Average Joe

After over 7 months of job searching, I am back in the workforce. I have obtained gainful employment, in the loss prevention field. I am very excited about the new opportunity, and have already jumped in with both feet. My new position provides me with a lot of opportunity for growth, I think, and will hopefully be a good place to continue to grow my skills and gain some great experience.

My co-workers seem to be a great team, and I’m grateful for this opportunity. In the next few days, I’d like to write about my job search experience in the hope that it will help others who are out there looking. You’ll be surprised, I think, at just exactly how I came to be back in the loss prevention field, working at a rewarding job again.

Stay tuned for more on this topic. I hope it will be interesting and helpful to you.

Tweet This Post

I’m a bit of cheap skate, so when I decided I wanted something different for a ringtone on my phone, I started trying to figure out the cheapest, easiest way to do it. I already had a song on my computer that I wanted to use, but I only wanted a certain part of the song for my ringtone. Here’s how I made my ringtone, totally for free.

• 1. Download and install Audacity, a free, open source audio editing program. Be sure to also download the appropriate Lame MP3 encoder and install it so you can export your ringtone in mp3 format.

2. Once you have Audacity installed, run it and open the sound file you want to edit. You should have something similar to this:

3. Now, find the part of the song you want to use for your ringtone and isolate it by clicking the beginning of the section you want to use and dragging your mouse to the end of the section. You may have to listen a couple of times and mark your beginning/ending so you can be precise.

4. Once you have your “ringtone” isolated, simply click “file” and then “Export Selection”. Then give your file a name, change the file type to mp3, and save it to a place you’ll remember on your computer. Then upload or send it to your phone, and you’re done.

Hope this helps you out if you’re looking to make your own ringtone for little or no cost. And the best part is, you can select the part of your song you want for your ringtone, and it’s all free

Have Fun!!

Tweet This Post

I was out today taking photos for a Photo Scavenger Hunt I am participating in. One of the items is “Reflection”, so I was shooting the water on a small lake, trying to get the sun’s reflection on the water in some kind of interesting composition. When I got home and was processing the photos to upload to the group site, I noticed that there appears to be a face in this photo. I’m sure it’s just a trick of the light, still, I see it pretty clearly. Can you see the face?

I’m not sure why I even noticed it, but I definitely see a face in this photo. So, did you see it? Look closely. Still no? Here’s a hint. Look at the light circle just above the water on the far shore of the lake. That circle/orb is on the chin of the face.

See it now? I’m not sure what caused it except it was really clear today and the sunlight reflecting off the water, along with the camera angle, must have created the image. I was experimenting with settings, trying to capture the light on the water just right. This was the result. Again, I’m sure it’s a trick of the light, but it sure looks cool to me.

Anybody wanna comment? Any ideas about how this image ended up in this photo?

Tweet This Post

So I just installed WordPress on my Blackberry Bold. All I can say is “Wow”. It looks great, is very easy to use, and allows me to do some mobile blogging on a whole new level. If you’re interested, you can download the app for free at this link

Tweet This Post

I decided to take a little hike yesterday up the backside trail at Crowders Mountain State Park. I grabbed my camera, two bottles of water, and my GPS to mark anything extra interesting I might find, and off I went.

Now, the backside trail is only 0.7 miles long one way, but boy is it steep. The first bit of it isn’t too bad. You have a switchback curve followed by a gradual but steady climb up to a set of steps that lead to the overlook. Those steps are killers. I was told by more than one person that there are 330 steps. I felt every single one of them. What’s embarrassing is that I met a couple of people who run up and down those steps for exercise. One lady said she does it ten times each trip, and comes there several times each week!!

Once I reached the top, the view was beautiful, as always. I did meet some interesting people up there. One young lady came all the way from Durham just to rappel from the top of the overlook rock face.

While I was up there, I did get to watch some climbers go up the face of the rocks, and then rappel back down. It reminded me of my younger days, but then hey I did conquer the 330 steps.

Finally, on the way out down, I met a little friend. This little guy stopped by the side of the road and posed to get his picture taken. He was not at all afraid, and did not run away until I was finished getting the pictures I wanted.

Tweet This Post

I am an outdoor enthusiast. I love being outside in the beauty of nature. Whether hiking, fishing, or touring different areas looking for some good photo ops, I really enjoy being outside.

This year, with the economy being what it is, I probably won’t do much in the form of vacation. We didn’t plan a trip this year, opting instead for a bit of a “staycation” scenario where, hopefully, I’ll relax some.

However, I do want to get outside with my kids and spend some time with them, teaching them what I can about nature, and getting them out of their rooms this summer. So, I went on a treasure hunt online, looking for some great activities to do with my family outside.

That’s how I found Nature Rocks!, a nation-wide organization aimed at getting kids outside in nature and off the couch.

From their web site:

“Nature Rocks is a national program to inspire and empower families to play and explore in nature. Our mission is to make it easy for you to have fun in nature, and connect with others to do the same. We want all families in every city in America to see for themselves how much Nature Rocks. Your kids will be happier, healthier and smarter, and besides, it is generally free and a rockin’ way to create and share fun quality family time.”

The site is full of ideas and resources to get you and your family off the couch and outside. From simple little activities to more complex expeditions, you’ll find plenty of ideas to get you started outside.

So, if you are looking for some ideas that will help you get yourself and your family outside, give Nature Rocks a look. I’m pretty sure you will find some great info there that will help make your staycation fantastic.

Tweet This Post

Got to go out to Hog Happening for a bit this afternoon to take some photos. Had a blast with the stunt bike guys. You can find my complete collection at Gaston Lincoln Weekly’s Photo Gallery, and on my shutterfly page and my mySpace page. Here are some highlights:

It was a lot of fun to watch and take photos of, and the kids loved it, too.

Tweet This Post

We visited the “Down Home Festival” in nearby Bessemer City tonight. There were a lot of rides for the kids, live music, and lots of interesting people.

This was also my very first attempt at street photography. I had a blast just walking around meeting and taking photos of people.

I didn’t catch the name of the band, but they were very entertaining, and pretty dang talented, too.

It seemed to me that everyone had a great time, and I got one of my favorite shots of my wife there today.

Anyway, these are the photos that I’ve processed so far. You can find these, and more, by visiting my Flickr photostream.

Tweet This Post

I was going through some pics today, and found this one in my keepsake box. This is my class from the U.S. Military Intelligence School at Naval Technical Training Center(NTTC) Correy Station in Pensacola, FL; taken in 1988, around November, I think. I can only remember about half of the names, but I recognize all of the faces somehow. I was in the U.S. Army, but my class was made up of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines. I was 18 years old when this photo was taken, only a few months out of Basic Training.

I’m in here, too; third from the left.

Tweet This Post

Yesterday evening, the kids and I drove off to a local spot that we had picked out to hide our first geocache. It’s a short hike off the main road, in what we think is an excellent location. Last night, I added it to geocaching.com, and now we are just waiting for someone there to review and post it. We can’t wait to see who finds it first, and to read their comments.

We just took up the hobby a couple of weeks ago, and we’ve found 3 so far, all very close to our home. If you are not familiar with the game, it is a simple game of treasure hunting, using a GPS device. You can visit www.geocaching.com to download or print out geocaches close to your home, or along a specific route you’ll be traveling. Then, you go find them, using only your GPS unit and your wits. It is great fun for the whole family.

The rules are simple: Always put the cache back like you found it. If you take something, leave something in return. Have fun. That just about covers it.

Being very new to this “sport”, I can tell you a couple of things about it already. First, it is very addictive. Once you find that first one, and get that rush of adrenaline, you’re hooked. It’s like Christmas every time you find a new cache. Next, it is definitely an outdoor sport. Be prepared to wade, hike, trek through briars and high weeds, etc. If you don’t like to get dirty or get off the beaten path, this may not be your game. Finally, Geocachers are cool people. They follow the rules of the game, and hold themselves accountable to a high standard of integrity; respecting the property of others and the principles of the game.

Weather permitting, I’ll be out again this weekend, hopefully to log some new, exciting finds. I’ll only have one day, so I’ll have to make the most of it.

Visit the Geocaching site to read up on the game and, if you have a GPS, give it a try. You may just find that you enjoy it, too. If so, be sure to comment below to let me know.

If you already geocache, and you want to give some tips, pointers, etc., please leave your comments also.

Tweet This Post