A to Z Challenge: Days and other D's

Nothing starts a day better than a sunrise.

The video is a sunrise over the Black Sea, my Mom doesn't live by the Black Sea but she does live near the Atlantic Ocean. Living close to the ocean she enjoyed having a cup of coffee and watching the sun come up.

My Mom is still alive. It is just more difficult to get around. You fight a disease without a cure. Sometimes those treatments damage things and make things more difficult.

We have good days, bad days, days that are a little of both. Life can be measured in days. We don't know how many days we have. We don't know what day will be our darkest. As I grow older I tend to realize that in my own life. We can watch the lives of our parents, friends and love ones go by day by day.

I've been able to share some days with my Mom.  We live in a time where if we can't share days we can share moments. We can send pictures instantly. We can talk in real time. Thanks to technology! We certainly can do more than when my Mom was born. Heck we can do so much more since I was born. Someway it is better and some ways it is a distraction.

Make the best of your days! Try to have more good days than bad! Because you never know how many days you can share. You never know how many days you have.

Days come to an end.

Blogging from A to Z 2018: P is Phoneless

In these times we live in phones are more than phones. They are computers, personal navigators, fitness trackers, message machines, portable gaming systems, recorders and more. They can even be used to tune a guitar!




The picture of the phone above is similar to the first phone I ever used.

Yesterday, I spent over 12 hours at the office and I forgot my phone! I was going to write yesterday's blog post on it. No checking email during my breaks. No shopping ebay! No notification of traffic delays! On the plus side my wife couldn't ask me to pick up anything on the way home.

Can you imagine a day without your phone?

2018:A New Year

Today was back to work day. Nothing like a 10 hour shift to bring you back to reality after yet another crazy road trip spanning 11-states this time. I rang in the New Year by pulling over into a gas station off the highway and listening to a random radio station pronounce it was 2018. 105 minutes later I as home.

Work was slow. I found out my schedule will be changing again. Change is the constant. 2017 changes to 2018.

What is on tap for this blog in 2018? There are things I wanted to blog about in 2017 that I will probably write about in 2018. There will be events and things that will happen in 2018 that I will ant to blog about. I will probably do the bloghops like the Battle of the Bands, maybe more Monday's Music Moves Me posts, and if I stumble to any interesting one off hop I might join in. Come Spring, I will more than likely participate in the A to Z Challenge.

As for me what are my plans for 2018? I plan to read about 30 books. Hopefully fish more. Schedule change at work will probably cut down on the travelling plans. Though I am sure I will probably visit some interesting places. I will probably see some interesting concerts. But really no big plans just looking to see where 2018 will take me.

Battle of the Bands results, life and upcoming events

Beth Cassidy won my Battle of the Bands Battle 5 to 1. I'll have a new Battle April 1st which more than likely will be connected with the A to Z Challenge.

I plan to do the A to Z Challenge this year, which is fun and challenging. The biggest challenge will be time for me.

Life has gone onto a crazy circle full of changes. I have a new boss at work and work has been busy with a lot of overtime. That has put my "free time" at a premium which I have chose to try to turn into valuable family time.

Anyway I plan to finish out the month, hopefully have a post or two before March ends. Then I will see what April brings.

Happy St. Paddy's Day and Rainy Day

The Rolling Stones were right "you Can't always get what you Want but you just find you get what you need." It all depends on your perspective. I mean I need to cut the grass but due to the rain that's not happening. Today is my random off day from my job and lets be honest cutting the grass is not a fun way of spending said off day.

I did manage to get a two and a half mile walk in. The walk came with a free shower !

Now my want is to go fishing. That's not happening suppose to be thunderstorms. Something about sticking a line in a boy of water and waiting for electricity to strike doesn't sound like the wisest decision. However, I have been known to make so me decisions that haven't been the wisest.

I probably should have taken a blog break from the Battle of the Bands at the first of the month. As I have been very busy. Most of it really good stuff, but good stuff can keep you busy too!

I've been to a couple of concerts, I had to go out of town to see my daughter perform, and then there is life. So a rainy day isn't that bad as I get to catch up with my Battle of the Bands visits, visit some other blogs and catch up with things. I've been thinking about the upcoming A to Z Challenge in April now that's gonna be crazy. This is going to be my sixth in a row somehow I have been able to manage to complete them.

Well wear green, be safe and I will see you soon!

The Machines Won

Well I believe my laptop finally did. I found a work around and had success the other attempts were starting to prove my insanity. I attempted to use my daughter's laptop that worked well until her battery died. My daughter's computer was better than mine, she has Grandparents!

Thinking it was strange it wasn't fully charged since it was plugged in. I plugged it in again and notice the connector to the computer had been broken and it wasn't going to charge. I later found out she dropped it while plugging it. Impact probably created the broken piece.

On the way home from work I decided I would stop by a store and buy a new power supply. The ones I found were way over priced. $50 for a power supply I think I could do better. I almost bought it. They were the universal ones with several different jacks to fit several different laptop brands. Of course my daughter's laptop brand wasn't listed. Should I buy it? Try this warped version of Russian Roulette? Everyone knows what would happen. Yes I would rush home and try all the different jacks and of course known of them would work. Then to add to that shame my wife would say I told you shouldn't have gone to that store. Nope not me! Not this time. I wasn't going to play just the fool.

No I was going to play the damn fool! So, I bought a new laptop. Yes I still buy a power cord for my daughter's laptop. This whole misadventure just won't cost me $50, it will cost me a wee bit more!

Bad Day, Good Day

My morning was put on hold waiting for the Air Conditioning repair man. Florida is not the place to be with no Air Conditioning. Of course he needed to order a part so it could not be fixed today or this week!

Weather forecast this time of year upper 80s low 90s and plenty of humidity. Of course I had to pay for the service fee and the part will be half a grand. So, like I said bad day.

Well I was off from my day job. I could stay home. However it is hot in the house. Of course I could go fishing. I mean it is hot outside too. So do you melt inside or melt outside? My choice lets go fishing.

The fishing wasn't great. Early morning, night time usually is better. However, I did get to see some friends...



A pod of playful dolphins. Humans were scarce. Work week and the heat of the day probably playing factors.

I did catch a nice size hardhead catfish..



Still I made it home in time to pick up my daughter from daycare. Was able to let her play outside for a while and catch a short nap. Then I got to play Magna-tiles with her. I then treated her and her brother to dinner where I played cards with the kids for a while.

So yes it was a bad day but in the end I ended up winning. I was able to fish, take a nap, and spend times with the kids. That is a good day anyway you look at it!

A to Z Challenge: U is for Upside

Sometimes it is too easy to look at the downside of things. Sometimes it is because they hit you in face! Sometimes people point it out! However, most of the time there is an upside. Sometimes the upside hides or is hard to find. Sometimes it is hard to realize what the upside is.

Kind of like the saying "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade." The lemonade would be the upside.

Life isn't always easy. Troubles come and go. But look out for the upsides!

Thanks for visiting and I hope you find the upside!

A to Z Challenge: Excitement

Excitement is a thing a lot of us crave. Perhaps for some reason that excitement is lacking in our lives.

Don't believe we have a need for excitement. Look how many adventure movies and tv shows have been created. Look at amusement parks, carnival rides, and look at the lines!

Adventure sports still can almost be called a rage. Sometimes folks can read about the adventures they crave in a book.

Look at how people buy sports cars, 4X4's, sportsbikes, and ATVs. No they aren't going to race in the Indy 500, they aren't exploring a wild safari, or racing in an exotic endurance race. No these are the wheels of soccer moms and couch potatoes.

Excitement it is a need.

R.I.P. Nelson Mandela

December 5, 2013 the world lost a great man when Nelson Mandela. He lived an amazingly long life to 95. Considering he was arrested in 1962 and wasn't released until 1990. Hard labor, vision damage and a battle with TB during the prison years makes it even more surprising.

His life makes an incredible story. Prison, overcoming apartheid, becoming President of South Africa, winning the Nobel Peace Prize to become a philanthropist so many twists and turns. He leaves behind quite a legacy.

He could have been bitter but he was not. What he overcame is remarkable.The world and South Africa mourn Nelson Mandela, may he rest in peace.

Father's Day

I'm lucky! I was able to spend Father's Day with my daughter. My life is like many other folks with a lot of bumps in the road. That being said I make an effort to be the best Dad that I can be. There are many people who are not able o spend Father's Day wih their kids.

There are Dad's in the military who are stationed across the countery, overseas, and in war zones who are not able to be with their kids. Many of them try to be ther best dad they can be while serving their country.

There are seperated Dad's who are still greaat Dads. Who might not be aable to see their kids on Father's Day. There are Dad's who are on travel for work.

Well you get my point. Not every Dad is able to be with their kids on Father's Day. I am one of the lucky ones who got to spend the day with mine. I'm lucky and it is a blessing! 

A to Z: Kids

It was my daughter's birthday on the 11th. So what was going to be a night out with just the family at Chuck E. Cheese became an impromptu birthday party when my daughter told the neighbors. So, I ended up piling in a three year old, and two six year olds in my car. My wife ended up running late so I had the kids for a half hour trip plus another 45 minutes by myself before my partner showed up. Needless to say the kids wore me out. (or maybe I hit the Street Ball Game and football toss game a bit hard for an out of shape 40 something year old kid.) Oh well kids...

Where's The Blog?

Well recently my home life has resembled a Warren Zevon song "send lawyers, guns, and money the (explicit) has hit the fan." So unlike the song, I did not go home with a waitress who was with the Russians. But anyway, as I work through a curve ball life has thrown at me.. the blog and a lot of my other writings have been placed on hold. Don't worry eventually I'll get a pitch I can handle and everything will be back in play..or something along those lines.

Weird writing a blog with no articles to plug. I haven't published anything in a couple of months. However, I am proud of how they are performing on their own merits. They are still able to generate a few coins which is great considering I haven't been pimping them out. No sports blog here today, missed the time line for the Super Bowl. There is the consistent things in my life like work and my volunteer projects.

I have had an opportunity to read a few books. I have orders from a medical professional to play more guitar(read actually pick them up). I've gone back to where it really started for me in writing, writing a couple of poems and lyrical stuff. Actually gone back to writing on paper.

Just wanted to ramble into the blog...
I'll post another blog soon...hopefully.

Why do weekends go so fast?

It is like time goes fast forward from the time you leave work until Monday morning. I guess it has to do that since the slowest time is the last half hour of your work day. Friday night we visited some friends, Saturday I did my volunteer stuff(I have a cold now since I didn't wear enough layers), oh and I went to an open house for a company, and Sunday we helped a friend get ready for an interview. Being in the broke world kind of cuts down on the things you do over a weekend. However, I did spend some quality time with my daughter which is priceless.

I'm glad I have a job, stability is a great thing these days. It also takes the pressure away when you go for an interview or an open house. The open house was kind of weird to begin with as they were only looking for three positions. I prepared my resume, got dressed up, drove the 40 minutes or so down the road filled out the brief paper work and handed out a copy of my resume. I waited, finally a lady came out and said "we do see some industry experience but not the experience we are looking for, but we will keep your resume on file." I had some experience and if I had the interview I was confident I could do the job, but I did not get past the reception desk. I'm sure they will keep my resume on file, the circular file at least till the cleaning crew takes out the trash on Monday. Oh, well it was a good laugh...

Busy as a B

This month has been a little crazy for me. Kind of like the way the economy has been this month...

Anyway my parents were up for a week. I had a meeting Friday to go to and a dinner to attend Saturday. I also made time to do some volunteer hours in the wee hours of Saturday morning.
Then my spurt of writings have continued.

Since my last posting in this blog:
I did my weekly football rankings. The current week here and the previous week here.
I also did a preview of the Philadelphia Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays for the World Series.
I know I get sucked into writing about sports..

I also wrote a bunch more on the election.
Latest Presidential Polls in Virginia as of October 24, 2008. A look at how the Presidential election is shaping up in Virginia according to the latest polls.
Updated Presidential Polls in West Virgina as of October 24. A look at how the Presidential election is going in West Virginia. It was pretty neat since it showed a lot of change since my last article on West Virginia polls.
Last Minute Strategies and Influences in the 2008 Presidential Election in West Virginia is a look at what the Presidential candidates are doing to try to win West Virginia.

I expect to be pretty busy writing article right through the end of this week. I plan to do one more on the Polls in West Virginia, one on Colorado, on on Missouri, and another on the West Virginia Presidential election. Plus I might pick up a couple of more. That depends how busy life gets. I have another meeting to go to Thursday and I have plans on Friday with the family. Plus I have the day job thing to keep me busy.