Late Saturday Blog

Yeah we decided to sleep in a little bit, but we are still here. I guess that is another way of saying we forgot to write this morning's blog. I blame Kiwi but he has been up all night trying to determine what Penn State is going to do today so he can figure out how to beat them. 

Yes, Penn State is back in Morgantown for the first time in over 30 years to take on the Mountaineers. Pat MacAfee did his show yesterday on Campus and there was a huge turn out, people were lining up as early as 3:00 AM for the event. He brought out all the legends and he even gave $ 1 Million to the WVU NIL in the name of all of his team mates. You got to love Patrick. 

We have no plans of going anywhere today, this is going to be a big game. Do I have any predictions for today? Nope. When I predict I am usually wrong so I'm keeping my mouth shut until AFTER the game. 

Have a Great Day.

Let's Go Mountaineers!!!!

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.

The Pat MacAfee Show will be broadcasting today at noon in the field beside the life sciences building. You can stream it or watch it on ESPN at noon, he is in my opinion the biggest name in sports broadcasting and he is one of ours coming home again with his electrifying show. If you have never seen his show before, tune in he is very boisterous, opinionated and biased and a huge fan of his Alma Mater. 

Looking for the last of the free summer entertainment? Well, head on down to the Amphitheater as tonight's Plain White T's concert will be the last of the Summer Concert Series for 2024. I'm sure it will return in 2025 with another schedule of some great acts. 

Looking for a little bit of High School Football action, the Morgantown Mohigans kick off the season on the road this year at Petersburg. Trinity is on the road in Ohio to take on Federal Hocking and Clay Battelle hosts Hundred out in Blacksville. 

Speaking for Football, Penn State is coming back to Morgantown to play for the first time in over 30 years. It used to be a yearly matchup but ended when attempts to form an Eastern All-Aports Confernce failed with them as the anchor and they ended up going to the Big Ten. 

Have yourselves a great weekend and let's get this what could be a great weekend 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 someplace on the internet. I like to find just one and post it up and recall or relive the picture to the best of my ability. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task and sometimes it's not that easy, one thing it has always been a lot of fun.

This weeks memory goes back a few years, back to the year when Michelle and I were going to do a gnome project, where we took him to a number of places including the Caribbean and every place we went. He made it to a Kenny Chesney concert in Pittsburgh and as seen in this picture, to Washington DC when we were at the White House.

The whole project kind of fizzled out as I was going to put to music and make a video out of it, but the gnome broke a foot and later broke when he fell off the mantle. RIP Steelers gnome.

Hi ho hi ho 

Wednesday

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is completed, we have a great weekend coming up, it's still a great reason to do a tidbits. 

* It has been 22,160 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, and improved 1,045-day Calendar. 

* It has been 7,413 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. Josh begins his academic Journey tomorrow at my alma mater. 

* 6,000 days ago Michelle and I had our first date together. Seems like it was just yesterday and it was the third best decision I ever made in my life. 

* 5,211 days ago I proposed to Michelle in the backyard at 4:00 in the morning. She knew it was coming, and it was still the best decision I ever made in my life. 

* It was 5,249 days ago in front of our closest friends and family, for the most part, Michelle and I became husband and wife at the Marilla Center, it was a great day with friends and family. 

* I have now lived 2,386 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 1,044 days ago today. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,273 days, I've now outlived him by 903 days making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* I have 2,715 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.

* There are 344 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Fourteenth Wedding Anniversary together. 

* There are only 205 days to go until Spring 2025, my favorite season of the year.  

* 160 more days until Phil steps to center stage once again for Groundhog Day. He and French Creek Freddie agreed on their predictions this year,  now let's just wait to see if they come true.  

* 134 more days to go until my Goodbye 2024 Blog is posted. Hopefully, I can put some better content together this year. 

* There are 120 more shopping days left until Christmas 2024. You still have plenty of time to prepare and get ready.

* There are 104 days until I hit the age of 61. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* There are 46 days until Brittany and Matt enter into the bonds of matrimony. It's getting closer. 

* There are 18 more days until we go to Pittsburgh and beat the Panther's butts in their stadium. 

* There are 4 more days to go until the Mountaineers will try to get some revenge here in Morgantown for last year when Penn State comes to Morgantown. 

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

* I have written 7,662 blogs in the now almost 20 years as a blogger. Yes my 20th anniversary is coming up pretty soon. 

* Older Drone still needs to be sent out for repairs, not a big priority at this time. My little drone is awesome and I really like it....when I take time out to fly it.  

* If you want cabbage rolls or pierogies (homemade), Ellen McCabe called me and said that the church is going to have them on the 28th. $20 a Dozen for cabbage rolls, cooked or uncooked. Michelle placed our order this week. 

* Josh has lost his jitters of moving into the dorms and going to school. Longest journey begins with the first step and he has already completed that. 

* Both cars passed inspection last week. Now they are good for two years. 

* Still playing Monopoly Go. I'm still in 6th place among friends and family. I'm trying to catch up. 

* How about I start doing my favorite Tic Tok of the week? This is This weeks Tiktok. I don't why Emily is wearing a Marshall shirt, she is a Morgantown High and a WVU Grad and is about to be Morgantown's First Astronaut. I tey not to get political on my blog, but I couldn't pass this one up. 

* Have a great day.

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday

All good things must come to an end, but this is an exciting day to culminate the weekend fun and get back to business. Now we have to take our collective noses and stick them back onto that grindstone known as life and get back to doing what it is that we do for a living to make this a better rock to live on.

MY job with Lancesoft (the company I worked the Parsons contract on) is going to come to an end as I am in the process of being brought on as a Parsons employee. It's the same position I was in it's just going to be easier to get me work and less paperwork going through. It would still be on a part-time basis like before, which works out well for me as I am working full-time contracted to EPE building the transmission line network for Texas. Military and Power, are both very profitable areas to work in and I'll continue to do both. 

I found out Friday that the road widening project in front of the house will now also involve moving the electric poles to my side of the street and one most likely being in the front yard. I know the lines are going to go over the U-Haul building, so there is some more work that they will have to do to widen the road down here. Wouldn't you know I have a front row seat for it all. 

Nothing really planned workwise this week, but a big weekend coming up here in Morgantown. The town is going to be crowded and busy, just know that ahead of time. 

Have yourselves a great day and let's get this world changing actions started. 

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday

Here I once again sit in a quiet household, Kiwi is still studying Penn State Game film and thinks Neal Brown should give him a job if he helps WVU beat Penn State this coming weekend. He's in there studying and pacing back and forth cussing, but he is one determined little bird. He knows it's a big week and he's trying to help us beat the #8 team in the country to start the year off. 

I did manage to cut grass yesterday, I didn't want it to get too long before I cut it again. I somehow managed to screw up and run over some kind of a tarp and managed to get it caught up in the blades locking everything up. Fortunately we have a very sharp knife, some wheel chocks, a nice jack and jack stands as well as a garage to do this in. It was mostly Michelle fixing my screw up. 

Plans for the day include our normal Sunday shopping. Pam is going to something at Mason Dixon Park, so I just may walk around the house a little bit instead of going to the Mall. I can't keep up with Michelle and I walk at a much slower pace. I guess they call that getting old. 

Have a great day. 

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit once again in a quiet household. Kiwi is up in his cage and ready a book on Human Psychology, I think he is trying to figure out how to help Neal Brown next week on finding tendencies in Penn State's Offensive and Defensive Coordinators' play calling. He's looking for weaknesses. He did tell me Pat MacAfee called him and they are going to do a little bar hopping together next weekend.

So what is on our agenda for the day? A little grocery shopping and Michelle wants to clean up the Blackstone and I want to cut the grass so I don't have to cut it next weekend. College Football starts next weekend with Penn State coming to town and I don't want to be cutting any grass. Other than that I have no idea what is on our agenda for the day. 

I did talk to Val a few times this week, Josh has his first week completed at WVU and is a lot less nervous now. I think he was a little worried about what was to come, it's a normal feeling for anyone entering college, fear of the unknown, now he's got his feet wet he should be OK from here on out. My first day of college I threw up on my way to my first class, I had no idea what to expect and I made it through. 

Have yourselves a great day, make it special. 

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.

Looking for a little bit of cheap entertainment, and by cheap I mean free? Well head on down to the Ruby Amphitheater this evening and bring yourself some snacks or whatever else you need to bring, Diamond Rio will hit the stage as the headliner, show starts at 7:00 with Zona Hester opening up. The concert series is winding down for the summer, this is the next-to-last show for the year. Plain White Tee's will finish up the summers' series next weekend. It's a short time before I start talking about High School Football in this section. 

So what is on our agenda? Since school is back in session and the students are everywhere, this is actually the last weekend for a while where Morgantown isn't dedicated to Football, so it's hard to say what will be on our agenda. Probably some grass cutting weather permitting. 

Have yourselves a great day and the start of a great last non-football weekend. 

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out, time to look at some of the 30,000+ photos that I have stored on my computer. Little lost moments in time that I either captured with a lens, scanned or just stole from someplace on the internet. I like to find just one and post it up and recall or relive the picture to the best of my ability. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task and sometimes it's not that easy, one thing it has always been a lot of fun.

This weeks pic is from my weekend co-author, none other than the infamous Kiwi, the worlds most intelligent bird. I grabbed this one a few years ago, I think it was during the summer of COVID when everyone was at home and the country was shut down. We would take our little aviary friend outside during the day so he could spent some time with his cousins singing and dancing. 

That was a summer we had the canopy set up as well as a table under it and chairs around it. Michelle even had an extension cord running to the table and she worked out there with her computer. Kiwi enjoyed those carefree days, back before he was trying to take over the world.

Have yourselves a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Wednesday

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is completed got one car inspected now it's just a matter of dropping the other off tomorrow to get it done, sounds like a great reason to do a tidbits. 

* It has been 22,153 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, and improved 1,045-day Calendar. 

* It has been 7,406 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. Josh begins his academic Journey tomorrow at my alma mater. 

* 5,993 days ago Michelle and I had our first date together. Seems like it was just yesterday and it was the third best decision I ever made in my life. 

* 5,204 days ago I proposed to Michelle in the backyard at 4:00 in the morning. She knew it was coming, and it was still the best decision I ever made in my life. 

* It was 5,242 days ago in front of our closest friends and family, for the most part, Michelle and I became husband and wife at the Marilla Center, it was a great day with friends and family. 

* I have now lived 2,379 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 1,037 days ago today. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,273 days, I've now outlived him by 896 days making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* I have 2,722 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.

* There are 351 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Fourteenth Wedding Anniversary together. 

* There are only 212 days to go until Spring 2025, my favorite season of the year.  

* 167 more days until Phil steps to center stage once again for Groundhog Day. He and French Creek Freddie agreed on their predictions this year,  now let's just wait to see if they come true.  

* 141 more days to go until my Goodbye 2024 Blog is posted. Hopefully, I can put some better content together this year. 

* There are 127 more shopping days left until Christmas 2024. You still have plenty of time to prepare and get ready.

* There are 111 days until I hit the age of 61. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* There are 53 days until Brittany and Matt enter into the bonds of matrimony. It's getting closer. 

* There are 25 more days until we go to Pittsburgh and beat the Panther's butts in their stadium. 

* There are 11 more days to go until the Mountaineers will try to get some revenge here in Morgantown for last weekend when Penn State comes to Morgantown. 

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

* I have written 7,654 blogs in the now almost 20 years as a blogger. Yes my 20th anniversary is coming up pretty soon. 

* Older Drone still needs to be sent out for repairs, not a big priority at this time. My little drone is awesome and I really like it....when I take time out to fly it.  

* If you want cabbage rolls or pierogies (homemade), Ellen McCabe called me and said that the church is going to have them on the 28th. $20 a Dozen for cabbage rolls, cooked or uncooked. Michelle placed our order this week. 

* WVU Starts tomorrow, Fallfest will be this evening featuring Yung Gravy, Shaboozey and COIN. Three bands that to this date I've never heard of. Not the first time, as they bands they usually bring in are about to hit the mainstream, either that or I'm just getting old. 

* One car inspected and one to go.  

* Still playing Monopoly Go. I'm still in 6th place among friends and family. I'm trying to catch up. 

* How about I start doing my favorite Tic Tok of the week? This is this weeks Tiktok. It's starting to get too political now. 

* Have a great day.

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday

All good things must come to an end, but this is an exciting day to end the weekend on. Now we have to take our collective noses and stick them back onto that grindstone known as life and get back to doing what it is that we do for a living to make this a better rock to live on.

I have dropped one car off at Hartsell's Exxon to get inspected today. Dropping one off today and the other on Wednesday. Thankfully inspections will now run for two years instead of one, so I shouldn't have to do this next year. I always seem to get caught on the first day of classes or when the students get back to get my cars inspected. I think last year it cost me like $35 to Uber to Hartsells because it was a peak period. Not sure how I am going to handle it today, I may just wait until tomorrow to go and pick it up or I may just Uber back over. 

Looking at my week ahead at work, still working on my project for Transmission lines in Texas. I think we are about to get super swamped with some other projects coming up as well. Speaking of work my time with Lancesoft (contracted to Parsons) is about over if not over, I sent my equipment back last week and we are in the process of bringing me on as a casual Parsons employee. We have talked about it for some time, not the ball is rolling and in my court. 

Have yourselves a great day and the start of a great week. 

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday

Here I sit once again in a quiet household, Kiwi is in his cage and I know that little beak-head is up to something, he's just too quiet. He has a set of acetylene torches and a welder flashing around. I think he is in there cutting and welding. He had a sheet of metal delivered yesterday, I have no idea where he stores all of these materials or what he is building. I think he is trying to show his artistic side and build a self-portrait. Our intelligence officer (Peanut) grabbed this image inside his cage. 

So what is on today's agenda? House chores and shopping in the morning. The same thing that we do every Sunday Morning. We are definitely creatures of habit that is for sure. 

This afternoon we are going to be going to Arabella's Birthday party, her birthday was actually yesterday but we are celebrating it today at the Meadows community building. I was just there a couple of weeks ago for Jax's birthday now today we will be celebrating Arabella's 

Have a great day, and make it special and memorable.

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit in a semi-quiet household. Kiwi and I are obviously up, Kiwi is always up early and if I'm not up he makes sure he lets me know that he's awake and I need to wake up and uncover him so he can bless me with his presence. A little egotistical wouldn't you say? I guess it is my distinct honor to have such a brilliant bird brain living here with me. 

So what is on today's agenda? Well in case you haven't noticed, the Morgantown population is starting to grow as so many of the students are either returning to or coming here as Freshmen for the start of the new school year. I was just getting used to them not being here, I swear once we hit 4th of July it's a blink of an eye until we get inundated with students. 

I think Josh is moving into his dorm today, yesterday was the first day of move in but Val said today was when he was planning on moving in. If memory serves me correct I think he is moving into Stalnaker Hall for the school year. Good luck to him as he starts this academic endeavor, time will go by quickly. 

What's on our agenda? Trip to Aldi's and some other running around. Typical stuff for us. I cut grass last weekend so it doesn't need cut this weekend, so other than that our day should pretty much be open. 

Have 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, and by cheap I mean free entertainment. Look no further than the Hazel Ruby McQuain Amphitheater tonight as a band called Steep Canyon . The summer concert series is starting to wind down, so attend while you can. After tonight there are only two shows left. 

Do you realize it has been 47 years since Elvis Presley died. He will be dead for 5 years longer than he lived which just goes to show you how short life can be. He was 42 when he passed away. I remember it like it was yesterday. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out, time to look at some of the 30,000+ photos that I have stored on my computer. Little lost moments in time that I either captured with a lens, scanned or just stole from someplace on the internet. I like to find just one and post it up and recall or relive the picture to the best of my ability. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task and sometimes it's not that easy, one thing it has always been a lot of fun.

I guess you can see this is where it all started for me. It was a Christmas in the early 80's and Pam and Gary got a computer for Christmas. It was the little keyboard on the floor that is hooked up to a black and white TV, that keyboard was the whole computer. I think it was a 1 k unit and we bought a 15 k (that's kilobytes) expansion pack that attached to the rear. It was the stone age of computers, you had to program everything in the BASIC Programming language and you saved your program to a cassette tape recorder. 

It was years before George's Journal or blogging, it was computers in the earliest stage that I ever played with one. My oh my how far we have come since then.

Have a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Wednesday

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is completed Kiwi is back to his workweek and ignoring me, so it's a good reason for a tidbits. 

* It has been 22,146 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, and improved 1,045-day Calendar. 

* It has been 7,399 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. Smartest move I ever made career-wise. 

* 5,986 days ago Michelle and I had our first date together. Seems like it was just yesterday and it was the third best decision I ever made in my life. 

* 5,197 days ago I proposed to Michelle in the backyard at 4:00 in the morning. She knew it was coming, and it was still the best decision I ever made in my life. 

* It was 5,235 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, married by a chiropractor and feasted on food Jeanie made. 

* I have now lived 2,372 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 1,030 days ago today. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,273 days, I've now outlived him by 889 days making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* I have 2,729 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.

* There are 358 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Fourteenth Wedding Anniversary together. 

* There are only 219 days to go until Spring 2025, my favorite season of the year.  

* 173 more days until Phil steps to center stage once again for Groundhog Day. He and French Creek Freddie agreed on their predictions this year,  now let's just wait to see if they come true.  

* 148 more days to go until my Goodbye 2024 Blog is posted. Hopefully, I can put some better content together this year. 

* There are 134 more shopping days left until Christmas 2024. You still have plenty of time to prepare and get ready.

* There are 118 days until I hit the age of 61. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* There are 60 days until Brittany and Matt enter into the bonds of matrimony. It's getting closer. 

* There are 36 more days until we go to Pittsburgh and beat the Panther's butts in their stadium. 

* There are 27 more days to go until the Mountaineers will try to get some revenge here in Morgantown for last weekend when Penn State comes to Morgantown. 

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

* I have written 7,647 blogs in the now over 19 3/4 years of being a blogger. Wow, am I really coming up on 20 years as a Blogger? 

* Older Drone still needs to be sent out for repairs, not a big priority at this time. My little drone is awesome and I really like it....when I take time out to fly it.  

* If you want cabbage rolls or pierogies (homemade), Ellen McCabe called me and said that the church is going to have them on the 28th. $20 a Dozen for cabbage rolls, cooked or uncooked. They make two kinds of pierogies: potatoes and cheese and jalapeno. 

* I was talking to my brother Gary last week, he has went back to work in Weirton. 

* I'm going to get both of my cars inspected next week, somehow I always manage to hit the time when students are back in town. 

* Still playing Monopoly Go. I'm still in 6th place among friends and family. I'm trying to catch up. 

* How about I start doing my favorite Tic Tok of the week? This weeks tiktok. Wisdom of the day. 

* Have a great day.

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday

All good things must come to an end, but this is an exciting day to end the weekend on. Now we have to take our collective noses and stick them back onto that grindstone known as life and get back to doing what it is that we do for a living to make this a better rock to live on.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I was so happy we got so much done Saturday Morning that we could pretty much cruise and relax yesterday. 

Looking at my work schedule, typical week for me. We're just trucking on along and trying to knock out project after project. I really do like our group and the work we are doing, it was such a blessing to get back into the electrical part of GIS. Something I did learn last week, Vice Presidential Candidate Tim Walz is a GIS Guy and was actually the Keynote Speaker at the ESRI Confernece. It's nice to have someone who understands our discipline and what it can do. Maybe my field could be expanding. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday

Here I sit once again in a quiet household, Kiwi is up asking me questions. He said Dad, you're a human, Mom's a Human, my sisters have four legs and are cats, hell even Grandma is a Human, why don't I look like everyone else. I said Kiwi, it's because you're a bird. You don;t need to practice your driving skills, you have wings that you can just spread apart and fly to where ever you want to go. He looks at me and said why would I do that, I prefer to drive and then asked me to buy him a car. Crazy bird. 

Had a pretty productive day yesterday. Mom called me Friday night and said her TV in her bedroom wasn't working but Gerald's was. Their phone would not ring in our ring out also. So I went over yesterday morning and rebooted her X1 Box, and then both TV's were working again. I rebooted the modem and then the phone started working again. Hooked up her network settings again, showed her why her cell phone wasn't ringing and that could have been a busy day. 

Until I went home and want to stay ahead of the rain of Hurricane Debbie and decided to mow grass. It's been 4 or 5 weeks since I last mowed. Two weeks ago we went to visit Hayley, last weekend Michelle was out of town and it rained here. So the grass was much thicker than it usually is when I mow grass. It was a productive day. 

Today is the last day of the 2024 Summer Olympics. Closing ceremony will be this evening and that will be it for these summer games. I've had my TV on the pretty much the entire time, I'm going to have to go back to watching regular TV shows like Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon. I'm going to miss the Olympics. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here Kiwi and I sit in a quiet household, I'm up wondering if I am going to be able to cut grass this weekend and he's over there writing his memoir of finally meeting his Grandmother this past week. Now is is claiming he is the favorite Grandchild. He's painting a painting in his cage entitled Irene, an ode to Grandma. Such a creative bird. 

Hurricane Debbie is coming up the coast, which means there is probably going to be a good bit of rain this weekend. I really am wondering if I will be able to cut grass, it's been a few weeks I'm hoping I can get it cut. Michelle has a few bird feeders around the back yard (and front) and it has been so long since I was able to cut grass that I actually have corn growing in patches in the yard (no joke). Right under the birdfeeders in the back yard and just off the porch in front. 

I did buy a cheap Wifi extender this week, the ring doorbell in the front is a little too far from the router and it sends sketchy video at time, so I bought a cheap little extender and that seems to have solved the problem for the time being. It's on the same network as the doorbell and it's quicker to load and doesn't get pixelated. 

With the Mon County Fair coming up soon, there are some events around town leading up to it. The 2024 Junior Miss Contest will be Sunday at 2:00 held at University High School. Anniyah Paugh will be participating this year, she is the daughter of Samantha Paugh (Jim's Daughter). I know Michelle is wanting to go and cheer her on, especially since it is just right up the road. 

Other than that it's back to normal this weekend with the shopping and other things that we do on our days off. 

The Olympics will be ending tomorrow with closing ceremonies, I have to say that since they have started my TV has not been off of NBC. I've had it on all day and night watching either Olympic competitions or their replays. I'm going to be lost next week. 

Have yourselves a great day, make it special. 

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, and by cheap I mean free entertainment. Look no further than the Hazel Ruby McQuain Amphitheater tonight as a band called Fastball will be the headliner. So grab you a lawnchair, a blanket, snacks or whatever else you want to bring and head on down to enjoy some nice music for the evening. 

So what is on our agenda for the weekend? I honestly don't know, but we need to enjoy it while we can before we get an influx of students because next weekend the students will start to return to town in heavier numbers with a August 21 first day of classes anticipated. So enjoy the smaller population while you can before they all come back. 

Have yourselves a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out, time to look at some of the 30,000+ photos that I have stored on my computer. Little lost moments in time that I either captured with a lens, scanned or just stole from someplace on the internet. I like to find just one and post it up and recall or relive the picture to the best of my ability. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task and sometimes it's not that easy, one thing it has always been a lot of fun.

This weeks pic was from the year we did NOT win the KDKA McDonalds Pittsburgh Steelers Trivia Show. Before the Championship round Chris said lets finish in 3rd place that way we get VIP treatment to Training Camp. We finished in third place that year, then won the next two years to give us our 2nd and 3rd Championship. 

Anyways we were VIP guests to St Vincent's College and the Pittsburgh Steelers. We were on the field with the team (didn't have to sit in the stands) and that was when I grabbed this shot. The Bald guy is Ben Rothlisberger, 84 is AB Brown, 17 is Mike Wallace and 80 was when Plexico Burress briefly returned to the Steelers and was a men among boys, but got hurt 4 days after this picture was taken and that was pretty much it for him. 

Have yourselves a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Wednesday

Happy Birthday Randy Lee Hamrick

I would like to take this opportunity to wish my Nephew Randy Lee Hamrick a very Happy Birthday today. 

If my math is correct, and I know that it is because I use an abacus, Randy should be celebrating his 36th Birthday today. Wow if he is 36 I must be getting to be over 21, or at least people aren't going to believe me when I lie about my age anymore. 

Randy is a multi-talented handyman and has been working with his Dad Nick for a number of years as well as some of his own stuff. I'm very proud of him and who he has become. 

I'm not sure what Randy has planned for the day or if there is even anything planned for him, but he is loved by his entire family and has taken the title of world's greatest uncle from me from what I understand. 

If you happen to see Randy today, make sure you wish him a very Happy Birthday. 

Happy Birthday, Bub. 

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is completed and in our rearview mirrors and today is mine and Michelle's 13th Wedding Anniversary. Yeah Us!!!!

* It has been 22,139 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, and improved 1,045-day Calendar. 

* It has been 7,392 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. Smartest move I ever made career-wise. 

* 5,979 days ago Michelle and I had our first date together. Seems like it was just yesterday and it was the third best decision I ever made in my life. 

* 5,190 days ago I proposed to Michelle in the backyard at 4:00 in the morning. She knew it was coming, and it was still the best decision I ever made in my life. 

* It was 5,228 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, married by a chiropractor and feasted on food Jeanie made. 

* I have now lived 2,365 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 1,023 days ago today. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,273 days, I've now outlived him by 882 days making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* I have 2,736 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.

* There are 365 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Fourteenth Wedding Anniversary together. 

* There are only 226 days to go until Spring 2025, my favorite season of the year.  

* 180 more days until Phil steps to center stage once again for Groundhog Day. He and French Creek Freddie agreed on their predictions this year,  now let's just wait to see if they come true.  

* 155 more days to go until my Goodbye 2024 Blog is posted. Hopefully, I can put some better content together this year. 

* There are 141 more shopping days left until Christmas 2024. You still have plenty of time to prepare and get ready.

* There are 125 days until I hit the age of 61. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* There are 67 days until Brittany and Matt enter into the bonds of matrimony. Last week my sister Kim had to pretend that my blog said 181 days, I'm never wrong. 

* There are 43 more days until we go to Pittsburgh and beat the Panther's butts in their stadium. 

* There are 34 more days to go until the Mountaineers will try to get some revenge here in Morgantown for last weekend when Penn State comes to Morgantown. 

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

* I have written 7,640 blogs in the now over 19 3/4 years of being a blogger. Wow, am I really coming up on 20 years as a Blogger? 

* Older Drone still needs to be sent out for repairs, not a big priority at this time. My little drone is awesome and I really like it....when I take time out to fly it.  

* I think I know where I want to do my next drone flight, out by the old county graveyard whenever I get to it. 

* We had a short last week in the house, I had to call Maintenance and we figured out the problem was a faulty outlet by the bed. He replaced them both and we are good to go. It was thre circuit the AC was on, so it was a bit warm down here for a couple of evenings. 

* Still playing Monopoly Go. I'm still in 6th place among friends and family. I'm trying to catch up. 

* How about I start doing my favorite Tic Tok of the week? This weeks tiktok is when Tiko comes back to one of my favorite tiktoks producers. 

* Have a great day.

* Hi ho hi ho

13 Years

 

It was on this magical day 13 years ago today that Michelle and I entered into the bounds of Holy Matrimony. 13 years ago that we actually made it official and said our I Do's and signed some paperwork after a co-worker of Michelle officiated the ceremony and we became Mr and Mrs Hall. 

It was the most magical day of my life, it was when something that I had always wanted (a wife and family) came to fruition in front of our friends and family at the Marilla Center. 

She has been my rock and my soulmate even before that date, but this was when it all became official and I gave her my last name. 

To my wife Michelle, I still love you with all of my heart, and this is to the next 13 years together. 

Happy Anniversary. 

Monday

All good things must come to an end, but this is an exciting day to end the weekend on. Now we have to take our collective noses and stick them back onto that grindstone known as life and get back to doing what it is that we do for a living to make this a better rock to live on.

Girls trip and Brittany's Bachelorette Party was completed this weekend.  We celebrated Jax's very first Birthday Yesterday. I got the grass cut, which is always a good thing, so I guess you can call that a pretty good weekend even if I do have to say so myself. 

I need to get in contact with Hartsells and schedule to get both cars inspected this month. I like to do it before the students come back but it never works out for me for some reason. Hopefully it is more in my favor this year. 

Looking at my week ahead, my calender is pretty much open at work, working on a big project. We did have an internet outage all day in Austin Texas on Friday, which means I couldn't connect to the VPN or get any of the servers or licenses I needed. It was an easy day so to speak, but reality returns today. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday

Here Kiwi and I sit in a quiet household, he's asking where Mom is and I keep telling him that she is on the Girls trip to the waterpark and he is still upset she didn't take him. He's in his cage just going to town on whatever it is that he is doing. He's making a lot of racket and I think I just heard a fork truck in his cage. I might have to check up on him. 

Today I do all the chores around the house as well as doing the grocery shopping. I got it handled, no worries. They will all be heading out sometime this morning and making the 4+ hour drive back to Morgantown. 

What's on today's agenda? Well the girls are returning home for after their fun filled trip, but we will be celebrating Jax's First Birthday this afternoon. As you can see Mom and Dad gave him a smash cake or Smash Donut on his actual birthday, we will all be gathering for the celebration this afternoon. 

Other than that, it's just a relaxing day and getting ready for another fun filled week of working. 

Girls Trip, no boys allowed

Well here Kiwi and I sit all rejected, Michelle is going on a girls trip and Kiwi and I are home holding down the fort. He's coming up with all kinds of questions today, like Dad after three weeks are you finally going to cut the damn grass? I said Kiwi, if it does not rain today that will be on my agenda as well as a trip to Aldi's. 

Yes the girls are taking off early this morning and heading to Ohio for Brittany's Bridal shower. They are heading to Kalahari waterpark for the day and will be spending the night at the waterpark. Michelle, Kim, Terri, Amy, Val and of course the lovely bride Brittany will be joining with the grooms family (women) and spending a day in luxury as we guys hang around and hold down the fort. They are heading out in the wee hours of the morning (around the time this posts) and will be returning home tomorrow afternoon some time. 

I have a few things to do around the house (yes I will be cutting grass) and doing a little bit of grocery shopping. I did get Lucy's dog license for the year so I will probably be running them over to Mom sometime today. 

I'll be grocery shopping tomorrow morning as well as the chores around the house. I will be attending Jax's First Birthday party (his birthday was Thursday), not sure if the girls will make it back in time, but you never know. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Big Ole Hairy Friday

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

Looking for a little cheap entertainment, and by cheap I am referring to free entertainment? Down at the hazel ruby mcquain amphitheater Marshall Charloff & Purple xPeRIeNCE will be taking the stage around 8:00. They are a Prince tribute band and tonight's entertainment. Head on down for some what I would assume is good music that you can shake your booty to. 

Tomorrow starts Brittany's Bridal Shower weekend as all the women folk will be heading out early tomorrow morning and headed up to the Kalahari Resorts for the day. I think Michelle told me they want to leave from Kim's hours before dawn, so about the time Kiwi is asking me where Mom is going they will all be out the door and heading north. Safe travels to all. 

Have yourselves a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out, time to look at some of the 30,000+ photos that I have stored on my computer. Little lost moments in time that I either captured with a lens, scanned or just stole from someplace on the internet. I like to find just one and post it up and recall or relive the picture to the best of my ability. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task and sometimes it's not that easy, one thing it has always been a lot of fun.

Not sure of the timing of this picture, because well I kind of stole it. As we are heading into the weekend of Brittany's Bridal Shower I thought I would take this picture of her and Matt that they had taken for their engagement pictures and use it.

We're just a little over two months from their wedding day, and it is her Bachalorette party weekend coming up, so they get the distinct place of honor. this week. 

Have a great day. 

Hi ho hi ho