In with new out with the old, Happy New Year

The first of the year is a time when tradition says one should reflect on the year past and prepare for the year ahead. The nice thing about a blogg or any type of journal is that they provide a glimpse of how the writer felt and maybe what was important to the writer right then and there at that time not later after other opinions and views are introduced that may sway the writer in a different direction. I keep two “journals” one is my blogg the other is my day calendar. The blogg is less personal than the calendar and I keep it as positive as possible. The very nature of a blogg is to be open to all. Any who want to read it can, so to me the most personal of things are not voiced there. The calendar on the other hand list’s when I worked, doctor appointments, accidents, deaths, visits and vacations. It is where I staple movie stubs and right little cryptic notes to myself. I can review what gifts I gave to whom and what was given to me (I would not want to re-gift to the wrong person;-)) I like looking back in my calendars, I have a box full of them, I find old letters and photos in them. They are my diaries. My blogg is a diary of sorts I also I review it from time to time, looking back on what I have written noticing the spelling and grammar mistakes cringing sometimes at what I said but I don’t change anything. I like the photos I share on the blogg. I like trying to express to others what it is like to live where I am and how I feel. The difference is that you can’t touch the blogg. You can’t look at the hand writing and tell what emotion was being felt at the time it was written. Bloggs are great things but the hand written word is much more expressive.

After reviewing the above calendar and blogg I can see that this past year, except for a one very major tragedy, has been the same as most. I have had a quiet year, kinda, my main focus being getting my youngest son through the next year and a half of school and preparing for my relocation to the mountains. My family is the most important thing to me and except for my youngest sister things are good. My boys are healthy, my mom well she’s my mom; as aggravating as ever. My brother and his wife who live outside New Orleans are back in their home. My niece and her family were relocated to Norfolk so I have had the absolute privilege of getting to really know her and her family, not just know about them. This move has also allowed my niece’s mother, my older sister, and I to have something more in common to talk about and may bring us closer together.

I have to say that I have been lucky this past year. I have a job, a home and good health. I have not agreed with the way the world is going and I am not happy with the political environment. The wars invoked in the name of “good”, “god” and “democracy” angers me. Global warming worries me. I do not watch the news because it is so negative. To me this is a dark time BUT I see hope for the future. We are a resilient species. We will progress beyond this weather we want to or not. Either human will and the use of technology or natures wrath will cause the species to switch directions and become more planet friendly. I believe in humanity. I believe we are all family and there is nothing more important to me than family. I believe the future hold much for us all.

For me personally I am hoping for another “normal” uneventful year. I hope my work stays steady. I hope my garden does better this year. I hope I can get up to the mountains a few times and maybe make it to the family reunion (it’s an Irish theme this year). I hope my boys stay well and that my #2 son is able to move out (again). A normal mundane life is fine with me.

Happy New Year

As I sit here with stopped up ears and a stuffy nose, going through my third box of Puffs, unable to do more than 15 minutes of work at a time and totally bored out of my skin, I have been reading the news and surfing the internet. Today I found this interesting article about people realizing how wide open personal information on the net can be. Some rethink posting of private info - Yahoo! News I will be emailing it to my kids

Well I’m off to disinfect everything I have touched. My #3 son is back at my house today and I don’t want him to get what I have. This is ridiculous. I’m in the medical field and my immune system is supposed to be top notch. I hate colds!!! (Just a little venting)

It’s the day after Christmas and I’m feeling the effects of the kid that cough and sneezed all over me last week. I have spent the dayjust watching TV and thinking that when I feel better I’m going to diet and exercise BUT! I think I have changed my mind. While I was watching Paula Poundstone it occurred to me that today, the day after Christmas and 6 days from the new year, that just about EVERY commercial is a about weight loss. Normally commercials are not the big of a deal to me I don’t watch that much TV but I’m not feeling well today; My head is way too stuffy to read and I just don’t feel like getting into a movie so I’m channel surfing and these commercials are sooo bothersome to me that I think I’m not going to diet. Right now I think I will keep these ten pounds I have gained and buy bigger pants. There have been no paints commercials at all today. Now I may change my mind about the ten pounds tomorrow but today, at this very moment in time, diets be dammed I’m buying new paints.

I was watching one of my favorite Christmas shows NL "Christmas Vacation". I just love the animated intro so I went looking for it on the net. No luck finding it but I did find these sites that I thought were cute

YouTube - Christmas Vacation

YouTube - x-mas lights

YouTube - Next Door Xmas Vacation 2004

Well here it is Christmas Eve 2007. I have been up since 4am baking but even though that seems early it really wasn’t you see I crashed last night sometime between 8 and 8:30pm. I worked a lot this week and those 12 hour shifts take a toll especially when I don’t sleep like I should.

I had planed on going by the Poulos place last night; they are the family that won NBC’s "Al be home for Christmas” house last year but I only took a short nap yesterday after work, I then did a little house work, went to see “Night at the Museum” (not as good as I had hoped but I liked it and will buy it when it comes out in DVD) and then went with my son as he did a little last minute shopping by 7pm I could hardly move And I don’t remember much after 8pm.

My schedule is light today a little precooking for tomorrow and some gift wrapping. I hope to ride around and look at the lights and I will make it to the Poulos house; they go all out every year. Good people.

Well to all who read this I hope you are able to take a breather today, be safe and:

Merry Christmas

* “What do you want for Christmas mom?”

“I would like 48 feet of 2 by 8 pressure treated lumber and some large bags of Miracle Grow potting soil”

The boy’s face goes blank, an eye brow goes up then the forehead furrows and he says “what?”

I have had this same conversation with all three of my boys. I don’t need anything; they can never find the perfume I like even when I tell them where to look and god forbid they try to buy me cloths (shutter) so to make it easy on them I ask for the things I need to make raised garden beds. Lumber and dirt are perfectly good gifts. They have asked for things to use in there hobbies like paint ball stuff and tae-kwon-do sticks. My hobby is guarding I want dirt.

* I spent the day with my niece’s kid’s ages 1 ½ to 9 and this is what I learned.

• The reason kids paint is nontoxic is because the 1 ½ year old is going to try and eat it as soon as the adult that is supervising the painting of ornaments turns her back and that the paint that said 1½ does not eat will end up on the cloths said 1½ year old is wearing so remove the good cloths and replace with old cloths or the good cloths will become the old cloths in short order.
  

• Newly 4 year old kids will paint everything in site so have plenty of rags around. Forget paper towels there aren’t enough of them to stem the mess a 4 year old can make. You need something that can be reused. What I really don’t understand is how that 4 year old can make such a mess and stay relatively clean.
  

• 6 and 9 year olds are at about the right age for painting ornaments.

sunrise need I say more?
definitely a mild December

YouTube - sun rise KDH NC 12-19-06

Wright Flight 103rd anniversity

I forgot that today was the 103rd anniversary of the Wright brother’s first flight. I caught the last 20 minutes of the fly over. Bummer. I missed the big planes and only got a tail shot of the jets.

the Holidays

Two main holidays are celebrated in December, Christmas and Hanukka

At this time the Jewish community is celebrating Hanukkah. This year Hanukkah is from December 15^th to the 23^rd. I was taught that Hanukkah commemorates the Miracle of the light or Oil. According to the Talmud, at the re-dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem following the victory of the Maccabees over the Seleucid Empire, there was only enough consecrated olive oil to fuel the eternal flame in the Temple for one day. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days - which was the length of time it took to press, prepare and consecrate new oil. (Copied from wikipedia.). A candle is lit on the menorah and gifts are given each day for eight days to celebrate this miracle

For me Christmas is summed up as the day we Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. We don’t know the actual day of Christ’s birth so as it was explained to me the early church chose the winter solstice as Christ’s birthday. That time of year time was a time of feasting for both Christians and pagans so the Church decided to kinda move in on the holiday and take it over. I’m glad they did because I like feasting!

For most of the American public the December holiday season has become a time to celebrate with parties and gift giving. It is a time for families to gather. It is a time for those who have to give to those who have not. It’s a good time of year if you have family and friends and a bad time if you do not. It’s the silly season. It’s a time when emotions run the gambit from ecstasy to depression. It’s a time when the hustle and bustle of activity drains every ounce of energy from the soul leaving numbness in the brain that is indescribable. I love it.

I don’t get into the Christmas spirit until about two weeks before the actual day. At that time I start my shopping and cooking and celebrating. I’m getting older now so I need to start at least a week earlier. I don’t seem to have the energy I had in my younger days. There was a time I could get off work at 7am shop, cook, clean and not go to bed until 9pm. I fear those days are gone. My Christmas cards were late getting out and I haven’t wrapped the first gift. The house is a mess and I have not made my Christmas dinner shopping list yet.

It’s hard to believe that Christmas Eve is one week from today. Where has the month gone? Where has the year gone for that matter? Christmas is almost here and I have so much to do. But I love it

Birds on a wire.
These birds are basking in the sun on a warm December day on the Outer Banks

I've been out and about trying to get things done. Christmas is two weeks away and I have procrastinated to the point of almost no return. Still on a nice day like today one should take a minute and “smell the roses” or if you live at the beach go to the beach. This YouTube video is of the beach not too far from the Nags Head pier YouTube - Nags Head NC 12-11-06

Today we still have cool temperatures but the wind has died down. Today has a calmness to it. The wind chime on the porch is still and gone is that freight train in the distance sound that accompanies a North West wind. It is quiet inside the house too; no one except me is awake. I love mornings like this.

• I have spent the majority of the past week and a half at work and the temperatures have been great. Just the other day I commented on how little wind we have had and how pleasant it has been outside, well what a difference a day makes. This morning at around 6am I took the dogs out. I was dressed in a night shirt a pair of shorts and flip flops. When I opened the door to the basement I could tell it was a little chilly so I grabbed a long sleeve flannel shirt and continued. When I opened the door from the basement to the outside the cold wind just about took my breath away! Burr damn! I quickly shooed the dogs out and headed back upstairs to get a sip of my nice hot coffee. I checked on the weather; 28 degrees with 20-30 mph winds. I know some of you might say to yourself that’s not that cold but when you have had night time temperatures in the 50’s and no real wind and then all of a sudden wake up to 28 degrees with 20-30 mph winds out of the NW it’s a bit of a shocker. Needless to say I called my walking buddy and let her know that I’m not walking this morning. This is an inside day!
  

• My oldest son bought the new Nintendo Wii gamming machine I thought this little article was precious. Nintendo Warns Wii Owners: Don't Let Go - Yahoo! News

I was visiting OBX Connection - Weblog the other day and "Uncle Jack" as he calls himself had a good ideal that I thought I would try. He took a short video of the ocean and put it on YouTube.

This was taken yesterday YouTube - morning 12-03-06 Its very noisy and you cant hear much of the ocean over the wind across the mike but next time it will be better.

Nice morning on the outer banks

Today life is good on the Outer Banks. I was out and about getting errands done so I decided to check out the ocean. I was down by Whalebone Junction so I whipped on in and then quickly out of Jennettes Pier. The Aquarium purchased the pier a few years back after it was damaged by a storm so I wanted to see what they had done to it. Well from what I could see not much. The parking area was gone and there was no way I was going to drive my little Focus in sand. So I went one street up to Grayeagle where I knew there would be a beach access that I could see the pier from. Well as you can see from these photos storms have been taking their toll.

Jeannette’s Pier

This is the beach access. Its damaged; the steps to the beach are gone

One cool thing about this access is that you can stand
on top of the dune and see the ocean

and sound

It gives you a feel of just how narrow these barrier islands are. There are areas that are miles wide but they are the exception not the rule.

Oh for the love of Saint Jude!

I had a little extra time at work tonight so I thought I would just check out the head lines, here is one that I found distasteful. Kind of reminded me of the present president. Not happy with what your cabinet or advisors tell you fire them

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061127/ap_on_re_us/anti_peace_sign

what a difference a day makes; water is up geese are gone

The water in the sound was out this morning after the big blow we had last night, as you can see the geese are walking where they once paddeled.

This is ocean over wash on the beach road

These photos do not do the "Victory at sea" feel and sound of these waves justice. The wind has stirred the water into a frothy powerful force capable of much destruction. The sound of the waves is much like a never ending freight train or jet engine the spray off the ocean spreads many miles inland. The ocean is powerful and beautiful force not to be taken lightly. I have seen mere humans advance on the waves misjudging their power only to be taken down. This is a sight to be enjoyed from a safe distance.

Happy Thanksgiving

Last week the long range forecast showed an OK week ahead; well as the old saying goes around here “if you don’t like the weather just wait a few minutes”. It seems a low has formed in the past few days giving both Carolina coasts some very inclement weather. It looks like indoor time for the next few days including Thanksgiving Day. The merchants and restaurant owners will be happy. No problem for me I will be working and rainy weather is great sleeping weather.

Visit this site OBX Connection - Weblog for some beach photos. Once there if you go to the home page and visit the monthly photo contest you can check out some more OBX shots.

I will be going up to my nieces place for Thanksgiving dinner. My sister is coming up from Pensacola, my mom has gone down to New Orleans, and my kids will be at their fathers. Whoa trying to keep up with where everyone is and will be makes my head spin.

Well I hope all who read this have a great holiday. Remember there is NOTHING more important than family and friends and people do not have to have the same blood to be family and family can be the best friends.

Happy Thanksgiving

Leonid Meteor Shower 2006

If you are out and about Saturday night (Nov 18 2006) at around 11:30 pm look to the east. Who knows it might be worth it. SkyTonight.com - This Week's Sky at a Glance - This Week's Sky at a Glance

breakfast by the shore

I wish I could include the sound of the waves with the photo

In this shot you can see the front coming in.
I'm not a surfer but thoes look like some nice waves

Well campers we have had some awesome weather on the Outer Banks this week. Except for Sunday, sorry runners, the weather has been great! Temps in the upper 60’s to low 70’s shorts and flip flop weather. Things switch over late tonight and tomorrow with rain coming in and cool weather on Friday but heck it’s November!

Its suppose to be a good one next week too. Lots of sun and temperatures in the upper 50’s & lower 60’s my kind of weather. A lot of folks come down for Thanksgiving. They rent the big cottages and have a blast with family and friends. That’s what it is all about; family and Friends.

Traffic was a bit heavy and it took a while to make that left turn out of work (7:30 am)

it took a little longer to get past the light on Colington Rd also. (8am)

Seems I was wrong about the date for the Outer Banks Marathon, it wasn't yesterday it was today. Hope the rain holds off

So what has happened this past week, not much, spent most of it WORKING but with the holidays coming up that’s OK. What time I had at home was spent fixin things.

This week I learned a little more about plumbing; what did I learn?

1. Basic plumbing is not that hard that being said

2. It will take 3 time’s as long as the “book” say’s it will take and the “book” never has instructions for the exact type of faucet, handle or fitting that needs repair.

3. It will cost at least 2 times what it should cost to fix something the first time you do it.

4. It is worth the extra money to go to a real plumbing store. I went to Home Depot, the staff honestly tried to help, they did their best but I could tell they did not have the slightest Ideal what I needed. I went to ACE Hardware, those guys were great but again because I did not know the terminology and did not know the exact model number they were not able to help me BUT the guys from ACE sent me to Ferguson’s Plumbing where Mike was able to get me everything I needed and he explained how to put it all together.

5. Digital cameras are great;Take a photo of what you are fixing. It helps those that are trying to help you know what you are talking about.

The above being said it took me 9 hours to repair the kitchen sink faucet and the shower faucet (the shower took the most time) a lot of that time was spent getting the shower handle off, the set screw was striped. I tried using an extractor but that did not work so I wound up having to cut it off; those little L shaped Hex screw remover things are not easy to use. (If anyone knows of a better type please let me know)

I did allow myself the whole day to do this project because I knew that I did not really know what I was doing. I read the how to book and it seemed “do able” I accepted that I would hit some bumps and that it would cost more that it needed to but I also knew that the next time I do a job like that I will have a better understanding of how the faucet works and what is needed to fix it.

Cost to fix the 2 facets; $76, 9 hours of time and whatever I used up in gas.

Well I’ll be back at work tonight I expect it to be busy, there is a marathon happening here at the beach and its warm there is also a fishing tournament so a lot is going on. People will get hurt. I have a few days off next week in which I will be helping my mom get ready for her trip to New Orleans to visit my brother. I will also be figuring out why the hot water is coming out the cold water side in the shower faucet I fixed ;-)

Saturday at the pumpkin patch

First touch of the Atlantic Ocean

Sunset Tuesday

Nags Head Pier Wednsday

Well another week has gone by, flown by is more like it. But it was a good week. I spent last Saturday with my niece and her 4 children in Norfolk. We took the children to a fall “event” that included a petting zoo and pumpkin patch. I can tell you this; I now know why the young have children and god must have installed an amnesia gene because I don’t remember the noise and constant motion and shear exhaustion that is included in an outing with a bunch of young children. They were great though and I glad I went.

I worked Sunday. Monday I went back up to Norfolk and picked up my grand niece and brought her to the beach for a short visit. We did very simple things like walking along the beach; this is the first time as far as she knew that she had dipped her feet into the Atlantic Ocean, we went to the sound and watched the sunset. She got to meet her Great Grandmother for the first time as far as she could remember. Wednesday we went to the Nags Head Pier had breakfast and then walked to the end of the pier to watch the dolphin play in the cool Atlantic water; we then took a stroll on the beach. It was hard to pull her away from the water but we needed to go; she had to go home and I had to go back to work. I’m looking forward to next spring when I can bring her and hopefully her brother down; if all goes well we can have a bonfire on the beach and take flash lights to look for crabs as they scurry around after dark.

I think I’m beginning to remember a little of what raising little ones was like (at least the good part's)

12 hours in time

Sunset last night

the beach this morning

Election 2006

I do not want this site to be a political or religious site, an adversarial site. My personal goal is to just write about the little things that go on around me. Much of my writing is of little interest to anyone but me, BUT sometimes I read or become exposed to something that I feel has to be shared. Today when I went over to Tony Plutonium's blogg he had a link to this message Truthdig - Reports - After Pat’s Birthday. This is a letter written by a solder whose solder brother died in Iraq .

When those of you who have the opportunity vote Tuesday November 7th think about what direction you want this country to go in. Do you want to “Stay the Course” or do you want to at least look at other options. Do you really think that when one part of the population is denied a right that it will not eventually affect the rights of the rest of the population? Ben Franklin one of our founding fathers said “Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.” Words that have not lost their meaning even after 230 years.

* Tonight I will be talking to a bunch of girl scouts about first aid kits so I decided to get some last minute information on the internet. I keyed in hiking-first-aid-kits, tooled around on a few of sites that came up when I saw a tee shirt and remembered I wanted to get a Stewart/Colbert 2008 tee shirt and bumper sticker so I looked up Stewart/Colbert 2008 and tooled around a few sites finding this site; Rationally Speaking . To me just happening on to something is great. To learn something new or be exposed to something unexpected makes life more interesting. Of course everything has a flip side I wasted nearly 3 hours tooling around the net and never did find what I started out looking for ;-)

* Today is a cloudy and cool day on the Outer Banks. Great day for drinking coffee and reading.

* Monet is on exhibit in Raleigh until January. My walking buddy and I are hoping to see it sometime in November another friend of mine has already seen it and she said it is well worth the trip. North Carolina Museum of Art

It has been a busy October. It is hard to believe it is the 22 of the month already. I thought that as you got older things were suppose to slow down but NOOOO... between mom, work and the kids my time is pretty much taken up. Oh well everyone is for the most part healthy and happy; we all have jobs, food to eat and a place to sleep what else does a person really need?

these shots were taken Friday morning around 8am it has been a cloudy October

helocopter landing;

EMS gives the ED staff an in-service on how things operate on the copter each year just incase one of the staff has to accompany a patient. I missed the in-service and the flight that comes with it I had to work that night. I got to work just as they were returning from the in-service flight. I miss all the cool in-services. Dare County Med Flight EMS what a great job!!!

This is the newest member of our family, I never intended to have a cat but I guess I have one. I call her Jean Gray: My cousin and his wife hosts a family and friends’ party every year. They live on a farm and through out the year my cousin piles things that can burn in a big heap, the night of the party he burns it. It is a great bonfire. Well this year it seems a momma cat had kittens in the heap of stuff so when the fire was going good momma cat carrying a kitten came running out with three other kittens in hot pursuit. The kittens were scooped up by the folks standing around well actually they were scooped up by people scurrying around chasing kittens. Momma cat and the kitten she was carrying ended up in the field somewhere the three other kittens ended up in the homes of three of the guests. I bet ya next year the pile of stuff set to be the bonfire gets a good going over before it gets lit!!

The kitten and bonfire thing happened in August I thought I would be able to find her a home but she gets along so well with the dogs that I decided to keep her.

* Check this site out its kinda cool; Yahoo Time Capsule - by Jonathan Harris

shot of the cresent moon; the long exposure makes it look round

orion; looks better enlarged

What do you do when you just get finished working two 3p to 3a shifts and have a 7p to 7a shift to do the third night so you needed to stay up until at least 6am so you can sleep through much of the day? You go out side and take photos of the stars and say to self DO NOT sign up for that kind of roller coaster schedule again no matter how bad you need the work!!!!

Yahoo Time Capsule

This looks like a neat thing to do. Yahoo is putting together a time capsule to be opened in 20 years. Anyone can add to it. You can look at the things people have already added; its kinda fun.

Yahoo Time Capsule - by Jonathan Harris

I love the mountians but sometimes on a morning like today I love the beach. There is nothing like fall on the OuterBanks .

These photos were taken around 7:30 am in Nags Head

morning stroll

"work" from yesterday

Spending $9 for a movie to me is a bit much. The matinee around here is $7 so two people going to the movies can easily be a $30-40 event so I keep a look out for movies that I feel just have to be seen on the big screen and I think I have found one. I hope it is a good as the trailer:

http://www.nightatthemuseum.com/

One more thing, weather on the banks is god awful great!! Check out this site and look at the sunrises and sets in this months photo contest. http://www.obxconnection.com/

army "lowers" standards

It bothers me that the army is being criticized for “lowering its standards” to meet recruitment goals. I know many fine people who joined the military because they had no other option’s open to them; people with a minimal education or who had made mistakes in the past or who could not afford to go to college; people who looked to the military as away to better themselves. I fit in all of those categories.

In 1976 after attending at least 28 different school’s 4 of those school’s high schools and being told that we were going move again (high school # 5) I marched over to the Junior College that was across the street from the high school I was attending told the continuing ED teacher that I had quit school 6 months earlier and wanted to take my GED. I took all 4 tests in 2 days and passed. Wallah my high school career was over.

In 1977 seeing that staying at home would serve me no real purpose I joined the ARMY. The army would not take me as regular enlisted because of my GED. A man could get in with a GED but not a woman, so I joined the Reserves.

When I took the army entrance test my scores were so high that the Army wanted to send me to nursing school but no I wanted to be a civilian cop so I wanted to be an MP (18 years old; watched too much Beretta and Starsky and Hutch; did not know what I was getting into; did not become a civilian cop)

I did the army reserve weekend warrior thing and while doing that I managed restaurants and retail stores, got a degree in computer programming and then a degree in Nursing (isn’t it ironic don’t ya think) and today while by no means is my life perfect its not bad, and the plane fact of the matter is that if it were not for my decision to join the army and the army’s lower standards of the time my life may have been much different.

While I would not join the Military right now nor do I encourage anyone to, the army “lowering” its standards is in my opinion not necessarily a bad thing. There are a lot of very intelligent folks out there who could use a break. I know of no other service that offer’s the variety of jobs the army does. From, dishwasher to helicopter pilot Jobs you can take home with you.

Some will take the unfair to the poor man attitude; lower the standards and all you have are poor black and white people who have no other options; D’oh! Go from no choice to one choice at least there is a choice!

Any ways don’t cut my Army down. It was good for me when I needed it. I wish Bush wasn’t the dick head he is because I would have been proud for my sons to have served.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061010/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/army_recruiting_7

I just got back from a quick trip to the mountains. The weather was excellent. It was a good thing I went up. The cows that I allow to roam on my land took out the electric fence that surrounds my camper (I did not turn it on when I left last time). Lesson learned.

A farmer’s day and that of his wife is a long one. Tim and his wife Kristi were out early in the morning getting stock ready to take to market; Kristi went to work afterwards and Tim spent the rest of the day on a tractor putting up hay.

This little piece of Americana is located about 7 or 8 miles west of South Boston Virginia on highway 58. I have been going by it for a few years now and always meant to stop a take a picture; today I did