Our List of recruits so far.

John Bassler, OL, 6-5, 285, New Windsor, Md./Francis Scott Key HS
Coached by Bill Hyson at Francis Scott Key High School … two-time all-Monocacy Valley Athletic League on offense and defense … two-time all-Carroll County selection … named as an offensive lineman to play in the Super 22 all-star game, featuring the best players from the Baltimore metro area … also played basketball and baseball … son of Robert and Carol Bassler.

Jorge Wright, DL, 6-3, 260, Miami, Fla./Dr. Krop HS
Coached by Rick Divita at Dr. Krop High School … registered 62 tackles and 18 sacks as a senior … selected All-Dade County honorable mention … selected to play in the Dade North-South All-Star game … helped team to a 7-3 record … two-year letterwinner in wrestling … runs a 4.7/40-yard dash and bench presses 275 pounds … son of Jorge and Dr. Ellen Wright.

Bernard Smith, DL, 6-2, 220, Atlanta, Ga./Benjamin E. Mays HS
Coached by Jessie Soloman at Benjamin E. Mays High School … named to the Georgia Sportswriters’ Association Class 4A first-team all-state … earned All-Atlanta honors … had a team-leading 125 tackles, including 75 solo tackles, 22 tackles for loss, 12 sacks, three forced fumbles and four forced fumbles as a senior … led the state of Georgia in solo tackles … punted the ball 25 times for an average of 37.7 yards per punt … rated No. 4 rush end in Georgia by the Atlanta Journal Constitution … helped lead the Raiders to a 9-3 record, a second-place finish to Tucker High School in the conference standings and advance to the second round of the state playoffs … selected to play in the Georgia North-South All-Star Game …had a season-high 15 tackles in 25-0 win over Lakeside High School and four sacks in a 14-0 win over Miller Grove High School … selected honorable mention all-state class 4-A as a junior … led Benjamin E. Mays to a 10-3 record as a junior and advance to the second round of the state playoffs … son of Constance Nealey.

Jeffrey Braun, OL, 6-5, 315, Westminster, Md./Winters Mill HS
Coached by Ken Johnson at Winters Mill High School … three-year, two-way starting center-defensive lineman … runs a 5.1/40-yard dash and benches 405 pounds … considered the best lineman outside the metro areas … finished with 57 tackles as a senior … for his career, he finished with 127 tackles, seven sacks, four pass breakups and two fumble recoveries … 2007 Maryland consensus all-state by the Associated Press … named to the Baltimore Sun’s all-metro team … three-time selection to the all-Monocacy Valley Athletic League and all-Carroll County teams … two-time first-team all-area by The Examiner … two-time first-team small school all-state selection … helped lead Winters Mill to the state playoffs as a sophomore and junior … set the record for the most bench reps at the 2007 Nike Baltimore combine … also played basketball for two years … Vice President of varsity athletic club … son of Stacey and the late Jeff Braun, Sr.

Donovan Miles, LB, 6-2, 225, Stafford, Va./Brooke Point HS
Coached by Jeff Berry at Brooke Point High School … finished with 107 tackles, including eight sacks and 21 tackles for loss as a senior … a two-time all-district and all-area performer … helped lead the Blackhawks to a 9-2 record, including a 7-0 conference record, the Commonwealth District championship and an appearance in the regional playoffs … collected 114 tackles, 10 sacks and 21 tackles for loss as a junior … Brooke Point finished 7-4 and made an appearance in the first round of the region playoffs … runs a 4.5/40-yard dash … son of Michael Robinson.

Joseph Madsen, OL, 6-4, 270, Chardon, Ohio/Chardon HS
Coached by Jim Dipofi at Chardon High School … two-way starter at defensive tackle and offensive tackle … three-year letterwinner and team captain … collected 59 total tackles, including 21 solo stops, five sacks and 18 tackles for loss … also had 16 assisted tackles, four forced fumbles and a fumble recovery ... selected first-team All-Ohio guard … first-team All-Premier Athletic Conference honoree … named first-team Northeast Lakes all-district … earned most valuable player honors at the West Virginia summer camp … helped lead Chardon to a 10-3 record and the first round of the playoffs as a junior … son of Eric and Reta Madsen.

Tyler Urban, TE, 6-4, 240, North Huntington, Pa./Norwin Senior HS
Coached by Dan Conwell at Norwin Senior High School … as a senior, rushed for 510 yards on 80 carries and scored seven touchdowns as a fullback … registered 79 tackles and seven sacks … scored two touchdowns and two sacks in a playoff win over Woodland Hills … selected second-team all-state class 4A … Pittsburgh Tribune Review’s Terrific 25 … named all-WPIAL Quad-South Conference … helped lead the Knights to a 7-4 record and an appearance in the WPIAL quarterfinals … as a junior, he collected 70 tackles and seven sacks … rushed for 500 yards and a 6.2 yards per carry average … member of the National Honor Society … son of James and Debra Urban.

Ryan Clarke, FB, 6-1, 235, Glen Burnie, Md./DeMatha Catholic HS
Coached by Bill McGregor at Dematha Catholic High School … runs a 4.5/40-yard dash and benches 335 pounds … finished with 35 carries for 456 yards and six touchdowns as a senior … first-team all-Washington, D.C. by all-DCSportsFan.com … second-team all-Washington Catholic Athletic Conference … helped DeMatha to a 10-2 record, the WCAC Conference championship and a No. 4 ranking in Washington D.C. by the Washington Post … also helped lead the Stags to state titles as a sophomore (11-2) and junior (12-0) … he also ran track … son of Greg and Dale Clarke.

Chris Palmer, DL, 6-4, 290, Philadelphia, Pa./St. John Neumann HS
Coached by Bill Sytsma at St. John Neumann High School … played both offensive and defensive lines … described as the quickest offensive guard in the Philadelphia Catholic School League … selected to the Harrisburg Patriot News Platinum 33 team … earned Scout.com and Super Prep All-American honors… offense averaged more than 400 yards a game in total offense, including 250 yards a game rushing … team had a 1,400-yard rusher … collected 64 tackles, seven tackles for loss and three sacks as a senior … earned All-Catholic League honors two years as a defensive lineman and one time on offense … selected to play in the Philadelphia city all-star game … as a junior, finished with 62 tackles, nine tackles for loss and had five sacks … runs a 5.0/40-yard dash, has a 29-inch vertical jump and benches more than 300 pounds … son of Rudy and Grace Palmer.

Jerome Swinton, CB, 5-9, 160, Daytona Beach, Fla./Seabreeze Senior HS
Coached by Mark Beach at Seabreeze Senior High School … finished with 48 tackles and blocked a punt as a senior … a first-team Class 4A all-state defense selection … named all-Central Florida by the Orlando Sentinel … an All-Southeast Region selection by Super Prep … helped lead Seabreeze to a 12-1 record and an appearance in the state semifinals … collected 53 tackles, three interceptions and eight pass breakups as a junior … runs a 4.31/40-yard dash, has a 34-inch vertical jump and bench presses 265 pounds … son of Jerome Swinton and Diane Pollard.

Tyler Bitancurt, K, 6-0, 180, Springfield, Va./West Springfield HS
Coached by Bill Renner at West Springfield High School … connected on 13-of-17 field goal attempts, including a 50-yarder, and made 49-of-50 extra points … the 13 field goals were the most in the state and tied him for the seventh-most in a season in state history … 70 of his 81 kickoffs resulted in touchbacks … had a 39.0-yard per punt average with a long of 60 yards … as a senior, he finished with 88 kicking points and had a two-year career total of 152 points … selected Washington, D.C. all-metro by the Washington Post as a senior …two-time first-team all-Patriot district punter and kicker … two-time first-team all-Northern Region punter … selected first-team all-Northern Region kicker as a senior … for his career, he finished with 15-of-20 field goals with a long of 50 yards, 107-of-108 extra point attempts, including consecutive streak of 70, 123 touchbacks on 147 kickoffs, and a 39.4-yard punting average with a long of 60 yards … had 29 punts land inside the opponent 20-yard line and 10 punts of 50 yards or more … three-year letterwinner in soccer … earned first-team all-district honors as a junior … son of Mauro and Teresa Bitancurt.

J.D. Woods, WR, 6-2, 180, Naples, Fla./Golden Gate HS
Coached by Dave Tanner at Golden Gate High School … played wide receiver in high school, collecting 54 catches for 851 yards and seven touchdowns as a senior … an all-state selection as a senior … earned first-team All-Southwest Florida accolades … a two-time first team all-district and All-Collier County Athletic Conference honoree … helped Golden Gate to a 6-5 finish and a first-round appearance in the state playoffs … collected 28 receptions for 584 yards and nine touchdowns as a junior … four-year starter on the basketball team … participates in the triple jump, the long jump and the 400m dash on the track team … earned honorable mention all-state honors as a junior in basketball and was all-district and all-conference in track … runs a 4.5/40-yard dash and bench presses 230 pounds … son of Freddie and Williamena McCrary and John Blackmon.

Josh Jenkins, OL, 6-5, 305, Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg HS
Coached by Bernie Buttrey at Parkersburg High School … top recruit in the state of West Virginia … first West Virginia player to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas … graded out at 98 percent for his senior season … collected 158 pancake blocks … finished with 113 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, seven sacks and four fumble recoveries … USA Today first-team All-American … Parade Magazine All-American team … a three-time AAA first-team all-state selection … three-time all-MSAC Conference honoree … helped lead the Big Reds to a 13-1 record and the AAA state championship in back-to-back seasons … runs a 5.2/40-yard dash and bench presses 400 pounds … also plays basketball … son of Deborah Johnson.

Ja’tavious Miller, LB, 6-1, 210, Pahokee, Fla./Pahokee HS
Coached by Blaze Thompson at Pahokee High School … finished with 109 tackles, eight sacks, 20 tackles for loss and two interceptions as a senior … registered 14 tackles against Newberry HS in the state championship game … two-time first-team 2B all-state … two-time 2B all-area … Palm Beach Post first-team small school all-area honoree … played in the Outback Bowl state all-star game and the North-South all-star game … helped lead the Blue Devils to back-to-back 14-0 records and the state 2B championship his junior and senior seasons … as a junior, he collected 125 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries … runs a 4.44/40-yard dash, has a 28.6 vertical jump and has benched 225 pounds 10 times … volunteered with elementary school tutoring and helped with hurricane clean-up … son of Lynora Fulmore.

Robert Sands, S, 6-6, 205, Opa-Locka, Fla./Miami Carol City Senior HS
hed by Walter Frazier at Miami Carol City Senior High School … selected second-team all-state by the Miami Herald … Dade County Top 25 by the Miami Herald … collected 60 tackles as a senior … had two interceptions and broke up five passes against the nation’s No. 5 team, Booker T. Washington High School … registered 60 tackles as a junior … helped lead the Chiefs to the second round of the state playoffs … he also ran track … finished third in the state in the triple jump … selected first-team All-Dade County … runs a 4.54/40-yard dash and bench presses 265 pounds … son of Veronica Sands.

Brantwon Bowser, CB, 6-0, 180, Phoenix, Ariz./Phoenix College
Enrolled at WVU in January 2008 … coached by former Mountaineer standout Dale Wolfley at Phoenix College … runs a 4.5-40-yard dash and benches 300 pounds … played in six games and collected 14 tackles, including 10 solos … coached by Tom Bruney at Maryvale High School in Phoenix, Ariz. … a 2006 first-team all-state selection … a first-team all-region honoree … helped lead the Panthers to the semifinals of the state championships as a senior … also played basketball and ran track … ran a 10.7/100m dash … son of Robin Bowser.

Larry Ford, DE, 6-5, 240, Georgetown, S.C./Coffeyville CC
Enrolled at WVU in January 2008 … coached by Jeff Leiker at Coffeyville Community College in Kansas … registered 37 tackles as a sophomore, including 6.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery … earned second-team all-Region VI honors … helped Coffeyville to a 5-5 record and a first-round appearance in the region playoffs … coached by Barry Avant at Georgetown High School … as a senior, he collected 117 tackles, 17 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks … named regional defensive player of the year … selected first-team all-low country … played in the South Carolina North-South All-Star game … member of the basketball team … runs a 4.7/40-yard dash and bench presses 315 pounds … son of Larry and Geneva Ford.

Corey Freeman, DL, 6-3, 220, Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights
Coached by Jeff Rotsky at Cleveland Heights High School … four-year letterwinner … as a senior, he finished with 91 tackles, 14.5 sacks and 30 tackles for loss … Blocked four field goals, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery … named first-team all-state … selected All-Lake Erie League first-team … a first-team all-district honoree … runs a 4.55/40-yard dash, has a 35-inch vertical jump and benches 310 pounds … son of Corey Locke and Pamela Sloan.

Coley White, QB, 6-1, 175, Daphne, Ala./Daphne HS
Coached by Glenn Vickery at Daphne High School … brother of two-time BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year Pat White … accounted for almost 2,500 yards of total offense as a senior, 964 yards rushing and 1,500 yards passing … selected all-county and named conference player of the week … helped Daphne to an 11-2 record and a state 6A runner-up finish … named Daphne High School’s Student of the Month … also runs track … runs a 4.5/40-yard dash and bench presses 230 pounds … son of James and Vonametris White.

D.J. Shaw, DL, 6-1, 290, Bude, Miss./Copiah-Lincoln CC
Coached by Glenn Davis at Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Wesson, Miss. … registered 56 total tackles, including 34 solo stops, three sacks, seven tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and 15 quarterback hits … selected honorable mention all-state … collected 23 tackles as a freshman, including 13 unassisted tackles and a sack … helped lead Co-Lin to a 9-3 record, the South Division Championship and a runner-up finish in the state championship game … Co-Lin won the Sea Island Company Golden Isles Bowl Championship … prepped at Franklin County High School in Meadville, Miss. … used as a fullback in high school … ran 113 times for 558 yards and seven touchdowns … helped lead Franklin County to a 6-4 record and the first round of the state playoffs … named all-division 7-3A and one of the Clarion Ledger’s Top 125 prospects in the state … runs a 5.0/40-yard dash, benches 425 pounds and squats 650 pounds.

J.J. Dorsey, CB, 6-0, 180, Winchester, Va./Handley HS
Coached by Tony Rayburn at Handley High School … ran and passed for more than 1,000 yards for three-straight years … accumulated 4,111 yards rushing and 5,643 passing yards over his career for a total of 9,754 yards of total offense, fourth best for career yardage all-time in Virginia … accounted for 2,872 yards of total offense as a senior, running for 1,175 yards and passing for 1,697 … collected 3,122 yards of total offense as a junior (1,344 run/1,778 pass) … selected all-state as a senior … three-year all-district and all-region and was named the Region II Player of the Year in 2006 … helped guide the Judges to the playoffs all four years and to the region championship as a sophomore and the district championship as a junior … an all-district and all-region selection in basketball … son of James and Yevette Dorsey.

It's National Letter of Intent Day

Today is the biggest day in college football recruiting, it is the day when recruits who have promised to sign with a school actually signs with a school. It's the first time when signatures are made and scholarship offers are binding. West Virginia should sign a nice class today led by Parkersburg High Schools Josh Jenkins.

Bill Stewart and crew have managed to put together a great class considering all of the turmoil that the school has been through in the past couple of months.

For the current list of players who we have actually received their Letter of Intent and a little profile on each of them, please check MSNSPORTSNET.

OK, bring on the squirrels.

OK, que the squirrels again. The weather is supposed to be nice today, do hopefully I can have the front door open. Time for another party of me and my buddies the squirrels, note to Phil the great weather seer, you are not invited you rat.

I'm not really that heart broken this time, I still have what I set out for, but I could use the entertainment. My spring and summer schedule is wide open again.

Super Bowl LXII

Wow, what a game. I was pulling for the underdog New York Giants to pull the upset over the New England Patriots, but common sense told me that the Patriots would not only win, but win big. It was a hard fought game, but the New York Giants won 17-14 to claim the Super Bowl Championship and deny the Patriots place in history as being the only 19-0 team in NFL history.

Funny thing is, I heard the patriots applied to copy write the term "19-0", I wonder how that worked out for them.

Eli Manning followed up his brothers effort last year when HE won not only the Super Bowl, but the MVP award too. The irony is that they are both sons of probably the best QB on bad teams in history. Archie Manning was a great one, but played his whole career on the worst teams in the NFL.

Congrats Giants.

Yesterdays Vote

Yesterday's vote for a $2.00 a week user fee for anyone who works in Monongalia County failed, and failed big time. It was not approved in any of the 72 precincts and was voted down 11,048 against to 2,542 in favor of.

There was a 27% voter turnout, significantly good for a special issue, one item election.

Now on to the important issues

Today in Mon County is a special election for a $2.00 a week user fee. Make sure you go and vote if you're registered. If you're not registered, then I have to ask why not?


Damn Rat

You Suck Phil

I can't believe you, I send you two female groundhogs to party up the night with, and how do you return the favor? You see your shadow and predict yet another six lousy weeks of winter.

You suck you rat.

OK Phil, it's your day

OK my little Rat buddy, this is your day. It's Groundhogs day, the day you get to step up and take center stage. Last year I managed to get your little rodent rear end intoxicated and you didn't see your shadow. Only one problem with this, winter got worse after you didn't see it, mother nature was probably ticked off that you were drunk.

This year, I sent a couple female groundhogs up to spend the night with you. Hopefully last night these two kept you up all night and you are dead tired and won't be able to see your shadow again, only being sober this time.

Come on Phil, Buddy, old pal of mine, let spring begin.

It's another one of those things Kim doesn't understand

Yes we are now once again at that point of the week where the labor stops and the time comes to sew the fruits of our labors, it's almost the weekend!

How did you like the weather this morning for those of us in Morgantown, it must have rained last night and the temps dropped all of a sudden causing many things around town to freeze with a think coating of ice over everything. It's starting to melt already, but I'm sure the roads could still be a little slick.

Yesterday Diane and I went to see National Treasure, Book of Secrets at the theater. She was nice enough to sacrifice and go and see the movie with me for her second time in seeing it. Great flick, I loved the first one and this one was just as good.

This Sunday the Super Bowl will once again have it's yearly meeting. This years Super Bowl features the New England Patriots and the New York Giants. Kickoff is set for 6:17 PM.

Mark is starting to redo the Morgantown High Alumni page. He redesigned his Website and this site using Drupal. I used it for the family Christmas site, but he's a much better web designer than me so it will be interesting to see how he develops the sites .

Tomorrow in Monongalia County we will be voting on a $2.00 a Week user fee for roads improvement here in Mon County. I personally will vote against it. Not because I don't want to improve road conditions, but because this proposal is too loosely written.

I hope everyone has a great Friday.

New Comcast Feature

Yesterday I started getting my new service with Comcast, but not everyone will have it available to them at this time. Here in Morgantown Free On Demand Movies are now available on channel 298. There are Many Free Movies that can be played, all you need is a digital cable box. It works like a DVR, even though I don't have a DVR. I also have HBO so I get Free Movies on Demand plus HBO on Demand.

If you do not have this service yet, you will have it probably by the end of the week. It is now here and I have it, it's just not completely set up yet.

Sometimes...

Sometimes you do things or things are said that may have a very big impact on your life, but you just don't realize it at the moment. Mine was realized with this old beat up key chain that you see. It was given to me roughly 20+ years ago by a very dear friend, and it was on my key ring up until the last years of my college career when the hole just basically wore out on this solid piece of brass. It was a sad day for me when I finally had to remove it from my key chain or risk having it falling off and losing it.

Recently that very dear friend and my lives have crossed again. I have usually been a very skeptical person, one not putting too much faith in predetermined destiny's or fate. With events over the past few weeks, I have to take a very serious look at my previous viewpoint on fate.

When Diane and I first started speaking, I immediately remembered this key chain. I searched my apartment frantically to find it, but to no avail. This morning I noticed something in my sock drawer that I hadn't seen in a few years and was actually looking to find, except not in my sock drawer.

Sometimes things happen for a reason and we may not know why at that time. Sometimes...

What a wind storm

What a windstorm we had last night, it actually knocked out power for many, plus knocked out comcast and their services for some time. Everything is back to normal now.

A couple things I heard this morning.

First for those of us who live in Northern WV, we will be getting a new area code. The old 304 will remain in the southern part of the state, but with the recent additions of cell phones and fax machines, the numbers available were running shorter. West Virginia will split into two different areas, with those of us in Northern WV being affected by the change.

WVU is going to try to sell out the spring game this spring. Pretty big accomplishment considering 10,000 is usually a very good number, but the stadium hold 60,000. In an attempt to draw more people, there will be an announcement later this week that there will be a Major Musical Act concert at the Stadium the night before the game. The artist is signed, but they are not going to announce who it is until later this year. If they are talking about 60,000 people in stadium, this is probably going to be a very big announcement. Think about it, the size of the venue and how many they want in the stands. Something tells me the largest concert to ever come to the State of West Virginia is a few days from being made public.

On a really good note, I found the old keychain Diane gave me 20 years ago this morning.

Some news I found out yesterday.

Yesterday evening Pam called me to talk. I guess she had just found out that Moke has volunteered for and will be getting deployed to Iraq as early as this June. I haven't had a chance to talk to him about it just yet, but Pam just found out yesterday. I'll try to fill everyone in as soon as I get any more information about the situation, I'm sure everyone as well as me is curious to find out more information on this.

Finally got Ubuntu installed and installed right

After setting my machine up again right Saturday Night, I wanted to explore a little deeper and see if I really wanted to install Ubuntu onto my system, since I had had a few problems getting ti configured right.

Well, let's just say that the third time in the charm and I just had the drives inverted the first time I installed it. I was actually sizing Windows to 40 GB and Ubuntu to 400+GB. This time I got them right and installed properly.

I left a 50 GB exchange partition so that both operating systems could share a file. I reduced Windows to I think 365 GB, which is still quite huge and I used a 45 GB partition for Ubuntu. Finally got it right.

Now all I have to do is learn Linux a little better. The reason I decided to install it was because there are a couple open source GIS Programs I wanted to try.

Slow day so far

It's been a slow day at work so far, still just waiting on a set of procedures more than anything else. Hopefully they will come in pretty soon, I don;t mind the break, but it does get a little boring.

I have promised Diane that I will participate in lent this year and give something up. She asked me to participate and suggested giving up soda for it would be nice. I agreed because I have started drinking it again recently and need to quit again. Softball is a few months away and it's about time to start getting ready.

To those of you who may have wondered about the goal tending call at the end of Saturday Nights game, notice the ball is starting to come down then Ewing blocks the shot. Goal tending, 2 points to WVU and game over as the clock expired after the shot. However we did not get the call and we ended up losing, although this image clearly shows we should have won.

Talking to Amy a little bit yesterday, she is targeting a June 28th wedding date and she wants to have the wedding at the reception at her new place. It has a big front and back yard, and should be able to accommodate quite nicely.

Still thinking about adding Ubuntu again to my computer as a dual boot system. I am however 0 for 2 in getting it installed how I want it installed. I'll get it.

Big Ole NON Hairy Sunday.

Like that title, I just had to use it for my sister Kim.

Yesterday WVU played Georgetown in basketball, and it came down to a controversial last second shot that should have been goal tending that WVU was on the wrong end of. WVU was on he losing end of a 57-58 loss.

Yesterday before the game I did install Ubuntu on my computer and messed up the installation. Somehow I turned a 500 GB HD into a 40 GB hard drive that I could not seem to recover. When I cam beck from the game I reformatted my hard drive and did a full install of Ubuntu, only this time it wiped out Windows. Needless to say at 2:30 this morning I was reformatting a 500 GB HD for the second, really third, time yesterday and getting my system back up and running. I guess I am getting too much practice at this because it was a quick procedure one it formatted. Everything is up and running and I'm re-examining if I am going to install Ubuntu, and if I do how it will be installed with the patricians and their sizes.

This afternoon I stopped by to see Terri and we all went up to see Amy and Ralphie. They just purchased his brothers trailer and were getting ready to move in. It's actually a really nice set up they have and will have a big front and back yard.

Looks like my Spring, Summer and beyond is starting to get planned out a little bit already. Diane and I are getting along very well and plan on seeing a lot of each other. The funny thing is I carried of piece of her with me daily for roughly 20 years in a keychain she once bought me (It broke a few years ago towards the end of my time in college). I would say our future looks pretty good, but we are taking it slow and letting it build and trying not to rush into anything. Right now I know that I am very happy and thankful that our paths crossed again.

Considering a dual boot system

As many of you know, I had some computer problems a little over a week ago where I crashed my system by spilling a glass of water right onto the top of the hard drive. Of course I blogged about this while my hard drive was down and the obvious question came up. How?

I used a Live CD and ran a temporary Linux based operating system called KNOPPIX. It boots from your cd or dvd drive and is a fully functional and operational operating system.

When I was putting my next hard drive together, I briefly considered a dual boot system using a Macintosh OS called Leopard. Unfortunately, it is easier to put windows on a mac machine than to put MAC on a windows machine and that idea quickly went by the wayside.

However I have always liked Linux and there are numerous versions out there of it. I briefly messaged one the most educated Linux users I know and asked him what version of Linux did he think would make a nice system for a dual boot. He recommended Ubuntu, which ironically Dell Computers sells systems with this operating system already installed on it. This doesn't mean much, other than the fact I have a Dell and know the motherboard and all it's components would be compatible.

So this morning I downloaded Ubuntu (Free Operating System) and burned image to a CD. An image is an .iso file that a CD knows to read and could be a bootable CD or DVD. I was quick to find out, that Ubuntu initially boots to a live CD like knoppix or unlike knoppix can be installed as part of a permanent primary or secondary bootable operating system.

I am currently using ubuntu and familiarizing myself with it as I blog this, and am probably going to install it as a bootable secondary operating system in the near future.

It is more stripped down than Knoppix (It runs from a DVD in it's larger version which I also have) and does not have all the extra stuff that I probably wouldn't use to begin with. It does however have most if not all of the knoppix features that I do use and like, such as a fully functional 2.3 version of Open Office and a few other programs I use. It is a much more stripped down version of Linux, but the stuff it doesn't have is the stuff I wouldn't use. No C++ emacs programing software or network administrator tools like knoppix has contained within it.

ROFL

It's another Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes it is once again that time of the week when work ceases and the time for us to enjoy the fruits of our labors begins, it is another Big Ole Hairy Friday and the dawn of yet another relaxing weekend.

The only thing I have planned for the weekend is to go to the WVU-Georgetown basketball game Saturday evening at 7:00. Chris gave me his tickets for the game and I was planning on taking Diane, but her brother bought tickets and is taking her son, so she has no one to watch her daughter. A little bit of sadness on my part, but if anyone wants to go I have a (that is one) spare ticket.

I have tried to generate a human interest story in the Dominion Post. Bob Gill, someone who attempted a World Record Motorcycle jump in Preston County in 1974 in which he came up short and left him as paralyzed from the waist down is going to attempt another jump in Las Vegas later this year. I sent his contact information to the Dominion Post. So, if in the future you read a human interest story about some old daredevil, it was me who sent them the idea.

Rich Rodriguez has officially dropped his "Bombshell" that he and his agent were talking about. Rich, if you are reading this take my advice and write out the check today before this ends up costing you way more than four million. You're listening to an idiot for an agent and you have already screwed yourself in my opinion, you are going to get schooled.

Is it softball yet? I'm ready to get rid of these 10 degree temps and see it in the 80's anytime now.

Update on the 2008 Family Christmas fund.

Beginning Balance $112.00
Interest $0.01 (woo hoo we're rich)
Jean contribution $20.00

New Balance for 2008 $132.01Donations for the 2008 Christmas are appreciated and recommend.

Have a great weekend.

OK, I stole this from Mark

But this is a very effective screen cleaner.


SCREEN CLEANER

Yesterday

Yesterday afternoon, Jean and I took a trip to Clarksburg to work on a couple of Mick's Computers. He wanted some software installed on his laptop and their entire network was unable to connect to the internet.

I installed Business Plan Pro and Office for Mick, then addressed and repaired the connection problems for both their PC and the laptop.

They are up and running and up to speed now. I was treated to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants when we all took a trip to Ryans Steakhouse in Bridgeport.

On the trip back, I was listening to WVU beating Marshall 66-64. Both the WVU Men's won and the WVU women won 58-51 for the sweep.

I stopped by the bar for a few minutes to say hello to Terri.

Morgantown to Dulles

The Morgantown airport now no longer offers trips to Pittsburgh, and now are flying daily trips to Dulles International Airport in Washington DC.

This could be a special interest to many international Students coming to WVU, as they can now get a flight here from Dulles.

For me, it means my local airport now flies exclusively to an airport within 5 minutes of my office.

ROFLMAO

Monday Tidbits

* First off, I had a great weekend. It's been a while since I have had a weekend this good, despite the weather.

* Yesterday Diane and I ended up making it to the movie we missed Saturday Night, when we went and seen I am Legend with Will Smith. It's a good movie, but it was a little hard to follow at first, but like I said it was a good movie.

* Super Bowl XXXXII is set. It will be the undefeated New England Patriots trying to do what has never been done in the NFL before and finish the season with a 19-0 record. The Miami Dolphins in 1972 were 17-0, but that was before the NFL went to 16 game seasons as opposed to the old 14 game seasons. The Patriots will attempt to make history against the New York Giants, a team that they have already beaten 20-10 earlier this season.

* Heard an interesting tidbit this morning on the Eric and Kevin Show. Thye play a game called "Are you smarter than Eric" which is a series of head to head trivia questions delivered by a show guest named Ernie. Today there was a question about the Iran Hostage Situation years ago. Ernie asked a question like where were the hostages housed or something along those lines. Contest was over and Eric won, and one of those 52 Hostages from the State Department called and said Ernie was incorrect with his question and answer.
Funny thing is, the guy claimed to be Ernie's brother, so Kevin and Eric didn't know how respond not knowing if it was a prank. Well, turns out Ernie calls back in and it was his brother, he still works for the State Department and he was one of the 52 American Hostages. They talked a little about what it was like for Ernie and his family to go through what they did knowing his brother was a Hostage. Pretty interesting little tidbit and conversation.

* Today is Martin Luther King day and is a holiday for many, but not me.

* I did have a nice three day weekend even though my computer crashed last week.

Last Night

Last night I had a date with an old and dear friend. We had a chance to rekindle a friendship from years ago. I got to see a picture of myself from some years ago that I never saw before. The picture was actually of Me, Diane, Marian and Greg my old room mate at a dinner we had way back when I was a few pounds thinner and actually had hair.

The evening started out at Texas Roadhouse, but a 1 1/2 to 2 hour wait turned into a trip to Puglioni's for dinner. We had intentionally planned to go see I am Legend, but there were a few mixed signals and we misunderstood the show time. This was at Hollywood Theaters, so we tried to run the the mall and see we could catch a showing there and once again to no avail. What we did end up seeing was the Bucket List. It was an awesome movie, I loved it.

We had to alternate our plans on where we ate, what movie we were going to see and what theater we were going to be sitting in. Overall, it was a great evening with an old and dear friend.

Back up and running

Wow what a day, the computer for the most part is back up and running. Still have things to do to it, but it is operational.

Computer Fried

I went to the WVU basketball game tonight and came home and poured myself a glass of iced tea and sat down at the computer. The iced tea spilled hitting the front bottom of my computer. On my computer, that is where the hard drive is located. I think I fired my computer, I can't read Raid 0 on boot up. I'm screwed to say the least.

I have put knoppix in and it will not even recognize that hard drive. I don't know if I have fried my bios, or fried the hard drive. Either problem is major. If just the hard drive is fried, I'm going to be busy finding a Serial ATA hard drive and reinstalling EVERYTHING on my computer. If it is the bios, well I have to buy a new computer.

Not a good night.

Bored

I've been sitting around for the last week waiting for the client to decide how certain features are to be compiled and how to QAQC the databases. It's been a nice relaxing break, but I'm ready to stop being bored. Sheesh.

On the WVU front, Rich Fraud has finally broken his silence and made a statement. I guess having his friends and Mommy make statements for him were getting old. Of course he owes WVU $1,333,333.33 tomorrow, so you knew he was going to say something soon. Funny how Rich thinks WVU is a person and not an entity and he also refers to himself in third person in the article. Talk about someone who needs a touch of reality.

On a side note, the Hillbilly Gypsies will be playing at Nick and Terri's this weekend. It's Nick's birthday and my suggestion is if you plan on going, get there early.

The lost notes from Rich Rod's Computer

They have been recovered. Here they are:






I saw this and just HAD to repost it.

American Idol

I usually don't watch American Idol once the competition starts, but I love to watch when the auditions are taking place. This is where the fun is, when you see the William Hung's and people with, well even less singing talent than I do and that is making a statement.

There were a few good human interest stories last night, and we even got to see a soft side of Simon on a few of them. He needs to knock that crap off, people expect him to be a butthead.

It is on again tonight and I can't miss it. This and the finals are usually the only shows I watch, the finals to see who wins and the auditions because they are basically the most entertaining.

I'll be watching again tonight.

You never know what you are going to see on talent shows. You could see another Paul Potts or Bianca Ryan, people in a matter of seconds you know they were going to walk away with the competition. Of course these were different shows, but shows Simon created just as well.

Tuesdays Tidbits

* I am long overdue to do a tidbits, and after talking with Kim yesterday I thought that maybe it's time for a tidbits.

* As I mentioned this weekend, Trish will be going in to have her baby on the 25th of this month. It is going to be a girl, but I forgot to ask her if she had a name picked out.

* I went out this morning to get a morning paper and it is cold and snowing. Is it groundhogs day yet? Phil, can we work out some kind of a deal this year so softball season can get here a little sooner?

* Last week BOPARC put out it's summer schedule for the year, I have a copy of it and will post the under the stars schedule in the future as a reminder. Movies that will be shown this year include: Shrek the Third, Surf's Up, TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Nancy Drew, Unaccompanied Minors, Evan Almighty, Bee Movie, Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (which is currently playing in local theaters)and Mr. bean's Holiday. Should be a good season to take a blanket or a lawn chair to Hazel Ruby McQuain Park.

* Data has been slow the last few days, I have been waiting on a set of QAQC guidelines at work before I can do any quality control checks at work. I don't mind the break, but it makes the day drag on forever.

* I have been fortunate to come into contact with an old friend that to be honest I have thought about through the years. She was someone I considered a pretty good friend years ago and we just lost touch when our lives took different paths. I'm actually pretty excited about having a chance to talk with her.

* I see Mom is now an iPoding podcast listener. Kim loaned her one of hers and set it up for her to download and listen to a few podcasts that they have similar interests on and can talk about with each other.

* Speaking of Podcasting, my old neighbor who is teaching GIS at Southeastern Community College may be getting involved with the College and iPodU to do a Remote Sensing class on iTunes. I just may have to give that podcast a listen.



What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.-- Aristotle

It's a small world

It's nice to find long lost friends, even if it was some strange circumstance that made it happen.

I'm just in a good mood and decided to post that.

It's a back to work kind of Monday

Another week of work us upon us and the dull drums are apon us once again. Remembering the weekend and dreading the next four to five days and what we may have to deal with and come upon.

On the WVU coaching search front, Charlie Taaffe has announced he will stay as the Head Coach at Hamilton in the Candian Football League rather than accepting a job as the Offensive Coordinator at West Virginia University.

Steve Slaton has announced that he is deciding to forgo his Senior Year and enter the NFL draft this April. He will always be remembered as one of my favorites to ever wear the Blue and Gold. WVU will replace him with Noel Devine next season.

The Men's Basketball team defeated Syracuse 81-61 yesterday, ironically it was the first win against the Orange since Feb 17, 2001 when Gale Catlett was our head coach. Syracuse was a team John Beilein never beat.

Speaking of basketball, the Women's team ran their record to 12-3 with a 56-50 win against Big East rival Notre Dame.

Is it Softball yet?

Went out to dinner last night.

I was getting ready to go out and get something to eat last night and I started thinking that I hadn't spoken to Trish in a few months, so I decided to give her a call and invite her out for dinner. Like I said it has been a few months since I had talked to her and she is about due, so I thought I would call.

I took her out to Garfield's and we had a nice dinner and BS session. She is going to have a girl and she is going in on the 25th of this month and they are going to induce labor. She had some really neat 3d ultrasound images that look like the DR went into the womb and took a photograph. Amazing what the new technology is like today.

I tried calamari (squid) for the first time last night, it's not bad. Tasted like popcorn shrimp to tell you the truth.

It was a good catch up type of evening.

Doc Holiday Officially announced

Bill Stewart officially named Doc Holiday as the Associate Head Coach today at a teleconference at 11:00 this morning. He has reportedly signed a 5 year, $2 Million contract ($400,000 a Year). Surprisingly, this contract is about equal to Rich Rodriguez's first contract at WVU, as a head coach.

Bill Stewart is making about $1 Million less a year than Rich Rod was, but unlike his predecessor, he is about WE (meaning his assistants and taking care of them) than he is I (like Rich was, big pay raised for himself rather than his assistants). This staff is really starting to shape up as a first class staff. There will be two more hires for the staff plus and Strength and Conditioning Coach. Stewart is interviewing people in all levels, from the pro's to High Schools to find the best candidates for Offensive Line Coach and Offensive Coordinator. A couple names that have surfaced are Dave Johnson for Offensive Line Coach and Charlie Taaffe for Offensive Coordinator. There are other names being thrown around such as Bill Legg, Herb Hand and Chip Kelly. These are just the names that are being thrown around, nothing offered officially yet.

Official Hiring News

Ok, earlier today there were three official hires named for the WVU coaching staff.

Steve Dunlap was the first new coach named. It is believed he will be coaching the linebackers. He was the Defensive Coordinator in 1996 when WVU had the #1 ranked defense in the country.

Dave Lockwood was also named as an assistant coach. He played for Don Nehlen in the late 80's and was on Rich Fraudriguez's first staff in 2001.

Chris Beatty is the third coach officially named today. He is a young Running Back's coach from Northern Illinois who was a very successful High School coach in Virginia. This hire intrigues me considering that Bill Stewart gave Mike Tomlin his start. Something tell me this is a gem of a hire, one that will be a household name in a few years.

There is one other announcement that will take place at 11:00 tomorrow when Doc Holiday will officially be announced as the associate head coach. Doc has been the recruiting coordinator and associate head coach at the University of Florida. Up until last week, U of F were the defending National Champions and have the current Heisman trophy winner.

There will be a few more hires to come, no rumors at this time. We still need to name an Offensive Coordinator, an Offensive Line Coach and a Strength and Conditioning coach.

All three positions that need filled have solid candidates, but nothing confirmed yet. This staff may be stronger than the one that just left.

Happy Birthday Sandra Irene Bell

Today is January 11, and today is my Mother's birthday and I would like to extend to her a very Happy Birthday.

Happy Birthday Mom.

WVU coaching search update.

Bill Stewart said he would shock the nation with his hires, and it looks like he may just have done that so far. None of these are official until they clear background checks, so WVU will not make any official announcements until then.

Starting off will be the hiring of an Associate Head Coach. Doc Holiday has been hired as the associate Head Coach, a position he held with the former reining NCAA Champion Florida Gators. Florida also has the current Heisman Trophy winner. Doc will be coordinating recruiting and coaching the Wide Receivers. Doc is, was and always has been a very aggressive recruiter in the nations hotbed for recruits. Now, he's coming home.

Coming home to help Jeff Casteel with the defense and coaching the linebackers will be Steve Dunlap. When he was previously at WVU and coaching the defense, WVU had the #1 ranked defense in the country in 1996.

Coaching the Defensive backs and also returning home will be Dave Lockwood. Dave played at WVU in the late 80's and was an assistant coach here for one year in 2001 before leaving to go to Notre Dame.

A couple previous coaches will remain, Jeff Casteel and Bill Kirelawich were already on the staff and did not follow traitor Fraudriguez to Michigan.

There will be other announcements in the next few days, but these are the first confirmed but not officially announced hires. Stay tuned.

Mom's wireless internet

I went over yesterday and hooked up Mom's wireless internet and moved her computer station into the living room. Of course Window's Vista was not cooperating initially and caused me a few headaches. We eventually got it configured and left it as an open signal. There are only two others who can steal her signal, one being upstairs and the other being next door. I could have secured it, but it would have more problems down the road for me. Mom wanted it opened up also, that way there are two signals in the house and can be used in two locations.

I stopped down at the bar after that to drop off a few more print outs for Contracts Nick has to do for his work.

This morning I have data, but I have to transfer 1.2 Gigabytes of data to my local computer for the Mosiac to work on so I can do a proper QAQC check on a Major World City. This should be interesting once I get everything transfered. I will arguably have the worlds most complete and up to date datasets of a Major World City on my computer if I would add a previous set of data with it. If you know me you probably know the city, it's just best I don't name it on a BLOG.

It is Thursday and since I worked this past weekend, I'm looking forward to having a couple of days away from the computer.

Some new WVU coaching rumors.

I have been scanning the globe trying to find out any potential replacements for the WVU Football staff, and this is what I have come up with.

The Strength and Conditioning coach may be Marcus Kinney. Rumor has it he wants the job and has ties to the program.

There is a string rumor that we may have an associate head coach with that position being offered to Doc Holiday. He was one of the early favorites to be named the head coach, and there was a rumor he was one of the early favorites in the search and it was believed he may have even been offered the job initially. This could be big.

I have heard two names for the Offensive Coordinator's position, Herb Hand and Bill Legg are two names that keep popping up.

this coaching staff might shape up quite nicely, Stewart has already been given the "Go Get Them" from the administration.

A Great Fiesta Bowl Video

The kid who did this video is still in High School.

Monday again

Where did my weekend go? Oh, I forgot there wasn't one this week. It's thrown my schedule off a little, usually I do my laundry first thing on Monday morning while I'm setting up things to do at work, I was an hour into the day before I realized, "Oh, it's Monday".

Other than that today shouldn't be that eventful, I know the weather is going to be really nice today so maybe if I get a chance I'll head down to rails to trails. Softball is just a few months away and it's time to get ready.

Speaking of Softball, we will have an interim coach this season, our coach has indicated that Michigan is offering him a lot more money than we are to coach their team. I guess he is following the lead of John Beilein and Rich Fraudriguez. Kevin is going to have to do another parody song if he comes back this season. He's talking about retiring, but he has been going to the HIT center, so maybe we'll retain our Third Baseman (if his wife lets him play)

Oh well, back to work on another Monday, enjoy your workweek.

Weekend so far

I had to work yesterday and today to complete a project and provide data to our President by tomorrow. after working a good deal yesterday and wrapping it up with a few hours this morning, I delivered what they needed for his meeting with a client tomorrow. It's done and delivered.

I have managed to start filling up my iPod, even though I have a long way to go to actually fill it up. I have 671 songs, enough for 2 straight days of playback continuously without a repeat and I am still a long ways from halfway on capacity. I have used 3.1 GB and still have 4.2 GB to go. That is a lot of Music and a lot of computer time filling out metadata so that it can effectively use all of its features.

As many of you know, I am a poster at Blue and Gold News, and am actually one of the Top 10 all time posters for this site. Yesterday we were blessed (and it was confirmed) that Mr Ken Kendrick, the WVU alum who owns the Arizona Diamondbacks and has been bashing WVU the past month, decided to stop by and defend himself. Needless to say, he has enraged quite a few of the Mountaineer faithful and they have let him know it. We actually had a poster in the Athletic Department confirm it was Mr. Kendrick by calling him, and it was confirmed it it/was Ken Kendrick. The board has been entertaining to say the least.

The weather is starting to warm up a little bit, maybe I should start getting active again. Grocery shopping today I didn't buy any fall fatty type foods, I bought my spring fruits and vegetables. I've added quite a few pound and softball is right around the corner, so it is time to start getting ready.

Hope everyone has enjoyed their weekend.

So much for a short weekend.

I thought this was going to be a typical two day weekend, but it looks like this is going to be a no day weekend for me. Our President needs some totals on datasets that I have been putting together on Monday. However this is a time consuming process, so I have the pleasure of volunteering to work this weekend.

Oh well, I have had a couple back to back four day weekends and I am at home, so it's not that bad. I'll still be able to watch the Steelers play today and I'm not really doing anything that I wouldn't be doing anyways.

We'll deliver what they need, make a few extra dollars in the process and not really do anything different than I would have normally done. I should eb working both days this weekend, although how much I work is up to me.

Big Ole Hairy Friday

It is once again that time of the week that we all look forward to, where the work ceases and the entertainment begins. It is once again the weekend!!! Of course this will seem like a short weekend for me being that is only going to be two days.

I don't have too much planned for this weekend. The Pittsburgh Steelers will start their post season this weekend with a playoff game against Jacksonville. This worries me as the Steelers have not traditionally matched up well against the Jaguars. It will be the first playoff game for first year Steelers coach Mike Tomlin.

Ironically something I learned yesterday was that new WVU football coach Bill Stewart hired Mike Tomlin in his first coaching job while at VMI back in the mid 90's. Nice little tidbit of information.

I have been busy the past couple of days setting up music on my new iPod. I have had to clean up my collection and fill out quite a bit of metadata for the iPod to be able to use all of its capabilities. This has been done to take advantage of the coverflow feature of the new iPods. You look at the album covers and scroll through them until you find the album you are looking for. It's a nice little user friendly feature that makes it easy for even the worst of computer users. However like I said there is some prep work on my part to get it to work properly.

The good news for the weekend is that it is supposed to warm up a little.

Have a great weekend.

The Challenge for 2008

Last year I challenged quite a few BLOGGERS to a post challenge. Each one had a certain number of posts that they had to meet for the year. My Sister Kim openly accepted her challenge of 100 posts for the calender year 2007. She met and beat that challenge and asked me to raise the bar for 2008.

So, I was thinking in 2008 of where I could raise the bar to where she could still meet the challenge, but still have time to come up with quality content. It is hard sometimes coming up with new material all of the time. Last year I did in excess of 400 BLOG posts.

I see Kim is off to a solid start in 2008. I WAS going to double the challenge to 200 posts for 2008, but since her recent activity decided to raise the bar a little higher.

Kim, your challenge for 2008 is 225 Blog posts during the 2008 calender year. It is a number you can easily obtain, and if you meet it it will give you something to reflect on for 2008. This is an easy number to get, just be steady and don't get sidetracked.

You have your challenge.

Bill Stewart Named WVU Football Coach

West Virginia University ended its coaching search earlier today when interim coach Bill Stewart was officially offered the Job as West Virginia's next football coach.

Coach Stewart has earned the job and had the complete support of all the players. Bill's contract is for $4 Million over five years. Ironically Rich Fraudriguez's buyout that he has to pay the University ALSO equals $4 Million. So, thank you Rich Fraud for leaving and paying for our coach for the next five years.

Coach Stewart is from New Martinsville and a native West Virginia, only this one has a little integrity unlike the classless idiot who just left.

I fully support this decision to hire Bill Stewart. Good Luck Coach and Thank You.

Fiesta Bowl Champions

WOW, What a game. West Virginia who came into the game as an 8 point underdog against arguably one of the hottest teams in the country BEAT Oklahoma 48-28 to Capture the BCS Fiesta Bowl Championship.

Interim Coach Bill Stewart had this team ready to play and play they did. This is arguably the biggest Bowl Win in School History. Patrick White was named the games Most Valuable Player.

With all the speculation the past few weeks about who should be the next WVU Football Head Coach, I think we already have him in Bill Stewart.

Congrats on an 11-2 Season and a Fiesta Bowl Championship.

Do you believe this crap

Have I ever mentioned that I hate snow. I wake up this morning and go out to get a newspaper and what do I see? SNOW!!! ARRRGGGHHH!!!!!!

I'm ready for the spring, bring on Phil and let's get this season over with. Give me warm weather, shorts and sandals. Keep your snow on the ground, heavy winter clothes and boots, keep your treacherous roads and driving conditions. Give me a softball friendly type of environment.

What a way to start 2008.

Welcome to 2008.

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!!!!

We made it through 2007 and we have started a New Year, a year of new dreams and aspirations. A year to set forth new goals to accomplish and prove ourselves.

I don't make New Years resolutions, I am holding onto the one I made years ago to stop making them. I never seemed to carry them on for very long and they generally failed for me. What I did was started setting goals that I wanted to accomplish for the next 12 months. I seem to be able to do it when it's a goal to do something rather than a spur of the moment to stop doing something. This is just me, and my own personal experiences.

I have yet to set any goals for 2008 for myself, but I am starting to think of a few that I would like to accomplish.

I spent last night at home, I had a few invitations to go out, but just wanted to stay home this year. Too many intoxicated people on the roads and maybe I was just trying to be safe from their stupidity last night.

I did spend yesterday trying to make a decision and I almost bought an iPhone. However after I thought about it logically, I decided I wanted my Cell Phones Primary use to be a Cell Phone. If I wanted a new iPod, go buy one. I have an iPod Shuffle that is screwed up so that the computer no longer will recognize it. It was an older type that was also a jump drive, and not really compatible with most iPod products.

So, I bought myself a new 8 Gigabyte Green iPod Nano. I actually cleared out my old iTunes and started a new one for the new iPod. I'll keep the integrity of this music intact rather than rushing to add music like I did with the old one.

That is how I spent my New Years Eve. Actually when the clock struck 12:00, I was actually catching some Z's.

On a side note, I have seen at least two family members that have resolutions to stop smoking. From someone who has quit more than once and done it successfully, I'll help anyone who is trying to quit with education and my personal experiences as to what you and your body is going to go through. Good luck to those attempting to quit, it is the best choice you could ever make in your life. Cigarettes are a drain on your wallet, your health and your expectations for quality of life.

Have a very Happy, Prosperous, Healthy and memory filled 2008.

Goodbye 2007

This is one of my favorite posts of the year to do. It's a recap of the entire year based on what has been written in my BLOG.

JANUARY

* I issued a few challenges to people to become more active BLOGGERS.
* Apple first introduced the iPhone.
* Major changes at my Company, including shutting down the Frostburg facility.

FEBRUARY

* My Buddy Phil got drunk on the cheap liquor I sent him and got verschnockered so he could not see his shadow. A lot of good that did, it snowed more AFTER he didn't see his shadow.
* Moke graduated from AIT training in Mississippi.
* Amy was in a car accident with Ralphie. They were both fine but her car was pretty much a total loss.
* Brittany Spears chopped off ehr hair. Oh the Humanity.
* I had my forst Doctors visit in 14 years.

MARCH

* I had my first of Four Diabetes education classes.
* I gave into the trend that everyone else was doing and went and started a MySpace account. Everyone else was doing them, I figured I better get with it or get left behind.
* West Virginia University Basketball team won the NIT tournament.

APRIL

* John Beilein leaves to coach Michigan in Basketball and WVU replacesd him with WVU Alum Bob Huggins.
* Softball practice started for the year.
* Terri celebrated her 40th birthday.
* The Virginia tech shootings had taken place.
* I had a full eye exam and right after the exam I met someone who would touch my life.
* I started dating Amy.

MAY

* Softball season had started and was well underways. I started out in a personal slump for the year, but got red hot once the slump ended and the hot streak remained the rest of the season.
* I made my first ever visit to Sarris Chocolates in Canonsburg PA with Amy and Josie.
* Renee graduated from M-Tech.
* I went to my second Pittsburgh Pirates game in my life. Lifelong fan, only the second game with the first being Willie Stargell's last game.

JUNE

* Amy and I had split up. My local squirrels started to get treated very well as I was paying more attention to them and feeding them to take my mind off of other things.
* I took a trip to Kennywood, this was my first trip there in a number of years.
* I retired my Cavalier and bought an Isuzu Rodeo.
* I attended the Rosiak family 4th of July celebration for I think the 10th or so consecutive year.

JULY

* I attended Morgantown's 4th of July Celebration on Morgantown's Riverfront Park. It was arguably the best fireworks display Morgantown had ever put on.
* I took part of a better fireworks display with Kim and Robert at Ron's house. A number of us pitched in and all I can say is WOW. A memory that will last forever for me.
* Josh Judy was drafted by and signed with the Cleveland Indians.
* The Daily Kneads closed its doors.

AUGUST

* Barry Bonds hit his 756th all time Home Run passing Hank Aaron as baseballs all-time home run leader.
* I purchased the domain name nicknterri.com, although I have done little to nothing in developing it as of yet.

SEPTEMBER

* Kim had a surgery to check on her medical problems.
* I first checked officially on the availability of Klaer Lodge for our Christmas party.
* I had a business trip out of town. I took a trip to the home office in Sterling Virginia for a week.

OCTOBER

* WVU men's Soccer played and beat the #1 ranked team in the country.
* We spent Halloween at Jean's and had quite a few trick or treaters come through.

NOVEMBER

* I officially reserved Klaer Lodge for Christmas festivities on the year.
* I went with Pam and George to see one of my all-time favorite comedians. Gallagher came to Morgantown and I did manage to get a picture of myself and Pam with him.
* WVU Football was ranked #1 in the coaches poll for the first time in school history.

DECEMBER

* My 44th Birthday is a day that I am sick, #1 Ranked WVU losses the 100th backyard Brawl to Pitt (A team we were 28 point favorites to beat) and the start of one of the worst months in WVU history.
* Rich Rodriguez announced he would be the second WVU coach this year to go to Michigan.
* Daniel and kamey made it to Morgantown for a visit.
* It was a time of reconciliation and new dreams to begin as Christmas 2007 happened at Klaer Lodge. Years in dreams, months in planning and my dream came true.
* 404 Posts for 2007. What a year.

See you in 2008.

Next to last post for 2007

Wow has this year went by fast, this will be post #403 for the 2007 year and tomorrows Goodbye to 2007 post will be #404 and the final post of the year. The last two years the funnest post I did each year was the final post of the year where I took a while and reflected upon that year based solely on what had been authored in one of my Blog posts each month.

The first time I did this was a Goodbye 2005 post I did two years ago. It was the first time I had a calender year of BLOG entries to refer to and at the time it was one of the funnest BLOG posts I had done.

Enjoying what I did in 2006, Goodbye to 2006 had to cap off last year. It was nice to reflect on what had happened the previous twelve months again and was a post that I really looked forward to.

Tomorrow's BLOG will be me once again reflecting on this past year. A year when I found and lost love, where reconciliations were made and new hopes futures were born. A Year where I saw the WVU football team rise to #1 in the rankings for the first time, to watch everything crumble apart on my 44th birthday and beyond. It was a year where I challenged Kim to do 100 Blog Posts and she was stepped forward and not only accepted the goal, but Met the goal for the year.

Enjoy tomorrows reflection of 2007 and have a Happy New Year, we'll see you again in 2008.

Christmas 2008

Started an account today with the money raised and donated from December 24 of this year for next year.

$92.00 from tips
$20.00 from Kim and Robert

Account opens with $112.00 in it today, looking for fund raising ideas over the next 12 months. Anyone have any ideas?

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Of course this was/is a short week of work for me being only three days, but the good thing is I have another four day weekend coming up after today so that will be nice. A chance to actually relax and have some fun and enjoy myself.

The coaching search for WVU's next football coach is still ongoing. Butch Jones was interviewed for a second time yesterday for the position. Previous people to interview that are still in the running are Florida's Doc Holliday and Terry Bowden. Something tells me we will not know who our next coach will be until after the team returns from the bowl game next week. It's hard to speculate who will be named as the next coach at this point. Too many twists and turns so far in the search to do any accurate speculating.

Enjoy your weekend on this my last day of work for 2007.

Looked at the new iPhone

I took a good look at the iPhone yesterday now that CellOne has switched over to AT&T and being the exclusive carrier of the iPhone. It would require an initial $399 to purchase the iPhone, then I would lose about 250 minutes a month and my bill would go up an additional $25.00-$30.00 per month if I switched.

I have always been a frugal consumer, so I am starting to do my research to see if this is what I want. I know it would suit me perfectly, because it would be a state of the art computer on my hip to carry around. My question is can I justify the additional costs and do I need this phone. I know the next generation is going to be coming out later this year, and from Kim's advice I may just wait until the next generation is released.

However if you want an iPhone, they are now available in Morgantown.

Back 2 Work

It was a nice long four day weekend (actually it was too short), and now it's time to get back to the grindstone and start working again. The good part is that it is going to be a short week for me (Three days) and then another four day weekend will follow with two Holidays for the end of the year and the first.

Fun, Fun, Fun back to work.

My final Christmas gift for 2007

Christmas ever 2007

Last night months of planning for Christmas eve and a large group effort finally paid off. The Christmas eve clock finally struck zero hour and Christmas eve. Around 6:00 people started arriving one after another to fill up the lodge and enjoy in a festive feast.

What a feast it was, I lost track of everything that was there available to eat. People had one or two things specifically eyed up became full before they even managed to to get to what they had their eye on. It was a feat fit for the finest of kings and enough to feed a very large army. Everyone had a chance to bring breakfast home for this morning, I know I just finished off a Hot Sausage Hoagie that I didn't have room to put last night.

After the feast I think we had 23 people participate in the Chinese Gift exchange. many of which have never been involved with one and playing for the first time. I think the exchange itself was the excitement and provided much of the nights entertainment. There were a few people who had selected and only one gift was stolen. Once we started to get about half way through the entertainment started. Gifts were starting to be stolen and restolen and so on. From tool sets to digital picture frames on a keychain, everything started to become fair game. The final play of the night was made by Mary, who was in the #1 position and started and ended the gift exchange. I think that this went well and created a few memories for everyone. It's not what you got, it's about the ever lasting memories that you created obtaining it.

There were plenty of images taken last night, not only from my camera but Kim, Amy and a few other had their cameras going preserving a special moment in time. I have already uploaded all of my images to my server and the Christmas 2007 Album is uploaded and online. I have also uploaded the images to Kim's Flicker site. I'll let her manage how it's presented, I have uploaded the images for her. Kim and I have agreed to burn of CD of each others images so we can both share similar images on the both of these sites. Hopefully I can get copies of other photos that were taken and create one big collection.

For me, this Christmas was long over do. It was a time of reconciliation and a time to spend quality time with family. There were no TV's, Video games or any other forms of electronic entertainment. There were board games, but we really never had an opportunity to play them except for a little random trivia as we were stringing popcorn the night before in preparing TreeZilla. Everyone left fed and had leftovers in tow. There were magical memories captured in many different formats and there were irreplaceable memories created and preserved. There was interaction, appreciation, love and special memories created in the whole process.

I have to send out a Thank You to everyone who helped make Christmas Eve 2007 happen. I had a goal of creating a piece of time that we will all recall for years to come in our fondest of memories memories. I think we did it we just successfully created that memory. This was not your typical going through the motions what did I get type of Christmas that our society has grown accustomed to. I think the only thing that could have made this any more special was a little bit of snow on the ground, but I guess we will have to keep striving for perfection.

Merry Christmas to all and thank you for helping my dream come reality.

Good start last night

We took over the cabin last night and managed to get both fireplaces up and running and Gary brought a Live tree. 8' ceilings and a 13' tree, needless to say it had to be cut down a little.

Gary, Nick, Terri, Robert, Kim, Brittany, Moke and Ang were all present and a big help in helping getting this started last night. I think it is starting to turn out pretty well.

Today is the day

Today is the day we acquire Klaer Lodge for two days. It has been next to impossible to get three people together at one time to organize anything, however it looks like it is going to be a good time. As disorganized as the organization was, I think this is about to come together quite nice.

We take over th4e lodge at 2:00 today, that is when I will be there to check in and register.

I've told everyone to BYOB, but I've purchased some cases of soda, anything anyone else can bring will help.

If you have any games, chips, cards, radio anything to help entertain it will be much appreciated. I went out this morning and bought a board game called Urban Myth, I know Kim mentioned a small Texas Hold Em Tournament, (Kim bring your chips if you can) and I;m sure there will be other forms of entertainment.

There are no TV's, Computers, Game systems or anything like that, you'll have to depend on spending quality time with your family and interacting with them to entertain yourselves. Wow, what a concept, families actually sitting around the fireplace on Christmas eve telling stories and playing games with each other. Oh the humanity.

Please anyone attending, check your egos and attitude at the entrance of the park and let's make this a stress free, relaxing and enjoyable time with the family.

ROFL

Ouch

As if losing our football coach and a couple large supporters to the University wasn't bad enough, I just read something that makes this all minor.

I read This this morning and lost all faith in my alma mater. Unreal and this is beyond the worst thing that could happen to WVU. Academic Integrity of the University has now been brought into question with the actions of New President Mike Garrison and the current Governor.

If this is true, Joe Manchin needs to be impeached and Mike Garrison needs to be removed just so West Virginia University can save face. When the academic integrity of of the University is questioned... Wow, unbelievable.

Christmas is getting closer

Christmas is getting closer and closer. The Family Christmas site has been very helpful in organizing this years event.

I work tomorrow then I'm off for a four day weekend!!!!

Daniel and Kamey's vist

My nephew Daniel has been visiting from Kentucky for the past few days. A Link to the pictures I have taken.

WVU BOG Statement

BOG Chair Issues Statement

By WVU Release

Posted Dec 18, 2007


Stephen Goodwin, chairman of WVU’s Board of Governors, expressed his support for WVU’s administration in handling the coaching Tuesday. In addition, Goodwin issued the following statement through the University:


“WVU appreciates donors to its academic and athletic programs. The University and the Board listen to their suggestions, as we listen to students, alumni, faculty and staff. People who are successful in other areas of life often have important insights into how we operate, how we are perceived, and how we can improve the University.

"At the end of the day, the University is governed by its Board and its President, and the people they appoint to positions of responsibility. Making donations to a public university does not entitle anyone to dictate policy or personnel. The Board has a lot of confidence in how Ed Pastilong and Mike Garrison are handling this coaching change. They’ve taken a responsible approach to this throughout – and really offered Coach Rodriguez and the team a lot of support in a very difficult time for the team. We’re heard a lot of support from fans, from alumni, and from donors – large and small – about how the University is handling this.

WVU went to the ends of the earth to keep the coach here – and clearly, some of our major donors assisted the school in that effort.

*His salary was increased by 70%

*His assistants salaries were increased

*We built a $2 million academic center for the team

*We have started construction on a $6 million locker room renovation

There were some very minor issues that he raised with the administration – and people were working on them. I think you will agree that the things that are being talked about are pretty minor in comparison to what has been done already.

But he clearly was looking for excuse to leave—he looked last year, and again this year. When he went to visit another team, and then came back to campus with demands based on those minor issues – university officials simply told him they would continue to work the issues. He was asked to focus on the student athletes and the upcoming bowl game. There’s a long off-season coming up to work out those sorts of minor issues. Whoever comes in as coach will know that they can count on support from WVU on big issues and small issues.”

This could be huge.

Everyone knows Rich Fraud has resigned as WVU's coach. Last year John Beilein left and walla, seven time coach of the year Bob Huggins decides to come home.

Well.....it may be Deja Vu again to an extent.

Nick Saban's agent has contacted West Virginia University.

For thos of you who don;t know who he is, he won the National Championship at LSU a couple years ago, recruited all the guys playing for it this year, was the Miami Dolphins Head Coach last year before leaving to take the job at Alabama, the one Rich turned down.

This could be H U G E


Oh, and he's from Monongah

Got to love Kevin Connolly

We started softball practice last year when John Beilein announced he was leaving for Michigan and Kevin said he had something in store for the next morning.


He just topped it.


LISTEN

Woo Hoo

I spent all morning Christmas shopping. I am officially done and all the gifts are wrapped! Now I can start concentrating on other things for next weekend.

One week

We take over Klaer lodge one week from today at 2:00. Christmas is getting closer and closer, maybe this means I should start my Christmas shopping sometime soon.

Rich Rodrigeuz ordeal

He we go again, only this time it's Michigan instead of Alabama. Rich isn't going to leave, I say they will have to drag the man out of man kicking and screaming and against his will.

With that being said and considering the ink isn't even dry on his new contract yet, it's time to start dragging him out of town and showing him the door. I have no problem with his program or how he runs this team, but the fans and this University have bent over backwards to accommodate one of our own, it's time to call his bluff.

Big Ole Hairy Friday

You have to love it, weekend is once again upon us and work is done for the week. Time to relax and enjoy the fruits of our labor.

The good news is it finally did stop raining yesterday. I stopped down at the Bar last night, and everyone was talking about all of the roads that were closed down locally. I think the drought is officially over if we were in one.

This is the last day of finals for WVU for the Semester, so traffic around town will be a little easier to navigate around for the next few weeks.

You find the strangest things sometimes.

I was surfing the net earlier this morning and came across this article. It's an article posted in an Australian News Source of all places. I guess the internet makes this world a smaller and smaller place every day.

HERE is the same article in Forbes.

In case anyone doesn't recognize the name, it's Jane's partner.

Tidbits

* I talked to Jean this morning, her Mickey and Sheila were heading out to Sheila's family Christmas. They ALSO get a cabin, for Christmas time like we are going to do this year. It's down in the southern part of the state, so she'll be out of town a few days. Rich is still at home.

* They said Michael has a new deli in down at the Valley Mart. They are serving Pizza's and Subs, so I'll have to swing by one of these days and try it out.

* Rain Rain go away. Pam called me this morning and was kinda trapped between home and work. I guess Pedlar Run Road was flooded and no one could travel it and the road was flooded near the shack. There are flash flood watches in Morgantown today.

* While I am thinking about it, there is a big back porch at Klaer Lodge, some people may want to bring a lawn chair possibly.

* I am actually on a pace to do 400 BLOG posts for 2007. I just wanted to average one a day for 2007, I'm already well above that total. Maybe 400 is a doable number.

* In 2008 I should reach my 1,000th Blog post since I became a blogger. Now it's nice to look back on to see what I have had to say during the years. I am glad I have kept the integrity of this blogs content in tact.

* Daniel and Kamey are on again. It's been entertaining the past few weeks reading people's MySpace, there are others, but this one in a weird way has been entertaining.

* This world needs more Bloggers.

Mid week

Hey what do you know, it's hump day and my hump day is already over with. I see the Family site has been generating a few new members and a little bit of activity. Don't be shy, type something people.

Klaer Lodge Photo's

I took a trip up to Klaer Lodge today. I uploaded the pictures I have taken of Klaer Lodge. I tried to get quite a few pictures of the lodge, so it could possibly answer any questions anyone had.

I had cell Phone coverage up there, but it did drop a call from no service, so Cell Phone coverage may or may not be available.

The downstairs is heated by a wood burner and a Fireplace, while the upstairs is heated by Propane.

There are two large sleeping rooms upstairs, one has seven single beds and a double bed, the other has nine single beds and a double bed. If anyone plans on sleeping up there, you will need to bring a sleeping bag or what ever you plan on sleeping in and a pillow. There are nothing but bare beds upstairs.

Downstairs there is a fully operational bathroom with an additional closed in toilet for the handicapped if need be and a shower. If you are planning to shower there, this isn't the Hilton, so you will need to bring a towel and any toiletries you will need to use.

The kitchen has a large fridge and the dining room also has a fridge. I figure beverages can be kept in the one in the dining room. There is a stove, a microwave and a double sink in the kitchen.

We will need our own cookware and obviously plates, cups and silverware.

Going to do a walkthrough today

After work today, I am going to go to Klaer Lodge and do a walk through of the facility to try to get a feel for what we will have for Christmas. I am going to take my camera along with me and try to get a few pictures of both inside and outside of the facility.

I'll try posting a few pictures tonight once I get back and try to answer any questions we may be having. I would tell people to call me, but as I am typing this I am in a monthly company teleconference at work, so I won't be available until I actually leave for the lodge later this afternoon.

Rainy day

Is anyone other than me ready for 80 degrees and sunshine? It's a foggy/misty type day that can be summed up with just a simple blah. I guess that could be considered appropriate because it is in fact Monday.

I guess I should just get used to it and send another case of wine and some assorted nuts to Phil up in Puxatawny so I can get his rodent rear end vershchnokered and blinded in preparations for Groundhogs day. Nothing wrong with an early start.

Yesterday I made a memorial ornament for Grandma Hall, Grandpa Hall and Dad for the Christmas tree this year. I went over to Mom's and took her and Gerald a couple loaves of Bread from New day bakery (Old Daily Kneads) and with a little help from mom and her nice printer, we put these ornaments together and now have them ready to go for Christmas.

Starting to get a few people signed up for the Family Site that everyone will have administrative access to. I have changed the settings for right now to private, meaning anyone not a member can't see the content inside. Right now it's going to be used as a communication tool for the family, hopefully this works out nice and I can keep this thing up and running even after Christmas.

Starting to get a little organized,

We are going to be doing Christmas eve this year at Klaer Lodge, but there is still a lot of planning that needs to be done and getting anyone together is almost next to impossible.

I have set up a family specific website that will give us a lot of options to communicate if we need to. Everyone is an administrator, so feel free to play with it. If you have any trouble signing up, let me know. If you have not signed up yet, use your first name as the user name and select your own password. Make sure you use the e-mail address you check the most also, this is also going to be used as reference so we can all contact each other.

Big Ole Snowy Friday

I wish that this weather would just make up its mind. It snowed for a couple of days, then yesterday it was starting to warm up and melt everything. This morning the temps dropped again, snow started to fall, and travel became tricky again.

I'm ready for the weather to increase in temperature, it's the weekend and hopefully I'm not sick this weekend.

Slippery Roads

With a nice little dump of snow yesterday to go along with a sudden drop in temperature, it made travel all but impossible yesterday. Pam called me this morning and said it took her nearly 1 1/2 hours to get home from work yesterday.

I went to Wal-Mart yesterday afternoon and the road leading down into it has two tractor trailers all sideways and hung up. One going down the hill and the other trying to get up the hill.

Conditions were less than favorable to motorists trying to get anywhere around the city of Morgantown yesterday. I heard this morning that there is a truck hung up coming up the hill on Scott Ave, good thing I work at home.

YESSS!!!!!!!!

OK, I got the scoop from the source. The Daily Kneads has not reopened.....BUT, it was rented out by the former bakers and opened up on my birthday (Dec 1) and is now back in business as New Day Bakery.

At least something good happened on my birthday.

Have I ever mentioned

Yes I know, it is snowing out. The one element I hate more than any other, the one that makes travel very dangerous. It may be pretty, but I for one have never liked snow.

Give me the warm days of summer, not this colorless blanket of crap that is dropping all over the place.

Is it softball yet?

Kellie Pickler

Former American Idol Contestant Kellie Pickler just showed kme she may be the dumbest woman alive.

Happy Birthday Kim

I would like to wish my sister Kim a very Happy Birthday today.It seems like every yer she gets one year older than me, I used to be older than her but she passed me up in age in 1985.

Happy Birthday Kim.

It Figures

This weekend was one of great expectation for me. One that you could not have scripted to be any better. Saturday was my birthday, and my Alma Mater was ranked #1 for the first time in school history playing in the 100th backyard brawl and a shot at the National Championship. It was going to be one of the happiest days of my life.

Let's see, I had a very bad case of the flu all weekend, so I spent the whole weekend sick. The WVU Women's Soccer Team was playing in the Elite 8 and ready to advance to the Final 4, but lost to USC. The Men's soccer team lost to Wake Forest eliminating them from the tournament and the WVU football team came to the realization that the Gold on Gold Uniforms is like our Kryptonite. We lost a game to a team we that we were 28 point favorites against.

Last night the WVU Men's Football team received an official bid the the Fiesta Bowl. Only problem is it is against Oklahoma, a team that we just don't match up well against.

To top off a horrible weekend for me, it's Snowing right now.