Geocaching Craziness

The cache exposed

Went to a park the day before my run to check out the route and decided to do some geoaching while I was there. It was pretty cool because I had never been to the park and it has a lot to offer that I didn't know about and the geocaching probably took me to parts of it that I wouldn't have explored just to scout for the run.

The cache back in place

One of the caches actually required me to climb 20 ft in the air up a tree....I haven't had to climb a tree in a while so it was definitely kind of interesting but at least I found the cache.

The area it was hidden in

Anyhow, this one took a while to find as you can see it was very well camo'd. I had to check the logs while I was out in the woods and it gave me some clues as to what to look for. After a few minutes of poking around, this cache was found.

There are a few more caches in this park and the adjacent park, so when I go there again, I'll try to get those. I have another race in May that goes through this same area so perhaps I will be able to get them then.
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Four Years Ago on In My Words...Our New Visitor

Tuscaloosa Tornado

This has to be the best amateur footage I have ever seen of a tornado not to mention such a huge one that was so close...I just had to share it. It is long but worth it!!



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Five Years Ago on In My Words...Utterly Ridiculous

HR Bullsh1t

I think it is crap that the majority of HR departments I have dealt with in the last few months DO NOT send any kind of notice to those that have taken the time to apply for positions they have listed, when they have decided to go with someone else.

It is rude and unprofessional. Some of these companies take months to hire so just assuming you have been passed up because you haven't heard anything in 30 days is not reasonable...in fact, I did that with one and they wrote back saying that they were still working on the filling the position (this was two weeks after the projected start date) and would be emailing all applicants regardless of their decision to hire or not. I went to their site yesterday and there are no open positions any longer but I never did get an email from them.

They don't have to go into a lot of details, but at least a note so you aren't sitting there hoping to get an interview or position for ages. It amazes me that any of them can even hire anyone because by the time they make up their mind, I imagine most of the prospectives have found other jobs.

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Six Years Ago on In My Words...The Somewhat Downside

Races

I looked back in the archives and couldn't find that I even posted about my first 5K this year (the first one I have actually run in rather than walked), so I am going to talk about both races now.

On New Year's morning at the stroke of 12:01am, I did a 5K through the downtown part of town. It was absolutely freezing (no kidding, it was in the low 20s), and part of the reason I was convinced to run most of it was due to the fact that it was so darn cold and it was the only way I could stay warm. On that night, I improved my 5K time by over 10 minutes (because in the past I have always just walked them).

This past weekend, I did my second 5K for the year. It was on Earth Day. I wanted to do something for Earth Day and part of the proceeds from the race fees were going to good causes. This one went through two different parks I had never been to (although I went to check them out the day before the race). I didn't improve on my time but this race was also the first with hills and that made a difference. I had improved my two mile time by a full minute, but the last mile had some big hills in it and I am sure that is where I lost some time back. Regardless, I felt good about my effort and had a great time doing it.

The next race I am looking at doing is on May 22nd. It too will be near the parks I did this last one at, in fact I think the same hills are in it too. It will also be keeping with my tradition (if you can call it that) of participating in races that are sponsored by breweries (which means that a pint or drink of something is always a benefit after the race). Wish me luck!!

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Three Years Ago on In My Words...Art Purchase

Picture Projects

I am supposed to be posting in two different picture projects, one is once a week and the other is once a month. I missed most of March for both of them due to having too many other things going on. I am trying to be better this month.

The weekly one has a deadline of midnight on Friday and I don't know why, but I keep forgetting until Sat morning (like today). All week, I have known the theme for the week and took lots of pics but just didn't get one edited and uploaded...grr.

This coming week's theme is furry friends...funny because I have been taking a lot of shots of Chase, and I have some geocaching plans this weekend so we'll see what I come up with there too.

The monthly project has a theme of inspiration so I will have to come up with something...but at least I will have some time on this one. I am doing a 5K next Saturday so perhaps that will "inspire" me to find something...

The whole idea of both of these projects was just to get me shooting again. I have been a bit down (understatement of the year) and not interested in much of anything and this is supposed to be motivating me to take pics and see beauty in things. And I am motivated, I take tons of pictures, just not always the right "theme".

Speaking of pictures, I just uploaded 4 of my favorites for the month to York so I could order cards. I am amazed at how much greeting cards at the store, cost these days (I usually make my own), but I don't have any of my card stuff here, so creating them and ordering them from York saves me some money and lets me be a bit creative. I ordered 4 sets, 1 set for bday cards and 1 set for Mother's Day cards...so some of you will get to see them sooner than others. The other two sets will just be for correspondence or perhaps Father's Day cards. It is saving me some bucks doing it this way and I am excited to see how they look in real life.

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Two Years Ago on In My Words...Card Making and Socializing

Templates and Fonts

I really am enjoying the number of options that Blogger has started to offer its users in templates and now in fonts too. As you can see, I have adjusted the font and template to something different for each of my blogs (even for those you can't see or don't know are mine).

Recently I updated my mom's blog which had an old header I created on it and simpler templates into something that I think reflects her much better. It is more about the writer than it is about decorating it up like it is a Myspace page.

These new templates have inspired me to write more frequently on all of my blogs and that is always a good thing!!

Check them out sometime if you are on a Blogger blog yourself!!

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Six Years Ago on In My Words...Come Back Birds

Strange Gym People

Okay, for the last two days, I have had to go to the afternoon version of my circuit class because of schedule conflicts with my normal time. So it is the same work and effort but a completely different group of people (in each class in fact).

Today, there was a lady in the class that was probably at least 10 years older than me, but for some reason, I got the distinct impression that she was competing with me the entire time I was there.

She wasn't on the circuit near me, actually she was about 10 stations behind me. I kept finding her staring at me and when I would smile back, she would just keep staring.

After I finished the circuit, I went over to work on abs and more leg exercises. So I got the equipment that I needed and started doing my thing. After about 10 minutes, she comes over near me with a balance ball (I was using one for abs) and starts doing these exercises that were similar to me but a step up from what I was doing. Which was fine, except that she couldn't do the exercise and it seemed like she was just trying to one up me or something rather than just concentrate on her own work out.

The whole experience was just very strange. I probably won't see her again unless I have to make up a class again, so I am not too concerned. If anything, I found it amusing....

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Five Years Ago on In My Words...Graveyard Visit

Happy Birthday Rick!!

Just wanted to wish my father-in-law a very happy birthday....hope you aren't celebrating too hard!!!

Love and miss you!!!

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Three Years Ago on In My Words...Losing Its Appeal