Steelers Game Today

Today is the payoff day, the day we reap the benefits of winning the 2008 KDKA McDonald's Pittsburgh Steelers trivia Challenge.

Our round one challenge

Our Semi-Final Round

CHAMPIONS!!!!


Today, we're on the field pre-game and enjoying the game. I'm taking my Camera, my Terrible Towel, my Ben Roethlisberger AJersy and My sweetheart in her Willie Parker Jersy and heading to Heinze Field with Chris and Jenny.

Plenty to do Around Morgantown Today

This is definitely a Mountaineer sports kind of day, although Michelle and I will be running around getting things done so we can go to the Steelers game tomorrow.

At 1:00 the WVU Basketball Team will be Taking on Mountain State University in basketball. This will only be an exhibition game, it should be a good time for all.

At 7:00 the WVU Men's Football team will be taking on the University of Cincinnati in Football.

Hopefully it will be a great day and night to be a Mountaineer.

It's a Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes it is ONCE again that time when we cease our labors for the week and take a little time out to enjoy the fruits of our labors. It is yet once again another Big Ole Hairy Friday and the start of yet another weekend.

Yesterday I went out to lunch with an old friend of mine that is also working for SAIC, just in another part of the plant. I went to lunch with Chris Christopher at Panera Bread, this was the first time I had ever been to Panera's. It was nice to sit down and BS with someone I had lost touch with through the years. Chris owns and pilots a local Hot Air Balloon. Maybe one day I can lend him and hand and chase him down.

Big weekend both here and for me. WVU football team will be taking on Cincinnati Saturday Evening and the basketball team will play an exhibition game Saturday also.

For me Michelle, Chris Ostein and his wife Jenny will be traveling to Pittsburgh Sunday and standing on the sidelines for the pregame of the Steelers v Colts matchup. I told Michelle I will now have watched both Eli and Peyton Manning play. Peyton this Sunday and I saw Eli light up WVU in the Music City Bowl for Don Nehlen's last game as WVU's coach.

Hope your weekend is fun filled and prosperous.

How about that election

Anyone watch the 2008 Presidential Election results? I was watching CNN as they had a countdown clock on for the polls in California as they closed at 11:00 EST. At 11:00 CNN called Barack Obama the winner.

I went to bed early and woke up to see all the festivities, I wanted to see the announcement and I wanted to hear the historic speech of our nations first African American President.

I'm quite pleased with the election results, myself. I look forward to inauguration day.

Over the Hump

I hope everyone had a good day yesterday, it's nice to have the election now behind us and we can stop listening to the campaigning for a couple years at least.

I had a great day at work yesterday, designed a 3D model that drew praise was the talk of a presentation this morning at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in DC. Worked over Monday night to complete the model and received some very positive feedback, one co worker even commented that this was the first time he had ever heard anything either good or bad.

I found out today, that next Tuesday is not a SAIC holiday, but I get it because I work at a client site and we use their holiday schedule. Woo Hoo!!!

I'll be attending my first Steelers game this Sunday. This is the game that was selected for us to attend for winning the KDKA Steelers Trivia Challenge this past fall (actually it was in June). I'll be on the field prior to the game with field passes, so this looks to be a memorable day for me and Michelle.

Have a great hump day!!!!

Election Day

It's that one time that we reach every four years, the one day when we as Americans decide WHO will be our nations leader(s) for the next four years.

My choice was made long ago, and has done nothing but grown stronger as I have watched attack after attack on him, his character, his faith and probably even what his favorite brand of Oreo is.

Barack Obama has my full support and has my vote for the 2008 Presidential Election. I have done my research and he is the better of the two candidates we have to choose from. This is NOT a slam against John McCain, I feel he too would make not only a good but a great President. I have full faith in both candidates, and feel the current bonehead has set up the next President who ever it may be to be a historically good one.

I feel after listening to the debates, watching this campaign quite closely for about 18 months and doing a good bit of extensive research on each candidate, that Barack Obama is the man best suited to run our country.

Where ever you are, make sure you do your patriotic duty and vote. If you are not registered, ask yourself why you have surrendered the biggest voice you have and register for the next election.

A realxing day before...

yesterday was a nice and relaxing day, started out going shopping and then Michelle and I ventured on a fun little journey to Valley Falls State Park between Fairmont and Grafton.

I had been there once before, but that was years ago when I drove for Mister Bee's and just went exploring more than anything else. So this was my second time here, but first time actually getting out of the vehicle and enjoyed the wonderful landscape.

For those of you without a GPS and just looking for an excuse to drive somewhere, there is another site connected to geocaching called Waymarking. A nice little excuse to visit sites that may have some kind of historical significance. Waymarks can generally just be driven up to, you don;t have to trample out in the woods looking for something someone has hidden.

Last night when I dropped Michelle off, she said she had a very important message for everyone......YO!!! She also hates the fact that we were walking through Wal-Mart yesterday and they were playing Christmas Music already. Were 24 days away from Thanksgiving and they are playing Christmas music....loudly.

Oh well, Hi Ho Hi Ho it's off to work I go....

Have a great day.

A good day for a multi cache

Yesterday Michelle and I called Michael and took both Haley and Chad over to the place we are going to start renting from Michael after the first of the year. I think they both liked it as well as Michelle and I.

After that, Michelle and I thought we would try to do a another Multi Cache, which is by definition:

A multi-cache ("multiple") involves two or more locations, the final location being a physical container. There are many variations, but most multi-caches have a hint to find the second cache, and the second cache has hints to the third, and so on. An offset cache (where you go to a location and get hints to the actual cache) is considered a multi-cache.

We decided to try one called Let's Go Mountaineers that is around Morgantown and has you going to multiple WVU sporting sites both past and present to obtain clues as to the whereabouts of the final destination Cache.

It was a lot of fun and we had a great time. It gave us the opportunity to even see a few things that have been placed since I have graduated from WVU such as the old Mountaineer Field Memorial. I stood at about the spot I was at selling Hot Dogs in 1978 when Tommy Pridemore picked off a pass at the end of the end zone and ran it back 108 yards for a touchdown. I was just a few feet, literally, from him when he intercepted the ball. Talk about a great view.

It was a fun day.

Halloween Night

Once again this year we all congregated to Jean's for the traditional Trick or Treat festivities that take place every year. The evening started off with me and Michelle picking up Trish and Layla and going over to Jeans where there was a feast of Little Caesars Pizza as well as a nice assortment of soda products, potato chips and Doritos. We arrived a little after 5:00 and everyone was already there waiting on us.

Michelle has never had anyone show up for halloween (I don't think I have either since I lived at Barrington North) so she was quite excited about seeing all of the ghosts, goblins, batmen, spidermen, Mario's and all the other costumes on the night and seeing the looks on many kids faces as they would come to the porch in search of candied treats.

We were prepared for whatever amount of kids managed to show up to say the least. Everyone pitched in and brought numerous bags of candied treats to give out to the ghosts and goblins in exchange for not tricking us.

The Mohawk Bowl was also being played this night, so that took a little away from the normal crowd and appeared to bring an estimated smaller crowd this year of roughly 300. No real way to count as the candy bars were already opened and put into a bowl without a count on the numbers, but there was plenty of candy left at the end of the night (that might be due to the over abundance of the supply of it this year rather than lack of demand).

It started at 6:00 and lasted until 8:00. It was a great evening. I have put all the pictures form the nights festivities on my site in THIS album.

It's a Big Bad SCARY FRIDAY

Bwa ha ha ha ha ha It's that time of the year when the ghosts and goblins come out from hiding and take time out to seek and capture the candied treasures in exchange for allowing us to have peace for the next year.

Tonight Michelle, Trish and Layla will venture to jean's to help her protect her home front from the treacherous ghouls and goblins that will escape and enter upon us. East Gate Manor must have some kind of a connection to the evil underworld as it seems to release many hundreds of those seeking those scrumptious candied treats.

BTW, it's also Friday so you can take some time out and spend with the loved ones.


Happy Halloween.

Better come up with some content

Would you believe that I got crap from my blog yesterday from Michelle. She said it was a cheap way to get a blog, but understood well enough that I had a case of writers block. So I better do a heck of a lot better today than I did yesterday.

Speaking of Yesterday, Michelle and I enjoyed a free dinner courtesy of Chic-Fil-A. We went there for lunch Saturday and got a survey questionnaire, if we called the number we would be given an access code. If we would bring that questionnaire back and our receipt from Saturday, we would get everything on the receipt for free. We did and were treated to a couple free dinners from Chic-Fil-A. A heck of deal if you ask me.

Sitting at dinner Michelle and I realized we had a mutual friend and a current and ex co-worker that we both know. Hayley is friends with a Melanie form the NRAC's daughter and a worker from SAIC's daughter is also friends with her. Small world.

I am getting a nice self taught education on KML's. It's some pretty complex code at times with multiple variables, but it is all making perfect sense to me now. Not that I will ever have to write the code (we export the code), but I can look at the code and edit it to where we may want it that may be beyond the capabilities of the software we use. I'm really enjoying this, it's challenging and rewarding.

We're on the downhill side to the weekend now.

Wasssup 2008

Is it Friday yet?

Yeah right, we are not even at hump day yet and I'm thinking about the weekend already.

A little note for everyone, that this weekend is the end of daylight savings time. We will gain an hours sleep this weekend as we leap back and turn the clocks back one hour early Sunday morning. It's even dark when I leave for work at 7:10.

I haven't had too much of an opportunity to talk to anyone and catch up on what's been going on in everyone's lives as of late, but I will do my best to rectify that this weekend is at all possible. Maybe I can do a tidbits and do a little information on everyone.

Don't forget the election is one week from today.

Back to it

Yes I know, the time to enjoy the fruits of our labors have once again come to pass and now entered the memory portion of our lives, it's time to go back to the fruits of our labors for another workweek.

Yesterday Michelle, Hayley and I went to her Sister Chris's for the Steelers v Giants fiasco. It was a tough 14-21 setback for the Black and Gold. The Steelers dropped a hard fought game to a team that just happens to be the defending Super Bowl Champions. The loss drops the Steelers record to 5-2, so things aren't that bad.

WVU is once again on the edge of breaking into the top 25 again as they are now 26th in the AP and 29th in the USAToday polls. A win this Saturday at UCONN could propel the Mountaineers back into the rankings.

Hi Ho Hi Ho....

Our Saturday

With absolutely no game plan in the works for yesterday, Michelle and I decided to take a trip to Pittsburgh. She had never been to Century III Mall so I decided to take her up and show it to her.

We did manage to stop and look around Value City Furniture
before we made it to Century III. We will be in the market in the near future to start our life together. We have stopped a few times looking at furniture, but I think we have now found a great store with a good product and the best prices.

Good news, Steve and Barry's may have went bankrupt and closing over 100 of their stores including the one here in Morgantown, however the one in Century III Mall is NOT one of them and will not close.

Outside of Century III we stopped an an outdoors store called Gander Mountain, a store that targeted the outdoors men and hunters and fishermen.

Yesterday evening we headed back and you know what we saw on Route 51? Primanti Bros. This was my fifth Primanti Bros I have been to and next month I will make the one at Heinz Field my sixth.

Good Morning

Good Morning my faithful readers. I hope your Friday was good and pleasurable, if you were not recovering from the night before.

I see both the great Morgantown High Mohigans and the satan worshipping evil UHS Hawks both pitched respective shutouts last night setting up a monstrous battle that will take place this coming Friday night. However I will be with Michelle handing out candy at East Gate.

Speaking of handing out candy on Halloween, East Gate by my calculations, this spatial location has the best CPM (Candy Per Minute) ration in he Morgantown area. Last year we had an estimated 350 Trick or Treaters (roughly one every 20 seconds for two hours). Two years ago we had an estimated 400 Trick or Treaters or roughly about one every 209 seconds again, but a little more dense. Three years ago we also had roughly 400 of the little ghosts and goblins stop by. This weekend looks to once again be promising.

Have a great day, I'm going to try to.

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes it is once again that time of the week when we cease the labors for the week and take time out to enjoy the fruits of our labors. It is once again the dawn of yet another weekend.

How about that game last night. West Virginia and Auburn both finished in the Top 10 last year and both were pre-season top 10 and WVU fell behind early 17-3, but managed a 34-17 win. It was a GREAT night to be a Mountaineer.

Not too much scheduled for Michelle and myself this weekend, I think we are going to take it easy and have a relaxing weekend rather than running around everywhere. Never know, maybe a local geocache or two might be in the plans sometime this weekend.

Last night Gary called me, I advised him to install Utorrent to find what he was looking for. Torrents are a great way to find what you are looking for, especially with sites like Torrent Reactor and Torrents out there.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Quick Blog

I forgot to write my blog when I usually do so I am a little crunched to write one this morning before heading off to work.

The job is going great, many challenges and chances to grow my interest in my profession and get paid well to do it. Yesterday I was concentrating on wring KML's and KMZ's in ArcInfo. The illustrations we are working on will have a pretty exclusive audience in a couple weeks.

So, the new job is great, it's challenging and is opening me up to new things.

Midweek

Hey we are getting closer to the weekend, but we are only half way there, still a few days to go.

WVU will be hosting Auburn tomorrow night at the Stadium, we both started out this season as pre-season top 10 teams, but both teams have had their share of struggles this season and neither of us is currently ranked in the top 25.

Not too much else to say today.
Enjoy:

Brrrrrr

It has been a little on the chilly side the last couple of days and evenings. I actually fired my heater up last night for a while because it was getting a little cold.

I went into the office yesterday and they did not have the boiler fired up for the season yet, needless to say it was sub 50 degrees in there all day. Hopefully it will be a little better today.

Back to work

OK, then fun is over with and it's time to put the nose back to the grindstone and get back to that little thing we like to call work.

I had a great weekend with Michelle, like that's a surprise, yesterday we basically just relaxed and watched the Steelers put it to the now 0-7 Sissynatti Bungholes 38-10.

I await this weeks challenges with eagerness and anticipation.

A couple caches

yesterday was a great day, we managed to fit in a couple caches on our way to watch Michelle's nephew play football yesterday. One was a "Virtual Cache", you just have to go to a spot and know the answer to the question or do what the cache owner requests.

The one we did was quite simple and easy to find.

Not sure what today has in store for us, but you can almost bet the that we will watch the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the hell out of the 0-6 Sissynatti Bungholes today.

Hey, did you hear that Michigan lost again yesterday? =) For that $2.5 Million plus the other $2.5 Million they paid WVU on Rich's behalf because of the settlement (Rich still owes another $1.5 Million) what Michigan has got is a team that went from 5-2 at this point last year with a coach it was paying around $1.2 Million to to a 2-5 record with a coach they have sunk $5 Million in this year. How did the John Beilein thing work out for them?

Have a good day.

An early morning funny

I thought you may enjoy this:

Start of the day

I've had a good start to the day so far, I got up around 4:30 and surfed the net for a while and checked my e-mail. I see both Morgantown and University High won their games last night.

About 6:00 Michelle got up as I was watching a youtube video and we crawled back into bed and I said those magic words..."You know what I want to do"? Of course you dirty minded individuals need to get your minds out of the gutters as I was referring to her and I hitting rails to trails for a nice brisk walk this morning.

We started out at Marilla Park and walked the trails to where Listravia Avenue crosses the creek (Behind Sheetz in Sabraton) and back again. I can say we both feel great and are ready for the days adventures. Michelle is making me Turkey Bacon and an Egg White Omelet with green peppers, onions and mushrooms for breakfast. Yuuuummm.

Today we will venture north in search of a geocache or two on our way to Burgettstown to watch her nephew continue his tract to the NFL Hall of Fame and watch him play. He's only 7 or 8, but he's got a good start. I think He'll be a Steeler before it's all over with.

Have a great day, I will.

I'm going to watch You don't mess with the Zohan this morning, I fell asleep last night watching it.

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes it is once again that time of the week when we cease our labors for the week and take time out to enjoy the fruits of our labors. It is once again the start of yet another weekend!!!!

It's been a busy, brain frying week for me so far, trying to quickly learn so many Federal Procedures and my own companies policies all at the same time. Top Secret documents, Federal Facilities, potential major hazards, we have them all and I need to be informed and prepared for all such things.

The Mountaineers are off this weekend in preparation for next Thursday nights game against Auburn.

Michelle and I will probably running to PA to watch her nephew play football tomorrow.

Have a great weekend.

Happy Birthday Brittany Dae Cummings

Wow, has it been 19 whole years since I was sitting in the hospital waiting room watching Who's the Boss and they wheeled that cute little girl out?

Has it been 18 years? Yes it has and I would like to take this opportunity to wish Brittany a very Happy 18th Birthday today.

Happy Birthday Brittany Dae Cummings.

I think I'm really going to like SAIC

Very nice set up and even have a full nautilus gym right beside my office. Lot's of security getting into the place and into my office, but I think I have found a company I can grow with.

I made the right choice, that's for sure. All kinds of amenities that I didn't know about before such as discounts out the wazoo. I guess when you have a company of 45,000 people you can get a little buying power and discounts for your employees.

A day of firsts

Just like yesterday being my last day at my old job, today is my first day at my new job. I am now officially an employee for SAIC here in Morgantown at the DOE NETL here in Morgantown.

I'm excited to look for the new challenges that await me and the new contacts that I will be making in the next few days.

This really is a great opportunity for me, both career wise and financial wise and for that I am very grateful. It all started on a day with me playing paintball this summer with someone I graduated with and ended up being offered a great job.

Here's to the start of something great.

One Last Day

Today is my last day with IMC, a company I started working for after I was laid off from Infotech this past spring.

It's been a fun and educational six months for me, and I will miss working with some of the best co-workers that I have professionally worked with. It is a company on the rise and growth is in the plans for my department, I wish all of my soon to be former coworkers the best and hope they make IMC very prosperous.

It will be a sad day.

We win again

The Mountaineers managed to hold on and Noel Devine broke a 92 yard TD run late in the game to secure a 17-6 WVU over the Syracuse Orangemen. The offense looked pretty bad and could not seem to get anything going outside of what Devine was doing.

Next up for the Mountaineers will be a Thursday night game after a week of against the Auburn Tigers. Another pre-season top 10 team who has had their struggles this season.

Anyone see how "Product Rodrigeuz" is doing for Michigan? Michigan has never lost to a MAC school, much less one with a losing record....until NOW. Couldn't happen to a better bunch of people.

Mountaineer Madness

Michelle and I went to Mountaineer Madness last night and had a great time, it was even bigger than last years event.

There was a laser Light show, a two ball competition, a slam dunk competition, scrimmages by both the Mens and Women's teams and just a great time to be had by all.

Both teams had the carpet rolled out and introduced everyone including the new Freshmen and both Mike Carey and Bob Huggins spoke to the very enthusiastic and excited crowd.

The event kicked off with a half hour autograph session on the floor, when it started everyone made it feel like a rock star type of event and with pens and items in had, quickly filled the floor and lined up for their favorite players or coaches autograph.

Football game today.

It's a Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes it is once again that time of the week that we all look forward to, the time when we cease our labors of the week and just take a little time out to enjoy the fruits of our labors. It is once again the dawn of yet another weekend!

This will be an event filled weekend for both Michelle and I. Later tonight we are going to start off the evening by first attending the Homecoming (I can spell it right) parade on High street. This is Homecoming weekend for West Virginia University.

Later on it's on to Mountaineer Madness at the WVU Coliseum when the WVU basketball officially kicks off it's 2008-9 campaign with their first practice of the season. We will be debuting the new basketball scoreboard, so needless to say Chris has been quite the busy person this week creating content for the new basketball scoreboard plus the football scoreboard.

Saturday will be an exciting day of tailgating, football and hopefully a little relaxation later that evening with Michelle.

Steelers are off this week, so it's a day for me and Michelle.

Hope you have a great weekend.

The word is starting to get around.

Over the last few years I have been planning and plotting behind the scenes to make something happen. Something that I could do to leave my mark on this generation and be remembered forever as a great person, someone who beat the odds and did it.

The movement has started, and it is now making the news.

VIDEO

Keep your fingers crossed and wish me luck.

Back to the grindstone

After a four day flu filled weekend from work, it will be back to work for me tomorrow so I can finally finish up a few things and get ready to move on to my next challenge at a new company.

I'm sorry, I have been a little out of the mix and slightly incoherent over the past few days, Michelle was also smitten by the flu bug and was talking about returning to work a few hours last night or today.

A special thanks to her son Chad for helping me out by picking her up Sunday Night and helping her out by taking Haley to school yesterday.

There is some bad news to report, condolences go out to Rich (Snider), he has lost his father. They are are flying the body back for a viewing and burial in Morgantown on Friday. The viewing will be late Friday morning with the burial Friday afternoon. My heartfelt sympathies go out to Rich, Rick and Mark.

Feeling much better today

I have been down since Saturday night when something hit me all of a sudden, and I can't emphasize all of a sudden enough to make anyone but Michelle understand. I walked out the door and took about 5 steps and it hit me like a ton of bricks.

Sunday I basically slept all day as Michelle was a real trooper and tried to take care of me. It's a great feeling to know that you are that loved and someone will stick by your side, but she has also paid the price. She went home from work yesterday afternoon and has been sick since. She's off today (as am I) recovering, all you need is a lot of rest and a short and quick path to the restroom.

I am feeling pretty good today and should return to work tomorrow in what is my final week (except for next Monday) at IMC. I'll be wrapping things up and making the transition from one company to another company over the next week.

Good news, My Jury Duty is now officially over with. Since this is our last week and there is nothing scheduled this week, the judge has dismissed the entire jury our commitment is considered fulfilled.

Just going to relax today and watch a movie or two and surf the internet. I'm going to let Michelle sleep for a while (she's at her home), rest and time is the cure to this nasty flu bug.

Feeling a little better

Wow was I sick yesterday and Saturday night. I'm feeling a little better now, but I am taking the day off and just resting one more day. Still sweating and not feeling 100%, but I feel a lot better than I have since Saturday evening.

Under the weather

Not much of a BLOG entry today, I'm under the weather and would not be very creative.

Check back tomorrow.

It's gameday

Lets get ready to suite them up and play another 60 minutes of football. Today the WVU Mountaineers will be taking on the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers for out first Big East conference game of the season.

Michelle and I will be there today for the noon kickoff.

It's a Big Ole Hairy Friday

yes, it is once again that time of the week when we take a break and cease the labors of the week and take time out and enjoy the fruits of our labors for a couple of days, it is the dawn of yet another weekend!!!

Well tonight Michelle and I are going to venture over to the new University High School and watch the Hawks put it on whoever they are playing. This will be the second game, (mine and Michelle's first) in the new stadium. I'm a little curious and really want to see the new venue.

I think Marshall has offered Michelle a couple more tickets to this weekends WVU football home game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. We went together last week, so this will be the second straight week that we have been given the opportunity for tickets. Michelle has a great boss =)

No more jury duty this week and don't have to call in again until Monday night. Four and 1/5 weeks down and only had to go in one day. There was even a plea bargain on that day, and next week will be the end of my term on jury duty.

I stopped in yesterday after work to say hello to Terri, but she was up at Amy's spending time with her new Grandson.

Hope everyone has had a great week and ready for a weekend, I know I am.

The love of my life

Yesterday Michelle came over after work and we went down and had a Milano's Pizza (Old Pizzeria Italia). I asked her, what should I blog about and she said to blog about how much I love her.

Well, I think everyone already knows, this girl is not only my best friend, she is the love of my life. Someone I can cut up with and am excited to do new things with each time we do something new. She has made me want to be a better person, she has let me drag her out in the woods geocaching with me, a friend to confide with and I have her absolute support in everything I do.

If you find that, you've found something. I am very lucky to have finally found the love of my life.

On a side note, Happy Birthday Chris Ostein.

Oh what a great picture I found.

This is a picture of ESPN analyst Lee Corso going nuts when getting his rear end handed to him in a game in 1974 in Indiana where West Virginia beat him 24-0.

Corso is best remembered by Mountaineer fans in 1993 when he lobbied for the other #2 team in the Country, Florida State (each of us was ranked #2 in separate polls), to have a chance to play Nebraska for the 1993 national Championship. Corso was the talking head from ESPN that agitated the Mountaineer faithful and ended us up in the Sugar Bowl against Florida (we can forget that game).

I just remember my dad telling me about the game with the picture above, I was quite surprised when I saw it and just wanted to share with everyone.

Couldn't avoid it forever

2nd day of my fourth week and I have finally been called in to serve on a Jury. I have to report today at 9:00 for Jury Duty.

They are calling 28 of us in today for Jury Duty, hopefully I don't get picked for any trials that would extend my time anything further than what I was called to serve because of my job situation. I'm starting with SAIC once my Jury Duty has been fulfilled.

Back to the grindstone

Weekend is over and it was a great one. We stayed in and took lazy days on Friday and Sunday after a long day Saturday with some Mountaineer Football.

I managed to update my iPhone calender to try to incorporate everyone's birthday into it and set myself up reminders. I had them all on my old phone, but they were saved to the phone rather than the card. That phone didn't really have the sync options that the iPhone has, now I have everything backed up. I should be good to go as far as my calender.

Three weeks of Jury Duty down, two weeks to go and I have not had to report as of yet. There was a trial last week, but I managed to avoid being one of the fifteen jurors that were called in to serve during that trial.

IMC is going to start a company wide change in the work week, starting when I leave. They are going to do one week five eight hour shifts, one week four ten hour shifts and alternate them so you have every other Friday off. This starts at the end of my time with IMC.

Have a great day.

The Game Yesterday

Michelle and I had a great time at the game yesterday, I did have the pleasure of running into an old online friend that I have never met in person before, Frank Souk aka Mustang 64 from the Blue and Gold News. Ironically it is the largest WVU sports fan site with the largest number of readership. The site is very busy and the readers announce awards to certain posters based on poster votes, the most distinguished award is to be a member of the Hall of Fame. This honor was bestowed to me earlier this year when I became the sixth member (out of roughly 30,000 posters) to be inducted into the Blue and Gold News Hall of Fame. Frank was the man who presented me. This was the first time we had ever met.

Michelle and I were invited to a tailgate with a lot of her coworkers at BFS in the Blue Lot. Great group of people and I felt more than welcomed and enjoyed myself at the tailgate. They are in the Blue Lot close to the gate, so they were pulling people in walking to the game to invite them to the tailgate.

One of which was Mark Patton (the tall guy in the middle), who was the leading scorer and leading rebounder on the Marshall team that beat a highly ranked John Beilein led team. He also had a role in the movie
"We Are Marshall" . I forget the name of his character in the movie, but he was the basketball player who joined the team in the movie.

Michelle and Hayley, her bosses daughter wanted to get a picture of them and mark standing together, I of course had the iPhone in hand and was ready to oblige their request.

On to the game, we had GREAT seats on the 50 Yard Line, 11 rows back on the Press Box side. They were courtesy of Marshall, her boss and they were very much appreciated. There was a nice little surprise to see Owen Schmidt on the sidelines, I guess the Seattle Seahawks are off this week. The game, well we finally got back on track to our winning ways with a 27-3 win against the Thundering Herd.

What a great day.

It's a football Saturday

First off, I was in a car wreck yesterday on our way to work. I was in the back seat and we got into a wreck. Chad was not at fault and we are all fine.

Today my baby has gotten us a couple 50 yard line tickets to the Friends of Coal Bowl at Milan Puskar Stadium. This will be the first WVU football game that we have attended together, so this will be a special day.

Hopefully Bill Stewart and the guys will kick the living dog snot out of the Blundering Turds.

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes it is once again that time of the week when the labors cease for the week and we sit back and take time out to enjoy the fruits of our labors, it is once again the dawn of yet another WEEKEND!!!!!!

Last night as you can tell, Michelle and I (she says Hi to everyone) took a trip up to Preston County to enjoy the Buckwheat Festival and chow down on some good ole home made Preston County buckwheat cakes. This was the first time Michelle has ever had a chance to dine or the Preston County delicacy of Buckwheat, I think she liked them as we are planning on making this a yearly thing. This picture was taken with my iPhone, notice my sugar free syrup!!!

I think we are going to take it easy tonight, they are calling for rain and I was wanting to watch the first round of the Presidential Debates. I pretty much know who I am voting for, I just need to either confirm or reconsider it after watching the debates.

Big Day tomorrow, Marshall (owner of BFS) Bishop gave Michelle and me two lower press box side 50 yard line tickets for tomorrows Friends of Coal Bowl between WVU and Marshall. We plan on making a day of it with tailgating and cheering on the Mountaineers to victory. Thank you Marshall Bishop, the tickets are very much appreciated and we'll make sure to cheer on the Mountaineers to Victory.

Kaiden Joseph Dalton

I stopped up last night to get my first glance at Kaiden at the hospital. I could have sworn we were in Ruby last week, so I stopped by Ruby and.....

OK, once I realized I was in the wrong hospital I stopped in to say hello.

Amy had her baby

10:13 AM
4 LBS 9 OZS
17 INCHES LONG

How about a midweek tidbits

* OK, I confess I am suffering a little from writers block, so maybe it is time to do a little tidbits.

* Moke is (has been) back home from Louisiana from his National Guard Duty anticipating the Hurricanes.

* I got a chance to talk to Danielle Friday night, she is really enjoying her freshman year at Wheeling Jesuit. She said the classes are hard, but it's just a matter of eliminating the study practices you had in High School and learn to be a College Student. She'll do fine, I have all the faith in the world in her.

* Michelle has been working late this week. She has accepted and moved into her new job as a staff accountant for BFS and has been putting in a lot of extra time learning the ins and outs of the job. She was the Department Head for Accounts Payable, but she has been given a great career opportunity as a Staff Accountant.

* I talked to Jean yesterday about Amy. I guess she had an Ultra Sound on Monday and she was a little scared because they wanted her to come in on Tuesday and do it again. The baby is fine, just not ready to come out yet. They weighed the baby and it is currently 5 lbs, 2 oz however they figure that out.

* It is just one more day until the start of the Preston County Buckwheat Festival which kicks off tomorrow. It was just a year ago that I got to go up on the first night before I had to go to Sterling Virginia for a week. I know at least Michelle and I and maybe Hayley if she dares to be seen with us will take the trip to Kingwood sometime this weekend.

* The Third Annual Friends of Coal Bowl is this Saturday here in Morgantown. Screw Marshall, crush Moo tech.

Changing Jobs

It's been in the works for some time now, but it is now official as I have received and accepted the offer and informed my current employer of the situation.

I currently work for a company called Information Manufacturing Corporation that I started the day after my last day with Infotech, a company I had been with for three years.

I started with IMC in Morgantown and we eventually moved our office to Fairmont in the Mollohan Building. It was a company that I made quite a few friends at and will leave with a degree of sadness because I really do see some great things happening there.

On October 14th, I will have served my last day with IMC and will be moving to my new company and new position with my new company Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) here in Morgantown. I have been offered and accepted the position of Energy Assurance Analyst managing a project for the National Energy Technology Laboratory for the Department of Energy.

This is a big career opportunity for me and I am very excited about this opportunity. I will miss IMC, but am excited about the future.

What Happened to the Steelers

Did anyone watch the Pittsburgh Steelers play yesterday? Wow, that was a horrible game and they couldn't do anything against the Philadelphia Defense all day long. Big Ben spent most of the day on his back and the offense could not get on track until late in the game.

Next game next Monday Night against Baltimore.

A Geographical update.

For you geography geeks out there like myself, Google Earth has updated the extent of their orthophoto imagery in the Morgantown area. Placed that were not available before or were just Satellite imagery are now low resolution imagery.

Kim's, Pam's, Michelle's, My place and numerous other places are now available from google in Google Earth and Google Maps.

There were other online programs with more complete imagery such as Flashearth that feeds from all the map sources, but Google Earth is my favorite stand alone geography application.

Brittany's Homecoming

Yesterday evening was homecoming night for Clay Battelle High School. There was a football game against Hundred High School, but the evenings festivities started off with a homecoming parade down route 7 with the band, cheerleaders, fire engines and the Homecoming Queen Candidates each riding atop a vehicle.

Grandpa John arranged for a brand new Mercedes convertible for Brittany to ride on. Brittany had a large contingent of family members there at the parade cheering her on and showing our support.

Once we arrived at the game, of course we had to watch Clay Battelle's complete and total demolition of Hundred, which was 28-0 at Halftime and ended up 49-0 as a final, before it was on with the halftime festivities.

As they called the five homecoming candidates out, Brittany was first followed by the other four girls who should have been the runners ups in this writers opinion, however with much sadness from her family and us calling for a recount the title of homecoming queen went to another girl. I told Robert he should have taken $100 Bills and bribed all the kids, I personally think there should have been a recount because the best looking girl was standing there without a tiara. I do have to confess that I am a little (OK a lot but give me a break) biased.

After halftime and the fixed homecoming election that Brittany did not win (did I mention I am a little biased) it was offf to change into her dress for the dance that was to follow the game. Brittany and Derrick were both dressed very nicely and should easily have been the best looking couple at the dance.

This however is the time for the kids, so all of old geezers walked back to our cars and headed home.

PS Michelle is making me pancakes and sausage with Butter Pecan syrup as I write this. She ROCKS!!!!

It's a Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes, it is once again that time of the week when we cease our labors for the week and take time out to enjoy the fruits of our labors, it's the start of yet another weekend.

For me however, it's a three day weekend cause I'm off for the day for a few reasons. There are a few things I want and need to do today and it'll take the pinch for time off tonight.

I stayed up last night (arggghh) we lost 14-17 in what was a very badly coached and managed game. I sat their last night (quiet if you believe that) just shaking my head in disbelief the whole game.

Got to wait for an overnight FedEx package today, big announcement coming from me in the very near future. Some of you may already know, so I won't discuss it publicly yet.

Have to go to the courthouse and pay my taxes today so I can get my new tags for my car. I was waiting until I was called in for Jury Duty, but haven't been called in in two weeks so far.

Tonight Brittany is going to be in the Clay Battelle High School Homecoming tonight. It starts with a parade in Blacksville at 5:30 followed by the homecoming queen announcement at halftime.

Have a great day.

Happy Birthday Calvin

If you see or talk to calvin today, make sure that you wish him a very Happy Birthday. Pam and George had his Birthday party this past Saturday, but today is actually his Birthday.

Happy Birthday Calvin.

How to Make a Woman Happy

e-Mail from my sweetie:


It's not difficult to make a woman happy. A man only needs to be:
1. a friend
2. a companion
3. a lover
4. a brother
5. a father
6. a master
7. a chef
8. an electrician
9. a carpenter
10. a plumber
11. a mechanic
12. a decorator
13. a stylist
14. a sexologist
15. a gynecologist
16. a psychologist
17. a pest exterminator
18. a psychiatrist
19. a healer
20. a good listener
21. an organizer
22. a good father
23. very clean
24. sympathetic
25. athletic
26. warm
27. attentive
28. gallant
29. intelligent
30. funny
31. creative
32. tender
33. strong
34. understanding
35. tolerant
36. prudent
37. ambitious
38. capable
39. courageous
40. determined
41. true
42. dependable
43. passionate
44. compassionate

WITHOUT FORGETTING TO:

45. give her compliments regularly
46. love shopping
47. be honest
48. be very rich
49. not stress her out
50. not look at other girls

AND AT THE SAME TIME, YOU MUST ALSO:

51. give her lots of
attention, but expect little yourself
52. give her lots of time, especially time for herself
53. give her lots of space, never worrying about where she goes

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT:

54. Never to forget:
* birthdays
* anniversaries
* arrangements she makes






HOW TO MAKE A MAN HAPPY

1. Show up naked
2. Bring food

Over the Hump Day

All right all you weekend lovers, it is the middle of the work week and we are getting ready to go over the hump and head on the downward slope that is the weekend.

I've heard no news on Amy so far, so I guess that she and Ralphie have not had the baby as of yet. I'll keep everyone informed as things develop.

I think everyone has been having fun with the MySpace application "Own your friends". I own my sweetie her duaghter and I think all my farting siblings. I am the master of Myspace....because Michelle said I could say so...LOL

No Jury Duty this week!!!!

I called into the Jury answering service last night and was told that there were no trials until September 22 and I needed to call in on Friday to check and see if I needed to report.

Rock on, that's two whole weeks now that I have managed to avoid serving on Jury Duty during the week. I was a little worried about Friday evening, with Brittany's homecoming being that night, it's not like you can tell the judge to hurry up and adjourn because you have someplace to go.

Two weeks down, three to go. Now if I can be lucky enough to have the next three weeks go like the prior two, I'll be a pretty lucky guy and will have served his community with little effort.

Steelers win again

Needless to say, I am a little tired this morning after staying up last night to watch all of the Steelers game last night. Pittsburgh made it 10 in a row against the Cleveland Browns with a 10-6 win in Cleveland.

The wind was blowing quite heavily last night and at gametime the winds were getting in the range of 40 MPH, the Pittsburgh News afterward mentioned winds were 52 MPH in Cleveland, but it did not slow the Pittsburgh Steelers down that much as they moved their record to 2-0 on the season.

Busy Day Saturday

After all the anticipated excitement of Friday evening with Amy having labor pains and everyone being at the hospital, yesterday was a welcomed change of pace.

It all started off with all of us going to Krepps Park, A place that has many memories for my family through the years, and helping Calvin celebrate his Birthday. Hamburgers, Hot Dogs and Little Ceasars Pizza were all on the menu. George grilled on this little disposable charcoal grill and it met our needs without having to drag out someones big grill and taking it to Krepps.

It was a nice pic nic and I hope he seemed to get gift cards and the universal gift that everyone loves, that would be cold hard untaxable and untraceable cash.

After spending some time with the family on a pic nic, it was off to help out my Sister Kim who was trying to get everything ready for this Friday night for Brittany.

It seems like she is on the 2008-9 Clay Battelle Homecoming and will be trying to capture that very illustrious and revered title that every girl dreams of, Homecoming Queen.

We went out and helped them them prepare the posters, pins, buttons and everything else that is involved with campaigning for the title. Robert was operating the Crickett and having all of the fun cutting perfect shapes and letters out.

It was a great evening that culminated with Michelle, Hayley and myself stopping for a late night snack at the Truck Stop in Mount Morris.

Yesterday

Yesterday afternoon, Amy was feeling a few labor pains so her, Ralph, Me, Michelle, Kim, Brittany, Terri, Pam, Val, Erica, Josh, Mom and a couple her friends were all (yeah that's fourteen people) in her room waiting on Aiden to pop his head out and say hello, but to no avail.

I think the hospital realized she was getting no rest with everyone there, so they have sent her home today so her and Ralphie can get a little rest and relaxation before she may go into delivery.

Being she is only 33 or 34 weeks, it could be a long wait until Aiden pops out and says who are all these weird people.

I had no luck with my e-Bay search last night or this morning. I guess I'm stuck.

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes, it is once again that time of the week when we cease the labors for the week and take time out to enjoy the fruits of our labors, it is once again the weekend!!!

Last night Michelle and I went over to Westwood Middle School to watch Cheat Lake take on South Middle. Arron was playing, but Cheat lake came up on the wrong end of a 30-0 game. They'll be OK, they just need to work on a few fundamentals.

Tonight, the Mohigans will be hosting Fairmont Senior at Pony Lewis Field. Weather permitting, Michelle and I will be there with our butt cushions cheering on my Alma Mater.

Mom called me last night, I guess Amy was having labor pains. I'll keep everyone updated as things may or may not develop.

Pam is having Calvin's birthday party Saturday at 2:00 at Krepps Park.

Is it quitting time yet?

Seven years ago today.

First Plane Coverage



Second Plane hitting




South Tower collapses.



Second Tower collapses




Pentagon

Rogue Spyware

Be careful of rogue spyware and malware that is circulating around right now. There is one floating around right now that looks and feels like it may be a Microsoft Software called "Antivirus 2009", I assure you it is not what it appears to be and will only cause you bigger problems down the road if you install this.

If you see any of these, DO NOT click any of the buttons other than the "X" in the corner that closes it out. Clicking anything else will prompt it to install itself and really give you serious headaches. This DOES NOT remove malware or spyware, it adds it to your system and then constantly prompts you on removing such programs when in fact IT is the problem.

Be careful and down download and install anything unless you either know what you are doing or you know you can trust what you are downloading (windows updates for example).

Monkey vs Dog

Midweek Mouth

I could do a tidbits, but I've decided to change it up a little bit with a new thread title, mainly because it does manage to give me a little bit of content to talk about when I am clearly trying to bluff my way through an meaningless blog with some bumbling text.

I have been having fun the past few days reorganizing my contacts from my computer. My iPhone updates based on my address book and my outlook calender, so now I have to go back and give it as much information about as many of my contacts as possible. On my other phone I just had one entry for each number, then if you had a cell phone I would call it your name and cell as a contact name. Worked pretty good on the old phone, but this phone's capabilities go way beyond that and I want to use them to the fullest that I can.

Michelle has been a little under the weather the past few days, but she seemed to be fine when I spoke with her last night. She is taking today off to possibly go back home for a funeral. A close friend of her's Aunt passed away a few days ago and she is contemplating going to East Liverpool for the funeral.

I may get a treat tonight though, she is going to be at my place making dinner when I get home. God I love her. =)

Tomorrow night Michelle and I will be going to watch Arron play football at Westwood middle school.

Going to go and try a few new applications that I've added to the iPhone. Have a great day.

Updates

Pam called me yesterday evening and told me Moke is being moved or has been moved to Baton Rouge Louisiana with the National Guards for Hurricane Ike. Hopefully it's just a precautionary measure and he'll have a chance to relax rather than fill sand bags.

Calvin's birthday party will be at 2:00 at Krepps Park. His birthday is the 18th, but she is wanting to have the party the weekend before to accommodate everyone.


View Larger Map

Have a good day, no jury duty for me yesterday or today, that's two days down and not having to report.

Fantasy Football

Looks like I had a good start in both my softball and work fantasy football leagues. My softball league is official and the work one isn't official, but I should win.

Not too bad of a start for the seasons.

In the real world, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Houston Texans 38-17. Willie Parker had 25 carries for 138 yards and 3 TD's.

We Won

The 4th Annual KDKA McDonalds Pittsburgh Steelers Trivia Challenge is now over with, as the FINAL SHOW aired last night.

Yes, we are the Champions, at the end of nine weeks we are the only team left in a tournament full of trivia buffs. In case you missed any of it, here are our three shows.

Our Week 2 Show

Our Week 7 Semi-Final

The Championship

Steelers Trivia Finals tonight

Tonight at 11:30 on KDKA Channel 2, we will be trying to bring home the trophy for the 2008 KDKA McDonals Pittsburgh Steelers Trivia Challenge. This is it, this is for all the marbles, you worked the previous eight weeks to get here, for the bragging rights to be named trivia Champions.

Cheer for Poised to strike to bring home the title against Art's Spare parts, the 2007 runners up and Ground Chuck Knoll Hog and their assistance from my arch nemesis, Phil the Groundhog.

Will Poised to strike prevail? Will Phil attack me for getting him drunk on Ground Hogs Day? Or will Art's Spare Parts bring home the title. See if our Team captain Chris "Don't Answer" Ostein will allow Randy "I got this" Page to answer a question in the last round. Tune in tonight and see who won.

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes, it is once again that time of the week when we cease the labors of the week and take time out to enjoy the fruits of our labors, it is once again the dawn of yet another weekend and it starts with a bog ole hairy Friday.

This weekend kicks off the firs t full weekend of football at all three levels. Michelle Hayley and I will be going to watch the Morgantown High Mohigans put it to the Elkins Tigers in their first home game of the season.

Saturday we are all, including Michelle's son Chad will be heading north to the Tanger Outlets that recently opened this past weekend. I'm looking forward to it.

Saturday afternoon or evening WVU will travel to NC to take on East Carolina who are coming off a huge upset last week of Virginia Tech. Hopefully the Hurricanes will not have any impact on the game. WVU needs to be able to exploit its speed, not get into a slow muddy game.

Saturday night, hey could it get any better than the finals of the Pittsburgh Steelers Trivia Challenge? We will be taking on two teams from the other semi-finals, Art's Spare Parts and Ground Chuck Knoll with my old arch nemesis Punxsutawney Phil stopped in from his months long hangover to try to prevent us from our destiny. Can Phil succeed? Can Art's Spare parts win it all or will Poised to Strike be once again Poised to Strike. Tune in and watch the finals Friday Night, I did slip Phil a few time release sleeping pills that will take effect Feb 2.

Sunday, hey it's the start of the 2008-9 Pittsburgh Steelers regular season. Tune in and watch them march to Super Bowl XLIII.

Have a great weekend, I will =)

Got to Love Jon Stewart

Bought an iPhone

I finally did it, I waited long enough and let everyone else try them out before I purchased one, but I have finally broken down and bought an iPhone. I was going to buy one last year, but Kim talked me into waiting until the next generation of iPhone came out, the 3G, and it's broadband capabilities.

My old phone was no longer being able to be charged (turned out to be the charger and not the phone), so I did a little research yesterday and to choose what my next phone was going to be. I was simnply joking with the sales associate and asked if they had the iPhone in stock (large demand), thinking it was a few week waiting period to get one. However, he had them in stock.

The rest is history, I love the iPhone.

News on Moke

With Hurricane Gustav hitting the states now, Hurricane Hanna, Hurricane Ike and Hurricane Josephine on the horizon, Moke has been called to duty and will be leaving for Alexandria, Louisiana for the next fifteen days. He will be going down with his National Guard troop to help with disaster relief and will probably be very busy over the next few weeks.

Thank You Michelle

Last night I asked Michelle what I should blog about and at that time her cat jumped on her. So, because she said cats, todays blog is about cats. Enjoy...




Of course we have to give a little love to the canines too. Enjoy....

Back to work

After a nice long relaxing football filled weekend, it is time to return to the grindstone and get back to work.

I should be pretty busy this week, I have some serious paperwork that needs filled out in the next couple of days, some of you may be hearing from me today and tommorrow in an effort to assist with this paperwork.

A geocache and a couple Movies

Yesterday Michelle and I rented two movies, PS I Love You and What Happens in Vegas. She watched PS I love you last night as my old bones fell asleep. This morning we watched What Happens in Vegas and we both loved it. I would recommend both movies, even though PS I love you is coming of Michelle's recommendation.

yesterday we went out and found a Geocache, it was the first one we had done in a while and then took a nice relaxing scenic drive to the Italian Heritage festival in Clarksburg for a Sausage Hoagie and a chance for her to see Clarksburg.

Laundry, shopping and normal routine for me today.

Happy Labor Day

Happy Labor Day, I hope your BBQ grills are working and you get to spend a little time with the family and friends.

Happy Labor Day.