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.