Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit in a quiet household. Kiwi and Peanut are reminding me that it has been three weeks since I last cut grass and it is getting a little high. So weather permitting after all the storms this past week I am going to attempt to cut the grass this morning. 

Michelle was off a day this week and managed to get her oil changed, so I won't have to wait in line for it to happen today for her Car. Mine still needs it changed but I'm still under in miles before it needs to be cut. 

No other big plans this weekend, other than grass and grocery shopping today. Who knows we might end up doing some running around, I would like to take a trip to Mal's soon and get some corn on the cob and package it up for the winter months. It makes a world of difference from anything you buy in the store during the winter months. 

\Have yoursleves 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!!!!

Are you looking for a little bit of Cheap Entertainment this evening, and by cheap, I mean free? Well, head on down to the Ruby Ampitheatre this evening. There will be a band named The War and Treaty that will be playing this evening for your entertainment. Kindred Valley will kick off the nights festivities. Kiwi and Peanut said they will try to make it down for the show, but they are not signing autographs. 

No big plans for us other than getting tires put on Pearl, they didn't make it on Sunday and we were both working though the week, so I'll get it done this morning. 

Let's get this party started. 

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 is from Thanksgiving two years ago at the Cassville Firehall. Everone was taking pictures and I decided to actually get in one. That is the worst part of being the photographer: you are rarely ever in any pictures unless someone else takes them. This little family unit needs to have an updated picture sometime after the first of the year. 

Have yourselves a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Lucy's Journal

July 22, 2026 – Operation: Dave & Buster's

Dear Journal,

I should have known today was going to be interesting when I woke up and found Kiwi wearing a tiny baseball cap and carrying a hand-drawn map.

"Today," he announced from the coffee table, "we embark on our greatest mission yet!"

Peanut opened one eye.

"You said that before we stole popcorn from Rural King."

"And history remembers us favorably," Kiwi replied.

The Quackers marched in formation across the living room floor.

"Quack! Quack!"

Lucy Translation Services™ believes they were saying, "Proceed with the mission."

Just then, Gracie came bouncing into the yard, her tail wagging at approximately 300 miles per hour. Floating quietly behind her was the Ghost of Maybelline, looking amused already.

"What's today's adventure?" Gracie asked.

Kiwi dramatically unfolded his map.

"We are going to Dave & Buster's."

Peanut sat upright immediately.

"The place with unlimited flashing lights and games?"

"The very same."

"Excellent."

Maybelline floated a few inches off the ground and sighed.

"I can already tell this is going to end with someone getting chased by security."

---

After piling into our imaginary adventure wagon, we arrived at Dave & Buster's.

There was only one problem.

It wasn't open yet.

The doors were locked.

Kiwi stared through the glass.

"No! We've arrived before business hours!"

Gracie pressed her nose against the window.

"I can see Skee-Ball!"

Peanut climbed onto a nearby bench for a better view.

"I also see claw machines. This changes everything."

The Quackers had become fascinated by their reflections in the glass and were having a spirited conversation with themselves.

Maybelline floated through the front doors and came back a moment later.

"I have good news and bad news."

"What's the good news?" I asked.

"There are approximately one million games inside."

"And the bad news?"

"They're still closed."

---

Naturally, Kiwi proposed a plan.

"I call this Operation: Totally Not Breaking In."

"That name is not reassuring," Peanut said.

The plan consisted of:

1. Looking extra cute.
2. Seeing if the doors magically opened.
3. Looking even cuter.
4. Sending Gracie to wag at maximum capacity.
5. Having Maybelline report back as our ghostly scout.

Surprisingly, Step 1 worked about as well as Step 2.

Not at all.

So Maybelline floated inside to investigate.

She returned with a detailed report.

"There are racing games, basketball hoops, air hockey tables, and a giant claw machine."

Peanut gasped.

"A giant claw machine?!"

"Also," Maybelline continued, "there's a game where you roll balls up a ramp."

"Skee-Ball!" shouted Gracie.

"I was getting to that."

---

At this point, Kiwi climbed onto my back and attempted to peer through the windows.

"I've always wanted to play Pac-Man."

Peanut nodded.

"I would dominate Whack-a-Mole."

The Quackers immediately volunteered for a duck-themed racing game they hadn't actually seen.

Gracie wanted to play literally everything.

As for me?

I just wanted one of those giant pretzels.

Eventually, Kiwi spotted an employee inside vacuuming.

"This is our chance!"

Before anyone could stop him, he flew up to the window and tapped politely.

The employee looked up.

Kiwi waved.

The employee waved back.

Kiwi pointed at the games.

The employee pointed at his watch and shrugged.

Kiwi returned to us looking defeated.

"He says they open in two hours."

"Devastating," Peanut said dramatically.

---

With time to spare, we held an official meeting to determine which games everyone wanted to play.

Kiwi:

• Pac-Man
• Air Hockey
• Anything involving tickets

Peanut:

• Claw Machines
• Whack-a-Mole
• Skee-Ball (for prestige)

Lucy (me):

• Giant Pretzel Consumption
• Basketball Games
• More Pretzel Consumption

Gracie:

• EVERYTHING.

The Quackers:

• The racing games.
• Also, somehow, pinball.

Maybelline:

• "I'm a ghost. I can't physically touch anything."
• Secretly admitted she wanted to play Dance Dance Revolution.

"I knew it!" shouted Kiwi.

"I said no such thing."

"You absolutely did."

---

As the morning passed, we sat outside watching the doors and planning our strategy.

Gracie practiced her victory dance.

Peanut sharpened her claw machine skills by attempting to retrieve leaves from a nearby bush.

The Quackers raced each other across the sidewalk.

Kiwi gave an inspirational speech.

"Today, my friends, we stand on the precipice of greatness!"

"We're standing in a parking lot," Peanut corrected.

"Metaphorically!"

Maybelline floated above us, smiling.

"You know, one day you'll all realize the real prize isn't the tickets."

"What is it?" I asked.

"The friends you spent the day with."

There was a moment of silence.

Then Kiwi raised a wing.

"Counterpoint: Giant stuffed banana."

Honestly, he had a point.

Until next week,

Lucy

P.S. We never did make it inside.

P.P.S. Kiwi is already planning "Operation Giant Stuffed Banana" for next Wednesday.

P.P.P.S. I'm bringing extra quarters.

Wednesday

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is over, now we are staring straight down at another Summertime Tuesday, time for a tidbits

* It has been 22,838 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, new, and improved 1,069-day Calendar. Mom is at 30,487, which would make her 28 according to my new and improved calendar. 

* It has been 8,093 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 22 years? 

* 6,686 days ago, Michelle and I had our first date together. Life has been much better since then. 

* 5,890 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 5,927 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 3,065 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 1,719 days ago today. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,280 days, I've now outlived him by 1,576 days, making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* Old roommate Gregg proposed to his fiancée 297 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 2,053 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.

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

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

* There are 170 more shopping days left until Christmas 2026. 

* There are 155 days until I hit the age of 63. Yeah, I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* WVU Football opens the season in 60 more days as they play Host to Coastal Carolina. 

* There are only 39 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our 15th Wedding Anniversary......maybe

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

* I have written 8,416 blogs in what is now 21 3/4 years of Blogging.

* Still working 10's this week and probably next week as well. 

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

* 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.

Nothing much has changed, still working 10s this week, but I didn't work any over the weekend. We're trying to finish this round-up before we move on to the next phase of the analysis. We're cleaning up data so when the script runs, it doesn't blow up because of some topology errors. So, just some housekeeping on a large dataset so we can move on. I have a couple of other projects I am working in but they brought me in on this one because there was a lot of editing to be done, so I enjoyed going back and doing that for a while. I am teaching another class this week on the Outage Management System, this will probably be the last one I do for a group, but you never know. 

Michelle got to come home early late last week, they are taking their computer system down to make some upgrades, so they sent everyone home for the day. 

Have yoursleves a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit in a semi-quiet household. Kiwi and Peanut are upstairs, all happy that Mommy's car got 4 new tires, and they are really excited about them. Kiwi wants to drive, but neither one of them can drive a 5-speed, so it will be humans only driving Pearl. 

I was up early yesterday and got Michelle's tires all changed; it rides and handles much better. The tires still had tread, but one of them was starting to show the wires inside the tires, so we decided it was just time to get her a fresh set of tires before the winter months hit.

I was going to cut grass yesterday, but it was sprinkling when I got home. I may re-evaluate today and see if if needs cut. Plus all that smoke that was in Morgantown from the Canadian wildfires was a little less than favorable, so I decided I could wait another day or even another week. It wasn't as bad yesterday as it was Friday, but I already tend to have coughing fits so I'll wait until the aire quality is a little better before I go joy riding on the tractor in the yard. 

Have yourselves a great day.