Today is the first day of the Chinese New Year, ringing in the Year of the Monkey. Aside from being the biggest celebration of the year for Chinese people around the world, this year happens to be the year of my Chinese Zodiac sign.
Author: <span>Ron Charest</span>
I took another plunge this past week and went back to school. I started a “Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages” (TESOL) certification program at our local Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) Workforce Development system. My first day’s experience was pretty positive.
So far this winter has been unusually strange. We went from temperatures so abnormally warm my grass began to grow in late December, to a freezing spell and snowstorm with record-setting accumulations. Then back to warm weather a couple of days after the snowstorm. It’s only January and I’m officially over this winter’s weather.
We’re currently experiencing our first major snowstorm since the “Snowmageddon” storms of 2010. It started snowing yesterday (Friday) noon in this area and has been snowing steadily ever since. I’d like to hang out in front of the TV and call for pizza delivery but with the roads covered in about 18+ inches of snow, I don’t think any pizza delivery person is going to be making the rounds for any amount of tip.
For my first post of the new year of 2016, I want to wish all my many readers, family and friends a new year of prosperity, good health, and good fortune.
And for those old-timers who need a bit of cheering up this morning, there’s a music video on the flip.
A few days ago I had the interesting experience of colliding technologies. I temporarily lost my iPhone at the same time Winnie (in a location far far away from me) had a low tire pressure alarm, and we experienced what I can only describe as a “First-World Nation” issue of confusions and missed signals. It’s times like this I wondered about life back in the BC (Before Cellphone) era.
Just a quick post to wish all my family, friends, and many readers a Happy Thanksgiving celebration. May you’all have the chance to enjoy a wonderful meal with family and friends. As part of your celebrations, you might also take a few moments to reflect upon the many blessings of the past year, and to give thanks.
Winnie and I have a considerable amount of experience in home improvement. My expertise goes back to my teen years and I’ve been involved with projects (some of which involved contractors) on each of the five homes I’ve owned. Winnie used to help her uncles pour concrete and lay tile roofs back in China, and has worked with me on all our home improvement projects starting right after hurricane Katrina.
One would think that with all this home improvement experience something fairly simple like installing an over-the-range microwave would be easy.
A few weeks ago I was out for a late season kayak run up the Bull Run River. It was a warm sunny day, as nice as it gets around these parts in late September. On this particular day, I also had the opportunity to make a difference in the life of another creature.
In Honor of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr
Today is the national holiday honoring the birth of Martin Luther King Jr, the man who forced America to examine our history of racism for a short while. I was only 12 years old when he was cut down in the prime of his life, but I remember the day of his assassination just as clearly as I remember the day President Kennedy was cut down.
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