And the pattern continues.......

Finally, today is the day I go home. It has been a long week. I’ll drive through the night to get home sometime around 2am I hope. Friday will find me playing catch up on all the things that get neglected while I’m not there. There is a bright spot…………I will be in Brevard NC Friday afternoon setting up the campsite for what I hope to be another weekend of mtn. biking in the hills of WNC. While in Hampton this week, Kim had a flat tire and was stuck until help arrived to get the tire changed. She has since had a new set put on the Explorer so going to NC this weekend on new rubber should be incident free…..I hope. My laptop hard drive made a strange sound that brought back memories of an old Buick that I bought for $60.00 in my youth. It got me there, but it sure did make plenty of noise in the process. I spent the better part of a day trying to recover from the hard drive passing away. It’s 3pm……..another 3 hours before I start back to God’s country. TENNESSEE!!

Technology has finally caught up with me

Well, I may be a little slow to allow science to creep into everyday life sometimes. To make a long story….short…..WebCam. With a little effort and a lot of luck I was able to send video over the web last night. How cool is that!? All the way back to my living room in Tennessee, and with VOICE TOO! Boy!.........what will they think of next!?

OK………I know it is not that exciting for some people, but for me it was quite interesting to be able to send live video back home. OK…..I’ll calm down now. Before you know it we will be building space ships and flying outside of Earth’s gravity into outer space! Oh………wait. Didn’t……….mmmmmmmm……Nevermind.

A Long Week Ahead.......

It has been several days since my last post. Seems like time can slip by pretty fast and the days rush by. Whats been going on? Well.........we went to Bent Creek to do some bike riding on Saturday. Not a bad place to ride really. There were lots of other folks with the same idea. Finding a parking spot at the Hardtimes trail head was not easy. But all in all......not a bad day. It has been a few weeks since our last bike ride and it really shows. Those hills seem to get longer and longer every time we go.
Hurricane Katrina clean up is still in full swing, but no sooner had the clean up started then another hurricane hit the gulf (Rita). Port Arthur Texas and the western coast of LA got hit pretty hard. And of course that caused gas prices to jump again. Still around $2.85 a gallon. Will it never end? It looks like rain will be moving in to Tennessee today. We have had none at all since Katrina. Fine with me. At least that stops the yard from growing like wild fire and gives me a chance to get caught up on the fight with weeds. I think I'm winning!! But then again mother nature has given me a much needed break. Thank you God!
I arrived in NewPort News around 11:15 or so last night. And what do you know.CONSTRUCTION and TRAFFIC all along I64.
The high point of this week will be when I get back home maybe Thursday night, Friday morning and head over to Brevard NC. for a little camping/biking trip. And that means that there will be new pictures to add to the web site when we return. I have a few pics from Bent Creek that I will upload later tonight when I get back to the apt.
How many days til Friday?

Far from home......

The celtic festival appeared to be a great success. Looks as if the crowd was larger than last year. There was several good bands most of which we have saw before. Hunting McCloud, Sigean, Rathkeltair
(these guys rock!), Ardrosson. Ardrosson is the band that invited me to join them and go on tour to Scotland and across America to the festivals. What a shame I couldn't go. This whole travel schedule has really taken a bite out of family life, church life and life in general. Oh yes........I'm back in Hampton now. Arrived yesterday around 3pm. But looking ahead......the Ministry Fair is this coming Sunday at church, that means I need to finish up my presentation for the Evangelism Team as well as the E-Ministry presentation. Lots to get done by Sunday morning and very little time to devote to it.

Another hurricane is brewing off the coast of North Carolina at the moment. They say it will make landfall around the middle of the week. That means that I will be driving back home in a hurricane. Great!!!!!! What else could I ask for? Is it Friday yet?

The Weekend!!!!

Firday is here at last! That means all play and no work! The Sycamore Shoals Celtic Festival is this weekend and a couple of good bands are scheduled to be there. The jam session is on Saturday night and everyone is invited to come play with the bands.

The church picnic is this weekend also, softball, food, you name it...
The fund raiser for hurricane victims is Sunday afternoon, I'll be singing there to help raise money for aid to these folks.

The battle with weeds is finally under control for now, just in time to go back to Hampton Va. Will it never end!!!! This much travel takes a toll on family, friends, the body. I have missed another year of living just to earn a dollar. Why do they call it "making a living" when you don't actually get to do any living if you are gone from home all the time? Hanging on for now.

Blah Blah Blah....

I just found out today that thre are 14 hurricane victims that work for the same company that I work for that are missing and unaccounted for since the storm. The company is trying to locate them and find what the needs are for these folks. Efforts are being made to collect items at local churches here. The water level is falling and hopes are that the body count will not be high. Back here at home, life goes on. Really looking forward to the next camping\biking trip. The last trip was the longest so far. Probably close to 25 miles of mtn. biking. Pretty rough but beautifull scenery with all the water falls and mountain top vistas. Pictures are being posted on the website but there are more pictures than can ever be posted, but the memories can never be replaced by picutres. Things at church are gearing up for the new elder\deacons elect to take position. This should be a really good year for CCC to make a difference in the community.Still.........just another day in Jonesborough.

Another day in Jonesborough

Well.........a few days has passed since Katrina hit the gulf coast and little good news has came from that area other than the lives that were not taked by the storm. Those folks are really suffering right now and are in need of everything that can be sent to the area. Food, water, clothes, baby items, medicine and of course shelter. There are 200,000 people in Texas alone not to mention all the other states that are helping house the hurricane victims. Some of the pumps are running now and a levy has been patched to kep water out of New Orleans so the water level is dropping now. Thank God for that. Here at home the constant battle with weeds goes on. Got the tractor running today and started bushhogging the fence rows berfore we disappear behind a sea of sumac and ragweed. The Sycamore Shoals Celtic Festival is this weekend.....that should be enough keep me away from the weed battle for a day or so. Didn't go to work today just to stay home and fight the weeds and reclaim the place before the next trip to Hampton. UGH!!!

A Long Way Home

Drove home last night. It took 7 hours this time (1:15 am). Last time was 9 hours. Very tired and tired of driviing to Hampton Va. and working. Thankfull to have a job none the less. Home!

Well......it's the first day of September. It's been a couple of days since hurricane Katrina hit the gulf states. Talked to Kim back home in Tennessee after hearing about the panic over gas prices. There are gas lines forming in the area and prices are going up ($2.95 currently). The price is the same here in Hampton Va. right now with fears that it will continue to climb over the days to come. This is a really bad time to be away from home with all the panic that is going on over the hurricane and gas prices. There are alot of people dead and many countless more homeless all through the gulf area. I will be driving home tonight.