Sunday Stealing #4

Favorite novel and author?   I don't know about novel, I read a ton so I have a bunch but author is Stephen King
Favorite perfume/scent?  Cookies baking, can't stand perfume or cologne
Coffee or tea?  Tea, can't stand the smell or taste of coffee
Are you a cat or dog person?  We have both but I'm a cat person, they aren't so damn needy all the time.
Which mythical creature would you transform into if you could?  No idea
Favorite time period?  Current one I guess
Name 3 films that have changed your life and have shaped you into the person you are today.  I have no idea
Diamonds or pearls?  Do baseball diamonds count?
What’s your biggest dream?  It was to own a home that my kids could call a place home for the rest of their lives but we got it a few years ago, don't really have another one that I can think of. Travel to all the MLB stadiums, maybe?
Dream destination?  Not much of a traveler, I'd love to see some of the pics of New Zealand or Ireland, maybe Alaska. Some place green with mountains.
Favorite fictional character?  Rachel Morgan
Share a quote or passage that means something to you.  The level of my sarcasm depends on your level of stupidity.
What’s your favorite plant/flower?  None
Do you prefer the forest or the ocean? why?  Forest, Ocean scares the crap out of me.
What do you value most in people?  Honesty, I hate being lied to. I don't care if the truth hurts, it hurts more to be lied to.

Spotify Wrapped

I got an email from Spotify that gave me a link and they give me a rundown of my music that I've listened to this year. You know I'm a stats guy so I loved it and I figured I'd share some.

I loved it as soon as I opened the email and was confronted with this.

That's awesome, now my playlist has 3,308 songs on it so that shows that I check out the new releases as well. Do you think I would have listened to that many different songs if I listened to the radio? Hell no, maybe if you included the commercials on the list.

There are 10 pages on the website that the email directs you to, I'm not going to show you all of them, a couple are links to playlists of my top 100 playlist that they made from my years listening and also a playlist of songs I may like, because they are always trying to get you to expand your playlists. I like these, however, I wish they would limit the songs to stuff not already on my playlists. Just because it's from a different album, doesn't mean it's a different song that I already have.

One of the pages has you guess how many minutes you've listened to Spotify this year.

That's over 882 hours of music listening, over 36 days straight. I would guess at least 3/4 of that time is in the car considering I get about an hour and a half a day traveling back and forth to work.

They had a chart page which was kind of cool. Although the colors of it sucked and makes it hard to read.

My top artists is a little misleading, not saying that it's wrong but the top 3 artists are probably there because I have a ton of their songs on my playlists. DC Talk (51), Petra (42), Michael W. Smith (36).

The top songs don't really mean much other than they are all on multiple playlists. I have a Traveling, a Country, and a Jams playlist. The Traveling and Country are the ones I listen to with my wife in the car because she doesn't like a lot of my music (mainly the rock) and I do occasionally put the Jams one on in my car, with the windows down, on my way home from work.

As far as the genres go, Rock is definitely number 1 and in my eyes, Metal is considered a sub genre of Rock. The Country I can see as well, but the Indie and Pop I don't see being in the top 5. I wonder if the Pop is from the 80's and 90's pop because I know I don't have much newer Pop on there. One of the other pages even lists my favorite sub genre as Post Grunge, which again, is of Rock.

Another page had my oldest song on it, which technically isn't true but we'll say it is.

The reason I say it isn't is because I have classical music mixed in on the playlist and that's stuff was wrote ages ago (1800's even) but the actual song was probably off a current classical album.

At the very end, the 10th and last page, is a share page which along with the usual Facebook, Twitter, ect. they give you the option of Billboard. Which I signed up for, it gives them permission to use your stats along with the photo of your choosing to pop up on their billboard in Times Square. Now I just wonder if they will tell me if they use it, a photo would be nice.

If you'd like to know more about my music, check out my blog Last Song of the Day. I post the last song that I listened to that day and there are links to my Spotify account on it as well. I believe all my lists are public.

My week in bullet points #3

All I've been posting are these but it's all I got right now so there you go. Again, I was supposed to post this yesterday and forgot. Maybe I should just plan on posting these on Sunday, I'd probably forget then and start posting them on Mondays.

Sunday

• Woke up to a couple of inches of snow. I was hoping for Samantha to get more drive time in before it started snowing but it was gone by the afternoon so it wasn't to bad. She had a meeting at work in the morning so she made it there and back ok.
• Apparently the temps never got turned down on the tanks at work and over half of 2 of the tanks dissipated so I had to give instructions on what and how much chemicals to add so they could use the tanks. I really should have gone in but it's a 45 minute drive, one way, and that's not paid. I'm not spending an hour and a half in the car for 20 minutes of pay. Not to mention, I don't get paid for that anyways, they are lucky I even answer my phone when I'm not at work.
• Had Turkey Roll Ups, Chips and Dip and a Mountain Dew for lunch and a frozen pizza for supper.
• Watched 17 shows and a Michigan basketball game.
• Listened to 20 songs.

Monday

• Had a 5 hour meeting today about setting goals for my department at work. It wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be since I had to sit with my boss and another group lead so we discussed our department. Plus they brought in some McDonalds to start the meeting. Considering I wasn't supposed to work at all this week, I'll take the 8 1/2 hours I got today and I'm coming back tomorrow.
• Had McDonalds (3 breakfast burritos) for breakfast. Had 2 Cheese and 1 Chicken Quesadilla's and a Coke for supper.
• Watched 9 shows today.
• Listened to 41 songs today.

Tuesday

• Ended up only working until around 11 and have the rest of the week off. I am grateful for the 2 1/2 days that I'll get paid considering originally I was only getting 1. I'm also happy to have the time off work, even if it isn't paid.
• Came home to Cheri in the driveway getting ready to go to her sisters. I decided to tag along because I hadn't seen their new house since it was completed. I ended up being tired and out of it most of the time I was there so I was really fun to hang out with I'm sure.
• Had Sausage, Peppers and Rice for supper.
• Watched 11 shows.
• Listened to 57 songs.

Wednesday

• Since I had the day off, I finally got around to replacing Samantha's headlight. It was a pain in the ass to get it out, as anything is when I have to deal with a car. I also took her down to a local gas station to show her how to check the air in her tires and to put some in. I could tell when I was working on her car that her tires were low.
• Watched 24 shows.

Thursday

• Woke up to my wife tapping me on the shoulder and saying we had a problem. Apparently our furnace stopped working. It was still 65 degrees in the house so it's not like we were freezing. Cheri called my stepdad to see if he could look at it. Since he was cooking our Thanksgiving lunch, I told him he could come over after the party, which he did. Only to find out it was working now so I have no idea what went wrong.
• Had Thanksgiving at my mom's like we do every year. It was good but I got annoyed at being accused of being antisocial. Which I more or less am, but I'm not with the family. My response was I haven't turned down any invitations to do things. Just because I don't leave the house much doesn't mean I'm ignoring everybody around me.
• Samantha went to her girlfriends in Goshen after she left her grandmother's house. When she had to come home, she had to use her GPS and it was dark out so she was freaking out. I told her to try to make the drive, if you get to stressed out, I'll come get you. She eventually made it home without a problem. I think she was just freaking herself out.
• Had a ton of food for lunch. Had a Turkey Roll Up and Cheeto's for supper.
• Watched 14 shows.
• Listened to 25 songs.

Friday

• Didn't do anything all day, never even left the house. Pretty much spent most of the day on my laptop.
• Had 2 Egg Salad sandwiches for lunch. Had Bruno's pizza for supper.
• Watched 15 shows, including the whole season of the Good Cop. Also watched an old Michigan football game as well as a replay of the season opener of the White Sox. Also watched a live Michigan basketball game.

Saturday

• Got up early to go to my grandmother's house and move her in to a senior living place. Once the moving is all done, she will enjoy it. She gets lonely at home by herself and will love all the people around her. She's fighting it but if she gives herself a chance, it'll be good for her.
• Cheri ordered groceries to be picked up at Walmart and she wasn't up to going by the time it rolled around so I ran out and picked it up.
• Watched 1 show, a Michigan football game and we watched movie on Netflix.
• Listened to 23 songs.

Walking update

I'm currently in Victor, Idaho. With all the time off this week, haven't really gone very far but I do believe I was still in Wyoming at this time last week so I did go to another state. I go back to work tomorrow so I'll start picking up some mileage again.

My week in bullet points

Last week in bullet points. I was supposed to post this yesterday. I'm a slacker, what can I say.

Sunday

• Finished the Haunting of Hill House, it was really good. Which means they will probably make a second season, and it will probably suck. That's what happened with American Horror Story, great first season, very weird every season after.
• I went in to work tonight at 10pm. We put in a new seal tank and I wanted to be there if something went wrong. That's better than getting a phone call at 1 in the morning and waking me up. Although it ended up being fine but I had a half day vacation day for Monday so I knocked out 3 of the 4 hours I was going to make up through the week that night.
• Had String Cheese for breakfast. Had an Egg Sandwich for lunch and had Sloppy Joe for supper.
• Watched 9 shows.
• Listened to 24 songs.

Monday

• Had the day off work because I had to go to court. The Ex got arrested for not paying support almost a year and a half ago and we're still going to court. It was another freaking continuance. It's getting real old.
• After court we hit Aldi's for some groceries and then I talked Cheri into going out for some late breakfast. It was good, I always going out with Cheri which she rarely does anymore so I always enjoy the time when we do.
• Had a Greek Skillet and a Mountain Dew for breakfast. Had 4 Chicken & Cheese Enchiladas for supper with a Coke.
• Watched 9 shows and the Michigan/Holy Cross men's basketball game.
• Listened to 9 songs today.

Tuesday

• Worked and hit Walgreens on the way home to pick up some of Cheri's meds.
• Had Yogurt and OJ for breakfast. Had leftovers for lunch. Had Cheese Quesadilla's and a Coke for supper.
• Watched 10 shows.
• Listened to 45 songs.

Wednesday

• They finally got the yellow press going at work, it's only been 2 months. It makes a huge difference in us getting caught up.
• Came home and finally remembered (thanks to Cheri) to unhook the hoses outside and took down our canopy.
• Had Yogurt and OJ for breakfast. Had a salad and a Mountain Dew for lunch. Had Jimmy Johns and a Coke for supper.
• Watched 3 shows and the Michigan/Villanova men's basketball game.
• Listened to 51 songs.

Thursday

• Had 3 meetings today at work so didn't get a lot done.
• Snowed most of the day but the roads stayed fairly clear.
• Had Yogurt and OJ for breakfast. Had a salad and a Mountain Dew for lunch. Had Fish and Green Beans with a Coke for supper.
• Watched 9 shows.
• Listened to 40 songs.

Friday

• Stressed out most of the day on this WIG meeting I have on Monday. Come to found out, I did the paperwork just fine.
• Met the Ex and handed off Trevor. I'll be glad when Samantha can make this drive and I won't have to.
• Had Cottage Cheese and OJ for breakfast. Had McDonalds (McRib, Fries and a Coke) for lunch. Had Chick-Fil-A (Nuggets, Fries and a Coke) for supper.
• Watched 10 shows.
• Listened to 66 songs.

Saturday

• Had to drive Samantha's girlfriend to work because her parents and stepmother are useless. Samantha and I dropped her off and then got groceries for the week before picking her up. Picked up a headlight for Samantha, she has one out but haven't put it in year.
• Had McDonalds (Sausage, Egg and Cheese McMuffin, Hash Brown and a Coke) for breakfast. Had Turkey Roll Ups and Chips and Dips with a Coke for supper.
• Watched 10 shows and the Michigan/Indiana football game.
• Listened to 31 songs today.

My life in bullet points

A bullet point of my life the previous week.

Sunday

• Did our grocery shopping. That was a mess. We realized now why we don't usually go on Sundays. It was fine at Walmart because we use the pick-up and never get out of the car. At Aldi's at Martin's, where we mainly get vegetables and meat, there were all kinds of people.
• Watched 20 shows.
• Listened to 13 songs.

Monday

• Worked. Finished Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King at my lunch break. I don't know how he comes up with his stories but it amazes me how he comes up with things nobody else has, or at least that I know of.
• Watched 10 shows on TV.
• Listened to 41 songs.

Tuesday

• Worked and took Samantha to work that evening. She closed so I didn't have to pick her up, I'm in bed by then.
• Watched 7 shows and a Michigan/Norfolk State basketball game.
• Listened to 40 songs.

Wednesday

• We made the decision to switch our seal tanks on Friday. The new seal is harder on wastewater so it'll be more work for us. I was going to leave at 1 so I could go home and change before picking up Samantha but a salesman came in at 1 and I didn't get out till 1:30 so I went straight to the Career Center to pick her up.
• Took Samantha to the BMV to take her driver's test for the 2nd time. She went a little fast on the first test, which didn't surprise me as they went out on a 5 lane road but the speed limit is 35. She said she didn't see the speed limit sign and went with traffic, which was around 45. Oops. Apparently 2nd time is the charm.

• Hit the vet's office to pick up some meds for Milo and Dollar General on the way home. I needed new headphones for work. I wear them on my breaks so nobody talks to me. The ones I had before came with my phone and I've had them for a couple of years.
• Posted this to my Snapchat this evening.

• Watched 8 shows on TV.
• Listened to 48 songs.

Thursday

• My 1st shift employee had a vacation day so I used our backup. She did a good job but she has no self confidence so she questions everything she has to do. I told her I had a meeting at 9:30 and another at 10 and that I wouldn't be out of that one until between 10:30 and 11 and that we would take care of the press when I got out. I get out around 10:35 and she's waiting for me, all frantic because she freaked out and doesn't know what to do. I freaking told her we'd do the next step when I got out. 
• They made Friday voluntary so I'll be going in and switching the seal over. Since my 1st shift guy is taking the day off, I'll be doing it myself.
• I finished Gwendy's Button Box by Stephen King at work today. It was good, but the story is so out there that I don't know where he comes up with it.
• Posted this to Snapchat. Milo was snoozing, hard.

• Watched 10 shows on TV.
• Listened to 36 songs.

Friday

• Got the seal tank all switched over so we should be good to go on Sunday night. I'll be going in for a few hours to make sure everything is good with the tank when they start it up. I ended up leaving just after 11 and hit McDonalds for a couple of McRib's on the way home. It's the only time of the year that I hit McDonald's for anything other than breakfast.
• Came home and didn't even make it to the shower, I crashed in my recliner for a couple of hours. Longer than I normally nap so I must have really needed it.
• Watched 13 shows on TV.
• Listened to 29 songs.

Saturday

• Typical Saturday, didn't really do anything. I only left the house to take Trevor to his friends house. He's going over for a birthday party but is going to stay the night so I didn't have to leave the house again.
• Watched 13 shows on TV. Also watched the Michigan/Rutgers football game. Not that it was much of a game.
• Listened to 17 songs.

Walking update

* I keep track of my steps and put them to a map as if I was walking across country.

I haven't posted in awhile about keeping track of my steps but I am still doing it. Last time I did post about it though, I had said it would be awhile before I did again because I was in the middle of the west where there isn't really anything to look at. Since I was cutting across the country, I decided to run by where I took a trip back in the 80's.

This is what it looks like to the East, it's really exciting stuff isn't it. Now you see why I haven't posted much. This is what it looks like facing West.

Those would be the Grand Tetons. I hiked to the top of those back when I was younger. They are in Wyoming. It was summer but there were spots of snow that we still had to hike across which should give you an idea just how big they are.

This is a more professional photo instead of the Google Map photo. I went with a group of about 12-15 kids, all my age at the time. Only 2 of us made it to the top, me being 1 of them. I wish I had all my photos and I'm pretty sure I had a journal of some type from the trip that I would love to go through again. It was an amazing trip. We spent a week in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and did all kinds of things. White water rafting on the Snake River and hiked up the Grand Tetons just to name 2. I'm sure I had other kinds of memories but they have faded over the years, which is why I wish I still had the photos/journal.

Day 678 - Alta, WY (2213.61)

I have crossed the 1,000 miles for the year but I doubt I'm going to hit the 1,500 mile goal I had set at the beginning of the year. Let's see where we are.

Goal - 1500 miles (4.1 miles/day)

Currently - 1034.81 miles (3.32 miles/day)

I was at 3.36 miles a day so that has slipped but either way, it's still almost a mile less than what I needed for the goal. Now that I'm a supervisor at work, I get less steps because I have to sit through some meetings. Not a lot of them, but enough to make a difference. I rarely hit 10,000 in a day any more. I should go out an walk when I get home but I've found that it makes my tendonitis flare up when I do a bunch of steps at once so that's pretty much out.

It is what it is.

Sunday Stealing #3

I'm back. I haven't stopped doing these but I had a houseful for a weekend and then got sick for the week after so I didn't do much blogging.

1. What's the coldest temp you've experienced?     I don't know, I believe it's been below 0 here, I know with windchill it's been way below that.
2. What's for dinner tonight?     Let me ask the boss. She don't know yet.
3. Would you consider moving to Australia?     Hell no. I don't have a desire to visit any other countries let alone live in one.
4. What was your favorite subject in high school?     I guess gym. I was pretty much ignored in any class but gym. Gym was mine, nobody still knew who I was but I dominated in whatever we did.
5. How many hours a day is your tv on?     From when my wife gets up until she goes to bed. It's usually background noise if we aren't specifically watching it. She can't stand the silence.
6. Have you ever received an award?     Volunteer of the year at a nursing home when I was in High School is the only thing I can think of, other than sports trophies.
7. What's your mousepad look like?     I use a chromebook so no mousepad.
8. How many browser tabs do you have open right now?     7
9. If you are a parent, have you or did you ever put Vicks VapoRub on your children under the age of 2?     Not something we use at all.
10. As an adult, do you like the scent of Vicks VapoRub?     Couldn't tell you.
11. If you had to pick one insect to infest your house for 1 day and after that day they would just suddenly vanish, which insect infestation would you pick?     I guess ants because they don't do anything but be there.
12. What color is your underwear that you are wearing right at this moment?     Dark blue or black, can't tell over here, not much light and I have a cat sitting between my legs so I can't move much.

Wednesday Medley #2

1.  The Circleville, Ohio, Pumpkin Festival starts today.  All things pumpkin are everywhere. What is your one very favorite pumpkin flavored food or drink?  Do you wish it was available all year or do you only want it in the Fall?     Pumpkin Pie and that's about it, not a huge pumpkin fan.
2.  What product would you seriously stockpile if you found out they weren't going to sell it anymore?     I don't know, I'm not really obsessed with anything in particular. I have lots of things I really like but it's more cravings than anything. Once I satisfy the craving, I'm over it for awhile.
3.  What is the most interesting thing you have seen online this week?     Highlights from the Michigan game
4.  Is it better to be a "big fish in a small pond" or a "small fish in a big pond"?     Big fish in a small pond I guess, but I have no desire to be the big fish.
5.  My Joe has become obsessed with playing chess on the computer.  Do you play chess?  Are you good at it?     I play but I rarely play. I taught my kids to play and it was fun until they got bored with it.
6.  Tell us something random about your week.     My oldest son, girlfriend and 2 kids are staying with us from Thursday until Tuesday. Our nephew is getting married so Cheri's whole family will be together. If our oldest daughter can get up here this weekend, we are hoping to get a picture of our whole family together. I don't think all of us have been together in 8 years.

I'm finding that my life is so boring, that I even have trouble answering these basic questions.

Cell or not to cell

I was going to do the Sunday Stealing but it was about talking on the phone, which I hate and rarely do and pancakes, which I rarely eat so I didn't see a point in that.

I have a cellphone, I love my cellphone, I carry it everywhere. However, I don't use it all the time like a lot of people. I don't play a ton of games, I don't do a ton of social media (on my phone), I don't even really text a lot but yet, I don't go anywhere without it. So what do I do on it? Beats me, let's figure it out.

• I do use it a lot for music, I stream Spotify to my car anytime I'm in it. I also stream it on my breaks when I wear my headphones.
• I do check Snapchat occasionally and I send out one snap a day to the few people I have streaks with.
• If I get a notification from Facebook and it's something I want to see, I'll go check it but I really don't get that many notifications. I rarely get on Facebook just to see what's going on. I get on Facebook when I get home on my laptop.
• I'll occasionally Google some info if I need something.
• I usually text my wife on my breaks at work but not for long. I'll also text my brother and mom but not really that often.
• I do use it for work as well, there are no land lines at work and I do field calls and texts from some vendors, plus I check my work email and calendar. My employees will also occasionally text or call me.
• I do have a game or 2 that I play, but usually only when I'm in the bathroom and since I'm a guy, only when going number 2.
• On Fridays, I check my paystub to make sure my check isn't screwed up since it's paperless.
• Finally, as a phone. I can probably go back a month and I've only talked on the phone a few times (minus work calls). I might call my wife from the store or my mom will call me for a favor, other than that, I don't even use it as a phone.

That's really about it, I'm not sure why I always have to have it on me. Other than at home, because it usually sits on the table next to my chair. I have my laptop and phone connected so I don't even use my phone to text, I use my laptop (no, they are not Apple products, don't even get me started on that.)

Now that I've typed this out, I really do wonder why I have to have my phone.

Sunday Stealing #2

1. Have you ever tried to learn (or re-learn) a foreign language as an adult? Which one? What worked for you?     I took Spanish for a couple of years in high school but I really sucked at it. I can still do the numbers, and a few words but that's about it.

2. Do you donate blood? Do you know your blood type?     A+, I used to donate pretty consistently but with a change in job it makes it harder to get out there. To be honest, I could probably make the time and I don't, maybe I should change that.

3. Have you ever been in a play or musical?     Nope

4. Do you use certain text or ring tones for specific people? Who gets their own? Or do you just use the default on your phone?     I have a certain text ring tone for my wife, kids, mom and my brother. It's the same tone for each of them, those are the only people who text me consistently so I know not to ignore the text for too long. Ring tone is just the default for everyone. I rarely get phone calls.

5. When did you get your first digital camera? Do you still shoot on actual film, or all digital now?     Whenever they started putting cameras on cell phones so yes, I'm all digital now.

6. What do you think someone else would say the most daring thing you’ve done is?     I have no idea, most of anything I did daring was as a kid and most of who actually communicate with me now, didn't know me back then.

7. Do you talk with your hands?     Not a lot, but I do some.

8. Given the choice in a restaurant – would you go with a booth or table (or bar!!!) for seating?     Booth, usually more padding in them.

9. What kind of milk did you drink, growing up? And now?     2% growing up, skim now. I didn't even know there were other kinds when I was a kid. I can drink them all, doesn't make much difference to me.

10. How do you keep track of all your passwords? Do you make your passwords super complicated and change them often, or use the same ones over and over?     I have a few that I use so I keep trying them until one works. At work, I have to change it every 30 days so it's the same only I change the number on the end. I'm up to 15 now.

11. Are you a note taker?     Nope, I have a pretty good memory so I usually rely on that. Not that that always works, but for the most part, it doesn't fail me, yet.

12. Do you remember what your first social media posting (or status update) was on Facebook or Twitter – without looking it up? What was it?     They were probably both along the lines of - checking Twitter/Facebook to see what it's all about.

13. Do you have a “power” song?     Not one song, I have a playlist of power songs that I jam out to in my car occasionally.

14. Do you have an eclectic mug collection, or is your stuff all matchy matchy?     Have no use for any mugs.

15. Do you have a junk drawer in your house/garage/at work/wherever?     I don't think so, that wouldn't be up to the bosses (my wife) standard.

16. Do you ever get the urge to watch a favorite scene from a movie, and watch just that scene?     Nope, I rarely watch a movie twice. I don't like knowing what's going to happen.

17. Have you ever woken up and felt guilty from a dream you had, or, mad at someone else for something they did in the dream?     Guilty, yes. Until I realized it was a dream. No to being mad at someone else's dream, they can't control that, why would I be angry. I have had dreams where someone wronged me and it takes awhile to get over in real life.

18.  How old were you when you took your first commercial flight? To where did you fly?     8th grade, maybe a Freshman. Flew to California from Indiana via Ohio, if that makes sense.

19. Are you good at keeping track of your things – or do you easily misplace them? Do you ever leave anything behind when you travel?     Comes back to the memory thing, I do pretty good and remembering where I put things. I did leave my wallet and checkbook in Virginia once, had to have them mailed back to me.

20. Is there any place you go where time seems to stand still? What is it about that place that makes it that way?     Not that my can think of. Maybe my grandma's house because there isn't much for electronics. She still uses a flip phone but she does text with it.

Wednesday Medley

What? 2 posts in a week? Try not to pass out. I told you I was going to try to do some of these throughout the week just to get some stuff going on here. You can click above to go to the blog where I get them. Here's today's questions.

1.  October 3rd is National Boyfriend Day.  Ladies, who was your first boyfriend?     Well, I'm not a lady but I'll answer with opposites. My first girlfriend was Angie Gordon, met her at church and really liked her (I was probably either pre-teen or early teens). The only reason we broke up was because her family had moved to Kissimmee, FL. I still have her phone number in my memory.
2. Who was your first celebrity crush?     Hmmm! I'd have to say probably Alyssa Milano only back when she was on Who's the Boss. I wouldn't be lying if I said I still have a thing for her and she's a baseball fan so all the more reason to crush on her.
3. What is the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten?     I guess Calamari. The only reason this pops out to me is because my wife was grossed out about it. I'm not picky, nor am I afraid to try anything, I just don't think I've ever gotten anything strange.
4. What famous artist, dead or alive, would you want to paint your portrait?     Bob Ross, I only say that because I don't really know what else to put. Honestly, I had to Google Bob the painter just to get his last name.
5. What Are You Most Likely To Stay Up All Night Talking About?     Honestly, I'm a talker. If you want to stay up all night talking, just ask. I don't care what we talk about. I miss staying up all night with my wife and talk, it was a nightly ritual when we were dating.
6. The new Fall season has begun on TV.  Which show are you most looking forward to seeing?     I guess the new season of the Walking Dead. I haven't really been into the show as much as I was in the beginning so every season I tend to get excited, only to be disappointed about half way through. There's plenty out there that I'll watch. I love really funny sitcoms so I'll be checking out the new ones to see if anything sticks.

So there you go, another post in the books and you learn more about me so I probably lose readers, if I have any.

Sunday Stealing Questions

I've been looking for things to post so I'm going to try to do these a couple of days a week. Try being the key word there.

Even thought it's almost technically Monday, I got it out on Sunday.

1: Favorite style of clothing?     Shorts and t-shirt
2: Do I ever get “good morning” or “good night ” texts?     Nope
3: Have I ever kissed the last person I texted?     My wife, so yes, once or twice
4: When did I last hold hands?     It's been awhile, probably years
5: How long does it take me to get ready in the morning?     I get up at 3:45 and am in the car at 4.
6: Have I shaved my legs in the past three days?     Umm, no. Only shaved one, once
7: Where am I right now?     In my recliner, where I spend most of my evenings
8: Do I have someone of the opposite sex I can tell everything to?     My wife, unless it's about her then no
9: How often do I wear a fake smile?     Rarely, I'm not very good at hiding feelings
10: When was the last time I hugged someone?     Hug my kids every night before bed
11: Is there anyone I trust even though I should not?     I don't trust to many so probably not
12: What is something I disliked about today?     It was kind of a blah day to be honest
13: If I could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?     I don't really have an answer, always hated these kinds of questions
14: What do I think about most?     Current life situations
15: Do I prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it?     Behind
16: Do I prefer talking on the phone or video chatting  online?     Neither, text me
17: Do I believe in ghosts? How about aliens?     I suppose, haven't put that much thought behind it
18: Do I believe in magic?     Magic is mainly slight of hand so no, but I have no idea how they do it either
19: Do I believe in luck?     Not really
20: What's the weather like right now?     A little chilly, then again, it's closing in on midnight
21: What was the last book I've read?     Just finished the Bill Hodges Trilogy by Stephen King
22: Do I like the smell of gasoline?     Yep
23: What was the worst injury I've ever had?     Torn ligaments in my knee, had to have surgery
24: Do I spend money or save it?     Spend, not on things though, I have nothing to show for it but I don't have any either
25: Can I touch my nose with my tongue?     Yep

Randomness

2 months again without a post. I'm getting really bad at this. For the last few weeks I have said, oh, I need to post something on here, then I get sidetracked with all my other blogs and it never gets done. I had the thought that maybe I would post here on Sundays due to the fact that I have one other blog that I don't usually post on Sundays (it coincides with getting stuff in the mail and there is no mail on Sundays).

Here it is, around 10 pm on Sunday and I just remembered to do this. Although, my typical Sunday, I'm on the laptop most of the day while I'm sitting on my ass. Today, however, I slept in way to late (almost 11am), relaxed for a bit before going outside to power spray the house. The north side of the house gets absolutely no sun so it gets a little moldy. By the time I came in, grabbed some supper, it was after 6 before I picked up my laptop.

We've continued our 4 day weeks at work for awhile but I have been usually able to get my 40 hours in or at least close to it. The lost overtime has sucked, especially with stuff coming up that we need money for. Like my Michigan game tickets and getting Samantha's car ready to drive because she will be eligible to drive on her own in a few weeks. With a few things that happened at work, I think we should get our 5 days in for now.

I have been continuing to keep track of my steps and mileage. I just haven't posted anything here because I'm going from Denver to Seattle and there is a whole lot of nothing in between. There is a stop or 2 in between that I'm going to go by just because I've been there in real life and want to go by it.

I did pass 600 miles for the year, less than a week ago. While I don't have a fitbit anymore, it died, I've been using my phone app (Samsung Galaxy Health App). It's not nearly as accurate but I make do. For one, I tend to leave my phone next to my recliner every time I get up at home so none of those steps get counted.

Along with my 600 miles above, I posted my 600th post on my Last Song of the Day blog a couple of days ago. I went for awile without posting on it because it got to be to much for so little, so now I just post the album cover, the video from YouTube and the lyrics. It goes a lot quicker and since it doesn't get a whole lot of hits anyways, I'm fine with that.

We've been trying to knock out some shows on HULU this past couple of weeks. I was waiting for Castle Rock to end before I signed up so I could watch them all during my free 30 day trial. We finished it and now are watching the Handmaid's Tale. All the fall shows start this week so we'll probably be done with HULU until we cancel it once we finish it.

That's all I got for today, we'll see you again, hopefully soon.

Work, weather and SOA

They announced at work that we were going to 4 days starting next week. There has been rumors of it for a couple of weeks so I knew it was coming. I should still be able to get my 40 for a little while because we've got stuff we can do when the line isn't running but I don't know how long we can milk that.

On the way home today, I sent Cheri this pic with the caption, that doesn't look good.

I was hoping to get to the north/south road I take to get home before it hit so I could get ahead of this but in a matter of minutes after I sent this, the sky got dark and opened up. It was pouring and got very windy. Guess that's what the Tornado watch was for.

We only had 1 show on the DVR so it's probably going to be a Sons of Anarchy weekend. We're already into our second episode tonight. Other than taking Samantha back and forth to work, I'll be plopping in front of the TV.

Baseball

2 days in a row, it's a miracle.

They put up my office at work awhile ago and I noticed on the security cameras that my office blocks one of the cameras. The majority of the camera shows the ceiling so I took the opportunity to leave a message for my boss.

Usually the monitor in his office shows all 10 cameras on the screen so I went into his office and double clicked this camera so it took up the whole monitor and then went back to work and waited for him to come back to his office.

I was at my lab awhile later and I glanced over and he was standing in the doorway of his office just staring at me. I laughed at him. That was before lunch and it was still up there when I left. We'll see how long until he gets tired of seeing it and takes it down.

I came home and watched the MLB All-Star game, or rather, finished watching it since I went to bed about the 7th inning. It was more enjoyable than I remember years past. I really enjoyed the interviews with the players on the field, it showed their personalities. It was pretty much great pitching and hitting, how you say? It was great pitching most of the game all the runs were on 10 home runs. There were a few other hits and some of those before the home runs but most were solo shots. I usually watch the all-star games but usually just background while I'm doing something else.

Just going to finish up stuff on the DVR until bed.

Travel and TV

I'm back, I know, again. We'll see what I divvy out.

Went to Indianapolis this past weekend and spent some time with Skyler at her new place. It was a cute little home and she lives by herself which is good but better than that, she took us down to her local spot and it was full of hipsters which she'll fit right in with. It makes us happy that she is happy where she's at. That's all you want for your kids is to be happy. It's certainly not everything she wants or deserves but it'll be good for her for awhile.

Since there isn't much on TV right now, we've been watching Sons of Anarchy. Skyler, and others, have been telling us we'd like it. We should finish season 1 tonight. We've like it so far so I'm sure we'll stick with it.

I plan on watching the MLB All-Star game tonight, I haven't told Cheri yet, she hates baseball. When I watch the Sox games I can fast forward a lot so it doesn't take nearly as long. If I watch it live, plus it's an exhibition, it'll probably go until midnight. Cheri may not love me anymore after that.

Not much else going on. Still waiting on my office to get finished at work. The skeleton part is up and pretty much finished. Now I've got to pick out counter tops and a sink and have that installed and then it should be good to move my desk in.

This week

I don't want to go back to work tomorrow. I know, who really does but they gave me a whole week off so I really don't want to go back.

A few weeks ago, they decided they were going to shut down for the week because sales were down. Most people were upset, don't get me wrong, none of them wanted to be there, but most couldn't afford getting paid for one day (the 4th). A few people were complaining how they didn't have vacation days and they burned through their personal time already. Most of them used them just to take days off, no real reason to use them.

Then there's me, who never really uses his vacation days. I've used 2 of my 2 weeks so far, one on a court date with the Ex, the other on our annual Father's day weekend camping trip. I regret using both because both times sucked. Either way, that still leaves me with 8 days. For the record, I also have 14 of my 16 personal time left as well. So when they said, hey, you're getting a week off, I was stoked. I put in for 4 vacation days and said, see ya!

I cropped out the sign cuz you all

don't need to know where I work.

The wife and I decided to head on out on Saturday (last weekend) and took the kids with us to Virginia to see her family. We basically hung out with family through Monday.

Sam's b-day was Sunday

On Tuesday, Cheri hung out with her BFF all day while the kids and I headed out for just outside Asheville, NC to hang out with my cousin all day. It was only an 1 1/2 drive from Bristol so we went down that morning and hung out up in the mountains before heading back.

On the 4th, we headed back which was a great decision because there was absolutely nobody on the roads. Other than around the big cities, there wasn't anybody out there. A normal 10 hour drive took us less than 9 and the only reason it took that much time is because I have an insurance thingy in my car portal which dings me if I go over 80 mph. Basically, I set the cruise at 78. If the speed limit was 70 mph, I went 78. If it dropped down to 55 mph, I went 78 mph. Normally, when it is 70 mph, I set my cruise for mid to high 80's.

Thursday we chilled at home, Friday we spent all day building our shed for the back yard, that's a whole another story but it's finally up. Haven't really done anything since but either way, I really enjoyed having a week off and I'm also really not looking forward to going to work tomorrow.

The positive of going back to work is the week before, they put the walls up to my lab/office. I'm hoping they went in and got my cabinets, countertops and sink got installed this week so I can move in. I don't think they did, but I'm crossing my fingers. I've already got my desk, I'm just waiting on the other stuff to get put in.

2 1/2 Months?

Has it really been since March that posted last? Yikes! I guess I'll do a random post since it's been awhile.

Samantha is now working at one of the local Subways and has been for a month or so. She's been doing really good as far as I can tell. From my end, she's always ready to go and on time and she doesn't complain about having to go. She's only 15 so she's limited on what she can do, she can't run the oven (which is essentially a microwave) and other things but she can make sandwiches and help customers which is where it will help her in the long run. I've been proud of her for getting and keeping the job. She just found out her store is closing but they are letting her transfer to another store and that one ends up being closer to home anyways so I'm good with that.

Trevor is growing up, his voice is getting deeper and he's got some peach fuzz on his lip. Ever since we took him off his meds, his personality has really started to come out. Makes me feel bad that he was on it all those years but I do think it was helping him with his focus, we just didn't realize what it was suppressing. Either that or he's just growing up and changing, who knows. All I know is I have more of a relationship with him now because he actually talks to us. He's also getting quite a bit taller. Hasn't caught up with me yet, if he ever does, but he's hitting a growth spurt.

My job has gone well, I've actually moved up and am in charge of the wastewater area on all 3 shifts. I'm still doing all the lab work as well so I definitely stay busy. I'm now on flex hours which means I can work anytime I want as long as I put my hours in. I pretty much go in the same time as I always have but most days I stay past 2 to finish things up. I think how nice it would be to not go in early but then I think how much it sucks to work later in the day. So even on Sunday nights and I don't get to bed until after midnight, I still get up at a quarter till 5 and go in.

Because of the promotion, I have to go to meetings occasionally as well. Some I don't mind, some I could do without. I haven't gotten stuck with a bunch like I thought I would though so that's good.

Day 510 - Denver, CO (1665.4 miles)

I haven't actually been wearing my Fitbit for the last couple of weeks. I'm not sure why but all of the sudden, it's making my skin break out when I wear it so I stopped. I originally moved it to my other wrist just to let the one heal but the other one started breaking out so I just took it off. Since then, I've been using the Samsung Health app to count my steps. I'm sure it's nowhere near as accurate but it's all I have.

You can see that I'm in Denver, CO which was my next stop on my stadium tour. It's been almost 500 miles since my last stadium because as you can tell, I'm heading out west which means lots of space. I headed here to Coors Field and then headed out to my next destination and happened to pass a few others.

I always thought Denver was surrounded my mountains, it is the Mile High city after all but it's not. Heading towards the city was completely flat and upon looking at the map, it's right on the edge of the Rockies. Guess doing this is educational as well.

Coors field looks really nice on the outside. I love all the brick around the outside.

Apparently within 2 miles of each other is Coors Field, Pepsi Center and Mile High Stadium. I didn't actually walk down to those stadiums though, just went past them.

So I went by the Colorado Rockies stadium (Coors Field), the Denver Nuggets (the Pepsi Center) and the Denver Broncos (Mile High Stadium) all in one day.

1. Guaranteed Rate Field (Chicago White Sox - MLB)
2. Soldier Field (Chicago Bears - NFL)
3. Ryan Field (Northwestern Wildcates - B1G)
4. Wrigley Field (Chicago Cubs - MLB)
5. Miller Park (Milwaukee Brewers - MLB)
6. Camp Randall (Wisconsin Badgers - B1G)
7. TCF Bank Stadium (Minnesota Golden Gophers - B1G)
8. Target Field (Minnesota Twins - MLB)
9. Kinnick Stadium (Iowa Hawkeyes - B1G)
10. Memorial Stadium (Nebraska Cornhuskers - B1G)
11. Coors Field (Colorado Rockies - MLB)
12. Pepsi Center (Denver Nuggets - NBA)
13. Mile High Stadium (Denver Broncoes - NFL)

My goal is to hit all the Big Ten (B1G) and MLB stadiums but as you can see, I've passed a few others as well. I also had a goal of 1,500 miles in a year.

Goal - 1500 miles (4.1 miles/day)

Currently - 487 miles (3.36 miles/day)

Not doing so well, as you can tell. I'm actually down .2 miles/day from last time I posted about this. My walking is down some from work, it's still averaging over 8,000 a day but barely. Not enough to make up for my lazy weekends.

My next stadium won't be for awhile as I heading to the far Northwest and then I'll come back South and hit everything in the lower half of the country as I make my way back East. I may be done in the next few years.

A plead for help

There's a lady at work who is one of the nicest people I know. She loves to have fun but knows how to put her boss pants on when she needs to. She's not technically my boss but I usually do whatever she asks because I like her and she always helps me out when I need it. I've only known her for about 6 months but she's definitely one of my favorite people there.

She has been battling cancer for awhile now. According to her gofundme page, she has stage 4 breast cancer but it's a little more than that. I'm going to try to remember everything she told me but I'm not guaranteeing all this info is correct. She has 3 different types of cancer right now. She also has a tumor that they need to operate on. She is going in for a surgery before she starts chemo and radiation and then stops that long enough for more surgery before continuing it. This is the 3rd time she has fought cancer, beating it the previous 2 times. There is no beating it this time, it is in her bones so it will always be there to some extent but they are going to try to get as much of it as possible.

They have given her 22 months to live. To her, that's just a number to beat. They only gave her a limited time to live the last time and she went way beyond it and then some. She has been missing work and her husband has been working during some of her appointments because they just can't afford for both of them to be off.

What can you do, well, you know what this is about. I rarely post on here for your money. I can only think of 2 other times in the 7 years I've been here. MS Society because of my wife, and another fellow employee that was battling cancer. You guys have come through before and I hope you will again. She means a lot to a lot of people including her fellow employees. She's just one of those people who you like to be around, and I want her to be around for as long as possible so please help. I don't care if you donate $1, please donate something.

(link - https://www.gofundme.com/tonnie-blotkamp)

I appreciate anything you can do to help. Cancer has affected my family (lost father and grandfather) as well as some who have fought it and are still around so I know how much this sucks.

YouTube TV

Wow! It's been over a month since I posted. I started doing a personal (instead of public) journal which has taken away from here but I do type on that daily. I like that I can say whatever I want without having to worry about repercussions. I don't like to talk about work here for a couple of reasons. Because this is public, I don't want to speak bad about work, even if it's about the people I work with, in case my employer does run across it. Not that I would have that much to complain about but you never know. I also don't want a fellow employee run across something that I said about them. I don't ever use names but if it's about them, I'm sure they'd figure it out so I don't say anything. It's kind of the same thing with home. So I always have to be concerned about who sees what so I don't post much. Like I said, it's been nice not having to worry about that.

About a month ago, we finally dropped our cable. TV, not internet. I still have internet through Comcast/Xfinity because they are the best there is, at least around here. We looked at dropping our internet and just using hot spots on our phones for internet at home. Verizon has an unlimited data plan but if you read the small print, it slows down after 15 gb and we use almost that now without using it at home. Like I said though, we dropped the cable TV portion and are using YouTube TV. It saves us about $65/month which in the long run, is quite a bit. We've been using for a month now and are completely happy. There are a few channels that we don't have now but not enough to even be a negative and they seem to be adding channels as they can. The added all the Turner Network (TBS, TNT, ect.) just after we signed up. We can't seem to get the app to work on our Roku that's part of our TV. So we stream it through our phones through the Chromecast to our TV. We had to upgrade our Chromecast because we still had the 1st generation but other than that, it's been fine.

The positives about YouTube TV.

1. You can have up to 5 accounts. Each account is separate so all 5 accounts can record their own shows. Cheri records her shows and I record mine and our shows since we only watch them when I'm home.
2. Unlimited DVR cloud storage for each account.
3. Live TV on over 60 channels. All my local channels are included as well as a whole slew of sports channels. Most of the channels we watched are here as well, like I said above, only a few we watched aren't.
4. The most positive for me is the live sports. That's the whole reason we hadn't cut the cord until now. I can still watch my Michigan games as well as the White Sox. I'm also looking forward to watching the NCAA tourney on my phone at work since they play games all day long in the early rounds.

The negatives about YouTube TV.

1. It records everything. You can't tell it to just record new episodes but it does show new episodes in a different location than the reruns so it's not a very big negative in my book.
2. It doesn't have all the channels we watch but again, not a huge negative because it has most of what we watched. It might be a bigger negative to other people because it depends on what channels you tend to watch.
3. You can't record 1 episode of something. An example is I want to record a regular Big Ten Network show that is doing an episode on the Michigan head coach, but it sets it to record every episode. After that episode airs, I will take it off of recording.

You can take what you will out of the above but those were the positives and negatives that we have noticed.

Walking update

Figured I could at least update my walking on this snowy Sunday.

Day 406 - Funk, NE (1324.8 miles)

I actually had some issues with my Fitbit for a day or two. It wasn't charging right, I was having to charge it every night for it to last through the day but it seems to have fixed itself and now I only have to charge it every 5 or 6 days again.

I actually had a decent week this week because we weren't doing production and we're doing grunt work. 3 of my 5 days of work I had over 10,000 (1 day over 13,000) and the other 2 days were over 9,000.

Goal - 1500 miles (4.1 miles/day)

Currently - 146 miles (3.56 miles/day)

So once again, I went up on my miles/day average, although this time it was only up .03. It's a good thing I had a busy week during the week since I haven't done nothing yesterday or today.

I'm a long ways from my next stop so it'll be awhile before you get to see another stadium tour post but I'll try to at least update this every week.