Simple Hotel Sleep Solutions

Have you ever slept in a hotel only to be woken by sunlight through the blinds, light peeking through the bottom of the door or people crashing through the halls.

Look familiar??  I'm sure the sunrise is beautiful.

Here is a few hours later about 9 or 10 am when the sun is in full force.

Well this may not be a problem for everyone, but for me I occasionally work nights that require me to check into a hotel anywhere from 1 am to 6 am.  Checking in at these times only means that it will be difficult to sleep past noon.  There are a few things that I do upon check-in that help aide me in getting a good nights rest and may help you in the future.
Always ask for a room at the end of a hall.  I don't care about the walk, but I make sure I am away from the elevators and ice/vending machines.  I also make sure I am not placed near the house keepers laundry room or storage closet.
Next tell the front desk attendant that your room will not require cleaning and to not call or knock on the door.
When I finally make it to my room, one of the first things to take care of is those pesky curtains.  A simple solution is to take a pants hangar from the closet and pinch off those curtains.

There's was no point in taking a picture with the room light off since you'd see nothing but darkness!!!

When it is time to turn in for the night, roll up an extra bath towel and place it at the bottom of the door.

This keeps all light out from the hall.

Now that we have the room dark, how do we eliminate the noise.   The only two things, other than room placement, is to run the bathroom fan and wear earplugs.  The bathroom fan is easy.  If you have never worn earplugs to bed, it may take a little getting used too.  When you're laying there silent and still, with earplugs in, you will hear your heartbeat.  Odd to say the least but you will definitely block out all noise this way.

No point to this picture, just some ugly curtains.

Hopefully you will try some of these simple solutions and make your rest period at a hotel more peaceful.

Steve

It's that time a year again....

It seems that everybody has just skipped right over Thanksgiving lately. All that you need to do is to walk though just about every department store and there are no turkeys, pilgrims or cornucopias. It is kind of disheartening. I love Thanksgiving! It is a time for hunting and eating; two of my favorite things. This Thanksgiving will be the first anniversary of my dads hunting accident. I am thankful that he was able to get help and live to see another Thanksgiving.

 

Thanks to my dad I have something to blog about. I think that a basic survival kit should be an everyday carry item. They are simple and can be packed in everything from Altoids tins to Tupperware tubs depending on what they will be used for. Today I will be covering everyday carry. I have broken down what you will need into a few simple categories: fire and light, signaling, water and food, knives and tools, personal protection, and medical.

 

Fire and light:

I have listed these items first because I believe them to be the most important. I carry a good flashlight and spare batteries everyday. I can't tell you how frequently I use my flashlight; it seems that everyday in some situation I think to myself "dang I'm glad that I have a flashlight." It does not have to be a super expensive blindingly bright light, any reliable light will work. Always carry extra batteries because they seem to die at the time of most need. You never know when the lights in your parking lot will go out and you will have to walk to your car alone in the dark. Alone and in the dark, that situation invites to many bad guys, and a flashlight may be all that you need to stay safe. In addition to my trusty flash light I carry some simple things that I could use to start a fire. You never know when we may need to start a fire whether it is to keep us warm or signal for help. I always have a couple of lighters on hand and a flint and steel. My belly button, and pockets always have an ample of amount of lint to use to start fires, lol.

 

Signaling:

Most people overlook this simple but useful part of my kit. I have a whistle and my flashlight  to signal for help. Screaming your head off to get people to notice you would get old after awhile and the screeching of a few loud whistle blasts will turn peoples attention to you quickly. If it is dark sound would be useful to notify people that you may be in danger but light will let them pinpoint your exact location much more easily. My old man would have been in a much better situation if he had these items during his descent down the mountain with a broken leg.

 

Water and Food:

You won't make it long with out food, and without water your timeline becomes even shorter. I always carry my one liter jug in my pack; even if I don't drink it I feel more comfortable having it in there. You won't find any skittles in my satchel but there is hardly a time when you will catch me with out at least a box of raisins and a granola bar. I know that it isn't much but if you think about it, if your place of work were to be locked down or if you had to be stuck somewhere for an extended period of time unexpectedly its nice to have a snack and a drink.

 

Knives and tools:

I have a strange fascination with knives, I carry at least 3 of them on me or in my everyday carry bag ever since I watched the Today Show about hiker that had to use a dull knife to cut off his own arm. I use my knife everyday for simple tasks and feel naked without it and hopefully I never have to use to cut my own arm off. Another standard in my pack is my multi-tool. I use my leatherman just about as much as I use my knife. It has screwdrivers, pliers, wire cutters and a plethora of other gadgets that I use to do everything from repairing my spectacles to fixing my jeep. It is a must have!

 

Personal Protection:

Personal protection is a major component to my everyday survival pack. I don't just carry my firearm, because if all that you have is a hammer, everything becomes a nail. As I have stated I do carry a firearm; I also carry a spare magazine just in case. Pepper spray is also a vary viable solution to one's personal protection needs. It will cause tremendous pain, greatly impair your attackers vision and gives you a fighting chance to escape. Tasers are also very useful, they allow you to shoot two barbed projectiles into your attacker and then apply a healthy dose of electric current to them rendering them in most cases helpless. The pocket knife listed above is a great edged weapon if you are in a life or death situation and the flashlight makes for a great striking weapon.

 

shazam, instant ice pick.

 

Medical:

Carrying a dose or two worth of whatever medication you take is an essential. If you are unable to drive home due to bad weather, you will soon realize that your prescriptions are worth packing. As a diabetic it is not an option to go without these items. I also pack some Tylenol and some tums. Something else that you may want to think about is a spare pair of glasses. Depending on your vision a broken pair may leave you stranded. I don't buy multiple sets of glasses, I merely use my old sets. Even if my prescription changes, my old prescription is more than satisfactory for a short term solution.

 

You may think that this is overkill, and in a way you are right. I have at least two items from each category on me about everyday. I guess it is the boy scout in me. Its just my nature; overkill rarely fails. Since there are several cases in which we have items that fit into multiple categories you could go with a bare bones kit. I would not go with less than a flashlight, pocket knife, lighter, whistle, your meds and a spare set of glasses. Needing something and not having it is much worse that having something and not needing it.

Boo who?

Oh, boo who! Today is Halloween, a night for ghosts, goblins, candy and mischief, or at least it was when we were kids. The world was a different place back then, drugs weren't on every street corner, gangs didn't take up residence in the suburbs, and there were no national threat color coded warnings. I get that, but I went trick or treating the other day with my son. Yeah I know today is Halloween and you would think that tonight would be deemed beggars night, and you might even think that it would start at dusk. That was not the case in our community.

 

We trick or treated in broad daylight starting at 5:30 and it ended at 7:30. It was not on Halloween so only about 1/4 of the houses were even prepared for the horde of dressed up kids. I think it is silly not to trick or treat in the dark on Halloween.

 

The one nice thing that our community did was have cadets from the police academy on foot patrol. It looked like a scene from the hit 80's comedy Police Academy: Citizens on Patrol. All that they were missing was Tackleberry and Tubs. This was a nice gesture by the city, but I can think back to the days of my youth. When Halloween was really something.

 

Bobbi Jo and I would meet up at dark at our Nunny's house. Dress up in the sweetest costumes, not some store bought reproductions; I have nothing against the store bought costumes my son was a store bought Obi Wan and it was cute. After we would get our pictures taken we would embark on an epic journey that would span the entire neighborhood. We grew up in a small little town but we probably walked 3 miles in the course of an evening. Everybody had their porch lights on, dressed up to give out candy, or left a bowl of candy out on their porch for the kids. The weirdest thing from this by gone era was that we knew everybody in our community, by name.

 

This was a different world. Places could call Halloween parties just that, instead of coming up with dumb code names such as harvest parties to cover up the pagan roots of the holiday. We were not afraid of our neighbors, because we knew them, and we didn't live in a housing development, we lived in a community. It is for the kids, so have fun be mischievous leave the toilet paper at home and give out handfuls of candy.

Barry

Simple Solar Light Craft

We are always discussing different kinds of crafts to come up with.  I've heard of this awhile ago but never have seen it done.  If you are anything like me, I can visualize the end product and how to get there.  I usually don't follow instructions and just go by feel and in a logical order.  This is also an inexpensive idea since the materials in most stores are on clearance due to the end of the summer season.
This solar light craft is a very simple concept and very easy to do.  When the solar light is finished, there are many ways to use it and decorate it.  I consider it a "green" project because when it's done, it requires no power to charge or run it, just the good old sun.

So lets get started.  Here's the materials you will need:
Glass Jar
Solar light
Glue
Frosting, stickers, etc

Here are a few of the glass jars I used. Use different sizes and shapes.

Here are the solar lights that were on clearance for $.50 a piece.  Again

different sizes to fit in the lids.

I then took the bottom post off and discarded it.  I also cut the little knobby 

off that held the post.

Next run a bead of glue around the edge of the solar light.

Turn solar light upside down and place in center of lid.  You can use a clamp

to secure it while the glue dries.  I also added a bead of glue between

the side of the light and lid for extra security.

Then let dry.

When the glue has dried, decorate as you wish.  I used two different colors of

frosting.  One is the typically clear color and the other is a sea-foam color.

The bottom left jar I did not frost and added some colored glass

to the inside for visual effect.

The lines you see from the light are the plastic piece that's inside the solar light.

Depending on the effect you are trying to achieve, you can either

leave it or remove it.  It has no effect on the lights performance.

Here is another example of a night light for our son's room.  Bobbi found stickers

of lightning bugs and I sprayed the sea-foam frosting on the outside for

that fire fly look.

Here it is in somewhat darkness.

I believe the price for the big jar with the bugs was $3.00 because everything was on clearance.

Use your imagination and decorate how you wish.  These could be used as night lights, or on a patio table instead of a candle.  Spray frosting and etch a word or saying inside it.  Maybe just add some colored glass.  There are numerous ideas.

I hope this inspired you to make a few and please send me your ideas.  I have a few blank jars ready to be decorated.  I may wait until Christmas and make one a snow man or put snowflakes on it.

Enjoy!!!!!~

Steve ✈

Make Hay while the sun shines

Today was one of those fall days that more often than not, happen in memory rather than in real life. It transported me back to some of those days in my memory. When youthful bliss was a bike ride away, or just a stroll down the road. For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together.  For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad. 

 

Don't you miss sowing and scattering? I do, and it hasn't even frosted. Please don't miss out on these final crowded hours of summer, you will feel miserable if you do. Especially when you have three inches of ice entombing the world around you. The equinox is not until September 23 rd, we still have a couple of days left. Make hay while the sun shines!

Barry

Portion Control

Well it is officially here!!  The start of another football season is underway.  Now I know not everyone here is a fan, but I am sure at some point you will sit down and watch a game.  The problem I seem to have is that I end up eating too much.  There are always snacks to be had and more food than is needed, which means that I stack my plate too high with all of the delicious food.  A solution to this is to use a kid’s plate.  We have quite a few and they are the best thing to control portions.  Instead of piling on the meatballs, or hot dog weenies, etc, only a few of each will fit in its own space.  This means I end up eating less.  Now at some point we all have to have some self control and not go back for thirds or fourths.   It will definitely cut down on the calories and that full belly, I can’t move feeling by the end of the game. 

We obviously also use these for the boys as well.  When they're little, it's hard for them to tell when they are "full".  So parents have to use their own judgement and watch how much they put on their kids plate.  The contents also have taken into consideration.  I.E. more fruit / veggies, less chips / junk.

Try them out and see if you stop overeating on game days.

Steve

Free Rangers

 

In an era of overbearing, over scheduling and helicopter moms it hard for kids to be kids. I am definitely a product of an overbearing mother. I couldn't cross the street until I was 12. Mind you I lived in a rural community and the only people that drove down this gravel drive way lived there! I am thankful for our pediatrician who advised us when our little guy was in his infancy that we should let him experience the world and explore his surroundings. This led to my wife and I adopting the free range idea.

 

Its nice to see little boys being little boys. Samuel is pretty good and well rounded, we don't hover over him or over schedule him or keep him on such a strict routine that our kid's childhood his being sucked right out of his soul. Yes, he gets into trouble, hell he's even been run over by a golf cart; but that too was a learning experience. The glare from his notebook paper doesn't bother him, he isn't afraid of getting dirty, and he knows if he is going to do something wrong, the juice better be worth the squeeze. I am terrible at a bunch of things, but I think I'm an OK dad.

 

Thank you Sam for being my son, drinking from our water hose, peeing outside, and being mischievous. Y'all enjoy your labor day with your kids.

Sh!t My Kids Ruined

Let me start out by saying that I love my kids and know that they are little and accidents will happen. Depending on the item, ruined can either be a permanent or temporary condition.  I have resigned to the fact that my house will be destroyed for the next 10+ years and will only fix the items that really are in need.  There are numerous books where pages have been torn out or spines are ripped in half.
For example, Da Freakout decided one day that he was going to move the console in my truck so he could sit in the middle.  Well instead of lifting the small handle to do it, he just started pulling by the cupholder and separated the cupholders from the rest of the seat.  I will say that duct tape and a large tube of super or gorilla glue is a must. 
Here is a small list including photos of sh!t my kids ruined.

Venetian blinds.  No less than 6 are broke right now in my house.

Great for privacy.

Bar stool 1 Wood Floor 0

Some Ninja decided that standing on the gate and jumping to get over it was a good idea.

Check out the duct tape repair.

Dyson vacuum no longer has a holder for the cord.

What's missing?  How about my favorite Japanese Maple shrub that was right in the middle of the mulch.

Da Freakout drove his power wheel F150 right over it.

Trampoline netting.  Not even a year old and there was a 7 foot rip in it.  Once it started, they kept pulling it.

I had to take some heavy rope to sew it back up.

Well this may not be ruined, but it's to funny not to share.  I gave the boys a bath in the jacuzzi tub last night and left the water and soap in there.  I wanted to fill the tub up more and add Clorox to clean the jets.  Bobbi decided to turn the jets on and close the door.  10 minutes later she came down laughing hysterically on what happened.  Pretty funny but my arms still smell like Clorox.

What are some things that your kids have ruined?? Just stockpile the duct tape and glue and all will be good. 

 Have a great Monday!!!!

Steve ✈

Survival in the workplace

I know that most of my survival tips have had you thinking about preparedness, tools, and keeping your cool. Today my survival spotlight is upon workplace survival. It has been called a rat race, the urban jungle, the grind and a slew of other slang terms; we know it better as our jobs. We all need income to survive, whether we like it or not. We must make the best of what we have and be thankful for our jobs. In a job climate where it has become the norm to do more with less it is crucial that we do all that we can to prevent burnout, breakdowns, and complete insanity. I have a few little tricks of the trade that have been passed down to me by a guy in a field where burnout runs rampant.

The first thing that we must come to terms with is “acknowledging our limitations”. I have a hard time with this one, and it’s only the first step. I think this is where it all goes wrong. I feel like my limitations are limitless and I blaze a trail into the perils of my work load. This usually ends up with me becoming very annoyed with those around me. This is probably an adverse side effect of not accepting my own limitations. 

When the words “spread the load” hit my ears it was a life changing moment; my eyes were opened and praise the Lord I could see!!! My problems were not with my workers, they lie within. They do not have a clue about what is going on unless I tell them. All that they see is their manager working freakishly hard, in a bad mood, and sweating profusely. I have neglected to spread the load with others. This is a key point in backpacking and it works very well, how I could have overlooked this seemingly obvious step in life. I must focus on my verbal communication with my guys. If they don’t know what I am working on or why I am doing the things I do how can I expect them to help? It is unfair to leave your workers in the dark about what is going on behind the front lines. They were hired for their own individual talents. 

Recognizing the great talents of those around us is a tough thing to do when you are out of breathes, sweating and irate. I am not the all knowing, all seeing Wizard of OZ. The fate of the world is not in my hands alone. Take a break, a moment to reflect, or what ever it is that you do to get to your happy place inside of your brain and remove your self from the situation for a brief moment. Go over the individual skill sets that your personal cast of OZ possess and make an inventory of their major assets. The main factor of personal satisfaction at work is having workers know that they are important. Hand off the tasks they can easily conquer on their own, and save the important stuff to be done personally. I have a hard time doing this because my OZ seems more like the setting of the Showtime prison series, Oz, than the Dorothy and Toto version that most of us are more familiar with. 

We all face down our own daily demons when it comes to surviving work, you may be a CEO or your family’s chief financial officer, we all have a work load that sometimes swamps us and puts us in a funk. I am here to let you know that many have passed before us and done their jobs and sought out ways to make it more like fun than work. My best advice on this survival scenario is to surround yourself with great people, and if you don’t have the luxury of choosing the people that you surround yourselves with at work, look for the best in everybody. You may be pleasantly surprised with what you find. It is hard to recognize the great talents of those around us until we find out what our own limitations are. 

Barry

Bowling Pins, Swamp Thing and Clay Pigeons.

Friends and neighbors allow me to gush my joy out on this blog post today. I have spent a glorious day at one of my friends new homes in the Hocking Hills area of Ohio. Not only was it quite the Sunday drive with its picturesque views but it was an entire day filled with good 'ole fashioned fun. The invitation read something like this, bring some guns lots of ammo, beverages, and a chair. I like when my days are spelled out for me, especially when it involves some front porch sitting, shooting and some mud slinging.

 

Getting to these remote localities are usually part of the fun. I had some rough directions and a decent idea that I would get turned around and see some cool stuff. This trip did not disappoint; the directions were as rural as the location and definitely involved a "turn left where the old barn used to be." Eventually I made it to the shindig and shortly after that the festivities began. Gathered in the hills where quite a motley crew of other gun slingers their better halves and some young in's running wild. The shooting involved everything from rim fire rifles and pistols, to a couple of race guns, some sporting shotguns and a smattering of modern sporting rifles, AR 15's.

 

It wasn't long ago that I horse traded for some bowling pins and rapidly realized the exceptional quality of targets these things made. They can absorb the heaviest hitters and keep on going. These little guys were seemingly indestructible as they soaked up round after round of our ammo. The kids loved them because they fell over when they shot them and even the adults loved the reactive targets. During our shooting spree we were blessed to have a clay pigeon thrower and couple of hand held throwers to keep the eager shot gunners busy.

 

To cap the day off, there we embarked on a quick set of trail riding. The rain provided us with plenty of mud and there were enough quads to go around. Once our adventurous needs were satisfied we hosed ourselves off and had a great dinner break with brats, chips and dip, including a corn salsa that I will soon have the recipe to.

 

Mother nature let loose some more downpours and we hung out on the porch and relived the highlights of the day, and planned out our next rendezvous. How much better can life get folks?  A short jaunt out of the city was exactly what I needed.

Barry

A Different Kind of Vacation

When you think of going on vacation to a beach somewhere, what do you picture? Maybe a huge oceanfront condo, beach house or beautiful resort. 

Well there’s another way to enjoy a week or two at the beach that not many people realize and that’s in an RV.  There are many camp grounds around the coasts that are right on the beach.  These campgrounds have many of the same amenities as a resort or hotel.  The one we recently stayed at has two pools, one indoor and one outdoor, a lazy river, Laundromat and even a little general store to name a few.  In an RV you have all of the comforts of a hotel, TV, a/c, bathroom etc…  Each spot has full hook ups for electric, sewer, water and TV.

                                                                                  This was our set-up.

When I turned to the right, here is how far the beach is.

There are some major differences though that you can’t do at a resort.  Sleep outside in a hammock, cook on a grill are a couple of the big ones.  Everyone decorates with lights, signs and whatever else they feel.  It’s also nice that you don’t have to go out and eat every day.  That gets very expensive.  D’s favorite part is when he gets to cruise around in a golf cart.  That’s the most popular way to roam the campground and to go from the beach to the pool.

This is our ride.

Since my family is growing, we are not all able to fit in the RV as comfortable as we used to too.  Since Mom Mom and Poppa sleep in the back, that basically leaves the couch for 4.  Not gonna happen.  So this year I brought a tent to sleep in right next to the RV.  So you may be thinking a tent at Myrtle Beach has to be hot as he!!.  Well you’re right if you’re not prepared.  It just so happens that I brought a portable a/c unit to put in the tent.  I set the temp to 70 degrees and had no issues.  It was actually so cool in there that I need a blanket.  I was also sleeping on an air mattress and had a small 15” lcd TV hooked up.  What else do you need?  I know it sounds like it was just me in the tent, and it was the first two days, but the last 4, Bobbi and the boys joined me.   The first two days we were there it rained like crazy.  So Bobbi and the boys stayed in the camper.

When the sun did finally show itself, it was beach, pool, dinner and the bed.  Rinse and repeat each day.  Since you are so close to the beach, it’s easy to walk to your camper whenever you need anything.  Lunch, drinks or a nap where only 50 yards away. 

It’s nice not having to deal with dragging the boys through a hotel lobby and take an elevator to a room.  Having your own spot and everything you need is what we enjoy.

Poppa’s RV says it all on the back, Roughing it Smoothly. 

Steve

Back in the Day

Holy crap loyal blog followers! It has been scorching hot here in central Ohio. I remember how I used to cherish these miserable dog days of summer in my youth. Growing up in West Virginia definitely had its perks, one of my best friends and I would always take the hottest days of the year and embark on the most spectacular man day voyages that I recall. Most of these stellar trips revolved around Seneca Creek, and usually ended at Seneca Falls. We would wet wade the six mile stretch of White's Run from the road to Seneca Falls. The nice things about trout streams is that they are never usually over 60 degrees even during the hottest most humid days of summer. There could hardly be a trickle of water meandering down the bottom mountain skirted river bed and suddenly it would open up to an amazing hole that we would pull the most beautiful little trout of. All of the trout that were hidden in our little secluded piece of heaven were native to this stream and had lived their lives in the wild. The coloration of these trout is testament that God was an artist.

 

 

Although these trout usually never broke 12 inches it was one of the greatest thrills that anyone can experience. We used these extraordinarily hot days to take advantage of their natural instincts. The water levels would be quite low by this part of the summer and we could stroll up to a deep pool and catch these wonders of nature like it was going out of style. Do not think that we plucked the God given gifts from the river to keep friends and neighbors, not one of the fish that we caught from this paradise were ever kept. How could rob from this place? It was nearly a holy land and quite frankly it was our mecca. During all of our trips past the gated parking lot a grand total of 2 other fisherman were seen besides ourselves.

 

I am thankful that I have had my taste of the bliss that is wet wading this once unknown stream. As much as we thought it was our own personal Eden, it was not. Shortly after I graduated college I was informed that the exact location, directions to, and just how wonderful it was just happened to be published in a major fly fishing publication. Paradise lost.

 

The key to our joy during these hot days was the water. Heat illness is dangerous and can be fatal. Back in the day we could drink straight from the fast flowing parts of the stream and not think twice all that we brought were empty pop bottles to fill up as we fished. The heat and humidity can be very dangerous it can lead to heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Keep an eye out for the heat index when you are out adventuring this is how hot it feels with the humidity factored into the equation. High humidity makes it hard for your body's AC to work. It cannot cool itself, your sweat doesn't evaporate and you overheat. Once you add in exercise like hiking or fishing you are in trouble. You need to hydrate before during and after so that you do not succumb to the heat.

 

Symptoms of heat illness include rapid heart beat, sweating like a pig, cramping up, diarrhea, extreme confusion and unconsciousness. To treat these symptoms move into the shade immediately, remove clothes and wet the whole body down then fan rapidly to help the moisture evaporate and cool the body. If you are able to drink, drink cool non-alcoholic or caffinated beverages. During our trips to Seneca we would jump into the pools of cool mountain water to cool off and air dry on our hike back. Since everybody knows where it is, if you guys are ever headed down through WV and you see a little mountain road named Whites Run just before you hit the sprawling metropolis of Onego, and yes it is pronounced one go, stop by and bask in the fountain of youth.

How to be more Patient

Well….I’m listening.  Is there an answer?

There are no answers here, just things I am trying to do to become more patient.  I’d like to think overall that I am pretty patient but it just depends on the situation.  Maybe one day its traffic, the next it’s my job.  The number one thing that makes me lose it for sure though is my boys.  

I don’t know what it is, but I am going to try and figure it out.  I give them everything they could possibly ever need or even want.  Maybe I am expecting a little too much out of them, especially the older one.  I of course am speaking of Da freakout who is now 5.  With a nickname of Da Freakout, it’s a wonder how I have not been to the hospital yet on one of these.

Every time he is asked to do something it’s like a nuclear meltdown in the house or wherever we may be.  

It may be that he is still too young to understand some of the things that are asked of him.  After 10 times of telling him to pick up his toys or straighten the playroom up, he still doesn’t.  Maybe I need to tell him an 11^th time.  At some point he will listen, it’s just a matter of time.

Here are a few things that I am going to try:

1. Counting to 10 – I will just close my eyes and count slowly in my head.  Hopefully the thing that made me mad or frustrated will slowly disappear from my mind.  But counting out loud to 10, will give the boys a chance to escape.  Decisions….decisions.
2. Take a few deep breaths.  Simple enough just close my eyes and breathe deeply and exhale all that frustration.
3. Walk away- it sounds simple but may end up being the most effective.  Out of sight out of mind for a few minutes.  Combine with deep breathes;  this may be the way to go.
4. Laugh it off – sometimes things happen so often that it becomes comical.  When this happens I will try to just laugh.
5. Give love – things will happen where there truly is an accident.  When this happens I will just wrap the boys up in a hug and assure them things will be ok.

These are not cures, just things I am going to practice.  They seem simple enough in concept, now I just have to execute them when the crap hits the fan.  

Please share the things that cause you to lose your patience and possible ways to calm down before blowing a gasket.

Steve

The best laid plans of mice and men…

If you are reading this I have already dropped my wife off at the airport and my little boy is already in West Virginia with his nunny and pappy. I know what you are thinking, a whole week with no wife or kid, man his next blog is going to have pictures and yarns spun about his crazy adventures he went on while his wife and son are away. Sadly enough friends and neighbors this will not be the case. Or will it?

Fate has sent my wife and my assistant manager at the store I manage out of town. I am fortunate to have a job that I love and the ability to accrue overtime hours when need be. Hopefully I can venture out of the house before I get into my lonely funk; without my wife and little boy I am a pretty boring, near middle aged man. I come home eat a dinner that does not include all 5 of the food groups, pour myself a drink and watch entirely too much TV then go to sleep.

This vacation from my wife and kid, as long and lonesome as it may be, will not be spent dwelling in lonesomeness. I promise to go out and hike, wet wade the stream near our house, or do something fun. I have nearly every morning to do cool stuff. I will do cool stuff and I will have a good story and maybe even some pictures! I need to do something to keep my mind off just how miserable I would be if I didn’t have Jo or Sammy around. I will do it, and then I will share my awesome times with them when they return.

The outdoors is truly the perfect place! It is a place that can be best enjoyed with your friends and family, or it can be a place for quiet self reflection and peace. We must not forget this because we will all find our selves alone in one way or another. Let us praise mother nature; a great nurturing place that is made to be enjoyed, cherished and admired. The next time you find yourself lonely, or in a funk, or just out of sorts take the time to reflect on the beauty that is sometimes as close as our own back yard.

Happy 4th of July, Thank you Troops

We just want to thank all of the men and women who serve or have served in our armed forces.  Each of you have placed your lives on line to protect this country and provide us with the freedoms we enjoy everyday.  Your efforts and sacrifices are truly appreciated.  God bless all that have lost their lives fighting for this country.

Steve ✈

A better back yard and a margarita.

How is everybody doing? Hey its been a while, but i do have a great post for you today. Since I have been feeling better, I have been trying to get some things done that I had put off before I had the super power of breathing. We had our house built a few years ago and it was your plane jane corner lot with no real landscaping or hardscapes to be seen. I thought it best to improve the outdoors in my own back yard. It just seemed to be the best way to get the most outdoor enjoyment on a day to day basis.

 

We started the backyard make over with a deck. We enjoy this just about every evening with our favorite adult beverage. It is just the right size for me and my wife to hangout on and make the best out of what is left of the day. Our back yard is in the shade for the majority of the day; a good coffee in the morning is not uncommon on our deck. However, it became ever apparent that we were in dire need of some veiw improvement. With the help of my mom, and Bobbi Jo from this blog, I had already had some great plants around my yard that I could pull some starters from. I am not a horticultural wizard so I don't know exactly what the names of these plants are but I can give you some ideas of what you are seeing in the photos below. I have a variety of hostas, a barbberry bush, a bunny tail grass and I don't know what the pretty yellow flowers are. If you know please pass along the information.

 

Backyards are truely the essentials of outdoor enthusiasm, it is our little slice of tranquility and green space that we can access on a daily basis. Think of your backyard as a grassroots movement to the enjoyment of nature. Ours is  far from finished, we have plans for a fence so that our poor little beagle bunny can run wild with out having to be tethered to her leash, and the addition of some shade trees would make a wonderful canopy for the dog days of summer that we are all looking forward to enjoying.

 

While working on these projects I have realized that there is more to enjoy about the outdoors than when I had to constantly battle breathing in them. However, now that breathing isn't a problem I have time to dwell on those dang bugs that eat me alive. I must have turned into a sweeter person since the surgery because I swear I have had more bug bites since then than I can remember. Since I work at a large outdoors retailer I went in search of the perfect bug repellent. I started out seeking the product with the most amount of DEET possible, I was willing to risk the skin irritation for some shelter from the swarm of bugs that plagued me. Then I started thinking, these products have longer warnings than tobacco products, maybe I should seek an alternative. I inlisted the help of Trent, our resident camping guru. He turned me on to this silly looking contraption called a Thermacell. "It uses a butane insert and scent wafers to repel the bugs, no harmful chemicals, stink or the annoying sound of bugs getting zapped" he said, and after a thorough interrogation I reluctantly purchased this product along with a holster for it.

 

 

Trent has lived up to his reputation. This little thing is awesome! I brought it home mixed up some of Barry's Famous Margaritas and we hit the deck. I turned the little guy on and had a drink. Then I waited, and waited, and took my shirt off and waited, and to my amazement I didn't get one single bite. I don't even think a bug landed on me. The best part about it was that my wife was not bit either, it has a 15ft radius of protection, an impenetrable barrier that provides hours of bug free enjoyment. I have tried it while I fished, one of the greatest places to find nast ol'mosquitos is near water, and the bugs didn't bug me at all. It has my whole hearted endorsement.

 

Famous Margarita by Barry

2 Onces of Cazadores Reposado Tequila
1 Once of Grand Marnier

2 1/2 Onces of Margaritaville margarita mix or the Juice of 2 large limes

Salt rim generously

 

Sit back my friends, fire up the thermacell, knock back a couple margaritas, and enjoy!

Barry

An Office with a View

Not many people in the world enjoy the view that I and a few skilled pilots do.  That view obviously would be from the cockpit.  A few of these pictures were taken from a higher altitude, up to 45,000 feet.  It's not the same looking out the side window.  Sitting in the back you can not see what type of weather is ahead or even watch a beautiful sunrise or sunset.  There have been numerous times where I have taken off and watched the sunset, worked all night and even saw the sunrise the next morning. 

Now there are some photos below and i will try to explain a few.  Bobbi enjoys some of the beach/coastal pictures the best and even shares them on silent Saturdays. 

This is one of my favorite pictures.  Early sunrise heading to Baltimore, MD.  Very majestic.

Different day, another sunrise.  That's our tip tank (gas tank) in the photo.  Everyone who flies this type of jet always has a tip in a picture.

See what I mean.  Another tip tank looking down at the clouds.

Thunderstorms ahead.  Time to turn.

So that was a little taste of the view out front.  Sure, you may see some of these views out the side window, but by the time you see that thunderstorm, the pilots up front have already turned to avoid them.  Now I will share a few pictures of the cockpit that you may have never seen or understand, so I will try to explain them a little as well.

This is an altimeter.  It measures your height above sea level.  In this picture we are at 45,000 feet.

The airspeed indicator is below.  This is showing a speed of 230 knots or Mach .78

 Now because this is just what is indicated on the airspeed indicator, that doesn't mean its our actual speed.  Altitude, temperature and wind will play a huge factor.  This photo is of our GPS.  It shows direction, distance, time and ground speed.  The speed we are actually going.

As you can see in the bottom right, our speed is 621 knots.  That is approximately 683 mph.

In the middle top is distance, we had 19 miles to go to our next waypoint and at that speed, the top right shows a time of 1 minute and 50 seconds.  So basically at 621 knots, you cover 10 miles in a minute.  That's 1 mile every 6 seconds.

This is most of the cockpit.  By far it is much simpler that today's modern jets.  Our plane was built back in the late 70's.

Here are Bobbi's beach photos.  This one is just off the coast of Tampa, FL.  Those little dots in the water are actually little huts.

East coast of Florida down by Fort Lauderdale.

Ahhh, Captain Brandon.  Not bad to look at, but fun to fly with.  See this is a view you don't always get.

Well the best for last.  My Ice Man and Maverick.

I hope you all enjoyed.  Please post comments and ask questions if there is more you would like to know or even learn about.  Post your photo requests as well and I will try to get a picture of it.  We only fly in the lower 48 states, so keep it simple.  Next time I will post a video or two of takeoffs and landings.

Steve ✈