Category: <span>Family Stories</span>

Published January 24, 2023 by

You’ve Been Hacked!

Don't Take Any Wooden Nickels
Don’t Take Any Wooden Nickels

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

It seems like the Internet scams are coming thick and fast now-a-days. I rarely go more than a couple of days without some asshole trying to scam me. People are continually trying to sell me Medicare plans, performance-enhancing drugs, or buy my house. Self-described hot young women send me their pictures offering to marry me or sell me even more awesome sexy pictures.

But then there’s the really offensive people who out-and-out try to defraud me. Like the latest email from some asshole pulling an online exhortion attempt with an email announcing, “You’ve Been Hacked.”

Continue…You’ve Been Hacked!

Family Stories Tech Talk

hacking Internet Scam

Published December 26, 2022 by

When The Boss Appears At The Front Door

Person standing at front door. Photo by Kelly: https://www.pexels.com/photo/black-home-area-rug-2950003/
When the Boss Appears at the Front Door

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Another Quora question got me reminiscing about my introduction to free enterprise after retiring from Navy life. It was the first, and only time, one of my boss’s appeared at my front door. It was an unexpected visit after I had abruptly resigned for reasons relating to his fraudulent business practices.

Continue…When The Boss Appears At The Front Door

Career Management Family Stories Quora Re-Posts

Career learning experience quora

Published November 14, 2022 by

Home Improvement: Concrete Work

Our Latest Home Improvement Project, a brick patio
Our Latest Home Improvement Project

Estimated reading time: 11 minutes

Just because we’ve moved to a new old house doesn’t mean home improvements stops. Quite the contrary, Given that we’ve already done just about everything inside this house that needs doing, Winnie decided she really needed to tackle the great outdoors.

Given her love for tile and concrete work, her choice was building a patio – driveway and walkway. Mostly using found materials. As always, she did some excellent work.

Continue…Home Improvement: Concrete Work

Family Stories

home improvement Stonework

Published October 5, 2022 by

Back From Hawaii, Back To Reality

Waikiki Beach, Oahu, Hawaii
Waikiki Beach, Oahu, Hawaii

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

Winnie and I returned home from our one week’s whirlwind visit to the lovely island of Oahu, Hawaii. It was a wonderful vacation for both of us. So much so that I had to wonder why I waited 27 years to go back.

While our reason for this trip was being part of decommissioning the last ship I served on during my Navy career, it was also our first vacation trip since the zombie apocalypse started in January 2020.

Continue…Back From Hawaii, Back To Reality

Family Stories In the Navy

Hawaii navy life vacation

Published September 24, 2022 by

Hawaii or Bust!

Waikiki Beach with Diamond Head
Waikiki Beach with Diamond Head

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

So tomorrow Winnie and I head out for the first real vacation since the start of the Zombie Apocalypse started back in January 2020. We’re breaking our vacation fast by going to one of the places in this world I truly love. We’re heading to the beautiful island of Oahu, Hawaii, for a ten day visit.

Continue…Hawaii or Bust!

Family Stories

Published July 2, 2022 by

A Long Weekend On Long Island

Long Island, New York

Estimated reading time: 15 minutes

I grew up in Farmingdale, on Long Island, New York, moving away to the Hudson Valley area of Pine Bush at age 15 way back in 1972. Since then, I’ve made occasional visits to Long Island over the years, but always to visit family still living there. Regrettably, over the years my family ties to Long Island gradually thinned out, and now are non-existent.

However, my heart has always been with Long Island as my childhood home. Over this past Juneteenth weekend, Winnie and I decided to make it a long weekend and pay a visit to Long Island as tourists. It turned out to be a very worthwhile trip.

Continue…A Long Weekend On Long Island

Family Stories

long island vacation

Published June 6, 2022 by

The Birds – A New Adventure

baby birds in a nest, calling out to their parents for food
Birds in a Nest – Feed Me!

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

So we’re in a new house, time for new adventures. This latest is having a family of birds build a nest in a potted plant located on our back porch. It was pretty cool watching these birds build their nest, lay eggs, then raise the youngsters.

Alas, it all happened too fast. But it was fun watching them while it lasted.

Continue…The Birds – A New Adventure

Family Stories

Bird Nest

Published April 10, 2022 by

Being Set-Up For Failure

Anger, Aggression, Inadequacy, Pain
Anger, Aggression, Inadequacy, Pain

Estimated reading time: 17 minutes

As I’m beginning to wind down my career into retirement, I’m forced into reminiscing about career experiences both good and bad. One recurring theme of bad experiences relates to the many times I’ve been set-up for failures. I’ve never been able to understand why anyone would deliberately put effort into making the people around themselves fail.

I’ve experienced too many people in my professional life who seemingly worked extra hard to get me to fail. Most of the time I succeeded despite the best efforts of other people. But, there was one time I didn’t. As I reminisce about my career I keep coming back to the one time when despite my best efforts, I was successfully set-up to fail.

Continue…Being Set-Up For Failure

Career Management Family Stories

Career Set-up For failure Washington Navy Yard

Published January 6, 2022 by

The Snowpocalypse of 2022, Part I

Snowpocalypse of 2022 tree covered in heavy snow
Snowpocalypse of 2022

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

This past Monday folks here on the north-eastern seaboard of the United States discovered that it really is winter. The realization came from temperatures changing from 60 degrees on Sunday to 30 degrees on Monday. Accompanied by our first snow of the season, a whopping nine inches in my neighborhood.

Nine inches doesn’t seem like all that much snow, compared to what I’ve experienced even since living here in Northern Virginia. But, perhaps because we’ve had almost no snow for the past couple of winters, people forgot that snow happens. This past Monday, going into Tuesday and Wednesday, the great snowpocalypse of 2022 shut down a major interstate highways and dumped power for thousands of people in my area.

And this is only January. We have lots of time for a Snowpocalypse Part II, and more…

Continue…The Snowpocalypse of 2022, Part I

Family Stories

disaster planning Snowpocalypse

Published December 29, 2021 by

On Shutting Off The Electric

Reaching for Electricity by holding a lit light bulb.
Reaching for Electricity

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Our moving had a number of challenges, but one challenge we didn’t expect was having our electrical service cut off. But we did, at absolutely the wrong time. Not that there’s ever a good time to lose electrical service.

Continue…On Shutting Off The Electric

Family Stories

Dominion Energy moving