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!
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
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.
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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Monday October 4, 2010 and its 57.3 degrees out and only forecast-ed to rise another 10 degrees for the high. Its October, Boo-month! The month of candy, decorations, and costumes. The month the leaves fall and the costumes rise. Its the month to peak natures colors, the reds, oranges, yellows, and burnt umber, and all the shades in between. Certainly a month to hit the roads and see natures color show.
Speaking of hitting the road that is exactly where this weekend went. On the road and to Charlotte and the surrounding area. Made a stop at Ikea in Charlotte and WOW. That store is big and full of about every household item one can want. Good gracious its the Super Walmart of home furnishings and things! You get a map to walk around the two story store. It has complete rooms set up from the kitchen to dining room to bed rooms. It has a complete warehouse one can stroll and pick and chose what furnishing ones want. It has it all.
In fact when one walks through there it becomes evident that there is no economic distress, their is no recession or economic hardship, people were buying like they just heard that tomorrow was not coming. Was pretty much that way just north on I-85 at the Concord Mills Outlet's. So this weekend I believe I seen first hand that the recession is over. People are buying and things will continue to get better economically and that's a good thing for us and our nation. How long it will last is anyone's guess but for this past weekend in the shopping areas I visited I witnessed brisked spending on most anything that was for sale!
Quote of the day on Benjamin Franklin:
"He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money."
Happy Monday and may your day pass as brisk as the morning air and 'That's brisk baby!"
Posted 10-04-2010 at 05:33 AM by dansdrive
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Tuesday October 5, 2010 and its 46.9 degrees heading up to 66 degrees. It was nice and cool this morning. But my trek down to the park today on 540 was 'new' and 'different'. The 'new' was 'old' and the 'different' was 'lower'. Now to explain my antonyms ditty.
New - as in my ride
Old - as in my ride
Different - as in my ride
Lower - as in my ride.
Hmmm, well that was kinda of redundant...
Well for those that figured this out, great job! For those that have not......well I am now driving an older, different, lower to the road vehicle to the park each day. Retired the old vehicle to chores of hauling my boat to Falls Lake and hauling things back from Home Depot or Lowes or both for that matter. Hopefully this older new car to me will be as reliable as my older old car. As they say time will tell and tell will time and that one we all can be sure of!
So net:net, new old car came for a price, and the new old car without a car loan, priceless!
Quote of the day from Thomas Jefferson:
"Never spend your money before you have it. "
Happy Tuesday and Mr. Jefferson knew his finances!
Posted 10-05-2010 at 05:48 AM by dansdrive
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Wednesday October 6, 2010 and its 45.7 degrees out and as 'George and Weezie' did, its heading on up to 70 degrees! Not only on the 'East' side but the West, North, and South side!
Speaking of direction, lost, and won't ask anyone, I have found myself in those situations before. As a male I enjoy getting out the maps and following the little 'red', 'blue' and 'black' lines on a large sheet of neatly folded paper. Folded so nicely out of the package and folding it ever so gently and cautiously to its original size is like stuffing an elephant into a cigar box. Anyway, most times following those lines will typically get me to where I am going....and than they invented GPS! The be all to end all of being lost, found, lost, found....! Well I don't know about you but my GPS has a mind of its own and I believe it truly enjoys sparing with me! It sends me off on tangents and sometimes seems to maximize the distance between where I am and where I need to get to. GPS logic: the shortest distance between any two points is a circle! I can talk to it, yell at it, and even turn the volume down to a whisper...and as sometimes a 2 year old can be, it never seems to listens!
And than comes the realization of the show 'LOST' or more appropriately 'Lost in Space' and as the Robot told Will a many a times in a half hour weekly episode, 'Danger Will Robinson, Danger'... Well I'm not Will and I'm not in space but sometimes I am truly 'LOST'. But I never seem to concede to ask a stranger for directions. In fact as it has been so eloquently stated in a movie from yesteryear, "Frankly my GPS, I don't give a Damn". As long as I have a map or two, a GPS unit a.k.a (Greater Personal Satisfaction) system, at least as its known by the manufacturer I will eventually get somewhere.
I do find my way to a road or landmark I can navigate from and make my way to where I was going or back home again and all is right with the world again. When home I return my trusty old friend I love to hate, the GPS unit goes back in the deep dark cabinet drawer until the next great adventure!
Quote of the day from John F. Kennedy:
"Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction."
Happy Wednesday and once your over Wednesday's hump do you know what direction you are headed?Posted 10-06-2010 at 05:50 AM by dansdrive
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Thursday October 7, 2010 and its 52.4 degrees out doors mirandering up to a projected high of 80 degrees.
These are the type of falls days as a kid that meant jackets in the morning on the way to school and drug jackets, or tied jackets around ones waist on the way home from school and yes the occasional left the jacket in the coat room in school! But recesses at this time of the year were for tossing footballs around. These were the days we got to be Johnny U, Larry Csonka, Roger Staubach, Fran Tarkenton, and the list went on and on.
After school meant a quick bite to eat and out the door to play football. In the street, in an open field, or any other place we could play football! Played till it got dark which meant about 7PM. Than it was home again, fresh with the stats running through our minds about the touchdown passes we threw, caught, intercepted, almost caught, and on and on. Because the conversation would come up the next day in school among our friends who lived in different neighborhoods and basically did the same thing.
That was our late 1960's and early 1970's version of 'Social Networking'. Games were played with real balls and took sneakers and the ability to run and leap. Unlike today, we imaged being our sports hero's and actually went out and tried to play like them versus sitting in front of a screen and using an animated picture that looks like our hero's to play in 100% simulated games. How far we have come.
Oh yea after our games we got home to shower, homework, and catch some TV. Shows such as Bewitched, Odd Couple, Laugh-in (Holy Sweat!), Red skeleton, Munster's, Adams Family, Batman, don't forget Robin, and pretty much today's Nick at Night line up.
Life was surely simpler, maybe because we were to young to know the complexities of life or maybe because society back than let kids be kids. Maybe as a society we have to get back to letting kids be kids again and off the couches and into the fields to run and play real games and not imaginary software games......
Quote of the day from Bill Cosby:
"Even though your kids will consistently do the exact opposite of what you're telling them to do, you have to keep loving them just as much."
Happy Thursday and who will you be today? Be a kid again if only in your mind!Posted 10-07-2010 at 05:52 AM by dansdrive
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Friday October 8, 2010 and its 62.1 degrees heading up to a start of the weekend 77 degrees. Nice! Where did the week go? This week for me went by faster than a dollar bill in the Federal Budget!
Thank goodness we have memories as life passes so fast that its our way to reflect after the fact to cherish the moments we have. So here is my refection for the week. Monday purchased new 'older' car. Tuesday catch up on work missed on part of Monday. Wednesday, zippidy-doo-da by so fast I forgot what I did. Thursday earlier than normal trek down 540 to drop family member off at RDU and than into work. Prepare for meetings, answer phone calls, solve customer issues, think about changes to make business more productive in 2011, fit in lunch, walk 30 minutes to clear head and get blood flowing to start the afternoon. More calls, out going and incoming, another meeting or two planned and informal. Got to speak to and old colleague I had not spoke to in years about life in general. Turned off the office lights and hit the road back home. Listened to tunes on the radio, sung a few, off key but always right on in my mind within the confides of my new 'older' car. Friday, work from home day! Week done.
Ready for the weekend. Oh so ready for the weekend!
Quote of the day from Bruce Jenner:
" I learned that the only way you are going to get anywhere in life is to work hard at it. Whether you're a musician, a writer, an athlete or a businessman, there is no getting around it. If you do, you'll win -- if you don't you won't. "
Happy Friday and may today fill your memory banks with pleasantries to last a lifetime!Posted 10-08-2010 at 07:50 AM by dansdrive
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Monday October 11, 2010 and its 59.0 degrees outside sailing up to 88 degrees. Sailing was chosen with reason, its Columbus day. Not Colombo day, or it would be the day we would ask just one more question, no its Columbus day.
Author: Unknown.
in 1492.
In fourteen hundred ninety-two
Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
He had three ships and left from Spain;
He sailed through sunshine, wind and rain.
He sailed by night; he sailed by day;
He used the stars to find his way.
A compass also helped him know
How to find the way to go.
Ninety sailors were on board;
Some men worked while others snored.
Then the workers went to sleep;
And others watched the ocean deep.
Day after day they looked for land;
They dreamed of trees and rocks and sand.
October 12 their dream came true,
You never saw a happier crew!
"Indians! Indians!" Columbus cried;
His heart was filled with joyful pride.
But "India" the land was not;
It was the Bahamas, and it was hot.
The Arakawa natives were very nice;
They gave the sailors food and spice.
Columbus sailed on to find some gold
To bring back home, as he'd been told.
He made the trip again and again,
Trading gold to bring to Spain.
The first American? No, not quite.
But Columbus was brave, and he was bright.
Did he really know what he was discovering? Imagine setting out to cross a body of water that most thought he would fall off of at some point or get eaten up by sea creatures? How about the crew, was it voluntary or were they coursed to sail with him. 518 years ago we started our coarse to be the greatest nation on earth. Have we stated our coarse to lose that honor?
I don't know about that but I do know it was an absolutely beautiful weekend. Sunshine was abundant and the list of things to do around the house was made abundantly clear! So the only re-coarse was to start at the top of the list and one by one cross out the completed ones till the list was clear. It was a noble effort but I came up a bit long and left a few on the list for a weekend in the future to complete I suppose. As I'm sure Columbus's list was not quite finished after he discovered America.
Well its not remotely close to compare his finding America and me finding the paint brush and rollers. Him finding land to dock his boat while I found a ladder to climb up upon. But today is his day to revel his accomplishments and today is my day to revel I made it through another weekend, complete with a smile and the promise of a new day!
Quote of the day from Christopher Columbus:
"By prevailing over all obstacles and distractions, one may unfailingly arrive at his chosen goal or destination."
Happy Monday and whatever obstacles or distractions life throws at you look beyond them to achieve your goals and dreams!Posted 10-11-2010 at 05:37 AM by dansdrive
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Wednesday October 13, 2010 and its 65.5 cloudy degrees out raising to up to 75 degrees in spite of the clouds. Most days have been flowing by like morning drivers on Rt 540. But yesterday was truly a blur as I had a medical procedure that most of us get to go through when we hit a certain age. The good news is I don't remember a thing about it, the better news is I got the 'thumbs' up signal sort of speak on the results! So I got that going for me!
But today is Wednesday almost half way through October. This day in our American history was a very important one for one branch of our military. This day in 1775 the Continental Congress authorized construction of a naval fleet. Once built we were able to defend our shores from the sea not only the land. What an important decision that was by our Congress! Could they have known what that early Navy would have grown into? From wooden wind powered vessels to Nuclear powered aircraft carriers. In only 235 years no less!
Quote of the day from President George Washington:
"It follows than as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, and with it, everything honorable and glorious."
Happy Wednesday and may your day 'sail' into the depths of your hearts!Posted 10-13-2010 at 05:43 AM by dansdrive
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Thursday October 14, 2010 and its 62.9 raining degrees out heading up to a scattered 73 degrees today. Scattered as in thunderstorms and the way I got into the office this morning.
The ride in was cool watching the southern sky light up like God was using a flash cube to snap a few pictures of his children! I was passed by 22 vehicles this morning and about 15 were pickup trucks or SUV's. 'Got Speed-limits?'. Racing to beat the weather I suppose. But just as I hit Rt 40 the skies had opened up. I was right in the middle of, 'Rain, heavy at times' and hitting my windshield. Pulled into the parking lot and a sudden panic had come over me. The panic was caused by me remembering my umbrella was nice packed away in my truck and it was raining like Washington spends money, heavy and without regard!
So I waited a few minutes in my vee-hicle and the lightning was gaining in frequency and furry and the thunder was rolling like the time I was dared as a kid to go down a steep hill on my bike. That day my friends I made it to the bottom before my bike! Back to the rain and my trunk umbrella. Where is the trunk money when you need one...
I had a choice, sit in my vee-hicle or get to my truck and obtain my umbrella. After a short internal debate, you know the ones, where Fred Flintstone talks to Kazoo, I decide to go for it. Make the dash! So I flipped open the truck from the inside of my dry vee-hicles opened the drivers side door and darted out like my lab after a ball. I made it to the trunk, got out the umbrella, managed to have the truck lid come down and hit me in the back of the head as I desperately tried to open the umbrella. It was as if the umbrella was a foreign object I have seen before in my life time, I could not find the button to open the umbrella. Where is it, what is it made of, do I push it or pull it, do I shake it.....the button! the button! But, alas after I got a few hundred rain drops on my body I hit the button and it opened and I proceed to grab my laptop bag, my lunch bag, and all the dignity I could muster and made the track into the building. Happy wet Thursday in deed!
Life is full of obstacles, some are more challenging than others and some are just plain old fun! Today had one that was fun as I say never miss the opportunity to run in the rain.....
Quote of the day from Thomas Jefferson in 1813:
"An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow citizens....There has never been a moment of my life in which I should have relinquished for it the enjoyments of my family, my farm, my friends & books. "
Happy Thursday and President Jefferson was a man of great intellect and so loved this country we call home.Posted 10-14-2010 at 05:16 AM by dansdrive
Updated 10-14-2010 at 05:28 AM by dansdrive -
Friday, October 15, 2010 and its 53.6 degrees out heading up to 71 degrees. The first full weekend of the NC State Fair. Fan-FAIR-tastic! Can't wait for the food, oh the food! The few times of the year I do not care what I eat because it is all so so good. I will pass on the Krispy Kreme burger. I am more of a 'serial' eater, food first, than dessert second. The parallel eating was left in the dust of my college years.....
But we are in the full swing of fall and that brings back many memories growing up and helping out canning fruits and vegetables. We had a pear and peach tree in our yard and our neighbor one one side had a apricot tree and the neighbor on the other side had a grape vine. Our family garden was filled with about 2 dozen tomato plants and about 6 zucchini plants and green pepper plants, lettuce, carrots, radishes, and egg plant. In the fall we would spend a Saturday or two in canning tomato's, peaches, and pears. Green beans too! My Mom use to have large pots going on our stove in the basement boiling the tomatos getting them ready to be canned. We had a big grinder we use to put them through to get the skins off them and into the mason jars. Than I remember dad hooking up a electric motor to the handle so we did not have to crank the grinder by hand anymore. Him and my Grandfather were always coming up with ideas to make things easier! Must be where I got my creativity from. Thanks Dad and Nono! Grand dad in Italian is Nono!
At the end of fall our shelves were filled with mason jars and it carried our family through the winter. No preservatives, no cans, just jars, lots of jars!
Now we have come so far that we have no canned jars on our pantry shelves. We rely 100% in the grocery store......so how far have we really come?
Quote of the day from John Adams in 1775:
"But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever."
Happy Friday and if your going to the fair don't just fairly go to the fair, experience the fair and have a wonderful weekend.Posted 10-15-2010 at 08:33 AM by dansdrive
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Monday October 18, 2010 and its 50.4 degrees out sliding on up to 79 degrees. It was a tale of two weekends. Saturday was absolutely beautiful and got a lot of yard work done. Wanted to hit the fair this weekend but ran out of time. The mood of the weekend changed for the worse on Sunday. After morning mass we found out a friend of ours lost their child to a car accident. Absolutely devastating news for any parent.
I will leave it at that for today's post.
Quote of the day from Voltaire:
"Tears are the silent language of grief."Posted 10-18-2010 at 05:00 AM by dansdrive
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Wednesday October 20, 2010 and its 59.4 dark degrees out turning as bright as 66 degrees today! Even some liquid sunshine in the forecast for today. So we got that going for us.
No post yesterday as I spent most of it at the local Food Bank helping out. A lot can be learned at a Food Bank.
1. They do not have nearly enough food for what they need.
2. They do the best they can with what they have.
3. There provide more programs than I would have guessed.
4. They don't turn people away that are looking for something to eat.
5. Your donations of food do help.
If you get the opportunity to help out at one of these Food Banks its worth the 'investment', also at this bank they always take 'deposits' and the dividends those deposits make are 'priceless'.
Quote of the day from Walt Whitman:
"When I give I give myself."
Happy Wednesday and if you give from your heart your mind will never grow restless!Posted 10-20-2010 at 05:32 AM by dansdrive
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Thursday October 21, 2010 and its 52.2 degrees out heading up to 78 sun shining degrees. Even a weather alert this am for dense fog!
Speaking of dense fog, some of the worse fog I ever witnessed was in Boulder Colorado. I was out there on a business trip and awoke to thick fog. Than as the sun came up and illuminated the fog it became absolutely impossible to see while driving. In fact there was many accidents that day. So fog is bad enough but when its lite up with sunshine it becomes impossible to see.
Also, reminds me when I was in grade school and our school set on top of a hill. There were days when the fog was heavy and would be below the school in the valley that surrounded the school. To us kids it looked like we were above the clouds. It would only happen one or two days a year which made it even cooler when it happened. I remember the teacher talking about it and explaining why it happened. So some real life learning went on those days not just what was in the text books.
Quote of the day from Thomas Jefferson:
[SIZE=2]"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Already they have raised up a moneyed aristocracy that has set the government at defiance. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs."[/SIZE]
Happy Thursday and Mr. Jefferson certainly seen the future through his 17th century eyes!Posted 10-21-2010 at 07:34 AM by dansdrive
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Friday, October 22, 2010 and its a moon lite 49.7 degrees as the moon sets and the sun rises to a high in the sky of 66 degrees down here on the earth.
Speaking of the moon. It is fantastic out there, hope you got to see it. Bright, full. and large! It acted as a beacon this AM, guiding my journey into the park. One of the rare Fridays that finds me working from the office. Traffic was light but the moon light was bright!
TGIF! Thank Goodness Its Fresh! Naw that's not it, that's what the Fruit of the Loom guys say!
TGIF! Thanks Goodness Its Fried! Naw, that's what Bubba says at the NC State Fair.
TGIF! That's Good In Fondue! Naw, that's fried too!
TGIF! Thank Goodness its Friday! Wonder-ba! Magnifico! Primo! ...and all the other language words for awesome!
Take time this weekend to see the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars! Cast your gaze upon the heavens for its spender and beauty and reflect on all that you have on earth that eventually transcends back into the heavens!
Quote of the day by Walt Whitman:
" After you have exhausted what there is in business, politics, conviviality, and so on - have found that none of these finally satisfy, or permanently wear - what remains? Nature remains."
Happy Friday and Walt sums it up best on this October 22 of 2010.Posted 10-22-2010 at 05:05 AM by dansdrive
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Monday October 25, 2010 and its 60.4 degrees outside raising up to a nice 77 degrees. Nice is the operative word for today that explained the weekend weather and other weekend things!
Nice that I got a project done that I have been wanting to do for sometime now. Nice is the way it turned out. Nice because it meant I spent a whole lot of time outside in my backyard to accomplish it. Nice that it was a family event that took us working together to get 'er done! Not so nice is the fact that I am pretty sore today because of it!
What may that project be.....we so needed a concrete pad at the bottom of our deck steps. So the quest to accomplish that was under taken this weekend. It meant mixing up 16 - 80 pound bags of concrete mix. One bag at a time! By the way, the handy dandy concrete mix bag online calculator does work! I had just the right amount of 80 pound bags to accomplish my just add water and mix desires!
This simple pad lead into moving about 1.5 cubic yards of dirt to contour the area for the new 5 foot by 6.5 foot pad. Saturday was the concrete piece and Sunday was the contour piece. By Saturday evening the concrete was mixed and in its form, it was leveled and shake-in to get that nice concrete consistency. It was brushed with a large broom to get the lines ever so nice. And than as I reached into my finishing tool box I found I could not find my concrete edger tool. Oh my trowel with the beveled edge! Where could it be, its one of those tools one uses every 20 years and mine was gone, all gone!
So, dirty as someone that has been working with dirt and concrete for 8 hours I hopped into my car and headed to Home of the Depot for a new tool. By this time I was tired and just wanted to get done with this simple DIY project. But than as I was traveling to Home of the Depot I had a A-Ha moment......
Just as I came up over a rise heading west of 98 I seen a G-I-A-N-T Full Moon rising over the horizon directly in front of me. It was fantastic, it was huge, big even and just put everything into perspective for me. For that moment the concrete drying, being tired and just wanted to get done and showered didn't matter anymore. They were all distant memories, I was taken in by the splendor awesome beauty on nature. That my friends was my A-ha moment of the weekend.
Back to day two and moving dirt around and getting the project completed. Once the dirt was all contoured and the seed was planted and hay added over the seeds it was time to shower, eat, catch up on the foot ball scores and relax.
The relaxation came by all of us sitting around the backyard campfire, discussing the weekends accomplishments and comparing bruises. We had some light moments in the heavy workload of the weekend. My Son had his first adventure of steering a filled wheel barrel. That tended to steer him more than he steered it. The cord to my electric roto-tiller got tilled into it, round and round it went till it stopped. All in the matter of 2 seconds! Cost of the project $87, cost of spending the weekend with the family on a project: Priceless!
Quote of the day from Walt Disney:
"A man should never neglect his family for business. "
Happy Monday and 'got concrete?'
Oh yea....anyone looking for several advance tickets for this years NC State Fair? I have them cheap too!Posted 10-25-2010 at 05:17 AM by dansdrive
Updated 10-25-2010 at 09:19 AM by dansdrive -
October 26, 2010 and its a soggy 67.6 degrees outside raining up to 82 degrees.
This is an important date in my old home states history. On this day in 1682, William Penn accepted land around the Delaware river from the Duke of York. William Penn was a champion of Liberty not only in the new world but started in the old world Europe prior to his journey to America. If you get the chance read about Williams Penn and the many contributions he made to America. Certainly he was a foundation stone to the liberties our founding fathers built a country upon.
As he forged what is now known as Pennsylvania he did it by negotiating with the American Indian tribes that inhabited the area and did not take land away from them by force. Novel idea even for the 1600's!
Quote of the day from Williams Penn:
" He that does good for good's sake seeks neither paradise nor reward, but he is sure of both in the end."
Happy Tuesday and William was on to something for sure!Posted 10-26-2010 at 09:53 AM by dansdrive
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Wednesday October 27, 2010 and its 74.6 degrees out heading up to 85 degrees? Is this the end of October, man? Good gracious I'll take it!
I came across a song the other day that I had not heard in years and it lyrics caught my gaze. So much so that I had to hear the song several times because:
1. They don't make music like this anymore.
2. The words are so fitting to lift ones spirits!
So here are these uplifting lyrics from the Rascals!
t's a beautiful mornin', Ahhh,
I think I'll go outside a while,
An jus' smile.
Just take in some clean fresh air, boy!
Ain't no sense in stayin' inside
If the weather's fine an' you got the time.
It's your chance to wake up and plan another brand new day.
Either way,
It's a beautiful mornin', Ahhh,
Each bird keeps singin' his own song.
So long!
I've got to be on my way, now.
Ain't no fun just hangin' around,
I've got to cover ground, you couldn't keep me down.
It just ain't no good if the sun shines
When you're still inside,
Shouldn't hide, still inside, shouldn't hide,
Ahhhh..Oh! (shouldn't hide) Ah, ah, Oh.....
(Do, do, Waaa) (Do, do, Waaa)
There will be children with robins and flowers;
Sunshine caresses each new waking hour.
Seems to me that the people keep seeing
More and more each day, gotta say, lead the way,
It's okay, wednesday, thursday, it's okay,
(Ahhh) monday, wednesday, friday, weekday, Ah, Ah, Ohhh.
(Do, do, Waaa)
Ah, Ah, Oh, Oh, (Do, Do - Aaaa)
Wooooo oo oo oh, oh, oh, Ah wo, do, waa
Ohhhhhhh.....Oh, Oh, Oh, .....[/SIZE]
So if have the time today find a copy of this song, (hint its on YouTube), turn up the volume and just kick back and listen and enjoy!
Quote of the day from, 'The Rascals' :
An jus' smile."
Happy Wednesday and I can't say iy any better than the above song says it, "jus smile'. Have a Fabo-tastically-smilin-day!
P.S. Song 2 to check out is by the Association, 'Cherish'. Where has this music gone?
Posted 10-27-2010 at 05:02 AM by dansdrive
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October 28, 2010 at 72.2 degrees edging up to 79 degrees. And that's alright with me!
Halloween (Boo!) is just around the corner! Reminds me of the days when people actually asked for the trick before the treat. Our old neighborhood growing up had a lot of kids all vying for the same homes. We knew who gave the best candy and especially the ones that gave money! A quarter to us back than was like a dollar to a kid today. The only problem was the homes that gave the best stuff made us do the most. Some back than asked us to actually sing and/or dance! YIKES!
But I remember most the Halloween parties at school, we use to have to dress up in our costumes and we had to parade around the community our grade school was in. Than we headed back to the classroom for our classroom parties. Back than the costumes were Batman, Superman, Hobo's, Cinderella, ghost, and a few we never really figured out what they were, so they were simply the 'Goblins'.
We would canvass the neighborhood and never had to worry about being abducted, or poisoned, or any other items kids and parents have to worry about today. So sad.
As we grew out of trick-N-treating we became more into mischief night. We had the standard gags, mostly soaping car windows, we didn't have the money to buy eggs or toilet paper to toss around. We did not smash pumpkins either wasn't our MO. But it did not curtail the amount of fun we had, we had an absolute blast around the days leading up to Halloween and Halloween night itself.
We use to have an old abandoned city park in our neighborhood that was on the side of a hill and was all overgrown with trees and high grass. It was crisscrossed with walking paths and concrete stairways. This was the perfect time to dare one another to walk through the park or in most cases RUN LIKE HELL-O, through the park as fast as we could. There was always stories that circulated around why the park went abandoned, and as years past and we grew older we learned that the storied were just that, folk lore. But to a pre-teen and teenager they were as real as the Headless Horseman story!
I can't remember a single instance where I was more scared than another time walking through the park on Halloween night but it was a real rush to get through the park and come out the other side where our friends were waiting.........Boo!
Quote of the day from Edgar Allen Poe:
"Deep into the darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before."
Happy Thursday and Edgar pretty much summed up what we thought peering into the dark park on those Halloween nights........Boo!Posted 10-28-2010 at 07:47 AM by dansdrive
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Friday October 29, 2010 and its 48.7 degrees out the window awaiting that sunshine to get it up to 64 degrees. What a difference a day makes. But its Friday, TGIF, end of the traditional workweek, the close of business today. Nice!
We move a day closer to Halloween! Load up the candy dishes as the candy left over makes great 'snacks' for the kids in all of us.
Quote of the day from John Quincy Adams:
"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost."
Happy Friday and don't forget to vote, early or the day of but just VOTE your children and their children are depending on it!Posted 10-29-2010 at 06:50 AM by dansdrive
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Monday November 1, 2010 and its 49.3 degrees out heading up to 63 sunny degrees. Where has the weekend gone? It went faster than the cars that whizzed past me this morning on my commute into the park. For me it also went in a variety of ways.
It went with concrete slab #2, albeit smaller than the first concrete slab but still a slab. It went in a new fire pit we built in our backyard. I tailored the design from one I remember as a kid in a grove my family use to go to for family picnic's. Where fires in them burned hot, large pots where placed on top of iron sheets that set on top of the fire pits, the pots filled with water so the pasta could be boiled up and the sauce could be heated. Occasionally there would be barbecue meat but mostly the meat was in the sauce which was generally hamburg meat and pork chops.
Now I have a fire pit in the backyard, just have to get a top for it of either grates or a steel plate. With these cool fall nights upon us nothing will taste better than fresh popped corn on the open wood fire.
On a sadder note, no trick or treat'ers came last night, not one notta. Not a gremlin nor a gangster, not a batman nor superman, not an Princess nor a knight! Not a Jersey shore costume nor an Elvira one! It was like Charlie Brown and the great pumpkin patch! Good grief!
But was a good time none the less. Now we flip the calendar to the month of November which starts with a vote and ends with Thanksgiving for one and all. In between are moments worth catching and cherishing for the rest of our life! Catch a memory its worth the time!
Quote of the day from Saint Augustine:
“What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.”
Happy Monday and Happy November, which Saint do you remember today? Who Dat? Who Dat? Saint?Posted 11-01-2010 at 04:56 AM by dansdrive
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Tuesday November 2, 2010 and its 43 degrees and the polled forecasters says the ballet for today's high will be 59 degrees. Which means the majority of us will be chilly, chilly, chilly.
But today is a great day, a day we get to exercise our right to vote for who we want to vote for. Its a day that comes once a year where we the people get to pick our representatives, its a day our forefathers dreamed about and fought for. Its a day that preserves our freedom and rights as a people. What we make of it is up to each of us.
My vote goes for a better tomorrow. One where competition drives smarter results in our schools, our places of work and our governments. Where we are all accountable for our actions and our results. Where honesty and integrity trumps quick fixes and eloquent speeches. So yes I voted early and am looking forward to a better tomorrow!
Quote of the day from Benjamin Franklin:
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!"
Happy Tuesday and get out the vote!Posted 11-02-2010 at 06:51 AM by dansdrive
