A list of the albums I’ve enjoyed listening to during 2009:
Released during 2009:
Released prior to 2009:
Back in November, I was lucky and won another Chick-fil-A Twitter contest. This time it was for a milkshake, which I’ve never had before, even as often as I go. They not only look nice, being topped with whipped cream and a cherry, but they are delicious! It was hands-down one of the best milkshakes I’ve ever had! When I think of shakes, I usually think of Steak ‘n Shake, but not any more. They’ve got some serious competition now. The free one from the contest has sold me on them, not to mention I like the way Chick-fil-A runs and it’s ethics.
Last night we heard and felt some explosions, but had no idea what it was. We wasn’t sure if it was an accident or what, but from the way it felt, we imagined it being something less than a mile away. My dad guessed that it was dynamite somewhere, but we couldn’t think of anyplace where they would need to be using it. The newspaper reported on it last night after it had occurred, and I just now saw it.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation oversaw controlled explosions of dynamite Tuesday in the 2000 block of Leonard Bridge Road in Murray County because the dynamite was decomposing and could not be safely transported, officials said. The dynamite was legally possessed.
The explosions were from roughly 4 to 6:30 p.m.. officials said.
If you take the main roads, that’s about 10 miles from our house. I had no idea that dynamite would be able to be felt that far away.
We hear almost daily the statistics and state of our economy, but sometimes it takes seeing an individual do something that he/she normally wouldn’t do to make it hit home that times are tough. I went to the mall the other day for the first time in a long while, and there are numerous vacant spots available. That’s not to mention even the old strip malls and shopping outlets. But even seeing things progress to where it is now, sometimes we just hear the numbers and really never do think about how the people are actually being effected.
Today we pulled into a gas station to throw away a couple of McDonald’s cups on the way back to the office. There was a man that approached the trash can at the pumps that we were going to toss them in so we waited on him before getting out to throw them away. He had a few coke cans in one hand and dug around in the trash can with his other hand and picked out whatever cans he could find, slid a free finger into the mouth openings, and walked to his truck to put them in the bed. This guy was driving a 70s-80s Ford F150, wearing a white tee and jogging pants. This guy is the guy that rarely ever makes it on the evening news. This guy is a prime example of what Main Street is having to do today to make ends meet. It’s a very sad situation a lot of people are finding themselves in, doing things they would have never previously done just to get by, and is really hard to imagine being in.
Yesterday while working out in the field in Trenton, I caught a glimpse of the following Values billboard:
This one I felt especially touched by because I watched the video that I believe was on Wall Street Journal a year or so ago that was Randy Pausch’s last lecture, and was moved by how brave he was, how much he wanted to motivate others to enjoy life and follow their dreams, while knowing that his time was coming to an unfortunate end.
I’ve never gotten a Christmas bonus at work before, until this paycheck. I’ve never really been concerned about it, nor felt like I’m getting shorted, because a bonus is just that, a bonus, and something that shouldn’t be counted on or expected. So that’s one plus that we’re going to be getting now that we’ve been merged, and I must say that it is nice of the new management to extend that to us.
I decided on Monday to list that hood that I mentioned one more time just to see if there would be any bites or if Craigslist was a lost cause for it. Within 20 minutes I got an email from a guy that was interested in it. I wasn’t interested in trading so I told him that I’d let it go for $75 less than I listed it for—still much better than the previous 50% offer. He picked it up yesterday and it’s going to be his son’s Christmas present. So I’m glad I was able to get rid of it, and that he was able to get his son something that he wanted for way less than the retail price was on it. It was a win-win situation.
Help Portrait is a movement of photographers who are using their time, equipment and expertise to give back to those who are less fortunate this holiday season.
I first learned about Help Portrait by one of the guys (Ty Miller) setting up the one here in Dalton through Twitter. While watching the video, which was very touching, and showing it to my brothers and Alicia, I wanted to be a part of it, as did they. The turnout for volunteers was great, and they already had pretty much every aspect of it covered. So we just tried to help out wherever we could be of any assistance. We also brought some snacks for the volunteers and the people that showed up to enjoy while they were there. It was really nice to see everyone work together and work hard to pull the event off. I think there ended up being close to 32 sessions of people show up for portraits. It was awesome and felt really good to see their smiles and see the happiness in their faces as their photos were handed to them. It was definitely a great experience and something that I am very proud to have been a part of. I hope for us to be able to be a part of it next year as well and help bring hope to many more people through this awesome movement.
Every classified/auction site online apparently has it’s own quirks. eBay is home of outrageous fees for the sellers and then sellers that charge outrageous shipping to make money. Craigslist has got to be the home of low-ballers.
I have a brand new aftermarket ram-air style hood for the S10 that I recently put on there. I advertised it as it was, a brand new $550 hood, but would take $350 just to get it out of the way. I’ve had it for years and have no intention of using it. I ended up getting a couple of emails, one offering $200 and another $175! Come again? I wouldn’t even waste my time insulting someone w/ a 50% offer.
My mom has some furniture that she wants me to put on there to try to sell and get out of the house, but maybe I should also consider the local print ads instead of relying just online. I’ll probably give it a try anyways and just ignore anything that is ridiculous, or just put FIRM on the price and see if that helps out any.
Futurama is an animated American sci-fi sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox network. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J. Fry, who after being cryogenically frozen for a thousand years, finds employment at Planet Express, an interplanetary delivery company in the 31st century. Source
I had never heard of this cartoon prior to a guy at work mentioning it, but we’ve talked about TV shows before around the office and from us liking similar ones, he said that my brother and I would probably enjoy Futurama. He was nice enough to lend us the first volume to check it out, and now we’re going to have to find the later episodes after finishing this volume. Growing up I never did watch the Simpsons at all, but if it is anything like this, which I assume it is with having the same creator and it being on as long as it has, I’ve missed out on another good show.
My friends, if we tend to the things that are important in life, if we are right with those we love and behave in line with our faith, our lives will not be cursed with the aching throb of unfulfilled business. Our words will always be sincere, our embraces will be tight. We will never wallow in the agony of ‘I could have, I should have.’ We can sleep in a storm.
— , Have A Little Faith
© Copyright 2007-2012 Shane Holden
All Rights Reserved.
