Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit in a quiet household, Kiwi and Peanut are wanting to ride around on the yard tractor and keep trying to remind me that it was be it has been around 264 hours since I last cut grass and that they took a vote and voted that the lawn needs some attention, if  the weather permits. They have a task for me and that is to go fill up the two gas cans and they said that they will take care of the rest. I have a couple cans that I use and they both have zip ties on them to indicated that it is just gasoline and not something for say the leaf blower or anything other than what you have to mix oil in with your gas. I have a smaller can for mixtures. 

It's been a pretty good week, I can't complain at all,  it went by rather quickly. I have a job interview on Monday, but it's in Washington PA and would require a couple of hours of travel every day. It's more money, but I do have to say I haven't heard much from any head hunters since last summer, things really slowed down until a couple of weeks ago when I started to get bombarded again. It's more money, but I really feel I am on the ground floor here where I am (not literally, I'm on the second floor) in building a Geospatial Department with a wide array of skill sets. Hope has a hiring freeze right now, but if something doesn't happen where I get my offer by the end of summer I may seriously start to look. I think I am in a very good situation and my name is really out there and respected. 

So what else is up for today, Michelle's going grocery shopping and I may get tricked into doing some yard work by a couple of pets. It's amazing how much control over my life that they have. 

Have yourselves a great day, make it memorable. 

Big OIe 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!!!

I told Kiwi and Peanut that next Friday, not this Friday will be the last day for Students at WVU. They will still be here the next week taking finals, but other than that, that completes the school year for them all. It'll be nice to see a lot less people around town for a few months. 

Of course when the students are gone, that means roadwork. Last year was a nightmare here with them expanding the road, moving utilities and building a new bridge and everything. Would you believe that that new bridge was opened up last week and everything is paved down here in the valley. So I'm excited about that. Watch turning into my driveway, it's paved smooth but there is a big drop off from the road surface to the ditch. 

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 somewhere on the internet. I like to find just one and post it up, recalling or reliving the picture to the best of my ability. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task, and sometimes it's not that easy, but one thing it has always been a lot of fun.

This weeks pic goes back to the 1970's. I was living with Grandma Hall and Terri had come to visit for a week or so. I was just starting to get into cameras for the first time and of course ole Bonnie Hall stuck her tongue out at me, I guess that is different than flipping me the middle finger like everyone does. 

Believe it or not, that is in fact my sister Terri sitting beside her. 

Have yourselves a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Lucy's Journal

Lucy’s Journal – April 22, 2026

Dear Journal,

Today started out as one of those “this is either going to be a great idea or a terrible idea” kind of days… and honestly, I still haven’t decided which one it was.

It all began when I announced to everyone that we were putting in a garden out back. Not a normal garden, though. Oh no. We were going to grow useful things. Delicious things. Revolutionary things.

“Pepperoni rolls,” I said proudly.

Kiwi tilted his head like I’d finally lost it. Peanut just blinked slowly, which I’ve learned means, this is going to be chaos and I’m here for it.

The Quackers? They didn’t ask questions. They immediately grabbed… well, I’m not sure where they got tiny shovels, but suddenly they had them and were marching toward the backyard like a construction crew that quacks instead of talks.

Within minutes, the yard looked like we were searching for buried treasure.

I supervised.

(Important role.)

We dug up a nice big patch of dirt, and I carefully explained the planting process:
Step 1: Bury pepperoni.
Step 2: Bury rolls.
Step 3: Wait for nature to do its thing.

Kiwi kept insisting that’s “not how agriculture works,” but I reminded him that he once tried to hide sunflower seeds in the couch cushions to “grow a snack couch,” so I wasn’t taking criticism.

Peanut helped by batting pepperoni slices into the holes… and occasionally eating the evidence.

The Quackers, meanwhile, had gone completely rogue.

Instead of following the pepperoni-roll plan, they had formed a very serious assembly line and were planting pickles. Just… whole pickles. One after another.

I asked what they were doing, and they all stopped, looked at me, and gave one very firm, unified:

“Quack.”

Which I’m pretty sure means, mind your business.

At one point, I decided to improve the garden by introducing bacon bits.

“Imagine it,” I said. “A bacon bit bush. We’d never have to buy salad toppings again.”

Kiwi nearly fell off the fence.

Peanut seemed supportive until he realized bacon bits weren’t immediately edible in large quantities (he tested this thoroughly).

We covered everything up, patted the dirt down, and stood back to admire our work.

Our beautiful, confusing garden.

Rows of future pepperoni rolls.
A mysterious pickle patch run entirely by ducks.
And one experimental section labeled “bacon bits (pending).”

If this works, we’re geniuses.

If it doesn’t… we’re still probably going to dig it all up and eat whatever we find anyway.

Either way, I’m calling today a success.

Now we wait.

—Lucy

Lucy’s Journal – Harvest Day (a.k.a. The Moment of Truth)

Dear Journal,

Today… we harvested the garden.

I woke up feeling confident. Excited. Possibly even a little famous, because I was pretty sure we had invented agriculture 2.0.

Kiwi, however, had the look of someone preparing to say “I told you so” at least twelve times.

Peanut stretched, yawned, and immediately walked outside like, let’s see what snacks grew overnight.

The Quackers were already out there. Of course they were. Standing in a neat little row. Watching the garden.

Guarding it.

From what? Not sure. Possibly from us.

We gathered around our masterpiece:

• The Pepperoni Roll Patch
• The Pickle Zone (Quacker-operated)
• The Bacon Bits (Pending… still)

I grabbed the first shovel.

“Moment of truth,” I said.

I dug into the pepperoni roll section… slowly… dramatically… like I was uncovering buried treasure.

And what did we find?

Not pepperoni rolls.

Not even close.

Just… dirt. Slightly greasier dirt. And one very questionable piece of pepperoni that Peanut immediately tried to eat before Kiwi smacked it away.

“Well,” Kiwi said, puffing up a bit, “as I have been explaining—”

“Next section!” I interrupted.

We moved on to the pickle patch.

Now THIS is where things got interesting.

The Quackers rushed in, shoving us aside (rude), and began digging like their lives depended on it.

And somehow…

Somehow…

There were MORE pickles.

Not grown. Not attached to anything. Just… buried pickles. More than we remembered planting.

The Quackers were thrilled.

They started tossing pickles around, quacking like they had just discovered gold. One of them even hugged a pickle. I didn’t know that was possible, but it happened.

Peanut grabbed one and ran off like he’d won a prize.

Kiwi just stared and said, “That’s not how plants work. That’s not how anything works.”

I’m choosing to count that as a partial success.

Then came the bacon bits section.

We all leaned in.

I dug carefully.

Nothing.

Dug deeper.

Still nothing.

Not a single bacon bit sprout.

I sat back and sighed. “The dream… is gone.”

Peanut checked anyway. Thoroughly. Just in case.

The Quackers offered me a consolation pickle.

Kiwi looked very satisfied.

BUT—

I have a new theory.

Maybe bacon bits don’t grow in spring.

Maybe they’re a fall crop.

Or… maybe… we need to water them with ranch dressing.

I haven’t ruled anything out yet.

So yes, technically, the garden didn’t work.

But also?

We now have a pile of slightly dirt-flavored pepperoni, an overwhelming number of mystery pickles, and a brand new plan for next season.

I’m calling it:

Garden 2.0 – Now With Science

Kiwi says he’s in charge of the science this time.

We’ll see about that.

—Lucy

Wednesday

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is over, now we are staring straight down at a Tuesday. 

* It has been 22,761 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, new, and improved 1,069-day Calendar. Mom is at 30,417, which would make her 28 according to my new and improved calendar. 

* It has been 8,015 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. I love what I do and am thankful to still be working in my field. Has it really been 8,000 days? 

* 6,609 days ago, Michelle and I had our first date together. Life has been much better since then. 

* 5,813 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 5,850 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 2,988 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 1,642 days ago today. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,280 days, I've now outlived him by 1,498 days, making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* Old roommate Gregg proposed to his fiancée 220 days ago, I'm happy for those two. I asked him a couple weeks ago if they set a date yet, he said we would be the first to know. 

* I have 2,129 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.

* 287 more days until Phil steps to center stage once again for Groundhog Day. I'm still mad at the damn rat

* 254 more days to go until my Goodbye 2026 Blog is posted. 

* There are 247 more shopping days left until Christmas 2026. 

* There are 232 days until I hit the age of 63. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* There are only 115 more days to go until Michelle and I will celebrate our 15th Wedding Anniversary......maybe

* There are 62 days until my second favorite season begins, Summertime!!!!!!

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

* I have written 8,325 blogs in what is now 21 1/2 years of Blogging. 

* Progress on my Selfie in Space, right here. We are ready for liftoff and holding. 

* Looking for Girl Scout Cookies? Ryleigh's Page

* Looking for Girl Scout Cookies still? Arabellas Page

* This is my favorite TicTok of the week. Reminds me of Peanut and Kiwi. 

* 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.

It's going to be a semi-busy week, putting out a few fires first thing this morning. I have to generate a pivot table of about half a million records and break it down how it was requested. I also have to convert everything from meters to feet to get the right calculations and break them all down by type and company. Big task for someone who wasn't the master of large data and complex pivot tables. I should have it done and normalized within the first hour. I also have some training I actually have to do this week for something called Rextag. Already have my account set up and I've already familiarized myself with the website and all of it's functionality. 

I'm not sure what the pets are going to get into today, but I think they are planning some kind of mischief this week. Something about Pepperoni Rolls, but it's a big secret between the two of them. 

Have yourselves a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday

Here I sit in a quiet household, Kiwi and Peanut decided to play an all night game of Go Fish, but they didn't quite make it all night. Now they are just snoozing away without a care in the world. Probably dreaming happy thoughts about that waterpark and waterfall in the back yard that they never built. 

Nothing really planned for the day, the temps are supposed to drop and our nice weather is going into a hiatus. 

With the NFL Draft starting this week, and it will be in Pittsburgh part of my attention will be on who the hometown Steelers draft. I look for the Steelers to start with an Offensive Lineman, probably a Guard, but that is just a guess. New Head Coach in Mike McCarthy and a new staff, so gone is Mike Tomlin and his staff and they mean a change in philosophies from the sideline. Ironically the last time the Steelers played in a Superbowl, they lost it to a Green Bay team that was coached by.....Mike McCarthy.

Other than that a few chores today and preparing for the upcoming work week. 

Have yourselves a great day.