doctor in the morning. For the most part she is resting well and hopes to be able to walk around some tomorrow. Cell phones are not allowed in the patient rooms so I only have limited access to call with updates but will do the best I can. That's it for now I will update you all again tomorrow.


In closing I just wanted to thank you for all your support. We could not have made it this far without it.

Updates on everything.

First off, I didn't get a chance to talk to Robert Yesterday, we were playing Phone tag trying to communicate on Kim's condition. I did however get a message from hima nd talked to Mom about Kim's condition.

I found out that she went in for surgery, roughly at 11:00, and the surgery lasted about two and a half hours. When we were playing phone tag yesterday, she was back in her room and in a little bit of expected pain.

Talking to Mom, who was talking to Robert when I was trying to call him, there appears to be no complications and the surgery was a success. I really have no more information than that other than she should be back home by the end of the week if all goes well. I know she's been through a lot through this whole ordeal, and I wish her a much needed speedy recovery and closure to this whole ordeal. I spoke to her a couple of hours prior to her surgery and she appeared to be in good spirits, she wanted me to find a copy of the Original Pittsburgh Steelers fight song for her. Reminder for self, get that song.

I'll try talking to her today and get a few more details for everyone. I know she has a fewcaring friends who check out my Blog for updates on her condition. I've got you covered and will help to keep everyone informed as best as I can.


Second, looks like I am going to be a Great-Uncle again. I was talking to Val and Bobby last night, and Val informed me that she is pregnant expecting another wonderful bundle of joy. Sje already has one that I'm trying to teach to say "Eat Shit Pitt". I have Erica doing the hand pumping, now we just needs the words to come.

Third, Terri and Nick are waiting for the technical bureaucracy to open up...Nick and Terri's Bar. Everything has already been approved, it's just a matter of the commissioner signing the License and assigning them their number so they can call the distributor and purchase their initial stock. I have a funny feeling this bar is going to be very successful, customers are stopping in left and right and they aren't even open yet.

Last and certainly not least, a couple of my softball friends had a baby this past week. Brian and Natalie Hill gave birth to their first bundle of joy (and future Hall of Fame Shortstop) Braedyn Alexander Hill. Braedyn Alexander Hill. Congrats to Brian and Nat.

Have a good day.

SUPER BOWL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I think Bill Cowher has come up with the solution to winning the AFC Championship, don't play it at home.

This team for their leader Jerome Bettis, are on to Super Bowl XL in Detroit. This will end Jeromes illustrious career in his home city of Detroit.

WOOOO HOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tidbits

* I thought I was a little over due for a tidbits post, so here it goes.

* I first have to start out with a couple belated birthdays. First Mom's was January 11, and I stayed true to form in never being able to remember anyone's birthday, so Belated Happy Birthday Mom. After this happened, I tried adding a few Birthdays to the calendar on my phone. Once again another belated birthday to Nick whose was January 19th. I got to come up with a better system, I'm horrible at remember dates.

* The weather has been unseasonably warm this January, I'm not complaining, I'm enjoying this very much.

* A couple weeks ago I pointed out that one Associated Press Voter had named the West Virginia University Football Team Pre-season #1 for 2006. I knew at least one would do that. Now make that two, ESPN
has us as the #1 team for the 2006 Pre-season.

* In a game that is reminiscent of the old Larry Bird - Michael Jordan nothing but net McDonald's commercials of the 1980's. West Virginia University Basketball's team show that they can play this game too. There is a writer for Sports Illustrated who names eight teams every year, out of these eight teams he guarantees the NCAA Champion to come out of these eight. Read his entire article, and don't forget to look on page two for the rest of the names of the eight teams named. The next 365 days could be very interesting here in Morgantown.

* Nick and Terri's is now officially Nick and Terri's. They have passed their Mon County Health Department inspection and have their liquor license approved. They OFFICIALLY Open for buisness Monday. It's amazing how much work they have done to this location. I'll swing by monday and get a few pictures from the official opening.

* It's the NFL's Conference Championship weekend. My Pittsburgh Steelers are going to try to see if they can have any better luck playing AFC Championship games on the road, since they haven't had too much success winning these games in Pittsburgh. Nick's Carolina Panthers are in the NFC Championship. Here's to my team beating his team in the Super Bowl.

Poker Night at the SanJulians

Tonight was Poker Night at the SanJulians. Kim had invited me up to play in a little Texas Hold em Tournament. I had a great night and it was really a challenging round with some really good players. I came in third and Kim managed to come in second.

A Few pics of the nights events.

I knew someone would say it.

The 2005 West Virginia University Football campaign was arguably it's most successful in school history. A season that started in Syracuse, New York with little to no flair ended up with a Big East Championship, a Sugar Bowl win and a #5 Post season ranking in the AP Poll. Pretty impressive considering that the season ended with their pre-season second string Quarterback and fourth string Running Back stealing the show.

When the season ended and the fact that we beat a very good Georgia team on the road I said then that we basically return everyone for next season. ESPN did a 2006 Pre-Season poll for the 2006 season right after the bowl games and predicted us as #3.

Since then, the Nations best player, Vince Young from Texas, and a few other talented underclassmen have opted to enter the NFL draft a year early.

I had a hunch remembering back to Beano Cook picking the Mountaineers #1 in his ESPN pre-season special in 1988, that someone would pick us #1 for the 2006 season in a pre-season poll. 1988 was the year we managed to play and lose to Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl for the National Championship.

We return a lot of talented players and Rich Rodriguez offense is one that other teams are starting to take notice and really give it a hard look. We return two very exciting players in Pat White and Steve Slaton as well as a whole lot of talented and experienced players in a supporting cast.

Well, I thought we would have to wait until this summer to have someone confirm my hunch that someone would name us #1 in the Pre-season polls. I was wrong, it was confirmed for me, by get this, The 2005 National Champions University of Texas's hometown Newspaper, The Statesman. Happy reading.





The pre-preseason Top 25 in college football
Friday, January 13, 2006

Picking t
Nine days removed from the greatest Rose Bowl in history, the last of the multicolored confetti has floated back to the ground and Austin has finally come back down to earth.

Right. Who are we kidding?


This party may not end until, well, what time is Texas' season opener next September?

That's fine by us, but we ask for a brief timeout before the Longhorns are worshipped one final time on Sunday night as we offer our annual pre-preseason Top 25 football forecast.

And who better to climb college football's highest mountain in 2006?

The Mountaineers, of course.

Bear with us here. Every team we looked at has warts, but remember that Oklahoma was ranked 19th in the preseason when it won the title in 2000.

In a tight decision, we settled on West Virginia just ahead of 2003 BCS champion Louisiana State and resurgent Notre Dame. Filling out our top five are Ohio State and Florida.

There's not much not to like about the Mountaineers, whose bowl performance made them look like the strongest team in college football that didn't play in the Rose Bowl or the Fiesta Bowl, in which the Buckeyes beat the Fighting Irish. West Virginia put up a 28-0 lead on eighth-ranked Georgia in the Sugar Bowl and held on for a riveting 38-35 victory in the second-most exciting postseason game.

West Virginia has everything a team needs to stake its claim to No. 1:

Good head coach. Rich Rodriguez is quietly building a monster in Morgantown. Did you see his gutsy fake punt call to seal the win over Georgia?

Solid quarterback. Pat White turned down a baseball offer from the Angels and a football scholarship from LSU and quickly took over the reins of the offense. He's part of the new generation of mobile quarterbacks.

Sensational running back. Like White, Steve Slaton burst upon the scene as a freshman, showed a quick burst through the hole and broke Tony Dorsett's Sugar Bowl record with 204 yards rushing. This guy's a star.

Top receivers. The team's three best are back.

Winnable schedule. The Mountaineers trade in Virginia Tech for Mississippi State and will sleepwalk through Marshall, Buffalo and Maryland. Only possible potholes come at Louisville and Pittsburgh.

Less competition. West Virginia is easily the class of the Big East, and with the talent losses at Texas and Southern California, no dynasty remains intact.

LSU can make a strong case for winning its second crown in four years after ripping Miami 40-3 in the Peach Bowl. Eleven starters return, with quarterbacks JaMarcus Russell (coming off a shoulder injury and wrist surgery) and Matt Flynn back for their junior seasons. Running back Justin Vincent should be full speed after knee surgery, but he'll have to fend off Alley Broussard, returning after knee surgery as well.

Les Miles does have to rebuild his defensive line since only former Longhorn Chase Pittman returns. He'll also have to find two new linebackers, and the schedule is torturous with trips to Florida, Auburn, Tennessee and Arkansas.

Notre Dame has the likely Heisman Trophy favorite in quarterback Brady Quinn, the most underrated receiver in college in Jeff Samardzija and 17 returning starters. But the Irish are still too slow and lacking in defensive playmakers, and they have a grueling slate with USC, UCLA, Penn State, Michigan and Georgia Tech.

Had Ohio State not been gutted on defense — where all three linebackers, including A.J. Hawk, are gone as well as perhaps all four defensive backs — the Buckeyes would have entered September at No. 1. They do return quarterback Troy Smith, game-breaker Ted Ginn Jr. and running back Antonio Pittman but will miss wideout Santonio Holmes.

Florida lost star receiver Chad Jackson to the NFL but returns veteran quarterback Chris Leak among 14 starters. Now that Urban Meyer knows the SEC is a little tougher than the Mountain West, he'll be restocking with the best high school talent in the nation.

Auburn could make a bid with returning quarterback Brandon Cox, a strong secondary and a weak nonconference schedule. Texas will be much better than most expect because of 14 returning starters, including every skill position player — ahem — except one. (And tight end David Thomas.)

USC lost three guys who could be NFL All-Pros soon. Still, it could reach the national championship game given the wideouts, the defensive returnees and an influx of great recruits. Don't count on Oklahoma staying down with the cocksure Rhett Bomar at quarterback and Adrian Peterson hellbent for contact, the Heisman Trophy and an NFL pass after next year.

Most of all, remember, this is January.



With the Mountaineer Basketball team already proving they can beat any team at any location this season (Lost by 1 point to #2 Texas, Beat #8 Oklahoma and #3 Villanova, all on the road), 2006 is shaping up to be a very good year for West Virginia University Athletics.

Nick and Terri's

I stopped down at the new bar last night to visit Terri and see how the bar was shaping up, boy was I surprised to walk in and see how far they have come in a short period of time in restoring and getting this old building ready to be an establishment again.

Every time I stop there are patrons from the other bar there working to help get this one up and running or a couple people stopping in to see if they are open yet. It's really amazing what some of their customers have done to get this up and running. I've been there twice now and a friend of theirs named Radar (Vietnam Vet) has just been busting his butt both times I stopped by helpign get this thing ready.

They should be open within the next couple weeks and I'll be sure to go and get a few pics. The first time I stopped Terri wished she had a before and after pic, and that was last week.

I'm really looking foreward at seeing this bar when it's done. They have really busted their hind ends on this project.

Decision Made

As I stated in one of my posts last week, I was faced with a decision as to continue to live in Morgantown or relocate to Frostburg. I had been wrestling with the decision since about mid November when the possibility of me working for a company in Morgantown arose. That is another story, and I think I have given up on that situation. I contacted them at the beginning of the year and heard nothing more from them. Lack of professional courtesy is one reason I am closing the book on that opportunity.

I said the day of my interview that if I was hired I would work there for two years and go from there. It would allow me the opportunity to get some professional experience outside of what many employers would probably deem an academic environment at WVU, even though this could be no further from the truth. I will continue to work at VARGIS, but I think I want to continue to explore other employment options.

I'm happy where I am at at this current time in my professional life, but I also want the best opportunity to grow. So, during the next 12 months I plan on remarketing myself and see if I can find a more suitable situation for me.

It honestly was a very tough decision for me, but I am going to continue to live in Morgantown for the next 12 months. If I am still working at VARGIS in 12 months, then I will relocate to the area, but for right now I think I want to try to market myself again and see what kind of opportunities present themselves.

There were some decisive factors in my decision to stay in Morgantown. Family being #1 on the list. Friends being #2 on the list financial situation played heavily in the decision.

I had to prioritize the things in my life that are most important to me, my goals, the climate of where I will be living and financial situation and come to a decision. This may not be a permanant decision, but this is the final decision concerning the next 12 months.

You guys are stuck with me for 12 more months. Is it softball yet?

2006 Sugar Bowl Highlight Video

Another great WVU Football video done by the guys at BloodyFlux

#5 in AP, #6 in USA TODAY

Final College football rankings for the 2005-6 season.


AP

1. Texas (65) 13-0 1,625
2. USC 12-1 1,560
3. Penn State 11-1 1,484
4. Ohio State 10-2 1,428
5. West Virginia 11-1 1,325
6. LSU 11-2 1,314
7. Virginia Tech 11-2 1,197
8. Alabama 10-2 1,081
9. Notre Dame 9-3 1,019
10. Georgia 10-3 994
11. TCU 11-1 937
12. Florida 9-3 817
12. Oregon 10-2 817
14. Auburn 9-3 799
15. Wisconsin 10-3 786
16. UCLA 10-2 778
17. Miami 9-3 589
18. Boston College 9-3 545
19. Louisville 9-3 410
20. Texas Tech 9-3 359
21. Clemson 8-4 339
22. Oklahoma 8-4 329
23. Florida State 8-5 232
24. Nebraska 8-4 128
25. California 8-4 45


USA Today

1. Texas (62) 13-0 1,550
2. USC 12-1 1,483
3. Penn State 11-1 1,421
4. Ohio State 10-2 1,357
5. LSU 11-2 1,281
6. West Virginia 11-1 1,235
7. Virginia Tech 11-2 1,176
8. Alabama 10-2 1,066
9. TCU 11-1 914
10. Georgia 10-3 900
11. Notre Dame 9-3 866
12. Oregon 10-2 837
13. UCLA 10-2 774
14. Auburn 9-3 760
15. Wisconsin 10-3 739
16. Florida 9-3 718
17. Boston College 9-3 584
18. Miami 9-3 558
19. Texas Tech 9-3 422
20. Louisville 9-3 342
21. Clemson 8-4 310
22. Oklahoma 8-4 274
23. Florida State 8-5 209
24. Nebraska 8-4 109
25. California 8-4 68

Sugar Bowl Champions

WOW, What a game that was last night. West Virginia became the 2005-6 Sugar Bowl Champions by defeated the University of Georgia 38-35 last night in the first and only Sugar Bowl game not played in New Orleans.

West Virginia went into Georgia's back yard and jumped ahead to an early 28-0 lead and never relinquished the lead. It was a bit of a nailbiter at times, but Rich Rodriguez had this team ready to play.

West Virginia finishes the season with an 11-1 record for the third time in school history (1988, 1993), but this is the first time we did it by winning our bowl game. It was sweet to sit there and watch us finally win the Big Game.

West Virginia was led by two Freshmen, Steve Slaton and Pat White. Slaton set a Sugar Bowl rushing for 204 yards, a personal career best at this time and managed to become the third WVU Freshman to even rush for 1,000 yards in a season. Amos Zereoue and Avon Cobourne being the other two freshmen WVU Running Backs to accomplish this task.

Pat White came within about 50 yards of ALSO rushing for 1,000 yards this season as a Freshman. We will definitely end up in the top 10 when the final polls come out, I'm hoping that we will finish 5th or 6th in the final polls which should be out in a few days.

Happy New Years!!!!

Auld Lang Syne

Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?
And here's a hand, my trusty friend
And gie's a hand o' thine
We'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne


Happy New Year Everyone. May everyone have a great and prosperous 2006!!!!

Goodbye 2005

Since this is my last post for the year 2005, I thought it would be nice to look back on my log and reflect what has events have happened through the year month by month. All events can be found in my Archives of my BLOG. Let's see how this goes.

January

* Looking back at January, I noticed that I started the year working the door at the Country Inn for the New Years eve celebration.

* Randy had just entered the Mountaineer Challenge academy

February

* The first thing that sticks out to me was a list I created of things I wanted to do.

1. Fly a Kite.
   
2. Take lots of pictures (like thats a surprise)
3. Reunite family members and go see some other family members that I haven't seen in literally decades.
   
4. Get a group of people together and rent some bikes and bike rails to trails as a group for a few hours. What would really be nice is if we could start in Masontown, WV and bike to Morgantown. (It's all downhill)

Well, it looks like I didn't do #1, I did do #2 and #3 and #4 never happened. I think people would enjoy #4 and #1 still sounds like fun, so I'll put them on the 2006 to do list.

* I did manage to get a few old family pictures scanned, thanks to Mom and Terri for helping supply the pictures and giving me access to a scanner.

* The biggest event of the month was me breaking the ice with my sister Kim and visiting her. It was the first time I had actually seen her since her wedding.

March

* I can see that March was a very good month for me.

* I had an interview with my current employer, closed the books on process for another employer that was just strung out too long and received an offer for another interview from another company.

* My Nephew Daniel got Married on March 4th

* I totally redesigned george-hall.net to its current style.

* Brittany worked as a Page in Charleston

* Everyone was falling in love again with the WVU Men's Basketball team. We welcomed their returns from not one, not two but three basketball weekends with larger, larger and larger crowds.

* The WVU women's basketball made it to the WNIT Finals.

April

* April I started working for VARGIS and said goodbye to the NRAC. I had what I called my ceremonial walk of passage to the NRAC my last day, that was a significant day for me. I was leaving West Virginia University and moving on with my career.

* I managed to make it to a few WVU Baseball games and the WVU Football scrimmage. I went to one game with Ed and Brittany on a nice warm spring Sunday Afternoon.

* Val had started her new Job at Neighbor Care.

* Pam had taken and passed her Pharmacy Tech certification.

May

* VARGIS had its official opening during the month of May. We had been there over a month, but this was the official opening.

* Softball season had kicked off and I was spending Friday evenings with a great bunch of guys, and we usually visited Prime Thyme for dinner after the game throughout the year.

* Probably the most significant event of May to me, was that I had came full circle. I had had my first paid day off in eight years. That is a long time to go without any benefits.

June

* Big Family Pic Nic. Jean and Mickey did a great job once again and hosted a great Pic Nic at Krepps Park. TON's and TON's of great food.

* Randy Graduated from the Mountaineer Challenge Academy.

* I went to my first Jimmy Buffett Concert. Wow, what a show and what a day.

July

* Bill Trevillion had retired from the Morgantown Fire Department.

* Kim had her first surgery that would lead to months of frustration. It's still not all settled as she will enter the Cleveland Clinic next week.

* Brittany visited Mom and Gerald for a weekend. It had been a long time since this had happened and it was the ice in Mom and Kim's relationship starting to melt.

August

* Mom and Kim finally broke their silence.

* We had ended a great Softball season with a second place Regular season finish and runner ups in the Championship Tournament. It was the first time since I played for Sterling that I had advanced to the Finals. Been on a half dozen #1 seed teams, but somehow always abvoided winning anythign in the post season. Talk about Choking.

September

* Michael opened up Cool Ride

* We lost the families oldest pet, Tucker.

* Sharon had a Pic Nic Honoring Bill's retirement. I was nice to be able to visit family members that I had not seen in a few years if not decades.

October

* Went and had a nice visit at Big Bear Lake.

* Kim hosted a Texas Hold'em Tournament that I never made it to. Note to Kim, have another one.

* We celebrated Halloween by giving tons of candy out at Jeans.

* We also had a Huge Snow storm in North Crentral West Virginia. Everyone lost power for a period of time.

November

* Moke took his ACT's

* WVU SMASHED Pitt in the 2005 Edition of the Back Yard Brawl.

* Jean hosted a Thanksgiving dinner.

December

* I celebrated the 21st Anniversay of my 21st Birthday

* I was named the 2005 VARGIS Employee of the year.

* Christmas Eve at Jeans and I did a media file for everyone to remember it by.



In a nustshell that was 2005 according to my BLOG. We broke the ice, we celebrated, we took on new challenges and weaccomplished a few things. I would say for me personally it was a good year.

It's nice to have a BLOG where you can write your thoughts downa dn be able to reflect at the end of the year what has happened.

Obviously, this is my last BLOG for 2005, so I hope everyone enjoyed my recollection of the past 365 days and maybe start their own BLOG for the next 365 days so they can reflect on 2006.

Have a Safe and Happy New Year.

Eve of another four day weeknd,

I think I am going to take next Tuesday off from work. West Virginia battles Georgia Monday night in the Sugar Bowl, and even though something tells me we are going to get blown out, I'm preparing for us to pull the upset. It's not the biggest game WVU football has played, but it certainly will measure up there as one of the most significant.

I've also got a decision to make very soon and this will give me a good chance to contemplate it before I make it. It's getting to be the end of the year and I need to make a decision about where I am going to live during the next year. I have three options.

The first and least likely to happen is that when my lease is up at the end of January I move closer to work. I'm thinking of the West Virginia side of the river in Cumberland. I really haven't gotten a chance to check it out yet, but plan on doinf so soon.

Second, and this is a 50/50 chance, is that I extend my lease one month and leave at the Begining of March. This would be a financial decision. It gives me time to get my Tax Return and have a few enough money to make the move. W-2's will come the last day of my lease, so that puts a time constraint on everything for me.

The third option which is also 50/50 right now is to stay right where I am at for one more year. There are a few things in my life I want to settle, handle or find in the next 12 months. My health being the biggest one because of my sugar levels. I really need to get that under control. This last 12 months for me was establishing stability in my life. this next 12 months I want to work on health, financial security and maybe even the empty and incomplete part of my life.

My career is going good, I like where I am at, who I work with and where my career is heading. I did have an interview last month with a company in Morgantown. They were interested, I told them wheat it would take and haven't heard anything more from them. That was a 50/50 thing also, but getting employee of the year from a company that went from seven to thirty million in sales in 2005 is not something you can overlook. I have played this scenerio the way I wanted to play it, and as exciting as it may have been to stay in Morgantown, I think I would be doing myself a discredit if I didn't challenge myself in my career. My future lies with VARGIS.

There are a lot of factors in my decision where I will live next year, and I think I really need to make a decision over the weekend. Honestly, I don't know what the final decision will be. I change my decision at least once or twice a day.

Anyways, I'll work tomorrow and have a four day weekend for the second weekend in a row.


It's amazing how fast 23 years go by.

Let it Be Christmas

My 2005 Christmas Eve Media File

Christmas Eve Pics

Link to latest additions from Christmas eve. Here are a few random pics, go to the album to see all the pics from Christmas eve.


Merry Christmas

NORAD is Tracking Santa Claus

Yes boys and Girls, Santa Claus has officiall started his Journey. Keep track of St. Nick and his journey around the world with NORAD.

Keep track of Santa as he works his busiest night of the year visiting all the good boys and girls around the world.

Special time of the year.

It's finally here. The one day of the year that we all look foreward to. In my family, I think the biggest event of the holidays is Christmas Eve. It's a time of the year when we all get together, put aside our differences and just enjoy spending time with family. Last year we had Christmas Eve at the Old Country Inn, this year it is returning to its traditional home.

It's amazing sometimes when and where you see and meet people. I was at Wal-Mart last night and I saw Amy and Val. It's nice to see that these two sisters were spending the day Christmas shopping together. After I left Wal-Mart last night, I had to make a return trip at about 2:30AM. I ran into Patty (Toth) Dewitt. I enjoyed conversing with her for a little while and she caught me up on Michaels new addition to the family Christopher Michael Toth.

I told her about Christmas Eve and that Jean keeps saying she needs to go see Christopher Michael, so maybe there will be a little surprise tonight.

I've seen some Christmas Magic work, and it's some pretty powerful stuff. I don't know what Christmas Eve 2005 has in store for it, but whatever it is it usually one for everyone to remember.

I think my most influential Christmas Eve of my life was 1998. After a few years of Hiatus, the Hall Family Christmas was once again in full swing. We had convinced my dad that we wanted to have Christmas Eve there and he really wasn't into it. However, December 24th has some kind of magic associated with it and at the last minute he switched shifts with someone else to join in on the family fun. There definately was some magic to that day, because the ceremonial Christmas eve that had returned to its roots was the last one for dad. We lost him 7 months later. For me, it was a magical night that one of the single most influential people in my life walked back into my life.

It was a night when Jane and I started speaking again, and I think the night that I realized I really didn't want to be with Jackie anymore, even though we had split months earlier, we were still on and off. Less than a month after that night, Jane made me look at Life differently and the next thing you know I'm assembling an entrance application for West Virginia University. The rest is history.

Years have went by and other Christmas Eves have come and passed. I don't know what tonight has to offer, it can always be the the doorway to a life changing event for someone else as it was for me. What ever happens tonight I know it will be special. It has to be, because anytime you can have all your family members associated in one place and it's not a Funeral, it is special, even if it were merely for five minutes.

2005 VARGIS Christmas Party

Last Night, my company had our 2005 Company Christmas party in Frostburg. It was a great evening and the food was great.

I was named the 2005 VARGIS, LLC Employee of the year. That was a nice little added surprise on the evening.

He's still alive (aka Tidbits)

* Yes I know, it has been a while since I have Blogged. People are probably wondering if I still exist or did I lose interest. I've been a little under the weather this week and am just now starting to honestly feel better.

* Christmas is coming up real soon and plans have been made, changed and then rechanged again. You sometimes have to think that this family would make a good soap opera, or at least a sit com.

* Terri, Gary and myself went to Jean's last Saturday and helped put up the Christmas decorations. It was the first time I had seen or talked to Terri in a while, so it was nice to catch up with her a little on things.

* Nick and Terri have shut down the Country Inn. They are planning on opening up "Nick and Terri's" on Rt. 73 near the Goshen Road exit before the end of the year. I'll be sure to keep everyone updated as things happen and the new establishment opens.

* Val has indicated that she is interested in continuing her education at the Vo-Tech center. I really didn't get a chance to talk to her about it much, but I think she is going into medical Billing.

* I did manage to finally put up a few pictures from Thanksgiving, they are in my renamed Holidays Album. I think I am also going to put this years Christmas pictures in there as well.

* Brittany is in for the Holidays from Linsley. I know Kim was very happy to finally have her baby home for the Holidays.

* Speaking of Kim, she captured a great movie of Robert shooting a dear last week. You couldn't ask for a better opportunity than what she had and she hit a game winning grand slam with it. I tried to put it up on where I host my movies, but it only brought in a portion of the movie.

* Tomorrow is my companies Christmas Party. It's on a Sunday night, so I will be staying in Frostburg Sunday Night and commuting about 5 mins to work. Wow what a change that will be. Maybe I should drive to Frederick and back before work so I can keep in practice.

* I have noticed one thing this week. Morgantown only gets a small portion of snow that Frostburg gets. I left work Thursday and there was 12" of snow I had to remove from my car before I could leave. I get back to Morgantown and it's raining. No snow on the ground and to warm to snow. Have I ever mentioned I hate snow?

* I'm going to take my camera to work with me on Monday, or should I say with me for the Christmas Party, hopefully I can get a few nice pics so everyone can see the people I work with on a daily basis.

* Speaking of work, I had an interview with an Engineering firm in Mon County a couple weeks ago. They are interested, but I'm getting the impression that they don't want to offer me what I was asking. It could be that they are waiting on equipment, but for once in my life I didn't interview for a job out of necessity, but rather out of just exploring my options.

Since it's been a while since I posted, I thought I would leave everyone with a couple Christmas gifts.




I'll Be Home for Christmas.



Holly Jolly Christmas


And how about my Encore just for good nature.



Wonderful World

Have a great day.

Survivor Guatemala Final

Tonight was the Survivor Guatemala Final, unfortunately I am a little under the weather and have taped it so I can view it tomorrow, however I am awake when the Million Dollars was awarded to Danni Boatwright. She was the last one standing and beat Steph in the final two.

Happy Birthday Kim

Today is December 4th, I would like to take this chance to extend a very Happy Birthday wish to my Sister Kim. She's a year younger than I am, but I seem to forget what that number is because I tend to celebrate anniversaries of previous birthdays.

So to Kim, I hope today is a special day for you. May your coffee be the perfect temperature, may you get enough rest and enough to eat. I hope that everything goes exactly how you choose.



As I look back on the years,
I realize there have been so many times
when my heart has been touched by your kindness...

So many times,
when something you said helped me to see a solution;
Or something you had done helped to brighten my day.
So many times,
when your wide open arms and soft gentle smile,
helped to ease all my troubles away.

Thank you for making such a beautiful
difference in my life...so many times.

Survivor Night

I missed last week because it coincided with the back yard brawl. Seems like I missed Gary Hogeboom being voted off last week. If you need a review of what happened, you can read about it here. I was a a little bit too occupied watching a great football game.

This weeks show starts off as usual as a review of what happened last week. The final six survivors are contemplating who will be the next to go, Danni is the last remaining member of her tribe, so it would be good guess that she will be the next to go.

The rewards challenge is an auction that gave survivors a dollar amount and food items were auctioned off. First was Beef jerky, then three chocolate chip cookies, then a mosquito net, a Philly steak sandwich and fries, a sealed envelope that needs to remain sealed until the immunity challenge, a visit with family members to stay over night, plus the winner was allowed to pick two other survivors to allow them to stay with their family, leaving half of the survivors visiting people from home and three with no one.

Danni won the envelope that contained something that could possibly help them win immunity, but it was not revealed as to what it could be. I guess we are going to have to wait and see as to what it is that will give her a unique advantage in the immunity challenge. If she were to win immunity, it would reveal who the alliances pecking order would be.

The immunity challenge was a big puzzle that they had to complete. Danni's envelope that she won during the auction was a card that allowed her to change positions with any other player at any time during the puzzle solving. The first person to solve the puzzle wins immunity. It was enough to allow her to switch places with Steph and she managed to be the one winning immunity. This means one oof the five remaning alliance members would be going home tonight. Lydia I would imagine seems to be the odd member out of the alliance, but they also could get rid of the biggest threat of Rafe.

I have my own personal favorite that I would like to be seen gone, but it could be interesting to see who will be the next player who will be joining the jury.

At Tribal Council I got my Birthday gift when the asshole Judd Seargant was sent home.



Bye Bye Asswipe!

How much is your BLOG worth

My blog is worth $2,258.16.
How much is your blog worth?

Backyard Brawl 2005

No, I didn't do this one, but it's good enough to post here.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Turkey day everyone. I hope that everyone has a pleasant day and has the opportunity to increase their waist size an inch or two on this day.

For anyone who would like a brief description of the Thanksgiving Story, I found a site that is rather well written and gets to the point. I was going to cut and paste it here, but it's copywrited and I don't want to tick off the author, so I linked it for everyone.

My plans today are to go to Jean's and eat Thanksgiving dinner and then later tonight I am going to miss my favorite TV show Survivor so that I can watch WVU beat Pitt's ass in the Backyard Brawl.

I'm making sue my batteries are charged up, so I will try to take a few pictures of today for everyone to enjoy. I might even take my tripod up and try to get a few family portraits of everyone.

Some tidbits and information for everone. Kim was back in the hospital the past week to have her stent removed and there were some minor complications. She is going to have another surgery next week. She spent last weekend in the hospital and I know she hates it with a passion. She's getting better and was released to go home Monday. So she will be enjoying the holiday form home.


I still haven't spoken with Terri in some time. From my understanding they are going to close the Country Inn and are trying to open another establishment on Rt. 73 where the building overhead is not such a burden on them. I'll provide more details when I get them. Jean said that they will be at the Country Inn tonight for the last performance by the Chicken Pickers.

This will be the first year in some time that everyone will not be goign Bowling this evening, however we're playing a sold out football game on ESPN tonight at the same time period, so we are taking a year off from bowling.

Gain a few pounds.

Survivor Guatemala

Once again it is that time of the week. The weekend is a day away and it must be time for Survivor. Prayers go out to my sister Kim who will be watching tonight's episode from the hospital once again. She should be going home tomorrow, but tonight she has to watch Judd get voted off from the Hospital.

As you will recall, last weeks show had a nice little twist involved to it. The survivors were ready to vote out former NFL QB Gary Hogeboom, but this seasons show hid an immunity idol somewhere in the deep dark reaches of the forest. Gary, knowing he would have been voted off, found the immunity idol and threw a monkey wrench into the whole strategy.

I noticed in the preshow Popularity Vote that Bobby Jon has surpassed Steph as the most popular survivor. She has managed to have a deathgrip on that top position, amazing that she no longer holds the top spot. Probably because of her alliance with the shipdit that I want to see voted off next.

The rewards challenge was when our eight survivors were broken down into two team of two men and two women each. It was an obstacle course through some knee deep mud to grab a large pot full of corn. They had to maneuver back and dump their pot of corn into a larger pot. The first team of four to fill their pot won the rewards challenge.

The reward for the four winning team members was a chance to stay overnight in a luxury home with all the comforts of home and a chance to relax and get ready for the final run to the million dollars.

Something that has been strongly presented over the past two weeks has been Jamie acting like a complete idiot. He's just trying to pick fights with everyone and isn't making any friends.

For the immunity challenge, it was another obstacle course of untying a large series of knots and manuvering yourself to the end. Rafe was the first to finish the challenge and managed to win himself immunity.

At Tribal Council, hothead Jamie was eliminated.

What is it you do for a living

GIS is a very big and broad field. I've explained it as the worlds best database with geo-referenced pictures. There are so many things that you can do with it and once the data is created, it's interchangeable with other datasets.

Working for VARGIS, I have done some photogrammatry work on planametric data, but mostly I have been doing GIS projects.

Today I was introduced to a site that is pretty close to what we are doing. This is the end result of the data in an IMS system. It's merely one parcel (not one we did), but the client specs look very similar to a project we are currently working on for Western Maryland.

This is a very user friendly end product for everyone to get an idea of what I do. I basically assemble all these datasets in a geodatabase. Everything you would see in the window, is what I do.


Have fun and enjoy

Survivor Guatemala

Once again it's Wed night and it's Survivor night. Going to keep it brief tonight, got a few other things going on behind the scenes so my attention is limited for tonight.

In the rewards challenge, shipdit Judd won the challenge where they had to throw an arrow to see who was the closest to throw an arrow to a Target. Everyone wins a meal, but since Judd was closest, he wins a Steak and Lobster dinner.

At the immunity challenge, the survivors had to navigate through a three part obstacle course with four survivors going to the second part, two survivors going to the finals and one survivor left standing after navigating through the robe bridge at the final. Jamie Newton was the immunity winner tonight.

At Tribal Council, former NFL QB Gary Hogeboom found the other immunity idol and was also given immunity. Nice twist to the game considering he was going home tonight. However, after the vote, former survivor player Bobby Jon Drinkard was the next player voted out and was the first member of the jury.

Congrats Moke

As I was getting off work yesterday and walking to my car, I noticed that I had a message on my phone and it was from Pam and Georges number. So, I called back before checking my message to see what was up. What was up was my Nephew Mokie had accomplished a goal that he set out for himself over the summer. Last year, he barely missed the honor role and was determined to make it this year.

The news was good, he just found out yesterday that he made the Honor Roll at Clay Battelle High School. While I was talking to him I could tell he was on cloud nine and felt very proud of him accomplishment. Now he has his eyes set on something that I could never achieve, he's going to try and pull off a 4.0 GPA. I think he can do it.

He went off to a camp this spring that prepares High School students for college life and I think this has been a big inspiration to him. He's already taken his ACT and is waiting on those results. He's wanting to attend He says he plans to go into Engineering at WVU.

I think he's finally realized his potential and he sees that the sky is the limit.

Congrats Moke!

A New Multi-Media File

I decided to do another multi-media file. I knew it was about time that I produce another one and was looking for ideas. I was looking through my music and saw a song that I felt I could do a file to, and incorporate old family video footage rather than my traditional photos.

So, dedicated readers, here is another viseo. I hope you like it.

Hmm, just surfing and found this

first rank and of left on the right
Yohann Gregorzick, Eric Dohm, Sabine Vain, Eric..., Anjoushree Nandi, Valerie Poncin, Nathalie Nightingale.
second rank
Nihat Rehmani, David Heneuse..., Philippe Leonard, Vincent Jadin, Stéphane Luca, Picardy Lydia.
third rank
Eric Tshilembe, Lionel Deneys, Eric Bednarzick, Patricia Feys, Christel..., Yolande Van Potelsbergh, Mrs Clepkens

Survivor Guatemala

Once again it's survivor night. On an ironic note I am watching a football game between Pitt and Louisville before the start of survivor. It's 7-7 0:25 seconds into the game and there hasn't been a snap taken yet. Wow, that's going to be a game. Speaking of games, on to Survivor.

On the Game's pre-show, I checked the popularity poll and with no surprise Steph is tops in the popularity poll. Last week after tribal council, Jeff through a big surprise and announced that the merge was taking place right then and there. So no more Yaxha or Nakum tribes and there will be a new united tribe and no more tribal immunity, now everyone plays for individual immunity.

At the start of the show, Jeff threw another monkey wrench into the equation and that was the fact that in the somewhere hidden in the jungle, there was hidden a six inch immunity idol that would allow the person who found it a chance to use it at anytime through throughout the rest of the game. It could be used this week or it could be used as strategy to help secure themselves a spot in the final two later in the game, provided they last that long. The only deal is that they have to announce prior to the tribal council that they want to use it, that they are in fact going to use it. I think it adds a new and unique twist to the game. Kudos to Jeff for keeping the game interesting. If Judd finds it, he should be shot at dawn though.

On day 20, the merged tribe came up with a new name for the tribe. They came up with the name Xhakum by merging the names of the two tribes together. Although you could see that the remaining members of the two tribes still had alliances with each other. There are the five people and one asshole that make up the Nakum tribe against the four remaining member of Yaxha.

At the immunity challenge, Jeff threw another monkey wrench into the game. Everyone showed up and had a choice, if they did not want to take part in the immunity challenge and felt they would not be voted off, they didn't have to. They would be allowed to take part in a big feast. However, if they felt they could be going home, they could take part in the immunity challenge, however they would not be allowed to take place in the feast of food. The immunity challenge was basically standing on a log with a pot on their heads for the longest period of time. At the end of one hour, there was a tie breaker, they had to put the pot on their head and had to climb the pyramid without breaking their pot. At the tie-breaker, former NFL Quarterback Gary Hogeboom won the immunity challenge tie breaker and won the individual immunity.

At tribal council, Brandon Bellinger was voted out by a 6-4 vote.

Testing a new feature

This is a test using an old Video file Mom did last year.