Friend search is on...

Well, been thinking lately that some of the mistakes I've made in the past were due to the fact that I didn't have appropriate relationships in my life. The epiphany moment was a few months ago when I got my last tattoo. There was a kid (maybe 20) that was getting his first tat. He had like eight friends with him and they all took 15 minute turns to spend with him while he got his tat. That really hit me hard. I don't have anyone (other than Tina) to share those special moments in my life. No one to be there when I need someone, and noone I can be there for when they need me. Oh I have special friends like that. Friends in Indiana and Maryland. But nobody close by. So today I met with a new person that might wind up as a friend. I have another guy that was supposed to come over tonight and got delayed due to illness in his family. We have a small group starting in our house tomorrow evening. I can't tell you if this is the magic bullet, but I can tell you its an avenue that I feel has been missing from my life and I'm anxious to see how things pan out. Bromanace. . . . . You never know LOL

Hotel Heaven...

Okay so I don't usually get too worked up and excited about hotels I stay in. Some of the resorts I've been to with my conferences have been incredible, such as Squaw Creek Resort inTahoe, or the Chateau Elan in Atlanta, but normally the rooms that I stay in throughout the year aren't all that. Well here I sit in a Hilton Garden Inn in Winchester VA and I am very pleasantly surprised. Very chique nice. Check out the pics

Home Depot....

So I would be remiss in my blogging duties if I didn't put this whole story up on my blog. A recruiter called me about two months ago and informed me that a job that I thought was taken off the books at Home Depot, one that I had been in the final stages of interviewing for, was back on and they wanted to talk to me. I went through a telephone interview, and was awarded one of three face to face interviews for the position. The company flew me to chicago a three friday's ago. They flew me in at 8:45 in the morning and the interview was from 10am till about 11:30 am. My flight out was not scheduled until 6:55pm. So I got back to O'Hare and tried to catch an earlier flight out. Not only did I want to get home sooner, but there was also bad weather in the area and I did not want to get stranded. As it so-happens, after running the length of O'Hare several times there were no spots open on earlier flights and by 6:55 that night my flight had been cancelled. So I was stuck in Chicago overnight. When I awoke the next morning in the hotel room I opted to stay in and then got to the airport, I found the airline had moved my flight back from the intended 8am flight to 6:45 and I had missed the only flight to Cincinnati that day. I checked with all the rental car agencies for a one way rental to drive back, but with over 200 cancelled flights there was not a car to be had. So I had to wait in the airport for 9 hours while my wife came by car to pick me up and we drove home arriving somewhere just before 1am. With all that being said, I did end up getting the job as an Area AP Manager for Home Depots logistics network and start the new job July 20, 2009. So I'm sure more adventures are bound to come.

planting a garden...

Well, we decided to finally plant a garden this year. We haven't had a real garden since Alabama. In Virginia we did buy concrete mixing tubs and grow veggies in those, but it just wasn't the same. So anyway this year Tina had a friend from work that let us borrow his roto tiller and we planted probably way too much for the small patch of ground we dedicated. We planted Jalepeno's, Tomatoes, Green Peppers, Corn, Squash, Carrots, and Basil. I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but things are starting to really come up now. I'll continue to snap some pictures of the garden as things grow. Should make for a great late summer and early fall with all our fresh veggies.

Elementary Graduation

Tonight was an award ceremony for Patrick. He is done with elementary school and moving on to middle school. That is so unbelieveable to me. It makes me feel a little old. That being said, I'm happy he made it. This year was such a struggle for him. The only reason he passed was because after trying everything we finally left him to his own devices and let him know if he failed he would not move on with his friends. That seemed to spur him on to success. Still a little over an hour for an elementary awards ceremony. As a society we sure know how to celebrate mediocrity in a way that does not make anyone strive for excellence. No wonder China is kicking our but. Picture will follow soon.

Catch up time...

Its been a while since I blogged so I thought I'd get on and just catch up some things. First, my back has been hurting very badly for the past few weeks. I finally decided to give up running and weights for a week to allow it time to heal, and that seems to have done the trick. I'll get back to my running regimine today. I had also gained about 8 lbs. partially due to lack of exercise, and partially due to over eating (as I so often due when I'm a little blue), so I went back on atkins just this past week. I dropped all 8 lbs. and now I'm working on bonus points. I'd like to get down to 180 before i quit. We also have been hosting a monthly Texas holdem tournament starting last month. Next week is our next one. It has been great fun getting a bunch of people together, drinking shots, playing poker and just having a great time together. I can't wait for the next one. Other than that, just existing,

Tattoo #2

I'm almost finished too. I have two more that I want to get. Then I'm done. I'm not one of those bikers that wants tattoos up and down his body. But I do like the ones i have, and I do love the ones I have planned. So here is my latest. I just got it yesterday. The next one will be that of a cross with a crown of thorns, that is shaped out of puzzle pieces and has Romans 7:15 listed on it. The final one will be to allow my artist to expand on the tribal he originally put on my right arm. Then I'm done. Tina is also scheduled for one more in July. Not sure how many more she plans on getting, but I like what she has so far.

Cub Scout Outing on the Ohio River in Cincinatti

Today I took my cub scouts on an outing to the newport on the levee and we did a 5 mile walk that took us from Kentucky to Ohio and back. Enjoy the pictures.

Sound Board Trials...

Running the sound boards for a 1000+ member church can be a challenge all its own. The complexity of a 60 channel mixing board alone can be daunting at first especially when your running on an analog board. But the politics of the whole thing are interesting as well. I remember one of my first weeks on this assignment the worship coordinator got to me after the first service and told me that the pastor wanted his microphone to be louder because he didn't want to have to speak too loud being that he had three services he had to speak through. So I turned him up a little bit for the next service and within the first 20 words he said in front of everyone, Gary can you turn me down a little. Unreal. It also seems like although there are only four of us that run the sound boards there are obviously at least a dozen talents sound mixers in the audience that are just waiting to give you some form of feedback after the service is over, and yet they never run the boards themselves. Hmmm..... Anyway today was a prime example. The song selections had driving drum riffs and with an accoustic set, even behind a sound shield there is only so much you can add to the mains without drowning everyone else out. After the first service one of the other techs who run sound boards came to me and said the drums were just a bit loud, which I agree with, but they were almost completely out of the mix. Then after third service another person came to me and said there wasn't enough drums in the mix. Hmmm.... They also said that I didn't add enough bass to the mix. I didn't have the heart to tell him I was listening to the bass player, and I was doing everyone a service by keeping him low enough as to not be heard too well. But anyhow I digress. I guess its just a matter of being willling and able to take the advice of those you know are good at what they do, and ignoring everyone else in a politically correct manner.

38 is just around the corner

Well my birthday is on Monday and I realized I hadn't blogged in a while so I thought I'd take the time to reflect on the past year just a bit. It's been a busy and sometimes turbulent year, but lots of new experiences, lots of new explorations. I got my first tattoo, was for the first time a den leader of a cub scout group, had my first full year in a house that I own, saw the closing of some of my buildings with Office Depot, had two job interviews that fell through due to the economic downturn, had the clutch go out on my car, and explored some new friendships, lost fifty pounds and worked up to five mile runs. Wow what a year. And I'm not sure I would change a thing. This year promised even more in the way of new events and explorations. I plan on getting a motorcycle sometime this year and perhaps a few new tattoos. God has been good to me, and I am so very blessed, and I cannot fail to mention that aspect to my life. So with my birthday quickly approaching, Tina has sweetly bought me two dozen red roses. I will post a picture of them her. One of the interesting things about Tina is that she gets so excited about gift giving that it turns my birthday into something akin to the twelve days of Christmast. So tonight I came home and found new jammies waiting for me on my pillow. I only have one other pair and they are remnants of my fat days. So I will finally have a comfy pair that actually fit me. Maybe I will go out in public in jammies now that I have some that fit me (NOT -- LOL). Anyway I'm looking forward to seeing all this year has to offer and will continue to share my life with all my friends and family that visit here often.

Pine Wood Derby - Cub Scouts grand tradition

We went to my youngest son Matthews Pine Wood derby competition today. We worked hard on his car and I thought it looked pretty decent. I should have used the darn graphite on the wheels though and it was pretty slow. He was a little disapointed but I thought it was a good time over all. And I must say there were some very creative cars there. Matthews car did look pretty good. We just have to work on the speed thing next year. His car is in the top left of the photo with all the cars. Its the red one right next to the bath tub car (just to the right).

Inked

So I finally broke down and did it. Almost 38 years old, and 20 years of wanting something but not being sure if I was up for it. I went out and got a tattoo. It was a much better experience than I would have thought. I lucked into just about the best tattoo artist ever. His name is Mario Johnston and you can check out some of his other work at http://www.lambadicitytattoos.com/ . So I'd be remiss if I didn't post a photo of my tattoo here on my blog. So here goes....

Cub Scout Pack Meeting.

Today we had an awesome cub scout pack meeting with Matthew's cub scout pack where they brought in a juggler for the kids. Thought I'd share some of the pictures and video I took with my phone :-)