Goodbye 2024

 January

* I started January off carrying over an illness from 2023 when I had RSV. 

* Michelle spent a weekend back in East Liverpool Ohio, she went up to help Julie with Emily's Baby Shower. 

* I was working two jobs most of the month, as my work with Parsons (when I was a contractor) picked back up 

* Did I mention that I had an extended bout with RSV during December and January. 

February

* Phil did me a big favor, he didn't see his shadow. I guess all the bribes I had sent to him through the years finally paid off. 

* February was one of the few months when we actually made home made bread, I love Michelle's Dutch Oven Breads. 

* I earned my Derivative Classification for the Parsons job. It's for access to DoD servers. 

* February had 29 days in 2024

March

* I switched jobs from Matrix to AliPro. I had been working for Matrix to learn a new piece of software basically. 

* We moved everything from the big external garage to the 2 car garage attached to the House. We set up shop so to speak. 

* We bought our first of two ring doorbells. One for the front and one for the back. 

* Demolition started, first it was the old Valley Mart that went down and then it was the big 4 car garage that was separate from the house. Bye Bye old mancave. 

April

* Baseball legend Pete Rose came to Morgantown to be the featured speaker at the Bob Huggins Fish Fry, a few months later Pete Rose had passed away. 

* We had a solar eclipse here, it was not a 100% eclipse here but Ohio had the full 100%. We were in the 90+ % range. 

* We finally bought a new Washer/Dryer combo. The one that was here went out a few years ago, so we just broke down and bought a new one. 

* I ended up supplying the new man cave with a lot of new toys. Saw horses, power washers, saws drills etc. 

May

* Hayley and Tyler bought a home for themselves, Michelle had made a few trips up to help her pack up, paint and get moved in. 

* My sister Terri got a clean bill, of health after her Cancer battle. 

* Michelle had a Pampered Chef Party, we ended up with a number of new toys and gadgets that we love. 

* Josh graduated from Morgantown High. He initially wanted to go to Penn State where he was accepted, but ultimately chose West Virginia University where he has completed his first semester. 

June 

* I ended up giving my ticket to the Kenny Chesney Concert in Pittsburgh and she and Michelle had a Mother/Daughter outing at Acrisure Stadium. 

* Michelle saw a new set of cookware that she liked at Sams Club, what Michelle likes Michelle gets. 

* Ashley and Christopher came back into Morgantown for Christophers Graduation party at Krepps park. 

* Did I mention what Michelle wants Michelle gets, let me tell you about the Blackstone Grill that is freaking awesome. Yes we put it to real good use this summer. 

July

* We broke in that Blackstone in the month of July, we actually used it to grill on for the 4th of July. 

* Michelle hit her 1,000 day milestone from stopping drinking, very proud of her. 

* Kynlea organized and held her very own birthday party, let me tell you that kid cleaned up and made out big time. 

* Michelle and I took a day to go and visit Hayley, and somehow ended up in Wheeling for some DiCarlos pizza. Not sure how that all transpired, but I love DiCarlos. 

August

* Michelle and a number of the girls in Brittany's Bridal Party had a getaway weekend at Kalahari Resorts up close to Cleveland. It was a girls weekend. 

* The Summer Olympics Concluded in Paris France. 

* Josh moved into the dorms at WVU in August. He started out in Stalnaker but got displaced when they had water problems. I think he ended up at Towers. 

* We got both of our cars inspected, this inspection is good for two years so no need to worry about it next year. 

* The Pat McAfee show was broadcast before the Penn State game in the old stadium loop. People were lining up since 3:00 AM to get in. 

September

* We officially started the paperwork of me leaving Lancesoft and Transitioning to a Parsons employee. 

* I celebrated 20 years of being a Blogger. 20 Years of writing my thoughts and putting them down for the world to see. 

* Amy and Ralph had Kaiden's 16th Birthday Party for him at the Jamboree.  

* Trinity High School was forced to forfeit the rest of their 2024 Football season due to too many injuries. 

October

* Michelle and I took a trip to Springs PA for the Springs Festival. This is the first time that we had attended at Festival in a number of years, way before COVID even. 

* Michelle and Hayley went to listen to some storyteller that Michelle follows in Pittsburgh. Mr Ballen is his name and they had a great evening. 

* Brittany and Matt became Husband and Wife. It was a beautiful ceremony and reception at Tuscan Ridge. 

* Sophie, a cat that Michelle adopted 18 years earlier finally succumbed to some health issues. She passed away comfortably at home. She was cremated and we have the remains. 

* The Breast Cancer Survivors walk was held at Milan Puskar Stadium, many family members were there in support of Terri. 

* Michelle put up a Halloween Tree, which transitioned to a Christmas Tree after Halloween. 

November

* Jim and Chris held their biggest Christmas Auction and Michelle and I went to the Westwood Middle School Holiday Craft auction. 

* We had our once every-four years Presidential Election. 

* We did our annual Thanksgiving Day Dinner at the Cassville Firehall. 

December

* Michelle had officially switched jobs and started with her new company in December. She is now at Davis Kitchen and Tile. 

* Michelle's multiple day Cookie day turned into a one day bake with her switching jobs. 

* WVU Football fired Neal Brown and brought back Rich Rodriguez and early Christmas present for me. Let's Go!!!!

* Christmas Eve was at Terri's. I did a video but am going to redo it. Gary came in for Christmas Eve. 

* I have posted 383 blogs in 2024.

* See you on the other side. 

Tuesdays Tidbits

* Monday is once against complete and the year pretty much is as well, let's do the Final Tidbits for 2024

* It has been 22,286 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, and improved 1,045-day Calendar. 

* It has been 7,539 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. I love what I do and am thankful to still be working on my field. 

* 6,126 days ago Michelle and I had our first date together. 10,000 BC, I was telling Peanut howlusy of a movie it was this weekend. 

* 5,337 days ago I proposed to Michelle in the backyard at 4:00 in the morning. I've been the luckiest guy since that fateful day. 

* It was 5,375 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 2,512 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 1,170 days ago today. It was three years this past Friday. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,273 days, I've now outlived him by 1,029 days making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* I have 2,590 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 shopping days left until Christmas 2025.

* There are 336 days until I hit the age of 62. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* Pitt comes back to Morgantown in 257 more days. I can't wait. Revenge time for Rich Rod!!!!

* There are 218 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Fourteenth Wedding Anniversary together. 

* There are only 69 days to go until Spring 2025, my favorite season of the year.  

* 34 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.  

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

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

* I have written 7,805 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.   

* Yes the Air conditioner is still in the bedroom window, now we are thinking about leaving it in for the winter. 

* This is the next to last Blog for the year, my Goodbye 2024 will post in a few hours, later this morning.  

* Still playing Monopoly Go. I'm still in 5th place among friends and family. 

* This is my favorite TikTok for this week. You have to love Dave Portnoy who has donated all kinds of money here locally. Including $200,000 a couple of years ago to Bob Huggins for the Norma Huggins Fish Fry for cancer research. 

* 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.

Kiwi is still kind of heartbroken that he has yet to beat Peanut in a game of Chess. He's taking this last loss kind of hard, especially when he even cheated and still lost. He wants me to hire Beth Harmon as a tutor for him, I tried to tell him she is a fictional character from Queens Gambit, but he is convinced she will be the key to him defeating Peanut in Chess. Peanut, she don't care as she is in one of her hiding spots taking a good ole cat nap. 

Anyone have any plans for New Years Eve? We're staying home and I will most likely have fallen asleep at least once before midnight. No real plans for New Years either, although I worked Saturday to have the day off. 

Have yourselves a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday

Here I sit on a semi-quiet Sunday morning, Kiwi tried to cheat by getting Peanut to overdose on Catnip so he stood a better chance to beat her in Chess. His strategy while unfair and quite brilliant however, failed to achieve his desired result as Peanut once again absolutely cleaned his clock and beat him at Chess yet once again. She is a Grand Cat Chess Master and is up three games to none on Kiwi. I wonder of they bound and determined Aviary friend will ever learn. 

So what is on today's agenda? A little grocery shopping and our weekly chores around the house. I'm off today after working yesterday (to make up for New Years) so a nap may actually be in the cards today. Steelers already played on Christmas, so they aren't playing so it's hard to say what I may get into. 

I do have to say, Artificial Intelligence is much smarter and pays closer attention to what we do than we realize. This is no Joke. I asked ChatGPT what I should get into today just to get some ideas and play around. The screenshot is the actual reply I got back from my question. It makes you wonder with all the smart devices we have around the house and what we type into a computer, what about our lives are actually being compiled by artificial intelligence. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit in a quiet household this morning, Kiwi and Peanut are up and talking to me about how they can do a better Christmas Eve Video if they are allowed to use Amy's Pictures. I told them to knock themselvess out. It keeps their minds off the big chess match that they have rescheduled for this evening. Kiwi the master of everything is convinced he can do a better job editing the video and Peanut is just agreeing with him. 

Going to be a busy day, I'll be working today. Wednesday is New Years and I want the day off, so I'm moving my schedule around once again this weekend. It does make it a funny week where you don't know what day it is sometimes. 

Michelle and Chris will be heading up to Jon and Laura's (Ellwood City) to have Christmas with the kiddies up there, it it will be me and the pets here all day doing our thing. I've also got some writing I have to do this evening for finish up my end of the year blog, so it will be a busy day for me as well. 

Have yourselves a great day, make it memorable but for me. 

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.

Kiwi and Peanut are bound and determined to play one more game of chess in 2024. Peanut says she will destroy the bird brain and Kiwi thinks he has devised a way of cheating that will give him the advantage. He's superglued all of Peanut's Chess pieces. It's a bold strategy, lets see how it works.

This is going to be the last weekend of 2024, although I will once again be working tomorrow to make up for New Years next week. The life of a contractor. 

No plans for the day, other than the stuff we usually do on Fridays. Our lives have gotten a little bit boring so to speak. 

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 pic goes all the way back to the year 2017. It was Christmas Eve and we were down at my sister Terri's for the evenings festivities. I think I still have that Santa Beard and hat somewhere here as well as that shirt.

Have yourselves a great day, let's get back to it. 

Hi ho hi ho

Wednesday

Christmas In the Country

Christmas Eve Past Videos

Every year I try, or should I say I attempt to try to put together a Christmas Video from our Christmas Eve. I've done a number of these through the years, enjoy some of my past work and Merry Christmas Eve.

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

 

2018



2016



2015




2014




2013

2012

2008




2007



It doesn't appear that I did one for 2006, but here is one of the first videos that I ever did to fill in a little.





2005 which is probably my all time favorite one that I have done.




2004



1999 Which was my Dad's last Christmas

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is once against complete, can't think of a better reason to do a tidbits. 

* It has been 22,279 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, and improved 1,045-day Calendar. 

* It has been 7,532 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. I love what I do and am thankful to still be working on my field. 

* 6,119 days ago Michelle and I had our first date together. 10,000 BC, I was telling Peanut howlusy of a movie it was this weekend. 

* 5,330 days ago I proposed to Michelle in the backyard at 4:00 in the morning. I've been the luckiest guy since that fateful day. 

* It was 5,368 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 2,505 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 1,163 days ago today. It was three years this past Friday. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,273 days, I've now outlived him by 1,022 days making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* I have 2,597 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 343 days until I hit the age of 62. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* Pitt comes back to Morgantown in 264 more days. I can't wait. Revenge time for Rich Rod!!!!

* There are 225 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Fourteenth Wedding Anniversary together. 

* There are only 76 days to go until Spring 2025, my favorite season of the year.  

* 41 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.  

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

* There are 1 more shopping days left until Christmas 2024.

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

* I have written 7,797 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.   

* Yes the Air conditioner is still in the bedroom window, it's going to be coming out soon...I promise I am going to get that out.

* It's December, Yes I have started to format my end of the year blog finally and am making progress on it. 

* Still playing Monopoly Go. I'm still in 5th place among friends and family. 

* Kiwi is looking for a new skill to master,  

* 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.

This year has went by rather quickly to say the least. Christmas is in a few days, I do have the Hot Sausage purchased and will have it ready to go by Tomorrow night. It's just something that I do every year that is pretty popular. Nick's Prime Rib has the edge, but my Hot Sausage has the longer Hall Tradition and the need for Christmas Morning Breakfast. Although I think it's Pam, Michelle and I who hold that tradition more than anyone else. 

I am going to post all of my Christmas Videos from years past tomorrow at sometime. I've done a number of them and am hoping to do another one this year. I did one last year, but I was sick and wasn't there, so Michelle grabbed all of my images from the evening. 

Have yourselves a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday

Here I sit in a quiet household, we were exposed to a little bit of football overload yesterday and Friday with the first round of the college football playoffs plus the Steelers played yesterday. It was a football filled Saturday and both Kiwi and Peanut loved it. Although I think Kiwi is trying to trick Peanut and make her feel comfortable, he's planning on playing her in Chess once again next weekend and may have something up his wing. 

I also worked yesterday, I was up and at em before most of you were even out of bed yesterday morning. I was actually off on Friday as they moved the electric poles from one side of the street to this side in anticipation of the new bridge being built. So we were without power for about 6 1/2 hours on Friday to say the least. It was over 1,100 families affected from the move, but we made it through to the other side. 

Michelle's company had their Company Christmas Party and it was a big success. She was a little nervous at first as she was overwhelmed, but she's putting together a plan of action to get everything done and is settling in just fine. 

Our day, grocery shopping and chores around the house. 

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit in a quiet household, Kiwi and I are up talking about a strategy that he could implement to beat Peanut in Chess, but like I tried to tell him she is a Cat Grand Master at Chess and will be tough to beat. He's bound and determined much like Charlie Brown was in kicking that football that Lucy was holding. 

So what is on our agenda for today? I'll actually be working to make up for the Christmas Holiday. I was off yesterday due to the planned power interruption, and I'll be working today to make up for the Christmas Holiday this upcoming week. I'm sitting in my living room, so it's not so bad to be honest. 

The Steelers play the Ravens this afternoon at 4:30. This game will be played in Baltimore. Pittsburgh plays the defending Super Bowl Champs Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Day. Talk about a tough stretch of games. 

I'll be doing some blogging this afternoon, I've started to do my Goodbye 2024 Blog, so I have a lot of entries and reviewing the past year so I can relive the year according to my blog. It's the funniest blog of the year for me to write and it consumes the most time to write.

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.

It's going to be a strange day here, they have the power poles up to move the lines in front of the house and they have the lines run, we will probably be losing power all day today as they are switching power from the old poles to the new poles. They were doing some things last Friday that caused me to lose power temporarily, but that was short term. This is going to be a much bigger process. They Already have the framework up (beams) up across the road for the temporary bridge as they begin to widen the road and the bridge on our side of the road. So I really have no idea what is on my agenda for today to be honest. 

I don't think we have anything scheduled for this weekend, but that can always change. 

Anyways, have a great day and a great weekend.

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 photo goes back to the 90's and a place that I used to spend 60-70 hours a week at for 6 full years. The two things in the foreground with the A's are Ladles, we would put anywhere between 2200 and 4400 lbs of molten steel in them (depending on the available molds) and take molten metal from the furnace (it is open right behind the ladles) and pull it out around 3000° F to begin our pour. 

I think this picture was actually taken in the last days of operation for the Helmick Foundry (which now the entire Helmick Corporation is out of business), as it's just me and I don't see anyone else working. Meaning I was a one man crew in the melt shop that day where it was usually three of us. 

Have yourselves a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Wednesday

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is once against complete, can't think of a better reason to do a tidbits. 

* It has been 22,272 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, and improved 1,045-day Calendar. 

* It has been 7,525 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. I love what I do and am thankful to still be working on my field. 

* 6,112 days ago Michelle and I had our first date together. 10,000 BC, I was telling Peanut howlusy of a movie it was this weekend. 

* 5,323 days ago I proposed to Michelle in the backyard at 4:00 in the morning. I've been the luckiest guy since that fateful day. 

* It was 5,361 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 2,498 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 1,156 days ago today. It was three years this past Friday. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,273 days, I've now outlived him by 1,015 days making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* I have 2,604 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 350 days until I hit the age of 62. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* Pitt comes back to Morgantown in 271 more days. I can't wait. Revenge time for Rich Rod!!!!

* There are 232 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Fourteenth Wedding Anniversary together. 

* There are only 83 days to go until Spring 2025, my favorite season of the year.  

* 48 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.  

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

* There are 8 more shopping days left until Christmas 2024. Time to start thinking about it. 

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

* I have written 7,790 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.   

* Yes the Air conditioner is still in the bedroom window, it's going to be coming out soon...I promise I am going to get that out.

* It's December, Yes UI have started to format my end of the year blog finally. 

* Still playing Monopoly Go. I'm still in 5th place among friends and family. 

* Kiwi is looking for a new skill to master,  

* How about I start doing my favorite Tic Tok of the week? This weeks Tiktok, it is pretty self explanatory. 

* 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.

Back at it we all go today, Michelle was a little under the weather late last week and her whole office was out on Friday being sick. She's feeling much better today (I hope) and is ready to get back to it. I think I mat send Peanut to work with her, because Peanut tends to suffer from Mommy separation anxiety. Kiwi, he's a GIS bird. 

So what is up this coming week? I have an in person interview tomorrow with the state here in Morgantown, keep your fingers crossed but something tells me they already have their candidate and are just jumping through the state hoops to make the hire. Kiwi suggested that since he is so smart, use him instead of drone to get any aerial imagery we may need. He may be onto something.

The Mountaineers play in the bowl game tomorrow night against Memphis. No predictions about what is going to happen. We have an interim coach and a coaching staff that I would imagine the majority of them won't be working here after the game. No Rich is not coaching the bowl game, he's busy assembling his staff. 

Have yourselves a great start to a great week. 

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday

Here I sit once again in a quiet household, Kiwi and I are up discussing Rich's Read Option Offense that he is trying to understand. Kiwi is more defensive minded and says he would have trouble stopping that offense when it is executed properly. A bird of many talents to say the least. 

So Michelle, Chris and Amanda did cookie day yesterday, it was originally supposed to be a few days, bit since Michelle returned to work she had to cut it down to one and they used a large kitchen with plenty of space and plenty of little helpers.

They had a nice industrial sized stove at the church as well as a large hobart mixer so they were baking themselves some cookies. 

Myself, I made a trip to Harry's to get some Hot Sausage and a few other things to throw in the freezer. We usually make a few trips a year there to stock up, and being it is close to Christmas I needed to get some Hot Sausage.

Today? I'm going to watch the Steelers play the Eagles this afternoon, should be a really good matchup of a couple very good teams. The Steelers are 10-3 and the Eagles are 11-2. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Welcome Home

Here I sit on a quiet Saturday Morning, I'm up explaining to Kiwi that WVU Football is going to be elite again real quick, no more uncertainty about if we can beat who we are playing. He doesn't quite understand, because Neal Brown is the only coach he has known. 

On my Birthday earlier this month, WVU fired Neal Brown as our football coach, it was a little bitter sweet because he was really a nice guy, but his teams just lacked that edge that we once had. After about a week and a half of searching, Wren Baker extended an offer Wednesday Evening, went down and picked him and his family up on Thursday and Re-introduced our greatest coach ever to a new generation of Mountaineer Fans yesterday as Pat McAfee had his ESPN show here yesterday as Rich was officially being re-intruduced to the Mountaineers as their Head Coach. I think it was an absolute home run hire by Wren and wanted Rich to return when Dana left then again two years ago when they were in discussions of releasing Neal Brown then. 

We had held all of our coaches since Rich, to the standards that Rich established, that for this coaching search it only made sense to go bring back the man who set the standards. I am ecstatic to say the least. West Virginia has lacked that edge that Rich instilled into his players since he left, he is very tough to play for and he will put a team on the field that will be tougher than whoever we face no matter who that is. The excitement returns!!!!!

Have yourselves a great day, I will. 

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.

Hopefully Michelle is not all worn out from getting back to work this week, for tomorrow is her cookie day for 2024. Where she does her baking for the season, only this year she will be doing it at Woodland Church and using their ovens rather than our kitchen. Peanut and Kiwi are going to try to make batches of their favorite cookies today, but birdseed cookies and tuna cookies are not exactly on my list to try. They like them though. 

Hopefully by this time we will know who our next football coach is, as of press time I do not know but I am favoring Rich Rodriguez and his return. It's been fun watching guys track flights on the internet as to see who is interviewing, it's almost comical. 

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.

It's not too often that I am able to get into one of my own pictures, so I thought I would take the opportunity to post this one from Thanksgiving this year. It's Michelle, Hayley, Tyler, Luke and myself, a very rare picture opportunity, but one that is special. Michelle had bought a cheap background at the dollar store and we used it to take all of the pictures, I think they turned out well. 

Have yourselves a great day and make your own memories. 

Hi ho hi ho

Wednesday

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is once against complete, can't think of a better reason to do a tidbits. 

* It has been 22,265 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, and improved 1,045-day Calendar. 

* It has been 7,518 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. I love what I do and am thankful to still be working on my field. 

* 6,105 days ago Michelle and I had our first date together. 10,000 BC, I was telling Peanut howlusy of a movie it was this weekend. 

* 5,316 days ago I proposed to Michelle in the backyard at 4:00 in the morning. I've been the luckiest guy since that fateful day. 

* It was 5,354 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 2,491 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 1,149 days ago today. It was three years this past Friday. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,273 days, I've now outlived him by 1,008 days making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* I have 2,611 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 357 days until I hit the age of 62. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* Pitt comes back to Morgantown in 278 more days. I can't wait. Revenge time. 

* There are 239 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Fourteenth Wedding Anniversary together. 

* There are only 90 days to go until Spring 2025, my favorite season of the year.  

* 55 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.  

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

* There are 15 more shopping days left until Christmas 2024. Time to start thinking about it. 

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

* I have written 7,782 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.   

* Yes the Air conditioner is still in the bedroom window, it's going to be coming out soon...I promise I am going to get that out.

* It's December, maybe it is time for me to start formatting and writing my end of the year blog. 

* Still playing Monopoly Go. I'm still in 5th place among friends and family. 

* I have this funny feeling I am being watched, I found Sammy the Christmas Elf, he keeps moving around from stocking to tree to kitchen to tree. 

* How about I start doing my favorite Tic Tok of the week? This weeks Tiktok a little mix of songs that worked out well. 

* 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.

Michelle starts her new job today, she will working for Davis Kitchen and Tile with today being her first day. Where she used to be the procurement manager at her previous position, this one she will be doing accounting for a few companies including the kitchen company, the apartment rentals and will be working with investors once a week. They are much more diversified and hopefully more secure. One thing Michelle hates is to be sitting around twittling her thumbs, she hates boredom. She's jumping right into the fire on this one and will be very busy right from the get go. This is her comfort zone, it makes the days go quicker. 

One thing that worries me, is her office is right beside Michaels and across the parking lot from Lowes. There are a lot of places to eat up there including Country Ham which is on the other side of them as well as a number of commercial places coming into the office. 

Have yourselves a great day, make it special. 

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday morning Ramblings

Here I sit in a quiet household, Kiwi and Peanut have made amends about the chess matches this weekend and have decided to get along and cheer for one thing they both agree on. They are both die-hard Steeler fans and will be cheering them on as they try to exact revenge for a loss a couple of weeks ago in Cleveland. Now it's time for revenge in the Steel City. Go Steelers. 

So Michelle went to Amandas yesterday for Lydia's birthday party and I stayed home and watched football, because I like to watch football. That and I was on the message boards trying to get the latest on the WVU Football coaching search, I make no bones about it, I want Rich Rodriguez to return to Morgantown. I want to see the attitude and edge that this program has seemed to have lost since he left 17 years ago, and see that edge return. 

So what is on our agenda for the day? A little bit of grocery shopping and some chores around the house. Michelle will be preparing to re-enter the work force tomorrow, so there will be some preparation on her end. She went in Thursday and cleared out her office and grabbed her stuff from FD Kitchens, business just got slow for them where she hasn't worked in two months and even everyone else was down to two days a week. Business just got slow for them, but she had to find an alternative. 

Have yourselves a great day, make it special. 

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit in a very non-quiet household, Kiwi and Peanut have been up all night doing non-alcoholic Jello Shots and celebrating the fact that Michelle starts a new job on Monday. They are going to be sad when she leaves on Monday Morning, but they are happy for their Mommy and are celebrating. 

Speaking of Michelle, she has officially left FD Kitchens after around 3 1/2 years. Business has slowed down for them and she has been of the last couple of months waiting for it to pick back up and it just hasn't to the point where they could bring her back. SOOOO, on Monday she will be an employee of Davis Kitchen and Tile. They are bringing her in to do their bookkeeping and manage the apartment rentals that they have. About the same salary and maybe a little bit more, but more job security as they are pretty well diversified with a number of businesses that they own. So let's all celebrate Michelle's new job with her!!!

It's been a busy week here in Morgantown. First Neal Brown WVU's former Football coach was let go this past Sunday. He's a nice guy, just didn't win enough. I hear he is the frontrunner for the Appalachia State job and I think that would be a very good fit for him as he moves forward in his career. So what does WVU do? They hire a new coach obviously, me personally I am big advocate of bringing Rich Rodriguez back home, and there are a number of influential people around the University that feel the same. I feel he just has unfinished business, let him finish the job. In my opinion, he is the best man for the job and I have always felt that way. Kiwi agrees with me. 

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.

Kiwi and Peanut are celebrating, but we're not going to announce what they are celebrating just yet. They are so happy for someone, but patience is a virtue and the announcement will be coming up in the next few days. I was just hoping for them to celebrate it being Friday and me not having to work tomorrow but they both baked a cake, got some party hats and are ready to celebrate. 

Looking for a little bit of High School Football? So am I but all of the local teams are done for the season. Morgantown lost last week and all of the Monongalia County teams are done for the season. 

So what is up for our weekend? A little girls birthday party tomorrow as we celebrate Lydia's Birthday. 

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.

For this week's pic, I go back a few weeks, or more like a month or so. It was the Breast Cancer Survivors walk that was held at Milan Puskar Stadium and this was Terri's first walk as an actual survivor rather than someone battling it. 

As you can see she had one heck of a supporting cast for the days events. It was two laps around the stadium and Terri was the first out of the gate and the first to complete the first and second lap. So proud of her. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Hi ho hi ho

Wednesday

Happy Birthday Kim Sanjulian

I would like to take this opportunity to wish my Sister Kim SanJulian a very Happy Birthday today. We started out in life where I was one year older than her, but since I am only 21 years old, she has passed me up by a couple of years by now. 

Kim is an amazing sister, one that I have had numerous arguments through the years, but there has always been a great deal of respect for her and her viewpoint even though I would never let her know that. She has made selfless sacrifices for others and that is a characteristic that is to be commended. 

Not sure what Kim and Robert have planned for the day, but I'm sure it will either be a nice dinner or something along those lines that will be memorable. I know she really likes Minards in Fairmont. 

 If you see Kim today, take a little bit of time out and wish her a very Happy Birthday today.

Happy Birthday Kim, make it a great one. 

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is once against complete, can't think of a better reason to do a tidbits. 

* It has been 22,258 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, and improved 1,045-day Calendar. 

* It has been 7,511 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. Has it really been that long? Wow. 

* 6,098 days ago Michelle and I had our first date together. 10,000 BC, I was telling Peanut howlusy of a movie it was this weekend. 

* 5,309 days ago I proposed to Michelle in the backyard at 4:00 in the morning. I've been the luckiest guy since that fateful day. 

* It was 5,347 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 2,484 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 1,142 days ago today. It was three years this past Friday. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,273 days, I've now outlived him by 1,001 days making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* I have 2,618 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 364 days until I hit the age of 62. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* Pitt comes back to Morgantown in 285 more days. I can't wait. Revenge time. 

* There are 246 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Fourteenth Wedding Anniversary together. 

* There are only 97 days to go until Spring 2025, my favorite season of the year.  

* 62 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.  

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

* There are 22 more shopping days left until Christmas 2024. Time to start thinking about it. 

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

* I have written 7,764 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.   

* Yes the Air conditioner is still in the bedroom window, it's going to be coming out soon...I promise I am going to get that out.

* It's December, maybe it is time for me to start formatting and writing my end of the year blog. 

* Still playing Monopoly Go. I'm still in 5th place among friends and family. 

* I have this funny feeling I am being watched, I found Sammy the Christmas Elf, he keeps moving around from stocking to tree to kitchen to tree. He's hiding in the tree right now. 

* How about I start doing my favorite Tic Tok of the week? This weeks Tiktok a little Country Roads. 

* 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.

Kiwi has been playing Solitare since losing to Peanue in Chess, he said he needs to find his calm place as losing to his sister is frustrating to him and he is looking for something a little more stress-reducing so he took her advice. I don't think they are done, he's just finding his happy place. 

For me I'm still working for Parsons, we have a large project that we are working on until the end of January and maybe beyond, but that is out of our control. I'm back to working 40 hours a week as I look for my next contract opportunity. 

Have yourselves a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday

Here I sit yet once again in a non-quiet household, round three of Kiwi vs Peanut Chess is over with and Peanut quickly checkmate Kiwi while laughing at him and all the studying he has been doing from all the chess masters. Peanut was tormenting Kiwi calling him a feather-headed loser. Kiwi obviously was getting upset and Peanut kept pouring it on reminding him that he is 0-3 against her and should pick up a game he can win at, like Solitare. I don't think Kiwi will give up, he is bound and determined. 

So what is on our agenda for today, a typical Sunday of chores and grocery shopping for the week. We have our menu made for the week, now it;s just a matter of going and getting what we are missing from fulfilling that menu. 

Michelle was going to go to some shop till you drop event yesterday at Mylan Park, however she woke up under the weather yesterday morning and decided to just stay home and relax. I watched football and she watched some of her shows that she watches. 

Have yourselves a great day, or at least one better than Kiwi.