MikesThoughts

Has it really been three years since I last posted? I feel like life really does fly bye. Am I really turning 60 years old next month. In some ways a very short time and in others a very long time. I am facing the idea of retirement. So many questions and such a big decision. The idea of going where I want and living life on my time table instead of the time table of a full time job is appealing. But I really hate not having enough money to take care of me and my daughter and grand-kids. So I have to make hard decisions. The job is a great job that I work at. That makes the decision even harder. Well, I must take some time alone and do some serious soul searching and financial planning. I also have been feeling very lonely for female companionship lately. Most of the time it really does not bother me as I am very busy with life and responsibilities. But then I slow down and realize that something is missing. It is a combination of a lot of emotions, feeling

Feeling the need to write again. Each time I slow down a bit in my incredibly busy life I want to reflect and take a breath. I have been reading Joe Mcnally's blog and thinking not only is this man a killer photographer but also a master writer. "I am not worthy, master!" I am in the land of pink houses and palm trees this week. Just returned from the airport where I took my good friend to catch a flight back to reality. Back at the apartment the grand-kids are sound asleep in there little beds. There is something so comforting just feeling there presents and knowing all is well with them. I so enjoy my time with them but must admit that it is self inflicted pain as I know I will once again have to leave them and return home. I want to get out and take some pictures today. Should be a perfect day for it. Nothing real important on the agenda for the day. Vanessa is growing up so fast and quickly moving from the little giggly kid that I helped raise to a wonderful

So much going on in my life do not know where to start. I have come to the realization that life is full of stages. As much as we resist we change. Things that were so important to us become a past chapter in our life. We turn the page and start moving through the next chapter without giving the past chapters a second thought. At my age I realize that health is high on my list. Every day that you are not sick or something does not hurt that is a great day. Remember when you could not wait to go to the amusement park and now when you go you can not wait to leave. That is what I mean about change. Music is another good example of change. When I was young I enjoyed heavy rock. Loud hard driven music. Then country and folk rock. And then came jazz and then enjoyment of the talents and mixes. So now I am starting to learn about Alternative music. Not sure what that means but I know it is part of change. I also find myself starting to think a lot about the past. My life and w

Vanessa and Papaw Big Adventure (New York and Washington DC) Vanessa, still asleep and it is 10:00am but I am going to let her sleep in. We arrived in Washington DC last night on Amtrack about 9:00pm and took the metro from the train station over to Alexandra VA. We took the (Blue Line), not the Red line but it could have just as easily been us in the big commuter crash in Washington. Life is timing. But when we got into the station in Alexandria it was about 10:30pm. We called the hotel and the desk clerk said the driver is off at 10:00. I ask how far it was to the hotel and he said just a couple of blocks. So we set off walking. But totally lost. No problem right? I have my handy dandy new GPS. So I pull it out and the battery is completely dead. It is dark, we are tired and totally lost. So we see a tow truck driver dropping off a car and I ask him where the hotel is. His answer was the same as the desk clerk, it is at the top of the hill. He also added that we should

Sometimes things go as expected but if they do not then things get really interesting. My new friend and great photographer Mark Velasquez visited with me on his tour of America. This was set up months ago and I was so surprised and pleased that he decided to take me up on my offer to visit me in West Virginia. One of our stops was to my cabin in Canaan Valley. The shot above was one of our photo ops where we were taking pictures of the great views from Dolly Sods. The area is about 4000 feet above sea level and I had just a few days earlier purchased a portable GPS. The real purpose was to take it with me on my upcoming trip to New York and Washington DC. Since I was going to be walking around quite a bit I wanted a GPS to keep from getting lost. Well, Mark had climbed out on the rocks to get a shot of the mountains below. I had in mind that I wanted to try to capture a panorama shot so I also thew safety to the wend and made my way across treacherous rocks to the summat where Mark

Local Muti-screen theaters bites the dust. Many years ago I went on a regular basis to Carmike Cinema Theaters at the Huntington Mall in Barboursville West Virginia. Since I lived close by it was just the thing to do. But I always missed the old theaters down town. There was something about the charm and the smells and it just seemed more like a movie theater to me. Also maybe because I use to live in the west end of Huntington West Virginia and would walk the railroad tracks to town to go to the movies on Saturdays. But Carmike Movie Theaters started changing. The cost of treats at the snack bar started to go out of sight. So high that you would rarely find anyone in the snack bar area before the movies. Then they did something that caused me to boycott them forever. They started showing commercials. Not previews or the short promotion for there snack bar but full national commercials for clothing and cars and such. And not just one or two but 30 minutes of them. If the mov

So Lets Do the Movie Numbers.... Warning, this is another one of my rants so read on if you dare. Tonight I took the very rare opportunity to take in a movie. I say rare since over the past year family obligations have left little time for such activities. But I was in the mood and decided to go see Will Smith in "I am Legend" First let me say that the movie was not bad and the effects were nice but it just seemed to me that I have seen this story before. Come on does someone remember the movie where a scientist crashes in a helicopter and injects himself with an antivirus. Then he holds up in a fortified house in New York. I also seem to think those zombies only came out at night. I just keep saying -- I have seen this story before. OK, so that is enough of the movie review. Let me get back to the rant while it is still fresh in my mind. The movie had just come out and it was Saturday Night in Huntington West Virginia. So where do you expect everyone to be. At the

Christmas Looms around the corner like a dark dragon. Its that special season again were everything seems to hit a once. It is no wonder that the suicide rate is the highest during the Christmas Season. It is the time of the year when the Cold and Flu Virus are at there peak. When the sun has reached it soltrus and is the lowest on the horizon and you come to work and drive home in the dark. At this time of year you start to notice that all the green has disappeared from the hills and have been replaced with drab colors of brown. The sky turns a slate gray and it either rains or snows almost every day. The times when it is sunny the temperature drops to bone chilling cold. Also with everyone going more places that usual and this combined with weather related road hazards the accident rates climb to new heights. And the reality of the season is we spend money we do not have on gifts that are forgotten two days after Christmas. With all the time and effort putting up

Christmas Photo Club Banquet Last night was a big night for me. I was officially sworn in as President of the Ohio Valley Camera Club. This is a real honor since this coming year the club turns 50 years old. The banquet went over great with the membership and was held at Twin Silos Golf Club. The dinner was Prime Rib, Vegetable Melody, Corn, Baked Potato, Assorted Deserts, and Tea and Coffee . The cost to the membership was only 23.00 per member. Since it went so well the membership requested that next years banquet be held at the same place. Since I was putting the event together one of my tasks was to write and to give the prayer before the dinner. I wanted to write something that was photography related and I wanted to try to keep the prayer seasonal. So here is what I came up with. Photo Club Banquet Prayer Dear Heavenly Father we would like to thank you for this wonderful evening and would also like to thank you for beauty in this world that you have created for use to enjoy a

Women - Trying to figure them out. You would think at my age I would have figured out something about why the opposite sex act and do what they do. So here are some generalized observations for consideration. Most women that are on On-Line dating all say the same thing. "I am looking for a man who would be good to me, treat me like a lady, and be faithful and a loving partner." They all go on to say "I enjoy taking long walks, travel, setting at home curled up with my man and a good movie" OK girls does that sound familiar? Well it should if you ever looked at the on line dating profiles. So if that is true then how come women seem to go out with, fall for and hook up with men who are jerks, have tattoos, and could care less about there partner after the score. Women continue to say, "I am not looking for a one night stand and I am not interested in players. I want someone who is truthful and honest" My answer to this is hogwash. What I find is women

Life's a journey... It has been over a year since my last post and I have felt compelled to start posting some of my thoughts again. In some ways this is good therapy. This post is an attempt to catch up on my life's events over the past year and to try to assure myself that my decisions to take a path makes some since. There is three large events that have influence, molded, and changed my life in the past year that stand out. The first and largest event is making the decision to help my daughter move to Florida and to find her way in life. April and her two daughters have lived with me for the biggest part of the past five years. Prior to my divorce she lived with Sharon (my now X wife) and me. At that time she just had Vanessa (who is now 10 years old). During the time April, Sharon, Vanessa, and myself was living under one roof it was turbulent times. Sharon and April never got along. There is a long history behind that but I will hold that story for another post.

Still Stuck on this planet. Rescue ship not due for another six months. Ok, it has been a very long time since I updated my blog and so much has happened I do not know were to start. First the new house is almost complete and I am living in it. It has been a tremendous amount of work. I can see why building your one home can cause marriages to break up, people to go bankrupt, and others find tall buildings to jump from. But I went into the project knowing and expecting all of this. The funny thing is when you expect the worse it never seems to be all that bad. But would I do it again? Not on your life. It was a great journey but now that I am at the end I have no interest in starting that trip again. Rekindled Interest!!! Many years ago I was a professional photographer. Or at least I made my living with a camera, selling the illusions. And people did pay me for my photography and my vision. So I guess that made me a professional. At some point I decided that there was just not suffici

Return to Wonderland I have been away for a while and to my loyal Blogger community I say, "Sorry". Here it is almost Christmas time again. The time of year that we spend to much money because we feel pressured into it by the capitalistic society that we live in. The commericals show us that in order to express our true feeling of love for someone we have to spend insane amounts of money purchasing there product. So this year my goal is not to be a scrooge. I am throwing Mikes first annual Christmas party. A time of drink, food and celibration. A time of fellowship and interaction. A time where love can be shown in the giving of ones time. And I hope one of fond memories. I plan to take pictures and then post them next year. And to create a scrap book of Mikes Christmas Parties. I promise to BLOG about this after the big event on Thursday, December 16th from 6:00-10:00pm at Country Club Appartments Community Room. Open invitation to my local bloggers. Its also hard to be

LIFE IN WONDERLAND Some may speculate why I refer to my little part of Planet Earth as Wonderland. The reference it to Alice in Wonderland and how she was amazed by the insanity of what occurred there. In many ways I feel the same way. In my busy life I take times to reflect on what is happening to our world and what is going on around me. My blog is my literary release on my observations for the world to read if they care to. My most recent observations maybe considered ramblings of an old man. I think of my father what I make such observations, as I was always intrigued at all he found wrong in the world. This is not to say that I am unhappy in any way with life, just it is amazing what society and people in general put up with. And without any resistance. I refer to most people as sheep. You can lead them to their death and even if they knew of the impending demise they would simply follow along with the group. So here are some of my recent observations that fall into this c

Moring Time In Wonderland. I just love Sunday Mornings after getting a full eight hours of sleep and starting out slow. A full day of shopping and cleaning the appartment awaits me. Well I have discovered a wonderful place in Wonderland where others come to meet and it does not require alcohol. My new hangout is Starbucks and my drink is Tazo Chi Tea Latte with low fat milk and two Spendas, and a sugar free brownie on the side. This plus some wonderful conversations with others from Wonderland and the formula make for a great retreat. It kind of feels like Cheers and I have my big easy chair that is awaiting me there. I had my first problem that had to be corrected on the new home project . The block layers or masons as they call themselves could not read a set of plans and laid up a wall four inches off. Luckily the wall was only about six feet long and two blocks high so it only took about an hour to break it down and clean up the mess. But it was enough o

Still Alive in Wonderland! Will I made it through the operation and survived to tell the tale. Here is what happened. Well I made it to the other side of the surgery. All and all, for me it was not as bad as I had expected. Others who had it done the same day were not as lucky but all of them are doing ok now. Here is what happened. 7:00am I arrived at the hospital at 7:00am with my sister and my brother. I was a basket case of nerves at that time but trying to stay up-beat. I had to have some more blood work done so off I went to the lab. After the vampire took some of my blood I was off to pre-op where they put me in a designer gown. I think it was designed by Dr. Seemore Buts. lol. Well then they came in and started an IV and my friend and pastor showed up. We had a nice brief meeting and a prayer and then my sister and brother came in to say good-bye. GOOD-BYE - goodness sakes, Alice where is the exit!!!!. At this point I was being wheeled down the hall with the lights p

How to build a home in the monsoon season. Well it has been raining now for almost 2 weeks and more rain in the forecast. I would not normally care but I have footers to poor concrete into and that just does not work in the rain. I am hoping that this Friday is the big day. After the footers are pored then the work can really begin. The masons (Block Layers) and Framers are waiting in the wings to start and I still have a big mud hole for a construction site. I am also getting very close to the big surgery day. The 22nd of this month and I go under the knife for the first time in my life. Gastro-redux-bypass surgery. A life time of being big and now it is time to see what it is like to be small, or at least significantly smaller. Well, now that I am set back up on my web page from home I can get back into Blogging more.

I have survived. I am back and so much as changed since my last post I do not know where to start. I sold the house in Hurricane and moved to an apartment. I have approval on a loan to start building my new retirement home. I am moving the last things out of the workshop to my brother’s new garage this weekend. God willing and the creek do not rise. My X has moved away to New Orleans where she can freely party and live with another guy. Life is strange and I just at times cannot figure it out. The president continues to mystify me as to how he can make the decisions he makes and thinks that the country will still vote him back in. Just how does eliminating the overtime pay for 8 million Americans make you more likely to get re-elected? But his approval rating is staying around 58 percent. Just cannot figure out what these conservatives see in him. I think that it is the ostrich syndrome; keep your head berried in the sand and everything will be fine. Well it’s late a

Its the weekend. weeeee! Well its time for another weekend of projects. But the up side is one day of sleeping in. Lots on the table for this weekend. Hardwood floors to complete in the dining room, windows to install, and finish the walls in the bed room. Also, start work on building the new bed room furniture. No way that it will all be done but here is for trying. But Church on Sunday and maybe I will try to take in a movie. The Matrix #3 starts on Sunday. Wish I had someone to go with me but who knows. The first week of the 2000 roll out went better than expected. No real big problems so we hope that next week will go as well. I have to start brushing up on my Visual Basic because projects are starting to appear on the horizon. Well, off I go out into the sun and un-filtered air.

The countdown begins. A visit to my attorney to find out that the deposition of my wife is on November 10th and the divorce trial is November 14th. It now appears that I only have 15 days of marriage left. The end of 32 years of trying to hold it together and placing her on a pedestal. 32 years of trust that was shattered with my discovery of the emails and affairs. 32 years of us and we, now soon to be me. I am mortified of being left single the rest of my life. Everyone keeps telling me that I will get over it and things will be better. What they do not realize is that this was my life and I am not ready to change. But they say there is a fine line between love an hate. Jules Verne best stated it in his novel "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" that the heart can be filled with hatred just as easily as love. So why do I not hate my wife for all that she has done to me? Why do I not hate her for the affairs and the lonely nights setting at home worrying a