Halls of Power

Just off the rotunda of the West Virginia State Capitol.

Squire

Another one from Saturday that I liked.  It's the front window of The Squire Tobacco shop on Capitol St.  I like the reflections and the 2 giant cigars.

Larry And His Flask

I had no idea what this sticker meant but I thought it looked cool.  I saw a couple of  'em on Capitol Street Saturday morning.  I looked it up on line this evening and found out it's a band.  Check 'em out, they're pretty good.  Crank it up.

Conduit and Cable

This is my favorite shot from the photowalk on Saturday.

Some more from the Photowalk

The Painter

Capitol Street.

Front and Back

My daughter and I went to the Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk in Charleston this morning.  Here a couple that I like.  I've been going to this camera shop since I was a teenager.

My Wrecking Crew

I'm 5' 11" with my shoes on.

This...

...is a Busy Bee.

This is just a bear in a bee costume.

Three

Bay Street.  Beaufort, SC.

"Old" Camera

I got 3rd place just the other day with this photo in the dpreview challenge, "Taken with a digital camera from the last millennium".  I bought the camera in 1999 (still have it).  It was a 2.1 megapixel Nikon Coolpix 800 point & shoot that was a AA battery eatin' machine.

I got 26th (you could enter 2) with this shot.  She is the daughter of a friend of mine that I work with.  She's all grown up and in college now.

Big Burger Challenge

I almost forgot to post these pictures from last week.  The guys on my shift and I went to Oskee's to have a Big O hamburger.  It's got 1.25 lbs. of hamburger, pastrami, ham, five different cheeses, thousand island dressing and all the regular hamburger fixins.  Matt (top) finished his first but Brandon ate his and finished the rest of mine and ate the pickle too.  Lt. Dan was the only smart one of the bunch.  He got a regular sized burger.  It was really good but just a little on the big side for me.

The Caller...

...took 1st place in the National Arts Program and I sold my panorama of Manhattan (my other entry).  My daughter also won 1st place in the Youth 12-18 category.

A couple shots...

...from yesterday that I liked.

New River

Yesterday we took a little road trip to explore some various parts of the New River.  First off, we stopped at Burger Carte to get something to eat.

Our next stop was at the foot of Gauley Mountain so we could walk across the train bridge and explore a really cool rocky area on the other side of the river.  We also waded and swam a little bit there.

After we left there we stopped at The Mystery Hole.  We've been there a bunch but my wife's cousin and her daughter had never seen it.  If you've never done it you should check it out.

We stopped at the Dairy King in Ansted after the MH and loaded up on ice cream.  After DK we went to Edmond and the Beauty Mountain area of the New River Gorge.  Kim and I have been going there since we were kids and we thought Bonnie and Allie would like it.  We could look down and see part of the river that we rafted last summer.

Our last stop was at Cotton Hill to go swimming.  The water was awesome.  We stayed there for a few hours and swam and floated and messed around on the rocks in the river.  We also got a rare treat when we first got in the river. We saw a bald eagle flying overhead and it landed on some rocks in the middle of the river.  It was awesome to see.  This is my third time seeing an eagle in the wild.  I think it was Kim's, Bonnie's and Allie's first time.  Kim and I saw it again later but nobody else did.

We had a great day. 

Talk about relaxed!

Our cat, Little, laying in the living room window.  I think the heat is gettin' to her.

I got this email...

...from a friend of mine that I work with.  Check it out, it's pretty good.

To Those of  Us  Born  

1920 - 1965  

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE

                   1930's, 40's, 50's,

              60's and 70's!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered

with bright colored lead-base paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes,

we had baseball caps

not helmets on our heads..

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.

Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar.

And, we weren't overweight..   WHY?

Because we were always outside playing...that's why!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on..

No one was able to reach us all day.

And, we were OKAY.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps

and then ride them down the hill,

only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem

We did not have Play stations, Nintendo's and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's,

no surround-sound or CD's,

no cell phones,

no personal computers,

no Internet and no chat rooms.

WE HAD FRIENDS

and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We would get spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping pong paddles, or just a bare hand and no one would call child services to report abuse.

We ate worms and mud pies

made from dirt, and

the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not poke out very many eyes.

 

 

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.

 Little League had tryouts

and not everyone made the team.

Those who didn't had to learn

to deal with disappointment.  

Imagine that!!

 The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best

risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever.

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility,

and we learned how to deal with it all.

If YOU are one of them, CONGRATULATIONS!

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it ?

~

The quote of the month is by

Jay Leno:

'With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu, swine flu, West Nile virus and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'

 

Another Injury...

...on our last day at the beach.  Kim suggested I shouldn't post a picture because it would make people sick, but I couldn't resist.  I did turn it to black and white so it would be less repulsive.  If I have any pukers let me know.

I was just walkin' along the beach, and let me tell you, the sea was angry today my friends, like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli.  Anywho, like I said I was just walking along and stumped my toe on a rock that was obscured by the water.  Man, did it hurt.  At least I didn't have to go to the emergency room like I did summer before last.