Took a quick walk on the beach what a nice day

This guy's owner was most likely shopping so it seems like fido took this opportunity to take a nap on a nice warm tool box. Cant say as I blame him.

I was scheduled to work 1pm to 1am today but got a call from work asking me to come in at 6pm instead well I had no problem with that and decided to get some of the running around I intended to do tomorrow done today. I’m glad I was called off because it is a beautiful day here on the Outer Banks. We are experiencing a touch of Indian summer. From the look of it this morning I thought the day was going to be a washout but right now we have Carolina blue skies, gentle winds and warm temperatures. I hope its this way tomorrow and Friday.

I have spent the past week getting work done around my house and have made a few observations.

· If a contractor says it will take a “few” days to complete a job it will take at least a week.

· Budgets are just goals and the likelihood of a project coming at or below the budget is about as good as the likelihood that man will be on Mars next week.

· If you think you have it all figured out you don’t; there is always something you missed

The house is looking good but boy will I be glad when I’m done, of course then the really hard part starts trying to sell it.

Saw a few good articles on organ transplants. Doctors report transplant breakthrough - Yahoo! News Australian girl switches blood type after liver transplant: doctors - Yahoo! News What a wonderful time we live in when we have such things to help us live longer and better. Be a donor you don’t need the organs when you are gone.

Oh wow how time has gone by. January is more that half over and I’m three days into my 49^th year, my year of change. This is the year I move to the mountains. My youngest son will graduate from high school and I will be free. I love my boys but I'm ready for a change.

I have been working hard to get my house ready to sell. I did not think there was that much to do just paining and minor repairs but prepping for painting and fixing minor repairs takes a lot of time. I have also come to the conclusion that whether I like to admit it or not I am a pack rat. I have taken at least four loads of stuff to our local charity thrift shops and I have more to go.

The house is looking nice, inside the painting and minor repairs are almost done and the new carpet will be put down in about 3 weeks. I worked in the yard this past few days while the painter did his thing inside, you know for "curb appeal"; good thing I did because it looks like the weather is not going to be favorable for yard work this next week. We have been getting some good rains as of late; tonight we may even get a touch of snow….. well “they” say we have a chance of snow I don’t think its going to happen if it does I’ll post photos.

I found this web site The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard on Fragments From Floyd it is a very interesting story it take about 20 minutes of your time but I feel it is worth it.

I stayed up late tonight because I wanted to see who won the New Hampshire primaries (and watch “The” I mean “A Daily Show” & “The Colbert Report”). Now I’m not going to say who I am rooting for but I do want change (every candidate both republican and democrat are touting that word) and I vote but after hearing that only a little over 10% of the Iowa voters went to the caucus’s it made me wonder how many people in the US vote. According to this web site http://www.accuratedemocracy.com/d_datac.htm only about 50% of eligible US voters vote.

I love my country but I’m not happy with the direction its leaders are taking it and with my vote and my voice I am letting them know how I feel. I know that my one voice means little but then just one cicada isn’t all that bad but every 17 years when they all lift their voice you can’t help but hear them. We Americans have an opportunity every 2 years to let our voices be heard, we can choose to be quiet or we can let our elected officials know how we want to be lead. Folks get off your butts and vote.

Some other sites that give world wide voting stats

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_turnout

http://www.idea.int/vt/survey/voter_turnout_pop2.cfm

This site tells you how to get up with your congressmen and what they are voting on

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/

New Years sunrise 2008

Sunrise January 1, 2008
Kill Devil Hills NC

Happy New Years