what happened to summer in Maine

It rained the whole month of June and into July....we have enough rain to supply the rest of the United States. We have not had a week of dry weather yet.

back to blogging

After sitting in my cellar doing my new job for 10 hours a day....I have decided to get back into maintaining this blog. I will post more items and things....when they happen.

April....my wife and I attended a Boston Red Sox baseball game...it was damp and cold when I went. Take a good look at the scoreboard....as of today the Sox are just a half a game out of first place.

Maine has too much snow to geocache :-(

Here are the 2 new geocoins that I purchesd off ebay and activated. I have noticed that the average coin are around the 10-12 range. So, I have been waiting for a bargain...or less than what coins had been going for last year. Come and get them and take them some where warm and heavily traveled.

Here are a few more projects that I had been working on while winter has held me back from exploring new cache finds. The perler ghoul is from a Nintendo game called Final Fantasy...and Mario is from a gameboy game called QUIX. I thought Mario sporting a sombrero was worth making.

January has been quite a month for snow, ice and more ice....I cannot fathom how that spring is just 48 days and a few hours away.
GEOCACHING - Today was a sunny but frigid day, I have had caching on my mind for weeks now. I had someone geocoin in my pocket for weeks and I thought it was time to drop off the coin and allow someone else to pass it along....I had 2 of my own to drop off. I went to a place that is just off U.S. Route 1 and next to a popular diner. I laced up my boots and grabbed my shovel to dig out the ammo can and check up on the cache loot. I stomped through snow that was up to my knees and just off the path where lots of deer tracks.....so this little event took about 10 minutes and it felt good to look at the log book and rummage through the toys and goodies. So now "feeling moody" has 4 geocoins and 1 travel bug just waiting for the next adventurer. Next, I will find time to actually use my new gps that I have had since Christmas.

What a month....

It is a new year....2009 is here and since my last post, I have had allot on my plate to deal with. December 11th, I was told after 14 years of work with MBNA/Bank of America, my current was no longer needed and I was offered a severance package. I packed up my boxes and shook hands with those who I adored and enjoyed, I turned in my id badge and headed home. There had been 6 of us in my area that got the news. I was excited to start a new life and find some new job and learn something new. I decided after a few weeks to start looking for a job and I realized that I am not meant to stay home. I found a great job working from home for a company called Intelligent Signage, Inc. --see this at http://www.intelligentsignage.net/

I will in the process of learning the ropes and figuring out how to obtain new leads.

Perler: I have been busy with my time off and making several new perler designs. I realize that it occupies allot of my time....so I will wait until it is snowing out to make more time for this. I will post some pics of these masterpieces.

Geocaching: Maine is buried with snow....the snow is old and frozen solid. I went out to check out my cache hides...and had to almost bust out the containers from the icy snow. There are a few die hard Mainers that geocache in the winter....I will wait a little longer to start finding new ones. My wonderful wife bought me a Garmin Colorado 400t, it is a touchscreen and paperless handheld....it is sooooo much better than my other gps.

Holiday Bliss

It has been a week since I was severanced from my job with Bank of America which was coming. We had been told there was going to be some staffing reductions. I didnt think it would have impacted my job or job level. So....I am now home and enjoying not going to work with the snow falling outside. That is a relief. Even know I will be paid to stay home until August of 2009, I still need to make sure I find an additional income. All prayers are welcomed!

Perler - I have been having tons of fun making designs with perler beads. I have a few projects under construction...I just finished making a large MEGAMAN from Nintendo (GBA era). I make the designs and I will hang them in my kids rooms.

Geocaching: hmmm....I have not had an idle day to find some more treasures hiding. I will find more time after the holidays. My hate my Garmin e-trex vista. It dies out on me...and then there is this black line that runs down the whole side of my screen. I am eager to make an upgrade in the late winter. First I will need to sell some stuff on ebay and not take out of my paycheck.

quirky little hobby

Have you ever had the privilege of using Perler Beads to make a design or a logo. What is it....they are little circle dots that you can arrange onto a plastic pegboard. I have been finding the older 8-bit designs of characters from the Nintendo Era (late 80's). I have found some patterns for the original Mario Bros., Final Fantasy I,II,III series and Zelda. I have been enjoying with my kids....putting together projects that we can work on together. My daughter usually helps me sort out the various colors so I can work more efficiently since I do not have allot of time to waste (isn't this a waste of time if you have housework to do?). I find this odd and quirky hobby a stress reducer for me...since I have to focus on what I am doing and take the time to count. I see this is similar to cross stitching...yes, when I was a kid and sick with the chicken pox, I had taken a day to try cross stitching since my mom was into it. I created a Garfield pattern and a snowflake paper weight. For Christmas my daughter wants to make a Hello Kitty design for her....so I will find any excuse to find time to do this for her. My wife thinks it is funny that I have found a child's craft so entertaining and addicting.....I guess once I finish this project, I will be out and about in the snow looking for some cache's with geocaching. I am in need of a new gps. Help!!!!

Life is like a video game....Donkey Kong for me.

Life feels like a video game to me sometimes. I thought that I would reflect some of my logic into why I think the way I do. I will put my thoughts into video game text for you.

Insert Coin: To me this where you invest your time and money to achieve the highest score possible while enjoying the challenge. This is where your paycheck gets used up on taxes and food, bills and everything else that your money goes towards other than to you bank account.

1 or 2 Player Mode: I enjoy 2 player mode…to me I try to think that I can do things on my own, then when I fall, I realize that if I was in “2 player mode” I could have learned from my mistakes while growing and developing my game skills. My wife is my bestfriend…and she is my player 2 that is there for me and someone who I can go to when times are tough or when I need more quarters or tokens to play more.

High Scores: Do we really try for the high score….do we actually get intimidated when we see the score set so high that the game might not be worth playing if you have a competitive edge. One thing that I like to do is unplug the machine and start over. It is kind of ironic…but I thought that I was a bad person as a child. I used to think I was in a gang and if I intimidated people I would earn respect and no one would challenge me. When I became a Christian and devoted my life to Jesus Christ….my burden and past was removed. I had my machine unplugged and the high score was erased. I now try to beat my high score knowing it is mine to improve.

Cheat Codes: Getting ahead in life my manipulating the system, I used to find ways to cut corners and get things the easy way until I realized I was cheating myself and could be setting a bad example to others around me. I have to do things the hard way….I need to feel the disappointment and I am fine with that. When the success comes my way, I can enjoy and recognize it was mine and I am not afraid to start over. Just insert another coin.

Game Over: Is it? For me that is when I give up….which is not going to happen, or do you really ever see the end of the game. The game of life changes and never is quite the same. I will keep a firm grip on the controller and push that “Mario” up the ladder towards the prize….then it is off to the next level….what do you do? That is what separates the average gamer from the pro’s.