It's Leap Day

Today is a day that only happens once every four years, it's leap day. On our rotation around the sun, once ever four years we need to re-calibrate our location in relation to the sun and that is why we have leap year. From starting point to return to the exact same point of origin, it takes 365 1/4 days to reach return to that exact same point of origin. So once every 4 years we have enough extra hours built up that we need to re-calibrate the calendar (since it is based on our rotation around the sun (year), the moons rotation in relation to the earth (month) and our own rocks very rotation (Day)), that we need to add one day to the calendar to bring it back into sync and that day is today.

Other than that, I'm up and I think my coauthor has decided to take the morning off leaving me to come up with own unique content and fly solo this morning, but we'll do our best.

My quarter for doing field work for RTI is over with. They are bringing in a traveler to do clean up on my segments and my remaining caseload has been transferred to them. So I pretty much have the next month off before we jump into another quarter. After so many attempts and two months of trying to find people home, it'll be nice to get a couple new locations to work in April. I know where one of them is located as I worked it last year and it's right here in town. The other segment will be a surprise.

So what to do with my day off? We're going to do our Sunday chores today including our grocery shopping as tomorrow is going to be a very busy day. It's going to start out with JT being baptized at Woodland United Methodist Church followed by brunch with the in laws at Iron Horse Tavern. But wait, there's more, afterwards we will be running to Canonsburg to help Luke celebrate his birthday with Hayley, Tyler and a slew of other family members.

So tomorrow is going to be a busy day, so I'm going to spend my Leap Day doing our weekly chores as I enjoy my day off.

Have yourselves 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.

If you have been following my blog long, you will know I do one of these every Friday, same intro and all leading into the content.

The origins of this was an old radio team from WVAQ years ago called Eric and Kevin, they really used to make my mornings listening to them and the old Prime Thyme Softball team that I played on had their regular segment every Monday when they would talk BOPARC softball since Kevin was our Third Baseman.

Well long story short, Eric had health problems and had to retire. Kevin went to law school and is a practicing attorney but these two are back at it once a week with the Eric and Kevin Podcast that they have been seem to consistently putting out during 2020. Since I permanently borrowed their Friday slogan, I thought I would give them a shout out. It's nice to hear these two back on the air.

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+ images that I have either captured with a Camera, Scanned or just simply stolen off the internet. Little lost moments in time that I post up and relive tight here for everyone while I try to recall the moments around that image. Sometimes it's pretty easy to find that image and sometimes it's a challenge, although one thing it always is is a whole lot of fun for me.

Well since BOPARC has their 2020 packets out, I thought I would peer back into yesteryear in one of my old Softball Teams, and I do mean old.

This is a picture of the 2019 Whitetail Crossing Senior League (old farts) Softball that we have played the past four seasons. The makeup of the team changes a little bit from year to year, but it's all still the same core group of guys that come and go every once in a while. My Senior Boys of Summer.

Have yourselves a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Midweek Video

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is completed, now it's time to start addressing Tuesday. I can't think of a better way to do that than with a tidbits.

* It has been 20,537 days since my birth, so count your blessings that I am here and especially if you know me. Each and every one of us make this a special place.

* It has been 5,763 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography, with an emphasis in Geographical Informational Science (GIS), a field that I do love.

* 4,364 days ago Michelle and I had our first date together, she still loves me all these years later.

* 3,588 days ago I proposed to Michelle, 4:00 in the morning in the back yard. She knew it was coming, I just made her wait.

* It was 4,030 days ago in front of our closest friends and family, Michelle and I became Husband and Wife. Seems like just yesterday.

* I have now lived 751 days longer than my Dad did and I'm still going. It brings how short life is into perspective, especially with all that has been happening around us lately, that brings it all into perspective.

* I have 4,312 days to go until I retire, give or take a few hundred days here or there, like I said I love what I do and who knows when I would retire.

* The next Backyard brawl where we beat Pitt's ass in Football is only 919 days away, we are under running that number down since this tidbit debuted.

* 343 more days until Phil steps to center stage again for Groundhogs Day. Come on Phil, I'm counting on you again.

* 310 more days to go until my Goodbye 2020 Blog is posted, recapping my year. I swear I just did one of these lol

* There are 303 more shopping days left until Christmas 2020. Walmart hasn't even brought their Christmas stuff back out yet, but give them time.

* My next Anniversary of my 21st Birthday will be in 280  more days.

* There are  201 days to go until Michelle and I set sail once again to the Caribbean.

* There are 154 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Ninth Wedding Anniversary together.

* There are 37 days until Michelle and I head to Pittsburgh to see Reba in concert.

* There are only 25 days until the start Spring 2020, the time of the year that I love so much although to date we have not really had much of a winter.

* I have written 5,936 blogs in the now 15 1/4 years since I started blogging.

* No drone flights this weekend, but that has pretty much been my recurring theme this year with that.

* Michelle has been running around all weekend, she's also trying to get the new office set up in Clarksburg.

*  Cruise is all booked and paid for, now we have to see what else we want to purchase pre-trip.

* BOPARC has released their softball packets for 2020.

* If anyone is going to DC in the near future, I have a metro pass with about $25 worth of credits on it that I will loan to someone if they ask. Just saying.

* Have I ever mentioned I hate snow? It's been a mild winter, but I just wanted to point that out.

* They STILL have not found Mountie Python, the 15' snake that escaped in Sabraton this summer.. He even has his own twitter account.

* I'm STILL converting some old VHS tapes to Digital Format for Trish. I really need to get back on this as I am such a procrastinator.

* Have yourselves a great day.

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday

Weekend is now over with and it is time for us to take our collective noses and stick them back on that dreaded Grindstone for another fun filled week of doing what it is we do for a living.

It is the start of another week of work and the start of another streak. This quarter my weeks have been pretty much 6 days on and taking Sundays off from both jobs. I'm not running around like I have in the last year for RTI covering for vacant positions that we have, travelers have done that.

Looking at my week ahead, it looks pretty open at the Office, not much on my calendar other than this afternoon and working with someone in Oregon. Other than that, it's pretty open.

Michelle and I had a nice time yesterday, looking at potential wedding venues for Hayley next year.

Have yourselves a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit once again in a quiet household, Peanut is running around somewhere, I think she has kitty ADHD sometimes. I'm waking up and have Deadpool 2 streaming in the background. A thousand + TV channels and there is nothing on so I stream my own content.

Todays agenda will be to meet up with Hayley and Tyler as well as Tyler's parents Mark and Alyce and meet up at the 4H Camp, Camp Muffley to look at it as a possible venue for their upcoming wedding next year.They have looked at a few other venues, but this will be the first one locally that they will be looking at.

Afterwards Mark and Alyce have invited us to their home for dinner this evening. We've been there at Christmas time and were invited for the Superbowl Party, but we stayed home for that one as we are both early risers and were asleep before the game ended.

Other than that it's just going to be our typical repetitive Sunday, minus me going out to do fieldwork for RTI.

Have yourselves a great day

I plan on it. 

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit once again in a quiet household, the TV is on but nothing is on it. My co-author Peanut has already checked in for the blog and given me her thoughts on the days events. Now it's just up to me to contemplate the day and put it all together on my keyboard to share with the world.

My day is going to once again consist of me heading out into the field to do some field work. I'm just getting my final records of call and something tells me that when my Supervisor gets back from the Caribbean that she is going to transfer them to a traveler for cleanup. I should be getting my new segment materials here in a few weeks.

Michelle and Hayley are going back up home today for her Sister in Law Tyra's Baby shower. They are going to spend a Mom - Daughter Day together visiting GiGi, going to the Hot Dog Shoppe and some girl fun with the shower.

Tomorrow we are all going to the 4H Camp to check out wedding venues for Hayley and Tyler's wedding next year. Mark and Alyce, Tyler's parents will be joining us to check the venue out.

Other than working today not much going on for me. Probably watch the WVU Basketball Game this afternoon and that's probably going to be about it for my agenda. I do tend to lead a pretty boring life although I have taken trips to St Louis and Washington DC so far this year and have another cruise to the Caribbean booked and paid for and I'm hoping for San Diego once again this year. I wonder if I can convince them to send me to Vegas again..lol.

Have yourselves a great day

Hi ho hi ho

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.

Michelle is going to have a busy weekend. Tomorrow she will be heading back home for her Sister in Law Tyra's Baby Shower. Her and Hayley will be traveling up for the day. Then Sunday they are going to the 4-H Camp to look at it as a possible wedding venue for when Hayley and Tyler get married next year.

My weekend, what else could happen in it other than me heading out into the field and working. It's the story of my life the last few years, but I believe in what I am doing so that makes it a lot easier to keep on continuing to work the second job.

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+ images that I have either captured with a Camera, Scanned or just simply stolen off the internet. Little lost moments in time that I post up and relive tight here for everyone while I try to recall the moments around that image. Sometimes it's pretty easy to find that image and sometimes it's a challenge, although one thing it always is is a whole lot of fun for me.

This weeks pic is a picture of what I knew to be my siblings at the time, we did not know anything about Jonathan at this time other than an older sibling existed.

There is a little bit of sadness behind this picture as it was taken in 1999 right before we all were getting ready to go to the funeral home to lay our father to rest for the last time. We grabbed this shot before we headed out on what is a very sad day in my life.

Have yourselves a great day today

Hi ho hi ho

Midweek Video

Tuesday's Tidbits

* My kind of extended weekend from the office is now passed, time for a tidbits to start this work week off right.

* It has been 20,530 days since my birth, so count your blessings that I am here and especially if you know me. Each and every one of us make this a special place.

* It has been 5,756 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography, with an emphasis in Geographical Informational Science (GIS), a field that I do love.

* 4,357 days ago Michelle and I had our first date together, she still loves me all these years later.

* 3,581 days ago I proposed to Michelle, 4:00 in the morning in the back yard. She knew it was coming, I just made her wait.

* It was 4,023 days ago in front of our closest friends and family, Michelle and I became Husband and Wife. Seems like just yesterday.

* I have now lived 744 days longer than my Dad did and I'm still going. It brings how short life is into perspective, especially with all that has been happening around us lately, that brings it all into perspective.

* I have 4,319 days to go until I retire, give or take a few hundred days here or there, like I said I love what I do and who knows when I would retire.

* The next Backyard brawl where we beat Pitt's ass in Football is only 926 days away, we are under running that number down since this tidbit debuted.

* 350 more days until Phil steps to center stage again for Groundhogs Day. Come on Phil, I'm counting on you.

* 317 more days to go until my Goodbye 2020 Blog is posted, recapping my year. I swear I just did one of these lol

* There are 310 more shopping days left until Christmas 2020. Walmart hasn't even brought their Christmas stuff back out yet...lol

* My next Anniversary of my 21st Birthday will be in 287  more days.

* There are  208 days to go until Michelle and I set sail once again to the Caribbean.

* There are 161 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Ninth Wedding Anniversary together.

* There are 44 days until Michelle and I head to Pittsburgh to see Reba in concert.

* There are only 32 days until the start Spring 2020, the time of the year that I love so much although to date we have not really had much of a winter.

* I have written 5,929 blogs in the now 15 1/4 years since I started blogging.

* No drone flights this weekend, but that has pretty much been my recurring theme this year with that.

* Michelle has been under the weather all weekend.

*  Cruise is all booked and paid for, now we have to see what else we want to purchase pre-trip.

* Met some nice GIS contacts in DC last week, it was an amazing conference.

* If anyone is going to DC in the near future, I have a metro pass with about $25 worth of credits on it that I will loan to someone if they ask.

* Have I ever mentioned I hate snow? It's been a mild winter, but I just wanted to point that out.

* They STILL have not found Mountie Python, the 15' snake that escaped in Sabraton this summer.. He even has his own twitter account.

* I'm STILL converting some old VHS tapes to Digital Format for Trish. I really need to get back on this as I am such a procrastinator.

* Have yourselves a great day.

* Hi ho hi ho

Presidents Day

Would you believe that I get to stretch my weekend one more day, or should I be more factually accurate and say kind of. Yes today is President's Day and it is a Federal Holiday, so we will be observing it at the office.

On the other job however that is not as accurate, I'm using this day to do some day time work to see of I can find some illusive people at home or get them to answer the door. I took yesterday off, so I'll try to make today a good day of it and see if I can manage to whittle down my case load a little bit more. So I will be working, but it will be a relaxing kind of working day and not too stressful.

I have to get back to doing my regular routine this week after being away on travel last week. It's always fun to travel, but I'm also a little comfortable with routines which is what I'm trying to get back into this week.

Have yourselves a great day

Hi ho hi ho

A Day Off

Here I sit in a quiet household, co-authorless as Peanut is still sleeping somewhere. Lazy Cat I'm going to have to start docking her her pay for absenteeism. I'm here watching who knows what on HBO and collecting my thoughts for the day.

I've decided that I'm taking the day off today since tomorrow is a Federal Holiday and trying to do some field work tomorrow rather than today. I just have not had much if any success this quarter on Sunday's for some reason, could be the segment and it could be the time of the year. First quarter is always the toughest one of the year.

Michelle and I will do our typical Sunday stuff this morning and then just take it easy for the rest of the day. She's still not feeling great and this flu bug has her down a little bit. I've managed to avoid it this year, knock on wood, we both had our flu shots this year. Hopefully she is feeling better tomorrow as another work week begins.

We decided to make a home made beef stew today in the crock pot for dinner, we don't use the crock pot as much as we used to, but every now and then it's just something worth doing. Especially on a lazy stay at home day. =)

Have yourselves a great day

Saturday Morning Rambling

Here I sit in a quiet household, my co-author is once again no where to be found this early AM. Michelle is a bit under the weather and came home from work early Thursday and stayed home  yesterday feeling the same way.

Our big news of the past week, we booked and paid for our 2020 Cruise. Same ship, same ports and even cruising with some of the same people that we have cruised and dined with previously. We'll be leaving for the Caribbean mid-September. We like the deals that are offered at that time, the proximity of the port and we love the ports of call. This will be our seventh cruise.

Well after returning from a week in DC, I'm back home from the Conference obviously. I think the next time I go down I'm just going to stay in Gaithersburg like Michelle and I used to rather than fight the beltway and stay in Arlington. I had a nice view from the 16th floor of my hotel balcony into Georgetown, but the extra headache to navigate past Gaitherburg with roads only going one way during certain hours of the day make it a little tedious to navigate. I took an Uber to the conference a day and I am so glad I do not have to deal with DC traffic, it would drive me nuts.

It's a back to work kind of day for me as I return to the field with RTI. My segments are pretty much worked down, I'm just having trouble finding a few of the last residences home or verifying that they are empty. This is the least exciting time as redundancy is really starting to wear on you, especially when you have already been to a location a half a dozen times or better.

Have yourselves a great day, I'm going back to bed and then....

Hi ho hi ho 

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 and the start of a three day Holiday Weekend.

Yes I am actually back to the grindstone today, back in my office and doing what I usually do on a daily basis. The Convention was awesome as they all were and I'll be looking to see what I learned there that I can implement at work.

Monday is President's Day, so I'm about to venture onto a three day Holiday weekend as well so that makes it a great weekend coming up.

It's also Valentines Day today, meaning me and my sweetie will be going out to dinner and trying to make the day special.

Have yourselves a great day

Hi ho hi ho

I'm Coming Home

I am going to be away this week attending the ESRI Federal Users Conference in Washington DC this week. These blogs this week will reflect my time away from home and my experience there. Enjoy

I'm leaving Arlington this morning, but I'm not going to do it in the very wee hours of the morning like I have the last two times I was here. A few years ago I had to get home in time to take Michelle to have her surgery and last year I just wanted to beat the traffic. I'm going to take a little different approach and leave later in the morning like a normal person would do.

I have trouble seeing at night and I think it is better that I travel during the daylight hours with cars on the road rather than the middle of the night when I'm the only one on the beltway. I may make an appearance in the office, but that all depends on what time I get back into town, return my rental and drop my stuff off at home.

Have yourselves a great day and hopefully I have a good trip home.

Hi ho hi ho

Day Two

I am going to be away this week attending the ESRI Federal Users Conference in Washington DC this week. These blogs this week will reflect my time away from home and my experience there. Enjoy

I am in day two of the Federal Users Conference and this may be a longer day than yesterday.

There is a short keynote session this morning, but then it's going to be a day full of me sitting in classrooms and learning a few new tricks and seeing what is new and what is going to be introduced in the near future. I have already went through and made a number of sessions favorites and put them on my calendar.

This evening there will be a meet and greet at the Smithsonian History Museum. Usually at the end of every big conference there is a big meet and greet session and I've always missed them. I intend on making an appearance this year and see if I can run into an old friend or co-worker or two.

Have yourselves a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Day One

I am going to be away this week attending the ESRI Federal Users Conference in Washington DC this week. These blogs this week will reflect my time away from home and my experience there. Enjoy

I go in this morning and get my conference credentials and free gifts that they give us (usually a map book, an awesome pen, a notebook and a nice carrying bag) for attending. It;s day one of the conference and it's going to be a long one.

Jack Dangermond, the founder of ESRI will once again be the keynote speaker at the Plenary session as well as Vice Admiral Robert D. Sharp, Dr. Healy Hamilton.

This will consume our morning until lunch, then after lunch it will be either me speaking with vendors or setting in on a few classes until this evening when the Department of Energy User Group will have their semi-annual meeting with the other being in San Diego.

It's going to be a full day for me, that's for sure. Watch Facebook as I'm taking my 360° camera with me this trip.

Have yourselves a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Away I Go

I am going to be away this week attending the ESRI Federal Users Conference in Washington DC this week. These blogs this week will reflect my time away from home and my experience there. Enjoy.

Today I start my journey to Washington DC and more specifically Arlington, Virginia where my hotel  The Holiday Inn Rosslyn is located.

This is the hotel that I usually stay at when I go to DC on business, on personal travel I usually stay in Gaithersburg, but this is just a couple quick metro rides and I'm inside the building of where I need to be. I can literally walk out of my hotel, across the street and a couple blocks up and I don't have to step outside again.

Weather permitting, I'm going to try to make it to the Arlington Cemetery this trip. The last two times I was there it was bitter cold, hopefully I can get in and settled early enough that I can take a trip over there.

Have a great day, I will

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday

Here I sit in the early AM, my coauthor is no where to be found and I'm here all by myself trying to entertain everyone. The TV is on in the background but I have absolutely no idea what is on.

I did manage to write this weeks upcoming blogs yesterday afternoon since I'm leaving for DC tomorrow morning. That way I can concentrate on being there rather than tying my sometimes incoherent thoughts into a computer, and they can be incoherent mumbling at times.

Our plans for the day? Grocery shopping what else. We'll be heading to Krogers and possibly the bakery sometime today. I'll also have to do my banking and pay bills before I head out to work for RTI this afternoon. I almost considered not working today, but I'll be off from that job all week and would like a day or two to earn a couple extra bucks.

I live such a routine life, I just follow the routine from one day to the next and one week to the next. It'll be nice to get away for a few days and break that routine.

Have yourselves a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit yet once again in a quiet household, my co-author is no where to be found and I'm here collecting my thoughts for the day and having no idea what is playing on the TV behind me. I'm just clearing the sleep from my eyes and trying to gather some degree of consciousness.

What's on my agenda for this day? I'll be heading out into the field once again for RTI to work today and probably tomorrow. I'll be away this coming week and the only time I'll have to work are the weekends this and next weekend. My segments are pretty much worked down and I'm just trying to garner a few more interviews before we shut it down for the quarter.

Speaking of this upcoming week, I'll be in DC for the ESRI Federal Users Conference. This will be my third time attending the Federal Conference and this will be my 4th major conference with going to San Diego last year. I've put in for that once again this year, and I feel pretty good about it. We are in a transitional period between the old contract and that I have been working under and the new prime partnership isn't officially in place until April 1 so no decisions can be made at this time.

Michelle worked from home yesterday due to the inclement weather around the area. I got a notification at 5:30 that our facility was not opening until 10:00 AM as well so it was a short day for me.

Have yourselves a great day today

Hi ho hi ho

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.

Not too much planned for this weekend other than working a couple of days. Next week however I will not be in the office until later in the week as I travel to Washington DC for the ESRI Federal Users Conference. This will be my third time attending this particular conference, it's the second biggest one they have second only to the world wide users conference in San Diego they have every July. I'm trying to attend that one as well as they are very informative and allows me to meet vendors and see new and exciting technologies and innovations.

This weekends plans? Nothing out of the ordinary other than preparing to go to DC next week. I'm renting a car (company credit card) and driving rather than flying, where that would probably take more time. Other than that just going to go out and do a little bit of field work. Fun fun fun. The good part about Friday's? We always order Pizza Al's every Friday.

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+ images that I have either captured with a Camera, Scanned or just simply stolen off the internet. Little lost moments in time that I post up and relive tight here for everyone while I try to recall the moments around that image. Sometimes it's pretty easy to find that image and sometimes it's a challenge, although one thing it always is is a whole lot of fun for me.

I can actually put an exact date on this picture, January 7, 1973. It was when we still lived by Drummond Chapel Church (that house is now gone) and it was my Grandfather's 80th Birthday Party.

He retired around this time (yes at 80 years old) and we moved to where United National Bank is now on Van Voorhis Road. This day however was a day of celebration of him and his life and he was still in very good health at this point and was for a couple of more years until his first stroke.

Good times were had by all that day, I can remember the Sunday family get togethers that was always seemed to have, they were things we routinely did as a family.

Have yourselves a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Amentum

I'm sure people are a little curious to see who I work for. I mentioned that last Friday was my last day working for AECOM. I am part of Management Services and we basically have all of the Government Contracts, were AECOM is was ans is a primarily Engineering Firm.

Who is it that I now officially am employed by? The company's new name is Amentum which is the strap that one would use to throw a javelin a further distance. We are not a start up company although it just went from a publicly traded to a privately owned company on Saturday officially. I work for the same people, have the same customers, have the same job responsibilities, it's just that our group is changing ownership.

Since I have been at NETL, this same group was EG&G, changed to URS who was then sold to AECOM. Now we are becoming Amentum and we are the only group of contractors that has been at NETL since it's formation when we were the only contractor on site. Read the Corporate Lineage Page for more detailed information.

Now as far as NETL, our contract was awarded and we are the prime subcontractor to the company that won the Site Operations Support Contract. So we are just about to close out one chapter and enter into another one at NETL.

No breaks in service, no restarting of vacation time or any resetting and buyout of any earned hours for accrued hours of PTO, just a rollover and a new company.

It's an honor to be working with the great group of workers that I work along side with. Up and down the entire chain, all first class people.

Have yourselves a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is over with, a new company for me to start my workweek, can't think of a better reason to do a tidbits.

* It has been 20,516 days since my birth, so count your blessings that I am here and especially if you know me. Each and every one of us make this a special place.

* It has been 5,742 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography, with an emphasis in Geographical Informational Science (GIS), a field that I do love. I'll be heading to DC next week to spend a little time with the founder of the entire discipline.

* 4,343 days ago Michelle and I had our first date together, she still loves me all these years later.

* 3,567 days ago I proposed to Michelle, 4:00 in the morning in the back yard. She knew it was coming, I just made her wait.

* It was 4,009 days ago in front of our closest friends and family, Michelle and I became Husband and Wife. Seems like just yesterday.

* I have now lived 730 days longer than my Dad did and I'm still going. It brings how short life is into perspective, especially with all that has been happening around us lately, that brings it all into perspective.

* I have 4,333 days to go until I retire, give or take a few hundred days here or there, like I said I love what I do and who knows when I would retire.

* The next Backyard brawl where we beat Pitt's ass in Football is only 940 days away, we are under 1,000 days until we kick some Panther butt.

* 364 more days until Phil steps to center stage again for Groundhogs Day. Come on Phil, I'm counting on you.

* 331 more days to go until my Goodbye 2020 Blog is posted, recapping my year. I swear I just did one of these lol

* There are 324 more shopping days left until Christmas 2020. Walmart hasn't even brought their Christmas stuff back out yet...lol

* My next Anniversary of my 21st Birthday will be in 301  more days.

* There are 175 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Ninth Wedding Anniversary together.

* There are 58 days until Michelle and I head to Pittsburgh to see Reba in concert.

* There are only 46 days until the start Spring 2020, the time of the year that I love so much although to date we have not really had much of a winter.

* I have written 5,915 blogs in the now 15 1/4 years since I started blogging.

* No drone flights this weekend, but that has pretty much been my recurring theme this year with that.

*  I have a number of birthdays coming up in the next week of friends and family, January is a busy month for Birthdays.

*  I've put in to go to the ESRI Users Conference again this July in San Diego. I'm feeling pretty good about this.

* I know Kim and Terri are going to DC in March, but someone will be there next week. I win.

* I did talk to Terri this weekend and she was a little overwhelmed about going to DC, I told her to tell Kim to just stay at the National Mall, they could spend a week there and not see everything.

* Have I ever mentioned I hate snow? It's been a mild winter, but I just wanted to point that out.

* They STILL have not found Mountie Python, the 15' snake that escaped in Sabraton this summer.. He even has his own twitter account.

* I'm STILL converting some old VHS tapes to Digital Format for Trish. I really need to get back on this as I am such a procrastinator.

* Have yourselves a great day.

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday

Super Bowl Parties are over with, now it's time to take our collective noses and stick them back onto the grindstone for another fun filled week of doing what we do for a living.

Today is the first day of me going into the office under my company's new name. Everything is the same for us with the exception of the name of the company we are employed by. I'll go into detail later this week after they make their Official Announcement tomorrow. Everything today is for internal use only, tomorrow the announcement is to be made.

I'll be out this evening working for RTI as well. I have a couple of scheduled interviews for this evening, so hopefully that all goes well.

Michelle's company had a big announcement over the weekend, one that they built the anticipation upon, They are expanding and opening up another branch office in Canonsburg. Michelle will be splitting her time between the three and soon to be fourth (Morgantown) office as the Skilled Labor Office Manager. There are a few more announcements coming up, they are growing and expanding rapidly. It's amazing some of the large contracts that they have managed to garner and they keep coming in.

Have yourselves a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

King Phil

Yes Phil has spoken, all my bribes must have paid off as Phil has predicted an early spring!!!!!!!

Woo Hoo no Ground Hog Stew Recipees this year old buddy. I'm pretty sure that the abundance of apples in the back yard that he ate over the summer and fall was more than enough payment to give me an early Spring!!!!!!

Now how do I reward myself with an early spring? I'm going to be taking the Day off and watching the Superbowl this evening. Thank You Phil, I love Spring.

Have a great day and All Hail Phil!!!!!!!!!

Ground Hog Day

Today is a special day, it is the day that King of all Groundhogs takes center stage today, yes even over that thing they call the Superbowl, and tells us whether Spring is right around the corner or that we can expect six more weeks of winter. Phil, who has been eating my apples all summer will let us know on this day.

You can follow all of the action on the Punxsutawney Website that shows all of the mornings proceedings including the gathering on Gobblers Knob this morning.

Come on Phil, my old buddy and King of the Groundhogs, allow me to have a favorable prediction this year as you did last year.

All Hail Phil

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit once again in a quiet household, I'm up well before my co-author and I'm going back to bed very shortly. I got something playing on the TV, have no idea what it is it's just on for a little noise. I think I spoke a little too soon, my co-author Peanut is here and purring me some ideas.

I have to announce that I am no longer employed by AECOM whom I have worked for the last 2 1/2 years. Don't worry though, I'm still employed at my same job but the official announcement is not coming until Tuesday morning from Corporate so I can't say anything publicly until then. It's official but only internally until a formal announcement is made. If you want a hint, try to figure out my picture and you will have an answer. Or just wait till Tuesday as I already got dinged once for saying something publicly. Don't worry my new company has a corporate lineage that is 116 years old and we are still a multi-billion dollar a year company that is located in 48 states and 28 countries. Not too shabby for a company that is technically as of press time less than 3 hours old...lol

Jim and Chris will be having an auction today, Michelle will be in her normal capacity working for it today. It's going to be at their store location in Osage rather than another site. They didn't create an auction zip site for this auction, probably because space will be limited. I'm sure there will be signs in the area indicating the location of the event today.

I'll be out in the field working for RTI once again today, this quarter despite being down a number of Field Interviewers in West Virginia that we need to hire. We have 10 in WV and I think we are down 4 including the 2 closest to me (Elkins and Bridgeport). No fear though, we have a great team of people who do this full time and have traveled to work these areas.

I think we have all of our needed documents that we need to do our taxes. Unlike last year where we ended up owing about $4,000 at the end of the year, we're more prepared this year and prepared for it by having extra payroll deductions taken out. So much to the point that for the first time since I can't remember when, we're not writing a check to the state and are actually getting money back this year. Not a whole lot, but I'm not writing any checks for more taxes this year.

Work, work, work, work work, money, money, money, money, money. How about other issues, Michelle and I are doing great. We're both busy but we do manage to get some quality time to spend together believe it or not. I bought her Hunt a Killer for Christmas and she and Stacy from work are tracking down and in the process of finding the killer. She loves the true crime shows, so it just fit her perfectly. 

Have yourselves a great day.

Hi ho hi ho and stop down and visit Michelle at the auction.