|
This is the Present Thoughts Blog where I list random thoughts
throughout the day:
2007 is Over, Now onto 2008 2007 was not a good year for me. It seems like life just got more and more complicated. My job became just too much to do in the time I had to do it. On the home front, it just became not fun. Prices for essentials kept going up, but my paycheck didn't. It seemed like the world was just not running properly. Thank God this year is nearly over.
How to make 2008 a better year? I think that I'm going to try and simplify every aspect of my life. My major goals will be to get my debt level down, eliminate the things that I don't need any more. Do things that will bring joy to my life and eliminate those things that don't. One of the things that I may have to eliminate is this web site. It costs about 300 bucks a year to host it. I've learned alot from it but maybe it's time to sunset it. I set this site up in May, 1999. It's been through 2 host providers, numerous redesigns and has, at least in my opinion, some decent content.
So we'll see what happens in 2008. Simplicity. That will be my goal. My wife and step daughter-in-law are opening an antique/collectable/gift shop in Aldie, VA on November 15th, 2007. The name is Bella Villa, which is Italian for Beautiful House. Anyway, stop by and see Nancy and Rosanna. Below is their grand opening notice along with a link to their website:
Posted By Mike C on 2007-11-09 04:52:48 Permanent URL | View/Add Comments(0) Bristoe Station Battlefield Heritage Park Grand Opening 10-13-2007 This weekend I had the pleasure of attending the grand opening of a new park in Prince William County, VA. The Bristoe Station Battlefield Heritage Park sits on 134 acres of land bordered by VA619 Bristow RD, a CSX Railroad Line and is near VA28. The land for this park was donated by Centex Homes so that they could build a huge development adjacent to the park. The area is slightly hilly, mostly pasture land with some forested areas.
The claim to fame for this piece of land was a battle in 1863 between Generals A.P. Hill of the confederates and Henry Heth of the Union. Hill won but it was a minor victory. Confederate troops camped within the area that today is the park suffered much sickness during the winter of 1864. Many died and are buried throughout the park.
There are about 4-5 miles of trails in the park. There are also alot of old roads and paths that are not on the
park map that was handed out. Anyway, I am very happy that there is more open space in Prince William County. I know that I will be returning here to do alot more hiking. I saw something today that I have never seen before. I took a hike in Shenandoah National Park, VA. I was going to do a 9 mile loop. However, I was being flexible as this was my first real hike of the year up there. I started on the Hull School Trail on the eastern side of Skyline Drive. It was an old road but it was a steady down and not all that easy.
At around the 1.5 mile mark I came over a crest and hear a racket coming from one of the trees about 150 feet ahead of me and about 80-100 feet up. It was a small bear. Evidently, he had seen me and I frightened him. He was in the process of quickly but gracefully shimmying down the tree butt first. When he finally hit the ground, he hightailed down the draw in that area. I was a bit worried now. I had seen fresh mounds of blue-black scat (they must have been eating blueberries) and thought that if the momma bear was close by, I was toast.
So I hike about another half mile and thought to myself 'Maybe you should hike back.' I was tired, it was starting to sprinkle and I didn't really want to hike 7 more miles. So I started hiking back up to Skyline Drive. The rain started getting heavier. It was 2 miles and about 500 foot elevation change. When I got about a third of the way up, I took a break. The forest was quiet. I then heard a crack coming from a tree off to the east about 350 feet. I looked up and, in the distance, I could see another black blob way up at the top of a tree.
So they must have been bear cubs playing while their mother was close by. I may have been the first human that they had ever seen. All I know is that I am glad that I did not see their momma. I know that I should be hiding my eyes since I recently bought a new vehicle. But I have this thing for Volvo wagons. I think that they are good looking, functional vehicles. A little pricey but I like them.
Anyway, I was watching a video on www.theautochannel.com and they had a 'get code link' on the player. I clicked on it and they said that you can place this on your blog. So, I said, what the heck, I'll try it. So here it is:
I bought my first backpack, camp stove, air matress and countless other outdoor related goodies from this place throughout the last 13 years. It was a nice neighborhood store where the manager and I knew each other on a first name basis. And now, unfortionately, they are going out of business.
Sunnys Surplus filed for bankruptcy on February 2, 2007. This was the second time within the last 5 years. Founded in 1948, Sunnys was the place to get military surplus for years. I remember the first location I saw was in downtown DC. But they expanded and opened up stores in VA. They then closed some of those stores. They sold name brand outdoor gear, then branched out into higher end stuff, then tried to go back to it's surplus roots, but it was too late.
It is my opinion that 2 things led to Sunny's demise: they were late in embracing the internet as a sales venue and, by trying to go upscale, they abandoned their core following. Alot of small outfitters have gone in recent years. The only one left in the DC metro area is Hudson Trail Outfitters. The market is now controlled by places like Dicks, REI and LL Bean. However, some niche players in this business have survived. Some examples are CampMor of NJ, Sportsmans Guide of MN and Masseys of LA. They embraced the internet early and have always have great prices, so they have survived.
So good bye old friend and thanks for getting me geared up for those early hikes. Started having problems with my 2004 Saturn Vue in December, 2006. Various problems but there was a warbling noise coming from the transmission. They fixed it and I got through Christmas and New Years OK. Then, on January 16, 2007 or about a thousand miles later, I noticed that the car sounded rough, sort of like a chainsaw. On January 17, I was going to drive it to work. But it now was very sluggish as well as noisy. So I decided to head to the dealer. I got half way there when the car died. It was 5:30AM, the temperature outside was 22 degrees, I was at an intersection with nothing around it. I called AAA. 1.5 hours later, they towed me into the dealer. I got a free loaner, which I used for almost a week. I looked around for other vehicles but no one would give me anything for my trade. So I went to the Saturn dealer and, to make a long story short, they gave me a great trade in allowance, a fantastic price on a 2006 Saturn Vue V6 and exceptional financing.
So, even though I had a bad experience with the vehicle itself, the dealer, Saturn of Manassas, made it right. I went to Prince William Forest to pick up my new National Parks Pass. I was expecting to pay $50 for it. However, the ranger said with a apprehensive tone that the price had gone up this year. How much, I asked? $80, she said. Ouch!, I said. She did say that it now allows you to access Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Reclamation areas for free as well. I can't remember the last time that I had to pay to get into a National Forest. Anyway, I remembered that Shenandoah National Park, where I spend alot of time, has raised their entrance fee to $15. So, I reasoned, if I visit SNP 6 times in the coming year, the pass will pay for itself. Since I will do that as well as visit Manassas National Battlefield and Prince William Forest a number of times this year, I felt justified in plunking down the $80. Hopefully, it will help out the National Park Service. Ouch! Looking back on this year I have both good and not so good thoughts on 2006. Starting from a world perspective, I believe that the world is not as good a place as it was in 2005. Alot of hostilities in the world. Alot of it is political. However, a major reason for alot of hostility in the world is religion. People are hurting and killing others all in the name of religion. Seems a little contradictory, doesn't it. On the national front, the recent elections made it known what the people of this country want. However, a certain branch of government has elected to 'stay the course'. 2008 won't get here soon enough.
As for my own fortunes this year, I have been at the same job for over a year now, which is good. Our company is doing well. It is alot more fun riding the rocket up than it is riding it down. I did a decent amount of hiking and motorcycle riding this year. I hope to do more in 2007. I haven't been able to get my weight under control. This will be one my biggest challenges in 2007. My hair kept getting grayer and sparser. So I solved that problem by shaving my head. On the domestic front we struggled. Not sure how that will play out in 2007.
How do I feel about the future? I think that alot of people in this country are not on the same page when it comes to the future. People have goals that they want to make more money, lose weight, advance in their jobs, etc. But I wonder how many people really want to make this world a better place for all? I know that I try to. But I keep falling back on my selfish wants.
I am optimistic for the future. We have to move forward as a civilization for the betterment of all. We can't lose sight of that goal. Everyone has different thoughts on how do do this. This is where differences come to play. We have to communicate our differences, compromise and think about the big picture, not just ourselves or our cause. I feel that this is our goal, our duty and our mantra. I think that we can do this. I know that I will keep trying. Nancy and I went to New Hampshire for a short vacation between October 14th and 18th, 2006. A friend of Nancy's offered us a free room at their lake house in Freedom, NH for the week so we took her up on it.
We did alot of sight seeing, saw some near museums, rode a ski lift gondola to the summit of Wildcat Mountain, went 'moose observing', hiked a bit of the Appalachian Trail and just chilled. I now have an idea of what the AT will be like when I get to that point. It's going to be rough.
Anyway, we had a great time and the
pictures will be posted on this site soon. |