Monday

All good things must come to an end—but if you’ve got to wrap up the weekend, today’s a pretty exciting way to do it. Now it’s time to take our collective noses and press them firmly back onto the grindstone of life. Back to work, back to the hustle, back to doing our part to make this spinning rock a better place.

It's going to be a semi-busy week, putting out a few fires first thing this morning. I have to generate a pivot table of about half a million records and break it down how it was requested. I also have to convert everything from meters to feet to get the right calculations and break them all down by type and company. Big task for someone who wasn't the master of large data and complex pivot tables. I should have it done and normalized within the first hour. I also have some training I actually have to do this week for something called Rextag. Already have my account set up and I've already familiarized myself with the website and all of it's functionality. 

I'm not sure what the pets are going to get into today, but I think they are planning some kind of mischief this week. Something about Pepperoni Rolls, but it's a big secret between the two of them. 

Have yourselves a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday

Here I sit in a quiet household, Kiwi and Peanut decided to play an all night game of Go Fish, but they didn't quite make it all night. Now they are just snoozing away without a care in the world. Probably dreaming happy thoughts about that waterpark and waterfall in the back yard that they never built. 

Nothing really planned for the day, the temps are supposed to drop and our nice weather is going into a hiatus. 

With the NFL Draft starting this week, and it will be in Pittsburgh part of my attention will be on who the hometown Steelers draft. I look for the Steelers to start with an Offensive Lineman, probably a Guard, but that is just a guess. New Head Coach in Mike McCarthy and a new staff, so gone is Mike Tomlin and his staff and they mean a change in philosophies from the sideline. Ironically the last time the Steelers played in a Superbowl, they lost it to a Green Bay team that was coached by.....Mike McCarthy.

Other than that a few chores today and preparing for the upcoming work week. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit in a very non-quiet Household, Kiwi and Peanut must not have noticed last Sunday Morning when I fired up the lawn tractor and mowed grass. They still thought it needed cut when much to their surprise they go outside and see grass clippings everywhere. I think that they are both a tad bit upset with me that they didn't get the chance to cut the grass. Truth be told, I think they just wanted to ride around on the lawn tractor and create some mischief. 

So what is on today's agenda? Michelle will do the grocery shopping this morning and I'll pitter around the house for a while. Chris is wanting to have a birthday party for Jim at the New Hill Community Park, I have never been there before but I have looked at it in Google maps. I guess it is the housing development right before you turn into where Moke and And live, this will be a first for me going there. Or should I say a first when it was not part of a gold course. My Dad used to play that course a lot and I had fun riding around on the gold cart with him. Hopefully the weather holds out. 

Other than that not too much planned, but when do we ever really have anything planned anymore. I'm getting old and am no where near as active as I once was.  

Speaking of Moke, he has a new website up, one that has a blog and is more on the technical side of things rather than like mine for shits and giggles. BytesNation is a great site and worth a bookmark if you want to learn about Artificial Intelligence and things on the technical nature. It's actually very well done, and very informative. I can see it cited in academic research to be honest with you. Take a bow Moke. 

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!!!

Another week down, and I think my pets are trying really hard to try and tell me something. 

So what is on the agenda for the day and weekend? It's just a lather, rinse, repeat weekend to be honest with you. I guess the older you get, the less you think about running around and doing fun and exciting things, and try to concentrate on some of the most important things in life. Naps. I, at that point, where I enjoy waking up and knowing it was sjust a nap and I don't have to get ready to go into the office. 

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 somewhere on the internet. I like to find just one and post it up, recalling or reliving the picture to the best of my ability. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task, and sometimes it's not that easy, but one thing it has always been a lot of fun.

This weeks pic is our trip to the Hovatters Zoo last year, a number of people from both sides of the family went up last year and enjoyed a zoo day. 

Speaking of the Zoo Day, Michelle and her sisters have been talking about planning another big get together if anyone is interested in going. If you are interested in going and making some memories that day, let us know. Last year we took up a bunch of food and sat out at the picnic tables and feasted. 

It was and will be a fun time. 

Have yoursleves a great day. 

Hi ho hi ho

Lucy's Journal

Lucy’s Journal – April 15, 2026

Dear Journal,

This morning started with what Kiwi dramatically called “The Great Human Panic of Tax Day.” Everywhere we looked, people were rushing around like squirrels that just remembered they buried their nuts… but couldn’t remember where.

Peanut sat in the window, flicking his tail, watching cars zoom by like they were in some kind of race. “You’d think the government was handing out free tuna the way they’re acting,” he said.

Kiwi puffed up and chimed in, “Maybe they forgot to do their paperwork! Imagine waiting ALL YEAR and then—BOOM—last minute panic!” He flapped around like a tiny green accountant having a meltdown.

The Quackers were less concerned and more entertained. They lined up like little judges on the porch, quacking every time someone sped past. “Late! Late! Definitely late!” they declared, as if handing out penalties.

I’ll admit… we all laughed a lot this morning.

By afternoon, things had settled down, and that’s when Peanut got that look—you know the one. The “I have a terrible idea and I’m proud of it” look.

Next thing I know, we’re all down at the downtown parking garage.

“Alright,” Peanut whispered, like we were in some kind of heist movie, “keep your eyes open.”

“For what?” I asked.

“For opportunity,” he said.

Kiwi landed on a railing, looking suspiciously official. “We are conducting… inspections,” he announced.

Turns out, Peanut’s “plan” was to check for unlocked cars. And, well… you can probably guess the rest.

Let’s just say the Quackers thought this was the funniest mission of all time. They waddled around like a coordinated squad, giggling (yes, giggling) and keeping lookout.

Kiwi kept shouting things like, “Target acquired!” and “Abort! Windows up!” which made it feel way more serious than it was.

I tried to be the responsible one. I really did. But somewhere between Peanut’s sneaky tiptoeing and Kiwi’s dramatic commentary, I lost it and started laughing so hard I had to sit down.

We didn’t cause too much trouble (Peanut insists it was “just light mischief”), but we definitely left our mark on the day.

On the walk home, Peanut looked very satisfied with himself.

“Best. Tax Day. Ever,” he said.

Kiwi nodded. “Way better than paperwork.”

The Quackers just quacked in agreement.

And honestly? I can’t argue with that.

—Lucy 🐾

Wednesday

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is over, now we are staring straight down at a Tuesday. 

* It has been 22,754 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, new, and improved 1,069-day Calendar. Mom is at 30,410, which would make her 28 according to my new and improved calendar. 

* It has been 8,008 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. I love what I do and am thankful to still be working in my field. Has it really been 8,000 days? 

* 6,602 days ago, Michelle and I had our first date together. Life has been much better since then. 

* 5,806 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 5,843 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 2,981 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 1,635 days ago today. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,280 days, I've now outlived him by 1,491 days, making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* Old roommate Gregg proposed to his fiancée 213 days ago, I'm happy for those two. I asked him a couple weeks ago if they set a date yet, he said we would be the first to know. 

* I have 2,136 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.

* 294 more days until Phil steps to center stage once again for Groundhog Day. I'm still mad at the damn rat

* 261 more days to go until my Goodbye 2026 Blog is posted. 

* There are 254 more shopping days left until Christmas 2026. 

* There are 239 days until I hit the age of 63. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* There are only 122 more days to go until Michelle and I will celebrate our 15th Wedding Anniversary......maybe

* There are 69 days until my second favorite season begins, Summertime!!!!!!

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

* I have written 8,317 blogs in what is now 21 1/2 years of Blogging. 

* Progress on my Selfie in Space, right here. We are ready for liftoff and holding. 

* Looking for Girl Scout Cookies? Ryleigh's Page

* Looking for Girl Scout Cookies still? Arabellas Page

* This is my favorite TicTok of the week. Reminds me of Peanut and Kiwi. 

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday

All good things must come to an end—but if you’ve got to wrap up the weekend, today’s a pretty exciting way to do it. Now it’s time to take our collective noses and press them firmly back onto the grindstone of life. Back to work, back to the hustle, back to doing our part to make this spinning rock a better place.

Kiwi and Peanut decided to take a break from taking a break and are going into the office with me. They think they are the GIS Gurus. They have been playing with Open Source QGIS; little do they know I used to use it a great deal, but I prefer the commercial ESRI software. I always tried to stay ahead of the curve with the Open Source game, but Jack is my buddy, so I tend to lean towards the Commercial Stuff. Can't knock my pets for expanding their skillsets. 

So what is up with the week ahead? Still chugging along, same stuff, different day, so to speak. Still working on a tedious long-term project while wrapping up a couple of smaller ones. It is a new week, and I'm sure there will be new challenges. 

Have yourself a great day. 

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday

Here I sit in a somewhat disappointed household, Kiwi and Peanut were all excited yesterday ad they thought that they were going to get a chance to ride around on the lawn tractor and have fun, they had their day all planned out and they got a double whammy. It was wet from raining the night before and I even tried to start the tractor up for the second time this season, did so a couple weeks ago, and this time the battery was dead. It would not turnover. Fortunately I do have a batter charger and have it hooked up to the charger. I was able to get it started but I let it charge the rest of the day to get a full charge before I start the mowing season. Maybe I'll get a chance today to cut it. 

Michelle is going to head up to Elwood City with Chris, Amanda and a few others for Maddie's Birthday Party. They are going to head north after church for the day. If the weather permits, I might ride around in the yard and put Kiwi and Peanut in a better mood. I'm just hesitant to do that when I'm the only human here, especially after giving myself a concussion a couple years ago holding back a tree branch that about knocked me out and caused me to be lethargic the next morning. Better safe than sorry, but the weather is supposed to be nice. 

I waas talking to Mom yesterday, she said she had been de-hydrated and I suggested Pedialyte Pops that are always really helpful for me when I am under the weather. I know I really like them and like them so much it is an unguilty pleasure I can have year round. 

Have yourselves a great day

Saturday

Here I sit on a quiet Saturday Morning. Kiwi and Peanut have been up all night watching the RADAR and hoping that it's nice weather. They said they want to help me cut the grass today, and they want to drive the tractor around the yard. I heard them secretly discussing doing figure 8's in the grass. I don't know what I am going to do with these two. 

Michelle will be doing the grocery shopping today and I'll be handling things on the home front. I wish I could say I am just going to supervise as Kiwi and Peanut drive around the yard, but you know how that goes. I was going to cut the grass last Saturday, but Val said that it is bad luck to cut your grass before Easter, and Michelle said it was going to rain, so I never got it cut. This is on my agenda today, weather permitting. 

Nothing much more planned for us today, although Michelle is going back home to Ohio for a few hours on Sunday. It's Maddies Birthday and she is going to go up with Chris, so I will be home holding down the fort for the day. Kiwi has been reading go-kart manuals, so he might want my help building a Go-Kart in the garage. 

Have yourselfs a great day. Make some memories. 

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!!!

I think Kiwi and Peanut have broken into our old wedding stuff and have decided the celebrate the start of the weekend Jimmy Buffett style. They are really in a festive mood and they have Jimmy streaming on the Alexa app. I think they like this time of the year as well, very festive of them. 

So no plans on the agenda as of yet, but you never know what may come our way or what we will end up doing. 

I'm still a couple of months from starting my Friday blogs with the free concert series, helping me fill up content for people to read. 

Have yourself 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 somewhere on the internet. I like to find just one and post it up, recalling or reliving the picture to the best of my ability. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task, and sometimes it's not that easy, but one thing it has always been a lot of fun.

Can you guess who this sexy Geospatial Genius is sitting on Grandma Hall's lap? It is none other than your favorite Blogger/Geographer, me!!!!

Don't ask me what year this picture was taken, being I'm only 21 I'm going to guess that this picture was sometime on or before 2004, but that is just a guess on my part. Forget that Grandma Hall has been gone since 1980, she had a time machine she hopped on to help pose for this picture. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

Hi ho hi ho

Lucy's Journal

Lucy’s Journal – April 8, 2026

Dear Journal,

Today started with a very serious plan. Kiwi said we were going on an adventure—like in that movie where the kids walk along train tracks and have a big journey and discover themselves (or at least find something dramatic).

Peanut was immediately on board, mostly because he thought there would be snacks involved. The Quackers didn’t really understand the assignment but loudly agreed anyway, which is pretty standard for them.

So off we went.

Kiwi took the lead, puffed up like some kind of feathery explorer, declaring, “All great adventures require train tracks!” Peanut nodded like he knew exactly what that meant, even though I’m pretty sure he was just hoping for a hot dog stand somewhere along the way.

We walked. And walked. And walked some more.

Around neighborhoods. Past the river. Up a hill. Back down another hill. The Quackers argued the entire time about which direction “felt more train-tracky,” which, for the record, is not a real navigational method.

At one point, Kiwi climbed up onto a fence post, looked around dramatically, and announced, “They have to be around here somewhere!”

They were not.

Peanut started to get suspicious about an hour in.

“Are we sure Morgantown even has these things?” he asked, flopping down dramatically on the sidewalk.

Kiwi refused to admit defeat. “All great stories involve perseverance,” he said.

“Yes,” I said, “but most of those stories also involve actually finding what you’re looking for.”

After what felt like forever (and at least three wrong turns suggested by the Quackers), we all kind of just… stopped.

There were no train tracks.

No grand discovery.

No dramatic movie moment.

Just us, a little tired, a little confused, and very aware that we had absolutely no idea where we were going anymore.

That’s when Peanut said the smartest thing anyone said all day:

“Ice cream?”

And just like that, the adventure changed direction.

We found a little shop, piled in, and ordered way too much. Kiwi tried to “sample” everyone’s cones (without permission, of course), the Quackers managed to get ice cream on each other, and Peanut dropped his scoop and stared at it like his whole world had ended… before immediately ordering another.

We sat there laughing about how we set out for this big, meaningful journey and ended up completely failing to even find train tracks.

But honestly?

It didn’t feel like a failure.

It felt like one of the best days we’ve had in a while.

Turns out you don’t need train tracks to have an adventure.

Sometimes you just need your favorite crew, a questionable sense of direction, and a really good ice cream cone.

—Lucy

Wednesday

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is over, now we are staring straight down at a Tuesday. Good time for a tidbits. I like these 8 hour days better. 

* It has been 22,747 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, new, and improved 1,069-day Calendar. Mom is at 30,403, which would make her 28 according to my new and improved calendar. 

* It has been 8,001 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. I love what I do and am thankful to still be working in my field. Has it really been 8,000 days? 

* 6,595 days ago, Michelle and I had our first date together. Life has been much better since then. 

* 5,799 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 5,836 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 2,974 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 1,628 days ago today. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,280 days, I've now outlived him by 1,484 days, making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* Old roommate Gregg proposed to his fiancée 206 days ago, I'm happy for those two. I asked him a couple weeks ago if they set a date yet, he said we would be the first to know. 

* I have 2,143 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.

* 301 more days until Phil steps to center stage once again for Groundhog Day. I'm still mad at the damn rat

* 268 more days to go until my Goodbye 2026 Blog is posted. 

* There are 261 more shopping days left until Christmas 2026. 

* There are 246 days until I hit the age of 63. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* There are only 129 more days to go until Michelle and I will celebrate our 15th Wedding Anniversary......maybe

* There are 76 days until my second favorite season begins, Summertime!!!!!!

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

* I have written 8,309 blogs in what is now 21 1/2 years of Blogging. 

* Progress on my Selfie in Space, right here. We are ready for liftoff and holding. 

* Looking for Girl Scout Cookies? Ryleigh's Page

* Looking for Girl Scout Cookies still? Arabellas Page

* This is my favorite TicTok of the week. And people wondered why I never pitched, seen too many of these through the years. 

* Hi hoi hi ho

Happy Birthday Terri Rehmani

I would like to take this opportunity to wish my amazing sister Terri a very Happy Birthday today, by my count she is still just 21, but I never use traditional calendars and use my own unique temporal measuring system. 

 
Terri is a strong and inspiring woman and now she has the title of Breast Cancer Survivor to go along with everything else. She is an amazing woman/ 

Terri is one of the most unselfish and amazing person you could ever meet or come across. If you have someone like this in your life you're pretty lucky and I'm pretty lucky. It was her that picked me up at the lowest point in my life and dusted me off and put me on the right path despite me having the fears that I had at that time, that makes her pretty damned amazing in my book and I'm thankful she is my sister.

Not sure if anyone will see Terri today, but if you are fortunate enough take a little bit of time out and wish her a very Happy Birthday today.

Happy Birthday, Terri.

Monday

All good things must come to an end—but if you’ve got to wrap up the weekend, today’s a pretty exciting way to do it. Now it’s time to take our collective noses and press them firmly back onto the grindstone of life. Back to work, back to the hustle, back to doing our part to make this spinning rock a better place.

It is back into the offices today for both Michelle and I. She is coming off a five-day weekend, and I'm just finishing up a three-day weekend and rested and relaxed. I do go back to a normal 8-hour day today instead of those longer 10-hour days. You wouldn't think that's tiring, but in an office environment and sitting at a computer screen, that makes for long days, especially when you are doing tedious tasks like transcribing numbers from paper copies into a spreadsheet (handwritten, so OCR Readers are out of the question), so I can convert the coordinates into a geospatial dataset. It'll help us improve spatial integrity with where things are located. 

It was nice to see Hayley, Tyler, and Luke yesterday. They all came down for Easter Dinner thar Michelle (actually Peanut and Kiwi) prepared. It was an absolute feast, and it was great to see everyone. I hadn't seen any of them since Thanksgiving. 

So what is coming up in the week ahead? I have a weekly meeting first thing this morning, we use it as a skull session as to how we will be addressing projects. Michelle has an ever-expanding role where she picks up new skill sets all the time. She is quick to pick up on things, so she is becoming a bigger and bigger asset every day. She actually closed a $4 Million deal last week, which she was quite happy with. I asked her if we get to keep the whole $4 Million, the answer, unfortunately, was no. 

Have yourself a great day. 

Hi ho hi ho

Happy Easter

Here I sit in a quiet household, well, that's a lie, as Kiwi and Peanut are begging me to go and hide some Easter Eggs so that they can find them. I told them I don't hide Easter Eggs, the Easter Bunny does. Kiwi asked me if this Bunny goes all around the world hiding Easter Eggs, ala like Santa does, and I said yes. They both think he is a righteous dude for doing that. 

Hayley, Tyler, Luke, and maybe even Gracie (who is getting old) will all be coming down for the day to celebrate Easter with us. It will be the culmination of a very busy but relaxing weekend for both Michelle and me. It'll be nice to see them, considering they don't get back to Morgantown that often when we are home, and we rarely get up there to visit. Busy lives, busy world, and everyone's schedules just don't seem to cooperate. 

I do love this time of the year, all the colors of springtime, the families getting together, and it's a rebirth of the earth after months of shorter, drab, and colder days. This is my favorite season of the year, always has been, I guess. You can open the back door up and let the soothing and natural smells of budding foliage emanate throughout your home, without it being too hot where you need to fire up the Air Conditioner. 

Have yourself a great day, make some memories. 

Saturday

Here I sit in a semi-quiet household, we're celebrating Michelle's long weekend and my three-day weekend. Kiwi and Peanut, or should I say the Chef Pets, have been starting to prep for Easter Dinner tomorrow. I did have to lie to Kiwi and tell him the deviled eggs were actually Pig Eggs, and he believed me because of the Ham. They are such helpful animals. 

Not sure what today really holds for us, I see that Morgantown has finally announced its Summer Concert Series for 2026. I like the Fabulous Thunderbirds and .38 Special, I have actually seen .38 Special before when they were at the Greer Pavilion years ago. I remember going to Greer and buying my tickets and going to Westover Park when they had the old bleachers from the old Mountaineer Field in there. There are a number of good acts and a nice mixture of artists, but I'm sure I'll cover that this summer on Fridays. 

Michelle has the grocery shopping and the Sam's Shopping done. Hayley, Tyler, Luke, and maybe Gracie will be coming down for Easter Dinner. I haven't seen them since Thanksgiving, so it will be nice to see them. I might try to put the Air Conditioner in the Bedroom Window. I'll get Tyler to assist if the weather permits. 

Have yourself a great day, make it memorable. 

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 Good Friday!!!

Kiwi and Peanut are celebrating Good Friday, Michelle is off and I think I may be off as well with me working the longer shifts this past week. I think they are just sucking up for some of Michelle's Deviled Eggs to be honest with you. 

Plans for the weekend? I think the kids are coming down on Sunday to visit, Michelle invited Hayley, Tyler and Luke to come down for dinner. Other than that no big plans for the weekend. I think Michelle may actually do all of her shopping today since she will be off, but you never know. 

I think my life has become so repetitive that there really isn't any excitement anymore to be honest. We go to work, do things around the house and lather rinse and repeat. I'm like clockswork. 

Have yourselves a great day. 

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 somewhere on the internet. I like to find just one and post it up, recalling or reliving the picture to the best of my ability. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task, and sometimes it's not that easy, but one thing it has always been a lot of fun.

This one goes back to either 1977 or 1978. I had bought my first camera, a Kodak 126 (That was the film). It was the summer after Grandpa Hall had passed, and we were having a cookout at our house. This was Grandma Hall, you can see my dog Rocky off in the distance and we were playing a game of croquet in the side yard. We usually set up back by the garden, but we sat it up here for some reason. 

I grabbed a Picture of Grandma Hall that day as well as a few other ones, but this one means a lot to me. It was a time when it was just Me, her and Rocky. 

Have yoursleves a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Lucy's Journal

Lucy’s Journal – April 1, 2026

Dear Journal,

I should have known something was up the second I woke up and heard what sounded like… splashing? Not the normal “someone knocked over the water dish again” kind of splashing. No, this was full-on river level splashing.

I wandered outside, still half asleep, and nearly dropped my coffee.

The backyard was… gone.

Well—not gone gone—but completely transformed. Where grass and the little half-finished waterfall used to be, there was now a full-blown WATER PARK. I’m talking winding slides, a towering waterfall cascading into a sparkling pool, and—get this—a lazy river looping all the way around the yard.

And right at the center of it all stood Kiwi and Peanut.

Kiwi (the tiniest construction foreman in history) was perched proudly on top of the waterfall, feathers puffed, chirping like he’d just engineered Niagara Falls. Peanut sat beside him, tail flicking with that “yes, I did this” look, like a gray tiger-striped mastermind.

I blinked. Twice.

“Did… did you two build this overnight?” I asked.

Kiwi chirped loudly.

Peanut just slowly blinked at me like, obviously.

Before I could even process it, the Quackers came waddling past me—wearing what I swear were tiny inflatable floaties—and hopped straight into the lazy river. A moment later, I found myself being gently “encouraged” (nudged, splashed, and mildly harassed) into joining them.

And you know what?

I did.

Next thing I knew, I was floating along in the lazy river with the Quackers, drifting under the waterfall Kiwi and Peanut had “built,” listening to the peaceful sound of rushing water. It was actually… kind of perfect. The sun was shining, the water was just right, and for a brief moment, I thought:

Wow… they really did it. They finished the waterfall. They built a whole water park. This is amazing.

That’s when the first duck bumped into me and whispered (well… as much as a duck can whisper):

“April Fools.”

And just like that—

POOF.

The slides vanished. The lazy river disappeared. The grand waterfall shrank back down to its half-finished trickle.

I was sitting in a slightly damp lawn chair. The Quackers were standing in a kiddie pool. Kiwi was hanging upside down from a branch like nothing happened. And Peanut? Peanut was sprawled out in the sun, looking extremely pleased with himself.

I just sat there for a second.

Then I laughed.

“Okay,” I said, pointing at them. “That was a good one. I’ll give you that.”

Kiwi chirped triumphantly.

Peanut didn’t move—but I know he smirked.

Still… for a minute there, it really felt like we had our own backyard water park.

And honestly?

I kind of wish it was real.

—Lucy

Wednesday

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is over, now we are staring straight down at a Tuesday. Good time for a tidbits. 

* It has been 22,742 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, new, and improved 1,069-day Calendar. Mom is at 30,396, which would make her 28 according to my new and improved calendar. 

* It has been 7,994 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. I love what I do and am thankful to still be working in my field. 

* 6,588 days ago, Michelle and I had our first date together. Life has been much better since then. 

* 5,792 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 5,829 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 2,967 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 1,621 days ago today. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,280 days, I've now outlived him by 1,477 days, making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* Old roommate Gregg proposed to his fiancée 199 days ago, I'm happy for those two. I asked him a couple weeks ago if they set a date yet, he said we would be the first to know. 

* I have 2,150 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.

* 308 more days until Phil steps to center stage once again for Groundhog Day. I'm still mad at the damn rat

* 275 more days to go until my Goodbye 2026 Blog is posted. 

* There are 269 more shopping days left until Christmas 2026. 

* There are 253 days until I hit the age of 63. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* There are only 136 more days to go until Michelle and I will celebrate our 15th Wedding Anniversary......maybe

* There are 83 days until my second favorite season begins, Summertime!!!!!!

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

* I have written 8,300 blogs in what is now 21 years of Blogging. 

* I've taught all of my classes on the Outage Management System. 

* Progress on my Selfie in Space, right here. We are ready for liftoff and holding. 

* Looking for Girl Scout Cookies? Ryleigh's Page

* Looking for Girl Scout Cookies still? Arabellas Page

* This is my favorite TicTok of the week. You've Been Pittsnogled!!

Monday

All good things must come to an end—but if you’ve got to wrap up the weekend, today’s a pretty exciting way to do it. Now it’s time to take our collective noses and press them firmly back onto the grindstone of life. Back to work, back to the hustle, back to doing our part to make this spinning rock a better place.

It's going to be an altered work week for me (Life of a contractor), with Friday being Good Friday and a Hope Gas Holiday, I will need to make up the hours and work four, 10-hour shifts this week in preparation for Friday. 

Kiwi and Peanut are not too happy about it, they know with Michelle working out of state and me working later this week, that they will not be getting fed at their normal feeding time. If only they had opposable thumbs. They look so sad that they will be getting fed just a few minutes later when Michelle gets home. Maybe I should set up a go fund me site so they can order from Door Dash. Would you donate to help a poor, impoverished animal eat on their normal schedule? 

My boss is on Vacation this week, don't worry I always have plenty to do. We already have a nice upgrade to the Outage Management System, one where they can track where all of the Hope Gas Technicians are located, they way they can assign whoever is closest to the outage event. We had this at Duquense Light, there is so much information associated with this and we just installed Starlink in all the vehicles, so they can connect to the internet even in the most remote locations. 

Have yourselves a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday

Here I sit in a quiet household, Kiwi and Peanut both decided that since next week is Easter, they wanted to color Easter Eggs. Kiwi had an epiphany when he realized that those are bird eggs and he came from an egg. Could these be his long-lost cousins that they are sticking down in artificial food colorings as a human celebration process? I told them they were Hippopotamus Eggs and they were both fine with that. No one tell him Hippos are mammals and have live births, be's content with thinking that. 

Nothing really on our agenda other than our typical Sunday chores that we do. It's not very exciting talking about sorting out my pills, gathering up the garbage and taking it to the dumpster, laundry, etc. No excitement in that other than comparing the times that you do it to the previous week....lol

Michelle did all the grocery shopping yesterday, so it's just a day of preparing to work another week. Michelle is working Monday and Tuesday, Friday is a Holiday for them and Thursday she had taken off anyways, Wednesday she has an initial Doctors appointment with a girl who came to my softball games with Michelle years before she ever entered Med School, Michelle has been friends with her for years. Me I'm working 4 10-hour shifts this week to make up for Friday being a Holiday. So short week, but long days for me. 

Have yourselves a great day, make some memories. 

Saturday

Here I sit once again in a semi-quiet household, Kiwi and Peanut are up once again without a care in the world. Kiwi and Peanut set up a basketball hoop in the driveway and have been playing pickup Basketball all night long. Peanut is very quick, but Kiwi has the vertical game and has a little bit of an edge. I swear these two have no trouble finding something to do, I'm surprised they haven't fired the lawn tractor up yet. 

So Michelle will be doing the early morning grocery shopping, and yours truly now that I have my Parsons computer equipment and the old Air Conditioner out of there (Jim is going to strip it down for parts and recycle it), I can get some room to move around a little in the garage, I think I am going to do a little bit of straitening and organizing. I have a number of big heavy boxes in there that are empty that I am going to cut up and organize the pallets and get the garage ready for SUMMERTIME!!!! Maybe I can get the basketball-playing critters to come and help me. 

I'm going to have to work 10 hour days again this coming week, friday is Good Friday and it is a Holiday for Hope Gas. Although I may see if I can just work it, since there will be people there. 

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!!!

I hope that everyone has had a good week. I've finished up all my training sessions on the Outage Management System (I'm teaching), and it has gone very well, even if I do have to say so myself. I've had a number of VPs and the President sit in on the training, and they loved it. 

No big plans for the weekend just yet, but I know there will be some grocery shopping involved and who knows what else. Kiwi and Peanut keep us occupied with their shenanigans. 

Have yourself 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 somewhere on the internet. I like to find just one and post it up, recalling or reliving the picture to the best of my ability. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task, and sometimes it's not that easy, but one thing it has always been a lot of fun.

This weeks pic goes back a few years, Amy and Ralph hosted a cookout at their place four years ago. I'm not sure if it was just for Memorial Day or a Housewarming or whatever. It was one where everyone was there at the same event. 

Amy and Ralph are such good hosts, every time they do one it is memorable. This picture was one I like, it was Amy simply carrying food from the kitchen to the pavilion. 

Have yourself a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Lucy's Journal

March 25, 2026

Dear Journal,

Today started out like one of those “this seems like a peaceful idea” kind of days… which should have been my first warning that it absolutely was not going to stay that way.

Ed suggested we all go fishing down at the Monongahela River. Fresh air, calm water, maybe catch a few fish—nice and relaxing, right? So of course I packed up Peanut, Kiwi, the Quackers, and the rest of our usual troublemakers and off we went.

For about… oh, I don’t know… six minutes, everything was perfect.

Peanut was sitting on a rock like a seasoned fisherman, tail wrapped neatly around his paws, staring intensely at the water like he was about to solve the mysteries of the universe. Kiwi, on the other hand, was NOT interested in patience. He kept hopping from shoulder to shoulder yelling, “FISHY! FISHY! GET THE FISHY!” like a tiny, feathery coach who had way too much caffeine.

And then… the Quackers.

At first, they were actually fishing. I know. I was shocked too.

But the moment the first carp was pulled out of the water, it was over.

“I caught the biggest one!” shouted one.

“NO YOU DID NOT, MINE IS CLEARLY BIGGER!” yelled the other.

They started lining the fish up side by side, measuring them with sticks, wings, and at one point—I am not kidding—one of them tried to eyeball it by comparing it to his beak.

Kiwi immediately declared himself the official judge, which somehow made things worse.

Peanut just slowly blinked and moved three feet farther away.

The argument escalated quickly. Voices got louder, wings started flapping, and before I could step in—

SMACK.

One of the Quackers slapped the other with a fish.

And that, dear Journal, was the exact moment things went completely off the rails.

Within seconds, it turned into an all-out dead fish food fight.

Fish were flying everywhere.

Kiwi was dive-bombing through the chaos like a tiny green missile, squawking battle cries and somehow throwing pieces of fish mid-flight. Peanut tried to maintain dignity for approximately two seconds before getting smacked in the side by a rogue carp—and then he joined in with surprising enthusiasm.

I tried to stop it. I really did.

But then I got hit.

Right in the shoulder.

With a fish.

And honestly? At that point, it felt personal.

So yes, I regret nothing.

There we were, a full-blown fish fight on the banks of the Monongahela, laughing, slipping, dodging flying carp like it was some kind of bizarre Olympic event.

By the end of it, we were all exhausted, smelled absolutely terrible, and had probably scared off every fish within a mile.

Peanut was covered in fish scales but looked oddly proud of himself.

Kiwi declared it “BEST DAY EVER” approximately 47 times.

The Quackers? Still arguing about whose fish was bigger.

Of course.

We packed up what little dignity we had left and headed home, leaving behind what I can only assume will become a very confusing story for anyone else who visits that spot.

All in all?

Not exactly the peaceful fishing trip we planned…

…but definitely one I won’t forget.

—Lucy

Wednesday

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is over, now we are staring straight down at a Tuesday. Good time for a tidbits. 

* It has been 22,735 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, new, and improved 1,069-day Calendar. Mom is at 30,389, which would make her 28 according to my new and improved calendar. 

* It has been 7,987 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. I love what I do and am thankful to still be working in my field. 

* 6,581 days ago, Michelle and I had our first date together. Life has been much better since then. 

* 5,785 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 5,822 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 2,960 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 1,614 days ago today. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,280 days, I've now outlived him by 1,470 days, making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* Old roommate Gregg proposed to his fiancée 192 days ago, I'm happy for those two. I asked him a couple weeks ago if they set a date yet, he said we would be the first to know. 

* I have 2,157 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.

* 315 more days until Phil steps to center stage once again for Groundhog Day. I'm still mad at the damn rat

* 282 more days to go until my Goodbye 2026 Blog is posted. 

* There are 2765 more shopping days left until Christmas 2026. 

* There are 260 days until I hit the age of 63. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* There are only 143 more days to go until Michelle and I will celebrate our 15th Wedding Anniversary......maybe

* There are 90 days until my second favorite season begins, Summertime!!!!!!

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

* I have written 8,292 blogs in what is now 21 years of Blogging. 

* I've taught 3 of the 4 in-person classes, I have one more to do then I may have to do another one on Microsoft Teams for another group that we are going to integrate with by the end of the year. 

* Progress on my Selfie in Space, right here. We are ready for liftoff and holding. 

* Looking for Girl Scout Cookies? Ryleigh's Page

* Looking for Girl Scout Cookies still? Arabellas Page

* This is my favorite TicTok of the week. Got to love animals and how they interact

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday

All good things must come to an end—but if you’ve got to wrap up the weekend, today’s a pretty exciting way to do it. Now it’s time to take our collective noses and press them firmly back onto the grindstone of life. Back to work, back to the hustle, back to doing our part to make this spinning rock a better place.

Kiwi and Peanut have decided that since their humans are heading back to the office today, that they are going play a few holes of Golf in the Backyard. Michelle's Dad was a golf pro and made custom golf clubs and mad both of them their own custom sets of clubs years ago, they are just how getting around to using them. Kiwi thinks he has a big advantage, because he is a Natural Birdie on every hole. 

So what is up with me this week? Back into the office slaving away and churning along on entering GPS coordinates by hand. They will have a number of attributes associated with them and I'm up over 14,000 points so far. I'll create a service for everyone once it is completed. Things are going great for both Michelle and I, she loves what she is doing and the company she works for. 

We did do a little bit of running around yesterday, went to Shoe Carnival and found a couple pairs of Hey Dudes and a Pair of Levi Shoes all on discount, probably saved over $100 on my three pairs as did Michelle. We stopped by where Jim was set up in the old Sycamore Lanes parking lot srlling his tools, and Trish, Layla and Makayla (Arrons wife) stopped by. It was really nice to see them. 

Have yourself a great day, go help Kiwi and Peanut play golf if you want. 

For us however.....Hi ho hi ho

Sunday

Here I sit in a household that has a lot of laughing going on. Kiwi and Peanut are playing a game of Pictionary and Peanut keeps laughing at Kiwi's drawing. I hope she doesn't give him any ideas about going to Art School or anything, that's all I need for the Jack of all trades Conure to do, pick up another skill/hobby. 

Michelle did the grocery shopping yesterday morning and ran into Debbie Koon, she asked us to convey a message to Mom that Cousin Judy was in the Madison House so I passed that message on to her and spoke to her a little yesterday morning. Gerald seems to be doing much better as I spoke to him a couple of minutes as well, he speech is sounding better and that quick wit is in full force again. 

I was going to take the Parsons equipment over to Mail and More, but I got an email Friday that they have a scheduled pickup for Monday, so rather than lug three huge boxes over there, I'll let FedEx come and get them. All I needed was a laptop but they sent me all kinds of equipment that needs to be returned. 

Michelle did DE-St Patricks Day Decorate yesterday and put all of those decorations into totes, and we pulled out the Easter totes and now the place is full of pastel spring colors and Easter decorations. She decorates for every season now and has a system. We have an artificial tree up with programmable LED Lights that allows her to pretty much determine what color or colors and any patterns she wants to use. Yes we have an Easter Tree with Easter Eggs hanging on it and bows, pastel lights and a number of gnomes. 

Have yourself a great day. Make the most of it. 

Saturday

Here I sit in a semi-noisy household, both Kiwi and Peanut are super excited to cheer on the WVU Women's Basketball Team this afternoon in the sold-out Hope Gas Coliseum at 5:00. The game will be on ESPNU, but Kiwi is flying through the roof, unrecognized and plans to have courtside seats for today's game. They are super excited for the game. 

This is a sold-out game, and traffic is going to be heavy this weekend. The students are coming back from Spring Break, the NCAA Tournament here and there is a statewide swimming and diving Championships here as well at Mylan Park. Not to mention that the WVU Baseball team is hosting BYU for the rest of the series today. Morgantown is going to be busy, and there is going to be a much heavier flow of traffic than normal, so allow yourself a little extra time to get to where you are going if you are anywhere near being on this side of town. 

Michelle is going to do the grocery shopping this morning and is talking about going up to visit Hayley later this morning. Gracie is getting a little old and is having trouble getting around. They are thinking it might be getting close to that time, so Michelle is going to go up and visit her. 

Have yourself a great day, make it memorable. 

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 said they are going to spend the whole day watching the NCAA Basketball Tournament. They love watching it and cheering for the underdogs. Needless to say they will both be preoccupied all weekend watching College Basketball. 

It's the end of another week at work, and I have now trained 3 of the 4 groups on the new Outage Management System that we are implementing at work. I started last week and did two more this week, now I'm looking at the home stretch early next week. Don't worry, I have plenty of other things to be doing as well, I'm getting pretty good at this multi-tasking...lol

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 somewhere on the internet. I like to find just one and post it up, recalling or reliving the picture to the best of my ability. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task, and sometimes it's not that easy, but one thing it has always been a lot of fun.

Yes, this is a real picture of the celebrities of Lucy's Journal that posts every Wednesday, the Quackers. Kynlea bought a couple of Ducks last year at I think Rural King and they named them the Quackers. They stay in the back yard and were a couple of really fun birds when I met them last Summer. 

Have yourselves a great day.

Quack Quack Hi ho 

Happy Birthday Amy Dalton

I would like to take this opportunity to wish my wonderful niece Amy a very Happy Birthday today and it is a very special birthday for this amazing young woman, it's her 21st (actually it's her 40th) Birthday!!!

Amy is amazing and inspiring to all, she is one who sets out goals and goes out and accomplishes them, no matter how big or how small. Whether it be raising a family, career path or simply building and paying for a new house for her and her family. She is always focused and goal-driven. 

Amy is also a very creative photographer as well as a number of other things like organizing fundraisers and cookouts.  She has that photographer's eye on how to create a great shot that I wish I had but do not. It takes a certain level of creativity that she exhibits and I don't have.

She's an amazing mother with two kids with all the tools and guidance to accomplish anything they choose and that starts in the home that Amy and Ralph have created.

If you happen to see this amazing young woman today, make sure you wish her a Happy 40th Birthday.

Happy Birthday, Amy.

Lucy's Journal

Lucy’s Journal – March 18, 2026

Today the whole gang decided we needed a proper night out, so Peanut, Kiwi, the Quackers, and I headed to the movies. Someone had heard the theater was showing Howard the Duck, and apparently that was all the convincing everyone needed.

Peanut immediately took his movie-going duties very seriously. He inspected the seats, the screen, and most importantly the snack counter. Within minutes we were carrying the biggest tub of popcorn they would sell us.

Kiwi rode on my shoulder all the way to our seats, chattering excitedly like he was expecting the movie to be about him. The Quackers waddled behind us in a neat little line, trying very hard to look like respectable moviegoers.

For about the first ten minutes, everything was calm.

Then Kiwi grabbed a big beakful of popcorn.

No one knows exactly why, but he suddenly flung it straight at the Quackers.

A kernel bounced off one duck’s head, and that was all it took.

The Quackers quacked loudly and started scooping popcorn out of the tub like tiny feathery pitchers. Popcorn started flying in every direction. Kiwi dove into the tub again and again like a little green popcorn fighter plane.

Peanut tried to stop the chaos for a moment, but after a kernel bounced off his nose he just started batting popcorn out of the air like it was a game.

I tried to whisper, “Shhh! We’re in a movie theater!” but I was laughing too hard to sound very serious.

By the end of the movie, the floor around our seats looked like it had been hit by a buttery snowstorm. Peanut was covered in crumbs, Kiwi looked extremely proud of himself, and the Quackers were still quietly tossing the occasional kernel when they thought no one was looking.

I’m not sure anyone fully followed the plot of the movie.

But one thing is certain…

Movie night with this crew is never boring.

— Lucy

Wednesday

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is over, now we are staring straight down at a Tuesday. Good time for a tidbits. 

* It has been 22,728 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, new, and improved 1,069-day Calendar. Mom is at 30,382, which would make her 28 according to my new and improved calendar. 

* It has been 7,980 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. I love what I do and am thankful to still be working in my field. 

* 6,574 days ago, Michelle and I had our first date together. Life has been much better since then. 

* 5,778 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 5,815 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 2,953 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 1,607 days ago today. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,273 days, I've now outlived him by 1,470 days, making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* Old roommate Gregg proposed to his fiancée 185 days ago, I'm happy for those two. I asked him a couple weeks ago if they set a date yet, he said we would be the first to know. 

* I have 2,164 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.

* 322 more days until Phil steps to center stage once again for Groundhog Day. I'm still mad at the damn rat

* 289 more days to go until my Goodbye 2026 Blog is posted. 

* There are 282 more shopping days left until Christmas 2026. 

* There are 267 days until I hit the age of 63. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* There are only 150 more days to go until Michelle and I will celebrate our 15th Wedding Anniversary......maybe

* There are 2 days until my favorite season begins, a lot of people love different seasons, I am a Spring person who loves the Springtime. 

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

* I have written 8,284 blogs in what is now 21 years of Blogging. 

* Sunday was 18 years since Michelle and I had our first date. 10,000 BC was the movie. 

* Are you wearing Green? It's St Patricks Day!!!!!

* I'm still waiting for Parsons to send a carrier for their equipment. 

* Progress on my Selfie in Space, right here. We are ready for liftoff and holding. 

* Looking for Girl Scout Cookies? Ryleigh's Page

* Looking for Girl Scout Cookies still? Arabellas Page

* This is my favorite TicTok of the week. I know it is AI, but it is funny. 

* Hi ho hi ho