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. 

Even though I have been working for them for the last 15 months, I am no longer a contracted employee from an outside firm and I am now an official Parsons employee. My Orientation will be today (doing I-9's and all that fun kind of stuff) even though I'm already familiar with the culture and where I need to go. It's a remote role that could lead into bigger chances down the road, as they hire a lot of GIS people and they usually put their job posting up internally for Parsons employees first, so I am in the door so to speak rather than being a contractor on the outside looking in. When I first started at NETL, Parsons along with SAIC (who I worked for) and EG&G who is now Amentum and I also worked for up until my time ended there, were the three primes that had the whole site contract. This should open up some great opportunities for me to day the least. I already was offered to go to Malstrom this month, but it conflicted with Brittany's wedding so I passed this time around. 

In case you are wondering, I'm still keeping my day job with AliPro and contracted to EPE, another world wide firm with a number of opportunities. 

In the GIS field the most lucrative areas are Military and Power (electricity) and I have them both covered with Parsons and EPE. I did work in the gas field last year, but no where near as lucrative as the military or the power industry. 

I did have a very short-term thing come up for Hurricane Helene, it would have been only a couple of weeks for Geospatial Support for the aftermath of the Hurricane. It was all because I worked with FEMA when I was at NETL I had three FEMA Certifications. I told them to keep my name for future opportunities. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Sunday

Tree 1, Me 0

Here I sit in a quiet household, Kiwi and I are talking about life and he said he now wants to go to Medical School and become a Human Doctor. He thinks with his brilliant brain he could be Dr Kiwi by the end of the year if he applies himself. I hate to break it to him, it might take a little longer than that. 

I managed to get the grass cut yesterday, it was the first time I had cut it in some time and last weekend's rains caused it to grow quickly. So I went into action as Michelle went to Aldi's. So you are asking why Kiwi wants to go to medical school? Because as I was cutting grass yesterday I was riding under a pine tree and somehow managed to put about a 2" gash on my forehead. I had just finished cutting the grass when Michelle got home and hadn't had a chance to look at my forehead yet, although I knew there was a good deal of blood. I got her attention real quick when she saw the gash. I did manage to get the grass cut and the riding mower cleaned up and put away. I guess it is tree 1, me 0 right now. I do have a chainsaw where the score might turn back in my favor real soon...lol. I'm OK, looks worse than it feels. 

So what is on today's agenda? I have to move a few things around, we have an iMac in one bedroom that I am going to need to break down and move to the back spare bedroom. I have this monstrosity of a setup I got from Parsons that I am going to need for Monday and it's just too much to use with my current setup. That is set with dual monitors to work with laptops and a USB-C Connection. They sent me a Dell 5820 workstation that is supposed to be some supercomputer. I can hook up 4 monitors to it, but they only sent me two. It may be able to expand, but I need to see how much room I have. I do have an Alexa and a TV with a Roku in that bedroom, so now I'll have two desks with dual monitors for work, not to mention my own desk that I spend all of my free time at. I was told last week that they were sending me a laptop as well, but that hasn't arrived and I was told conflicting stories as to if I am getting one. 

Oh well, have yourselves a great day. 

Saturday

Here Kiwi and I sit in a quiet household, he's in his cage brainstorming about how he can do something that wins him a Nobel Prize in Bird Psychology. I just don't have the heart to tell him they do not award a Nobel Prize to birds, he's not going to like that at all. 

Well today is the day that Jim and Chris are going to have their Auction. It's going to be held at Woodland United Methodist Church tonight starting at 6:00. I'm pretty sure Michelle is planning on working the auction this evening and will probably be up there most of the day. Stop on by as look at the complete lot that they will be auctioning off, it's supposed to be a consignment auction, meaning there will be lots of other people auctioning off their stuff with I'm and Chris being the auctioneers. 

I'm planning on trying to cut the grass today, weather permitting. The rain that we had last weekend has caused the grass to grow a little bit and I want to try to get it cut. I think I only have one or maybe two more cuts left in the season before we hang it up for the 2024 grass-cutting season. 

I Officially start Monday with Parsons, it's still going to be on a part-time basis like it was when I was a contractor, but I'll be a Parsons employee. They have already sent me this monstrosity of a PC Computer, and as of press time I have two Monitors coming for it as well as a high-end laptop coming as well. I'm going to have to set this up in one of the spare bedrooms as I could not make it work with the current configuration I use for my other Contracting. I can use the laptop with that setup, but the big workstation needs a whole new setup. I was talking to one of the IT guys when the PC came and he said this is a very high-end Computer, meant for some high-end processing. We'll have to wait and see what they have lined up for me. Funny story this week, they wanted me to go to Malmstrom Air Force Base in a couple of weeks. I would love to see beautiful Montana, but the scheduling of events going on at that time would not permit it. 

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.

Are you looking for a little bit of High School Football? 3-1 Morgantown plays host the Buchanon Upshire this evening at Pony Lewis. 1-2 University travels to Fairmont to take on Fairmont Senior at what I would assume is at East West Stadium. Clay Battelle at 2-2 plays host to Tygarts Valley out in Blacksville. On a sad note, Trinity had to forfeit last week and will be forfeiting the rest of their season due to too many players being injured. 

The Mountaineers are off this weekend and will return to action next weekend at Oklahoma State. 

If you are looking for something to do tomorrow, Jim and Chris will be having an Auction at Woodland United Methodist Church tomorrow evening starting at 6:00 PM. Michelle will be working the auction and if all works out will have a number of items up for auction on consignment. A number of items that she boxed up this spring when she was doing her spring cleaning for the intent of having them auctioned off. 

Have yourselves a great day, let's get this day over so the partying can commence. 

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 goes back 14 years, to when Michelle and I took a trip to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton Ohio. It was a place that I had always wanted to go but never did. so Michelle and I made a trip out of it and even went to Amish Country the next day. It was a nice weekend and if you have never been to Canton or the Hall of Fame, it's really not that far of a trip and is really worth it. 

This picture was taken as we were getting ready to walk into the main part of the building (it's much bigger than just this. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Hi ho hi ho

Wednesday

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is completed, now it is time to concentrate eon the rest of this week and do a Tidbits. 

* It has been 22,188 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, and improved 1,045-day Calendar. 

* It has been 7,441 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. Has it really been that long? Wow. 

* 6,028 days ago Michelle and I had our first date together. 10,000 BC, I could have picked a better movie but not a better partner. 

* 5,239 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 5,277 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 2,414 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 1,072 days ago today. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,273 days, I've now outlived him by 931 days making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* I have 2,687 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.

* Pitt comes back to Morgantown in 355 more days. I can't wait. Revenge time. 

* There are 316 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Fourteenth Wedding Anniversary together. 

* There are only 177 days to go until Spring 2025, my favorite season of the year.  

* 132 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.  

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

* There are 92 more shopping days left until Christmas 2024. Time to start thinking about it. 

* There are 76 days until I hit the age of 61. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* There are 18 days until Brittany and Matt enter into the bonds of matrimony. It's getting closer. 

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

* I have written 7,691 blogs in what is now 20 years since I started blogging. Two decades ago.   

* 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.   

* Jim and Chris have a planned Auction at the end of this week. Here are the Details that I promised.

* 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, this is Marshall football Coach Charlie Huff last week trying to recruit some Ohio State players to Huntington with Tuders Biscuits. 

* I have all of my pre employment stuff done for Parsons and my official start date is Monday. Nothing is really changing except changing out my laptop for a new one. 

* Have a great day.

* Hi ho hi ho

Happy 16th Birthday Kaiden Dalton

I would like to take this opportunity to wish my great-nephew a very Happy Birthday today. If my math is correct, and it is spot on accurate, Kaiden is turning 1 years old today. 

Kaiden is an exceptional young man, I'm trying to convince him to play football next year (hint hint), as he has grown into someone who has the size and strength to play the game right now, I think he would have a lot of fun knocking a few heads around. 

Ralph and Amy held his 16th Birthday Party this past weekend at the Mountainview Jamboree, so I'm not sure what will be going on today specifically if anything. 

If you happen to see or talk to Kaiden today, make sure that you wish him a very happy birthday.

Happy Birthday, Kaiden. 

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. 

Is it me or is just time in general just flying by? My weekends go by quick, but my workweek does as well (although that may change next week when I'm working two jobs again). Maybe it's because I enjoy what I do for a living and I don;t consider what I'm doing as work. Hell I get off work and I'm still playing around trying to find better ways to do things, whether that be importing an open source data source or some editing tricks. My office mates are pretty cool as well, considering they are two cats and a know it all bird. 

I have a new project I am plugging away at this week, I'm out of Texas and into Michigan so to speak. We finished up Texas early last week and I'm concentrating on Michigan data for the 2033 cycle. I like the temporal (time) data as it allows us to track any potential changes and account for them as well as pulling up historical data for comparison. I know we are trying to obtain Open Street Map's electrical data as far as line locations and substation names. It would be a very helpful value added dataset to help improve accuracy. 

Have yourselves a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday

Here Kiwi and I sit in a quiet household, or should I say I'm sitting as Kiwi is trying to move a few things around in his area. He wants to install a baby grand piano and wants me to get him a set of cutting torches and a welder so he can expand his living space. He said he already has the welders mask and all the other tools that he may need. I'm not sure where he stores everything, he is an expert of space management for sure. 

Well, today is officially the autumn equinox, which is when the Sun appears to cross the celestial equator, heading southward.What does that mean in lamens terms> Today is the first day of Fall, Summer is officially over with for 2024. You know with Football season and the kids back in school, things that you associate with the Fall Season, it kind of sneaks up on you, but it is now officially here. 

Had a good time celebrating Kaiden's 16th Birthday Party with him yesterday. It was a really nice day and there was a really nice turn out. He got a whole lot of envelopes, so my guess is he raked ina  few dollars for almost turning 16. 

When I left to go to the birthday Party, the Mountaineer game was in a rain delay and I had no idea what had happened in the game until I left and turned the radio on. The Mountaineers staged a nice comeback after the delay and managed to pull it off 32-28 over Kansas. 

Have yourselves a good day, make it memorable. 

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit in a non-quiet household, it's an animal party up in here as we have Maybelline and Gracie here visiting since yesterday. Kiwi wants to dive off his cage and do backflips onto May, but he has wings and that really isn't that big of an accomplishment, but don't tell him I said that. 

So a couple of things coming up today, the Mountaineers take on Kansas today at noon. They will be trying to bounce back from that fiasco last week when we blew a 10-point lead against that bad school from the north known as Pitt. Hopefully, we can put that game behind us and get back to doing what I know we are capable of. 

This afternoon we will be attending Kayden's Birthday Party up at the Mountainview Jamboree, that is if we are both up to it. Michelle and I have both been under the weather the last couple of weeks and we're trying to recover, so if you see me today I may be socially distancing myself because of how I have been feeling. I'm still able to work, but I'm fortunate to work from the comforts of home. This will be a celebration of Kaiden's 16th Birthday. 

Grass is starting to stick up in places, but with the drought that we are in the grass really has not been growing much at all and not at all in some cases. It may be 50/50 with me letting it go another week, and I would tend to favor the 50% (if you know which one I mean). 

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 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 High School Football action this evening? Morgantown High returns home this weekend against Connellsville PA. University High is also playing at home this week and will be taking on Wheeling Park. Clay Battelle comes into town to take on Trinity. So all four local teams will be playing in Morgantown this evening, plenty of HS football action to choose from. 

If you are looking for a little bit of College action, the Mountaineers are at home tomorrow for a noon kickoff against Kansas. So there should be plenty of football action this weekend in Morgantown. 

Today is also Kim and Roberts Anniversary. If memory serves me correctly, they were married in 2003 and this will be their 21st Wedding Anniversary. Happy Anniversary. 

Tomorrow evening we will be heading up to the Mountainview Jamboree as Ralph and Amy will be hosting Kaiden's Birthday Party at the Jamboree. It'll be nice to have a little get together with everyone and celebrate Kaiden turning 16. 

Have yourselves a great day and let's get this party started.

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out, time to look at some of the 30,000+ photos that I have stored on my computer. Little lost moments in time that I either captured with a lens, scanned or just stole from 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.

Don't ask me what year this one goes back to, I'm thinking it was around 1976 or 1977. Yes that long-haired skinny kid with cut-off pants, knee-high tube socks (being held up by a rubber band) and those black Chuck Taylor Converse shoes was me. 

This was actually the first day that I got to meet my sister Kim who is just a year younger than me. We had grown up with different Grandparents, her with my Mom's and me with my Dad's, and had never met face to face where either one of us would have remembered it as we were too young. Terri was living with Mom and Kim had come down for a visit, so they arranged for the three of us to meet up together for the first time at Suburban Lanes. I'm sitting on the ledge where you walk downstairs to Stefanos or go upstairs to the bowling alley. 

Have yourselves a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Wednesday

Happy Birthday Calvin McClain

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

 Don't ask me how old he is all I know is that all of my Nephews and Nieces have passed me up in age and I'm still only 21 (he's 29) Calvin is someone Michelle and I have watched grow up and mature more than any other family member since we have been together. 

He has matured into a fine young man and now has a beautiful wife and now a wonderful young Son to share his life with. I'm not sure what Jeanetta or even Jax or my sister Pam have planned for him today, but I will say it'll be memorable no matter what it may be. It has been a real honor watching this young man grow up into the man that he is today. 

He was even nice enough to come over and wire up our washer and dryer earlier this year and put a pigtail on it to make it the way it should be instead of being hard wired in. He is amazing young man to say the very least. 

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

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is completed, now it is time to concentrate eon the rest of this week and do a Tidbits. 

* It has been 22,181 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, and improved 1,045-day Calendar. 

* It has been 7,434 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. Josh begins his academic Journey tomorrow at my alma mater. 

* 6,021 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. 

* 5,232 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 5,270 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 2,407 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 1,065 days ago today. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,273 days, I've now outlived him by 924 days making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* I have 2,694 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.

* Pitt comes back to Morgantown in 362 more days. I can't wait. 

* There are 323 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Fourteenth Wedding Anniversary together. 

* There are only 184 days to go until Spring 2025, my favorite season of the year.  

* 139 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.  

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

* There are 99 more shopping days left until Christmas 2024. OK, we are within 100 days, time to start thinking. 

* There are 83 days until I hit the age of 61. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* There are 25 days until Brittany and Matt enter into the bonds of matrimony. It's getting closer. 

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

* I have written 7,683 blogs in what is now 20 years since I started blogging. Two decades..wow.  

* 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.   

* Jim and Chris have a planned Auction at the end of this month. Not sure what they are going to have nor what is going to be auctioned at this time, when they post it to Auctionzip I'll let everyone know. 

* 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, two TikTokers that I have followed for some time, they are from Parkerburg and they just had their first child together. 

* I have all of my pre employment stuff done for Parsons. It'll be nice to officially have my foot in the door there. Parsons was actually one of the three Prime Contractors (along with SAIC and EG&G) when I first started to work at NETL. 

* 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.

Michelle will finally be returning to work today, she came home last Wednesday Morning sick as a dog and has been off since then. It must be some kind of a bug that is going around, I had it before her, but she had it much worse than I did. Mine has just been lingering longer, but nowhere near as severe as hers was. I guess I have been lucky. We're both withing a few weeks of us getting our flu shots for the year, we always try to get them around the first week of October. 

Did you see where the local Newspaper the Dominion Post was sold last week. They are no longer even printing the newspaper in Morgantown as of last week, they are printed in Wheeling and delivered here for distribution. Bob Nutting, who own the Pittsburgh Pirates, and his company bought out the Raese's. It was a total shock and I have to say that I was completely surprised by the move. Granted printed Newspapers are becoming a lost commodity as everything is going to online. It's just the trend of the market. 

Have yourselves a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday

Here I sit on a quiet Sunday Morning, Kiwi is still up trying to lower the tone of voice so that he can replace James Earl Jones as the Voice of Darth Vader. I'm not sure he can get that low though, but he is trying. 

Michelle and I did manage to get out of the house a little bit yesterday. We took a trip to Bridgeport to visit JCPenneys to buy what we are going to wear to Brittany's wedding next month. I'm a big boy and Clarksburg has a much larger big and tall section to choose from than Morgantown. 

We finally got a chance to try steak and shake, I have to say neither one of us was impressed. There were only three cars in the drive thru when we got there, and it took forever to prepare our food and they didn't even get the order right. Michelle got a banana shake that was pretty good, their fries on the other hand seemed like they were made hours before and were cold and not very good. The burgers were OK at best, had some flavor, but I would much rather have Five Guys. 

Today were going to do a little bit of grocery shopping and do everything that we need to do to prepare for the upcoming week. Other than that I think we are just going to relax and watch the Steelers play the Bronco's this afternoon. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Back Yard Brawl Day

Here I sit once again in a semi-quiet household, except for the fact that Kiwi and been taking some acting lessons, more specifically he wants to do voiceover work. He tells me that he thinks that since James Earl Jones passed away earlier this week, he is working on his distinctive Bass voice and wants to be the new voice of Darth Vader and Mustfa from the Star Wars and Lion King franchises. He's even working on the heavy breathing exercises, but that does get a little bit freaky if you know what I mean. 

This afternoon the Mountaineers will be taking that trip to the city in the north to play that dreadful school from the north. The West Virginia Mountaineers and Pitt Panthers will meet for the 107th time in the Backyard Brawl. It's at 3:00 or 3:30 on ESPN2. Should be a great game and one that I am looking forward to for sure. 

I've been sick the last week and Michelle came home Wednesday Morning sick and still isn't feeling 100%. Something is going around and I think we have both caught a touch of it. Fevers, chills, upset stomachs and such are things we have been battling this past week. 

Plans for this morning include a run to Aldi's. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the grass yet, it's really not grown very much at all over the past four weeks since I last cut it. It may get delayed another week, then again I may just go for a joyrode around the yard. 

Oh, I got an offer from Parsons this week. I've been working for them on an on again off again part time basis the last year or so, and we're just eliminating a few hoops and making me a Parsons employee. I've already submitted my background check paperwork as well as did my drug screen earlier this week. In start September 30th. So instead of having to fill out 3 timesheets working for them it'll only be one. Also a lot less hoops to jump through to get any kind of work, so it could really work to my advantage. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Big Ole Hairy Friday the 13th

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 High School Football? After a disappointing week last week where all four Monongalia County teams lost, I think it is time to rebound and do a little better this week. University is at home this week and taking on Buchanon Upshire. Morgantown after getting slaughtered at home last week travels to South Charleston. Trinity is at home against Madonna and Clay Battelle is on the road at Valley Whetzel. Hopefully the local teams do not lay a big goose egg this week. 

The Mountaineers are on the road this week, playing the Anti-Christ of College Football, the Dreaded University of Pittsburgh. Otherwise known as Pitt around these parts. I heard a rumor that they do human sacrifices up at that school up north. They have also been known to torture puppies and kittens, I'm telling you that school is pure evil. The only way to combat that evil, is to outnumber them in their own stadium and sing the alternative lyrics to Sweet Caroline.

Have 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 picture is from 13 years ago, me and my Photographer niece Amy were comparing cameras and techniques as we were both at Pam and George's place. I think I had just bought a camera that had like 48X optical zoom with all the bells and whistles, it was the last one I bought before I bought my DSLR camera. I think we were all gathered for Moke and Jean's Birthday that Pam and George were graciously hosting. 

Was that really 2011? Time is just going by a little too quickly for my taste. 

Have yourselves a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

20 Years

Can you believe it, it was 20 years ago today at this exact same time that George's Journal went from concept to the wonderful historical perspective of my life over the last 20 years. 

THIS IS WHERE IT ALL STARTED, 7:25 AM on September 11, 2004, when I posted my very first Blog. 

I used to watch my sister Kim write her online Journals that she would do on her website, that and a combination of that and a co-worker telling me he was a grogger not a blogger lead me to looking into what a blogger was. I knew he liked beer so I understood the grogger, but what in the world was a blogger. 

Wouldn't you know there was a website called....blogger and I signed up for an account and got started documenting my thoughts at first then expanding it and refining it to what it is today. 

If nothing else, it is a great historical perspective of events around my life and it is all documented right here on these pages. I started writing it every day in about 2007 when Kim was writing in hers every day, I couldn't let her get more content that I put out. So it has been an every day thing for 17 of those 20 years. 

Thank you for reading, thank you for enjoying my thoughts and memories and helping me document them.20 years is a long time and there have been a lot of thoughts that have went into it. Also a lot of redundant content to make it a daily thing and sometimes a bit of a pain to keep writing. I usually write everything on Saturday Morning and forget about it for the rest of the week. Then do another one if something special comes up like this particular event. 

Thank You for reading 20 years worth of my thoughts, here is to the next 20 years of mindless thoughts. 

Wednesday

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is completed, now it is time to concentrate eon the rest of this week and do a Tidbits. 

* It has been 22,174 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, and improved 1,045-day Calendar. 

* It has been 7,427 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. Josh begins his academic Journey tomorrow at my alma mater. 

* 6,014 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. 

* 5,225 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 5,263 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 2,400 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 1,058 days ago today. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,273 days, I've now outlived him by 917 days making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* I have 2,701 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 330 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Fourteenth Wedding Anniversary together. 

* There are only 191 days to go until Spring 2025, my favorite season of the year.  

* 146 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.  

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

* There are 106 more shopping days left until Christmas 2024. You still have plenty of time to prepare and get ready.

* There are 90 days until I hit the age of 61. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* There are 32 days until Brittany and Matt enter into the bonds of matrimony. It's getting closer. 

* There are 4 more days until we go to Pittsburgh and beat the Panther's butts in their stadium.  

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

* I have written 7,676 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.   

* Jim and Chris have a planned Auction at the end of this month. Not sure what they are going to have nor what is going to be auctioned at this time, when they post it to Auctionzip I'll let everyone know. 

* 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, a nice tricky little Geocache. 

* As of today I have accepted my offer letter and will begin working for Parsons, instead of Lancesoft working for Parsons, on September 30th. I sent my laptop back last month, but they are going to give me a better one. 

* 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.

So what is going on this upcoming week? Michelle has a Doctors appointment tomorrow afternoon, so she will be home from work a little bit early. Her doctor is away on Maternity leave, so she is seeing someone else from their office this week. 

Me, I'll be plugging away at work one again this week on the same project, it should be getting close to being completed where we can send it to the client, we have been going at it for a month on this one as it was a big one. 

Other than that this week is just the same stuff different week. I know I don't live the most exciting of lives anymore, and it seems like I am always getting sick. Good thing I work at home. 

Have a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday

Here Kiwi and I sit once again in a quiet household, he's being quiet this morning so I don't know if he is still recovering from a night of partying last night. He was hitting the birdnip a little hard last night doing his song and dance routine. He asked me this morning if I know anyone who does at home pedicures, he wants his nails painted. I swear that bird is a unique one with some of his ideas. 

Me, I have been under the weather for a few days now. I can always tell when it is getting close for the time to get my flu shot (we usually get them the first week in October) as I have been feeling it the past few days. 

I don't have the heart to tell Kiwi that Michelle and I are having Wings today for dinner. It's the start of the NFL Football season and Michelle said she would like to do wings, so we are going to do wings today. Don't worry Kiwi, we want chicken wings, not conure wings, and no that is not your 3rd cousin twice removed that we are planning on eating today.

Have yourselves a great day.  

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here me and my buddy Kiwi and I sit in a semi-quiet household, he's in his cage singing and working on his vocals. He's in there singing scales and tells me he want's to win a Grammy next year and he's working hard. He's got an album coming out called Kiwi sings the Bee Gee's, but I'm not sure if Barry Gibb has signed off on it yet, you know they whole copyright thing and all. 

The Mountaineers do play this evening, not as big as a game as last week, but an important one no doubt. They will be taking on the University of Albany tomorrow evening. Game time starts at 6:00 and this is the one game of the year where it's a tune up game. Where we play a lower level opponent and try to get some playing time in for some of the younger players. Traffic will be heavy, but not as heavy as it was last week so keep that in mind, especially this afternoon. 

What's on our agenda? Not sure other than the traditional shopping that Michelle does on Saturday Morning. Grass really isn't that long so I may wait for another day to cut it. You never know though, I may change my mind. 

Other than that no real plans for today or tomorrow as of yet. 

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.

You looking for a little bit of High School Football? Undefeated Morgantown is at home against Bridgeport. University is on the road against Parkersburg South for their first game of the year. Undefeated Clay Battelle is at home against Madonna. Good luck to all local teams who are in action this weekend. 

No scheduled plans for the weekend, it's another home game here in Morgantown with the Mountaineers as the Albany Great Danes visit Morgantown. I don't think this weeks game will quite live up to the hype of last weeks, but that was big. 

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 goes back to Morgantown last weekend on Friday, when schools were closed and people were lining up to get in since 3:00 AM to see the Pat MacAfee show. It really was a magical day, an alumnus has become the most popular broadcaster in sports broadcasting and he loves his alma mater. 

Have yourselves a great day.

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 22,167 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, and improved 1,045-day Calendar. 

* It has been 7,420 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. Josh begins his academic Journey tomorrow at my alma mater. 

* 6,007 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. 

* 5,218 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 5,256 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 2,393 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 1,051 days ago today. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,273 days, I've now outlived him by 910 days making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* I have 2,708 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 337 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Fourteenth Wedding Anniversary together. 

* There are only 198 days to go until Spring 2025, my favorite season of the year.  

* 153 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.  

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

* There are 113 more shopping days left until Christmas 2024. You still have plenty of time to prepare and get ready.

* There are 97 days until I hit the age of 61. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* There are 39 days until Brittany and Matt enter into the bonds of matrimony. It's getting closer. 

* There are 11 more days until we go to Pittsburgh and beat the Panther's butts in their stadium.  

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

* I have written 7,669 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.   

* Jim and Chris have a planned Auction at the end of September. Not sure what they are going to have nor what is going to be auctioned at this time. 

* 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. Got to love some Pat MacAfee

* Have a great day.

* Hi ho hi ho

Labor Day

Take an extra day off and extend that weekend one day. Unless you are like me and are greedy and plan on working today, then it's just another day.

Michelle is off today but like I said I'm working. I figure I work from home and I wouldn't really be doing anything other than what I do at work, so I might as well go make that money. The life of a contractor, it pays well be you don't get the perks like paid days off. 

Like I said I'm working, but I have no idea what Michelle's plans are for the day. If you are off today, enjoy your time off.

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday

Here I sit on a quiet Sunday Morning, Kiwi is in his cage going over game film to try and figure out what went wrong yesterday. He said he had laid down the perfect game plan, but it didn't turn out favorably. The sun does come up today though, so live another day.

So with the sun coming up today, what is on our agenda? Grocery shopping obviously. Michelle will see if she can maneuver through a sea of leftover cars and make it to Krogers as I do the house chores. JUst out typical Sunday.

I did get a message from Daniel yesterday, he's doing well and tells everyone hello. He has been taking classes and has been busy between school, studying and playing Basketball. 

Tomorrow is Labor Day, Michelle is off but I am planning on working. Most of you working stiffs can enjoy a three day weekend, I'll be working. 

Have a great day.