<= Our Christmas Tree, aye.
This year, it will just have to do.
Thanks so much! I really miss you guys.
Being in an unfamiliar place during the holidays is always tough.
You know that Christmas works backwards
Its the most depressing holiday of the year.
But I've got more memories stored up from this last year than most people get in a life time.
Thanks for being part of them and Merry Christmas to you all: 
Becky, Sonny, Rod, Reese, Jesse, Peter, Susan, Preacher Scott, Gma, Jennifer, Dustin, Paul, Robert, Emily, Renee, Jonathan, McKinzee, Jess,  Ricco, Jeffree, Mikey, Andy, Ashley, Tim, Jari, Loff, Lewis, Jerry, Jennette, Chuck, Charles and Renee, Ida, Allen, Cheryl, Kelly, Tass, Emilio, Cyrus, Paula, Mark, Frank, Ruth, Warren, Lisa, David, Leann, Kevin, all the people at Fourth Street Live, all the people at Kentucky Towers, all the people we hung with at the Pub and TGIF Fridays, Don, Curtis, Erich, MS. ===> Thankyou ===>
To those who are in heaven now: 
My Dad, Squirt, Rob, Mom, Dave, Grandfather, Skip, Uncle James, Jim, Chris and Chris, I'll never forget you.
You all touched my heart.
And at sometime, you gave me joy this year. You guys are GREAT!!!

I'm not happy in Seattle.
I hate the cost of this apartment.I hate the cost of cigarettes and food.
I hate the bus. I hate having to pay to park everywhere. I hate driving in this city.
I hate that cops police the streets, and not the sidewalks.
I don't like the people here, they're unfriendly. I hate that bums can get away with anything.
I think their entertainment sucks.
I didn't like rushing into this contract. I didn't like taking a pay cut after I started.
I didn't like having to take out an insurance policy for $300 to work here.
I don't like the people at work. They have no manners, are nosey, and they are introverts.
I don't like the nature of my job. You only get noticed when things don't work, and nothing every works.
I don't like having the training I've had for this system. I am not using any of my skills.
I don't like the vagueness of this job. I have no clear job description.
AND THAT...is a lot of things to dislike.
I like the scenery at times. I like that Renee is right up the road. I like the view from our apartment.
So, thats it...I'm looking to get out of here.
-2m

4 moves in three weeks have made me palid.
I've had to push myself to the limit, I haven't been feeling well, I'm tired and confused.
52 hours of driving, rushing through moving, and finding an apartment have all made me feel very cranky. My atm/credit card being hi-jacked didn't help either. I'll feel much better when I have some cash.
But none of these are an excuse for my bad attitude.
I've been distant, obtuse, in a very bad mood, and now I'm paranoid for good reasons.
I love you all. I'm just exhausted.

And here we are in 4/12/2010, getting ready to move again. Nothing has felt normal for a long time, which is both good and bad.
We've made friends here in Pittsburgh easier than any other place we have gone.

This should cover it. HA HA!
I just wanted to let you know just how important you are to me, Becky.

---

Its been rough, moving 4 times in 3 weeks, driving 3,200 miles, credit card being stolen, finding an apartment, and your hair turning green. But there's nothing we can't do when we are together. I love ya!!! We've almost made it through the hard times. I'm hoping everything will feel normal by New Years (which is coming up in 2 weeks).

---

Chicago, Nashville, Kentuckiana, Vegas, and the trip out here...
doesn't it all seem like a dream? The only remnants we have now are the friends we made, the pictures we took, and some fading memories.
Did you know Christmas is just next week!
Now that is just so scary!
We are just so unprepared. We just got through unpacking our stuff.
Kiss me me and tell me this is all really happening.
--- These are the good old days ---
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream. :^)

Frys was really nice. I wanted to load the basket there (I always do).
We passed a huge Boeing building. It really wasn't that far from Frys.
I don't know if it was really bigger than the one in Vegas, but its parking lot certainly was.
I wonder if Vegas every finished its other Frys stores.

What a life! Too much too quick.
I can't begin to describe the feeling in my back.
But that's the bad things.
The good things that have happened so far.
We got moved in Friday, but everything was such a mess. We needed junk furniture.
But Seattle doesn't have any Walmarts. There's a KMart 6 miles away, which in Seattle Speak equals 1 hour.
The traffic is a killer here. I'm ready to learn the bus system at any time.
Why not be chauffeured around while I read the paper?
I hopped into the roof Jacuzzi yesterday morning at 6:30am,
and found a really cool cell phone. I called "Dad".
He told me daughter lives in my building and gave me her address. I tried, it was early, but eventually she called me.
I came up, and she answered the door in her T-Shirt and underwear (who does that?). I about fell over. Her eyes were a red as eyes can get, but she had a pretty smile, and said thank you.
Later, we went shopping at a Target.
It was 6 stories tall, with a parking level on each floor! When you want to go to the next floor with you card, you take the escullator. It has a cart escullator in the middle...very different.
Everybody we met was friendly, and more than willing to tell us everything they knew about Seattle.
That about says it, everybody in Seattle is very friendly.
Today, Becky went to the jacuzzi with me.
Her hair turned GREEN!!! Its a pretty color of green though.
We were supposed to get internet, phone and cable today, but nobody was here to let the cable guy into the electric room.
We'll have it by Wednesday.

Another tough day!
Five hours of sleep. Had to get renters insurance, they wanted to rewrite my auto insurance and my house insurance for Seattle, which would take me days of effort to spring back from. sheesh.
We got our apartment.
So we had to move all our stuff downstairs, again, and pack up the truck. Its cold and wet out there.
I am so tired.
We will have moved the equivilent of 5 moves, and driven 52 hours, in 12 days.
We've been apartment hunting every day and every night.
And to top it all off, my credit card info was stolen from one of the places we used it at, enroute.
What a week I'm having!!!

This happened in Seattle, on  Monday, 12/03/2007. I've heard this isn't normal for Seattle. I rarely snows here too. Doesn't it seem like the weather in the last three years has gone awry? Between New Orlean's Katrina, Louisvilles drought's/record highs and Seattle's snow/flooding, we've been around the national news everywhere we've gone.

A girl in front of me decided she wanted to parallel park...
Right next to where I was. We were on a steep hill. I couldn't back up, but she persisted.
She waited for 4 lights to cycle, and nothing changed. She caused a backup for at least 5 miles.
Finally, a guy behind me gets out, yells at her
"HEY, we can't back up. None of us can back up! You just can't park here mam".
He was kind of smiling as he walked by. I said thank you. There was a parking garage on the next block.
The drivers here aren't really bad, but they just seem kind of stupid.

I've got my patches and some food.
Life was good, until we got back to the truck.
We couldn't get in it. The people on both sides parked 2 inches away. It was mindless.
There were plenty of spots open in the parking lot.
I've noticed that a lot of people walk mindlessly straight at you on the sidewalks. 
There's always plenty of room. It keeps happening everywhere. A lot of these people are sleep walking.
I didn't think driving to the store was tough at all.
Matter of fact, I like driving in Seattle, even downtown. You have to watch for pedestrians, bicycles, other cars, and one way streets. SO, you take your time, and slowly make your turns.

It rarely snows in Seattle.
This was a rare treat. Beauty keeps coming our way. The last day in Louisville was beautiful. The trip was beautiful. The first day in Seattle was great! We don't deserve this beauty. What did we do to deserve this? ...Read On

I think it is what goes around, comes around.
I told Becky of how I put three people up for Employee of the Month at Caesars. They never knew, or asked how it happened. What happened was, I liked their work, and I took 5 minutes out of my life to pass around a Nomination for Employee of the Month. Each got $1,000, and it cost me nothing. They had no idea that I sponsored it.
I think nature rewards good deeds.
I don't know how it works. But beauty often hides in the details. It rarely surrounds you. It lives a quiet world, that is there if you discover it.

This time, there were no sad good byes. GMa and Paul should be in Seattle around March. We've got to come back to take care of our taxes. Also, if I work in Seattle, for a year, I should have enough saved for taking two years off. Life is good! However, if I get a reputation at my new job, I could end up managing a system somewhere. And that could be very sweet!!!

Two moves in one week is a lot of action.
I've had to push myself to the limit, I haven't been feeling well, I'm tired and confused.
But none of these are an excuse for a bad attitude.
So, if I've been distant, or obtuse, please accept my sincere apology.
I meant to accomplish so much when we got here.
But, Monday, I had to get that insurance, talk to my CPA and get prescriptions written.
Tuesday, I picked up prescriptions, did some shopping, and tried to relax.
I didn't visit like I'd planned too.
After driving 32 hours straight, driving around town is the last thing I want to do.
Driving around town with everything I own in the back of the truck is scary too.
I love you all. I'm just exhausted.

I looked at the Petroglyph's on the canyon walls of Nevada. They seem to be everywhere!
I thought, wow, these Anasazi guys recorded their life here, 2,000 years ago.
Now their tribes are gone.
All that is left are drawings of them hunting, hanging around campfires, enjoying the sun, and having a great time
At least, thats what I see when I look at them.
They were, in a way, more insightful than we are.
They drew on rocks during the Roman civilization.
Their drawings may out live the United States.
It is pure genius. It would be hard to destroy their work and it is readable.
The Anasazi petroglyphs have stood the test of time.
It goes far past John Doe owned this piece of property in County Records. 
We aren't our names. We are just characters in a story. Life is much bigger than us.
Anyway, I would like to immortalize this life.
I would like to create something that will last 1,000s of years.
These logs are just the start.
I intend to create something much greater in the next 10 years.
I owe this inspiration to my friend, Rob, who passed away a couple of years ago.
His death inspired me to create these logs.
I didn't want his life to pass unnoticed. I saw myself as being him, dying, having a funeral...and being forgotten.

If I didn't keep these blogs and take pictures everywhere I go, I'd lose the flavor of life as the years go by.
There is a big difference between saying, "I saw fall in Kentucky" and showing a beautiful picture of it.
I suppose thats why I do this...to remember the specter of life.
I look at these blogs and I can see, smell, taste, and feel the words and pictures.
In my mind, I can hear the voices of the people that make entries here.
I can fly back in time and all that has happened revives itself in holographic style.
Its kind of like putting rock hard bread into the microwave! It gets good again.
What I am saying is, I will never forget love, life and happiness.
It's just too precious.
My friends and I will live in these logs, long after we are gone.
This is my pyramid, my Taj Mahal.

Now, while Jonathon may look a little shifty in these pictures, he's really a great guy!!! We missed their wedding by four days. But then again, Tuesday morning, we thought we'd be in living in Louisville for two more months.

Sonny's toilet leaked, so he's been using our toilet.
I guess I got irritated about this and said,
"Alright, lets just get another toilet! It should only take an hour to install and it will look better."
We picked up an American Standard Toilet at Lowes for $100.
We hooked it up. And it didn't flush. We reseated it, swapped out the float, reamed the jets. It didn't flush.
That thing, just barely flushes no matter what you do. I think there's something stopping up the jets.
Last thing Sonny did was swap out the bowl. I don't know where he ended up on it, but I know the toiilet isn't working.
So, I caused tonight to be waisted. sheesh!
We should have gotten a Kohler!

Emptied the truck. Becky washed clothes. I got a $1m insurance policy for $320 a year.
Becky and I saw a nurse to get some Albuterol and some antibiotics.
By the time we were done, the Albuterol cost $100 a bottle.
Becky and I usually get shipped in from India for $10 a bottle (without a prescription).
We had to say we were having trouble breathing this week.
The nurse couldn't write a prescription or Albuterol, or Chantix (quit smoking drug) without having an emergency symptom.
It was interesting that the nurse suggested OTC - Muscenex.
We just discovered Muscenex last week.
I think it works as just as well as Albuterol, its cheap, and its non-prescription.

We packed up everything in the apartment. Then we drove 32 hours across the country.
We got to Vegas with a truckload of stuff that we're going to have to throw away.
We had to bring the apartment stuff when we left. 
The garbage was blocked up at the apartments when we left. That seems to happen a lot in high rises.
The truck was the only place we could put our junk.
Every room in this house is already full.
The room I wanted to use is now occupied.
So now, we have a truck load of stuff, and no place to sort it out.
During this next to sleepless week, I just didn't consider that.
I guess I kind of freaked out when I got here.
The master bathroom is out of commission, the heat wasn't working, and the car was dirty.
Sonny thought we wouldn't be coming until next week, so the place was a mess.
I would have warned him again,
but our cell phones couldn't find service anywhere on the trip.
I have been in EMERGENCY MODE!!!
We only have a couple of days, and they are full days!
I got hired Tuesday. This is the first Monday after Thanksgiving.
My credit card was denied access from over activity.
We leave Thursday morning for another 20 hour drive.
I'm tired, so tired, and I just got over the flu.
Today, I guess I have to do business.
I have to unpack the truck, throw away half of it,
and find what I need for the next few days out of it.
And on top of that, I'm going to have to throw stuff away from this house too.
I need to get a $1,000,000 general liability policy
or not even go to Seattle.
Then I need to talk to my accountant,
and get all the papers I need to run a corp from a hotel room.
This all seems like too much.
But if I have to sacrifice my sleep and sanity,
I'll do it, just to get through this week.
I just have to be methodical and organized.
I will get through this.
I guess the moral of this story is.
Be careful what you wish for, you just might just get it.
I wanted a full and exciting life, and I've got it.

We saw Preacher Scott at the parade.
He's also our security guard at the door of Kentucky Towers.
There was a chemistry between Scott, Peter, and Susan.
One that I may never understand. They are so different, and so alike.
Becky and I have just hovered around these three, being part of them as they mixed with people coming in and out of the building. It was so incredible.
Peter's gone now. He's in Michigan.
We're leaving tommorrow. We'll be in Seattle by Friday.
Preacher Scott will be leaving soon. His education will be complete.
The group has broken up.
But for a time, there was something so incredibly powerful, and wonderful about being part of this group.
It is something that I will remember for the rest of my life.
Hopefully, some of these times come through, from the pictures I took.
I can only hope, that documenting these times was the part I was supposed to play.
For all times to come.

BTW - If you guys read this, feel free to reply to it (if you can figure out my coding style).