MySpace reveals a lot.

These two are supposedly the first two who were shot by the shooter yesterday at Virginia Tech.

The ex girlfriend of the shooter, Emily Hilscher

The other victim, Ryan "Stack" Clark

I don't know if this was her new boyfriend or the Resident Assistant who was also murdered.

The VT Timeline

Timeline of Events
7:15 a.m.

Virginia Tech Police Department (VT PD) receives a 911 call to respond to a dormitory room at West Ambler Johnston Residence Hall.

Within minutes, Virginia Tech Police and Virginia Tech Rescue Squad respond to find two gunshot victims, a male and a female, inside a dormitory room within the Hall. The residence hall was immediately secured by VT PD and students within the hall were notified and asked to remain in their rooms for their safety. VT PD immediately secured the room for evidence collection and began questioning dorm residents and identifying potential witnesses. In the preliminary stages of the investigation, it was believed the deaths were an isolated incident, domestic in nature.

Blacksburg Police Department were also on scene assisting VT PD with establishing a safety perimeter around the residence hall and securing Washington Street.
7:30 a.m.

Investigators were following up on leads concerning a person of interest in relation to the double homicide. Investigators from VT PD and Blacksburg PD were actively following up on various leads.
8:25 a.m.

Virginia Tech Leadership Team, which includes the university president, executive vice president, and provost, assembled to begin assessing the developing situation at the residence hall and determining a means of notifying students of the homicide.
9:00 a.m.

Leadership Team was briefed on the situation by VT PD Chief W.R. Flechum on the latest developments in the ongoing investigation at the residence hall.
9:26 a.m.

The Virginia Tech community – all faculty and students – were notified by e-mail of the homicide investigation and scene at West Ambler Johnston Residence Hall, and asked to report any suspicious activity to. The Virginia Tech Emergency/Weather Line recordings were also transmitted and a broadcast telephone message was made to campus phones. A press release was drafted and posted on the Virginia Tech Website.
9:45 a.m.

The VT PD received a 911 call of a shooting at Norris Hall, which contains faculty offices, classrooms and laboratories. VT PD and Blacksburg PD immediately responded to Norris Hall. Notice in leadership command center via our police rep of a shooting in Norris.

Upon arrival to Norris Hall, the officers found the front doors barricaded. Within a minute the officers breached the doors, which had been chained shut from the inside.

Once inside the building, the officers heard gunshots. They followed the succession of gunshots to the second floor. Just as the officers reached the second floor, the gunshots stopped.

The officers discovered the gunman, who had taken his own life. There was never any engagement between the responding officers and the gunman.
9:55 a.m.

By the same means as prior notice, Virginia Tech notified campus community of the second murder scene. Other notifications followed via other means


EDIT:

Faces of the victims

Typical Monday

I log on to work this morning and the server where I have all my data stored has either crashed or been shut down for the weekend.

What a way to start the week, but someone shoudl be coming in soon to assess the situation. I can't for the life of me understand why they would have shut down the server, I half wonder if it has crashed. It's a big rack server with 4 raids and none if them seem to be responding.

Sunday Morning Blaaahs

Can you believe this weather we have been having? OK Phil, it's the joke is over, bring on spring. For the last two weeks the weather has been less than acceptable with a snow fall, cold temperatures and a lot of rain. It's time for spring to be here. We are at ten and a half weeks since Ground Hog's day, I think the rat from the north is still made because I got him drunk on his big day.

Other than that it has been a typical Sunday morning for me so far, but the weather sucks and I'm stuck inside still recovering from a fight with the flu the past few days.

Today is April 15th, for those of you who haven;t done your taxes yet if you buy Tax Cut, both you and I can get a $10.00 rebate. The filing deadline has been moved back to April 17th this year because today is Sunday and tomorrow is some kind of a Holiday in DC, I think it is Emancipation Dayin DC. So, you have until the 17th this year.

I have another Diabetes Education Class this Thursday, and eye exam the following Tuesday and another appointment with my Doctor the following Monday. My numbers have been doing quite well as of late, they are almost all in the target range regardless of being before or after a meal. Some are a little higher, but the goal is < 130 before a meal and < 160 two hours after a meal. Thew main goal was to have 50% of my readings within target and just for the month of April I have 89% of my readings within target. I have had a touch of the flu the last few days, so that has helped elevate my fasting, early morning reading. Probably after this education class, I will then drop my readings from every day to every third day. I was told I could so it after my last meeting, but my meds changed and I wanted to track that briefly.

I'm eager to get back on rails trails, but the weather has been less than cooperative. I haven't been able to go since last Monday and I'm itching to get out. Just need Phil and Mother Nature to cooperate a little.

I'm thinking about buying season tickets this year for WVU football. I have a feeling demand will be high this year because expectations are once again high as I have seen us ranked as high as #3 in the early polls. I think this just may be that magical year we finally win the National Championship. Everyone will be healthy, will be back and we have added a big time playmaker or two. Should be an interesting year.

Under the weather

I have had a touch of a headcold the last few days. This weather has been ridiculous, they are actually calling for 1"-3" of snow on Sunday, in MID APRIL!!!!

This isn't even funny, this is the time when cute girls should be walking around in tight shorts and bikini tops, not parkas!

No Practice.

How about another BLOG past of a video from yesteryear




Preston Waters is an old softball team mate of mine.

ROFLMAO

PACMAN and Chris Henry live in Flash animation

Will we make it

We're supposed to have softball practice tonight at 6:00, but it's been cold and rainy all day so I wonder if we are going to be able to make it on to the field this evening.

I'm feeling kind of blah today so I really don't care if we practice or not, but I do need to get out there and do something. I didn't go walking yesterday even though the weather was more than permitting.

Takin Over

Back to work

The long weekend was nice, but today it is back to the grind and a lot of editing. It was a nice relaxing weekend for me, I didn't do much of anything yesterday except for power nap. Needless to say I was well rested by the time I woke up this morning and started work.

The weather continues to be a royal pain in the butt, it's spring time and we still seem to be in the middle of a late winter. The temps are due to go back up by the end of the week, hopefully this is the last snow that we see for the year.



Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value.-- Albert Einstein

Terri's Birthday

Yesterday was Terri's 40th birthday and there was a nice little get together down at the bar. Val and Amy started the day off right by going down to the bar and decorating it before Terri woke up. They were nice enough to program a couple of songs into the Juke Box and turned the volume all the way up before sneaking out.

Tyler organized a little bring a covered plate get together later in the afternoon and evening. Terri was treated to a VERY fresh fish sandwich, she was a little disappointed that there was no tartar sauce to go with her fresh fish sandwich.

Personally, I would like to give her a fresh roasted groundhog sandwich, but Phil is hiding from me.

Happy 40th Birthday Terri

Happy Birthday Terri, where have the years all gone is what I have to ask. It seems like only yesterday I was 21 and you were like 18. Now, you're 40 and I'm still celebrating anniversaries of my 21st birthday.

I hope all your dreams come true today.

Beilein already replaced.

Wow, was that quick. Former WVU head basketball coach John Beilein bolts for Michigan and WVU hit's a game winning grand slam in bringing home probably one of the biggest nae coaches in College basketball in Bob Huggins. Here is another source confirming the story.

Bob Huggins had the town real excited five years ago when Gale Catlett retired and then broke everyone's hearts when he decided to stay at the University of Cincinnati. However, things have changed in the last five years and the nations best recruiter has been at Kansas State the last year, but is returning to Morgantown tonight and will be officially announced as our new head basketball coach at 3:00 tomorrow afternoon. Yous truly will be there with his camera in hand.

It's softball

it is once again that time of the year that I love so much, it is the start of softball. This evening we are going to have our first practice of the year at White Park. It will be the first time that the entire team was together since last year, but we have all kept in touch and have all eagerly anticipated the season.

I had contemplated retirement the last couple of seasons, but this year the thoughts haven't even entered my mind and I'm like a school aged kid on Christmas eve waiting for Santa to show up.

The weather is currently 80 and sunshine, although me and my old groundhog buddy Phil are going to have a serious problem if we get any snow like they have been calling for. It's April, it's springtime, it's time for little cuties to run around in bikini tops and tight shorts showing off those golden tans, not time for snow.

Let the season begin

Getting back to 1997 weight.

I am within an pound and a half of once again reaching my maximum weight when I was working in a steel mill 12 hours a day and six days a week. This is not a bad thing, because after 1997 my weight ballooned to a top weight of 314 Pounds in November of 2005. It had went down to 280 a couple years earlier when I took it upon myself to address diabetes, but that was as low as it got.

Now, my numbers are consistently in target both before and after meals. Targets are between 90-130 before a meal and under 160 two hours (highest reading) after a meal. However, a large percentage of my numbers have been under 130 (both pre and post meals) on a consistent basis since the change in my medications.

The highest I ever weighed when I worked at Helmick, was a pretty much consistent 265, today seventeen months after reading 314, the scale read 266.5 pounds. I still want to take off a lot more weight, but I think I have reached a milestone on my weight loss.

Finally got back on the trails today

When I started out it was an absolutely perfect day, when I was 1.75 miles away from my car it started raining. I finally got a chance to take my GPS Unit out and play with it on foot, I drove around with it last night searching for Geocaches, and today I got a chance to pace myself to see how far I walked. 4.1 Miles was my final total before the downpour hit. I was back at my car about the time it started, so I wasn't out in it too long, but the drive back home was murder. My back yard was basically flooded, kind of funny when you remember I live at a pretty high point and there is about a 400'-500' drop off in elevation before you get to the river that is probably a mile away or so.

My back is still sore, but it felt good to get out and around for a little while.

Added new element to the blog.

I see that BLOGGER has added a few new features to BLOGGER, one of which being the video feeds. I'll test it out, but I don't want my blog to be too cluttered. I think if I do that I may lose the primary focus of doing a BLOG.

Edit: That didn't last too long, the primary objective of my blog is to inform and keep a we journal. I felt after looking at the new feature that it just cluttered it up. There is a simple rule in programming KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) and the excess clutter starts to violate that simple rule and takes away from my primary objective.

Other than that it is a cold and rainy Sunday Morning. I haven't made it to rails to trails over the weekend, I think I may have pulled a back Muscle Thursday and I'm trying to recover before we practice softball for the first time this week.

It IS a great day to be a Mountaineer.

Obviously the WVU Men's basketball team won the NIT Championship last night. They returned home today and as soon as I get motivated enough I will transfer some of the pictures of their arrival from my camera to my computer.

A couple months ago the best High School Running back in probably 20 years gave a verbal commitment to WVU and I posted it in my BLOG. He was confused and changed his mind a couple of days later and never signed with anyone. So, that left the nations top player unsigned......until today when he actually signed a letter of intent to play at WVU.

I would say hold on, because WVU athletics in both Football and basketball are about ready to move to the next level and actually win a National Championship. Noel Devine is a freak of nature with ungodly balance.

TGIF!!! How about a tidbits

* Woo Hoo, my day and week are over with. They are moving my office from Frostburg to Sterling and I'm off until they get it all set up, paid of course. Starting Monday I start my third year working for this company and my wage rate goes up significantly, so it's going to be a good weekend.

* I finally received my GPS unit I ordered this week, it's going to be fun playing with it and getting a good hands on understanding of it. I have played with it a few minutes, but nothing extensively as of yet.

* Many of the members of the WVU basketball team will be returning to Morgantown at 3:00 today. being that they are on spring break, some of the members will be leaving from New York city and going home. Coach John Beilein is heading to Atlanta for the NCAA Final Four. Rumor has it Michigan wants to interview him for their head coaching job and a lot of people on our message boards appear a little nervous, however Michigan's message boards are saying he has too big a price tag with the $2.5 Million buyout on his contract. I think he'll be here next year, but we'll have to wait and see I guess.

* Amy had her fourth interview with Cintas yesterday, she may know something by Monday. I think she is looking forward to the Monday through Thursday workweek that they use.

* Yesterday I was up at the mall and ate lunch with a couple guys I play softball with. I ate a couple Mountaineer Chiili Dogs and an order of fries, I was wondering where my sugar would go eating so many carbs, but it was fine.

* I decided to pay for unlimited internet usage on my phone. It's just an extra $15.00 a month and thought I would give it a try. It's not the greatest tool for surfing the internet, but you can surf the internet with it so there could be some convenience to it.

* We are going to have our first softball practice of the week next year. I called Michael Toth yesterday to see if he is putting his team back together. I told he we need someone to beat up on for a scrimmage.

* I was at Wal-Mart last night and ran into Renee. She is excited that she is getting near the end of her Surgical Technician class and should be graduating in the next couple of months.

* Have a good day, It's time for lunch.

NIT CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!!!

WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!


West Virginia wins the 2007 NIT Tournament for the first time since 1942. West Virginia Beat Clemson 78-73 to finish the season with a win. We are going to be only one of two teams in the Nation that will end their season with a win.

Congrats to Seniors Frank Young and Rob Summers.

Taking the day off

OK, I know I work from home why in the world would you take a day off? Mainly because I am going in to do some blood work this morning, but I haven't had a short week since the first week of the year. That's nearly four months, so I think I am due to relax a day if that's what you call it.

Went to see the Doctor yesterday and on the advice of my dietitian they are doubling my dosage of Metformin and are also going to start me on Lisinopril. Lisinopril is a blood pressure medicine, but my blood pressure is fine it's because my liver is putting out some protein and this will prevent any damage to the liver. It's just one pill a day in a very small dosage of 10mg.

Tonight at 7:00 make sure you watch the Mountaineer Basketball team, this will be the final game of the season win or lose. It will be for the NIT Championship and we are going to be whipping Clemson's butt.

Not too sure what I will get into today as of yet, but I am sure a trip to rails to trails in in the agenda sometime for today.

In case you missed it last night

With a Tony Caridi voice over.




Another view

What's this I see

OK, I know we are officially in spring from the calender and I have already attended a baseball game this year and went out in shorts and a T-Shirt on many days. My Front door is open on a consistent basis when I am home and now, we have the start of foliage.

Winter is officially over with and spring is upon us. The grass is getting greener and the days are getting longer.

Next week we are actually going to start softball practice for the year and tonight we will be drafting our fantasy baseball league. I love this time of the year, it is my favorite because it is the very dawn of summer.

Later today I have my second DR's appointment with Dr. Feathers, and I am feeling very well. The sugar levels are up and down a little, but they are still within the range goals of 90-130 before a meal and under 160 2 hours after a meal. I will soon start to lower my number of readings a day to three and the frequency I read to once every three days.

For a few years I have felt like a man getting old, recently since my Sugar, BP and Cholesterol (don't know numbers yet, but am addressing this anyways) under control I feel like an athlete again. My heart lungs and diaphragm feel strong and I am starting to feel like an athlete in a fat mans shell that he is ready to shed.

Hope you have a good day too.

WVU Advances to NIT Championship

WOW, what a game if you did not see it. WVU beat Mississippi State 63-62 with a classic ending. Darris Nichols hit a three pointer off an inbound pass as the clock expired to give us the win and play one last game Thursday Night for the NIT Championship.

WVU has previously won the tournament, but that was in 1942. We advanced to the Final Four in 1981 and this year.

212 Degrees, we're bringing this one home!!

It's been a Geography Day III

I no more than posted the last blog and my phone rings. It's my mentor of GIS JB Churchill. He lives in Frostburg, but I never really had much of a chance to talk to him while I was traveling to Frostburg. It was nice to hear from him, he is one of the main people for helping me get to where I am today.

It's been a geography day part II

Well, I guess I have finally done it. I signed up at the Geo-Caching site and have finally ordered my very first GPS unit. I did a little bit of research this afternoon and combined it with previous research and many discussions with people who have a GPS unit and have decided to purchase the eTrex Legend Cx GPS Navigator. I had really liked it by doing my internet research. Then this afternoon I went walking with Kelly, she is the one who told me about geocaching, and told her about the one I found. Ironically she had the exact same one and we took it on our walk this afternoon and it exceeds my expectations on what I wanted in a hand held GPS unit. She was going to let me borrow it, but no need I just ordered one when I got home.

It's been a Geography kind of day

Yep, the title pretty much says it all, it's been pretty much a Geography kind of day for me today. It's the start of another work week, so the Geography part should be obvious.

However I received an e-mail last week that I didn't respond to and a phone call today from the same company. I'm not applying or looking for any jobs, but here is another one that is coming to try and find me. Someone from Prithvi Solutions tried calling me today, however I didn't hear my cell phone ring, but I responded to her e-mail and gave her all the information she requested. They are looking for a GIS Analyst somewhere in Ohio, I think she misspelled the name of the city. I'm not really looking, but they seem to have a way of finding me. It's only a 6 Month Job and I have a permanent job, so I laid out some terms and a dollar amount, I'll wait and see what they have to say.

A friend of mine has introduced me into something I may be interested in. Geocaching is for people with mobile GPS devices (I should buy one just because of my profession) where people will place a box with an object in it and others try to find it and replace the item. It's going on all over the world and there are a few things in Morgantown, maybe I may just start getting into this. It sounds kind of fun.

Note to anyone who is interested in playing. My old softball sponsor Prime Thyme has came on some financial times and will not be sponsoring us this season. HOWEVER, being we are a high profile team that everyone knows about (four team mates are part of WVAQ in the morning as either regulars or hosts.) and we have a new sponsor this year in MVP Paintball who is also a team mate.

On May 20th, he is running a special for anyone who wants to play paint ball for anyone associated with the team (friends and family are fine, come one come all), $25.00 play all day, free air, free equipment and 500 paint balls. He'll run another one like this this September.

EDIT: Prithvi Solutions just called me again and sound really interested. I even jacked the price up well beyond what I initially told them and they said that would be fine, however it is only a six month job expendable to a year and I would have to relocate. Like I said, I went well beyond what I quoted them and that is even a significant jump from what my salary is going to next week. Even higher than the offer from Sterling. Never thought I would see the day when I turned down not one but two $50,000 a year plus jobs a few weeks a part. The offer is still up there if I am interested I have been told.

I hope your day has been as good as mine.

It's a great day to be a Mountaineer

What a day the sun was shining and the weather was warm and although it may not be softball just yet, it is baseball. I spent an ice sunny afternoon at Hawley Field watching WVU beat Seton Hall 4-3 with a strange ending. In the bottom of the 9th WVU had men on first and third and no one out. Tyler Kuhn was batting and had already homered in the first inning was at the bat. With no one out Seton Hall decided to do a strategical move and intentionally walk Kuhn to load the bases and ensure a force out at any base. On a pitch out the catcher holds his hand out and the pitcher throws it soft and wide to the catcher, it's just a routine play. However on the third pitch for ball three Seton Hall's pitcher for a routine pitch out over threw the catcher and allowing WVU to steal home on a wild pitch to win the game 4-3.

It was a great day, and one that can quickly make you forget about the white stuff that we probably won't see again for quite a few months. I did get a little bit of a suntan.

Spoke to Amy last night at Wal-Mart. She said she has been called for her third interview with Cintas up here on Scott Avenue. She thinks she may have the job, and being it is a third interview I think she may be right.

I hope everyone had a good weekend.

I need to be a Window Washer

A nice healthy walk

Well the weather has changed from rainy to a nice sunny afternoon today, so I decided to make the most of it and hit the Rails to Trails for the first time since Wed. Thursday it rained, Friday it rained but today the weather was actually quite pleasant and worth a nice oxygen rejuvenating walk on the trail. I traveled the opposite direction I usually go when I walk alone and traveled the path that I go on when I am walking with someone.

As you can tell, I had decided to take my camera with me today, and even though the foliage hasn't presented itself yet it was still a nice day to take a walk.

On this portion of the trail I usually park at Aldi's and walk towards Fairmont. It has a lot of photogenic scenes and I decided that maybe today I would bring my camera. It has been sitting idle for sometime and has needed to be used a little bit. It has had to have felt abandoned and in the need to take a few photos, so today I obliged and took about 50-60 pictures and little movies.

I have always had a fascination with natural running water. It provides a very nice relaxing aesthetic to the stroll, the pure sounds are great stress relievers. Along the trail there are many places where you can witness some nice steady water runoffs, the best one is about a half an hour's walk from Aldi's.

When you get out there far enough, and it is very close to the waterfall is another nice scenic look of the Interstate 79 Bridge as it Crosses the Mon river right before the Interstate 68 junction.

It was a good day and I had a nice refreshing walk.

TGIF

Once again we end another week of work and enter into the weekend. It would be a lot nicer if Mother Nature were cooperating a little more and bring out the sunshine. However if we can drench the watershed maybe we will have some nice new foliage that radiates the pleasant spring smell that we all love so much.

Went to my diabetes education class yesterday and learned a few more interesting things. Most of the discussion was based around Cholesterol and HDL's and LDL's. My numbers are getting to within the target they we are shooting for and the consistency level we are striving for. I will still be doing daily readings until my next Doctors appointment this coming Wed to build a longer history for Dr Feathers to refer to, however after that I can cut my readings back to every third day since I am not on insulin or anything that would cause me to be hypoglycemic. There have been a few readings that have concerned me, but they are very minor and could be expected. The dietitian is recommending I up my dosage of my medication, but that is just to help regulate it a little better.

Since it's a friday and I am feeling a little nostalgic tonight, how about a picture from yesteryear. I have noticed that this house no longer is standing, but the memories live on.

First Day of Spring

Winter Countdown

Yes, it is finally here. The countdown to the final few hours of the season of the year that is my least favorite. Today is officially the last day of the Winter Solstice and we are on the eve of the Vernal Equinox aka Spring for the year 2007.

Hey Phil, come on out an play. I hear the weather will be nice later this week. You know right around the corner was longer than the six weeks that would have happend if you did see your shadow.

Hopefully I can get back to my normal routine on rails to trails today or tomorrow. This past week's weather has been less than favorable to me. Have I ever mentioned I hate snow?

Happy Birthday Amy

I would like to take this time and wish my niece Amy a very Happy Birthday. If my math is correct, and I'm thinking that is it but I could be wrong, she is turning 21 for the first time today as opposed to me who will be celebrating my 23rd anniversary of my 21st birthday later this year.

I haven't heard what her and Ralphie have planned for today, but I would venture to say it is going to be something special.

Happy Birthday Amy.

Special Thank Yous

I have started to get my Diabetes under control, the numbers are starting to get consistently within the range of what normal is. I know this doesn't mean I beat diabetes, it is something I will battle for the rest of my life, but I do have it very well under control right now and that is the important thing.

A few thank you's in no particular order.

Jean Thank You for all the education and all the questions you have answered. Also for pestering me for the last couple years to finally get the ball rolling and getting this under control.

Pam Thanks for identifying that this was out of control and it needed to be addressed. I knew my numbers were high, but I didn't realize they were that out of control.

MomThank you for all the diabetic information and literature that you have given me. I also owe you a debt of gratitude for my now backup glucometer. I bought a new one, but it is always good to have a quality backup.

Kim Thank you for not listening to me and actually going and scheduling me a Doctors appointment against what at the time I thought was my better (should I say stubborn) judgment.

I battled diabetes once before a few years ago and beat it, I think I learned the hard way that it is in fact a battle that I will be fighting for the rest of my life. Developing diabetes is probably one of the bes things that has ever happened to me. I'm now having to pay attention to my diet and what I eat.

My doctor told me that the big three things to pay attention to are Sugar, Blood Pressure and Cholesterol. I had High Blood Pressure when I was in my 20's, but managed to beat that. I checked it a few days ago and it was 119/78. I haven't really addressed the Cholesterol yet, but my new diet is pretty low in Cholesterol and my numbers really weren't discussed. I honestly have no education on this at the present time, but now that the Sugar and BP are withing normal range I'll start educating myself on Cholesterol. If it's up and I honestly don't known if it is I already have a plan of action for that. Soy beans are infamous for lowering LDL levels and raising HDL levels of Cholesterol.

Is it softball yet?

PHIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What are you doing to me you damn rat. I look outside and it's freaking spitting down snow. We have officially hit six weeks since your rodent ass decided NOT to see his shadow. What do I have to do next year, send two cases of beer for you and a fresh baked banana nut bread for mother nature. Tell her to turn off the winter and turn spring back on. You're letting me down Phil.

It is Friday, but for the second day in a row the weather kind of sucks. It's the weekend, but you can't have good weather. Is that not like the ultimate tease, especially with the nice weather we had earlier this week.

Next week should be pretty busy, I'm going to Frostburg for the last time on Monday and may stay over until Tuesday. If I do I'll just stay up there for the night and return Tuesday, but I may come back Monday night if I don't need to be there Tuesday.

Wed I have meet with my Doctor again and then Thursday I will probably go in for a fasting blood test and my diabetes education class is Thursday also. My Numbers are consistantly going lower and I am now in the normal range with my blood sugar. Now if Phil would have cooperated I could be on rails to trails this evening...damn rat.

OK, I did it

I have finally given in and started a Myspace account. Just getting it started.

What a start to the day

Yesrerday, despite the little bit of rain we received in the early morning hours actually turned out to be a pretty decent day. It was a little cooler than Tuesday, but still a nice day.

Today however has had a little bit of an embarrasing story. After eating breakfast I took a brisk 15 minute walk up the road just to get the blood flowing for the day and when I returned I stopped by the local newspaper vending machine to buy todays paper. When I go for walks I take my iPod with me and listen to some music while I'm walking, it's something I do when I talk a walk of solitude. As I reached down to buy a paper and closed the door, the earpieces were jerked out of my ears. It seems that I had let the cord get caught around the latch itself trapping it in the machine. I tried to pull it out but realized it was actually wrapped around the latch. I had to go get another 50 cents from my apartment and insert it into the machien to safely retrieve my headphones.

At 9:00 tonight WVU hosts the second round game of the NIT when it hosts UMass. Umass has a 7'0" center named Luke Bonner who used to play for us, but decided to transfer closer to home to play. He played 2 years ago on the elite 8 team. He was a fan favorite two years ago, let's see how the students welcome him tonight.

Something I found out yesterday is that there is a MySpace page that I am going to add to the sidebar. Terri has signed up for a MySpace account, but has not developed it as of yet.

The weather was great yesterday

Wow was the weather absolutely perfect yesterday. I got off of work and the temps were actually pleasantly in the lower 70's. To my buddy Phil, OK my little buddy, thank you for finally providing me a day that I haven't seen for a while. A day where the sun was shining and you could wear anything you want. You didn't need a winter jacket, and you could actually enjoy a brisk oxygen regenerating stroll along the rails to trails.

I should have taken my camera yesterday, but I had a better picture of the portion of the trails that I have recently started walking. It's the portion below my apartment and is no longer the paved segment of the trail.

My Diabetes sugar numbers are starting to come a little better under control. I have paid very close attention to my diet, and the refreshing and and energy reviving walks in the early evenings are really starting to make a difference. I am starting to feel very good and am full of energy. I actually drove by the softball fields after I was done walking yesterday and noticed that all three men's fields had teams already practicing. I guess that means that we will probably be hitting the field as a team for the first time in the upcoming weeks. WVU is still playing basketball, so many of my team mates are still busy working with that, however I would say it is going to be pretty soon that we start to practice.

I am going to have to make my last trip(s) to my office in Frostburg next Monday and Tuesday. I'll be starting a new project as I just wrapped two other multi-year projects up in the last few days. I am considering staying up there on Monday night rather than driving up and back and up and back. It could be a nice little break to be out of Morgantown, I haven;t made up my mind how I will approach it yet.

Hope today is as good as yesterday, it should be because I'm pretty much caught up on my work until basically next week.

Another TV pitch for Morgantown

As many of you may or not know, MTV is, was or is planning to do a series on the MTV Show Choir. This isn't really news and has been known for some time.

What is news is that there is show that has been pitched to TNT that will be based in Morgantown. The entire show is based off a Bruce Springsteen song with same name of the series. This Hard Land. The show from what I understand is supposed to be based on working class families working towards the American Dream.

It has been resubmitted to TNT to see if they like the idea. Considering this is a second submission, there must be some sort of interest in the show.

I would definately be a viewer.

RIP Brad Delp

Brad Delp, the lead singer of one of my all time favorite bands was found dead yesterday. Often called the most down to earth rock star and the nicest guy in Rock and Roll it was a bit of a shock.

Brad and Tom were both very health conscious vegetarians and probably a couple of the most educated people in Rock and Roll. Tom is actually an MIT grad.

Brad was going to be married to his long time girlfriend during their 2007 summer tour.






And of course, my all time favorite Boston Song

It's Friday

Yes, it is once again that day of the week when the work finishes for the week and the fun starts for a couple of days. I'm thinking about sending a cyanide laced case of beer to my buddy Phil in Puxatawney, let the rat get poisoned for the biggest snowfall of the season this week.

I went to the diabetes education class yesterday and had quite a few misconceptions cleared up. Needledss to say I was prepared with some very good questions and received some very good answers. I was placed on a diet by a dietician, and started to think to myself just great. However, once I started doing the math and started realizing how I ma eating, not too much is changing other than moving breakfast back a few hours spreading it out a little from lunch.

My plan includes:

60 Grams of Carbs for Breakfast at 6:00.

15 Grams of Carbs at 9:00 for a snack

60 Grams of Carbs at 12:00 for lunch

15 Grams of Carbs at 2:30 for a snack

60 Grams of Carbs at 5:00 For Dinner

15 Grams of Carbs at 7:30 for an evening snack.



It's broken down by choices, 15 grams of carbs is equal to one choice. That's 4 choices for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and One choice 3 times for snacks.

This was set up by the dietician, and it doesn't seem that hard to follow. There is nothing I can not eat, as long as it is in proportion and within my plan.

Surprisingly my blood pressure was much lower than it was when I was at ther doctors last time. 122/82 was my reading and I was quite surprised and happy with that. I cut down drastically on my sodium intake, and I think it is starting to show.

FYI, you need 2,400 MG of Sodium a day. Many of the things you eat already have plenty of sodium in them.

Oh well, back to work so the weekend can start.

Diabetes Education Class

Today I will be attending my first in a series of four Diabetes Education Classes. The three hour class will help me get a better understanding of diabetes, what are its causes, proper diet and I will meet with a dietician.

My numbers went down but have recently went back up for some reason, but they are starting to return to normal.

It's a little discouraging, but I also understand that it will take time for the medications to level everything out.

Kind of ironic

I had scheduled today as a days vacation to travel to a conference in Parkersburg. No thanks to that rat Phil, we had a bunch of snow dropped on us today. This pretty much canceled our trip, and I ended up working today. Frostburg State had shutdown today basically shutting my office down, as well as about everything in Mon county being shut down.

I schedule the vacation and I end up working and everyone else has the day off. Thanks Phil. Anyone have a good recipe for Ground Hog Stew?

Test number 2

I'm trying to use clip mark on Val's Myspace page to just take portions of it.

clipped from www.myspace.com

~♥~Valarie~♥~'s Blurbs

About me: well i'm 23 and married to bobby we have been together for 7 yrs and married for 4, we have 2 beautiful babies together, erica who is almost 3 and josh who is 7 months old, we also have 2 dogs. princess and bing,. i love to have a good time when i get the chance having to kids it's kinda hard to go out alot. i'm an easy person to get along with as long as you don't make me mad, i can hold a grudge and i usually don't give people second chances, but i have. if u wanna know anything else send me a message girls layout @ HOTFreeLayouts.com MyHotComments HotFreeLayouts Free Cursors

New toy for me

As you can see by my previous post, I have found a new toy. My sister Kim has introduced me to Clip Mark. This is a new toy she has found and introduced me to, I now have to find a way to optimize it for myself.


Thank Kim

This is a test

clipped from george-hall.net

This was the time in my life when I
stopped dreaming about going to
college and actually did it. For
years we all played the scenario
through our heads of what we
would do if we ever hit the
lottery. My answer always seemed
to be the same and that was to
go to college. I got tired of
waiting on the lottery and
decided to enter the next phase
of my life. A non-traditional
college student at thirty-five
years of age.

More snow

It was just 30 days ago that my buddy Phil, oh king of the groundhogs didn't see his shadow and predicted that spring would be right around the corner. Phil, you lying rat, it's been cold and snowy since you made that statement.

We're in March now, Spring starts this month, can we have a a little hint of it?

I think you and Mother Nature got hooked on Heroine or something, because you two have managed to get your seasons mixed up. I know I sent you the case of beer for you to get drunk on last month, and I think I should accept full responsibility for my actions. Phil, I think it is time for you and mother nature to put down the crack pipe and check into the Betty Ford clinic, heck maybe you can even check into the drug rehab clinic that Brittany Spears is at. Please seek help Phil and you and mother Nature need to put down the crack pipe and let spring begin.

Did I ever mention I hate snow?

I would call it a good day.

Yeah, that is a picture of me back in the 60's, there is no story behind the picture, I just scanned through some old pictures on my computer to give you something to look at.

Gary had called me a couple of days ago trying to get three tickets to West Virginia's final regular season basketball game tomorrow. He wanted to surprise Joey and take him, but tickets seemed to be next to impossible to get. He said Stub Hub wanted $125 for 2 tickets. I had even posted on Blue and Gold news and asked the ticket manager's brother if he could find some tickets, all to no avail.

Until today. I'm listening to Morgantown AM as I usually do every work day in the mornings and they were giving away tickets on the show. Thinking, I called both Jean and Gary telling them that they were going to give away tickets. With three of us trying to win tickets we had a good chance of winning a set of tickets. Gary thinking WAJR is WCLG turns his radio dial to them idiots out of Tampa.

WAJR announces that they will give four sets of two to the first four people who e-mail them. Well, I already had my e-mail client open and nailed a set of tickets through e-mail. I was excited and called Gary hoping he was listening, he had turned it to the other radio station and didn't hear it. I had won him two tickets and told him to turn on WAJR and maybe he could win some with the call in. Between me calling him and getting back to work, they gave sets away for callers. Surprise, Jean wins another set of tickets giving us two sets of two.

Tomorrow Gary and Renee will take Joey to his first Mountaineer Basketball game. Gary has only told him he is taking him somewhere, he doesn't know what or where. He didn't want to make a promise that he couldn't keep for lack of being able to find a ticket. $125.00 for two tickets is horse pucky, four for free beats that price.

Other than that I am preparing to change my diet around a little in an attempt to get my sugar down. I actually bought a really nice stainless steel steamer tonight. It's one of those multi chamber cook a full meal type steamers.

I talked to Kim this afternoon, she was asking about a possible teachers strike this coming Tuesday. Mon County teachers are going to do an unorganized Blue Flu.

I have just taken my last reading
for the day. I was pretty happy with the number. I'm sitting down enjoying a fresh air popped bowl of popcorn and getting ready to watch a movie I purchased tonight. I saw the DVD for Driving Miss Daisy tonight and felt like watching it.

Have a good evening.


Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.--Carl Jung

An Important Note on DST

The U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005 passed by Congress in July 2005 extended Daylight Savings Time in the US by approximately 4 weeks. As a result DST will start three weeks earlier in 2007 and will end one week later in the fall.

Change in daylight savings times:

March 11, 2007: Set Clocks +1 Hr (Spring Forward)
November 4, 2007: Set Clocks -1 Hr (Fall Back)

Doctors visit

I had my first doctors appointment today in 14 years. We did manage to start a gameplan for my diabetes. Got a prescription for a new glucometer and I have built the spreadsheet as promised.


MY RESULTS

College Deadlines

For anyone intending on attending college in the State of West Virginia during the school year 2007-8, March 1st is the deadline for you to submit your FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).

This is not only for loans, but any grants (that is free money you will not have to pay back) you want to be considered for, this is your deadline to apply for them.

FAFSA

First Dr appointment in 14 years

Yeah, you read that right. Today I have my first Doctor's appointment since I'm thinking 1993. It has been quite a few years since I either really needed to go to a doctor, had insurance or felt comfortable enough to actually go.

The reason I am going is simple, I am diabetic and will need to get it under control. It was a goal for 2006 that I did not meet, but the goal is going to be met for 2007 as it should be my primary goal for the year. Come to think of it I still haven't done my years goals yet, although 2007 has started out rather well and somewhat productive.

To beat my diabetes, I am going to track all my official measurements on a good spreadsheet and will share it on Googles spreadsheets for anyone who chooses to monitor my readings. I feel if I am open and honest about my results, it'll help me control it. I don't know if I'm going to share the spreadsheet to the world or just make it available to the family.

I actually started work a little early this morning so that there will be no time conflicts with me getting to the POC by 2:45. I know there will be a small amount of traffic that I'm going to have to go through, but I think I am going to be a little ahead of the traffic jam that usually starts at about 3:00.

Is it softball yet

I'm ready to hit the field, what is the big hold up. The Rat up north said spring was right around the corner and that was 3 1/2 weeks ago, come on Phil get with the program. I'm ready to start throwing and spending the summer with the guys. This winter crap is already started to get old.

Anyone notice the days are starting to get noticeably longer? I know it's early to be starting to talk about spring, but hey, I think I have mentioned once or twice that I hate snow.

Ok, the weekend was pretty good. I managed to get a Glucometer that I'm going to use for a few days from Mom. My Doctor's appointment is Wed and the more education and understanding I have the easier it will be to keep the sugar under control.

I went to Kim's yesterday and had her look at my insurance package, or at least get me a minimal understanding of what it says. I left feeling I had gained some very important knowledge.

I'm anxiously awaiting for the first "Play Ball" of the season.

End of another work week

Fridays are always my favorite workday of the week, but I don't think that I am alone on this issue.

I haven't posted much this week, but there has been a lot happening if you believe that. I have two sisters who started pushing me into doing something that I said I was going to do for over a year now, really two years.

A special thanks goes out to Pam, Kim and Jean for pushing me into starting the procedures for getting my diabetes under control. I actually have a Doctors appointment this coming Wed. This will be the first doctors visit by by since Dr. Ghosal passed away some time ago. I'm thinking it was about 1993 that he passed away, so we are talking of going on 14 years since I visited a doctor. I am type II Diabetic, so I need to get control of this.

Wed Jean and I went to a Stores Online presentation about internet commerce. There will be an all day seminar we will be attending March 7 in Parkersburg. I've already seen their pitch and I'm going for the education to see if they can teach me something I don't know.

Their product is they are a Domain Host and try to sell people extremely overpriced turn key websites, however their seminar will teach you how to run the buisness. I'm smart enough to know that larger hosts also have packages out there for a small fraction of what these guys are trying to sell you. ie they will sell you the rights to a store for a yearly licensing fee of $2,800. For roughly 10% of that cost you can set up a starter merchant account at Godaddy plus a $0.35 per transaction fee.

Not sure of a product as of yet, but I want to hear what these guys have to say. I also have commercial tools on two different hosting accounts that I already own. I would like to find a product or product line that I can drop ship and make a few extra bucks on, I can grow and develop it from there.

Softball is just right around the corner, BOPARC is actually having their snowball sotball tournament this weekend at White Park. Before anyone asks, no I'm not playing in that tournament. I did pack a few snowballs this week and tested out the arm for velocity and accuracy. I did manage to burry two snowballs on top of each other back to back on a tree trunk from about 45 feet with a little velocity. Of course it's not like throwing a softball, but we're getting closer to that point.

New items added to blog

Over the past couple of days I have made a couple minor changes to my BLOG. On the right you'll see that I added a few MySpace pages of a few guys IO play softball with. There are additional ones that I could add from the team (wives), but unless they have a universally accessible profile (not private) I won't add them.

If there are are any profiles set to private that I haven't noticed yet I will probably remove them. I'm not a MySpace person and don't have an account. being I am linking it from Blogger, I have to assume that any reader also does not have a MySpace account.

The second element is at the very bottom of the page and I basically stole the idea from my sister Kim. She had a map on the bottom of her blog and me not only being a Geographer, but a GIS analyst I couldn't pass up the opportunity to add this nice little feature.

Oh the Humanity

Fir the past 24 hours, the #1 headline on probably the internet's 31 news source, The Drudge Report has ran it's #1 story as Brittany Spears shaving her head bald and getting a tattoo. Oh the humanity of this situation.

In support of Brittany, I have chopped off my gorgeous golden locks also this morning. I also shaved, that is instead of getting a tattoo.

I wonder if the next news story will be that Oprah farted.

What I like about Friday

Of course Fridays are paydays and a start of a weekend for many. Lately I have started listening to talk radio in the morning on WAJR. I think my favorite part of the morning is from 10:00 -12:00 AM with Hoppy Kerchival. It is a way to stay up on everything locally and in in the state. Both political issues and sports issues and about anything anyone wants to talk about.

The part that I have really started to look foreward to comes on Friday during the last half hour of his show 11:30-12:00, right before I turn my radio off when the idiot comes on. It's called Steam Release. It's the portion of the show that happens once a week when people can call in and Hoppy just listens, it's a time for you to complain about anything you want. Whether it be something he said, or something that's happened or anything.

It's very entertaining and for me it's right before lunch on the last day of the work week before the weekend.

Just curious and I would love to see a few comments, what does everyone else look foreward to on Friday?

Home at last

Found this had to share it

Pod cast from Kim

My sister Kim has decided to find a new way to do podcasts. She has changed the way her website forwards and it n=may be pretty hard to find because everything now points to her BLOG. She did make one minor mistake though, there is no link to her new podcasts.

She called me today and asked if I could crack a new software for her, anyone who knows me should know it's not a matter of if I can find a crack, it's just how long. In this case, it wasn't too long.

Enjoy her new Podcast called Teach me to Scrap. Give it a little watch and listen, I think you'll enjoy it. I also have the link on my sidebar, unlike the one who created the podcast.

Moke coming home

Moke has finally completed basic and AIT training and will be coming home today. Pam, Angela and myself will be traveling to Pittsburgh International this evening to pick him up and bring him home.

I'll take my camera to get a few pictures foe everyone to share.

Looking for something Unique to do?

If you are looking for something new to do that you probably have never done before and you want a lifetime of memories. This Saturday Night at Midnight at the Warner Theater is your chance to do such a thing.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show will be playing this Saturday at Midnight at the Warner downtown. You will never see another movie like this as long as you live, if you have seen the movie and haven't seen it in a theater, you are missing 99% of the show.

In short, the movie sucks, it may have one of the most horrible plots ever written. HOWEVER, it is an audience participation movie and there is rarely an empty seat anytime it is shown.

If you plan on going and want to be in on the fun, there are a series of things you will need to take with you.

1.) Rice
2.) Newspapers
3.) Water Pistols
4.) Candles or Flashlights
5.) Rubber Gloves
6.) Noisemakers
7.) Confetti
8.) Toilet Paper
9.) Toast
10.) Party Hat
11.) Bell
12.) Cards
13.) Hot Dogs and Prunes


For a detailed list of when to use these objects, check out the Official Fan Site.

Mon County Informational Site

I ran across this site this morning and thought I would share it with everyone. If you live in Mon County, it might be smart to have this bookmarked in case you ever need it.

LINK

OK Rat

I was nice to you on groundhogs day. I sent you a case of beer on Feb 1 so you could party in your own special day in 2007. You then turned around and did all of us a favor by getting hammered out of your little groundhog skull. I think you had one heck of a hangover when you couldn't see your shadow, or probably anything else for that matter, because our operatives hijacked the coffee supplies that were targeted for Gobler's knob on Feb 2.

Since then, last week you dropped the temperatures to a sub zero and putting the wind chill well into the double digit sub zero range. Most of the kids were off school last week here in West Virginia, so I'm sure none of them minded.

Now, I am to understand that you and Mother Nature have gotten together and plan on dumping a significant amount of that white crap that I hate that blankets the whole area.

Come on Phil, call ole mother nature and cancel this crap that is supposed to start falling tonight.

Big Day yesterday for WVU Basketball

Yesterday, #2 ranked UCLA Bruins basketball team came into Morgantown and left with a 70-65 loss. This is our biggest win against a ranked opponent since 1983 when we beat #1 UNLV. We should have beaten #2 Texas last season and we did beat #3 Villanova on the road, but not since 1983 have we beat a team that was currently ranked this high.

During John Beilein's first year at WVU, we beat current defending National Champions Florida in Charleston, but they were #8 when we beat them and rose to a #1 ranking later that year.

Wake Forest a few years ago was ranked #1 early in the season, and we beat them in the NCAA tournament.

In case you missed it yesterday, I found a clip of the end of the game.

Reformatting

I'm going to spend the day over at Mom's. Her computer is lagging very bad to a point where it isn't even really moving at all.

I always have the final solution, so rather than playing around with it and trying to figure out what is slowing the system down, I'm going to reformat it today and bring it back up to speed.

Oh yeah, in case I forgot.

IT's FRIDAY!!!!

Spoke with Amy this morning

Got a few details from the accident. She's a little banged up because she raised her knees up before the impact and the airbag heit them. That can create a little bit of shock to say the least if your not braced for it.

She asked me to see if anyone has a free or a very cheap car. This was their only car and it was just bought three weeks ago. They are in need of a vehicle ASAP so they can get back and forth from work.

I guess they were coming down a hill near Sand Bank near the Kingwood Pike and had a head on collision with another car.

I'll keep everyone updated as I find out any information.

Amy in an accident

Val messaged me a little while ago and said that Amy and Ralphie were in an accident this evening. The way Val is talking the car was totaled, but other than a few minor bumps and bruises from the air bag deploying both are ok.

I'll update everyone as I find out the information myself.

Dumbest proposed law I have seen

Might be of some interest to you.


Ban Proposed On Walking While Talking, Listening To iPod
Ban Would Apply To MP3 players, Blackberrys

POSTED: 10:20 pm EST February 6, 2007
UPDATED: 7:18 am EST February 7, 2007

A state senator from Brooklyn said on Tuesday he plans to introduce legislation that would ban people from using an MP3 player, cell phone, Blackberry or any other electronic device while crossing the street in either New York City or Buffalo.

NewsChannel 4 reported that Sen. Carl Kruger is proposing the ban in response to two recent pedestrian deaths in his district, including a 23-year-old man who was struck and killed last month while listening to his iPod on Avenue T and East 71st Street In Bergen Beach.

"While people are tuning into their iPods and cell phones, they're tuning out the world around them," Kruger said. The proposed law would make talking on cell phones while crossing the street a comparable offense to jaywalking.

Some pedestrians said they were not worried about their safety while using their electronic devices while walking.

"I look for the light," said Venus Montes of Williamsburg.

"I'm still looking," said Lance Gordon of Far Rockaway. "It's not like I'm not paying attention."

Others said the proposed ban would not work.

"I don't think anyone's going to be up for this," said Patricia Lewis of Staten Island. "I don't think anyone wants this."

Other pedestrians said they thought the proposal was a good idea.

"It's too dangerous," said Nicole Lake of Jersey City. "Drivers don't pay attention and pedestrians don't pay attention."

© 2007 by WNBC.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

WVU Football will be one for the ages

Imagine if you are Rich Rodriguez. You have two Juniors coming back next year in First Team Consensus All_American Running Back Steve Slaton and probably the single most explosive Quarterback WVU has ever had in Pat White.

Both of these guys if topped 1,000 yards last season and is indisputably the best Dynamic Duo in college football hands down. They are just way too explosive and just too fast for everyone. Even our backup Quarterback could step right in and replace White as he did against Rutgers.

This past season we were pre-season #5 and a few sports writers actually picked us to win the National Championship and we did finish in the top 10 playing as a banged up team late in the year. Basically all of our play makers on offense are coming back.

NOW, this is where it goes from very good to oh shit.

There is a High School Running Back who many experts are saying he is not only the best in this class, but maybe the best running back to come out of High School in quite some time. His name is Noel Devine and he was in Morgantown over the weekend. As per the article I just posted:

He could be lining up alongside West Virginia star Steve Slaton next year in what would unquestionably be the fastest backfield ever assembled. He could become the elite playmaker Florida State has been missing for years. He could be the star new Alabama coach Nick Saban rides to glory.--Stewart Mandell

Pretty impressive accolades for the guy and a rather impressive statement from Sports Illustrated. All of the recruiting sites think this kid is the best they have seen in some time and could be an impact player for any team in the country.

Tomorrow is Letter of Intent day, it is the first day that a kid can sign a binding agreement for his scholarship the next season. Noel Devine just announced where he will be playing next year. I guess we are going to see that fastest backfield ever assembled next season in Morgantown.

Some video footage of him.

Hey Phil

Whats up my little rhodent buddy? It's 1 degree above zero with sub zero wind chill factors. I checked the weather report for Frostburg and it's -7 F there with a wind chill of -25F.

I thought by not seeing your shadow we could avoid this kind of crap. Come on Phil, live up to your end of the bargain and don't be mad because I was responsible for getting you hammered the night before your big day.

Think Warm.

AIT Graduation Day

Today, Moke graduated from his AIT training in Mississippi and will return to Missouri for the next two weeks before returning home to Morgantown in the middle of the month as a boot camp and AIT graduate for the National Guard.

He e-mailed a picture to jean, but the little shi....wait. The Big shit didn't send it to me. That's OK, I got it and have posted it for everyone.

YESSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THANK YOU PHIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I think he partied it up last night and couldn't open his eyes up this morning. This means he did NOT see his shadow and that Spring is right around the corner.


Thank you Oh King of the Groundhogs.



ALL HAIL Phil!!!!!!!

Dear king of the Groundhogs

Hi Phil, it's me again.

You may remember me from last year or even the year before. I am the guy who has asked you for the past two years to help me out. You see, I hate snow. I am a warm weather kind of guy and prefer to walk around in shorts and sandals and also enjoy softball season.

Can I once again ask that tomorrow morning when you come out of your box on Gobbler's Knob that you don't see your shadow so spring can hurry up and get here? I don't care whatever it takes, if you need a cold case of beer to get totally hammered tonight so you are too drunk to care about your shadow tomorrow morning that is fine, I'll have it delivered. Party it up and drink your little groundhog self stupid, just tomorrow morning make sure that your handler picks up the correct scroll and that spring will be right around the corner.

You knwo what they say about third time being the charm, if not I'll be selling goundhog meat tomorrow in Punxsutawney pretty cheap as long as the supplies last. Guess where my suppies will be coming from. Phil



Signed,

Someone who hates snow.

Nice article about the company I work for

Read it here



Articles


GIS Technology: An International Market of Enormous Potential
By Joe Francica
(Feb 01, 2007) Post a comment


Sponsored Links:

The Microsoft Virtual Earth Platform is an integrated set of services that combines unique bird’s eye, aerial, and satellite imagery with best-of-breed mapping, location and search functionality. It enables businesses to deliver innovative solutions and breakthrough customer experiences. Learn more at www.microsoft.com/virtualearth.

If you want to take a glimpse into the future market potential of geospatial technology growth, look toward Asia. In the 25 years since I was last in India - back when the Survey of India was still doing everything with paper maps and satellite image processing computers were locked behind government doors - the mindset of its leaders has changed. What I saw this time was a market of enormous potential for geospatial software, data and services, provided government policy continues to evolve.

Let's be clear. The changing fortunes of India revolve around money and economic development. India can't compete in a global economy without a much better developed infrastructure: better roads, better utilities and better schools. Geospatial technology can help the country get there and the top leaders in the Indian government have articulated a vision that supports the country's ambitious growth plans. If you listen to my interview with Sibal Kipal, the minister of Science and Technology and Earth Science, you'll hear this view first-hand.

InfoTech: The largest GIS services company in the world?
GITA Director Bob Samborski at Infotech's offices.
India, and specifically the cities of Hyderabad, Bangalore and Pune, have a concentration of software and computer network support companies setting up campuses for their workers. While in Hyderabad, I toured the offices of InfoTech Enterprises Limited at the invitation of Mr. N.J. Joseph, vice president of Marketing. GITA Director Bob Samborski and I (at right) saw first-hand where hundreds of workers (below) were supporting projects including database updates for Tele Atlas and attribution of a digital network for KPN Telecom, a Dutch telecommunications company. InfoTech is ISO 9000 certified and operates two eight-hour shifts, six days a week. InfoTech currently employs 1,900 data management resources and 300 software resources (consulting, application development, implementation services) trained as civil or mechanical engineers, providing GIS support using systems such as Smallworld, Intergraph and MapInfo. And this was only one of InfoTech's buildings; the company is looking to expand its facilities soon, as it takes on more work from companies outside of India.

Infotech's offices
InfoTech is only one Indian company expanding its GIS services. InfoSys Technologies Limited, one of the largest IT outsourcing companies in the world, is also providing GIS services, as are many smaller companies with headquarters in India. Support for our publication, for example, is provided by GISbiz, a Tennessee-based company that maintains a staff of 25 people in Chennai, India.

In his address before the Map World Forum in Hyderabad, InfoTech Chairman B.V.R. Mohan Reddy said, 'The whole of GIS now centers around an enterprise architecture. We also believe that the value is in data, data accuracy and data completeness as we move forward. Enterprises face a greater need to understand location. GIS is therefore no longer a complex technology of domain specialists. GIS is now demonstrating its value across the enterprise.' Reddy went on to discuss how Indian telecommunication companies and utilities now use this technology across their enterprises. At New Delhi Power, GIS is a backbone for the ERP and billing systems. Reddy said that GIS is now the front end of the company's enterprise.

Indian Transformation
In the past ten years, Hyderabad has been transformed into a 'high tech town' which boasts the 'Cybercity' and 'Hitex' neighborhoods. As enclaves for technology workers spring up among shanty towns, the standard of living is raised among all citizens. Progress has been supported because the labor pool is large and expenses are low, in comparison to pay scales in more developed countries. A larger, better-educated workforce raises taxes for infrastructure projects and thus creates a need for GIS technology to manage the growth. It is a scenario being repeated all over India.

However, there is a problem. The demand for educated GIS professionals will far outstrip the supply. India is actually exporting its brainpower to countries like Malaysia, and the Indian government realizes it has a 'capacity building' problem. More training is needed in geospatial technology to support a growing number of projects inside the country. This was a recurring theme of the conference and it's a theme being reiterated at conferences I've attended in the U.S., as well.

The enormous growth of GIS in India is the result of some relaxation of government control of its data. Geospatial data, though not necessarily widely available, are more accessible. Several private companies that provide aerial surveying have complained that they cannot obtain permission to fly. The government still controls the acquisition of imagery and other data. That mindset may soon be changing. I spoke with one person in the Indian government's Ministry of Communication and Information Technology who is responsible for posting election results on a map of India on a website. Though somewhat fearful that other officials might step in to shut down the site, the department pressed ahead; there were an enormous number of people hitting the site for information. Success stories like that illustrate a demand for more open and accessible digital geospatial data.

Dr. Krishnaswami Kasturirangan, a member of the upper house of the Indian parliament, called GIS a 'public utility.' In his address, he articulated a fundamental understanding of using GIS in helping to improve the economic development process in his country. It's clear that the vision is being developed from the top down in India. Some government departments are affecting the way in which infrastructure projects are planned and they are looking to democratize data as long as certain security constraints are in place. Though these decision makers are extremely tuned into the needs of the country, they are also keenly aware of the limitations of their capacity to affect change. Still, with such a large part of the country as yet underdeveloped, GIS will play a major roll for years to come in helping this and other countries build an economic foundation through more efficient use of technology.

The Genie is Out of the Bottle
It may be more correct to say that geospatial technology, not just geographic information system software, will capitalize on the need to support a demand for location-based information. We are in transition as a technology sector. We are growing rapidly from one which has been supported by professionals to a broader, more informed user community that will demand greater access to geospatial information through different types of software solutions, Web services and consumer products. And the growth potential for GIS in countries like China and Russia is impossible to measure, given their similar needs for infrastructure development. These countries have yet to fully open their markets and unleash control of geospatial data.

But the genie is already out of the bottle. Satellites orbit the earth collecting more data of higher spatial resolution. Who will use them? How will they be used? We just can't measure the potential right now. Even the Russians, through a government supported company like Sovzond, want to market satellite data. The result will be a borderless market for information to a global community. The world will benefit; GIS will benefit.