It IS a great day to be a Mountaineer.

Obviously the WVU Men's basketball team won the NIT Championship last night. They returned home today and as soon as I get motivated enough I will transfer some of the pictures of their arrival from my camera to my computer.

A couple months ago the best High School Running back in probably 20 years gave a verbal commitment to WVU and I posted it in my BLOG. He was confused and changed his mind a couple of days later and never signed with anyone. So, that left the nations top player unsigned......until today when he actually signed a letter of intent to play at WVU.

I would say hold on, because WVU athletics in both Football and basketball are about ready to move to the next level and actually win a National Championship. Noel Devine is a freak of nature with ungodly balance.

TGIF!!! How about a tidbits

* Woo Hoo, my day and week are over with. They are moving my office from Frostburg to Sterling and I'm off until they get it all set up, paid of course. Starting Monday I start my third year working for this company and my wage rate goes up significantly, so it's going to be a good weekend.

* I finally received my GPS unit I ordered this week, it's going to be fun playing with it and getting a good hands on understanding of it. I have played with it a few minutes, but nothing extensively as of yet.

* Many of the members of the WVU basketball team will be returning to Morgantown at 3:00 today. being that they are on spring break, some of the members will be leaving from New York city and going home. Coach John Beilein is heading to Atlanta for the NCAA Final Four. Rumor has it Michigan wants to interview him for their head coaching job and a lot of people on our message boards appear a little nervous, however Michigan's message boards are saying he has too big a price tag with the $2.5 Million buyout on his contract. I think he'll be here next year, but we'll have to wait and see I guess.

* Amy had her fourth interview with Cintas yesterday, she may know something by Monday. I think she is looking forward to the Monday through Thursday workweek that they use.

* Yesterday I was up at the mall and ate lunch with a couple guys I play softball with. I ate a couple Mountaineer Chiili Dogs and an order of fries, I was wondering where my sugar would go eating so many carbs, but it was fine.

* I decided to pay for unlimited internet usage on my phone. It's just an extra $15.00 a month and thought I would give it a try. It's not the greatest tool for surfing the internet, but you can surf the internet with it so there could be some convenience to it.

* We are going to have our first softball practice of the week next year. I called Michael Toth yesterday to see if he is putting his team back together. I told he we need someone to beat up on for a scrimmage.

* I was at Wal-Mart last night and ran into Renee. She is excited that she is getting near the end of her Surgical Technician class and should be graduating in the next couple of months.

* Have a good day, It's time for lunch.

NIT CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!!!

WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!


West Virginia wins the 2007 NIT Tournament for the first time since 1942. West Virginia Beat Clemson 78-73 to finish the season with a win. We are going to be only one of two teams in the Nation that will end their season with a win.

Congrats to Seniors Frank Young and Rob Summers.

Taking the day off

OK, I know I work from home why in the world would you take a day off? Mainly because I am going in to do some blood work this morning, but I haven't had a short week since the first week of the year. That's nearly four months, so I think I am due to relax a day if that's what you call it.

Went to see the Doctor yesterday and on the advice of my dietitian they are doubling my dosage of Metformin and are also going to start me on Lisinopril. Lisinopril is a blood pressure medicine, but my blood pressure is fine it's because my liver is putting out some protein and this will prevent any damage to the liver. It's just one pill a day in a very small dosage of 10mg.

Tonight at 7:00 make sure you watch the Mountaineer Basketball team, this will be the final game of the season win or lose. It will be for the NIT Championship and we are going to be whipping Clemson's butt.

Not too sure what I will get into today as of yet, but I am sure a trip to rails to trails in in the agenda sometime for today.

In case you missed it last night

With a Tony Caridi voice over.




Another view

What's this I see

OK, I know we are officially in spring from the calender and I have already attended a baseball game this year and went out in shorts and a T-Shirt on many days. My Front door is open on a consistent basis when I am home and now, we have the start of foliage.

Winter is officially over with and spring is upon us. The grass is getting greener and the days are getting longer.

Next week we are actually going to start softball practice for the year and tonight we will be drafting our fantasy baseball league. I love this time of the year, it is my favorite because it is the very dawn of summer.

Later today I have my second DR's appointment with Dr. Feathers, and I am feeling very well. The sugar levels are up and down a little, but they are still within the range goals of 90-130 before a meal and under 160 2 hours after a meal. I will soon start to lower my number of readings a day to three and the frequency I read to once every three days.

For a few years I have felt like a man getting old, recently since my Sugar, BP and Cholesterol (don't know numbers yet, but am addressing this anyways) under control I feel like an athlete again. My heart lungs and diaphragm feel strong and I am starting to feel like an athlete in a fat mans shell that he is ready to shed.

Hope you have a good day too.

WVU Advances to NIT Championship

WOW, what a game if you did not see it. WVU beat Mississippi State 63-62 with a classic ending. Darris Nichols hit a three pointer off an inbound pass as the clock expired to give us the win and play one last game Thursday Night for the NIT Championship.

WVU has previously won the tournament, but that was in 1942. We advanced to the Final Four in 1981 and this year.

212 Degrees, we're bringing this one home!!

It's been a Geography Day III

I no more than posted the last blog and my phone rings. It's my mentor of GIS JB Churchill. He lives in Frostburg, but I never really had much of a chance to talk to him while I was traveling to Frostburg. It was nice to hear from him, he is one of the main people for helping me get to where I am today.

It's been a geography day part II

Well, I guess I have finally done it. I signed up at the Geo-Caching site and have finally ordered my very first GPS unit. I did a little bit of research this afternoon and combined it with previous research and many discussions with people who have a GPS unit and have decided to purchase the eTrex Legend Cx GPS Navigator. I had really liked it by doing my internet research. Then this afternoon I went walking with Kelly, she is the one who told me about geocaching, and told her about the one I found. Ironically she had the exact same one and we took it on our walk this afternoon and it exceeds my expectations on what I wanted in a hand held GPS unit. She was going to let me borrow it, but no need I just ordered one when I got home.

It's been a Geography kind of day

Yep, the title pretty much says it all, it's been pretty much a Geography kind of day for me today. It's the start of another work week, so the Geography part should be obvious.

However I received an e-mail last week that I didn't respond to and a phone call today from the same company. I'm not applying or looking for any jobs, but here is another one that is coming to try and find me. Someone from Prithvi Solutions tried calling me today, however I didn't hear my cell phone ring, but I responded to her e-mail and gave her all the information she requested. They are looking for a GIS Analyst somewhere in Ohio, I think she misspelled the name of the city. I'm not really looking, but they seem to have a way of finding me. It's only a 6 Month Job and I have a permanent job, so I laid out some terms and a dollar amount, I'll wait and see what they have to say.

A friend of mine has introduced me into something I may be interested in. Geocaching is for people with mobile GPS devices (I should buy one just because of my profession) where people will place a box with an object in it and others try to find it and replace the item. It's going on all over the world and there are a few things in Morgantown, maybe I may just start getting into this. It sounds kind of fun.

Note to anyone who is interested in playing. My old softball sponsor Prime Thyme has came on some financial times and will not be sponsoring us this season. HOWEVER, being we are a high profile team that everyone knows about (four team mates are part of WVAQ in the morning as either regulars or hosts.) and we have a new sponsor this year in MVP Paintball who is also a team mate.

On May 20th, he is running a special for anyone who wants to play paint ball for anyone associated with the team (friends and family are fine, come one come all), $25.00 play all day, free air, free equipment and 500 paint balls. He'll run another one like this this September.

EDIT: Prithvi Solutions just called me again and sound really interested. I even jacked the price up well beyond what I initially told them and they said that would be fine, however it is only a six month job expendable to a year and I would have to relocate. Like I said, I went well beyond what I quoted them and that is even a significant jump from what my salary is going to next week. Even higher than the offer from Sterling. Never thought I would see the day when I turned down not one but two $50,000 a year plus jobs a few weeks a part. The offer is still up there if I am interested I have been told.

I hope your day has been as good as mine.

It's a great day to be a Mountaineer

What a day the sun was shining and the weather was warm and although it may not be softball just yet, it is baseball. I spent an ice sunny afternoon at Hawley Field watching WVU beat Seton Hall 4-3 with a strange ending. In the bottom of the 9th WVU had men on first and third and no one out. Tyler Kuhn was batting and had already homered in the first inning was at the bat. With no one out Seton Hall decided to do a strategical move and intentionally walk Kuhn to load the bases and ensure a force out at any base. On a pitch out the catcher holds his hand out and the pitcher throws it soft and wide to the catcher, it's just a routine play. However on the third pitch for ball three Seton Hall's pitcher for a routine pitch out over threw the catcher and allowing WVU to steal home on a wild pitch to win the game 4-3.

It was a great day, and one that can quickly make you forget about the white stuff that we probably won't see again for quite a few months. I did get a little bit of a suntan.

Spoke to Amy last night at Wal-Mart. She said she has been called for her third interview with Cintas up here on Scott Avenue. She thinks she may have the job, and being it is a third interview I think she may be right.

I hope everyone had a good weekend.

I need to be a Window Washer

A nice healthy walk

Well the weather has changed from rainy to a nice sunny afternoon today, so I decided to make the most of it and hit the Rails to Trails for the first time since Wed. Thursday it rained, Friday it rained but today the weather was actually quite pleasant and worth a nice oxygen rejuvenating walk on the trail. I traveled the opposite direction I usually go when I walk alone and traveled the path that I go on when I am walking with someone.

As you can tell, I had decided to take my camera with me today, and even though the foliage hasn't presented itself yet it was still a nice day to take a walk.

On this portion of the trail I usually park at Aldi's and walk towards Fairmont. It has a lot of photogenic scenes and I decided that maybe today I would bring my camera. It has been sitting idle for sometime and has needed to be used a little bit. It has had to have felt abandoned and in the need to take a few photos, so today I obliged and took about 50-60 pictures and little movies.

I have always had a fascination with natural running water. It provides a very nice relaxing aesthetic to the stroll, the pure sounds are great stress relievers. Along the trail there are many places where you can witness some nice steady water runoffs, the best one is about a half an hour's walk from Aldi's.

When you get out there far enough, and it is very close to the waterfall is another nice scenic look of the Interstate 79 Bridge as it Crosses the Mon river right before the Interstate 68 junction.

It was a good day and I had a nice refreshing walk.

TGIF

Once again we end another week of work and enter into the weekend. It would be a lot nicer if Mother Nature were cooperating a little more and bring out the sunshine. However if we can drench the watershed maybe we will have some nice new foliage that radiates the pleasant spring smell that we all love so much.

Went to my diabetes education class yesterday and learned a few more interesting things. Most of the discussion was based around Cholesterol and HDL's and LDL's. My numbers are getting to within the target they we are shooting for and the consistency level we are striving for. I will still be doing daily readings until my next Doctors appointment this coming Wed to build a longer history for Dr Feathers to refer to, however after that I can cut my readings back to every third day since I am not on insulin or anything that would cause me to be hypoglycemic. There have been a few readings that have concerned me, but they are very minor and could be expected. The dietitian is recommending I up my dosage of my medication, but that is just to help regulate it a little better.

Since it's a friday and I am feeling a little nostalgic tonight, how about a picture from yesteryear. I have noticed that this house no longer is standing, but the memories live on.

First Day of Spring

Winter Countdown

Yes, it is finally here. The countdown to the final few hours of the season of the year that is my least favorite. Today is officially the last day of the Winter Solstice and we are on the eve of the Vernal Equinox aka Spring for the year 2007.

Hey Phil, come on out an play. I hear the weather will be nice later this week. You know right around the corner was longer than the six weeks that would have happend if you did see your shadow.

Hopefully I can get back to my normal routine on rails to trails today or tomorrow. This past week's weather has been less than favorable to me. Have I ever mentioned I hate snow?

Happy Birthday Amy

I would like to take this time and wish my niece Amy a very Happy Birthday. If my math is correct, and I'm thinking that is it but I could be wrong, she is turning 21 for the first time today as opposed to me who will be celebrating my 23rd anniversary of my 21st birthday later this year.

I haven't heard what her and Ralphie have planned for today, but I would venture to say it is going to be something special.

Happy Birthday Amy.

Special Thank Yous

I have started to get my Diabetes under control, the numbers are starting to get consistently within the range of what normal is. I know this doesn't mean I beat diabetes, it is something I will battle for the rest of my life, but I do have it very well under control right now and that is the important thing.

A few thank you's in no particular order.

Jean Thank You for all the education and all the questions you have answered. Also for pestering me for the last couple years to finally get the ball rolling and getting this under control.

Pam Thanks for identifying that this was out of control and it needed to be addressed. I knew my numbers were high, but I didn't realize they were that out of control.

MomThank you for all the diabetic information and literature that you have given me. I also owe you a debt of gratitude for my now backup glucometer. I bought a new one, but it is always good to have a quality backup.

Kim Thank you for not listening to me and actually going and scheduling me a Doctors appointment against what at the time I thought was my better (should I say stubborn) judgment.

I battled diabetes once before a few years ago and beat it, I think I learned the hard way that it is in fact a battle that I will be fighting for the rest of my life. Developing diabetes is probably one of the bes things that has ever happened to me. I'm now having to pay attention to my diet and what I eat.

My doctor told me that the big three things to pay attention to are Sugar, Blood Pressure and Cholesterol. I had High Blood Pressure when I was in my 20's, but managed to beat that. I checked it a few days ago and it was 119/78. I haven't really addressed the Cholesterol yet, but my new diet is pretty low in Cholesterol and my numbers really weren't discussed. I honestly have no education on this at the present time, but now that the Sugar and BP are withing normal range I'll start educating myself on Cholesterol. If it's up and I honestly don't known if it is I already have a plan of action for that. Soy beans are infamous for lowering LDL levels and raising HDL levels of Cholesterol.

Is it softball yet?

PHIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What are you doing to me you damn rat. I look outside and it's freaking spitting down snow. We have officially hit six weeks since your rodent ass decided NOT to see his shadow. What do I have to do next year, send two cases of beer for you and a fresh baked banana nut bread for mother nature. Tell her to turn off the winter and turn spring back on. You're letting me down Phil.

It is Friday, but for the second day in a row the weather kind of sucks. It's the weekend, but you can't have good weather. Is that not like the ultimate tease, especially with the nice weather we had earlier this week.

Next week should be pretty busy, I'm going to Frostburg for the last time on Monday and may stay over until Tuesday. If I do I'll just stay up there for the night and return Tuesday, but I may come back Monday night if I don't need to be there Tuesday.

Wed I have meet with my Doctor again and then Thursday I will probably go in for a fasting blood test and my diabetes education class is Thursday also. My Numbers are consistantly going lower and I am now in the normal range with my blood sugar. Now if Phil would have cooperated I could be on rails to trails this evening...damn rat.

OK, I did it

I have finally given in and started a Myspace account. Just getting it started.