Happy Birthday Gary Hall

I would like to take this chance to wish my youngest sibling a very Happy Birthday today. 

I've always loved this picture of Gary, Grandpa Hall used to refer to him as Jobo. No idea where he came up with that nickname, but that was what he called Gary. I used to call Gary BASH, which stood for Bozo, Arnetta (his made up Dad used to use for his Girlfriend), Suck-a-thumb, Hall. Don't worry though, Gary would always give it back to me so it went both ways. 

I know Gary has quit his job back up home and is planning on moving back to Morgantown sometime in the near future. Not sure as to when or where that will happen, but it's his plans. 

If you happen to see or talk to Gary today, wish him a very Happy Birthday. Is this 54? 

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out, time to look at some of the 30,000+ photos that I have stored on my computer. Little lost moments in time that I either captured with a lens, scanned or just stole from somewhere on the internet. I like to find just one and post it up and recall or relive the picture to the best of my ability. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task and sometimes it's not that easy, one thing it has always been a lot of fun.

This one was an easy one, just go back four years to when Hayley and Tyler were married and use one of the wedding pictures are my photo Flashback. It was 4 years ago today that Hayley and Tyler were married on the beach at Chincoteague. The horses were there that day and it was almost fairytale like as they lined up for the wedding and actually waited until the wedding was over to greet the wedding party. That is reality, you could not have planned such an event and if someone did it was her Fatehr Richard from beyond. It was a magical day for her and everyone involved. 

Have yourselves a great day, Happy Anniversary to Hayley and Tyler and make it special. 

Hi ho hi ho

Wednesday

https://space.crunchlabs.com/

This is not some instant or overnight thing, you can upload a selfie and you should get it by mid summer. I submitted one for Michelle and I, this will be the link when the selfie is taken. 

https://space.crunchlabs.com/selfie/sPDHRxE

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is once again completed, you know what that means. Time for a tidbits. 

* It has been 22,440 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, and improved 1,045-day Calendar. 

* It has been 7,693 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. I love what I do and am thankful to still be working on my field. 

* 6,280 days ago Michelle and I had our first date together. 10,000 BC and Pizza Hut. 

* 5,491  days ago I proposed to Michelle in the backyard at 4:00 in the morning. I've been the luckiest guy since that fateful day. 

* It was 5,529 days ago in front of our closest friends and family, for the most part, Michelle and I became husband and wife at the Marilla Center, it was a great day with friends and family. 

* I have now lived 2,666 days longer than my Dad did and I'm still going strong, slowing down but still going. 

* Michelle has been living a clean and productive life and beat that alcohol demon 1,320 days ago today. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,273 days, I've now outlived him by 1,183 days making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* I have 2,436 days to go until I retire, give or take a few hundred days here or there, but I love doing what I do. Who knows, though, doing what I do I may never retire.

* 244 more days until Phil steps to center stage once again for Groundhog Day.    

* 211 more days to go until my Goodbye 2025 Blog is posted. Hopefully, I can put some better content together this year.

* There are 211 more shopping days left until Christmas 2025.

* There are 183 days until I hit the age of 62. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* Pitt comes back to Morgantown in 113 more days. I can't wait. Revenge time for Rich Rod!!!!

* There are 64 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Fourteenth Wedding Anniversary together. 

* There are 25 days to go until summer. 

* It has been ∞ (infinity symbol) days that I have hated both Pitt and Penn State.

* I have written 7,958 blogs in what is now 20 3/4 years since I started blogging. Two decades ago.   

* Older Drone still needs to be sent out for repairs, not a big priority at this time. My little drone is awesome and I really like it....when I take time out to fly it.   

* Life is much better when you eat Girl Scout Cookies, just saying, Ryleigh would appreciate it. Michelle just bought six boxes on thin mints for her Mom, who loves thin mints. 

* Still playing Monopoly Go. I'm still in 4th place among friends and family. I've stayed pretty steady there for a while. 

* This is my favorite Tiktok for this week. I love her content. 

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday

All good things must come to an end—but if you’ve got to wrap up the weekend, today’s a pretty exciting way to do it. Now it’s time to take our collective noses and press them firmly back onto the grindstone of life. Back to work, back to the hustle, back to doing our part to make this spinning rock a better place.

Peanut and Kiwi are up and at ’em this morning—well, kind of. They're a little too caught up in Monopoly Go on their phones to focus on anything productive. Kiwi is completely obsessed with the new Star Wars theme, while Peanut just enjoys batting at the screen like it’s a touchscreen toy made for cats (which, let's be honest, it might as well be). Every few minutes, I hear “Take that, Daddy!” or “Mom’s going to be mad!”—and when I check in, sure enough, one of them has knocked down one of my buildings. Or Michelle’s. Hard to say. Either way, we may have accidentally created two tiny digital tyrants.

Pretty sure summer break has officially kicked off. Judging by the flood of “last day of school” and graduation photos I saw last week, I think it’s safe to assume the kids are out. Amy might still be working a few more days (just a guess), but for the most part, the school year is in the rearview mirror.

Here we go again—let’s make it a good one.

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday

Here I sit in a quiet household, Kiwi and Peanut are both in the recliner, still sleeping. They spent all night watching Animal Planet and infomercials and I think they are both just tuckered out. I think they have a big day planned of napping and doing regular animal things. 

I have a few chores around the house, and with any luck, I can get the grass cut. It has been a while (actually about two weeks), and I just need a break in the weather to be able to do it. It looks like it might clear up a little bit today, so there is that hope. 

A little update, I did speak to the person who oversees Mount Union Cemetery. I am trying to locate my Great-Grandfather's actual burial site, Unfortunately, she said all of her records are indicative of who purchased the plot as opposed to who is buried there. She is going to have her people mow next see if there is a headstone somewhere. Grandpa Hall, Grandma Hall, Lincoln Hall, and our next door neighbor at the time's infant daughter are all together, I'm hoping it is within that area, just as an unmarked grave. Fingers are crossed, I'll keep you updated with any developments. 

Other than that, nothing new. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit once again in a quiet household, Kiwi and Peanut are up checking the grass and pointing out that maybe I should have mowed last weekend instead of waiting until this weekend. I tell those two that you need to check the weather report before you make any exterior plans of any kind. It's supposed to rain. 

No big plans today, Michelle is going to run and get one of her tires looked at, there is a nail or a screw in one of them and she is scheduled to stop off at some tire shop and have them stick a plug in it. I have a plug kit, but they want to pull the tire off and check it, in other words try to upsale her. Just stick a plug in it. I'll probably replace all four on that car this fall. 

Other than that, Michelle is going to do some shopping and that's pretty much our weekend. We're really boring over here to say the least. At least we have a cat and a bird to keep us entertained. 

Have yourselves a great day, go make some memories. 

 

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes, it is once again that time of the week that we all look forward 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 again the dawn of another weekend and a Big Ole Hairy Friday!!!

Another week of working is done and it is now time to relax. It was a short week for Michelle (Monday off), but a normal week for Kiwi, Peanut and myself at the homefront doing GIS. They have this mastered now, so it makes my life a little easier..lol

So what is on the agenda for this weekend? That's a really good question, if I had a really good answer I would take time and provide it to you, however I don't, I won't and I can't at this time. Maybe I should start having Kiwi write my blogs as he seems to know more about what is going on that I do. It might be cutting some grass or doing a few things around the house. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out, time to look at some of the 30,000+ photos that I have stored on my computer. Little lost moments in time that I either captured with a lens, scanned or just stole from someplace on the internet. I like to find just one and post it up and recall or relive the picture to the best of my ability. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task and sometimes it's not that easy, one thing it has always been a lot of fun.

This weeks pic is in fact an old one. The little boy in the middle of the picture with the hat on is Grandpa Hall and the man to the right of the picture was Robert LeRoy "Lee" Hall, which is my Great Grandfather along with his other kids, Robert on the far right, Joseph beside him I think and their sister Elizabeth Johana. 

Grandpa Hall was born in 1893, so this picture could have been taken somewhere around 1900 or so if you want me to guess. I have no idea who the adult is on the left hand side of the picture, could have been a brother to Lee possibly? 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Hi ho hi ho

Wednesday

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is once again completed, at least for those of us who didn't get a three day weekend. Time for a tidbits. 

* It has been 22,433 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, and improved 1,045-day Calendar. 

* It has been 7,686 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. I love what I do and am thankful to still be working on my field. 

* 6,273 days ago Michelle and I had our first date together. 10,000 BC and Pizza Hut. 

* 5,484  days ago I proposed to Michelle in the backyard at 4:00 in the morning. I've been the luckiest guy since that fateful day. 

* It was 5,522 days ago in front of our closest friends and family, for the most part, Michelle and I became husband and wife at the Marilla Center, it was a great day with friends and family. 

* I have now lived 2,659 days longer than my Dad did and I'm still going strong, slowing down but still going. 

* Michelle has been living a clean and productive life and beat that alcohol demon 1,317 days ago today. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,273 days, I've now outlived him by 1,176 days making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* I have 2,443 days to go until I retire, give or take a few hundred days here or there, but I love doing what I do. Who knows, though, doing what I do I may never retire.

* 251 more days until Phil steps to center stage once again for Groundhog Day.    

* 218 more days to go until my Goodbye 2025 Blog is posted. Hopefully, I can put some better content together this year.

* There are 211 more shopping days left until Christmas 2025.

* There are 190 days until I hit the age of 62. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* Pitt comes back to Morgantown in 120 more days. I can't wait. Revenge time for Rich Rod!!!!

* There are 71 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Fourteenth Wedding Anniversary together. 

* There are 32 days to go until summer. 

* It has been ∞ (infinity symbol) days that I have hated both Pitt and Penn State.

* I have written 7,951 blogs in what is now 20 3/4 years since I started blogging. Two decades ago.   

* Older Drone still needs to be sent out for repairs, not a big priority at this time. My little drone is awesome and I really like it....when I take time out to fly it.   

* Life is much better when you eat Girl Scout Cookies, just saying, Ryleigh would appreciate it. 

* Still playing Monopoly Go. I'm still in 4th place among friends and family. I've stayed pretty steady there for a while. 

* This is my favorite Tiktok for this week. Yeah, our Government has adults running it.

* Hi ho hi ho

Memorial Day Monday

All good things must come to an end, but this is an exciting day to end the weekend on. Now we have to take our collective noses and stick them back onto that grindstone known as life and get back to doing what it is that we do for a living to make this a better rock to live on.

While many of you will be enjoying the third of your three day weekend, I on the other hand am planning on working today. Kiwi and Peanut have dropped a subtle hint that they are not working today and that I need to do what I pay them seeds and cat treats to do, they are taking the day off with their Mom Michelle. So I guess I'll be the one working today...lol I'll probably be the only one in the office (Life of a Contractor), so probably very few distractions other than the ones around here. 

Looking at my week ahead it's just a normal week for me, trying to finish up and prepare a database for a client. The task is winding down and we should be starting another one real soon, hopefully there is no downtime from it. 

Have yourselves a great day, make some memories and visit a few loved ones who are no longer with us. It's good for the soul. 

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday

Here I sit on a quiet Sunday Morning, Kiwi and Peanut are kind of worn out from yesterday's activities. Mom, Michelle, and I drove to three graveyards, and Kiwi and Peanut flew behind us the whole way. Kiwi is not in this picture as he was sucking for air carrying Peanut all over the place. I said they could ride with us, but neither wanted to wear a seat belt, and they decided to fly to put flags on the graves of family members who served. 

There was a Geocache just outside the Arnettsville Cemetery that Michelle walked down and found. Fridholf was just outside the graveyard, and the graves closest to it were the Koon family graves in that back corner. Michelle was all smiles when she walked out of the woods. 

From there it was to Dad's grave where we cleaned it up a little bit and we found a second Medal of Honor winner in the East Oak Grove graveyard (this one from the civil war). 

Finally off to see Grandma and Grandpa Hall and see if we could find the buriel site of my great-grandfather, who may not have a marker. I left a message for the lady who maintains all the records, she is a friend of Trish's Mom Pat so hopefully I will hear back from her this week. 

We took a weed eater with us, which was a smart decision as some of the tombstones really needed cleaning up. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Saturday

Here I sit in a semi-quiet household, no pets visiting this weekend so it is just the four of us today. Michelle and I both worked a half a day yesterday so we are all going to be having some fun this weekend. Kiwi wants to have a BBQ and Peanut wants to play a game in the backyard. Her and Kiwi against Michelle and I, I think we'll take them. 

Michelle is going to do a little bit of grocery shopping this morning, I may try to cut the grass if I didn't get around to it yesterday afternoon. 

It is Memorial Day weekend, Michelle is off but I'll be working Monday. Either today or tomorrow I'll do my yearly drive when I visit a few local grave yards and place American Flags on my Dad's and Grandfathers graves. Dad doesn't have a Military tombstone, so when the VFW puts their flags on there is nothing to indicate that he served. It's s trip I take every year starting out in Arnettesville and East Oak and Mount Union. Not sure if this is a today thing or a tomorrow thing. I did find out that my Great-Grandfather and Great Grandmother are buried in the same Cemetary as Grandma and Grandpa Hall, so there might be some grave searching going on this weekend. Should be interesting. 

Have yourselves a great day, make the most of it and make some memories. 

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes, it is once again that time of the week that we all look forward 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 again the dawn of another weekend and a Big Ole Hairy Friday and the unofficial start of Summer with Memorial Day Weekend!!!!

So what is on the agenda for us this weekend? That all depends on what the weather is going to look like and what Michelle wants to do. She didn't get the chance to run back home last weekend, maybe that will change this weekend. 

Peanut and Kiwi are obviously happy, they like the weekends. I'm sure they will have something cooked up and wanting to do something. I just worry sometimes when they use the industrial tools like cutting torches and air compressors, Kiwi actually tried to order a fork life off of Amazon, but I put a stop to that transaction. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out, time to look at some of the 30,000+ photos that I have stored on my computer. Little lost moments in time that I either captured with a lens, scanned or just stole from someplace on the internet. I like to find just one and post it up and recall or relive the picture to the best of my ability. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task and sometimes it's not that easy, one thing it has always been a lot of fun.

This weeks pic goes all the way back to 2014 when Michelle was working for BFS. This guy came in and always wanted to see Michelle and grab a picture with her because he knew I was a big WVU fan. 

For anyone who does not recognize this person, it is Bob Pruett, the former Head Football coach at Marshall University. If you ever saw the movie Remember the Titans, he was the real life person that Denzil Washington tossed a banana to in the hand shake line. 

Have yourselves a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Happy Birthday's Pam and George McClain

I would like to take this opportunity to wish my Sister Pam and an early Birthday to my Brother in Law George and wish them both a very Happy Birthday today (although George's is Friday). 

Pam is a sister that any brother would be very proud to have. She is the most genuine of the genuine and it is an honor to call her my Baby Sister and one hell of a Grandmother. She would do anything for anyone and is one of the most innocent souls anyone would ever want to meet that has purple hair. 

George is the Brother in Law who would be my first round draft pick in the Brother in Law Draft. He is a brother from another mother to say the least. 

If you happen to see or talk to Pam today or George on Tuesday, take a little bit of time out of your busy day and wish this special lady or this fine young gentleman a very Happy Birthday today.

Happy Birthday Pam and George a little early.

Wednesday

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is once again completed; you know what that means. It's time for a Tidbits!!!

* It has been 22,426 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, and improved 1,045-day Calendar. 

* It has been 7,679 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. I love what I do and am thankful to still be working on my field. 

* 6,266 days ago Michelle and I had our first date together. 10,000 BC and Pizza Hut. 

* 5,477  days ago I proposed to Michelle in the backyard at 4:00 in the morning. I've been the luckiest guy since that fateful day. 

* It was 5,515 days ago in front of our closest friends and family, for the most part, Michelle and I became husband and wife at the Marilla Center, it was a great day with friends and family. 

* I have now lived 2,652 days longer than my Dad did and I'm still going strong, slowing down but still going. 

* Michelle has been living a clean and productive life and beat that alcohol demon 1,310 days ago today. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,273 days, I've now outlived him by 1,169 days making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* I have 2,450 days to go until I retire, give or take a few hundred days here or there, but I love doing what I do. Who knows, though, doing what I do I may never retire.

* 258 more days until Phil steps to center stage once again for Groundhog Day.    

* 225 more days to go until my Goodbye 2025 Blog is posted. Hopefully, I can put some better content together this year.

* There are 218 more shopping days left until Christmas 2025.

* There are 197 days until I hit the age of 62. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* Pitt comes back to Morgantown in 127 more days. I can't wait. Revenge time for Rich Rod!!!!

* There are 78 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Fourteenth Wedding Anniversary together. 

* There are 39 days to go until summer. 

* It has been ∞ (infinity symbol) days that I have hated both Pitt and Penn State.

* I have written 7,944 blogs in what is now 20 3/4 years since I started blogging. Two decades ago.   

* Older Drone still needs to be sent out for repairs, not a big priority at this time. My little drone is awesome and I really like it....when I take time out to fly it.   

* Life is much better when you eat Girl Scout Cookies, just saying, Ryleigh would appreciate it. 

* Still playing Monopoly Go. I'm still in 4th place among friends and family. I've stayed pretty steady there for a while. 

* This is my favorite Tiktok for this week. 3 Doors Down is a band I have always liked, they were the featured act to the one and only FallFest I attended while at WVU my Sr Year. Black Eyed Peas were there that year as well. 

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday

All good things must come to an end, but this is an exciting day to end the weekend on. Now we have to take our collective noses and stick them back onto that grindstone known as life and get back to doing what it is that we do for a living to make this a better rock to live on.

Here we go again, Kiwi and Peanut are both getting the hang of this GIS thing, they both feel like they are now masters of the trade and well versed in the geospatial sciences field. 

Everyone needs to give a birthday shout out to Trish, she turns the big 5-0 today. Layla asked us a couple fo weeks ago to do a short video for Trish that she was going to stitch together for her birthday (today). 

Got a couple of meeting this week looking ahead for work, plus I am going to meet with a financial advisor later this week. I finally got all of my retirement accounts all in the same place and and I just need to meet with an advisor this week to make sure that it's all simplified and protected for tax purposes. 

Have yourselves a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday

Here I sit, yet once again in a semi-quiet household. Gracie is going home today after a second straight weekend of visiting. We sent her home with a big bag of dog food and a new squeaky play toy. 

Michelle, Chris and Danni all went to the Blue and Goldmine Sale yesterday morning at the Football Stadium. They were part of the early birds and went in at 7:00, it cost them $5 to enter and they got a bag for $25 that they could fill up once during that time. I know she was excited to do it, she likes to sleep in on weekends but she was up and ready to go at 5:45 so she could meet her sisters. 

I debated back and forth yesterday morning about cutting the grass or not. I really wasn't that high, but my weather app said it was going to rain in three hours. Only takes me about 45 minutes to an hour to mow, and Peanut said she wanted to Mow and Gracie and Kiwi all decided to surprise me and mow the grass. They are such good pets. 

Plans for the day? Probably not a whole lot of anything other than sitting around the relaxing. Michelle got all of the shopping done yesterday, so just a few minor chores around the house today and that's pretty much it. Other than waiting for Hayley and Tyler to come and pick up their puppy from the weekend. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit in a quiet household, Kiwi and Peanut are up early trying to plan out a backyard football game. I swear they just have that competitive nature sometimes when they just have to be competing with each other in some kind of activity or another. Team Penaut is a ground attack and team Kiwi is going to be the aerial assault passing game. I think they just like tackling each other. I just have to keep reminding Peanut to not eat Kiwi, he gets mad when she does that.

I bought Michelle a reMarkable for work this week. She has a co-worker who has one, Kim just got one, so I got one for Michelle. I know Kim likes hers and Michelle is still learning hers, it's a great tool for keeping track of notes, journals and those kinds of things. I'm kind of disappointed that you can't watch movies on it. 

Michelle was going back to East Liverpool this morning, but those plans have changed. She and her sisters are talking about going to the Blue and Gold Mine Sale at the Stadium this morning. They are talking about meeting up at 7:00 AM. 

We also have a houseguest again this weekend. Gracie is here as Hayley, and Tyler are chaparoning the Boyscouts camping trip this weekend back home. I guess they are building a new campsite with a cabin. 

Have yourselves a great day today. 

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes, it is once again that time of the week that we all look forward 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 again the dawn of another weekend and a Big Ole Hairy Friday.

Do you believe, as WVU enters Graduation, that it was 21 years ago today, and the 27th Anniversary of Grandpa Hall's death, that I graduated from WVU? Has it really been 21 years? Even 48 years after Grandpa Hall passed away, time just goes by too quickly. So much happens in just the blink of an eye. 

So what is up for us this weekend? I cut grass last Friday afternoon, let's see what the weather is like today or even if it needs to be cut. I'll go and do the Sams club shopping after work, just so we don't have to deal with too much traffic around town. 

Speaking of traffic, have you noticed all of the undergrads are pretty much gone for the summer? Yeah, less traffic to have to deal with for about three months until they come back. I noticed it last Friday, but there were still finals going on. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out, time to look at some of the 30,000+ photos that I have stored on my computer. Little lost moments in time that I either captured with a lens, scanned or just stole from someplace on the internet. I like to find just one and post it up and recall or relive the picture to the best of my ability. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task and sometimes it's not that easy, one thing it has always been a lot of fun.

For this weeks pic I had to do a little bit of research, that is a picture of my sister Terri and it's probably around 1978 or so based on the Sgt Peppers Lonley Hearts Club Band movie poster on her wall. She has this growth growing out of her ear, and I'm not sure what it is. It has a windy cord on it and further research shows me that was something that was called a telephone. You would plug it into a wall or an adapter and run a cord to it, then you had a headset like she is holding to her ear and it allowed you to talk to people. This is long before the iPhone and I was wandering how people communicated before cell phones and smart phones. 

Have yourselves a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Wednesday oldie but goodie

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is once again completed; you know what that means. It's time for a Tidbits!!!

* Today would have been my Dad's 80th Birthday, Jappy Birthday Dad. 

* It has been 22,419 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, and improved 1,045-day Calendar. 

* It has been 7,672 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. I love what I do and am thankful to still be working on my field. 

* 6,259 days ago Michelle and I had our first date together. 10,000 BC and Pizza Hut. 

* 5,470  days ago I proposed to Michelle in the backyard at 4:00 in the morning. I've been the luckiest guy since that fateful day. 

* It was 5,508 days ago in front of our closest friends and family, for the most part, Michelle and I became husband and wife at the Marilla Center, it was a great day with friends and family. 

* I have now lived 2,645 days longer than my Dad did and I'm still going strong, slowing down but still going. 

* Michelle has been living a clean and productive life and beat that alcohol demon 1,303 days ago today. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,273 days, I've now outlived him by 1,162 days making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* I have 2,457 days to go until I retire, give or take a few hundred days here or there, but I love doing what I do. Who knows, though, doing what I do I may never retire.

* 265 more days until Phil steps to center stage once again for Groundhog Day.    

* 232 more days to go until my Goodbye 2025 Blog is posted. Hopefully, I can put some better content together this year.

* There are 225 more shopping days left until Christmas 2025.

* There are 204 days until I hit the age of 62. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* Pitt comes back to Morgantown in 134 more days. I can't wait. Revenge time for Rich Rod!!!!

* There are 85 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Fourteenth Wedding Anniversary together. 

* There are 46 days to go until summer. 

* It has been ∞ (infinity symbol) days that I have hated both Pitt and Penn State.

* I have written 7,936 blogs in what is now 20 years since I started blogging. Two decades ago.   

* Older Drone still needs to be sent out for repairs, not a big priority at this time. My little drone is awesome and I really like it....when I take time out to fly it.   

* Life is much better when you eat Girl Scout Cookies, just saying, Ryleigh would appreciate it. 

* Still playing Monopoly Go. I'm still in 4th place among friends and family. I've stayed pretty steady there for a while. 

* This is my favorite Tiktok for this week. Has anyone guessed whose idea it was to put a bird tictok up? One guess. 

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday

All good things must come to an end, but this is an exciting day to end the weekend on. Now we have to take our collective noses and stick them back onto that grindstone known as life and get back to doing what it is that we do for a living to make this a better rock to live on.

Looking at the week ahead, I know Michelle is going to have a busy day as I keep chugging along on our project. Kiwi and Peanut are hard at work trying to drive this project home, they are such dedicated workers. Always looking for ways to make things run much more efficiently. 

OK, I have to say it,  they're gone!!!! For the summer, all of the students are gone; they finished classes, took their finals, and some of them graduated, meaning a new group of  Freshmen will be coming in in the fall which means Josh is now an experienced college student and not one of these n00bs walking around campus trying to figure out where to go. Until then however,  they are gone so enjoy less traffic for a few months, mobility around town, less lines to wait in. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Hi ho hi ho

Happy Mothers Day

I'm taking a break from my regularly scheduled blogging and taking a little bit of time out to wish two very special ladies in my life a very Happy Mother's Day. 

To my mother and to my wonderful wife, I like to wish a very Special Mother's Day. This is a holiday that has roots right here in North Central West Virginia, Grafton, West Virginia, to be specific, it was started by a woman named Anna Jarvis. Her house is between Grafton and Phillipi, I have taken Michelle to the Anna Jarvis House before, and she has visited the Mother's Day Shrine in downtown Grafton. Kiwi and Peanut of course are up and wanting to make a trip to Starbucks so that they can get their Mommy her favorite Drink, a White Chocolate Mocha with an extra shot and extra hot, but I'm not sure Kiwi can fly here with it so I may have to help. 

Anyways I would also like to wish each and every Mother a Very Happy Mother's Day today, you are what make this world go round and make it a better place. 

Happy Mother's Day

Saturday

Here I once again sit in a semi-quiet household, we are watching Gracie this weekend as Hayley and Tyler are helping their friend Logan move back to Morgantown. He is from Petersburg, but is moving back to Morgantown this weekend and Hayley and Tyler are assisting him, so that means we get Gracie for a couple of days. They are all being quiet and watching an animal movie on TV. As long as they are behaving, I have no complaints. 

If weather didn't permit yesterday, I will be cutting grass today as Michelle will be running around doing the grocery shopping for the week. As an update, I was able to get the grass cut yesterday. I got out of it last week, but the grass is a little taller this week and needs to be cut. Mower is full of gas, the spare gas cans are also both full, so I am more than ready to tackle the grass. 

We did get some shocking news this week, the Catholic Church has a new Pope and for the first time ever, he is an American from Chicago. Big surprise as I never ever expected to see an American Pope in my lifetime. 

Have yourselves a great day, make it memorable. 

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes, it is once again that time of the week that we all look forward 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 again the dawn of another weekend and a Big Ole Hairy Friday.

Today is one of my favorite days of the year, why do you ask? Because it is the last day of finals for WVU, meaning everyone is either already out of or have to be out of the dorms by tomorrow. The school year is over until the vast majority of them return in August. So what does that mean? It means there is going to start being a lot less traffic around town. Commencement is next weekend, so some will be sticking around town for a week, but the majority of them are probably already gone. Kiwi and Peanut are celebrating, they hate trying to drive around town with all the students, it's already hard enough for them with one working the gas and brake and the other steering and paying attention to where they are going. 

So what is on our agenda for the weekend? I don't really know yet, I'll have to get with Michelle and determine that. I do know she is planning on returning to East Liverpool in the next few weeks, they are selling her Dad's house for Karen's care and she wants his ashes. Not sure when they are going up specifically. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

HI ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out, time to look at some of the 30,000+ photos that I have stored on my computer. Little lost moments in time that I either captured with a lens, scanned or just stole from someplace on the internet. I like to find just one and post it up and recall or relive the picture to the best of my ability. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task and sometimes it's not that easy, one thing it has always been a lot of fun.

Would you believe me if I told you 15 years ago I had a chance to keep this little firecracker. I told Michelle I wasn't interested and she asked Ashley if she would like him, and she said yes. How could I say no to this little cutie? 

Well this is the infamous Rocky, aka Little Rock of Love aka Richard. Such a loving puppy. He lives in South Carolina now and has long forgotten about his days in West Virginia and the days in the Valley. 

Here he is now. 

Have yourselves a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Wednesday

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is once again completed; you know what that means. It's time for a Tidbits!!!

* It has been 22,412 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, and improved 1,045-day Calendar. 

* It has been 7,665 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. I love what I do and am thankful to still be working on my field. 

* 6,252 days ago Michelle and I had our first date together. 10,000 BC and Pizza Hut. 

* 5,463  days ago I proposed to Michelle in the backyard at 4:00 in the morning. I've been the luckiest guy since that fateful day. 

* It was 5,501 days ago in front of our closest friends and family, for the most part, Michelle and I became husband and wife at the Marilla Center, it was a great day with friends and family. 

* I have now lived 2,638 days longer than my Dad did and I'm still going strong, slowing down but still going. 

* Michelle has been living a clean and productive life and beat that alcohol demon 1,296 days ago today. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,273 days, I've now outlived him by 1,155 days making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* I have 2,464 days to go until I retire, give or take a few hundred days here or there, but I love doing what I do. Who knows, though, doing what I do I may never retire.

* 272 more days until Phil steps to center stage once again for Groundhog Day.    

* 239 more days to go until my Goodbye 2025 Blog is posted. Hopefully, I can put some better content together this year.

* There are 232 more shopping days left until Christmas 2025.

* There are 211 days until I hit the age of 62. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* Pitt comes back to Morgantown in 141 more days. I can't wait. Revenge time for Rich Rod!!!!

* There are 92 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Fourteenth Wedding Anniversary together. 

* There are 46 days to go until summer. 

* It has been ∞ (infinity symbol) days that I have hated both Pitt and Penn State.

* I have written 7,929 blogs in what is now 20 years since I started blogging. Two decades ago.   

* Older Drone still needs to be sent out for repairs, not a big priority at this time. My little drone is awesome and I really like it....when I take time out to fly it.   

* Life is much better when you eat Girl Scout Cookies, just saying, Ryleigh would appreciate it. 

* Still playing Monopoly Go. I'm still in 4th place among friends and family. I've stayed pretty steady there for a while. 

* This is my favorite Tiktok for this week. Kim sent this one to me a few weeks ago. 

* Did you know this is finals week at WVU? Classes are over with, it's final examination week. 

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday

All good things must come to an end, but this is an exciting day to end the weekend on. Now we have to take our collective noses and stick them back onto that grindstone known as life and get back to doing what it is that we do for a living to make this a better rock to live on.

Kiwi and Peanut are going to let me drive the software today, Kiwi is watching me work and Peanut said she heard that there is a Mouse on the desk and is looking for it. Not on her watch she says. 

Nothing special as far as I know for the upcoming week, just chugging along and trying to compile what we need to compile. Michelle is busy as always, maybe I should send Kiwi and Penaut to work with her to give her a hand. 

Have yourselves a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday

Here I sit in a quiet household, trying to figure out what hole Mom fell in as she was playing Bocce with Kiwi, Peanut, and Lucy yesterday afternoon. I never did get an answer from any of them about who won the game of Bocce or even that any of them even knew how to play Bocce. I guess they are sworn to secrecy, kind of like Fight Club. What happens on the Bocce Field stays on the Bocce Field. I'm just not sure why Mom stood in a hole to bring herself to their height. I would have shown no mercy and beaten the other three in backyard Bocce. 

So, what is on our agenda for the day? Michelle is going to run around and do the grocery shopping. I know she has some other running around to do this morning as she wants to redecorate the mantle in the living room. It's been decorated since Halloween, and I have a number of totes up in the garage filled with decorations. Now I think she is going to do one for either a spring or a summer theme. She took down the Easter Decorations last weekend. 

I held off on cutting grass yesterday, so as she is grocery shopping and Mom and the pets are playing Bocce, I may be out mowing grass. Doesn't really need it, hence why I didn't cut it yesterday afternoon. 

I asked Michelle yesterday morning if there are any plans; she just wants to veg and relax, so there might not be any big plans today other than what I've already mentioned. I think the pets are wanting to watch all the Star Wars movies, as today is May the 4th. 

Some students at WVU have already started clearing out of town for the summer, Friday was the last day of classes and Finals are this coming week.

Have yourselves a great day, make some memories. 

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here we sit ona  quiet Saturday Morning, I was playing around a little bit with AI and tried to implement a profile picture from Facebook and my typical Kiwi and Peanut thing I do on weekends and see what it ended up giving me. It got our clothes right, it drew Peanut and Kiwi based on a description, and gave us this masterpiece. Artificial Intelligence is getting better and better is all I can say. 

 

So, what is up for today? I really don't know yet, I wrote this blog entry a little early to try the AI thing, and this was my end result. Oh hell, I wonder what it would produce if I took a picture from say one of our cruises and told it to put Michelle and I at a Beatles Concert. I just wonder what that picture would look like. 

OK, so much for playing with AI this morning, Kiwi and Peanut have had their attorney contact me about them having exclusive rights on Saturday morning and have given me a cease and desist order. 

I did manage to get a Grandpa Hall's record shipped to me this week which I was very happy about. I saw where it was available to purchase and jumped on the opportunity to grab it. 

Have yourselves a great day today. 

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes, it is once again that time of the week that we all look forward 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 again the dawn of another weekend and a Big Ole Hairy Friday.

Ah yes, the end of another week of making this a better rock to live on. Of course that is for those of us that work for a living, unlike a couple of pets who have decided to take the day off and play hopscotch on the walkway in the back yard. I'm not sure of they understand the rules as their numbers are all messed up...lol

No plans for this weekend believe it or not. It is a big day for Josh, he is having his last day of classes at WVU today, next week is the start of finals so he'll be done for the year unless he decides to go to summer school. Your brain is usually mush about this time, so he might be taking a break until the fall, or he'll have a couple weeks off before the start of Summer 1, not sure what his plans are exactly. 

Have yourselves a great day, I know Kiwi and Peanut are. 

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out, time to look at some of the 30,000+ photos that I have stored on my computer. Little lost moments in time that I either captured with a lens, scanned or just stole from someplace on the internet. I like to find just one and post it up and recall or relive the picture to the best of my ability. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task and sometimes it's not that easy, one thing it has always been a lot of fun.

I have to be honest, this is a picture that I found on Facebook last year and pre-dates my time on this earth. The year was 1957 and Gerald Bell is in the picture on the front row looking all dapper. 

Also in this picture is Jean's High School Boyfriend, way before she met my Dad and married him. Any guesses which one?

Have yourselves a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Wednesday

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is once again completed; you know what that means. It's time for a Tidbits!!!

* It has been 22,405 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, and improved 1,045-day Calendar. 

* It has been 7,658 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. I love what I do and am thankful to still be working on my field. 

* 6,245 days ago Michelle and I had our first date together. 10,000 BC and Pizza Hut. 

* 5,456  days ago I proposed to Michelle in the backyard at 4:00 in the morning. I've been the luckiest guy since that fateful day. 

* It was 5,494 days ago in front of our closest friends and family, for the most part, Michelle and I became husband and wife at the Marilla Center, it was a great day with friends and family. 

* I have now lived 2,631 days longer than my Dad did and I'm still going strong, slowing down but still going. 

* Michelle has been living a clean and productive life and beat that alcohol demon 1,289 days ago today. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,273 days, I've now outlived him by 1,148 days making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* I have 2,471 days to go until I retire, give or take a few hundred days here or there, but I love doing what I do. Who knows, though, doing what I do I may never retire.

* 279 more days until Phil steps to center stage once again for Groundhog Day.    

* 246 more days to go until my Goodbye 2025 Blog is posted. Hopefully, I can put some better content together this year.

* There are 239 more shopping days left until Christmas 2025.

* There are 218 days until I hit the age of 62. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* Pitt comes back to Morgantown in 148 more days. I can't wait. Revenge time for Rich Rod!!!!

* There are 99 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Fourteenth Wedding Anniversary together. 

* There are 53 days to go until summer. 

* It has been ∞ (infinity symbol) days that I have hated both Pitt and Penn State.

* I have written 7,922 blogs in what is now 20 years since I started blogging. Two decades ago.   

* Older Drone still needs to be sent out for repairs, not a big priority at this time. My little drone is awesome and I really like it....when I take time out to fly it.   

* As far as the air conitioner, I was mowing grass Friday and thought to myself, it might be time to take the cover off of it and fire it up. 

* Life is much better when you eat Girl Scout Cookies, just saying, Ryleigh would appreciate it. 

* Still playing Monopoly Go. I'm still in 4th place among friends and family. I've stayed pretty steady there for a while. 

* This is my favorite Tiktok for this week. Tell me Ants aren't smart.

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday

All good things must come to an end, but this is an exciting day to end the weekend on. Now we have to take our collective noses and stick them back onto that grindstone known as life and get back to doing what it is that we do for a living to make this a better rock to live on.

Here we go yet once again with another fun-filled week. Nothing out of the ordinary for me this week that IO can see. Still working on the project that I have been working on the past few weeks. Peanut and Kiwi on the other hand are dressing a little more business formal this week, me I'm at home working in shorts and a tee shirt. They like to look all professional I guess. 

Something I did over the weekend, I purchased one of Grandpa Hall's records. It's My Little Home in West Virginia and it's an old 78, meaning it is much more brittle than the vinyl ones we used to buy (33's and 45's). The 78 Grandpa Hall had a recording Machine where you would put in a blank disc and record right onto the dic. Only problem was, you got one shot and one shot only as the machine would cut the grooves into the record when you recorded. I'm hoping it will be here this week. 

Have yourselves a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday

Here I sit in a quiet household, Kiwi and Peanut are taking a snooze after being up for three days analyzing the NFL draft and what teams should select what players. They have really done their due diligence in helping all the NFL teams make the correct selections at the proper time. They worked together in Unison and were using my two work setups yesterday, both have dual monitors, and they just plugged my personal laptop into the docking station out in the living room. Now they are beaten and tired, and I can see them napping all day. 

So what is on mine and Michelle's agenda? Nothing. No holidays, parties, luncheons or anything else to do, it could be a watch some movies kind of day. I was smart enough to cut the grass on Friday before the rain started. I saw a window of opportunity where I had an hour of sunshine and not evercast to knock it out before the rain started. It had grown pretty good over the previous 7 days with all the rain and then sunshine, I just wanted to stay ahead of it and managed to do just that. 

Have yourselves a great day, do something and make it special and just be thankful that you have electricity this Sunday =)

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit yet once again in a semi-quiet household, Kiwi and Peanut have been really invested in watching the NFL draft the couple of days and I would imagine that that will continue through today and the end of the draft. They have been doing all kinds of analysis and trade scenarios as to who will be the next pick, who fits where and about anything a GM would do. I know I shouldn't have let them watch the movie Draft Day. 

So hopefully by now everyone has their power restored. We here were fortunate as out power merely flickered a few times last Saturday Night, but many family members were without power clear up until Tuesday Evening and some Wednesday Morning. It's been 3 of the last 4 Saturdays where this has happened around here, we just were lucky enough to avoid the latest loss of power due to a storm surge. 

So what is on our agenda today? I did the Sam's yesterday so all we have left to do is our weekly menu shopping, that and plan out the meals for the week. Michelle has been taking care of that, so I get the easy part of helping carry groceries down and putting them away. 

Have yourselves a great day

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes, it is once again that time of the week that we all look forward 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 again the dawn of another weekend and a Big Ole Hairy Friday.

Kiwi and Peanut are happy, they stayed up half the night waiting for a Mountaineer to be drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft, but that was all for naught as we move onto day 2 of the 3 day draft. We are hoping Wyatt Milum will be selected. At the start of last season he was believed to be a first round pick, but he seems to have dropped a little bit since then. He'll be drafted though, he was a 5 five-star prospect out of High School and has always been a solid Offensive Tackle, but could play Guard at the next level. 

So what is on mine and Michelle's agenda for this weekend? I don't really know, hopefully the weather will be nice out and we can get out and do something fun. After being cooped up all winter, it's time for some outdoor activities. I actually mowed grass last friday for the first time this year, so we'll wait to see how the grass is doing before we make any mowing assessments. 

Have yoursleves a great day. 

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out, time to look at some of the 30,000+ photos that I have stored on my computer. Little lost moments in time that I either captured with a lens, scanned or just stole from someplace on the internet. I like to find just one and post it up and recall or relive the picture to the best of my ability. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task and sometimes it's not that easy, one thing it has always been a lot of fun.

Looking at this picture tells me a lot. Look at my sister Kim sitting on the couch, I can almost read her mind. "Does he ever shut up" is what I am imagining her saying in her head. 

Judging my the balloon on the TV I would guess this would have probably been Amy's Birthday party, which would be mid-march and if I were to guess the year I would say 1988. Dad had his camcorder out (see case) and Terri actually still had the old Adam Computer that we used for BST Hotline (I even remember the phone number, 296-3030.

Have yoursleves a great day

Hi ho hi ho 

Wednesday

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is once again completed; you know what that means. It's time for a Tidbits!!!

* It has been 22,398 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, and improved 1,045-day Calendar. 

* It has been 7,651 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. I love what I do and am thankful to still be working on my field. 

* 6,238 days ago Michelle and I had our first date together. 10,000 BC and Pizza Hut. 

* 5,449  days ago I proposed to Michelle in the backyard at 4:00 in the morning. I've been the luckiest guy since that fateful day. 

* It was 5,487 days ago in front of our closest friends and family, for the most part, Michelle and I became husband and wife at the Marilla Center, it was a great day with friends and family. 

* I have now lived 2,624 days longer than my Dad did and I'm still going strong, slowing down but still going. 

* Michelle has been living a clean and productive life and beat that alcohol demon 1,282 days ago today. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,273 days, I've now outlived him by 1,141 days making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* I have 2,478 days to go until I retire, give or take a few hundred days here or there, but I love doing what I do. Who knows, though, doing what I do I may never retire.

* 286 more days until Phil steps to center stage once again for Groundhog Day.    

* 253 more days to go until my Goodbye 2025 Blog is posted. Hopefully, I can put some better content together this year.

* There are 246 more shopping days left until Christmas 2025.

* There are 225 days until I hit the age of 62. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* Pitt comes back to Morgantown in 155 more days. I can't wait. Revenge time for Rich Rod!!!!

* There are 106 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Fourteenth Wedding Anniversary together. 

* There are 60 days to go until summer. 

* It has been ∞ (infinity symbol) days that I have hated both Pitt and Penn State.

* I have written 7,915 blogs in what is now 20 years since I started blogging. Two decades ago.   

* Older Drone still needs to be sent out for repairs, not a big priority at this time. My little drone is awesome and I really like it....when I take time out to fly it.   

* As far as the air conitioner, I was mowing grass Friday and thought to myself, it might be time to take the cover off of it and fire it up. 

* Life is much better when you eat Girl Scout Cookies, just saying, Ryleigh would appreciate it. 

* Still playing Monopoly Go. I'm still in 4th place among friends and family. I've stayed pretty steady there for a while. 

* This is my favorite Tiktok for this week. Weird WV State Laws, enjoy. 

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday

All good things must come to an end, but this is an exciting day to end the weekend on. Now we have to take our collective noses and stick them back onto that grindstone known as life and get back to doing what it is that we do for a living to make this a better rock to live on.

I had to correct Kiwi and Peanut's sign for them, they still had the Big Ole Hairy Friday sign up, not on a Monday. That is nothing short of wishful thinking..lol

Hopefully everything can get back to normal today, I only worked 4 hours on Friday (and 4 9's) to take half a day off and manage to get the grass cut for the first time this year, which I did. But that was Friday and this is Monday. I've got the home GIS crew ready to start working, they are getting really good at this stuff. Peanut does good, Kiwi though is just a one bill pecker on the keyboard. 

I hope everyone had a great Easter. Michelle made a small ham and Kiwi made the deviled eggs (they were white rabbit eggs, not the chocolate kind) and Peanut finally figured out how to peel potatoes without making French Fries. Two multi-talented pets right there I got to tell you. 

Looking at the week ahead, I found some open source data that is pretty robust for our purposes that is also pretty cheap. I ran it up the chain of command on aquiring this dataset which is mostly what the client is looking for. 

Have yourselves a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Happy Easter

Here I sit in a semi-quiet household, Kiwi and Peanut are up having an absolute blast. They spotted the Easter Bunny running around hiding eggs and they wanted to go and find them all. Kiwi wonders why Rabbit eggs are hard boiled and decorated. It didn't take long to occupy him and change his train of thought. 

Happy Easter Everyone. I hope today is a time for friendship, fellowship and family. A day where hams are cooked, deviled eggs are eaten and most importantly memories are created. From my family to your family we would like to wish you a Very Happy Easter. 

So what was the big surprise I wouldn't talk about in yesterdays blog? Friday was my brother in law Jim's 70th Birthday and we had a surprise Birthday Party for him at his favorite restaurant the Grand China Buffet in the old Washington Mall. I didn't want to risk him reading my blog and messing up the surprise party. 

Have yoursleves a great day and go make some special memories.