Pleasant Surprise

Me being the only one left standing at the office managed to get a very nice pleasant surprise this afternoon, My nephew Moke Called me from Mosul Iraq where he has been stationed for the last six months or so. It was great to hear from him and I had a really good conversation with him without any background distractions on my end. He was being a little distracted by the people around him a little asking questions, but overall it was a great conversation.

I think he is ready for his two week leave so he can return home before he finishes his tour of duty. He did tell me that he is going to have to have surgery before he comes home for good to remove a calcium deposit that has been growing on his face and is quite painful. Other than that he was in a pretty good mood and was playing his X-Box after a long day and was ready to relax for a while.

It was nearly midnight over there when we got off the phone, they are a total of eight hours ahead of us in time for anyone who might be curious.


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Hump Day

Hey we have reached yet another hump day if that is what you want to call it. Both me and Michelle are both off tomorrow and will be helping her sister Chris get things ready for a Thanksgiving dinner.

Yesterday was a long day for Michelle at work, she is setting up for an end of the month check run that they are going to do today. She is a trooper and we will be busy this afteroon as well after work.

Hope everyone has a great hump day, some of you are lucky enough to have this be your last day this week.

Tuesdays tid..er wait I just did that

Now what am I supposed to do, I did my tidbits yesterday and I'm at Tuesday. I'm all discombobulated on my blogs.

I did go to see my Doctor yesterday for a checkup. I'll go back again in three months after I do some blood work and have a routine eye exam after the first of the year. Diabetics are supposed to have an eye exam every couple of years when they dilate your pupils and get a good look at your eyes. It's been two and a half years and I'm ready for another one.

I did find out some sad news, my Doctor who finishes his residency this May was going to stay in Morgantown the last I spoke with him. today I found out that they do not offer the specialty he wants to go into and has been accepted as the team Physician for the University of South Carolina. So, my next visit will probably be my last with him and I'll move onto a new resident next summer. He said he will advise after meeting them when we meet in a few months as to who he would recommend.

He has been a good one and I would have stayed with him had he stayed in Morgantown.

Tidbits

* I decided to do a tibits, there are a few things I want to talk about and I guess a tidbits will be the easiest way to do it.

* First off, this is the first day of rifle deer hunting season season here in West Virginia. The kids are off work for the week and this is the days hunters in West Virginia look forward to. To all the hunters have a safe and happy hunting season.I wish all hunters luck in bagging that big one.

* I have a Doctors appointment this afternoon, Michelle is going to come with me today to my appointment. I anticipate a change in some medications this time as my numbers have went up recently, that's just from me not doing the walking I used to do. We are fixing that problem.

* The new website is starting to take shape. I have started uploading some of the pictures, starting with Christmas a couple of years ago at Klaer lodge.

* We'll be doing Thanksgiving once again this year with Michelle's family, everyone comes in anf they rent the Cassville fire hall and do a big dinner. Many of them get together and plot out their Black Friday strategies, however both Michelle and I are working this year. I just switched companies (like last year) and don;t have the time this year.

* There is some talk about getting together and going bowling on Thanksgiving eve, not sure how that is going to develop. It would be nice as we have not done it in a number of years, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

* Michelle is going to bake our own Turkey, but since we'll be busy Thursday this will probably happen Saturday.

Changing Hosts

In case no one has noticed, my website has had quite a few backend problems over the past few months. It's been infected with malware and GoDaddy kept insisting it was my fault even though I reformatted my computer, changed my FTP login and uploaded clean files, it was continually hacked.

programs such as my picture album was inaccessible and unusable. This leading to many phone calls and tickets from my end to GoDaddy that ended less than favorably. It was a constant battle and I was uploading clean files as many as three times a day to keep the website operational. Any scripting programs would be infected and wouldn't run in matter of hours after they were reset up.

I guess there just comes a time when enough is enough, I'm not paying upwards of $100 a year for a hosting account that was unusable, especially when I was getting little to no support from the people I am paying for the service. They went from the best customer service in the business to someone I didn't want to be my host anymore.

Therefore I have moved my host and will be redesigning my website in the near future to make it once again viable and usable.

There is still a lot of work to be done to it, I'm just getting the skeleton up for right now as I am getting away from HTML and using PHP.

Not much on the agenda today

We don't have too much planned on the agenda for today, maybe get out for a walk and enjoy the outside a little bit.

Michelle is still sleeping and wanted to sleep in a little bit this morning.

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes it is once again that time of the week that we all look foreword to, when we can take time to cease the labors for the week and take a little bit of needed time out to enjoy the fruits of those labors. It is once again the dawn of another weekend and a Big Ole Hairy Friday.

You looking for sports around town this weekend, well the Mountaineer football team is off until, next Friday night and the only local team left is the University High Hawks. They will try to extract revenge for a close overtime loss to Fairmont Senior earlier in the season.

I spent the day in Pittsburgh yesterday at the Hilton Hotel on the point. Downtown Pittsburgh was just totally ripped up and driving in downtown was a complete nightmare. They have entire city blocks basically dug up and navigating around was tricky to say the least.

Not too sure what is on mine and Michelle's agenda for this weekend, other than a nice walk around the coliseum. We do have a netflix movie the Ugly Truth coming to us tomorrow. You can watch it here if you want to see it yourselves.

Have a great Friday.

Update on Josh Judy

Indians Looking To Judy For Relief
Posted by Tony at 12:18 AM

The 2009 Arizona Fall League (AFL) season wrapped up on Wednesday night, and of the ten total players the Indians sent to the AFL the one player who really made a name for himself and stood out was right-handed reliever Josh Judy.

Yes, the versatile Matt McBride certainly had a great AFL campaign hitting .364 with a 1.152 OPS in 20 games, but he has always been one of the Indians better position player prospects. His performance in the AFL was more just the cherry on the sundae of what was a great comeback season for him.

Judy on the other hand had a breakout season in 2009, and has used his time out in the AFL to vault himself into the upper echelon of relief pitching prospects not only with the Indians, but arguably in all of baseball.

Armed with a fastball that tops out in the mid-90s and a wicked slider, the 6’4” 200-pound Judy went 4-3 with a 2.83 ERA and 14 saves in 41 combined appearances between High-A Kinston and Double-A Akron this past season. He held opposing hitters to a .201 batting average, and in 54.0 innings struck out 70 while walking just 18. He has carried his success from the 2009 regular season into the 2009 offseason as in AFL action to date he is 2-1 with a 0.56 ERA in ten appearances, allowing 10 hits, 8 walks, and recording 18 strikeouts in 16.0 innings of work.

Judy’s 2009 season was a continuation of the strong showing he had in 2008 for Low-A Lake County and Kinston where in 42 combined appearances he went 12-1 with a 3.26 ERA and in 88.1 innings allowed 72 hits, 26 walks, and had 97 strikeouts. In all, in three seasons in the Indians minor league system in 96 total games and 167.2 total innings he has some pretty impressive numbers: 2.69 ERA, 6.9 H/9, 0.4 HR/9, 3.0 BB/9, 10.1 K/9, and 1.10 WHIP.

For the 23-year old out of Fort Wayne, Indiana, those are numbers that have put Judy on the fast track to the big leagues. He opened the 2009 season in Kinston, but after just four appearances there he was moved up to Akron where he remained and settled in nicely for the rest of the season. When right-handed closer Vinnie Pestano went down with an elbow injury in July, Judy assumed the closer’s role and flourished.

"I got settled in pretty well,” said Judy in a recent interview about his quick promotion to Akron earlier in the year. “It was a quick move up at the beginning of the year throwing only four innings in Kinston and [going] straight to Akron. You hate to lose a guy like Vinnie who was so dominant the first part of the season before he got hurt. I just wanted to step in and do my part."

The Indians typically do not develop closers in the minor leagues, focusing more on a set routine where their relievers go every two or three days and for one or two innings. It is very rare for any reliever to pitch on back-to-back nights, for when it does happen it is almost always because of necessity (over-worked bullpen, starter did not last long, extra innings, etc). Because of this, it is hard to have a defined closer to pitch every save situation. One pitcher in particular may be used in the role, but the role is often shared. The Indians prefer to have their more important relief prospects get regular work in the 7th and 8th inning rather than wait to use them in the 9th inning because you never know when an opportunity will arise to use them.

After so many struggles in the bullpen at the major league level three of the last four years, the Indians appeared to make some changes this past season with how they handle the development of relievers. One of them was identifying much earlier the starting pitchers who project more as relievers and moving them into a bullpen role much quicker. Also, it appears that they are now open to the idea of exposing their high priority relievers in roles in the minors that they think they project in at the major league level. That means a reliever like Judy who in the past was pitching mostly in the 7th and 8th inning based on a set plan to ensure work may now find himself pitching almost exclusively for one inning or in the 8th and 9th innings only.

The closer’s role was new for Judy the second half of the season, but you would never know it as he was dominant going 0-0 with 9 saves and a 1.47 ERA in 16 appearances after assuming the role in early July. The Indians moved him to a backend bullpen role because they like his approach on the mound. He is aggressive going right after hitters, displays very good composure, and is a bulldog in tight situations.

For Judy, the transition to the closer’s role was nothing new and in the end your job is still to get outs.

"I kind of just see it as going out there and just getting guys out and trying to get better everyday,” said Judy. “The whole mental preparation for that was just getting ready for one inning, three guys, and that the first out is the most important."

Judy had the unusual benefit of having the same pitching coach at Double-A Akron this past season as he had at Low-A Lake County in 2008. That’s because pitching coach Ruben Niebla was his pitching coach in Lake County in 2008, and was promoted to Akron for the 2009 season where he continued his role as pitching coach. It was a unique situation for Judy where he got a chance to work with someone who knew him well and probably the most of any pitcher Niebla worked with the past two seasons.

"Without a doubt he has probably progressed the most out of [all the relievers here]," said Niebla in an interview back in September. "He got off to a little bit of a rough start at the beginning just adjusting to the level more than anything. I knew the stuff was there as I saw him in Lake County and I knew the fastball and the ability to spin the ball was there. So once he got adjusted and got his feet under him he has run away with putting together a very good year."

Niebla and Judy worked together over the course of the season and made some changes to his delivery which Judy thinks helped him take off about halfway through the season.

"[We worked] on my mechanics, most definitely,” said Judy. “For most of [2008] and the beginning of this year they wanted me to have a high leg kick and be in more of a load position in the stretch being able to deliver to the plate. That wasn't working when I got [to Akron earlier this year]. So they tightened up my delivery to make it very quick and subtle and it panned out. [My slider] definitely improved with the mechanical adjustment [to my delivery]. It is a lot tighter, sharper, and I am able to get more swing and misses with it."

Judy got engaged last offseason, and will get married next offseason on December 18th. In between now and then there is a lot more on his mind than just wedding plans. If things fall his way there is a great chance that this time next year not only will he be celebrating the beginning of his new life with his fiancé Vivian, but the beginning of a career in the Major Leagues.

"I think one guy that has been one of the more encouraging stories for us [this year] in Player Development has been Josh Judy," said Indians Farm Director Ross Atkins in a season ending interview. "With just how consistent he has been with having consistently above average stuff as a relief pitcher. He has an above average ability to put the ball on the ground and an above average fastball. So he is someone I think could potentially impact the team next year in 2010."

In the Burgh today

I'll be in the city of three rivers today for a meeting, not at NETL but at the Hilton Hotel on the edge of Point State Park in downtown Pittsburgh. It's been planned for a few months and gives me a chance to get out of town for the day and enjoy a little bit of the Metropolitan life.

The NatCarb partnerships are having their meeting and I'll be there to observe as we start to gear up for Atlas III that will be done this year. It give me and Scott a good chance to establish ourselves in the sequestration group and bring some work in for ourselves.

Hopefully I can find a little time to go to a Primanti Brothers sometime tomorrow.

Happy GIS day

Every profession should have a day that is dedicated to them. There is Fireman's Day, Policeman's day, Secretaries Day, Boss's Day and today is GIS day. A day dedicated to those of us who are GIS Professionals. Though a very young field, this is the Tenth GIS Day
since its inception.

When I was in college it was hard for me to explain what GIS was without going over most people's heads. I do however think back when I first started studying GIS and a conversation I had with a friend of mine. I told him I was going to be a geographer and more specifically going into GIS. He asked me what that was and I explained quite simply digital mapping. To this day I still remember his comment "Doesn't Rand McNally already have that covered?" It is a statement that I always look back on, a time before anyone had ever heard of internet mapping, google earth or even feasibly having a GPS unit.

Do yourself a favor today and read up a little bit on my chosen field, Geographical Informational Science.

Tuesday Tidbits

* Hey it's Tuesday, do I need a better reason to write a tidbits?

* Michelle and I are on day 613 since our first date, how is that for keeping track?

* Fantasy football has been good the last couple of weeks, I have managed to pull out a couple of wins and have an outside shot at making the playoffs and a chance to be in the money.

* Michelle and I went for a walk last night after dinner, it had been a while and we are going to start walking more and more in the evenings. We went to the Coliseum and took a good brisk walk to get the blood flowing. I did get a chance to see Coach Bob Huggins, he was pulling out as we were walking by his car.

* They have started to break ground on the basketball practice facility. It's long overdue on a start of this facility.

* First day at new job was good, transition went pretty smooth, I just have to remember to change my e-mail signature before I send an e-mail to the owner next time.

* I bought a subscription to Netflix, we get 1 DVD at a time but we are allowed unlimited streams. I am thinking about buying a streaming device and connecting it straight to the TV. An XBox or a PS3 could also work, but I found boxes under $100.00. I've streamed a couple movies on my PC and it does very well. Not bad for $9.00 a month.

* Have a great Tuesday.

New Day, New Job

I am so happy how this all played out for me, today I start the first fay at my new job with Sextant-Technical , same job, same location, same computers and same everything with the exception of who I am working for. I am thankful for how it all played out, if you would have asked me a few months ago how I would want it to pan out, it happened.

I have the opportunity to work with some very talented people and to possibly expand my skill sets.

Hopefully I will get the chance to work further on developing Google Earth applications. A year ago I got to develop a time animated file that saw a pretty exclusive audience. Hopefully there will be more of these days to come.

Guests for the game

Michelle has a few close friends (Family) coming in from Ohio today to visit us and watch the Steelers and Bengals game this afternoon on television. We have also invited her sister and her family over to enjoy to enjoy the Steelers pouncing the Bungles this afternoon.

Last Night

OK, we went to the girls basketball game and it was a pretty good game. The women easily handled Townson State.

We stayed around for a little while after to watched the football game for a little bit over a quarter before heading home to watch the rest of the game. I thought we had a chance, but this team and this coaching staff just lack that fire that they need.

Anyways, we're heading to Apple Annies this morning for breakfast.


For your viewing pleasure, the call that lost the game for WVU

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes it is once again that time of the week that we all look foreword to, when we can take time to cease the labors for the week and take a little bit of needed time out to enjoy the fruits of those labors. It is once again the dawn of another weekend and a Big Ole Hairy Friday.

Last day with SAIC for me, finished out all my projects yesterday and did my exit interview, I'm all ready to start with Sextant Monday.

If you are looking for something to do this evening, how about heading over to the WVU Coliseum and supporting the WVU Women's basketball team Cost of admission is $5.00, let me know early today and I'll even help with the price of admission. After the game, the WVU Football team will take on Cincinnati, and they are going to play it on the jumbo tron in the coliseum after the women's basketball game. Come on out and cheer the Mountaineers to a couple of victories. There will be an autograph session with the men's basketball team also.

Into High School Football? Morgantown travels to Martinsburg, University travels to Spring Valley and Clay Battelle is at home battling Tucker County. It's do or die time in High School Football, this is the first round of the playoffs and it is win and play next week or lose and get ready for next season.

Last night we were blessed with a couple of visitors as Trish and Layla came over and said hello.

Nice Productive Day Off

I hope everyone had a good veterans day yesterday, mine was pretty productive and I came to the conclusion that my initial conclusion turned out to be my final conclusion after a little wheeling and dealing to equal out my offers.

I am officially going to Sextant Technical next week. I won;t be changing offices, computers or basically my day to day job, just ramping up for the next phase of a project.

Everything worked out, I'm with the company I wanted to be with and the entire situation worked out very well for me, I am truly a very lucky individual.

Back to work today though....Hi Ho Hi Ho...

Hump Day?

Nope not for me, it's Veterans Day and a day off for me. You have to love Government Holidays, especially when you are an on site contractor.

I have a biog decision I have to make today about my future. I have the two largest official offers I have ever received in my life on the table. I have a noon deadline today to give word on the higher of the two offers. Same job, same seat, it's just that I will be working for a new company next week. Both offers are the two largest I have ever received by a significant margin.

My gut tells me to go with the lower of the two offers, and I think it is the way I am leaning. There is a significant difference in salary between the two, however the lower offer is paying all health care premium costs and I feel very comfortable with everyone.

As I stated before I am probably leaning towards Sextant Technical, some of the things Dale has done is just unmeasurable of paper. My other offer is Booz Allen Hamilton , a company of 22,000 compared to Sextant's six, but their GIS lead (Booz Allen Hamilton's) is actually one of the six of us with Sextant.

Tough decisions I know, but both of them exceed career goals I set in the time frame from when I left college.

Have a great day.

Tuesday Tidbits

* Brain Fart, so it's a good time for a tidbits and it is Tuesday.

* I'm off tomorrow, work two, a day of work two and the weekend is my schedule for this week. It's Veteren's Day , remember to thank any and all Veterans you know and to think about those who are actively serving their country.

* My Nephew Moke is currently in Iraq and will have a two week leave here in January.

* Facebook has got to be the best internet social networking tool that has ever been invented. Games, the ability to hook up with old friends and the ability to meet new ones. MySpace had the right idea, Facebook did it right.

* This is a good time to push the WVU Women's basketball game Friday night. $5.00 gets you in the door or ask me for a free pass. The WVU v Cincinnati football game will be played on the scoreboard after the game Women's basketball game.

* I cleaned the inside of mu computer put a couple of days ago, note to self to buy some canned air this weekend. Sheesh...LOL

* Have a great day.

Last week with SAIC

It was just a little over a year ago that I took a gamble and switched to a new Company. I knew that there was only a year left on the contract, but the raise in pay was worth the risk. This week will be my final week with my current employer, SAIC.

I have one official offer in hand and another one coming today or tomorrow, both with significant raises in pay and benefits.

Next Monday there is a about a 90% chance I will be working for Sextant-Technical (doing the same job, just for a different company) and about a 10% chance I will be working for the company I interviewed with Friday.

Either way, my gamble has paid off, although this will be my final week with SAIC.

A Good Day of Football

OK, it wasn't a perfect day, but I'll take it. West Virginia University managed to beat Louisville 17-9 on the day. Probably one of our worst performances of the season, but we managed to to get the victory and run our record to 7-2 on the season.

Michigan manged to give up a 14 point halftime lead and lost 36-38 to Purdue, the funny thing about this game is that of their last three games (they needed one more win to play .500 ball and become bowl eligible), this was their best chance and Choke Rodriguez lost yest again. They should lose the nest two weeks when they have to travel to #21 Wisconsin and will host Ohio State on the last week of their season.

Icing on top of the cake was seeing our fine men in uniform at the Naval Academy beat the over rated and hated Notre Dame Fighting Irish 23-21.

I do have to say, it was a good day of football for me.

If you are looking for a once in a lifetime chance to see something today, WVU will scrimmage Mountain State University today. MSU has a 7'8" center, making him the world'd tallest basketball player.

Gameday

It is once again gameday in Morgantown, as the Louisville Cardinals come to town for a noon matchup against the Mountaineers.

The Mountaineers look to stop a one game slide and get back on the winning track after last weeks defeat. It's about to turn into crunch time in the Big East Conference as we start playing the league favorites after today, so we need to secure this victory today to position ourselves for a shot at the Big East Title.

We will have a house guest tonight as Michelle's mom is going to come in for a visit. We got the back bedroom straightened up and organized yesterday evening after work to get ready for today.

Let's Gooooooo Mountaineers.

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes it is once again that time of the week that we all look foreword to, when we can take time to cease the labors for the week and take a little bit of needed time out to enjoy the fruits of those labors. It is once again the dawn of another weekend and a Big Ole Hairy Friday.

Football on your mind? Both the Mohigans and the Hawks are off this week waiting for the playoffs to begin next week. Undefeated and #2 ranked Madonna travels to #4 ranked and undefeated Clay Battelle. Let's hope the Cee Bee's can finished the regular season undefeated. Trinity will close out their initial season when they travel to Iager to play.

The Mountaineers Host Louisville Saturday at noon. Hopefully coach stew can have the team ready and we can get back to our winning ways in another league game.

Pro Football? Well the Steelers are back this week on Monday night when they visit Mile High Stadium and take on the Denver Broncos.

basketball your thing? You want to visit Huggyville? They will be playing an exhibition game on Sunday at 1:00 against Mountain State University. Go and cheer on the Mountaineers as they start the 2009-10 season with a slew of pre-season top 10 rankings.

I have an interview this morning with Booz Allen Hamilton, we'll see what they have to say.

One last note from the Mayor of Mihaley's Phil Caskey:

Hey Everyone the WVU Women's Basketball team opens the season vs Towson, Friday Nov. 13 - 6pm, WVU Coliseum. Rally towels to the first 1,000 fans! Men's basketball players autographs pre-game & face-painting for kids. It's also poster night! Post-game football watch party!! Stay to watch the WVU-Cincinnati football game on the videoboard at the Coliseum.

Have a great weekend!!

Is it getting to be that time of the year.

I hate to admit certain times of the year, I am one who loves spring and summer and start bribing Punxsutawney Phil early so as to get a favorable reading from the damn rat.

It's that time of the year leading up to the holidays, when shorts and sandals are replaced by coasts and boots. Warm weather has been replaced by cooler temperatures and unfavorable weather conditions.

Because of the change in the season and change in the weather, Michelle and I gathered up kindling and set up the fireplace by cleaning it out and getting it ready for the colder weather last night. WE are in good shape, just waiting for a good reason to throw a match on it and get in started for this season.

Hump Day

Once again I would like to wish everyone a very happy hump day. We've made it halfway through the week and we are once again heading downhill to the weekend.

hayley is still under the weather and I'm getting a slight touch of it myself. This has been lingering for me for over a month for some reason. When I think it clears up I stat coughing yet again, man do I miss the spring and summer time.

I would like to take this chance and give a very heart felt thank you to the love of my life for the last 600 days. It's been 600 days since I made you sit through that horrible, horrible movie. Thank you for all that you have done for me and I look forward to the next 600 days that I get to spend with you. You are the love of my life and I would be empty without you.

Have a great day.

Tuesdays Tidbits

* How can I pass up on the opportunity to do a tidbits on a Tuesday? I don;t think I can, so here is a tidbits just for you.

* The kittens will officially be six weeks old tomorrow. They are both weened, litter box trained and in need of good loving homes. They are both full of life and a lot of fun to play with.

* Tomorrow will be a nice round number of 600 days since mine and Michelle's first date. That makes today number 599 and counting. Things are going good and she is the love of my life.

* Next week will be my last week with SAIC, I already have a very lucrative offer in hand and have an interview tomorrow with another company that has been pursuing me. Rest assured nothing will change other than who signs my pay check. I'll be in the same location and using the same computer.

* Hayley and Michelle were both tested for the swine flue yesterday, both of them came up negative although Hayley has had a very sore throat. She's getting better, but it's still quite sore.

* Fantasy Football update. Did I stop the three game skid and return to winning? Uh, not exactly, I lost again. I'm definitely not in the money this year.

* I'm still waiting on my paperwork from my debit card being comprised. I'm out quite a few hundred dollars that I am trying to get back. It's made things tight at the wrong time of the year.

* I got home from work yesterday and saw a movie ending on HBO that I want to see. I had seen it years ago and have always wanted to see WC Fields and Me again. I know it has been over 30 years since I've seen it and was really excited when I saw it was on HBO yesterday, only it was over with when I found it.

* Have a Great Day.

Back at It

I guess the only good thing I can say about Mondays is that at least we're working towards another weekend. It's a back to work kind of Monday, but I did have a nice relaxing weekend so I guess I can't complain too much.

The Mohigans won the MoHawk Bowl and the Steelers were off this weekend, so after Friday Night's embarrassment it was a pretty good weekend I would have to say. Yesterday was nice and relaxing, we stayed at home and just vegged a little bit. Hayley cleaned her room, Michelle surfed the net and I took a nap.

I guess all good things come to an end as the weekend has now faded from reality to memory as we get ready for this weeks work related challenges.

Hi Ho Hi Ho...

Trick or Treating

Once again the ghouls and goblins came to East fate to seek their treats. They came in groups both large and small to seek the candied treats.

It was a good evening, jean ordered some Pizza and make some chilli dogs for everyone before the night's festivities kicked off. Michelle and I got there early, it had been a while since we had stopped by just to say hi.

Both Pam and I brought multiple bags of candy, but Jean had a bowl of 512 miniature candy bars (about half size) just over the top filled up with candied treats. I have to say at the end of the night, we were the last house standing and still had candy left to offer. The bowl was well over half way gone, so I would say lower 300's for the total number of visitors we had foe the evening.

The rain and cold weather combined with the swine flu going around thinned the crowd out a little bit, I've seen larger more dense crowds, but with a steady flow it really was a nice turnout.

A Big Thank You to Jean for making this once again a memorable event that will last you a lifetime. I had a great time sitting out front with Michelle and Pam handing out candy to the children.

Happy Halloween

Boooooooooo, watch out for the ghosts, goblins and all kinds of candy seeking ghouls as they make their way around town this evening.

I hear that if they don't get a treat, they will give you a trick like changing your TV channels and things like that, so to avoid their wrath have plenty of candy on hand.

Michelle and I will be heading out to Jean's to hand out multitudes of sweet treats to the Trick or Treaters this evening. Last year was the first year Michelle experienced "Halloween at East Gate", the place where the CPM rating (Candy Per Minute) is higher than any place else.

Last year the MoHawk Bowl was the same time, this year the MoHawk Bowl is today, but many hours earlier.

Have a great Halloween and protect yourselves with candies. Reeses Cups are my chosen favorites.

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes it is once again that time of the week that we all look foreword to, when we can take time to cease the labors for the week and take a little bit of needed time out to enjoy the fruits of those labors. It is once again the dawn of another weekend and a Big Ole Hairy Friday.

Did you say football? The Mountaineers take center field tonight when they travel to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Florida to take on the University of South Florida Bulls. The Bulls have beaten the Mountaineers in two of the last three seasons (WVU winning last year) so we will definitely have our hands full.

What about the High Schools? Well the MoHawk Bowl will be played tomorrow afternoon at University High School. Both schools are trying to earn their playoff rankings, both schools should be fine win or lose to make the 2009 State Playoffs. Notre dame HS travels to Clay Battelle to take on the undefeated Cee Bee's. Trinity is at home trying to extend their winning streak to three games in a row!!!!

I hope everyone is ready for the weekend, because I know that I sure am. It has been an event filled week or so to say the least.

Enjoy your Friday and have a Great Weekend. Let's Gooooooooooo Mountaineers!!!!!!!!!!!

Flu is really going around

With fears of the Swine Flu (H1N1), the flu season is definitely upon us. My Nephew Calvin has been sick most of the week, Pam was really concerned that it could be swine flu, but it turned out to be strep throat. Still not something very pleasant to have, but not the swine flu.

I's seen many people on Facebook also have a lot of concerns about this. I thought I would put together a short list on what you can do to protect yourselves.

1. Frequent Hand Washing. This is probably one of the most important habits you can encourage your family to do.
2. Hands Off Face. Continually remind your family to keep their hands away from their face. This is a habit we all have but with conscious effort we can certainly minimize it.
3. Salt Water Gargles. Gargle with a salt water solution in the moring and evening. This helps to keep any virus from proliferating.
4. Nasal Saline Spray. Use a saline spray to flush nasal passages at least once a day. Blow nose well afterwards.
5. Vitamin C and Yogurt. Eat foods plentiful in vitamin C and also eat Yogurt, both will increase your immunity to colds and viruses. For better Vitamin C absorption, also take Zinc.
6. Drink Warm Liquids. Drink plenty of warm liquids, such as tea and soup. Warm drinks help flush viruses from the throat into the stomach, where viruses can no longer survive.
7. Plenty of Rest. Our bodies need rest to keep our immunity strong, so this is especially important during flu seasons.

Just do these simple steps and you should be able to lower the risk of catching and lower it's impact if you do catch it by doing this.

Hump Day

Well we are getting there, it's once again Hump Day and it is all down hill from here on out.

I have to hand it to the facebook Crew. We found out yesterday that Morgantown High was on lock down and spread the word in a few short minutes. I have to say having a large social network when using a social networking site can work to your advantage. I read it on Renee Tressler's status update who drove by the school, called Michelle and she called Hayley and got the quick scoop all in about 5 minutes. Pretty good network we got going there.

Michelle has been coming down with the flu the last few days, she really wasn't feeling very well last evening.

I guess my brother Gary isn't feeling all that well either, I guess he cut his thumb real bad at work yesterday and cut some ligaments. I was talking to Jean and she said they had to put him to sleep to repair it. Well I guess in dog years he is about 280, so I guess he lived a long enough life and could be put down..LOL He'll be fine, if I know him he'll take a day or two off and be right back at it.

Tuesdays Tidbits

* 591 Days since mine and Michelle's first date. How many people do you know that keep track of these kind of things?

* Pam called last night but I missed the call, Calvin has a case of the flu, but she doesn't know if it is the swine flu. It's something that she may want to pay close attention to as a girl that Hayley has went to school with since Kindergarten has died from swine flu. Morgantown's only confirmed death from it.

* I lost once again in fantasy football. I lost three, won two and now I've lost two again. I need to stop the skid if I want to get into the playoffs and have any chance for the money.

* Michelle is starting to come down with the flu again, it's not the swine flue but I hear that it could very well be the frog flu. I think you get it from hanging around horny toads.

* Looks like both Amy and Val are sticking to the tax thing. I guess they aren;t tired of crunching numbers yet.

* I did see my nephew randy at Wal-Mart Saturday evening. He was with his girlfriend and was walking out as we were walking in.

* Hi Ho Hi Ho......

Monday Morning

Yeah I know, it's nose back to the grindstone and time to get back to what we just love to do. I may have a semi-busy week this week, I'm going to have to take a trip to the bank either today or tomorrow and file a fraud claim with my bank for the transactions against my account in New Mexico and El Paso Texas this past weekend.

I have got my computer most of the way back to speed from the reformat, I still have some work to do on it. I do have all the immediate files and programs updated and re-installed. No big rush on anything else, I'll install them as I need them.

All things considered it was a pretty good weekend. Did anyone watch the Steelers yesterday? Not one but TWO defensive touchdowns in the fourth quarter to knock off the previously undefeated Minnesota Vikings. Brett Farve looked sharp for the Vikings, except the 14 points he gave us on turnovers.

Oh well, weekend is over, things will be returning to normal here and it's back to work.

Major Problems

Well let me first start out by talking about our pumpkin. Michelle and I carved out our first pumpkin together last night. Hayley was the one who chose the design and Michelle and I carved it out.

I have to sat that it was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed doing this, we had bought a designs book earlier and some tools and we had at it.
Needless to say that this is our finished product, yes it is really a lit up pumpkin sitting on top of the entertainment center with a tea light burning and the lights out. I have to say that I am quite pleased with how it turned out. Michelle is awesome and last night was a memorable evening....until.......

I got a call from my banks fraud department, seems someone has my check card information and was ringing up purchases out the ying yang in New Mexico. Michelle and I were at Wal-Mart earlier in the evening and the locations of the two transactions must have set off a red flag, BB&T caught it, canceled my card and is issuing me a new one. I'm going to have to wait until the transactions clear ( I know of a minimum of $160.00 worth with two more pending) and I have to go and file a fraud claim with my bank. May take a few days, but I'll get all my money back. It's just the inconvenience on my part and the waiting game of waiting for a new card and clearing those fraudulent transactions.

Which had me thinking...how did they get it?

My website has been under attack for over a month now. I have went around and around with GoDaddy about it. I actually installed one program and it went corrupt in no time. I spoke with their tech department and they felt it was coming from my computer and I should change my FTP information (which I did a month ago).

Well it's not hard to figure out 2+2, I think my computer has been corrupted and is the culprit. I thought I had it fixed, but obviously not.

The solution you may ask? No sleep last night, reformatted my hard drive and re-installed windows and changed my online passwords to my financial accounts.

It's been a long night.

OOPS

Forgot the write a blog today, we woke up early and headed to iHop for breakfast and forgot to write one for today.

Mountaineers and UCONN today at noon.

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes it is once again that time of the week that we all look foreword to, when we can take time to cease the labors for the week and take a little bit of needed time out to enjoy the fruits of those labors. It is once again the dawn of another weekend and a Big Ole Hairy Friday.

You looking for High School Football? It's once again gamenight and that means it's time for some Friday Night Lights. University visits Preston, Morgantown entertains John Marshall, Clay Battelle travels to Tygart's valley and Trinty, fresh off of the first victory in school history tries to extend that winning streak to two games.

WVU entertains a brave group of UCONN players fresh off the loss of a team mate last Sunday Morning. WVU plans to wear a #6 on the back of their helmets to honor Jasper Howard, there will be a planned moment of silence, fans are encourages to wear a white arm band with a blue #6 on it and fans have been asked to give the UCONN team a standing ovation as they enter the stadium.

Last night Michelle and I assisted my old buddy Smitty and his with Steph as they closed and finally were able to move into their new home. Hew sold his house and bought another one. Beautiful home, big living room, cathedral ceilings and a 12'x 36' deck with a gorgeous view. I told Smitty I could retire on his back deck.

Oh well, it's off I go one more time before the weekend.

Back to website troubles

I can;t win for some reason with my website, and I think it is on the hosts end. I actually installed a third party piece of software on one of my domains today and the site within two hours has been rendered useless and unusable because of something happening behind the scenes. I know what files are being affected and which ones are being created, I can go in and replace them all day long, but there is something behind the scenes writing additional code to multiple domains that I have.

This is the fourth time I have contacted GoDaddy about this issue and AI have a ticket in with their resources team. If they don;t resolve this quickly, they will lose this long standing customer.

Hump Day

Alright, we have made it to hump day and it's all downhill to the weekend after today!!!!! Come on Friday, I'm ready for another fun filled weekend.

Tonight, weather permitting Michelle and I will go and watch Arron play his last home game of the season at University High. This will be our fourth game that we have attended this season and know that basketball is right around the corner. I'm sure we'll be attending a few of those games as well as he tends to play all three sports (Baseball, Basketball and Football).

Hayley managed to redo her room last night. She had everything around the heaters, so she moved everything around so that we could get ready and turn the heat on in here. Of course Michelle still has thew AC still going in the living room...LOL

Have a great hump day.

Tuesdays Tidbits

* The kittens are really getting their legs now, the male cat (Psycho) is quite adventurous and king around the house. He is a real Geo CATcher.

* 585 days since mine and Michelle's first date, I really am one lucky guy.

* Congrats to both Amy and Val as they both started their new jobs yesterday. They are studying to be H&R Block Tax preparers.

* Layla is going to have a Doctor's appointment today, she is going to have an ultrasound as they think she may have developed a heart murmur. They are going to check it out and get a better diagnosis.

* I tried like heck, but my two game fantasy football league winning streak has come to a halt. The three time defending league champion took me to the woodshed this week, I'll get him the next time we go at it if I have the chance.

* The kittens will be four weeks old tomorrow. We are starting them on solid kitten chow and introducing them to a clay filled kitty litter box.

* Have I mentioned that I hate snow? Not that I just dislike it, but I hate it. Wonder where Phil is and if I can start bribing him this year early to not see any shadows. I already miss both Spring and Summer.

* Looks like a lot of kids were out sick yesterday from school, I guess there is a nasty flu bug going around and it's hitting the area pretty hard.

* Have a great day....

Back to the Grindstone

I swear that weekends are just a little too short, it seems like just yesterday it was Friday afternoon and I was picking Michelle up from work. Oh well, it's back to the grindstone today.

We watched the Steelers game at home yesterday, Michelle's niece Samantha and nephew Tommy both stopped by for a visit and to cheer the Steelers on to a 27-14 victory over the Cleveland Browns at Heinz Field. Michelle made dinner and we all watched the Steelers put a whooping on the Brown's yet once again.

Not much to say to start a week other than Hi Ho Hi Ho....

Sunday Morning Ramblings

Michelle and I went to her Brother in law Jim's auction yesterday. Walked out with some nice things. We were looking into buying an electronic meat slicer (deli type) so that we could buy lunch meat in bulk and slice it up to save a few bucks on our weekly grocery bill. I managed to pick one up that has never been used pretty cheap.

My brother in law George went to the auction also and found some nice deals. There were some really nice items going pretty dirt cheap. I'll let everyone know the next time Jim has another auction.

We do have a nice day planned today, if you consider running around grocery shopping a nice day LOL. Steelers game at 1:00 and I think Michelle is going to make a few things, if anyone is interested in coming over let me know and come on over.

Mountaineer Madness Last Night

Last night was the start of the 2009-10 Mountaineer basketball season. Mountaineer madness as they call it was in full effect for the evening. Fans jammed into the Coliseum to watch this edition of the Mountaineers and try to help Huggins in landing one of the premier players in the country, Adreian Payne. The Mountaineer maniacs were out in full force to help coach Huggin's land this prospect, I hope we sign him, but that is all up to him to decide.

The evening started off with the introduction of both the entire Women's and Men's teams and giving them all a chance to walk down the carpet. Both coaches were given a few brief moments to say a few words and then it was time to move on.

Next up was the alumni 3 free throw shooting competition. Former players were split into two teams and the first team to make seven free throws won, the kicker was that they had to select one fan out of the stands and they had to make the final free throw. Kevin's Pittsnogle's team selected a fine young lady, a forestry major named Wanda. What a beauty she was. I wonder if she was related to 1968 team member and current color man Jay Jacobs, they looked a lot a like =)

After that there was a slam dunk competition, defending Champions Devin Ebanks and John Flowers were the finalists. John Flowers ended up winning the competition with the dunk at the end of this BLOG where he jumped over three students to win the competition.

The culminated with two ten minute scrimmages by both the Women's and Men's teams. The men are preseason ranked #5 and the Women are going to also be awesome. I recommend checking both teams out of you get a chance this season.

Jim Paugh Auction

Michelle's brother in law Jim will be holding the Fall Family Auction at the Cassville Volunteer Fire Department at 10:00. A few of the items that will be up for Auction are listed here.

Michelle and I will be going up to assist Jim and Chris with the Auction. Lot's of great deals available, come on over and see what you can find.

Happy Birthday Brittany Dae Cummings

Wow, has it been that many years since I first saw you wheeled out of the delivery room. Now you have grown up into a beautiful young lady and you are a college Freshman. Sitting in some of the same seats that I sat in just a few years ago.

Anyways, if you see this wonderful young lady today, make sure that you wish her a very Happy Birthday!!!!!

On a Personal note I would also like to wish her a very Happy Birthday!!!

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes it is once again that time of the week that we all look foreword to, when we can take time to cease the labors for the week and take a little bit of needed time out to enjoy the fruits of those labors. It is once again the dawn of another weekend and a Big Ole Hairy Friday.

First and foremost, Gates open at 6:30 tonight for an autograph session and tonight is the start of Mountaineer Madness at the WVU Coliseum. There will be an autograph session from 6:30 till 8:00 and then the madness starts at 8:30. Me and Michelle will be there and will be eagerly anticipating the 2009-10 edition of the West Virginia Mountaineer Basketball team. Most pre-season polls have Huggins and the boys ranked in the top 10 already. This could be an interesting year in Morgantown. Come on out, it will be a lot of fun.

High school football is your concern? #12 Morgantown will travel to #1 Brooke this evening and try to extract some Mon County revenge on the Bruins for them beating University High last week. Watch the Mohigans pull the upset, I'm calling it here first. University High will be entertaining John Marshall at home, Clay Battelle will travel to Cameron and Trinity travels to Williamson.

This was a short week for me, and I am glad it is over. Made a lot of progress career wise (even got a call about another job that pushes me much higher in Cranberry if I would choose to go that route), I have signed my offer sheet and returned it to Sexton already, I'm happy with where I am at right now.

As I mentioned in a Tuesday's Tidits

As I mentioned Tuesday I have a career announcement to make. As I said SAIC my current employer has lost the contract at NETL where I work.

SAIC the prime on the existing five year contract, but when the contract came up for rebid it was broken down into a series of contracts. SAIC had bid on three of the contracts that cover GIS services and failed to win any of the three. I had already received my layoff notice effective November 14th as well as every other SAIC employee who were contracted to NETL.

Two of the three contracts were awarded ta couple of months ago and the third was just announced this past weekend. I had resume's in with the two primes who won the two announced contracts and have exchanged quite a bit of paperwork with one of them including my salary history. An office mate of mine got his paperwork in early and had his interview with them and has an offer letter in hand.

I have an offer in hand with a substantial pay raise from a company that is subbed to all three winning contract bidders. They are jumping with joy and so am I, I said three months ago what the best scenario for me was and it played out exactly that way.

I have an offer in hand and will sign and submit it tomorrow to Sextant Technical. A small company of four people (and adding two more so far) and a wealth of GIS resources. We will be developing and hosting the GIS Touch Table both here in Morgantown and in Pittsburgh. They are wanting to form a one stop GIS services company at NETL that can cross over any and all contracts. Sextant has a vision, a gameplan, are proven winners and get the job done.

I am very fortunate for this opportunity to be working with the people I am working with, Sextant is the innovators of pushing the envelope in GIS data, Analysis and presentations. Forget that it is the biggest and best offer of my professional career, this is my ideal job.

Fourth company in 18 months, layed off twice, voluntarily left for another job once and never missed a beat. As I look back at my decision to go to school, it just reconfirms it was the best decision I ever made.

WOO HOO!!!!!!

Hump Day

Hey, Happy Hump Day!!!!! We've made it, it's over the hump day and we are on the downside of the work week.

Last night Michelle and I went over and visited Trish and Layla. Arron was sleeping so we didn't get a chance to see him, but we did manage to help Trish place a bid on a Halloween Costume for Layla. She is going as a....I'm not going to tell you, Its be a surprise.

The kittens are doing fine, they are stating to get their legs and are walking around. The little boy kitty is and has been pretty adventurous around the house. The Momma has them in Hayley's room, but the world is just a little too big for the adventurous one.

Over the hump and down the hill we go!!!!!!!

Tuesdays Tidbits

* I love starting the week on Tuesday, Monday's really are not my favorite days of the week and I had yesterday off for Columbus Day.

* I'll have a career announcement coming up within the next month or so. SAIC is a contractor for NETL and they lost the new contract this time around. No fears, I'll let everyone know how everything played out once everything is done. I'll just be changing companies, not jobs or even where I sit on a day to day basis.

* I am thinking about stream lining my website, it's been 4-5 years since I last redid it and there are a lot of changes that need to be made. There have been a lot of headaches and problems as of late, I think I have the problem fixed though right now.

* You'll notice my picture site is gone, I had to wipe it out and re-install it on my host. I'm going to have Michelle help me repopulate it again with things we want. I have all the images on my local computer if anyone wants a specific file.

* Shitzngiggles.com is another site I am going to redevelop. The first time I bought a cheap gaming site and put it up and that's what it was, a cheap gaming site. Might be looking in another direction now that I have the php issues worked out and it displaying again.

* Oh well, it was a nice three day weekend, but it's back to work I go...Hi Ho Hi Ho...

Columbus Day

Ahhh yes, I have a three day Holiday weekend and as everyone else heads out today to stick their noses back on the grindstone, I an fortunate enough to have my weekend extended one more day.

I really don't have anything planned short of watching a few movies and relaxing for the day.

I had a great weekend, and am fortunate to have one more day!!!!

Our Day Yesterday

Yesterday was an awesome day, it started put with Michelle and myself going to MiHaley's with Jean to watch the Mountaineer Game. WVU pretty much handed Syracuse pretty easily in route to a 34-13 win.

After the game Michelle and I went to Coopers Rock in search of Geocaches as Haley and a few friends had come over to start getting ready for her home coming dance. We did finally get our Milestone 100th cache yesterday.

After we got that 100th cache we headed home to get a few pictures of Hayley before she left for the dance.

Less than cooperative weather.

The weather was a little less than cooperative yesterday. It started raining yesterday and the whole day was just one big blah. The balloon race was scheduled for yesterday afternoon was canceled and the weather has been less than cooperative.

Hopefully today will be a little more cooperative weather wise. We're currently at 98 Geocache finds and may possibly be planning on a trip to Cooper Rock today to see the changing of the leaves, weather permitting. Maybe we'll get another one or two today to push us to the ceremonial 100 find mark.

Rain, rain go away, come back again on a day I have to work.

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes it is once again that time of the week that we all look foreword to, when we can take time to cease the labors for the week and take a little bit of needed time out to enjoy the fruits of those labors. It is once again the dawn of another weekend and a Big Ole Hairy Friday.

Last night was pretty fun, it started out with me and Michelle going to light up night. We ended up seeing Amy and Kaiden there, but light up night was a little less than spectacular.

After that we met Jane and her kids at Pizza Hut for a late dinner and some BSing. She is in transit to DC, her and Chris will be having dinner with President Obama Saturday night.

OK< on to tonight. High School Football on tap for this evening. University High hosts the number 2 ranked team in the state when Brooke comes to town. Hopefully the Hawks can end the Bruins undefeated season tonight. It's homecoming tonight for the Mohigans as they host the North Marion Huskies at Pony Lewis. Undefeated Clay Battelle puts their undefeated record on the line against Valley Wetzel and Trinity travels to Pendleton County.

I think we may try to head to Coopers Rocks this weekend to see if the view is prime for the trees changing colors.

Have a great Friday and a better weekend.

Light Up Night

Come one, come all to the 2009 edition (2008 was missed) of the Mountaineer Balloon Festival. The carnival portion of it all kicks off this afternoon at 3:00 with the fair gates opening and the carnival kicking it off. The night of festivities will start up with a photographic opportunity of Light up Night at 7:30.

After the sun goes down for the day and it starts to get a little bit dark, many of the balloonists will inflate their balloons and at every timed whistle blow will start inflating their balloons bringing a wonderful illumination to the night sky.

It's been a number of years since I have attended this event, I think the last time I went it was behind the State Police barracks about 20 years ago. Tonight however with my sweet heart in tow I will be returning to the event and grabbing a few pictures. Bring your camera and get ready for a chance at some beautiful photography.

Last night Michelle and I went and watched Arron and the UHS Hawks pummel BU 36-0 at the school. It was a dominating performance by the Hawks.

Hump Day

Let's see, Monday....Check. Tuesday....check. It's Wednesday and hump day. I have to say this this week is going by pretty quickly and starting tomorrow with Light Up night, my long weekend could get an early start.

Nothing planned for my boring life today, but like I said tomorrow is light up night and then it is Friday.

I do have to say as someone who started out with Myspace, and later switched to Facebook that I really like Facebook so much better. I think I have been able to conect with more people out of my past than I could have ever imagined. I think it is where I spend the majority of my internet time anymore.

I'm going to be making changes to my website in the near future. It's had some trouble recently and I'm not getting much support from GoDaddy that I am seriously considering moving my site to another host. I think GoDaddy just got so big, that they quit caring. I honestly haven't been too happy with them since they changed the back end a couple of years ago.

Oh well, I can't get to the weekend without completing today. Hi Ho Hi Ho.....

Big YELLOW Dance Cam - "Brick House"

People might remember this guy as the guy from our Steelers Triva Championship team as the guy who answered everything.

Go Page!!!

Tuesdays Tidbits

* Every once in a while you get writers block or you just have a few smaller things to say rather than building a larger story.

* Today is brought to you by the number 571. It has been 571 days since mine and Michell's first date and I have managed to trick her into keeping me this long, I must be doing something right.

* Hey a early warning, this Thursday Night will be Light Up Night at the 2009 Mountaineer Balloon Festival at Mylan (don't they name everything after him?) Park. Be cheering for Mountain Momma II at all of the balloon races. The Pilot is an old friend of mine and also works with me at SAIC, but this will be changing next month (More on that later). Bring your camera and get a good spot to watch this night time wonder.

* Would you believe that I have finally won a week in my Fantasy Football League. I started out 0-3, but finally got in the win column this week.

* Well for not having much to say, and Michelle running up and down the hallways with a Superwoman cape on (literally) to give me inspiration for this BLOG, it has come to a finish. I think Superwoman is out of breath....LOL

Is it Monday Again?

Would you believe that it has been a while since Michelle and I actually got the day to spend Geocaching yesterday. Well, the weather was nice today and we took the GPS, although we never used it, and spent the day grabbing a few Geocaches around Morgantown.

I kind of wanted to get out 100th one this year and with the four that we got yesterday that puts our total at 98 caches found and one hidden to date. I want to get at least two more finds to reach that magical milestone of 100 just so I can say I've done a hundred of them.

We got one at the Old Alumni Center, one at the Law School, failed to find one at the Core Arboretum, and found a couple in Woodburn to round out the day before we picked Hayley up and gave her a nice chance to drive around and practice a little bit yesterday.

It was a great day that I got to spend with a couple special ladies. Maybe today will even be better.

Weekends Go by To Fast

Wait, it was just Friday, are you telling me that it is Monday again already? If it were next Monday that may not be as bad because it will be Columbus Day and I'll be off, but this is not Columbus day and I have to get back to the grindstone. Arrrrggghhhhh

I have to say that I did have a good weekend though. A day of geocaching Saturday and yesterday Michelle made two of my favorites for dinner, haluski and pierogi casserole. I was in seventh heaven to say the least.

I did help Brittany with a little bit of Geology homework yesterday. I walked her around campus and showed her a few places that were relative to her homework. You know being a Professional Geographer and Geocacher one would think I know how to read maps. I can make them, and I can make some rather good ones, but the maps on her homework assignment had me a little confused and I headed the wrong direction initially. I think we got her taken care of though as we found what she was supposed to see.

Do I really have to go to work today? Is it really Monday again?

Weekend

As the thing we call a weekend is winding down, I took a picture that pretty much sums up my relaxing weekend so far.

This is one of our yet to be un-named kittens and I think this picture explains the weekend the best. Ahhhhhhhhhh, relaxed.

A day of Geocaching

Would you believe that it has been a while since Michelle and I actually got the day to spend Geocaching yesterday. Well, the weather was nice today and we took the GPS, although we never used it, and spent the day grabbing a few Geocaches around Morgantown.

I kind of wanted to get out 100th one this year and with the four that we got yesterday that puts our total at 98 caches found and one hidden to date. I want to get at least two more finds to reach that magical milestone of 100 just so I can say I've done a hundred of them.

We got one at the Old Alumni Center, one at the Law School, failed to find one at the Core Arboretum, and found a couple in Woodburn to round out the day before we picked Hayley up and gave her a nice chance to drive around and practice a little bit yesterday.

It was a great day that I got to spend with a couple special ladies. Maybe today will even be better.

Saturday Morning

Unlike mist of my blogs, I am actually writing this one real time instead of writing it the night before. I have to say that Blogger has been less than cooperative this morning as it is running pretty slowly. Actually Google in General, not the rest of the web, is a little less than its normal self this morning.

It is October in West Virginia, a time of the year when all of the most beautiful colors that your optical nerves could observe in nature will be presenting themselves here in the next few weeks as the trees start preparing to shed their leaves and prepare for winter.

It's a time for festivals like last weeks Buckwheat Festival and the upcoming Balloon Festival that we will have here in the next week after a one year hiatus last year.

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes it is once again that time of the week that we all look foreword to, when we can take time to cease the labors for the week and take a little bit of needed time out to enjoy the fruits of those labors. It is once again the dawn of another weekend and a Big Ole Hairy Friday.

How about that Mountaineer Game last night. We weren't the sharpest team out there, but on 220 yards rushing from Noel Devine the Mountaineers pull out a 35-24 victory over the Colorado Buffaloes.

Into High School Football? Well the big game tonight is when the Undefeated University High Hawks at 5-0 travel to the Undefeated and 4-0 Fairmont Senior Polar Bears. This should be a good game, go Hawks. Preston High Knights travels to my Alma Mater Morgantown High tonight to take on the Mohigans. The Undefeated Clay Battelle CB's are idle this week and Trinity travels to Hancock Maryland to play.

A Happy Birthday/Condolences goes out to Chris Ostien. Chris celebrates his birthday today but with a heavy heart as he heard a couple of days ago that his grandfather has passed. Chris worked last night's game , runs the big scoreboard, and is off today for the funeral.

Have a great Friday and start of another weekend.

It's Gameday

It's gameday here in Morgantown. The Colorado make come to Morgantown this year as we traveled to Boulder last season. The 2-1 Mountaineers will be looking to rebound from last weeks loss to Auburn and get extract a little revenge for the overtime loss we suffered out there last season.

Jarret Brown should be ready to go tonight, he was injured in his last play last game. Hopefully he will be 100% and be able to play like he has shown us he can tonight. When he is on his game he is one of the best around, that's a strong statement but also a true statement.

Maybe Noel Devine can reel off a couple of hundred yards rushing tonight to help alleviate any stress from the passing game. Devine a very explosive playmaker is just one of a handful of 5'8" speedsters the Mountaineers carry on the roster.