Still alive

Gosh, it's been ages since I last posted here. I forgot I even had a blog for a while there. My life appears to be one of those things that never seems to change and just goes on day by day. Or so it seems. However......

In the last few months I have bought my own place, spent a glorious week on vacation up in the Great Smoky Mountains, become the star pitcher of my ball team, been told by my boss that I'm the best tech in the place and managed to get myself on google streetview. The last being the highlight of my month.

It's funny how each day seems the same many times and we accept all the little things that happen in the duration as normal occurrances. But in reality each moment is special unto itself and can carry it's own magic if we care to look. The things we do with friends, trips to the grocery store, a day at work, all things we take for granted but at the same time all things that make each day different.

The longer I live the more I'm learning to enjoy the small things in life that make each day what it is.

So how long does it take google to get new images up on streetview? I was heading down to Cincinnati last week and was going thru Columbus, OH when I notice the Google camera car in the middle lane. I was in the left lane and traffic was going slow enough that I was able to get a good look at it when I went by. So now I'm curious as to how long it will take to get the new images up on the site. The exact location was on I-70 southbound right before exit 190A. I was driving a gray Hyundai Elantra with Ontario plates on it. I'm sort of hoping to see it when they finally get them up there.

A new place

Well I have made the move into my new place and am almost all settled in. The pile of garbage in the yard grows larger each day as I unpack and find more stuff that I just don't want, need or like. Not to mention the pile of cardboard for the recyclers.

I finally have a place I can all my own. A plot of land that is all mine (well almost, I'm sure the bank would say something about it). Of course many grand ideas had to be compromised in order to be able to afford it but isn't that life?

I'm amazed as some of the stuff I had in storage and have been hanging on to for the last god knows how many years. Things such as a breadbox with a busted door. more parts for tvs and video palyers than I could ever possibly use and a number of fishing rods that would go great in a garage sale.

Every time I move I tend to downsize and get rid of more and more stuff. At this rate I won't have anything to my name if I move a few more times. Not sure if that would be a good thing or not. It probably would but I'm not in a hurry to find out. That time will come soon enough.

Spring is in the air.

Over the last month I've been getting the spring feeling more and more. It seems too long since I last went for a round of golf, chucked a ball or was able o go for a walk in the woods without snowshoes. Now that it's almost the end of February I am starting to get the itch again.

My vacation is planned out and I just want the next couple of months to pass by so I can get going. That's the thing about vacations, it seems to take forever to get to them and once you are on vacatiion the time seems to go so fast. I'm really looking forward to this one though. I'm making a trip down to Tennessee with my girlfriend where we are planning on spending a week holed up in a cabin near Gatlinburg. It should be nice and relaxing compared to the chaos that is my normal life.

The older I get the more relaxed and accepting of life I have become. Things that don't bother me now would have driven me nuts at a younger age. I'm not sure if it's because I've been thru those things and know what to expect or because I really don't care any more. I do know that I am at the point in my life where I really don't care what people think about me and the way I live. It's nice because I don't have anyone's expectations to live up to except my own. Mind you I can't really say that I ever tried to live up to anyone's expectations. Probably why I am where I am today. Honestly right now I am looking forward to my retirement in another decade or so. All I need is place of my own where I can spend my days fishing, golfing, camping and otherwise relaxing with a bit of travel tossed in for a change.

It's always good to dream. Right now I'm at work and dreaming of 7am when I get off shift. Since a bunch of our guys are getting training this week I have been left all alone this shift. It's great to be able to actually concentrate on my work instead of having to shepherd the young guys around and keep tabs on them. Sometimes I would prefer being a peon instead of a supervisor. Oh well, such is life.

Another day, another dollar

As the title says I'm back at work here. Another night shift about half over now. Sometimes I wonder if it would be more worth it to find a job where I didn't have to work night shifts but every time I do I get to thinking about the time off and vacation I get for doing it. I guess it's a balance that I have to put up with until I can retire one day. I just keep praying that the day comes sooner than later. Until then I'll just keep trying to stay awake and forget about the fact that I have another 5 hours to go.

Weekend

Well the new year is upon us and a couple of days into already. I went to the bank yesterday and one of the first things I did was screw up the date on a check. Go figure, it's not even a week old. I'm going to have to work on my memory a bit more I guess.

New Years eve came of just about as I had figured. Got home from work and Mike and I spent the evening playing games on the Wii and sucking back pop and chips. Another of the things in life that I never seem to have quite established in my mind as something to avoid, never have a bowl of ice cream then down a couple of glasses of coke later on. Not sure about anyone else but having an ice cream float fizzing away in my stomach makes me look about 6 months pregnant.

The time off has been nice and it's back to work on monday. Fortunately I only work 3 days this week. It will give me an even longer weekend next one. I also have my annual review on monday. It will be interesting to see what the boss thinks. It should be pretty good. Of course along with the review comes the annual raise. I'm almost betting that next paycheck I'll be bringing home less than I did last year. For some reason the amount of tax taken off always seems to increase disproportionately to the raise given. I've had times when I was bringing home less after a raise than I was before, mainly due to being elevated to the next tax bracket. Oh well, guess I'll find out next pay check.