Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well that dreaded thing that we refer to Monday is now gone and behind us as we are looking ahead towards a Tuesday. Other than if the Steelers could have held on for a win Sunday, I can't think of a better reason to do a tidbits.

* 18,566 days since I was born. My only real question is who in their right mind over the age of 50 has any clue how many days old they are? I guess the key word is right mind...lol

* It was 3,789 days ago that I fulfilled a dream that I had of actually finishing my education. I graduated High School in 1982 but never felt closure about my academic career until I graduated from the next level.

* 2,390 days ago I was lucky enough to go out on a first date with a wonderful woman, despite the fact that she stood me up just a few months prior, but that's a whole different story. =)

* 1,614 days ago in our back yard, I got down on one knee at about 4:00 in the morning to propose marriage to a wonderful woman.

* 1,151 days ago at the Marilla Center in front of our closest friends and family, we exchanged our marital vows and became Husband and Wife.

* I have 6,271 days to go until I retire, give or take a few hundred here or there.

* 310 days to go until my fourth wedding anniversary with my wonderful wife.

* Only 171 more days to go until we re-enter my favorite time of the year which is Spring.

* 92 more days of writing content before my Goodbye 2014 Blog post at the end of the year.

* There are only 86 more shopping days left until Christmas. If you haven't started yet, you might notice that a lot of the stores are starting to actually put Christmas stuff out.

* This is my 3,801st blog post that I have written for this blog. That's what a decade of blogging gets you, your life's story on the internet for all to see.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates are in the playoffs the second consecutive year, they will host the Sand Francisco Giants tomorrow evening in the Wild Card Playoff game to see who advances to the next round. I like our chances this post season, despite dropping the last two games of the season.

* The Springs Festival is this weekend, this will be our third consecutive year of going there for this on Saturday.  Hopefully we can find some time to stop in and eat at the Casselman Restaurant. We stopped last year and fell in love with the place.

* We are talking about taking a trip up to Moundsville Penitentiary  in the very near future, I want to tour the facility but I think we are going to go through the normal tour rather than the haunted place tour. I'm more curious about the facility for the educational and history of the place rather than the scary part of it.

* I'm going to set up my Mom's Christmas Tree this year sometime before Thanksgiving, everyone might want to think about a 2014 personalized bulb to add to the tree this year. This tree was born last year and will come to life again this year with new entries.

* This is Homecoming Weekend for WVU coming up, the Parade will be Friday evening.

* Hi ho hi ho

Back To Work

All Good things must come to an end, and unfortunately or fortunately however you look at it, that includes those fun filled things we refer to as Weekends.

However let me reflect a little before I do go to work, let me reflect upon our experiences yesterday. I did manage to get a lot of pictures yesterday. Probably in the area of 500 or so when you consider two cameras plus the two iphones we were using to take any pictures. The game was celebrated a little too early as the Steelers somehow managed to grab defeat from the jaws of victory and lost 24-27 to Tampa Bay. We did make it on the Jumbo Tron multiple times throughout the game. Obviously when I was down on the field and by the locker rooms and a few times from the stands. It may have been 5 or 6 times that cameras were pointed at us to be displayed on the big screen.

It was a long day to say the least, filled with some great friends who we do need to spend more time with. Dinner, Bowling, something.

Now our weekend fun is over with, it's time to head back to work and concentrate on the tasks at hand for the week and start looking ahead to next weekend.

Hi ho hi ho

Steelers Game

Well as part of our prize package for winning the McDonalds KDKA Pittsburgh Steelers Trivia Challenge show this summer, we will be attending the Steelers-Tampa Bay game this afternoon. We will once again also have field passes for the pre-game.

Unlike the last time we went when  it was blistering cold where the hot chocolate that spilled froze before it got off the bleachers, today's game will be nice and warm and will be a 1:00 PM instead of a 4:00 kickoff. Meaning that we will be home this evening at a decent hour.

We're heading out early this morning and will be riding up with team mate to Station Square where we will meet our other team mate Randy and get a number of group photos with both trophies. I'll be handing the trophies over today as I think it is Randy's turn to hold them, so I'll be sure to get quite a few pictures.

I'll be uploading pics from my phone to Facebook as will Michelle, something different than in 2008 when most people have not seen the hundreds of pictures that I took, much like this one.

Should be a great day and go Steelers.

BTW, they Steelers won the Super Bowl the last time we won the trivia challenge =)

Bought a Treadmill

With the Winter Months fast approaching and we want to continue with our lifestyle change and continue to exercise, we decided this summer to go and get a treadmill this fall.

We've done our research the past couple of months, looking at Craigslist for one and stopping by a few stores to see if there was one we wanted. We did decide to buy new as opposed to someone elses headache that they are trying to unload on someone.

Our research kept coming back to the Nordictrack and we found one at Sears that was reasonably priced and would fit our needs. We really like the t 6.1 Treadmill  and the Nordicktack was a brand we were just comfortable with after reading many reviews for many treadmills.

I told Michelle once we got back from the cruise we would get one and with Fall now being upon us, which means shorter days and in-climate weather ahead in the near future we decided to go and get it today.

It's now set up with a Smart TV in our old bedroom =)

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit once again in a quiet household. I'm the first one to recover from that butt kicking I took from the Sandman last night and am up early watching Jackass .5 on Netflix and trying to keep my concentration on writing this blog.

Looking for something to do today since there is no local football? Well the Preston County Buckwheat Festival  is going on for those of you who like Buckwheat cakes and not trying to lose weight.

The West Virginia Wine and Jazz Festival is going on here in Morgantown at Camp Muffley. If you have never been to this it is a lot of fun, there are local wineries from all over the area and state there to showcase their wine.

There is the WKKW Triple S Wing Cookoff at Triple S Harley Davidson. This appears to be a scaled down version of what it once was, but I'm sure there will be plenty of wings for everyone to enjoy.

To me it seems kind of strange that three once large festivals that dominated their own weekends are all vying for attention on the same weekend. The Buckwheat Festival is always this week and is not influenced by anything else, but the other two events have changed their dates to compete with it.

Michelle and I will be doing probably none of these today as she is finally starting to recover from a bout with Bronchitis this week and we want her as healthy as possible for tomorrow when we will have field passes for the Steelers Game. So our day will probably consist of our Sunday chores which include our shopping and laundry, so there will be little play for Michelle and I today.

The Mountaineers are on a bye week this week, so I won't be glued to the TV set today watching them play.

Have a great day.

Big Ole Hairy Friday

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

Looking for a little bit of Football tonight? The Morgantown High Mohigans take on three time defending State Champion Martinsburg tonight at Poly Lewis Field. I'm hoping for the best, but Martinsburg looks like they will extend their streak once again. University High travels to Musselmen and Clay Battelle hosts St. John Oh in Blacksville this evening. A good evening of football.

My plans for this weekend? Well first of all Michelle has been battling Bronchitis all week, so my main concern is her health tomorrow. I'm going to try to get her healthy for Sunday.

Sunday I will be joining the rest of the Pudgy Polamalus at Heinz Field as we will once again be on the field with the team Sunday Afternoon during the pre-game. I'll once again grab as many pictures as possible and share them with everyone as I can.

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out and look through all of the pictures that I have either taken, scanned or stolen off of the internet through the years. Little lost moments in time that were captures and stored for us all to share at a later time. It's one of my favorite blog posts of the week and I love looking through my pictures. Sometimes it is pretty easy to find that one magical moment to share and sometimes you do struggle to find one. One thing is always certain, it's always a whole lot of fun.

This weeks picture was one that I actually already had in mind before I started writing this blog. Since Kaiden's birthday was yesterday I wanted him to be the subject and I think this is probably the funnest picture that I have ever taken of him.

We are at Pam and George's for Calvin's Birthday party and I captured this timeless treasure. Kaiden was just strolling along without a care int he world and I managed to get this image. It's just one of those pictures that you take that you you just love and never forget.

Hi ho hi ho

Wednesday Wisdom

It's brain fart Wednesday, so you know what that means, my lack of literary creativity means that I have to fall back on something more reliable. Enjoy

* I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that don't work. -- Thomas Edison

* Anything else you're interested in is not going to happen if you can't breathe the air and drink the water. Don't sit this one out. Do something. -- Carl Sagan

* People spend too much time finding other people to blame, too much energy finding excuses for not being what they are capable of being, and not enough energy putting themselves on the line, growing out of the past, and getting on with their lives.-- J. Michael Straczynski

* You can fool some of the people all the time… and those are the ones you want to concentrate on. -- George W. Bush

* A person will sometimes devote all his life to the development of one part of his body – the wishbone. -- Robert Frost

* He is so old… he owes Jesus a quarter. -- Anonymous

* It is so hot… I saw a squirrel fanning his nuts. -- Anonymous

* If not controlled, work will flow to the competent man until he submerges. -- Boyles Law

* When all else fails, follow instructions. -- Allen's Axiom

* All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy and Jill a rich widow. -- Evan Esar


Have a Great Day

Hi ho hi ho

Happy Birthday Kaiden Dalton

I would like to take this opportunity to wish my Great-Nephew Kaiden a very Happy Birthday today. If my math is correct, and I've been know to be wrong, Kaiden should be turning 6 years old today. Actually I do know that he is 6 years old today because I blogged about it six years ago.

Not sure what Amy has planned today for Kaiden, they decided to celebrate his Birthday earlier with a trip to Ocean City Maryland earlier this summer as they celebrated both Kaiden's and Kynlea's Birthdays.

It does seem like only yesterday that Kaiden was born, my how the years seem to stack up when you start to get up there in age...LOL

Kaiden is a vibrant young man and very photogenic as you can tell. His mom loves taking pictures of him and is actually pretty darned good at it and I mean to the point where she should start thinking about it as a part time business.

Anyways, if you happen to see Kaiden today, make sure that you wish this very special young boy a very Happy Birthday today.

Happy Birthday Kaiden.

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well my string of non-working Mondays ended yesterday, as sad as it was I had to work yesterday. But this however is Tuesday and I still can't think of a better reason to do a tidbits.

* It was 18,559 days ago that I was born. Yes that qualifies as a member of AARP and I have used that membership.

* 3,782 days ago I fulfilled a dream of mine when I graduated from WVU. I was 35 before I ever started, but I did graduate with a degree.

* 2,383 days ago I went out on a date. Not just any old date, it was a first date with a woman who would forever change my life.

* 1,607 days ago I wanted to make that dating thing a little more permanent, so I got down on one knee and proposed marriage to that wonderful woman.

* 1,144 days ago in front of our closest friends and family, we tied the bonds of matrimony and feasted like kings.

* I have about 6,278 more days to go until I retire, give or take a few hundred here or there.

* I'm 317 days from my 4th Wedding Anniversary.

* There are only 178 more days to go until Spring, can you tell I'm already tired of Winter and it's only a few days into Fall.

* I have 99 more days of blogging to do before I do my Goodbye 2014 Blog. That's still a lot of time to add content and memories to for me to make.

* If you are Christmas Shopping, you still have 93 days to go before Christmas, although I have seen a number of stores starting to put Christmas stuff out already.

* This is my 3,792nd blog that I have written for George's Journal. It's amazing the number of things and events that have been a part of this blog since its inception.

* Have I ever mentioned that I Hate Snow? Not sure if I have ever mentioned that here before, but I wanted to start out the season right.

* Lot's of events coming up this weekend.

* The Preston County Buckwheat Festival begins once again this week.

* The West Virginia Wine and Jazz Festival is this weekend at Camp Muffley.

* Michelle and I will be going to the Steelers game this Sunday. We will be treated as VIP's once again with pre-game field passes as the Steelers take on Tampa Bay. This is our prize for winning the 2014 KDKA McDonalds Pittsburgh Steelers Trivia show again this year. This is the second time that we have won the tournament and have placed in the prizes by making the finals in all three seasons we have competed. I'll be joining my Trivia Teammates welcoming the Steelers onto the field.

* I've finally earned my 75 pound badge. 76.9 lbs since May 22nd and 91.9 lbs since Christmas.

* Hi ho hi ho

Back to Work Kind of Monday

Well I have avoided them for a few weeks, with Holidays and Vacation, but Monday has finally caught back up to me and I have to work today. This is the first one in a while, so I guess I can't complain too much, but it's time to stick the nose back on the grindstone and start another week of work.

We did watch the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Milwaukee Brewers 1-0 yesterday afternoon. The Pirates set a season home attendance record this year with almost 2.5 Million fans that made it out to see games this year. This isn't just the record for PNC, it's the All-Time Pirates record for attendance. Magic number is now 3 and it's looking like we're going to the post season for the second straight season.

Looking at my week ahead, my schedule seems pretty open but that could always change, you never know what kind of a curve ball work is going to throw you or what kind of fires you are going to have to put out.

Michelle had a sleep study last night, so I had the house to myself for the evening. So me and the cats had a party, it was catnip all around for everyone. (Can you tell it was an uneventful evening?)

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday

Well here I sit once again in a quiet household, first to recover from that butt kicking I took last night from the Sandman and up early watching Coyote Ugly and catching my thoughts for the day.

Well the Mountaineers made it a really good game for the first half last night. It was a 24-24 tie at halftime, but Oklahoma was just a little too much better in the second half and the Mountaineers lost 45-33 to the Sooners last night. I honestly thought we were going to pull the upset last night, but the Sooners took control of the game of the second half behind Freshman Running Back Samaje Perine who ran for 242 yards as the Mountaineers had no answer for him last night. The Mountaineers are off this week and will play Kansas at home in two weeks.

Today is going to just be a normal day for us, shopping and Laundry or what ever is left of it for the day. Michelle has to do a second Sleep Study tonight as they are going ton test her with a CPAP machine to assist her in sleeping. She can never seem to get enough rest and is always tired and is beyond the long work week she puts in at work. She just never seems to get enough rest. Hopefully this will assist her in getting quality sleep.

Have a great day.

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit once again in a quiet household, I'm the first one to recover from that losing battle with that dreaded Sandman last night and I'm up early collecting my thoughts for the day and surfing the Net. Man of Steel is playing in the background on HBO, but I'm not really watching it.

You wanting some football? West Virginia University plays host to #4 ranked Oklahoma Sooners this evening at 7:30. I'll be watching the game from here to avoid the mayhem that will be all around Morgantown this evening. Traffic was bad yesterday as many of those attending the game arrived in town. Hopefully we can give the #4 ranked Sooners a good game as we stripe the stadium.

I'm almost back down to my pre-vacation weight, within a pound now. I packed on a few (about 10 lbs cause the ice cream machine kept calling my name) on the cruise ship as I simply enjoyed myself for the week. I haven't lost it all back yet, but I'm almost within a pound and hopefully will be earning my 75 pound badge from Loseit.com in the very near future.

With all that weight loss, my extremities have went from always being warm to absolute ice cubes over the past few months. I was at the point where I was about ready to buy a pair of gloves to sleep in my hands and feet were always so cold. Well we solved that problem yesterday when we bought a king sized electric blanket for the bed. I set this thing on the highest setting when I went to bed last night and it was nice and warm and toasty. In the middle of the night I had to turn it to the lowest setting as it was too hot. It has the dual controls so each of us can control how we like our comfort level. Well worth it, I wanted to get one last winter but they were sold out. Now I have one for this winter and this thing is awesome.

We also had two atomic clocks here, neither one of them as of yesterday were working any longer. One just never worked right and the other went on the fritz yesterday morning after working from the time we moved here. So we bought a new one to replace the two that were no longer working. It's my primary timekeeping time piece at home (other than my phone) and I felt lost without it.

Have a great day, be careful driving around town and Let's Goooooo Mountaineers!

Big Ole Hairy Friday

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

Looking for a little High School Football action? Morgantown and University will both try to bounce back from losses last week. The Mohigans will travel to Washington and University High will play host to Wheeling Park at University High School. Clay Battelle plays host to Hundred, but I'm not sure if Hundred is fielding a team this season. Just double checked, Clay Battelle is idle this week, so University will be the only High School action played in Monongalia County tonight.

No plans on the agenda for Michelle and I this week. Next weekend will be a busy one for us and we just came back off of vacation, so it may be a rest at home type of weekend. I know Michelle has been running three weeks in a row with her Grandmother's Birthday the week before Vacation. You never know what the day may hold for us tomorrow however, I know I want to be home in the early evening to watch WVU and Oklahoma play.

Have a great day and a great weekend.

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out and look through all of the pictures that I have either taken, scanned or stolen off the internet through the years. Little lost moments of time that are preserved by me to share with everyone in my blog. Sometimes finding that one special picture is pretty easy and sometimes it's not that easy, it is however always a whole lot of fun.

This weeks pic goes back a few years, seven to be exact. Back when my summers were filled with the sport I played every year for about 27 summers before I retired. This was the game of Softball and this was the first MVP Paintball Softball team. I'm the bald guy in the back row on the right.

This was yet another great team that I played on, one that was very good during the regular season and then played a team in the playoffs that we mercy ruled in the regular season only to be sent home early. Amazing, that the team that beat us in the playoffs had only two players that were there from the regular season matchup. IOW they loaded the roster up with players who were not on their team to play for them come playoff time, but we took our lumps and called it a season.

This was a fun year and this was a very close knit group of guys that I always referred to as my boys of summer.

Yes I do miss playing, but know I can't perform how I would like to anymore. I guess being a member of AARP makes it harder to compete with a bunch of young kids.

Hi ho hi ho

Happy Birthday Calvin McClain

I would like to take this opportunity to wish my Nephew Calvin Michael McClain a very Happy 19th Birthday today.

It has been my pleasure to see this fine young man grow up and mature over the years. He just graduated from High School earlier this year, an event that we all made it to to witness.

I'm not sure what Calvin's plans are for today, maybe to spend a little time with or talk to his girlfriend, or maybe he's just working today.

If you happen to see or talk to Calvin today, make sure that you wish him a very Happy Birthday today,

Happy Birthday Calvin.

Hump Day

Well I finally made it back to work after being off on vacation for an extended period of time. and yesterday felt like two days trying to get caught up from being off work. Nothing we couldn't handle though, so I guess that makes today a hump day for me even though I only worked one day this week.

I am now back to eating like I did prior to the cruise, mainly because I have a number more healthier options than I did on the cruise ship. I did pack on a couple pounds, but I've already lost half of what I put on and am back on track to reach my goal and maybe even beyond.

Now that vacation is over with, Michelle and I have a couple more things planned in the near future. We'll be going to the Steelers - Tampa Bay game on the 28th and we're going to the Springs Festival the following weekend. This weekend however is not one where we have anything planned yet. It is football season and Oklahoma is coming to town, and we are actually playing pretty good so far this season, so you just never know what may happen. Maybe a couch or two will get burnt around Morgantown..LOL

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well mine and Michelle's vacation is now officially over and we are going to be returning to work today. It was absent last week but your beloved tidbits returns this week.

* 18,552 days ago your favorite decade long blogger was born.

* 3,775 days ago I realized a lifelong dream and accomplished it by graduating from West Virginia University.

* 2,376 days ago I took a wonderful woman out for a night on the town, a day my life would change forever.

* 1,600 days ago I got down on one knee at 4:00 in the morning and proposed marriage to this wonderful woman.

* 1,137 days ago and three trips to the Caribbean later, we are still happily married.

* I have about 6,285 days or so, give or take a few hundred here or there, until I enter into retirement.

* 324 more days to go until mine and Michelle's fourth Wedding Anniversary.

* 106 more days of blogging to go until I do my favorite blog of the year, the Goodbye 2014 Blog reflecting upon my last year as a blogger month by month.

* The count is on, we are down to the last 100 shopping days to go until Christmas.

* This is my 3,784th blog that I have posted for George's Journal, going strong for over a decade now.

* We uploaded a total of 656 pictures from our week long cruise. I still have a lot of video, daily video blogs, ship tour, and underwater videos to sort through, but the pictures are up for everyone to see and enjoy.

* West Virginia Grand Bash is doing it again. It will be on January 17th and tickets are on sale now. We purchased a ticket last year but didn't win anything, I stopped by the venue a couple of times and it was a rocking place last year, so we will get our ticket for this year as well. Proceeds go to the WVU Children's Hospital. 

* Coming off a cruise, it's hard to get back to reality. You're a little out of touch with anything that has went on locally, and your only news is what comes on one of the major networks. Talk about struggling for content..lol

* We do have our cats back. Hayley watched them and took care of them for us while we were gone. She brought them back last night.

* We have went from 90° days to 45° days in a very short period of time. I miss the Caribbean.

* Well as everyone now officially knows, we won the 2014 KDKA McDonalds Pittsburgh Steelers Trivia Challenge again, we are scheduled to go to the September 28th Game against Tampa Bay. Hopefully it will be much warmer than it was the last time we went. We'll be VIP's for the game and will be on the field during the entire pre-game.

* I do have a favorite desert from our cruise, I still love the Chocolate Melting Cake, but the Creme Brulee I think is my new favorite.

* I did just find a Pintrest page that has a lot of the Cruise Lines Recipes.

* I think our patio garden is done for the year, I got a great yield from my Cucumbers and Banana Peppers. I still have Green Peppers growing, but I'l a little worried now that the temperatures are dropping.

* Do I really have to go back to work? Is vacation really over?

* Hi ho hi ho

Vacation Day 10

Well lets just extend our vacation just one more day, time to finish winding down from that week long trip and get back into a normal routine.

It's been a while since I have actually written a blog, it was a nice little break from blogging as well as work.

We have had a great vacation, we had awesome weather and avoided any storms the entire week with the exception of one small one earlier in the week where we just managed to take a nap while it was raining. Other than that it was perfect weather.

We did do a good bit of snorkeling, Michelle managed to see an eel and get it on recorded while she was handling the camera. I'll have to sit down and go through all of the videos that we did and actually piece them together sometime today.

We did have a few professional portraits taken, including this one. We had two made and both of them are printed on canvases just ready to mount and hand. We were both very happy with the way they turned out.

Now it is time to take today and transition back from vacation mode and get ready to transition back into working mode. It was a great vacation, but we''' enjoy one more day of it.

Have a great day.

Vacation Day 9, Back in Baltimore and Back Home

Well this is my last pre-written blog that I am writing for the 2014 vacation. The next blog that you read will in all likelihood be a live blog from me as we are now heading back into Baltimore and getting ready to get back in pearl and head back home to Morgantown.

Our 2013 vacation was a whole lot of fun for us, the only problem is I am not paying for internet fees out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and I had to pre-write all of these before we left (yes I wrote them in August). I shared our vacation from last year with everyone, and hopefully you the reader were able to share with us what we were going to see each day based on our 2013 experience.

One thing that we will get to experience this morning is kind of an unexpected honor. Francis Scott Key wrote our Nations National Anthem on the night of September 13-14, 1814 by what he witnessed at the Battle of Fort McHenry in Baltimore. This is the Bi-Centennial of the authoring of that song and there will be a big celebration this morning at Fort McHenry. We will have a prime view as our balcony will be facing Fort McHenry as we pull back into Port.

We will be debarking and going through customs one final time this morning, before packing pearl up one last time to make our return trip back home to Morgantown. I hope we had as much fun on this years cruise as we had last year, we are already planning next years.

Next blog today will be a live one.

Vacation Day 8, the Day at Sea on the Return Home

During our 2013 vacation we did a video log each day. This year instead of writing about where we are or what we are doing, I thought I would share with you our previous years experience. I am on vacation this week and since we are doing the same trip and are staying in almost (next to it) the same room, I'm going to post the previous years video blog. Enjoy.

Vacation Day 7, Freeport Bahamas

During our 2013 vacation we did a video log each day. This year instead of writing about where we are or what we are doing, I thought I would share with you our previous years experience. I am on vacation this week and since we are doing the same trip and are staying in almost (next to it) the same room, I'm going to post the previous years video blog. Enjoy.

It all Started 10 years ago today

It all started ten years ago today, a co-worker made a statement of "I'm a Grogger, nor a Blogger" (Thank You Evan Fedorko) and I knew that a Grogger was someone who was a beer drinker, but at that time I had absolutely no idea what a Blogger was. I googled it, because that's what college graduates did back then when there was something they didn't understand, and quickly saw the blogger site. It came up first in my search engine results, probably because Google owned both of them, so I decided to start one.

I had seen that blog stood for weB LOG, an online Journal that people use to track their lives and events. My sister Kim had been doing something like that on her website and was honestly the first one to start blogging. She's had about 10,000 different or better different variations of blogs (she likes change) and I started with one concept and called it George's Journal as I made my very first Blog post ten years ago today at exactly the same time that this blog is going to post.

It has been an honor and a privilege for me to share my life publicly over the last decade. A lot has changed over that decade, I had just recently Graduated a few months earlier and was still working for peanuts at the NRAC and through this blog my career has blossomed. I went from a single guy looking for love to marrying a very special lady. I've blogged about births, deaths, events, TV shows, vacations, come up with a number of themes to allow me to do this daily and have learned a few lessons about how to be a blogger the hard way. Never air out or disrespect anyone through your blog, that doesn't go away and no matter how mad you are, nothing like that needs to last forever.

So here is to ten years and the start of my second decade writing George's Journal. I think I'm going to continue to celebrate our Steelers Trivia Championship at my favorite place in the world with my wife.

Thank you to each and every one of you for reading and allowing me to share. It is all of you that have given this blog life. And to my midget porn loving Mother, thank you for so much feedback through the years. This blog has your fingerprints all over it from things you did and did not like.

Here's to (at least) another ten years!!!

Vacation Day 6, Half Moon Cay

During our 2013 vacation we did a video log each day. This year instead of writing about where we are or what we are doing, I thought I would share with you our previous years experience. I am on vacation this week and since we are doing the same trip and are staying in almost (next to it) the same room, I'm going to post the previous years video blog. Enjoy.

Vacation Day 5, Grand Turk

During our 2013 vacation we did a video log each day. This year instead of writing about where we are or what we are doing, I thought I would share with you our previous years experience. I am on vacation this week and since we are doing the same trip and are staying in almost (next to it) the same room, I'm going to post the previous years video blog. Enjoy.

Vacation Day 4, another Day at Sea

During our 2013 vacation we did a video log each day. This year instead of writing about where we are or what we are doing, I thought I would share with you our previous years experience. I am on vacation this week and since we are doing the same trip and are staying in almost (next to it) the same room, I'm going to post the previous years video blog. Enjoy.

Vacation Day 3, a Day at Sea

During our 2013 vacation we did a video log each day. This year instead of writing about where we are or what we are doing, I thought I would share with you our previous years experience. I am on vacation this week and since we are doing the same trip and are staying in almost (next to it) the same room, I'm going to post the previous years video blog. Enjoy.

Vacation Day 2, Embarktion

During our 2013 vacation we did a video log each day. This year instead of writing about where we are or what we are doing, I thought I would share with you our previous years experience. I am on vacation this week and since we are doing the same trip and are staying in almost (next to it) the same room, I'm going to post the previous years video blog. Enjoy.

We Did It

Well what do you know, we won this tournament in 2008. Finished third last year when none of us studied and had other distractions, preventing us from studying. This year we decided we were going to be the very first two time Champions of the KDKA McDonalds Pittsburgh Steelers Trivia Challenge and we did just that.

After struggling through the Semi-Final round, but scoring the most points in the semi-final round as a runner up, we advanced to the Championship as a wild card to win it all....AGAIN!

I would like to thank my two team mates. Chris Ostien who is our team Captain and the one who organized all of this and lead the team to two titles and Randy "Walking Sports Encyclopedia" Page. I was the third member of the team, who had all the All-Stars on my team.

I think I'm going to celebrate today in Baltimore laughing at and making fun of all the Ravens fans as I am right across the street from Camden Yards (Orioles) and right down the road from MT Stadium (Ravens). I think I am going to celebrate this victory with a trip to the Caribbean which I am planning on just about.....NOW. =)

Vacation Day 1

During our 2013 vacation we did a video log each day. This year instead of writing about where we are or what we are doing, I thought I would share with you our previous years experience. I am on vacation this week and since we are doing the same trip and are staying in almost (next to it) the same room, I'm going to post the previous years video blog. Enjoy.





PS, Don;t forget to watch us on Steelers Trivia Tonight, it is the Championship round, see if we can bring it home.

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Carnival Pride

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

Well this is my last day of work until September 16th as we prepare to go on vacation. We will be leaving tomorrow morning en route to Baltimore where we will board our cruise ship the Carnival Pride yet once again on Sunday Morning. This may be the last blog that I write prior to returning from vacation. I have a video blog set to post starting tomorrow and running each day until we return. Each video will coincide with our trip last year based on where we are each day. The dates may be a little off, but the locations and relative days of the week are not.

ALSO, we are in the finals once again of the McDonald's KDKA Steelers Trivia Challenge tomorrow night at 11:35 on KDKA. This is the Championship show for all the marbles, so be sure to tune in and see if we can be the first ever two time champions or if we win some other consolation prize. Don't forget to watch and see if we bring home any hardware (not that I am going to give away any hints).

If you are wanting to watch some football, well the High Schools are in action this evening. The Morgantown High Mohigans travel to Brooke to take on the Bruins after starting off 1-0 this season. University High is once again on the road for the second straight week to play Parkersburg South and Clay Battelle battles Midland Trail this evening in Blacksville.

Looking for a little college action? The West Virginia Mountaineers will try to recover from an opening week loss to Alabama as they take on Townson at Mylan Puskar Stadium 7:30 tomorrow night. I will be in Baltimore, but with any luck I am hoping to be able to watch the game.

Looking for the Big Boys? The Pittsburgh Steelers will open their 2014-5 season this Sunday afternoon at home against the Cleveland Browns. Baltimore will be hosting the Bengals Sunday, but I'll make sure to give them a Steelers salute as I dive by MT Stadium on my way to the terminal. =)

I got to get today in before my vacation starts, so I will see everyone on the flip side. Enjoy my videos, cheer for us to win the Steelers Trivia show Saturday night and make sure you cheer on the Mohigans, Hawks, Cee Bees, Mountaineers and Steelers this weekend.

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out and look through all of the pictures that I have either taken, scanned or stolen off the internet through the years. Little precious lost moments in time captured with a cameras lens and shared with you here. Sometimes it's pretty easy finding that special pic and sometimes it's a pretty difficult task, one thing it always is however is a whole lot of fun.

This weeks pic goes back to last year, when Michelle and I made the trip to Washington DC for the Cherry Blossom Festival. It was our first year going and the Cherry Blossoms were not in bloom yet, but that didn't stop up from walking around Washington DC.

In this picture we happened to run into Michelle's niece Abby, who was there on a School trip for the Cherry Blossom parade (we saw the Morgantown High Band this year at the Smithsonian). We were walking around the Vietnam Memorial and just happened to run into her. We already knew that we would both be in DC that day and her and Michelle were communicating during the day, but we did happen to bump into her unexpectedly.

We had our gnome with us last year as he tends to travel with us every unique place we go. Note to my wife, don't forget to pack the gnome =)

Have a great day.

RIP Sadie

Sadie, 1996-September 3, 2014

Sadie, Michelle's dog of about 18 years had to be put down last night. It was a very tough decision, but she was blind, no teeth, deaf and had trouble walking or even standing the past week or so.

It killed me to see her go, as Chad took her to the Vet to have her pain go away for good. I couldn't have done it, it was the first time I have ever had to have a pet put down and it was a little hard to say goodbye.

She used to have seizures real bad and Michelle was going to put her down 5 years ago, but numerous walks on the trails and she sprung back to life for a few years. This past year however she had continued to get worse and worse. We tried taking her out on the trails this summer and she really didn't even want to be outside anymore.

She used to jump around and yelp every-time we even thought about taking a walk, as she was my walking companion for a couple of years. Always leading the way and we were always following her lead.

Earlier this summer we knew it was time, I suggested giving her the Summer to see if she recovered any, but father time has caught up to this long time family pet.

RIP Sadie, you will always be a part of this family.

Wednesday Wisdom

* An ostrich's eye is bigger than it's brain.

* Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer.

* The longest recorded flight of a chicken is thirteen seconds

* 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

* A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.

* Charles Lindbergh took only four sandwiches with him on his famous transatlantic flight.

* Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks otherwise it will digest itself.

* The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.

* Every time you lick a stamp, you're consuming 1/10 of a calorie.

* To escape the grip of a crocodile's jaws, push your thumbs into its eyeballs -- it will let you go instantly.

* The Baby Ruth candy bar was actually named after Grover Cleveland's baby daughter, Ruth

* A whale's penis is called a dork.

* In England, the Speaker of the House is not allowed to speak.

* White Out was invented by the mother of Mike Nesmith (Formerly of the Monkees.

* The characters Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street were named after Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver in Frank Capra's "Its A Wonderful Life"

* Only one person in two billion will live to be 116 or older.

* Cleo and Caesar were the early stage names of Cher and Sonny Bono.

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well our three day holiday extended weekend is now over and it's time to get our butts back to work. Still can't think of a better reason to do a tidbits.

* 18,538 days ago I was born.

* 3,761 days ago I fulfilled a lifetime dream as I graduated from West Virginia University with a Degree in Geography.

* 2,362 days ago my life changed forever. I took this lovely lady out for an evening on the town, actually it was Pizza and a Movie, and my life changed from that day forward.

* 1,586 days ago I got down on one knee and proposed marriage to Michelle.

* We have been married 1,123 days so far. It does seem like just yesterday that our friends and family gathered at the Marilla Center and we exchanged our marital vows.

* I have around 6,299 days to go until my butt reaches retirement age. Who knows when I will actually retire, but that is a good target date to start to look at. I have a little over 17 years to determine a day.

* 338 days to go until my 4th Wedding Anniversary. It seems like just yesterday.

* There are 120 days that I have left for content to add to my Goodbye 2014 Blog. That is actually one of my funnest blogs of the year as I reflect upon the previous year in my life as seen through my blog.

*  There are 114 more shopping days left until Christmas. Walmart has started their lay a way program for Christmas this year and after speaking with Val she has already taken advantage of it for Christmas 2014. Good planing Val, in my childhood it was Hills, your kids get to enjoy Walmart.

* There are only 5 days left until Michelle and I once again set sail on our cruise. I've already pre-written all of next weeks blogs so to speak. They are all actually going to be our video blogs from last year to coincide with the day that we will be on our cruise this year allowing you to share what we will be doing day by day but a year later.

* This is my 3,767th blog that I have written for this blog, I will be celebrating one decade as a blogger on a cruise.

* Don't forget to set your DVR's or watch us this Saturday night, as we advance to the Championship Round of Steelers Trivia in three tries. We won it all in 2008 getting Sideline passes and all kinds of perks, we finished third last year after stumbling out of the blocks in the Championship (chris wanted to finish third to be honest with you) to win Steelers Training Camp MVP Package and this will be our third trip to the Championship round. Will we win it all for the second time? Tune in and see for yourself. I'll have my DVR set as I will be a couple of blocks from the Baltimore Ravens Stadium and right across the street from Camden Yards in Baltimore getting ready to go on our cruise.

* After we get back from vacation, it will be time to start looking ahead to the Springs Festival in October.

* I ran and picked up the Pet Carrier from Hayley this weekend (she is going to watch the cats as we are gone), her and Josh purchased a real nice 60" or 72" TV. The thing is huge and it is also a smart TV. Josh makes really good Money working for a Fracking Company.

* This is a four day work week for Michelle and I, but I will be working the rest of the week as I have a meeting Friday afternoon (of all times).

* I had a great weekend, the Mountaineers didn't win, but it was still an overall great weekend.

* I have an office mate who has spent this summer battling Cancer. Friday was the end of his Radiation and last Tuesday was the end of his Chemo. Her had a softball size growth growing out of his neck earlier this summer, this last Friday he got to "Ring the Bell". There is literally a bell, and anytime a patient beats Cancer and finishes their treatment, they get to ring it. He was planning on ringing the hell out of it last time I talked to him.

* My old Room Mate from the 80's got his first hole in one this weekend in Cleveland. Congratulations Gregg.

* I can't get to my Vacation until I get this week started, so...

* Hi ho hi ho

Labor Day Monday

Ah yes, these are the kind of Monday's that I enjoy, ones where I still am getting paid but don't have to be at work. Our weekend extends one more day today as Michelle and I both enjoy the National Holiday Labor Day.

I'm still up around my normal time (yes this is a live rather than pre-written blog) and watching a little bit of the boob tube.Trouble with the Curve is on and I'm trying to get a handle on what we're going to do today.

I know we are going to smoke a roast this afternoon, and we're probably going to be going to Walmart this morning to get some things are going to need for the cruise (sun tan lotion, memory cards, etc). We're going to block off our old bedroom today to any cats and start packing for our vacation. It's never too early and this gives us a few days to make sure that we take what we want to take with us. We want to have that done by Wednesday Night.

Thursday this week we have our fifth of six dietitians meetings as a pre-requisite for Gastric Bypass surgery. So far since May 22 when I had my official weigh in I have lost 72.3 lbs and I'm down 87 lbs since Christmas. I am now actually within 10 lbs of the high end of the target weight range the Gastric Bypass team determined I would be one year after surgery. Needless to say, there is about a 99% chance that I will not have the surgery as this is the general consensus of off the Dr's I have had to go through to get approved for this surgery. It is not a diet, it is a Lifestyle change so there will be continued results hopefully the rest of my life. I set a personal weight loss goal at my first meeting in May, and according to my loseit ap, I'm probably going to hit that target in Mid-January. I am well above pace of when it initially started, back then it anticipated I would reach 200 lbs (112 lbs from my first official weigh in and 127 lbs from Christmas) by June of 2015, and it's looks like I will get there abut six months sooner. I'm sure it is all going to slow down soon. Next week will be interesting as all the food I could ever want will be presented to me, but we are going to be snorkeling for a couple of days and I can easily burn off 2,000 calories each day of doing that.

Have a great day and enjoy your labor day weekend that has been extended one more day.