Now that your unpacked and got to test drive the area for a bit, encountered some locals and yokels, and hopefully some actual people that moved to the area from your home town or state its time to list the likes you have of your new or semi-new, or heck if the area is your native home than by all means and ways list what you like! Y'all got it? Well here goes!

Weather! You like or not!
Year round flowers!
Long springs!
Longer Autumns!
Shorts year round! For the hearty ones that is.
Variety of sub divisions to chose from!
Snow is a neat event versus a ho-hum not again event!
No rust on older cars! Amazing if your from the Northeast!
Can fish year round without cutting holes in the water (ice) for us North Easterners!
Pretty country side is usually only 5 minutes or less from where you live anywhere in the triangle.
People R People. No matter what they say!
Day trip to Mountains!
Day trip to Ocean!
And in a lot cases no trip at all to the many lakes, ponds, river, and streams that spot the area!
Good food can be had by all and more is always welcome irregardless if they are called viddles or pickins!
Out away from the city lights the sky at night explodes with the many stars that fill the emptiness of space with the occasional flying star to catch a dream or two on!
Groceries can be cheaper but we all have to eat!

Sure it takes time to get use to this place, remember the place you came from was called home and that is never a easy place to replace! But give it time, explore the area and get involved and this place too will be your new home not only in name but in feeling!

May the triangle, RDU, RTP, Crossroads, the Quay, Wake Forest, Knightdale, Apex, Raleigh, Durham, Zebulon, Oxford, Mossisville, Franklinton, Youngsville, Chapel Hill, Henderson, ...seems like I am forgetting somewhere....????......Oh yea! and Cary, be with you!

Oh Tarheels! I forgot to number the above as I did say I would count thy ways!

Wake Forest, Gosh its a pretty nive place to live!

Posted 03-09-2009 at 08:59 PM by dansdrive

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Wake Forest, NC. located in Wake County NC. Some call it Wake's Forest of the Triangle....Ok maybe that's just me. But if you come from the North East, Wake Forest seems to fit. It has some rolling hills and many farming areas.

It has a small town feel but close to Raleigh, you could be down town Raleigh, depending on time of day in about 15 to 30 minutes. You can be at the Virginia border in less than an hour.

It has old Historical homes and some new subdivisions. It certainly worth a look see if your looking and seeing the area. It has transplants from New Jersey, New York, and many other NE State and Mid West and California and....well you get the idea people from all over this great country now calls Wake Forest home!

C'mon down, over, left, or right and check it out you may just like what you see.

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1. Friday April 27, 2012 and its 60.0 degrees heading up to a sunny 75 degrees. Just a weather wise picture perfect day! For a Friday that is a keep. Heck any day of the week it would be a keeper! Here we are the last Friday of April, month four of 2012 is about to go in the history books. Speaking of history and all the recent talk about the Titanic. Here is another ship disaster you may have never heard of before. It happened on this day in 1865. The ship was an old steamship that traversed the Mississippi river. One of its uses was to transport Union POW's back north after the Civil War. On this ill fated day it was packed with about 2,500 people and was only rated to carry a few hundred. These POW were released from various southern prisons and POW camps and were finally headed home to start a new life! Oh, and this over crowded ship had no life vest or life boats! YIKES!! As the ship headed north up the Mississippi and was off the coast of Memphis TN the boiler blew up and sank the ship. At the end of the day 1500 people died. This was the worse US maritime disaster the country had ever seen. Yet it got little coverage and you rarely if ever hear about it. Such irony, here were POW's finally heading home from the worst of all wars, a Civil war. They survived the war but not the trip home. Truly sad. On a lighter note it is Friday and the start of the weekend. Nothing really planned. The typical items are on the docket, mow the grass, clean up my best friends yard gifts, and hopefully a bonfire or two depending if the weather holds off that is. Quote of the day Mother Teresa: "Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies." Happy Friday and enjoy your weekend!!!!!!! Always remember Be good, Be kind, and always Be yourself!!!!

   Posted 04-27-2012 at 06:17 AM by dansdrive

2. Monday April 30, 2012 and its a misty 61.3 degrees heading on up to 79 degrees and cloudy. Unlike yesterday, as it was beautiful. Spent most of it outside. In fact most of this weekend was spent outside. Saturday helped a friend cut some trees down in his backyard and trim many others. Than Saturday attended church services. This left Sunday for working around the yard. Which to be honest is not work at all. But not without a twist. We have been looking around for a patio set for our deck ever since we sold our hot tub. Nothing fancy as the deck is covered with tree branches and one always gets the occasional friend dropping in from the trees. That is one of the reasons we got rid of the hot tub. To many 8 legged visitors always dropping in. Any who, I digressed. Back to the story. We didn't want to buy a new patio set because there were to many used ones to pick from. We didn't want a fancy one but we did not want a beat up one either. So when your looking for something used and online, you turn to Craigslist. Craigslist it was. Typically my experience is one normally misses out on the items one really wants because someone else beat them to it. Well, yesterday was different we got what we were looking for at a significant savings over a new one. It was a win-win. My wife got what she was looking for and I got a low cost patio set! Fugal guy 1. New patio set 0. That was just like the weather yesterday.....perfect! So, after getting the set and cleaning up the patio and a few moves of the set from here to there and back to here again, oh maybe a inch or two this way....no no no back a couple of inches the other way, the patio set was well....set in its place for now that is. We also managed to get 15 bags of Pine Bark Nuggets and found that we were about 15 bags short of what we needed. So those 15 more bags are for another day. Also, got to plant my radishes and carrots in the garden. Already harvested the Swiss Char that the wife had and I may add with a generous helping of garlic. Cucumber and garlic plants are going well. Tomato plants are growing like Jack in the beanstock's, beanstock! But yesterday evening topped the weekend off with an A-Ha moment. My wife made a new recipe, Zucchini stew and a new dessert. So we had to eat out on our new patio set of coarse. As we were enjoying our food, we saw the bird houses I made become places of high activity. The little ones in the houses were chirping away as their parents were busy getting them food. Trip after trip the parents would go and come back and go again. In a seemingly endless parade to and from the birdhouses. And when the parents would go fetching food the adolescence in side would get rum-bunches and peek outside the hole looking for their next meal. So not only was it a perfect day weather wise it was punctuated watching the next generation of birds growing up in the birdhouses I made...........Amazing! Quote of the day from Pam Brown: " A friendship can weather most things and thrive in thin soil; but it needs a little mulch of letters and phone calls and small, silly presents every so often - just to save it from drying out completely." Happy Monday and such a fertile quote from Pam to allow friendships to grow and prosper! Nice! Have a great day!

   Posted 04-30-2012 at 05:39 AM by dansdrive

3. May 1, 2012 and its 66.4 degrees heading on up to 86 degrees. With the flip of the calendar the summer temps are starting to encroach us. Will be in the 90's the next few days! As I hear the song in my head, 'The Heat is On!' Today is May Day. As a kid I can't remember anything special we did on May Day. I do remember watching the evening news right after supper and seeing all the Marching Soviet troops celebrating May Day. These were the days of the cold war. I never remember diving under our desk in the event of a Nuclear blast. My older sister does. I do remember having civil disaster drills where we would all go into the school basement in case of an emergency. In fact in those days all schools had Civil Defense shelter. These basements were musty smelling dark rooms, each class had an area to gather in and the teacher would take roll. The shelter was also open to the community for any type of disasters. Today they do not build them anymore. School building are expense enough today and can't afford a Civil Defense basement I suppose. As a kid I never worried about what those drills were for and that was a good thing. It was just a necessary thing we had to do each year. Just like when the fire alarm bell went off and we all headed outside and stand around until the bell rang and the teachers told us to come back in. We did get to see the firetruck outside our school and that was always cool! So as I reflect on May Day I am reminded of the Cold War days and what they meant to me as a kid and now as an adult and I am glad that the cold war is over and our kids don't have to go down into those dark musty school basement shelters. Quote of the day from John Wesley: "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can." Happy Tuesday and John depicted a servant better than any other definition I ever read.....who will you be serving today? Enjoy your May Day!

   Posted 05-01-2012 at 05:32 AM by dansdrive

4. Wednesday May 2, 2012 and its 70.3 degrees outside moving on up to a Humid 88 degrees. Chance of storms today too. Last evening the storm that was over northern Durham was meandering toward Wake Forest and really fizzed out when it got to us. We got some rain, not heavy and no lightning. Plenty of thunder in the distance but that was it. What a beautiful morning! The ride in I had the sun in my rear view mirror just coming up over the horizon and it was spectacular! Sure sunrises and sets happen everyday but each are spectacular if you take the time to watch them. The sunrises is our fresh start for a new day a chance to right some wrongs we may have made, a chance to call someone we have not heard from for a while and wish them a great day! Its time to get energized and look for an opportunity to help someone, anyone, as there are far more that need help than can help! I can't think of a better day than today to make that happen! ...and for the sunset, watch it because it will be here before you know it. The day will be busy and full and time will march on until the sunsets. So, the sunset is a prefect time to reflect on your day and be proud of what you accomplished, and reflect on what you have yet to accomplish because come tomorrow that sun still rise again and it will be your chance to start anew again! What a wonderful day it will be! Quote of the day from St. Clement of Alexandra: " If you do not hope, you will not find what is beyond your hopes." Happy Wednesday and what is your hopes and aspirations today and can you get them started before the sunsets?

   Posted 05-02-2012 at 07:04 AM by dansdrive

5. Thursday May 3, 2012 and its 66.4 degrees outside heading on up to a toasty 93 degrees and full sun. As the NRA says, its gun-na be a hot one! Days like today only came around up north as a kid in June. We typically got out of school around June 15. Those were the days we did not need coats in the morning and recesses were down right hot! But as a kid, I rarely remembering sweating. We would run, play and ride bikes in the hottest of days and rarely sweat. Now I can go outside and stretch my arms over my head and I have to come in shower and change clothes....to much sweating! In fact whenever I work outside now as the temps heat up I have to wear a sweatband around my head. Or its like Niagara Falls flowing over my forehead and into my eyes! I remember when the kids were younger they would say; 'Oh Dad, do you have to wear the 60's headband!'. I would say, hey its Nike so I am being cool.....literally and figuratively! One of the most embarrassing moments for my kids regarding one of my actions was when we lived in upstate NY. We had a fairly large yard and I would cut it with a self propelled mower and we had a large pool in the backyard as well. So the kids were teenagers and use to bring their friends over swimming. Which was always a good thing as for the work the pool required was well worth it as we knew where our kids were and what they were doing. Anyway, on this one day I was cutting the grass as normal with shorts on and the bugs were biting my legs so I went inside and got the longest pair of white socks I could find from my dresser drawer. So, I proceeded to put them on and they came up over my knees....I thought perfect! No bug bites. I also had my bright white Nike sweatband on.....nice! I also decided that this would be the day I would sing a song while I was mowing the lawn....sweet! What I failed to realize with the roar of the lawnmower was apparently how loud I was singing. As I looked up I saw about five teenage girls all staring at me with puzzled looks on their faces. So I continued on and finished the task at hand of mowing the lawn. It was not till that evening that I understood why I go the puzzled look that day. My daughter said Dad my friends asked me if you were alright. You had these socks up over your knees, a sweat band on, a horrible looking t-shirt on and singing very loudly Bohemia Rhapsody. ....and all I could think of at the time as 'Priceless!' Quote of the day from Marilyn Monroe: "Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.” Happy Thursday and I know you got a pair of those long white socks in your drawer....are you ready to be as Marilyn said so well....'be absolutely ridiculous' today?

   Posted 05-03-2012 at 05:28 AM by dansdrive

6. Friday May 4, 2012 and its 64.8 degrees outside heading on up to 90 degrees. Average triangle temperature for the day is 77 degrees, so speaking of average it will be 'Hot, Hot, HOT!'. If its going to be hotter than normal than Friday is a good day to have it hot. Now that we flipped the calendar to May I can't help but remember that this is the month we use to get the garden ready for planting. For city dwellers we had a fairly large garden, in fact, back in the day almost everyone had a garden. Our garden was filled with a couple of types of lettuce, radishes, carrots, egg plant, green peppers, cabbage, onions, zucchini, about two dozen tomato plants that my grandfather grew as seeds from behind the kitchen window starting in early March, and herbs such as sage for the tomato sauce my Mom made and some parsley. Now is where I come into this nice garden. My job was to go into the shed and get the pitchfork out and start turning over the soil. Dad did not have a rotor-tiller....that was me! He helped to after work but as I grew older I was able to get it done myself. We also had fruit trees in the yard. We had Peach and pear trees. Our neighbors on both side of us had grape vines along with apricot and apple trees. So produce and fruit were never an issue in the neighborhood. Neighbors traded those things, that is just the way it was. Sometimes I wonder what happened to those days? Is it we don't have the time to plant and care for a garden? Is it we are to mobile as a society to put down roots some where and stay? (No pun intended.) Maybe as a society we are above cultivating, planting, and harvesting. We just seem to like the harvest part, the rest is left for someone else to do.... Than I wonder if there is a correlation between lack of having a garden and lack of today's family values? The answer to that one will be left up to the sociologist and the historians. What I have is only my personal opinion...... But it is Friday, the start of the weekend, the weekend! Fantastic! Quote of the day from May Sarton: "Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace." Happy Friday and May's quote on this May 4 is worth a second and third read, in fact its worth a print out and hang from your refrigerator or garden shed door. Wishing you a grace filled weekend!!!!!

   Posted 05-04-2012 at 07:50 AM by dansdrive

7. Monday, May 7, 2012 and its 60.1 super moon lite this AM heading on up to 79 degrees! How cool was the moon last night! Super moon!!!! In the words of David Lee Roth of Van Halen, "I might as well jump!' Speaking of jumping or lack their of! We had an old shed in out backyard as most every home did back when I was a kid. This is where the garden stuff and miscellaneous was kept. The back of the shed was against our neighbors yard which was about four feet higher than ours and he had a wall so it was easy to get on his wall and onto the roof of our shed. So as a kid we would spend time on the roof when it was not to hot. Just seemed like a cool thing to do. We also took turn jumping off the front of the shed into our yard. It was about 8 or 9 feet from to the ground. I had one cousin who use to jump it like he was jumping off a curb. I was not so eager. To me it was like jumping from the empire state building! It took some time and encouragement for me to make that leap. Finally I made the leap. It was over in about a second. Gravity is a good thing because the last thing I wanted to do was float to the ground. I landed on my feet which sunk into the ground a bit and within seconds I was up on that roof and jumping off again and again! It was one of those fears as a kid you just had to concur and go for the next one. The next one for me was probably spider....that one is still on the list if fears. One can't concur them all I suppose. Quote of the day Bryant H. McGill: "Do not let your grand ambitions stand in the way of small but meaningful accomplishments." Happy moon lite Monday and Bryant knew about my jump!!! Enjoy the song of the day: Van Halen - Jump (Official Music Video)HD - YouTube

   Posted 05-07-2012 at 05:40 AM by dansdrive

8. Tuesday May 8, 2012 and its 61.3 degrees outside heading up to 81 degrees give or take a few. It is a beautiful morning indeed. Partly cloudy sky, the moon is starting to vanish from its super sized self. Rt 540 was crowded for the early hour, more than usual. It was certainly the hustle and bustle and pedal to the middle type of traffic. My cruise control was useless. To much speed up and slow down, brake tapping traffic. I did feel better when the traffic report came on the radio and said Rt 540 was clear sailing from Falls of Neuse to Rt 40. Clear is one of those relative words. And clear sailing today was a distant cousin to me! But my song of the day pretty much sums up the day ahead...... Quote of the day William Woodsworth: "The best portion of a good man's life - his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love. " Happy Tuesday and William hit the bulls-eye with that quote. If that can't make you smile today my song of the day will......listen and enjoy!!! Song of the day: Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah - YouTube

   Posted 05-08-2012 at 05:00 AM by dansdrive

9. Tuesday May 9, 2012 and its 68.2 cloudy degrees outside heading on up to 78 degrees. Chance of storms which means equal chance of no storms? Reminds me of the days as a kid when you were out playing on the chance of showers days. As a kid you hoped for the shower part. It means running through the raindrops, splashing through puddles, damming up the water flowing along the curb, and riding your bike in the rain. Depending on the time of the day it rained would determine if you got home soaked, damp, or completely dry. But as a kid it never really mattered. Things like that never seemed to matter. What mattered were how fast you were against your friends, how high you could jump against your friends, how good you were in hide-n-seek, or what cool tricks you could do on your bike. Umbrellas? We didn't need any stinkin umbrellas! What we always looked for was rainbows! Quote of the day from John Vance Chaney: "The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears!" Happy Tuesday......happy Tuesday and happy with John's perspective!

   Posted 05-09-2012 at 06:52 AM by dansdrive

10. Thursday May 10, 2012 and its a crystal clear 53.3 degrees outside heading on up to a picture perfect 74 sunny degrees. How clear is it? ...and you said 'Crystal' clear! Hey you know what movie that line is from....I know you do...and you can 'handle the truth!' Can't believe its Thursday already....week has been filled with endless meetings. Two more full days of meeting to go, so looking forward to the weekend! So the words today will be few but the song of the day says it all................enjoy! Quote of the day from Mark 12:33 "And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices" Happy Thursday and <SMILE> till your eyes close on this great day! Song of the day from Travis Tritt: great day to be alive.wmv - YouTube

    Posted 05-10-2012 at 05:16 AM by dansdrive

11. Friday May 11, 2012 and its 49.9 degrees outside heading on up to a comfortable 74 degrees. Now that is the start of a great Friday! It is also the start of the Mother's Day weekend! To all the moms out there and moms to be, Happy early Mother's Day! One day to celebrate all efforts, pain, joy, and sweat mom have put in for us. Seems like more than a day to acknowledge all that should be required. This poem seems to sum it all up really well and unfortunately the author does not get credit as its from anonymous. "Mother, you have given me two things: One is roots. The other is wings." That just about covers it. She the one person that always knows you better than you know yourself. Even though we hate to admit it sometimes. So enjoy this weekend and if your fortunate enough to spend time with your mother don't forget to tell her thanks for a life time. If your mother is no longer with you, what a great time to get down on your knees and thank your mother for all she has done in her lifetime for you. Quote of the day from Sophia Loren: " When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child." Happy Friday, Happy Mothers Day, Happy be both days! Be safe, Be sound, and always be thankful to Mom!

    Posted 05-11-2012 at 04:50 AM by dansdrive

12. Monday May 14, 2012 and its a cloudy 63.3 degrees outside heading on up to a high of 77 showery degrees, so say-ith the weather person. So, another weekend has come and gone. But it was a special one. One where we got to thank either in person, or on the phone, or in our hearts and prayers the person that made it all possible for who we are. WOW! Think about that for a second. The one who always had your back. The one who would buffer you as a kid from Dad when you had done wrong. The one who would hang that drawing or test score on the refrigerator. The one who would clean your room and did you laundry even through college. The one you could talk to when you felt that no one else in the world was listening....How do you thank a Mom for that? Flowers, candy, jewelery, mere child's play. If you made that call or stopped by to say hello, or just thought about your Mom if she is no longer with us, you have given her more than all the gifts you can afford her. They say a picture is worth a thousand words but a hello and hug is worth a million days of missing one. As far as the rest of the weekend. Did some yard work. Had some trimmed tree branches to cut up. After this weekend, still have some tree branches to cut up. Not to much progress was done on that front. Got 12 more bags of pine bark nuggets spread out. Got the grass cut. Fixed a kitchen cabinet door that broke. I had the handle and a portion of the door in my hand when I went to open it. Luckily it broke on the glue line, so some Elmers wood glue a couple of clamps and about 24 hours in the garage and walaa! Good as new! Oh yea also got the oil changed in the car. It was a messy job but someone (me) had to do it! Just had too! Came across one of my favorite Bible passages. Psalm 23. "The Lord is my Shepard and I shall not want." Now that pretty much sums up a day in the life... Quote of the day William Arthur Ward: "We can learn much from wise words, little from wisecracks, and less from wise guys." Happy Monday and William was certainly onto something when he said that.......wishing all a day of humility and servant-hood, and if you didn't make that call or visit to Mom.....Just do it!!!! It worked for Nike!

    Posted 05-14-2012 at 05:13 AM by dansdrive

13. Tuesday May 15, 2012 and its a soggy 66.8 degrees outside thundering its way up to a showery 79 degrees. This is great garden growing weather as well as grass growing weather. Showery days were also good days to be in class as kids. The grade school I attended sat on top of a hill overlooking the valley around it. What a great spot for a school. It was always visible from the neighborhood. From the classrooms you could see the hills at a distance that rose as walls above the valley floor. At that time they were basically all wooded, I can only imagine now how much less woods there are now on those hills. Being from the coal mining area of PA and growing up in the post deep coal mining era there were remnants of the industry everywhere. One lasting remnant was the deep mine fires. One of the hills off at a distance from our school always had smoke rising from it. Deep inside that hill vanes of coal were burning underground. Days like today that were cloudy and soggy would produce the most smoke rising in the form of the combustion of the fires below and from the rising stream. Winter always had the most smoke rising. Our old school room windows were ceiling to nearly floor with the old pull shades. Teachers would always pull the shades when they felt the view outside was more riveting than the old chalk boards filled with facts and figures! On some days during science the teachers would actually talk about the coal fires deep underground. So we actually seen science in action from our classroom windows. That was pretty cool! Reflecting back on that old school on the hill yielded a lifetime of memories, both in friendships and learning. Here is a glimpse of the school on the hill. As a visual think of the school they used in 'The Christmas Story', its almost a copy of that school. K through 6th. Kindergarten was 1/2 day only. K -1 -2 were all on the first floor. 3rd grade was in two places one was in a room over the Gym, which the Gym and a few classroom wing were added after the school was built. 4 - 5 - 6 were all on the second floor along with the Principles office. One spare classroom on the second floor was our Art and Music room. In those days the Art & Music teacher would rotate between city schools. There was no fulltime Art or Music teacher at our school. No lunch room. You brought a lunch or being it was a community school you walked home to eat lunch. One auditorium in the basement where we did our Christmas plays. Which was ended when I was in the 4th grade as they took half of the auditorium to put in a library. Gym where we had indoor recess, May Fair fund raisers for the PTA. The Gym addition also had about four classrooms over it. An attic where the Christmas decoration and other holiday decorations were kept. A basement that was split between the auditorium, Fallout Shelter, and Mechanical room. One Janitor that took care of the entire school and the grounds. Playground that was entirely paved. Little patch of grass in front of the school. No play equipment what so ever for us to use. A fire burning pit. Used to burn the daily paper waste plus it made a great wall to clap the chalk erasers on after school. This was a penalty for talking in class, not paying attention, or daydreaming out the window while the teachers were teaching. For a small school that no longer is a school a lot of great people were educated there by some exceptional teachers. It was a simple school with exceptional results. Always makes me wonder how complex our schools and systems got that are moving us further from basic education and into social engineering experiments.... Quote of the day from Colin Powell: Too often we act - ask our schools to be truant officers, our teachers to be truant officers, because we're giving them children who have, you know, they're not ready to learn. And if they're not ready to learn by the third grade, they know they're behind. " Happy Tuesday and what was your childhood education like? Ask yourself, is your children and grandchildren getting the education you got? Get involved!

    Posted 05-15-2012 at 06:01 AM by dansdrive

14. Wednesday May 16, 2012 and its 68.2 mostly cloudy skies heading on up to a afternoon of thunderstorms as the temperature reaches up to 82 degrees. Bit of an unsettled weather pattern these past few days. Speaking of unsettled, that reminds me of the May days when I was finishing up college many years ago. I had an interview with a company that was a state away from my home. I went on the interview with my Dad and his friend. It was a nice May day and my interviews turned out be be very extensive, more than I was anticipating. With this one company I had five different interviews and the day lasted from 9am to 5pm. I was drained but the adrenalin kept me going. Coming from an area of little to no major industry to this company that seemed as big as our town was amazing. The day ended with a thank-you for coming in for the interview and they would get back to me. This was the first real interview I was ever on. I worked from Junior High through college as an electrician. Got my electrical license for our town when I was 16 and really thought that was gong to be my career. But I was lured to electronics so that is what I took in college. I really enjoyed both and still do. That part was not the unsettled part. The unsettling part was actually landing the job if I was so lucky and moving away from the only town I knew. I thought about that all the way home but than I thought there is no way I was going to work for this company I interviewed for. Well the next morning I got the call and job offer. They said the details were in the mail. Unsettled turned to a bit of terror. So several days past and I got the certified letter in the mail with the offer. Coins from the fountain of trevi I could not pass this offer up. My starting salary was more money than I had ever seen. In present value the salary was still above poverty. So my unsettle feelings went to euphoria and apprehension and down right terror. In that roller coaster time I came to the conclusion to take the job and have never looked back. I got to see the world with this job, I got to work on new products before they were announced and sold. I got to meet such amazing people. I still am amazed that it all came about as it did. Through hard word, some dumb luck, and praise to the one above I was able to have a product work-life while maintaining a family life. So being unsettled is not necessarily a bad thing, it sometimes is the best thing in ones life. Quote of the day from Rick Warren: "Pretentiousness repels but authenticity attracts, and vulnerability is the pathway to intimacy." Happy Wednesday and Rick nailed it.....where are you in regards to his quote? I for one am still working on it!

    Posted 05-16-2012 at 06:54 AM by dansdrive

15. Thursday May 17, 2012 and its a spectacular 63.6 degrees outside heading on up to a projected high of 82 degrees. The sky right before daybreak was...was....well.....spectacular! The few clouds were lite up in shades of orange, reds, and yellow hues. WOW! WOW! Let me write that again...WOW! I hope you got to see it. Then during the commute in this early morning the sun started its daily journey into the days sky to fill it with light, warmth, and perseverance. That yellow globe shined brightly in my rear view mirror. It was as I said earlier spectacular maybe a better word is sun-tastic if there was such a word. A day filled with sunshine is a day filled with hope, light, and energy! Hope that this day will be better than the last. Light to guide our day ahead. Energy to get everything done we need to get done before it sets. Oh, yea one other thing the sun helps illuminate is faith. The sun and faith have a lot in common, they both warmth the heart!!! Quote of the day by Mother Teresa: "We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls." Happy sunny Thursday! Mother Teresa knew a little something about touching souls...........<SMILES> are the sun of the human body, try yours out today!!!!! Song of the day from Maggie Reilly...enjoy: Maggie Reilly - " Follow The Midnight Sun " - YouTube

    Posted 05-17-2012 at 05:01 AM by dansdrive

16. Friday May 18, 2012 and its 60.0 degrees heading on up to 77 degrees. Just a beautiful mid spring day on tap. Being its a Friday only adds to the beauty of it. Days like today remind me of heading to a lake were we went to fish and just hang out. The lake was about 30 minutes from our house. The road that lead to the lake was a narrow winding two lane road that was about eight or nine miles. The neat thing about this road was it followed the path for the most part of a creek that flowed out of a strategic drinking water reservoir into the river that flowed through the valley basin where my hometown was located along with a lot of other towns that spotted the rivers shoreline. The creek is located between two hills and on each side of it there is not much space. Enough to pull off along the creek and enjoy the beauty of the area. On the lower end of where the road comes near the creek are larger pools where one usually found the fisherman with their hip waders on and fly poles looking for the variety of trout that called the stream home. Names like rainbow, brook, brown trout. Heading further up the road one hits some very narrow stretches where the creek is much lower than the roadway and the creek drops rapidly through some rapids. The other neat thing is the trees along the roadway cover the road like a canopy. So on hot summer days these area along the creek stays cool and in the shade with slivers of light shining in as the sun raises during the day light hours. As you continue your travels up the roadway you come to areas where the parking areas are larger and the stream is almost at the same level as the roadway. None of these pull offs were maintained they just over the years and constant use formed. These parking areas were used by the families that use to swim in the pools the creek would provide. They were used by the people that brought their cars to the creek to be washed and waxed. Some really nice cars use to visit there, classic that were from Hot Rods to pristine antiques. These parking areas dotted about a five mile stretch of the creek and on weekends were always busy. Sometimes it was groups of friends enjoying a day of swimming, friendship, a cook out or two, it was also frequented by the young at heart and age. Couples both young and old that just wanted to get away and enjoy the day listening to the babble of a creek and the sounds of their voices without the day to day interruptions life brings forth. These were the days before cell phones so truly one could spend time with each other in peace. It was also a place for young lovers to enjoy the time with each other and nature. I have not been back to this area in well over 25 years and somehow I bet this weekend ritual still carries on today unabated and hopefully will continue for a very long time. Quote of the day from Toni Morrison: " All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was." Happy Friday and enjoy your weekend no matter what you do or where you go.

    Posted 05-18-2012 at 06:27 AM by dansdrive Updated 05-18-2012 at 09:25 AM by dansdrive

17. Monday May 21, 2012 and its a cloudy 66.2 degrees outside heading on up to 81 degrees. Have you ever noticed how life is like a weather forecast? Take a day like today, chance of showers while a day in a life is all about chance. There are chance encounters, chance for a good day, chance for a bad day, chance for a easy day, chance for a hard day. Than there are the ones where you say, what are the chances of that happening? ...and it usually does.....or you say a million to one, a million to one! ....and it does. This past weekend was a nice quiet weekend. Our youngest arrived home from college in NY for the summer. Car filled with you name it, is was in it. My surprise came on Friday when he took the car for an oil change before the trip down. That oil change was over $470. The garage he took it to found a laundry list of things wrong with the car. Needless to say we only focused on the brakes and oil. Speaking of chance, I think if I went for the entire list of things they found wrong with the car, I would of got a plague dedicated to me on the garage wall stating, 'Customer with the largest bill'. Gee-gads! Saturday was spent filling up the food cabinets for the Son's arrival. Working outside cutting the grass. Burning up more brush from spring clean up. Bonfire burned most of the afternoon and well into the night after my Son got home and ate and ate, and did I say ate. Filling us in on life in New York and college in general. A many a stories abounded around that bonfire, some funny, some serious, and most were by chance I suppose. All in all I for one really liked the chance results we got this past weekend! Quote of the day from Thomas Jefferson: "Our greatest happiness does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed us, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation, and freedom in all just pursuits." Happy Monday and Thomas knew a little something about the virtues he stated.....are you reaping what you sowed?

    Posted 05-21-2012 at 05:25 AM by dansdrive

18. Tuesday May 22, 2012 and its 64.4 degrees outside heading on up to 84 degrees. Four seems to be the number in play today. Adding today's date together you get 4. Subtracting the numbers in today's high you get 4. Adding the first and last number in the year 2012 you get 4 and adding all the numbers in the year you get 5! Darn...Drat....I was so on a roll for creating 4's. So I'll high-5 the 5 I got '4' the '4' I created and call it a day! What a great day! Today's Bible verse says it all with few words, its from Thessalonians 4:9, "But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another". That one sentence can replace hours of Diversity and Tolerance training. It simply says love one another no matter who you are or they are. Imagine a world like that? I can and use to live in it growing up. Lived in a low to middle class neighborhood, rich in diversity and poor in ego. If a neighbor needed help they got it. Car stuck in the snow it was pushed out. Right on our street we had a house that kept their lawn like a golf coarse while their neighbor cut their lawn once or twice a season. Yet the neighbor that did not keep their house or lawn was the first one to head to the fire station after a big flood that hit our city and obtain fire hoses for the neighbors to use to wash down the mud from the streets, sidewalks, and driveways. Our neighborhood did not wait for help, they knew what needed to be done and did it. Neighbors helped neighbors clean up from the flood. It did not matter what color, ethnic background, or wealth you had, everyone was in the same boat sort of speak. It was a example of people helping people in need as people and not who they were other than our fellow man. It was not always that way. I can also remember times as kids we played in the street and guys would run by with hand guns chasing each other shooting. I can also remember some people having knife fights and fist fights. We played wiffle ball, tag, hide-n-go seek on the streets and in empty lots. As kids we were just glad to be playing with other kids, we cared less of who they were or where they came from and more of how fast they were and how far they can hit a ball. Sometimes we got yelled at for playing in the street or empty field while most times not. One another was a pretty important lesson I got growing up. Quote of the day from Og Mandino: "Do all things with love. " Happy Tuesday and are you dong all things with love? Truly?

    Posted 05-22-2012 at 06:40 AM by dansdrive

19. Wednesday May 23, 2012 and its a mostly cloudy 67.7 degrees outside drifting its cloudy way up to 82 degrees. Chance of afternoon thunder showers. Hard to believe its the middle of the week already. Yowsers! So little to do and so much time......wait in the words of Willy Wonka...reverse that! Speaking of reversals....that is exactly what I did one day hiking up a dirt road heading back to the car from a afternoon of fishing at one of our favorite lakes. The dirt road was an old logging road that was more for foot traffic than vehicle traffic. They did not have those all terrain vehicles back when I was a kid. <Drat> Any way, the hike was about a mile and a half through some thick forest. One could usually see deer, skunks, porcupines, and other critters along the way. Never seen a bear but they were known to frequent the area. Few people ever tracked into the lake this way but my Dad and uncles always thought the fishing was better on the dam end of the lake. I suppose they were right. I remember going with the Army/Navy surplus store and my Dad buying two Army surplus green backpacks. Of which I still have to this day and keep it in my boat. Keeps Dad near to what he loved to do and that was fish. Anyway, I remember coming up the road on a late summer evening after fishing and before it got to dark to see and walking and sweating. When I felt what I thought was a leave or something go across my neck. Did not think more of it until I felt it again and my cousin say, WOW you got this huge spider on your back. Well did not give it a second thought as my cousin always played games like that with me. Until I happen to glance down towards my right shoulder and seen this huge spider coming up over my shoulder. I almost did the on fire thing by, Stop, Drop, and Roll! But what I did do was Stop! Drop the backpack off my back, Reverse and RUN LIKE HADES!! Now mind you we did not have any poisonous spiders in PA that I was aware of but just the thought of that gargantuan eight legged beast crawling up my back was well....terrifying! My Dad, Uncle, and cousin laughed once they knew what in the world had happened. I picked up my backpack and shock it off and with all the dignity I could muster slipped it back on and continued the journey to the car. We never did see the spider as with the speed at which I ripped off the backpack and ran the spider may have ended up high in the near by tree!! For me it was a long quiet ride home that evening!!!! Quote of the day from William James: "The best use of life is spending it for something that outlasts it." Happy Wednesday and Williams words are pretty profound when you think about them now aren't they??

    Posted 05-23-2012 at 07:34 AM by dansdrive

20. Thursday May 24, 2012 and its a cloudy 66.5 degrees heading on up to 86 thunder storm-in degrees outside. Gracious me we had a hail storm in my neck of the woods yesterday afternoon. Had the shovel at the ready to clear the deck. Hail the size of peas, coal, grapes, and a few ping pong balls were battering the deck and my garden. UGH! Than the rains came and than it was over. Lots of small limbs and tree branches to clean up this weekend. This afternoon maybe a repeat performance. As they say when it hails it rains or something like that... Speaking the inverse of 'like that', this is my 600th posting. Rough calculations show I have been posting for over 2.5 years. One weekday at a time, one story at a time. Don't know how many words that was but the word count was not the important thing, the stories were the important part. Hopefully they brought a <SMILE>, a memory, a thought, or just a a-ha minute to you. My hope is that they made you think, made you act, and made you inquire about who some of the people were I quote each day. Hopefully they pushed you to read a Bible passage or two. Hopefully they sparked your faith in the one above who is clearly the light on our sometimes dark world. Hopefully they made you ask why aren't our schools like they were in the 1960's. Hopefully they made you reflect on what family life was like to a kid growing up in the 1960's and 1970's. Hopefully there were more <SMILES> than tears reading these post. My hope for this 600th post? That I can continue to write for as long as my memories of my past can take me. That I can bring some laughter into your day when it may not appear that it would be there. That I may present thoughtful, reflecting, stories for my generation that they can equate and look back on and <SMILE> because they had the same experiences. Of my generation, we may not have grown up as the greatest generation nor are we generation X, Y, or Z's, we are just beyond the baby boomer generation and post hip y and flower people. So what were we IMHO. We were the last generation of the kids from the greatest generation who parents knew the stories from their parents and first hand knowledge in some cases of living in through a depression, the tragedies and triumphs of WWII, generally we were a two parent of opposite sex couple raising three to five children. We witnessed the end of the milk man, five and dime stores, penny candy, corner stores, neighborhood schools we walked to, glass jugs, Black and white TV, TV reception with a roof top antenna that allowed one to get up to four channels of free TV on any given day. The playing of the National Anaheim at the end of the TV broadcasting day typically at 12:30AM. We grew up watching Bugs Bunny and The Flintstones. BAM! BAM!! We were the last generation that had our mothers home while we grew up to pick us up when we were down or hurt, to offer guidance and support when we screwed up before Dad got home and found out. YIKES! We saw the advent of canned soda, Tang the drink of astronauts. We seen the first and last Moon landing! WOW! We played outside till the streetlights came on with little to no fear of being abducted. We played schoolyard games like Hop-scotch with real heels from the local shoe plant. We carried our books to and from school as we did not have the luxury or curse of back-packs. We witnesses the end of the school day prayer and than a moment of silence. Pledge of allegiance was mandatory not optional. One stood and uttered every word including 'One nation under God'. So, if my 600 post helped my generation remember a little sometimes long forgotten facts of our generation I am happy. If my 600 posts gave some first hand insight into my generation that were not fortunate enough to grow up in my generation than I am happy. If the 600 post made you think, reflect, laugh, and shed a tear I am happy. So my 600th post will go into the history books as did 1, 50, 100, and 400 did. Just a group of words of one persons historical journey in this thing we call life...... Quote of the day from Billy Joel: "We didn't start the fire" Happy Thursday and I leave the words up to Bill Joel. I also will finish with wishing all a blessed day, and a question, Have to spoke to God lately? He is waiting..... Song of the day (repeat by fitting) Billy Joel - We Didn't Start The Fire (with lyrics) - YouTube

    Posted 05-24-2012 at 05:56 AM by dansdrive Updated 05-24-2012 at 06:21 AM by dansdrive

dansdrive

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