I'm Back

Wow, this blog is dusty. It's been a while since I've spent any time here but I feel like I need to rectify that. Don't worry. I plan to upgrade the design of this site so it is a little less painful on the eyes. I just didn't want to wait until that work was done before posting some content.

For almost two weeks we have all been settling into the truth that Donald Trump will soon be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States of America.

Personally, I never though it could happen.

I was delusional.

All through the campaign I seriously though there was no way in hell. Do you know what this shows me? It shows me just how out of touch I am. I believe it reveals that scary reality to a lot of us who voted for Hillary Clinton. 

I'm not going to spend time in this post on the reasons. This is just an introduction and a dedication to do a better job.

I need to write more.

I need to be more supportive. 

I need to get involved more. 

I need to work harder. 

I need to stand up for what I believe in.

I know I am not pledging anything specific here but that is partially because I have to figure out my place and my direction. This blog may or may not be a part of it but this is where I am starting. I just hope that if this falls off it is because I decided to replace it with some other endeavour to realize the change I want to see in the world.

I hope I don't get lazy. Please call me out if I do. 

January 12of12 aka the Day of the 80's Rock Ballad

I decided to do my 12 of 12 this month as inspired by the original 12 of 12 concept, as a blog entry. This is a unique one for me. I find myself baching it this weekend. My wife and daughter are out of town so I have been alone for the majority of the weekend. With this freedom came the ability to relax a bit but mostly to get some domestic work done without interruption. See below for a quick before and after shot as I clean up the den (aka. baby play room).

Once I felt better about the state of living quarters I buckled down for my next big task, family finances. Much of the day was spent @ the kitchen table in front of Quicken 2005 (running on Windows XP through VMWare on the Mac I might add) with a stack of mail next to me. Once my head was properly swimming with numbers I decided to get out of the house for another task as well as a little fun. I headed down to south Charlotte to look for a cache with a special travel bug in it. You see, our caching team name is The Bottlecaps. Well, one of the local cachers sent me a message that we may be interested in this travel bug since it was a collection of bottle caps. I couldn't pass up that opportunity so I headed out to make the find. I was just hoping that someone didn't beat me to the punch. Check the pictures below for the results. It was a beautiful day and nice park right on the lake.

There were a ton of ducks hanging out in a cove right on the lake. I tried to get a picture of them as I left the park but I couldn't find a great angle. After this cache it was time to be responsible and do some shopping. I hit up PetSmart for some cat food @ litter and what do you know? There was a cache less than 0.1 of a mile from the store. :) Next it was time for some lunch and a trip to Lowes for a screw to hold our shower faucet together. When we had the bathroom remodeled our contractor lost a screw that has held the lever together for turning the water on & off. Now we can take a shower without worrying about our faucet falling apart. It's the little things in life that make all the difference. :) The next shot is a reflection of the music I listened to throughout the day. For some reason I can be a real sucker for 80's rock ballads. Hence, part of the name of this post. I did something that I know would make some cringe but I really enjoyed it. I cranked up Pandora, created a Chicago station, and let the music roll all day. You probably can't see it from the size of this picture but @ the time of this shot my station was featuring Air Supply, REO Speedwagon, & Foreigner. Go 80's!!! My last task of the day was to work on taking down Christmas. It is always sad when the tree has to go... To make the chore a little more pleasant I decided to build a fire. I love the feel of a fire on a cool evening. After a day of domestic tasks I decided to end the day by relaxing with an action flick. You can see from the pic that I decided to go with the latest Die Hard movie from Netflix. Over all it was a nice end to a busy Saturday.

Online Slump

I guess we all get burned out from time to time. Lately I have found it difficult to motivate myself on any project of a digital nature. Oh sure, I'm still working on a computer for eight hours a day but I have found it hard to do any personal computer work in the last few days. Granted a slump for me means only about 10 hrs. of computer time a day which I know for some is hardly a slump. It may partly be the stress of my job. It may also be that I am trying to make myself read more so it is a good excuse to curl up with a book. Whatever it is I am sure I will come out of this funk soon. I want to keep up my blogging and twittering. I also have some projects on the horizon that I want to find time for. Stay tuned. I can't stay away from the keyboard for long. It's in my blood. :)